Vincalis the Agitator by Holly Lisle

Author:Holly Lisle
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: FIC010000
ISBN: 9780759527133
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2002-02-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Wraith wished he could have pawned Velyn off on one of his associates, but this part of his plan for helping her escape from Luercas he had to carry out himself. He had to be seen as the one who dispassionately brought her before the justice system of the Hars and asked that she be given justice. Since she had involved him in her unhappy situation, his willingness to follow legal precedent would be his only alibi when she disappeared. Why would he take her before the justices of the Grand Court if he intended to help her disappear?

So he walked beside her into the House of the Landimyn’s Justice, and led her through the maze of broad, ornate old corridors to the Court of the Family. And there he presented her to an old man whom he had known since he was a boy in the Artis household—a man who now called him from time to time to ask for tickets, better seats, and special favors. Wraith called in the first of his debts.

“You bring this woman before the court in what capacity?” the old man asked him privately.

Wraith sighed. “She and I were childhood friends, and she was once my lover. I asked her to take vows with me, and she refused me, so I put her aside. I had not heard from her since, except on the day she took vows with someone else. But today she appeared in my office, looking like this and begging me to help her. Out of old obligation, I am helping her out.”

“You had no hand in her situation, either as the man who beat her or as the man over whom her vowmate beat her?”

“My conscience is clear, Sveth. Hire whomever you will to search out the secrets of my life; I have not seen her in three years. Today’s visit has been a disruption and an inconvenience—but I once had feelings for her. I would not see her hurt like this again.”

The judge nodded. “Very well. I would not have thought otherwise, but I had to ask.”

He sent Wraith back to a seat and called Velyn forward. Wraith could not hear what they said, but he could see Velyn’s shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Could see her holding out her battered hands, moving aside bits of her clothing to show a cut or a bruise. He could tell how effective her presentation was because of the increasingly stunned expression on the judge’s face.

Finally the judge asked her to step onto the verifier, a small raised cube with a dais set in front of it. He murmured the spell that started the verification process. On the dais in front of her physical self, a second Velyn appeared, this time with Luercas. Luercas’s expression belonged to a madman. Wild-eyed, his face red with fury, his lips curled back from his teeth, he forced her into a corner. He drew a knife, and with the fingers of his free hand wrapped

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