The Petition of Edwin Marsh – Part 1: The Petition

ROYAL TRIBUNAL OF VALDORIA The Petition of Edwin Marsh

Lady Justiciar Beatrix Holm, Authorised Court Officer of the Crown, has decided on the petition of the accused Edwin Marsh, schoolmaster of the Northern Reach, as follows.

In the name of the Crown of Valdoria, the accused is found

GUILTY

of the offences of

SELF-IMPORTANCE BEFORE THE COURT

NEGLECT OF HIS DUTIES AS A VOLUNTEER

Original petition of the accused:

For twelve months I have come to the Court only when it suited me, and arrived late three times without apology. I have treated the Justiciar as a convenience and not as an authority, and I have forgotten that service is a gift and not a transaction. I now ask humbly whether I deserve a severe sentence for my neglect, or perhaps mercy, so that I may start a new year in the service of the Crown.

Mitigating circumstances: the petition is honest, and was written in his own hand.

Aggravating circumstances: the accused is a schoolmaster. He lectures children on punctuality.

SENTENCE

• A fine of six hundred crowns, counted aloud.
• An evening of strict service in the Justiciar's chambers, by the clock, with no speech except in answer.
• Twenty ceremonial strokes of the cane, counted aloud, within the Articles of Consent.
• A night in the Quiet Cell, with a lamp, a blanket and a bell within reach.

Mercy: the Court notes the petition for mercy, and grants it in one respect. The accused will not be left alone until he has been held.

Further provisions:

• The accused may end the sentence at any time by speaking the word RECESS.
• The Justiciar will check on the accused every thirty minutes.

Signed, Lady Justiciar Beatrix Holm.

Edwin read it twice in the hall of the old assize house, with his heart in his throat. He was forty-four, a real-life headmaster, and the sight of the word mercy in her angular handwriting made his eyes sting. Beatrix was fifty-two, a senior judge, patient and dry, and had spent a full year letting him decide whether he was ready.

"Mr Marsh," said Lady Justiciar Beatrix, in her bench voice.

"Your Excellency."

"I have read your petition seven times."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

"It was the best-written confession I have received." She took off her glasses. "It was also, in two places, rather self-pitying."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"We will correct that." She put them on again. "Do you accept the verdict?"

"I do."

"Do you remember the word?"

"Recess."

"Are you content?"

"Content, Your Excellency."

"Then take the stool." She pointed at a plain wooden seat in the middle of the floor. "And wait for the clock."

Continue the story: Part 2 – Recess.