At ten in the morning, the frozen mud of the square was torn by the sharp hooves of four thoroughbred horses. Advocate Morrel arrived in an enclosed black lacquer carriage, with four armed deputies of the Provincial High Guard wearing yellow armbands and carrying iron-tipped staves.
Morrel stepped down into the gravel, his fine ermine-trimmed cloak pulled tight against the wind. In his gloved hand he carried a rolled parchment bearing the heavy red wax seal of the Country Judge’s Court.
“Tomas Reed!” Morrel shouted, marching toward the claims tent with the deputies behind him. “By order of Justice Harlan of the High Redoubt Court trial, I serve you with this Warrant of Summary Replevin. The metal plates you unlawfully excavated from the military works at Bastion-Nine are approved state property, belonging by military right to the Memorial Trust of Marshal Brand. Surrender the plates right away to these officers for impoundment.”
Tomas didn’t stand up from his bench. He was calmly oiling the leather buckle of his field ledger with neat’s-foot oil. Beside him, Hester Quill stepped out of the tent flap. She held a thick, brass-bound copy of the Kingdom’s Army Charter.
“Advocate Morrel,” Hester said, her voice dry and razor-sharp as she opened the folio to a page marked with an ivory ribbon. “You’re an educated advocate of the high court. You know perfectly well that Article 12 of the Army Charter expressly removes all abandoned military records from country civil turf.”
