The man turned back to the judges. “The bookkeeper will now present the book,” he said.

  Until this moment, two men had been standing in one corner of the room. With only their backs and sides to her, Eluvie could not see much of them beyond their black clothing and pale blue sleeves.

  One of them broke away and walked to the speaker. He met Eluvie’s eyes once during the walk but did not linger. When he reached the speaker, he held out both his hands and presented something. The speaker accepted it, then turned back to the judges and held it out.

  “This is the book,” he said. “I confirm that it remains unopened.”

  Then, he walked over to Eluvie and handed the book to her. "Confirm that it is unopened," he said.

  Eluvie accepted the book with three fingers. It was light and small, barely as thick as her thumb. The cover was a deep black with no words or ornamentation. The entirety of it was encased in a smooth and thin but tough-feeling membrane. She was tempted to immediately tear the membrane and watch their reaction, but she composed herself. Any irregularities in the proceedings were more likely to harm her than anyone else. There would be time to act, she hoped.

  She handed the book back to the man. She said nothing, but he took her silence as confirmation.

  "I will now break the seal," he said. He did that, opened the first page of the book, and read from it. "I, Isei Eluvie, confirm that this is the Scenario Book for my trial to Rauw. I write this in my own hand, before witnesses, on the 13th day of Mayok, in the 19th year of the 41st millennium. My witnesses are: my mentor, Gree Zaniba, my mentee and watcher, Eyi Amu, my bookkeeper, Eyi Rui, Mistress of Rites Gree Maya, Forest Keeper Chi Marina, Tower Watcher Gree Yarevu, and Children's Educator Gree Beneficu."

  The speaker finished his recitation and handed the book back to Eluvie.

  "Confirm that it is your name and writing on the first page, and that it is your writing in the rest of the book."

  Eluvie accepted the book, mildly annoyed by the repetition. When she saw the first page written in an unfamiliar language by an unfamiliar hand, her annoyance grew.

  "I can't read a word of this," she said, "and I suspect that you knew that."

  The speaker took the book from her and held it out to the other man, the bookkeeper. "Confirm that it is her writing," he said.

  The bookkeeper walked up to them, accepted the book, nodded that it was her writing, and returned it to the speaker.

  Eluvie huffed. "He was the one who presented the book," she said. "Of course he thinks that it's legitimate."

  She didn't care about the verification, but she felt an overwhelming urge to point out the oversight.

  The speaker was unfazed. "The bookkeeper is an acceptable second witness because he is in the list of witnesses," the speaker said. "But you are correct that it is irregular. If you wish, we may call an additional witness from the list."

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  "Don't bother," Eluvie said. "This is tedious enough already."

  "Then, you may return to your place, Eyi Rui."

  The bookkeeper returned to his original position and the speaker continued his performance.

  "I will now read the details of the trial," he said. "It is written in two parts. The first part is the objective. In order to pass the trial and ascend to Rauw, Isei Eluvie must have completed all the requirements in the list of objectives. The witnesses present will vote unanimously on whether she has met those requirements."

  Eluvie felt a glimmer of hope. "I have a question," she said.

  The speaker paused and turned to her.

  "You said that the witnesses must vote unanimously on whether I passed. What happens if they are not unanimous?"

  The speaker made an expression she could not interpret. "Then, they will debate the issue and keep voting until they are unanimous."

  "What if that takes a long time?" She asked.

  "By tradition, the witnesses must unanimously vote to approve the ascension, reject the ascension, or request another trial. This Reading will adjourn and reconvene every day until one of those things occurs."

  Eluvie barely held back a grin. By her count, there were fifty people on the panel. She did not know what her odds of swaying even one of them were, but she could see a few sympathetic faces among them. The trial had suddenly become much more interesting.

  The speaker resumed his reading. "The second part lists the failure conditions," he said. "If Isei Eluvie meets any of those conditions, then the council must unanimously approve her dismissal and exile. She will return to the planet on which she spent her trial and live out the rest of her days undisturbed."

  Eluvie's heart sank. If attempting to kill Mirab was one of the failure conditions, then there was less hope than she had thought.

  The speaker had not stopped. "If she does not meet the failure conditions or the success conditions, then she will be permitted to retain her rank as Isei and cannot retake the trial for another year."

  He paused, either for dramatic effect or interruptions, but no one spoke.

  "I will now read the objectives," he said. "The first objective is to neutralize Ijuv, the rogue exile, currently presenting as an ocean who intends to drown all the residents of the planet Marovieka. This objective is considered met if, at the conclusion of the trial, Ijuv has ceased to claim more land or attack humans and has retreated to his designated basin."

  Eluvie winced. She had not achieved that.

  "The second objective is to unite the leaders of the planet in restoring their home after Ijuv's rampage," the speaker said. "This objective is considered met if the leaders have in place a written agreement to aid each other in mutual rebuilding efforts."

  Eluvie bit her lip and cursed silently. She had not met that requirement either. Yira and Maso had acted as if she was a genius, but so far her performance was far below that bar.

  "The third and final requirement was to redeem and reconcile with Lady Mirab Semit, ruler of the Eastern Division of Hauma."

  Eluvie gaped at him.

  "This objective is considered met when Lady Mirab sincerely apologizes for her past treatment and Isei Eluvie wholeheartedly accepts the apology."

  Laughter overtook Eluvie; wheezy, hysterical laughter. She tried to stop, but each time she made a serious attempt, an image of her forgiving Mirab bubbled to the front of her mind and the laughter began anew.

  No one moved or spoke while she laughed. When, finally, she found a way to compose herself, the room seemed filled with a haunting silence.

  Sweet heavens, she thought, how I wish I'd killed that piece of slime.

  She didn't even want to pass the trial anymore. Any trial that ended with her in league with Mirab was unreasonable and disgusting.

  The speaker cleared his throat. About half of the judges returned their attention to him, but the rest remained focused on Eluvie.