She had practised her pose in the mirror. Calibrated it with minute care. Defiant, but not arrogant. Dignified, but not proud. Now that the waiting was over and the battle was joined her fear had vanished. In spite of the feverish heat she felt icy calm. She did not respond to the charges. She implied the charges were beneath a response.

Sworbreck cleared his throat, worked his mouth, then gathered himself for another sally, jabbing at her with an accusing finger. “You look a picture of modesty today, I note! Those of us familiar with your public displays are used to seeing you swathed in silks and dripping diamonds. Your name is synonymous with exhibitions of ostentation! It seems you are a mistress of disguise. A veritable chameleon.”

“I assure you I am as human as anyone.” Her voice echoed from the dome with pleasing confidence. “And with my full share of human failings.”

“More than your share, some would say! You pretend to be a humble Citizeness of the Union like any other. You hide your infamous history behind your husband’s celebrated name.” He appealed again to the galleries. “But we know who you are! You are none other than Savine dan Glokta, the notorious… the notorious… whatever are you doing?”

She was, in fact, unbuttoning the front of her dress. “Quite obviously, Citizen Sworbreck, I am tending to the needs of my children.”

A murmur spread around the court as she undid her nursing corset and worked one breast out. Sworbreck glanced quickly away, colour spreading across his cheeks. Knowing him for a fool and coward, it was no surprise to discover he was also a prude. “I hardly think… this is the place—”

“What better place?” She snapped her fingers for Freid to pass Ardee up to her. “The Great Change freed us all!” She settled her daughter on her breast and, heroic little thing, she set to feeding right away. “And yet ever since, I have received many lectures on the proper responsibilities of a Citizeness. Motherhood is always chief among them. Outside these very windows there is a statue several storeys high of Nature nourishing the young of the world. Should I reject her lesson? Should I abandon my responsibilities to my children simply because my life hangs in the balance? Should I reject the tenets of the Great Change, here at its very heart, in the Court of the People? No, Citizen Sworbreck, I refuse! I will nurture them until my dying breath.”

There was actual applause. Scattered, but applause. Perhaps she had struck a nerve with some of the mothers in attendance. Judge brought it to a halt with a few blows of her hammer, though, glowering towards the galleries. “Nurture away,” she growled. “It’s your own guilt that concerns us here today. Fucking proceed!”

“Of course, Citizeness Judge, of course.” Sworbreck rifled through his papers, which Savine would not have been surprised to find were blank, trying to recover his lost rhythm. “To the, er… to the specific charges, then! You were a leading light and founding member of that coven of profiteers, the Solar Society!”