Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3) by P.S. Power

Author:P.S. Power
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Orange Cat Publishing
Published: 2014-08-10T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter nine

In a fashion that didn't amaze Pran at all, about half of the people that had come to see two grown men fight like little kids over a crust of bread didn't show at all. It was telling, as to who had secrets, wasn't it? Judges didn't really read minds, of course. Judge Clair had assured her of that several times. They just got so close that most people couldn't really tell the difference. That was all. They were all trained, from the earliest childhood selection time of nine years old, to hold to mental states that allowed for extreme empathy and understanding of others positions. They also learned a hundred other things like face reading and body language, that allowed them to know what people were thinking a good chunk of the time. If the people were familiar enough to them, they really could guess what they would be pondering in the moment too. Which was eerie.

A great trick, as well, but other than learning what different stances meant from her friend Clair, she hadn't had time to try and master the whole thing. If it was physically possible for someone her age to manage it. The fact was that few adults even bothered to try, or ever had. It was a useful skill, but in a very narrow area of life.

If you had secrets however, like, say you were stealing money from people, or sleeping with your neighbor's cow, you might well not want to be in the same room with any Judge. The High Judge was even worse, at a guess.

Cutely enough the tiny woman had an even smaller girl with her, dressed in full official Judge robes, when Pran got there. She wasn't the only one either. In fact, there were six Judges in the room, if they counted the children that way. She didn't ask who they were, or why they were there, since it wasn't her responsibility. Plus, they all looked like they were in a trance already, and watched everyone, carefully.

Looking around, she noticed that there were others there too, just not in the robes of office. She saw Judge Brown, and waved, which he saw enough of to return. Then she moved over to him, since Clair was right beside him. She was in a nice yellow gown that looked almost warm enough for the weather.

When the woman saw her, she smiled peacefully.

"Pran! How are you doing? Are you fitting in well? Do they feed you enough?" This came with a hug from the woman, who was only about ten or so years older than she was. Maybe a bit more, but the topic had never come up exactly.

"The food is good, actually. I'm keeping busy and making my way, well enough so far. It's only the second day, so no one has suggested I be stripped naked and run out of town yet. I imagine that will happen in about... When does the trial start?" She meant it, and Clair gave her a hard look, but Mara laughed.

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