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Chapter One

Eyes down No peeping If she looked up, if she stared at hih trouble already

She stood on the spot, on the designatedroots into the hard surface so they could anchor her feet and stop her legs fro

He sat only a few paces from her, behind his raised bench and he would probably be peering down at her with those alien hawk-like eyes—but she daren’t check To her left was the court recorder, the ht, the prosecutor Another man He was not her friend He was her enemy

She had a lawyer—he was located behind her and out of sight She’dher nauilty and accept her fate He’d done nothing to help and presented her defense in a matter of minutes

She wasn’t sure about pleading guilty but she was determined to correct one major ether behind her back Her wrists were cuffed

“Zara Webb, do you have anything you wish to say to the judge before you agree or disagree with your culpability?” the clerk asked

In the Vendu world, entering a plea cae’s sentencing She’d no clue as to what to expect; her counsel had been pessimistic

“You got drunk You got your friends drunk,” he’d said during their short rimace The Vendu frowned upon drunkenness; in fact, any loss of control was a weakness

Don’t look up—don’t e She exa the court to please let me take the blame on my own Please don’t prosecute the others It was ot everyone in trouble”

The prosecutor rose to his feet, cleared his throat, and addressed the judge The man she couldn’t look at “Sir We, the prosecution, are willing to forgo further charges, if the huuilt” He spoke with a scathing nasal drahich even in the language of the Vendu was obvious Zara’s fluency in the foreign tongue was excellent

She waited The pause dragged on