Idrin put the motion as Wardens are meant to put it, in the plain grammar of the Charter of Shares, and he did it without a single Royal Form, because he had found in the last hour that he could not remember how to begin one.
“That the Mourn Form be fed from the Hold’s stores for one season,” he said. He stood at the head of the casks with both hands resting on the table and his voice steady in the cold room. “And that the feeding be recorded as a charge against the granary, not against any Hand.”
Tallow read it back, word for word. He did it in his flat Ink voice, and the Chamber listened to the words the way it listened to the candle-clock, as a sound that was going to end whether anybody liked it or not.
“A charge against the granary,” said Gaunt. “Not against the Smith. Good. Then I may vote for it without signing my name under the bread.”
“You may vote for it,” said Idrin, “and you may sign your name under the bread. The Charter does not require the Smith to be ashamed.”
“The Charter does not require anybody to be ashamed of anything,” said Gaunt, “which is why it is so popular with the Lessaran clerks.”
