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do is sit back and take pleasure in the consequences."
That is what the trio of duplicitous devils proceeded to do, smirking as an
elf of scowling mien pushed his way past the guards, stepped over the pinioned
Samm, and confronted the rest of the accused. Resigned dog and choleric cats
he eyed gravely. Noting the several large nets held by a number of the guards,
Taj stayed perched on Oskar's head and prayed for an opening.
"You are charged under Articles XXVIII through XXXII of the Code of the
Kingdom with multiple counts of attempted theft of public property, use of a
public facility for nefarious purpose, conduct unbecoming guests of the
Purple, and general felonious naughtiness. You are to be bound over to the
Court of Proscribed Enchantments for trial and sentencing."
Mamakitty frowned. "How can we be bound for sentencing if there hasn't yet
been a trial?"
"Procedures must be followed." Stepping back, the imperious elf gestured to
the ogres. "Take them and see that they're properly secured. Make sure the
bird doesn't get past you. I'll see to the necessary paperwork."
"Your pardon, meritorious sir," husked Ratha as the downcast travelers were
escorted from the room, "but can we drink their blood?"
"Sorry," the elf replied. "Against city ordinances. But I'll speak to the
presiding magistrate. Considering the help you and your friends have provided
in this matter, perhaps something can be worked out."
Greatly pleased with themselves and the evening's evil they had wrought, the
twosome of vampire bats alternately walked and fluttered at the head of the
somber procession. In a fever of triumphant excitement, Quoll danced and
darted back and forth in front of the crestfallen captives. The taunting of
prisoners, evidently, was not against the regulations of the kingdom.
Only when all was once again silent within the exhibition room of multicolored
lights of other kingdoms in the Celebrated Grand Mystic Museum of the Exalted
Kingdom of Purple, save for the gossiping voices of distant strollers, did a
small, compact figure emerge from the depths of the ornate Havetra'ng vase of
spun spidersilk and regurgitated moonbeam where it had been hiding. Checking
repeatedly to make certain that the way out was clear, a grateful Cezer fled
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as fast as he could for the pastoral, treed sanctuary of the Grand Commons.
NINETEEN
If they had not been under arrest, Oskar and his companions would have
marveled at their surroundings. The interior of the Justice Building was
fashioned of twinkling spun glass and limpid crystal, all of it vibrant with
purple and lavender light. Preoccupied pixies darted down corridors while
mercurial sprites delivered missives from one chamber to the next. Trolls
conferenced in the darkest corners, elves engaged in slavish banter, and
something like a squashed sphinx limped slowly past on all four legs,
complaining mightily to an attentive retinue of sylphs whose sleek flesh
jiggled like tapioca pudding.
The courtroom was small; barely large enough to hold the prisoners, their
ogrish guards, a modest audience, and a goggle-eyed, multiarmed court
reporter. Oskar, Mamakitty, and Cocoa were seated in the front rank of a
triple row of bloated toadstools that sparkled with petrified dew. Next to
them, Samm lay stretched out and splinted to keep him from making use of his
powerful coils, while a dispirited Taj found himself, for the first time since
their original transformation, back in a locked cage.
To make things infinitely worse, the object of their long, grueling journey
sat glowing whitely on its rod in the evidence box at the front of the
courtroom, within easy reach of the prisoners--if one discounted the presence
of the brace of heavily armed trolls that flanked it on either side.
On a back bench, a quietly triumphant Quoll sat flanked by a silent Ruut and
Ratha. Oskar growled in their direction, only to have their gleeful foe
respond with a taunting, infuriating smile.
The nearest guard cuffed Oskar smartly upside the head and grunted. "No
snarling in the courtroom. Show some respect."
Shortly thereafter, a door opened behind a toadstool of truly prodigious
dimensions, and a figure appeared within. As it tottered up to the oversize
fungi, a sprite clad in flowing frillwork appeared from nowhere to tootle on a
small, cochlear horn.
"Hear ye, hear ye! The City Court of the Kingdom of Purple is now in session.
His honorable and mystic magisterial elf self Judge Cooble Pilk presiding." A
second, slightly less elaborate tootle from the tinny trumpet, and the sprite
vanished.
Ascending all of two feet to the high chair located behind the commanding [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]