Idrin asked Tallow what permanence cost in the same tone a householder asks the price of lamp-oil, and Tallow, who had been waiting all morning for a question he could answer with a figure, took the Register down from its shelf with both hands and set it on the clerk’s table between them as if it might bite.
“It costs nothing to ask,” said Tallow. “It costs a great deal to have it answered. Shall I give you the range first, Highness, or the rule?”
“The rule.”
“The rule is simple.” Tallow opened the Register at a clean leaf near the back, where the Foundation’s ruling was still sharp in the paper, and put one long finger on the top line. “A decree of the Crowned prince is permanent. It stands until a later instrument sets it aside. It cannot be struck. It can be superseded, which is a different thing from being struck, and I shall come to the difference in a moment, because it is the only part of the rule anybody in the Hold will ever need to understand.”
“Go on.”
“Superseded means that another Chamber makes a later instrument, in its own name, which names the earlier decree and sets it aside. The decree is still in the Register. It has a line through its status and a new entry beside it. It is not gone. It is replaced.” Tallow tapped the leaf. “Struck means the Register takes the line out of the book, and there…
