Law and Magic

NaNo Part 3

Judge Drake folded his fingers as best as he could through his gauntlets and looked over at Rania. She had been called to this Inquiry because of her experience with the files that were supposedly on the Councilors. Dam'man Avellas was a Councilor on the Privy Council and because of his status; he had a fairly extensive file. The fact that he was one of the defunct aristocracies made this an even trickier matter. Drake looked at Rania and then frowned.

"Clerk Major, I am led to understand that you have extensive knowledge on the files that are kept on the Councilors?"

Rania almost nodded her head in agreement when she stopped herself. "Yes your honor. I have kept the files for the past two years on the Councilors and have been privy to many of the changes that were added and adjudicated to those files."

Judge Gixanna frowned and then shook her head. "Who cares? Let's hurry up and ask her about what it is that we need from her and let her go back to her paper pushing." She waved a gauntlet in the air and the small charms that she had attached to them clattered together.

Judge Maledi nodded his head and spoke. "Indeed. This is an Inquiry into the arrest that Judge Auralith screwed up so thoroughly, that not even the Vice Justice could look at this case and pass on it."

Drake frowned and looked at Maledi with a rather unhappy look. "Yes; Auralith did screw this up, but we have been led to believe that she did not have the correct information before she went to go make the arrest."

At this Rania gulped and tried to hide the fear that was beginning to build in the pit of her stomach. Her throat constricted tightly for a moment as she realized that the Judges were not just looking into the matter, but seeing if the Clerical Offices of the Judiciary Appointments might have messed up in their file keeping. Judge Balthendis sniffed rather loudly and then spoke in a quiet manner.

"We cannot assume that the files were so messed up that Auralith could not read them. In fact, the only ways that she could have messed this up could be because the files were not kept in proper order. Clerk Major, would you way that your files are kept in impeccable order?"

Rania took a breath and then tried to speak in as level of a tone as possible. "Your Honor, the files on the Councilors are kept in impeccable order and are only handled by myself and four other people. Any who wish to make any adjustments, be they part of the Military Judiciate Force or the High Judge Master General himself; must fill out the proper paperwork and then the adjustments are made by either myself or one of the other four Clerk Majors. It is then reviewed by the Second Handler Clerk Captain before it is allowed to be placed back in the files and then officially notarized as correct."

Gixanna snorted. "So you are saying then that the fault lies either with you or one of the other four clerk majors? There are five people who run these files?"

Rania took another breath. "I am saying nothing of the sort. If the information is incorrect, then the Clerk Captain is not allowed to sign off on the papers and they are then sent to review by a Clerical Council."

Judge Osters snorted and then said, "Sounds like an awful lot of bureaucracy to change some simple papers. It seems that there cannot be a simple change ever made to the files without someone noticing what is going on."

Judge Balthendis smiled only slightly and then said, "However, we cannot assume that all the blame falls solely upon the clerical offices. If you would look at the paperwork Drake, you can see on the fourth page that Auralith is not entirely in the clear herself. According to records, Auralith herself voiced that she should not go on this arrest because of the fact that she had a past with the councilor in question."

Osters raised an eyebrow and began to shuffle the papers in front of him before he found the page that Balthendis was talking about. He read only a few sentences before he nodded his head and looked up at Drake. "The old man is right. It's right here."