Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3) by P.S. Power

middle of the night? Convenient. I'll have that to you by
nine then, tomorrow." There was no hint that they were supposed to leave
then, but her new friend, Judge Brown, stood, so she did too.
    Then he held out his right arm
for her to take, and she led him back to the Bard office, up near the top of
the building. They didn't run the whole way, but the man didn't seem enfeebled,
just like the stairwell was a bit dark. Which it was, since the lamps hadn't
been lit yet, and the windows were starting to darken.
    When they got to the right door,
Clarice was tending the stove, and the whole place was a bit warmer than was
comfortable. That meant, if nothing else, that she probably wouldn't insist on
keeping it like an icehouse all winter.
    When she looked up, the High Bard
smiled, charmingly.
    "There you are, Bard Pran.
With a guest, too?"
    Pran shrugged.
    "Nope. We get to keep him.
For three months at least. I'll explain, but the short answer is that he's here
to help with our investigation. The long answer is that I'm going to
immortalize him in clay and possibly stone. We have to keep the important
things in mind, after all. The future will need to know what a real Judge
looked like." It was part of her job too. Not the most important one, since that was keeping people entertained.
    Rather than seem put out by the
idea, Clarice moved in and gave Brown a hug.
    "Perfect! Thank you so much.
I've been asking Judge Sims for some aid that way for months, to no avail. She
said that it wouldn't make sense. How did you managed to change her mind?"
    Pran winked, and led Brown to a
chair.
    "I didn't. She just needed a
reason to keep an eye on things, and here I am, so she sent her man here to do
the task. That's all." The odd thing there was that the Judge nodded when
she spoke.
    "True." That was all he
said.
    It was a bit spooky.

Chapter five
     
    There was a decently large
surprise then, as Clarice looked out the wall of windows to the right of the
room.
    "It looks like it's about
time to go home then. We can just leave the fire. The floor boy will see to
putting it out for us. Judge..." She looked at the older man, who was
about her own age, and floundered for a bit. Pran saw that and stepped in,
since it was probably her job anyway.
    "Brown. We should get you back
to your room first." Her plan was to learn where it was, but the man
simply stood up and seemed ready to try going on his own.
    "I got here well enough, and
can again in the morning. If I don't wait too long I should be fine. I'm afraid
my night vision isn't up to the task of taking moonlit strolls right now."
He didn't explain the whole thing, so Pran did, just short handing the real
story for him. They could go over it all the next day, except that Bard Clarice
seemed to already know that part of the story. It made sense, given her job.
    "I'd heard. You're
recovering from your ordeal?" The concern in her voice seemed real, and
she glanced at the man, who really was looking right at her face, even in the
dim room. That probably meant he was doing better than he'd been letting on.
    That was probably habit and fear,
as opposed to lying on his part. It was scary being blind, even for a little
bit. She could see him doing that. Still, not letting everyone in on that fact
made sense to her.
    In fact, she let her voice rise a
bit, when she spoke, so that anyone out in the hall could make out her words,
and went over to the door, to open it.
    "The Doctors say that Judge
Brown might be fit for work again in four months, if all goes well. He's
staying with us here though, so that I can use him as a model for that statue
you wanted me to sculpt. We'll start in the morning, but we need to take him to
his room now, since his vision is too damaged for things like that. The dark
will steal it all, I fear." It was a bit over the top, but that sounded
real enough to get the word out. Or would, if anyone was listening.
    Clarice got the idea it seemed,
and nodded to her, projecting well