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At the door Kira turned and came slowly back to her place Pain started in her foot and seared through her twisted leg She longed to sit

"She does drag her leg, and she is slow," Jamison pointed out needlessly "I concede those points

"Yet her work at the weaving shed is coular hours, and she is never late The women there value her help

"Does she eat a lot?" he asked, and chuckled "I think not Look how thin she is Her weight refutes that accusation

"But I suspect she is hungry now," he said "I aest we take a break for a uardian stood "Do you wish to speak?" he asked Kira for the third time For the third time she shook her head no She felt terribly tired

"You ht"

Gratefully Kira lowered herself onto the nearby bench She rubbed her throbbing leg with one hand Across the aisle, she saw Vandara bow --I forgot again! I should have bowed! --and then sit, stony-faced

The chief guardian glanced down at his own stack of papers "There are five es," he said "We will deal with them and make a decision after the uard A plate was handed to Kira She saw and smelled roasted chicken and warm, crusty bread scattered with seeds She had not eaten anything but raw vegetables in several days, and had not tasted chicken in many months But she could still hear Vandara's voice, shrill with vindictive accusation: "She eats a lot"

Fearful of the consequences if she showed her ravenous hunger, Kira willed herself to nibble at the te meal Then she set the half-eht Tired, hungry still, and frightened, she stroked the scrap of cloth in her pocket, and waited for the next round of accusations

The twelve guardians went elsewhere, leaving through a side door, probably to a private eating place After a while guards came to take her food tray away and announced a rest period The trial would resu twice, they told her Vandara rose and left the room Kira waited for a moment Then she h the long hall, and went outside

The world was unchanged People ca loudly She heard shrill voices at the e at the prices, vendors shouting in reply Babies cried, tykes fought, scavenger dogs growled and menaced each other as they vied for dropped scraps

The boy Matt appeared, running past with some others When he saw Kira he hesitated, then stopped and cas for you," he whispered "Me and so your cott if you want" Then he paused, curious "If you need a cott, that is What be happening in there?"

So Matt knew about the trial No surprise The boy seee Kira shrugged with feigned nonchalance She didn't want to let hi," she told the boy

"And she be in there? Her with the horrid scar?"

Kira knehom he meant "Yes She's the accuser"

"She's hard, that Vandara She killed her own tyke, they say Made him eat the oleander, they say Sat with hih he didn't want to"

Kira had heard the story "It was judged an accident," she reh she had her doubts "Other tykes have eaten the oleander It's a danger, having a poisonous plant groild everywhere They ought to pull it all up, not leave it where the tykes can get at it"

Matt shook his head "We be needing it there to teach us," he pointed out "Me mum, she slapped at me when I touched it Slapped ht my neck would crack It's how I learnt about the oleander"

"Well, the Council of Guardians judged Vandara and said she didn't," Kira said again

"She's a hard one, anyways They say because of the horrid wound Pain be ht but didn't say

"When you be finish?"

"Later today"

"We'll work on your cott Some of my mates'll help"