Chapter 26
Despite the late notice, there was quite a crowd gathered in the courtyard at Sevvas patch when the Clarion arrived. The courtyard itself was walled in, with gates situated in the middle of each of three of its four walls. Right now the gates were open; anyone could just walk right in. And due to the large number of navigators available at this time of day, on a normal business day, at least three hundred people were there already, waiting for him. The yard was built to handle a thousand, though.
The courtyard, along with the Ascendant barracks, the Aquunite temple, and the Lord Ascendant’s manor, was easily within sight of the Spire. All four structures were equally placed in a square, with the Spire at its center. It towered up behind the Clarion—a symbol of the power and majesty of the Council and of their right to rule. The courtyard was usually only used during the Twin Suns celebration, or whenever there was some important announcement or activity that the Sustained needed to witness. Such as today.
The Clarion took a deep breath, recognizing the importance of the moment. As well as the juxtaposition of his duty with his training. He was a pacifist, after all. As he let it out though, that tickle in his throat caused him to cough lightly. He choked back any more coughs for the time being. He couldn’t afford to speak to the crowd in a raggedy voice.
One of the local guards—not a navigator, but assigned to protect him anyway—leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Are you sure this is a good idea? The crowd might go for it, but I doubt your bosses would.”
The Clarion smiled widely at the directness of the question. Giyan had known him for years, protecting him both in and outside of Sevvas patch. Officially, the Clarion had the same rank and authority of any member of the Council. He was Giyan’s superior’s superior’s… superior. Giyan wouldn’t dare to question anything said or done by one of the Council members, or even people lower down the chain of authority. But somehow he was perfectly comfortable questioning the Clarion’s course of action.
The Clarion hoped it was because of his winning personality and genial nature, and not the result of any lack of authority on his part. The Clarion was in charge here, yes, but he didn’t want people to fear him because of his official power. In fact, he really liked it when people working for him felt comfortable enough to talk to him like that. Two heads were better than one, after all, and at times his guards/friends had reminded him of things he’d missed.
“No, it’s not a good idea, Giyan,” he answered softly, “but it still has to be done.”
“Because of what Arico… uh, the heretic said?” The Clarion looked at him in surprise. Giyan did look a little embarrassed at what he’d said, but he kept eye contact. He did want an answer.
“I can’t speak to the heretic’s motives,” the Clarion answered carefully, “but in this case, he was right. Come on, we’ve got a job to do,” he ended the conversation quickly. He did have a job to do, but he also didn’t want to risk talking any further about the heretic. He wasn’t even sure how to feel about the heretic just yet.
The chatter in the crowd cut off abruptly as he made his way up and onto the stage in front of them. He’d done this a handful of times now, but it still had an effect on him each time. The crowd looked up at him, respectfully but also expectantly.
“People of Patchwork!” He tried to project his voice into the crowd. Unnecessarily, as it happened. He kept forgetting that this place had excellent acoustics. “By now you’re all aware of my most recent investigation—it would have been futile to try keeping it secret. Well, my inquiries have uncovered some deeply disturbing evidence. I presented my findings to the Council, and they have confirmed my conclusions and proclaimed the guilt of the man in question.” He beckoned to one of the other guards assigned to help him.
From behind the stage, the guard hauled a figure up the wooden stairs next to him. A blindfolded and gagged man with grey-white hair. The Clarion pulled the blindfold off so that the crowd could see him. Even though most of the crowd knew who he was beforehand, a rustle of disquiet passed through them as they gazed up at the former High Penet.
Paraku had been stripped of his title at the commencement of the Clarion’s investigation—basically the whole Aquunite faith had insisted he be separated from them during this embarrassing affair. Now it was time for him to face the rest of the consequences.
The Clarion spoke up again, sweeping the crowd with his sternest stare. “As your Clarion it is my highest duty to preserve the soul of our city. To do that, I must be willing to cut out sickness wherever I find it. While painful, the administration of justice to the deserving can only be of benefit to everyone else!”
He reluctantly looked down at the prisoner. “Paraku Stoker, for the multiple crimes of abuse of power, assault of children, manipulation of justice, bribery, and assisted murder, I, the Clarion of Patchwork, hereby sentence you to death.”
Even as the crowd made noises—both of protest and of approval—the Clarion reached down and removed the gag from Paraku’s mouth. At the same time he reached back with his other arm, and Giyan placed a familiar weight in his hand. “Do you have any final words?”
Paraku spat on the ground to clear his mouth, and glared up with hate in his eyes. “You’ve betrayed every navigator there is, Clarion. You’re a stain on what it means to be a navigator! You would have us deny our rights as Aquun’s chosen messengers, and corrupt the very meaning of what we stand for!” He gave a final sneer before looking away. “You disgust me. Do whatever you have to do, traitor, and may the Shemra take you!”
The Clarion gave him a sad smile. In other words, Paraku felt perfectly justified forcing himself on dozens of little boys—and making sure two of them died to keep them from talking—just because he felt it was his right as a navigator to do whatever he wanted.
By the sound of it, the crowd felt the same outrage that the Clarion did. Or had, anyway. He’d gotten over his rage at Paraku’s crimes, and was now calm again as his duties required. Angry voices began calling out, from parents most likely. It made sense. Not all of Paraku’s victims had been stra’tchi boys after all. Some had been born nearby, within Sustained territory. That was why the Clarion had moved the execution up to earlier in the day, in fact. Right now, most of the children were in schools all over the city: there were no kids here to see this.
“There is no place in Patchwork for anyone who brings harm to children,” he said softly. Gripping the axe in both hands, the Clarion lifted it… and brought it down swiftly.
-.-
An hour later, the Clarion stood at stiff attention in the Spire. The Lord Ascendant was pacing back and forth in front of him, obviously agitated. “What were you thinking?” He bit out, finally coming to a stop.
The Clarion said nothing. As was true of most people without his specific training, the Lord Ascendant didn’t really want an answer just yet. He needed to vent a bit first, and the Clarion wasn’t about to interrupt.
“I’ve just left an emergency Council meeting. The others are incensed with you! Most of them want you to publicly apologize for overstepping your bounds. Grover and Tanner both want you ejected from the Council immediately, and they never agree on anything! Miller and Weaver had even more… inventive ideas of what to do with you. Ideas even the sifters might have a hard time carrying out. You’ve put me in a very difficult position here, Ger-” he cut off briefly. “Clarion.”
The Clarion raised his eyebrows. Berilo must be under a lot of stress indeed, almost using his old name like that. It wasn’t like him to make such mistakes. “You were there, my liege,” he said respectfully. “I delivered my report, and they all agreed. It was the Council that instructed me to punish him in the first place.”
“To punish him, yes, but not to kill him!” The Lord Ascendant glared back at him. “You defied the entire Council this afternoon! Is it any wonder they’re up in arms about it?”
As usual, the Clarion met harsh words with calmness and gentleness. He had plenty of practice; that was for sure. “Their desires are meaningless, my liege. It’s their actions that matter. If they choose to punish me for this, that is of course their right. However, I cannot let the threat of punishment deter me, even slightly.”
He smiled slightly. Every leader he’d ever met had only done what was best for himself. The Council was no different, and neither was their Lord Ascendant. Perhaps that was why people found him so off-putting. Because he didn’t care if he was punished as long as he was doing the right thing.
“As Clarion, it is my responsibility to uphold the moral authority of the Council,” he continued in a soft voice, again suppressing the urge to cough. That tickle in his throat had been getting worse and worse over the past few weeks. He’d even arranged a medical examination to see if there were any tonics he could take to help. “In my estimation, simple imprisonment wasn’t enough to do that, not when his crimes were so numerous and so heinous. Paraku had been doing this for years now! It was his duty as High Penet to represent the will of Aquun to the people, and he failed. Spectacularly!”
“So you decided to just kill him? As if he were a lame horse, or a sick dog?” There was still anger in Berilo’s voice, but it was mixed with genuine curiosity now.”
The Clarion turned to look out the window down at the rest of Sevvas patch. “The Ascendant Charter clearly states that it’s within my authority as Clarion to determine the degree of punishment for capital crimes, my liege. And that’s exactly what I did. The Council’s recommended punishment was just that: a recommendation!”
He paused and took a deep breath. “A recommendation which I chose to ignore.”
The Lord Ascendant just looked at him for a few seconds. Over the past few minutes, the Clarion had gotten the increasing impression that Berilo’s ire had been just for show. He was complaining on behalf of the other lords he had to work with. If the Clarion had to guess, he would say the Lord Ascendant was actually… amused by this whole situation!
Sure enough, he smiled slowly. “The Clarion hasn’t overruled the Council on such matters in over two hundred years! You certainly don’t have a problem using your authority, do you?”
The Clarion shrugged. “There hasn’t been a Clarion in all that time. But isn’t that why you and the others installed me on the Council in the first place? You needed me to give you moral authority in the eyes of the people, yes, but you also needed my influence. The others may not have seen that until now, but I think you did, my liege.” He shook his head. “I am a useful tool to the Council, but I won’t be a puppet as well. I will continue to do what I feel is right, as I always have. If that means I get ejected from the Council, so be it.”
“Well,” the Lord Ascendant stepped up next to him. “You won’t have to worry about that just yet, at least. I can handle the Council. I would advise you to never do anything like this again, but we both know it would be a waste of effort on my part.” He gathered up the papers on the table, and turned to leave.
“One more thing, my liege,” the Clarion said over his shoulder. “Please tell the Councilors that my investigation is not yet complete. Paraku’s crimes demanded an immediate and permanent response, but my report was just on him alone. I’m sure there were others who helped him over the years. People who protected him, rationalized his actions… and in doing so, endorsed them. In time, I will discover everyone who was involved.”
“Do you plan to cut their heads off, too?” The Lord Ascendant asked, his voice suddenly becoming more serious.
“Perhaps,” the Clarion responded unabashedly. “I’m sure some of them deserve it. But I don’t have the authority to condemn, merely to punish. The Council has to decide their guilt, when the time comes. I’m sure they’ll do what’s right for the people of this city. Regardless of their feelings towards me,” he added in a similar tone.
His message was as clear as old palace crystal: they had most likely known about Paraku all along. They could try to stop the Clarion’s investigation, or ignore the results of it, but the people loved him and were backing him. If any of the Councilors tried anything stupid, they could probably avoid punishment from the Clarion, but would invite it from just about everyone else.
The message had obviously been received as well. For a moment he thought the Lord Ascendant would try to warn him again. Perhaps he wanted to, but he left in silence.
