Then his face briefly illuminated with a cheery smile.
Shyly, Si'Wren bowed, and smiled briefly in return. Although she had no
desire to become his next wife, she found him to be well-mannered and
likeable enough, in spite of his crudeness.
"Do not fear," he said, all businesslike again. "When you come
to the royal stables, I, even I, Mearch, Chief Armorer to the Emperor
himself, will not suffer you to come to the slightest harm."
Si'Wren slowly bowed low to him again.
Mearch grinned, and turned to go back to the stables.
* * *
Si'Wren continued to increase in knowledge and wisdom as she observed
her astute Emperor in court, learning intuitively from the inevitable
daily exercise of her mental faculties how to sift truth from lies, and
how various evils and perplexing situations were to be properly
adjudicated.
There were several ways that crimes were judged. One was by the
severity of the crime itself. Another way was to judge the criminal by
his or her own attitude and intentions. Equally important were the
question of whether the suspect was high born and wealthy, or low born
and bondable, or a beggar, or--most unfortunate of all, a mere
penniless slave.
To Si'Wren, they were all human beings first and foremost, but she was
no judge and could not voice an opinion regardless.
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