Kilthanis sat anxiously in the back of the courtroom. It had been an anxious three weeks. The Lord Justices filed into the chamber. All but one of them. Lucas was conspicuously absent. The Justices took their seats and the Lord Chief Justice began to speak.

“Good morning. We are seated today to issue our decision in the petition to rehear the case brought by Lord D’Endray against the Emperor. This was an unusual petition and one we considered quite seriously. While we are often asked to reconsider our decisions, we are rarely moved to do so. When we speak with one voice, we almost never have in our long history, granted such a request. Only under the most extraordinary circumstances will we reverse any of our decisions, let alone one made so recently.

“But we are persuaded that such circumstances obtain here. We are loath to discuss publicly the internal workings of the Court. Nevertheless, we have been approached by one of our number who supported this petition, an action which is unprecedented as far as we can tell. Given that Lord D’Endray’s request was joined by a member of this Court, who confessed that our prior decision of which he was a part may have been made in error, we felt compelled to reconsider our decision.”

Kilthanis breathed a sigh of relief. Even with Lucas’s support, there was no guarantee that the Court would reconsider its decision. The Justices could as easily have decided that Lucas’s change of heart did not warrant reversing themselves. The fact that they had decided to grant his petition meant he had almost certainly won.

“The opinion of the Court was authored by Lord Justice Juroch. He will announce it now.” The Chief Justice turned toward Justice Juroch, who smiled briefly before he began his recitation.

“Thank you, Lord Chief Justice. The rights of Imperial citizens are of vital importance. When the rights of one are threatened, the rights of all are in peril. Therefore, this Court has always stood as a bulwark against the tyranny of all officials, high or petty.

“There can be no doubt that if the desert folk are imperial citizens, their rights have been violated. Even without specific information of their detention and treatment in Osh’riyo, the rounding up and imprisonment of a group of individuals, based on nothing more than their membership in a particular race, cannot be justified on the scant evidence provided.

“But are the desert folk citizens? We have previously ruled that they are not, and there are some on this Court who would stand by that determination.” Here, he cast a sidelong glance in the direction of the Chief Justice, before continuing. “But it is not necessary for us to answer this potentially contentious issue today.

“For our Empire has always been a creation of its people. It draws its powers from them. The first commandment of our legal religion, handed down by Bokiyem Himself, is that the will of the people is the law of the Empire. And the people have employed that will to place limits on Imperial power. The Empire is incapable of acting outside these limits, even when acting outside its physical boundaries. Therefore, it is our opinion, over one dissent, that regardless of the status of the desert regions, those desert folk within the Empire are entitled to the rights of Imperial citizens so long as they are located within Imperial borders.”

Kilthanis fought to contain his exaltation. He had been vindicated. He could now secure the release of the desert folk. But Justice Juroch was not finished speaking.

“Additionally, based on the information presented under Oath, we have determined that there was no justification for the Emperor to violate the Pact of Dhereshu. It is our opinion that he is in wrongful violation of the Pact, and will remain so, so long as Imperial troops continue to occupy desert soil.

“So it is ordered.”

Kilthanis was up like a shot and was out the door almost before the Lord Justice has finished speaking. He didn’t even wait to hear the Lord Chief Justice announce the dissent. He would have time to read it later. For now, he had to get a copy from the Clerk and then find a griffin he could ride to the Imperial Capitol. He wanted to deliver the news himself.