Kairon had been watching the proceedings from the sidelines of the legal arena with polite interest, arms folded in front and hands cupping each elbow in a stately, statuesque pose. Penelope and Justafar had been grasping the concept of a court hearing with surprising skill, despite their primitive culture.

　　He frowned. Where had that condescending thought come from? There was always some intrusive point waiting in the wings when he thought about how the orcs were handling their social progression. Like that one, where he had thought of his people as "the orcs" instead of as his people.

　　It wasn`t something that intruded on his thoughts when he was in the middle of designing processes and tools. It only occurred when he thought about the people who would be applying them. He felt it was indicative of an inexplicable apart-ness, like he was cut off from other orcs, going back to when he was discovered in the wastes without memory.

　　Changing tack to a more pleasant line of thinking, he wondered again why no one had gathered the tribes together like this before. It was so easy, and the innovations were just there for the imagining. Sometimes his strokes of genius felt more like he was recalling a memory instead of exploring new territory.

　　There was no time to analyze the root of his condition. The brief intermission had ended and the players were returning to their places.

　　Kairon watched with a muted sense of pride as the judge climbed the podium. If he could find more orcs like that one, the empire could have a full court. The orcs could establish a written secular law system and handle matters of crime assessment in a more efficient manner. They could move away from the strictly religious principles and, more importantly, away from the shifting whims of a chieftain tyrant.

　　The judge looked down on the two teams from the podium through half-lidded eyes.

　　Kairon also regarded them from his place on the sidelines.

　　Justafar`s team crowded around their table, as if unable to escape its gravitational pull.

　　Kairon felt much promise from Justafar. Even more than from the smaller tribes he had bested earlier in his campaign for enlightenment. He not only had charisma, but cultivated it in ways more advanced than Kairon had seen thus far. He was smart and knew how to play at politics.

　　Kairon knew that while Justafar may be playing the humble underling now, it was actually to foster a carefully engineered false sense of security in Kairon himself.

　　It did not bother him. He wanted to see Justafar succeed. It was never his, Kairon`s, place to rule, but was only a role which had been thrust upon him. For his part, he intended to guide others in how to learn, but knew one day he would step out of the seat of command in favor of&.of&..of someone like Justafar, perhaps.

　　But then there was Penelope.

　　He judged her to be quick witted, a rare trait among the orcs. Her mind seemed sharper than Justafar`s, almost rivaling his own. She wasn`t well-liked, a negative quality in competition for leadership, but this was largely due to this business about her potentially not being an orc.

　　This was a strange case to him, because he did not truly know what a changeling was. Her being accused of being one, he also felt unable to trust her information on the subject. However, the evidence provided only proved she was clever and compassionate. Rare traits, but ones she shared with Kairon himself, their ruler.

　　He did not intend to hold leadership forever, but this was because he understood the role of a leader. He knew a leader is intended to be a role model among those who he lead in addition to a major decision-maker for the good of the public body.

　　For now, Kairon withheld his personal judgement, even from himself.

　　But if she is penalized merely for those traits she shares with me, he reasoned, corrective action will be taken.

　　Salander fidgeted in his seat.

　　Penelope scolded him. "Stop worrying so much. You`ll be fine."

　　"I will not," he protested. "It`s one thing to be in this arena, surrounded by orcs, but it`s quite another to go up and talk in front of them."

　　"You`re doing it on my behalf."

　　"That makes it worse, me defending an orc."

　　"You promised."

　　"No, you promised," he rebutted, "If you win, it`ll get us out of here. Now I`m neck deep in the mouth of the beast, trying to make it throw me up." He shuddered.

　　"Ooh, that`s good. Save that drama for the stand."

　　The judge spoke up, saying, "The defendant has a witness-"

　　Penelope stood quickly, amending the announcement, "A testament of character, Your Honor." She received a reptilian stare in return.

　　"A testament of character, then," the judge declared. "Please send up the one testifying for you."

　　Penelope sat back down and looked at Salander. She nodded towards the stand.

　　With great reluctance, he slid from his seat and approached the bench, interrupted by a goblin with a stack of slates and a ritual dagger.

　　"Where do you keep getting these?" he hissed at the goblin before marking the unmarred grey tablets. Salander had to slip the dagger under his palm scales to get at the soft flesh.Stolen novel; please report.

　　Like one deaf to the world, the goblin trotted back behind the podium whence he came. Salander clenched his bleeding hand into a fist as he took his seat.

　　He saw Justafar slap one of his team with whom he was arguing and say, "How did you ever pass the bar?" To which the underling said, "Remember? I ducked. You swung that bar thing at us saying you`d only take the ones who passed the bar without getting hit." But the chief was already pointing at Salander.

　　"This is outrageous!" he bellowed at the judge.

　　The cry came from the prosecution. Justafar was looking incredulously between Penelope and the judge.

　　"You bring a slave to testify?!" He drew his weapon as he stood up.

　　Pointing the blade at Salander he proclaimed, "This is-&" He fumbled for words, his hands moving in front of his as they were physical things he was juggling. Failing to find anything with proper legal timbre, he continued, "Unfair! This thing has no free will."

　　The crowd murmured. This was true, according to popular orc belief. Orcs considered themselves the truly conscious beings. They didn`t go so far as to believe it was their job to guide those other beings, but they definitely couldn`t have any free will if it was orcs telling them what to do.

　　The judge looked again at Penlope, asking, "Do you still bring this ad hoc and obviously doctored testimony before the court?"

　　Penelope scoffed. "Salander has his own opinions, and the testimony he has yet to give is his alone. His words are not mine, as he swore before Ogg."

　　"Is that a yes?"

　　Penelope, through gritted teeth, said, "Yes, I fully intend to have him testify for me, regardless of preconceived notions."

　　The judge, looking at no one in particular, said, "The court will accept this testimony as evidence. However, the jury will note that the one testifying is not a free orc."

　　Justafar chuckled, "You almost earned my respect, cowbird. You remember me teaching you to fight dirty." He patted his stomach, as orcs believed thinking was done in the gut, and said, "Don`t forget that there are things I never taught you."

　　Penelope rolled her eyes, trying to remain offended at being accused of cheating. She suppressed the faintest warm glow at the praise.

　　"I would like to get this over with," Salander said over the hubbub, "if you are all done arguing over me."

　　The judge banged the gavel for silence. One board fell away from the podium, but it remained standing.

　　"Thank you," Salander said, eyeing the fallen board. It had almost hit him.

　　"I would like to start by saying that I corroborate with Penelope`s claim. Furthermore, you orcs don`t seem to differentiate between the species you use for your menial labor, but I am neither goblin nor lizardfolk. I am a kobold."

　　Penelope grew nervous at his blunt tone, but there was nothing more than just ambient animosity coming from the crowd.

　　"We kobolds have lived alongside you orcs for countless years, doing our best to avoid your hunt parties and to keep in your shadow. We are often afflicted by the same things as you, our neighbors.

　　When the land is under drought, or the herd beasts change their migration, or when disease grips the land, we feel these things along with you.

　　We are also afflicted by cowbirds."

　　He sounded petulant. If he`s still scared to be up there, he`s good at hiding it, Penelope thought.

　　"I have not seen many instances of cowbirds, myself. I augment my experience with other accounts. Kobolds, together, have a long memory. Not many know this."

　　His eyes moved around the audience, staying just above their heads and not landing anywhere for long. He would occasionally stop himself from gesturing with his injured hand.

　　"Now, you only have my word, but keep in mind that it is bound by my blood offering. There was once a kobold who was spirited away and replaced with a cowbird. It was one of my cresh, which was a particularly small one that breeding season. I hatched in a cresh of only three."

　　Penelope sat up. Why did he not tell me before?

　　"I have memories of growing up with that kobold, though they run together. I was also in my formative years, but as hatched creatures, we kobolds mature faster.

　　She was a pleasant person, I recall. None of my cresh were aggressive, though we had our occasional disagreements. She was fond of the white flowers that grow around the sandy water gatherings.

　　This was before any of us had reached the age of naming, but she loved those flowers so much. I was certain she would choose that as her name."

　　By now, Salander had grown forlorn.

　　"She and I ventured to one of her spots. This I remember clearly, but I will spare you the details. Know only that she and I shared secret words. We came to know each other, alone together in that spot, with nothing but the water, the rock-sand, and the small white flowers."

　　His voice grew softer at the mention of the flowers, and he spoke to the air in front of him.

　　"This, too, I remember clearly," he said, his voice returning to rigid bluntness, "One day she went off alone to one of her spots, or so the others had said. She was away for far longer than normal. We grew concerned for her. She had no forager training, her being too young to start learning.

　　The faithless among us suggested she had been captured, or perhaps eaten.

　　It was dark when she eventually returned. She came to us out of the blackness, unharmed. She did not answer questions, and initially did not speak. Her voice came to her gradually, but when she looked at me, her gaze was empty."

　　Penelope suddenly grew self-conscious of the way she was watching Salander. She took stock around the arena. He still had their attention, but she could not read every expression. Something in his words tugged at her. He sounds so formal, she thought, Maybe it`s his nerves.

　　"She was right by morning, though she still would not answer questions about what happened. Weeks passed, and there seemed to be nothing wrong. The others seemed to accept that she had returned unharmed, but I reserved my judgement until I could talk to her myself.

　　When I was able to speak with her, my doubts had vanished. There was no recognition in her eyes, though she said she knew me. She did not mention the white flowers. She did not respond to our secret words.

　　I realized that before me was a perfect imitation of a kobold. It was not a perfect imitation of the kobold I once knew."

　　He turned to Justafar, who was already staring at him.

　　"If this sounds familiar, know that we judged the same as you. I ousted the imposter among us before her naming day. The accounts from other tribes support what I saw in that imitation kobold, and the circumstances surrounding it coming to us.

　　It is with this experience, and the knowledge of these accounts, that I tell you that you were wrong."

　　One of Justafar`s attendants drew his weapon, shouting, "It lies!"

　　He charged the stand.

　　Penelope did not hesitate. She lunged, toppling the table, to tackle the charging orc.

　　They both went down, with her hugging his waist. He thrashed, unable to wield his weapon properly.

　　The gavel thwacked the podium repeatedly.

　　"I will have order!" the judge shouted, and the offended orc stopped struggling. He and Penelope got to their feet.

　　"Why do you approach the stand?" the judge asked of the aggressor.

　　He huffed. "The testimony is false, your honor. I`m acting for the prosecution."

　　"Can you prove that it is false?"

　　"No, I wasn`t there, but-"

　　"Then you may not hit him."

　　He growled in frustration.

　　"If you can prove he lies, then I may permit you to hit him."

　　Penelope started, "Hey, wait-!" but the offending orc, now less sullen, said, "Yes your honor!" and returned to his side, eager to build an argument.

　　"You`re not really going to let him assault my witness, are you?" Penelope asked the judge.

　　"Please return to your seat, defendant."

　　It was Penelope`s turn to huff. When she had righted her table and both chairs, the judge asked, "Do you have anything you would like to add to this testimony?"

　　Salander, shaken, said, "No, your honor."