The three notes of the brass desk bell died away into the high vault of the dome, leaving a silence so profound that Noll could hear the slow, rhythmic drip of water from the drainage culvert eighty paces behind the south benches.
Prit stood behind the clerk’s podium, his fingers resting on the cold slate tablets. His face was pale, his eyes magnified behind his round glass spectacles as he looked down at the center of the ring.
“The roll is closed,” Prit announced, his voice vibrating with the strange, magnified resonance of the chamber. “The jurisdiction of the First Settlement is accepted by all parties present. We come now to the binding of the host. Under the ancient statutes of the Hall of Witness, no tribunal may receive testimony, nor may any judgment be rendered, until the custodian of the ground stakes his full interest into the circle.”
Prit turned to face the tiered benches, his spectacles catching the daylight from the high light slits.
“The law of the circle is absolute,” Prit continued. “A claim core that summons an assize cannot hide behind limited liability. It cannot offer token collateral while holding its real wealth behind stone walls. Whosoever convenes this court must bind his entire estate—every privilege, every stored point of force, every masonry block, and the vessel of his own consciousness—to the outcome of the judgment. If the judgment finds the host fraudulent, the stake is forfeited to the creditors. If the judgment finds the host…
