The Trials of Righteous Judgement
"...and when I returned home from Celeren, I found my wife sleeping in Wang Hsu's house, and half my flock along with her." The shepherd looked down and all but tore apart his rice hat in his nervous hands.
Storm of Amber sighed. He didn't need Serrakeen, hovering nearby, to know that the man was lying. The Zenith stood away from the post-fence and fixed the full force of his Essence on the shepherd. "Look at me," he said and though the farmer struggled to continue his contemplation of his tattered hat he found his gaze drawn irresistibly up to meet the Zenith's eye.
"How many sheep did you lose?"
"Half my flock," the shepherd said weakly.
"Tell me the truth!" The Exalt's voice rang across the field.
"None." The farmer dropped his eyes again. "But, lord, my wife..."
Storm of Amber rubbed his eyes. "Would not have left you without good reason. What was it?"
"I... err..." The farmer coughed.
"What?"
"I bedded her unmarried sister. On our wedding day."
"Then I think that no wrong has been done you." The Zenith put his arm around the shepherd and drew him close to the fence. He gestured to the pasturage on the other side. "You still have your flock, and though you've lost your bride you still have her bride price. Let her stay with Wang Hsu if that's what she wants; you'd be no happier were you to force her to return to you."
"But..." The shepherd frowned. "What will I do for sons?"
"I imagine your bride's sister is in need of a husband. You'll be hard pressed to convince her father to give her up but, if you ask me, you deserve her."
Storm of Amber clapped the shepherd on the back, a little harder than was strictly necessary. Under his breath he said, "...and all of the misery she'll bring with her."
The Zenith turned away and walked down the farmer's road on the outskirts of God Crossing, Serrakeen alongside him. "Who's next?"
"A nearby leek farmer claims his neighbor stole a cord of wood from his yard and built a shed with it."
"If it's true, why can't he just give the man a beating, claim repayment for the stolen wood and be done with it?"
"Well, Storm..." As they neared the leek farm, Serrakeen gestured towards the man they'd been speaking about. He was bony and short, a wiry, almost brittle thing. Storm glanced past the leek farmer to his neighbor, a burly, stocky man who was putting the final coat of pitch on the roof of a brand new shed.
Storm of Amber rolled his eyes. "By all that's holy..." He pushed up the sleeves on his hanfu and stalked towards the pair.
