Anthony, Piers - Xanth 07 - Dragon on a Pedestal by Anthony Piers

Author:Anthony, Piers
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf

There was a stir of ire in the jury. "Pollution!" a jury-goblin muttered.

Ivy's brow wrinkled. "I thought plooshun was bad water."

"That too, honey," Glory murmured, smiling obscurely. She adjusted her clothing, again riveting the jury. "I now call the defendant as witness."

"That liar can't be sworn in!" Gorbage protested.

Glory made a quarter-smile. "Is that true, defendant? Are you unable to swear?"

Hardy let out a stream of profanity that wilted the adjacent vegetation and sent wisps of smoke curling up from the post he perched on.

Glory's ears turned bright orange-red and her mouth caved in as if she had swallowed her teeth, but she turned to her father. After a couple of attempts, she managed to speak. "I Dragon on a Pedestal 205

don't understand a word of that, of course. Tell me. Father—

is that or is that not adequate swearing?"

Gorbage hastily wiped a gape of incredulous admiration off his face. "Got to admit—that's one thing a harpy can do pretty well," he grudged.

"Very well," she said primly. "I am taking the judge's word

that you have been properly sworn in. Defendant, did you ever kiss any goblin girls?"

"Only one," Hardy said.

There was another stir in the jury. "The cock confesses!" a goblin muttered. "Get the rope ready!"

"And what is your intent toward said girl?" Glory asked.

"To marry her and take her away from all this," the harpy testified.

Gorbage turned mottled purple. "The audacity of this cretin!

Execution is way too good for him!"

"But, Father," Glory protested innocently, "you have always maintained that the only fate worse than death is marriage."

There was a stifled snigger from the jury. Gorbage glared, and the sound snigged out. "Get on with it!" the judge gritted.

"I trust I have made my case," Glory said with a certain demure smugness. "Now let the defender take over."

Hugo took the center stage, his hands still bound behind him. There was a faint crunch as Stanley separated another strand of the net. It was a tough net, but the dragon had strong teeth.

Ivy just knew Hugo would do a brilliant job in an impossible situation; already he looked handsome and confident, despite being bound. She saw several of the jury-goblins do double takes, as if seeing him for the first time; they had not realized how competent he would turn out to be. "Is there any law against harpy-goblin marriages?" he asked rhetorically. Famous lawyers were good at rhetoric. Ivy knew, though she wasn't quite certain what the term meant.

Gorbage and the jury burst out laughing. They rolled on the ground, expelling black tears of mirth.

- "I gather, from this unbecoming levity, that there is no law,"

Hugo concluded suavely, just the way Ivy had known he would.

A defender of his caliber could not be rattled by crude behavior.

206 Dragon on a Pedestal

"Indeed, historically there have been many such liaisons. Any of you could marry a harpy hen if you wanted to."

This set off an even more ferocious siege of merriment. Not even a cockatrice would care to marry a harpy hen!

"And so a goblin girl can marry a harpy cock if she wants to," Hugo concluded brilliantly.

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