Rhialto rose to his feet. “Shall we now visit Fader’s Waft?”

Ildefonse raised his hand in a bluff gesture. “Seat yourself, Rhialto! Here comes Pryffwyd with further refreshment; let us drink wine and consider this matter dispassionately; is not that the better way, after all?”

“When I have been vilified, slandered and robbed, by those who had previously shone upon me the sweetest rays of their undying friendship? I had never —”

Ildefonse broke into the flow of Rhialto’s remarks. “Yes, yes; perhaps there were procedural errors, but never forget, the findings might have gone worse but for the efforts of myself and Hache-Moncour.”

“Indeed?” asked Rhialto coldly. “You are familiar with the Blue Principles?”

“I am generally aware of the important passages,” declared Ildefonse bluffly. “As for the more abstruse sections, I may be a trifle dim, but these in any event do not apply.”

“Indeed?” Rhialto brought out a torn blue document. “I will read from Paragraph C, of the ‘Precursive Manifesto’:

The Monstrament, like a perdurable edifice, depends on integrated blocks of wisdom, each supporting others with bonds of equal strength. He who maximizes the solemnity of certain passages and demeans another as trivial or paltry for the sake of his special pleading is guilty of subversion and submulgery, and shall be punished as directed by Schedule B, Section 3.

Ildefonse blinked. “My present remarks are truly no more than badinage.”

“In that case, why did you not testify that at the time Gilgad’s beast was abused, you and I were walking beside the River Scaum?”

“That is a good question. In sheer point of fact, I acted on grounds of procedural effect.”

“How so?”

“Simple enough! The question: ‘Did you walk with Rhialto by the River Scaum at the exact time Gilgad’s simiode was beaten?’ was never asked. By the rules of jurisprudence I could not properly introduce such evidence. Secondly, you already had been convicted on a number of other counts, and my remarks would only have caused confusion.”

“Should not truth be known? Did you not ask yourself who in fact had beaten the beast, and why he identified himself as ‘Rhialto’?”

Ildefonse cleared his throat. “Under the circumstances, as I have explained them, such questions are nuncupatory.”

Rhialto consulted the torn copy of the Blue Principles. “Paragraph K of Section 2 would seem to describe your act as ‘enhanced dereliction’. A harsh penalty — possibly too harsh — is specified, but the Adjudicator will read justice as it is written and apply the strictures to calm and thorough effect.”

Ildefonse held up his hands. “Will you take so trivial an affair to Fader’s Waft? The consequences are beyond calculation!”

“I will cite a third offense. In the looting of Falu, my copy of the Blue Principles was seized, torn and hurled to the ground. In this deed, which is precisely proscribed under Paragraph A: ‘Treasonable Acts’, all conspirators share the guilt, and all must pay the penalty. This is far from a ‘trivial affair’! I thought that you might share my indignation, and work for restitution and punishment of the guilty, but —”

“Your hopes have been validated!” cried Ildefonse. “I was on the verge of convoking a new conclave, to review the findings of the last session, which now seem to have been guided by emotion. Have patience! The Adjudicator need not be distracted from his passivity.”

“Convene the conclave as of this instant! Declare at the outset that I am innocent of all charges, that I have suffered inexcusable wrongs, that I demand not only restitution but multiple damages —”

Ildefonse cried out in shock. “That is an irrational penalty!”

Rhialto said stonily: “As Preceptor this is your decision to make. Otherwise the Adjudicator must assess the penalties.”

Ildefonse sighed. “I will call the conclave.”

“Announce that only two issues will be considered: first, restitution and the imposition of fines, ranging from three-fold to five-fold, and I will hear neither bluster nor obfuscation; and secondly, identification of the malefactor.”

Ildefonse grumbled something under his breath, but Rhialto paid no heed. “Convoke the conclave! Accept no excuses! All must be present, as I am an exasperated man!”

Ildefonse put on an air of forlorn good cheer. “All may yet be well. First I will communicate with your only true ally, other than myself.”

“You refer to whom?”

“Hache-Moncour, naturally! We will take his advice at once.”

Ildefonse went to a table, where he placed the semblance of Hache-Moncour’s face over a pair of orifices shaped to represent an ear and a mouth. “Hache-Moncour, Ildefonse speaks into your ear! I bring significant news! Speak with your mouth!”

“Ildefonse, I speak! What is your news?”

“Rhialto the Marvellous has come to Boumergarth! His mood is one of doubt and malaise. He feels that the conclave made several legalistic mistakes which tend to vitiate its findings; indeed, he demands triple damages from all parties concerned. Otherwise he threatens to take his case to the Adjudicator.”

“A great mistake,” said the mouth. “An act of reckless despair.”

“So I have advised him, but Rhialto is an obstinate man.”

The mouth spoke: “Can you not reason with him? Is he quite inflexible?”

“He yields by not so much as the twitch of an eyelash, and only speaks in tedious repetition of the Monstrament and the imposition of penalties. He seems obsessively convinced that a malefactor —”

Rhialto called out: “Speak more tersely, if you will; my time is valuable! Merely convene the conclave; you need not describe my troubled spirit in such sardonic detail.”

Ildefonse angrily threw nineteen semblances down upon his communication device. He put a clamp upon the mouth to impede protests and questions, then, speaking out into nineteen ears at once, he ordered an immediate conclave at Boumergarth.

4

The magicians one by one took their places in the Grand Saloon. Hache-Moncour was the last to arrive. Before seating himself he spoke a few quiet words to Herark the Harbinger, with whom he was on good terms.

Rhialto, leaning against a wood-paneled wall to the side, somberly watched the arrival of his erstwhile colleagues. None save Hache-Moncour, who gave him a polite bow, so much as looked in his direction.

Ildefonse convened the meeting in his usual manner, then glanced sidelong towards Rhialto, who maintained his silence. Ildefonse coughed and cleared his throat. “I will come directly to the point. Rhialto claims an unjust confiscation of his property. He demands restitution and punitive damages; failing satisfaction, he states that he will take his case to the Adjudicator. There, in a nut-shell, is the gist of our business today.”

Gilgad sprang to his feet, face purple with rage. “Rhialto’s posture is grotesque! How can he deny his crime? He beat poor Boodis and tethered him among nettles: a vile and heartless act! I declared as much before; I do so now, and will never revoke the charge!”

“I did not beat your beast,” said Rhialto.

“Ha ha! Easy for you to say! Can you prove as much?”

“Certainly. I was walking with Ildefonse beside the River Scaum at the time of the incident.”

Gilgad whirled upon Ildefonse. “Is this true?”

Ildefonse made a sour face. “It is true, in every particular.”

“Then why did you not say so before?”

“I did not want to confuse a case already turbulent with emotion.”

“Most peculiar.” With a set face Gilgad resumed his seat, but Zilifant immediately sprang erect. “Nonetheless and undeniably, Rhialto destroyed my harquisade tree with his floating plasm and left a horrid stench about the premises; further, so the rumor goes, he boasted of his accuracy, and imputed the source of the odor to me, Zilifant!”