“You’re the Witness for the Dead. It will do no one any good if a petitioner comes and finds you waiting in the hall.”

“I suppose not.”

“And I must warn you that you will probably be summoned before the Amal’othala. He is unhappy.”

Her ears dropped in obvious dismay. “I thought…”

“Dach’othala Vernezar is in more trouble than you are,” I said, wondering if that was a comfort or not. “But why were you so desperate not to leave Amalo?”

“This is already farther from home than I’ve ever been,” said Tomasaran. “And at least here I can go back and see my child and my sisters occasionally. Dach’othala Vernezar said I might be sent to Cetho for training.”

How cunning of Vernezar. I said, “You’d probably be sent to Ezho, but you could be sent anywhere to serve as a junior prelate.”

“And it just seemed … you were here, and I’m only a prelate because I’m a Witness for the Dead anyway.”

“A situation which would change if you had proper training,” I said. “I’m sorry, I should have inquired more deeply into how you ended up in my office, but I assumed Vernezar had consulted with the Amal’othala before sending you to me.”

“I didn’t think the Amal’othala would care.”

“Oh, he doesn’t. Except about the fact that Vernezar didn’t have the right to decide what you should do. He’s jealous of his prerogatives, not interested in his prelates.”

“I don’t think I have ever heard you say something that harsh about anyone.”

“I am…” I sighed. “I am out of charity with the Amal’othala. But I should not have said that.”

“Do you think I’ll be sent to Ezho?”

“Not now,” I said. “If Amalo is to have an unbeneficed Witness for the Dead, it has to be you.”

“I still think you should stay Witness for the Dead.”

“I can’t,” I said. “Besides, the Amal’othala has already written to the Archprelate.”

“Oh no!” said Tomasaran. “What will happen to you?”

“I don’t know. It depends on what use the Archprelate has for me.”

“But you could be sent anywhere.”

“Yes,” I said. “I could.”

After that, we did not speak for a long time, until one of the building clerks came by with the messages from the pneumatic tube system that linked all the government buildings to the Amal’theileian. There was only occasionally something for me; today, there was word that Lord Judiciar Erimar had decided in the case of Esmeän Tativin.

The story had been clear, both from my deposition and from Witness Parmorin’s; thus, the judiciar found her guilty and sentenced her to die. She could afford no lawyer to speak for her, but it most probably would not have made a difference. She confessed to the murder, and her reasons were not such that they could be claimed as mitigation, as sometimes happened in the cases of blackmail victims who killed their blackmailers. (Tura Olora might have gotten a lesser sentence than death, if he had tried.) Osmin Tativin would be executed in one week.