Chapter 9

An hour's recess was called; time for lunch.

"Come with me," Cobweb offered, speaking above the crowd, which had finally taken up its full voice, foregoing the whispers that had been the rule all morning. Taking Lisia's hand as soon as they were both standing, he directed them towards the aisle. He suspected Lisia would like to escape to someplace quiet and less crowded. "Come on, I'll take you to--"

"No," Lisia said. His feet had locked to the floor. "I have to talk to them."

Cobweb dropped his hand. "As you wish. I'll wait here."

Lisia darted down the aisle to the seats in the front row where the previous witnesses had been seated. Cobweb watched him from afar, trying to catch the action through the crowd. For a moment he saw Lisia, who had reached the front, but then his view was blocked. Shifting over slightly, he waited for more of the House representatives to pass to the back of the hall, deliberately wearing an expression sure to stave off any attempts at conversation.

Finally his line of sight was clear and he spotted Springtime and Buttercup, huddled together before Lisia, who was taller than both of them. At first they appeared to be having a quiet discussion. Then quite suddenly Lisia had grabbed Springtime by the shoulders and appeared to have become rather more forceful in expressing his thoughts, although Cobweb couldn't catch the words. A few moments later Buttercup shoved Lisia away and said something -- without a doubt, an insult. Lisia's face went crimson and then the hostlings turned their backs and headed away.

Cobweb quickly made his way down the aisle to the front, where Lisia was standing, obviously furious. Phaden and Laran had also disappeared in the interval.

"What is it, Lis?" Cobweb asked. "What did you say to them?"

Lisia allowed himself to fall gracelessly into the first chair in the row. "I said hello to them and then I told them they needed to remember to think of themselves as independent and not rely too heavily on other hara. I told them they were free now and didn't have to take orders from anyone."

"And?

"And they told me--" he broke off, glancing over to Cobweb. "They told me I wouldn't understand because I was never 'soume enough' and always made trouble." He shook his head, frustrated. "I don't know what they're talking about."

"What else did they say?" Cobweb prodded. It seemed obvious that there had been some further insult.

Lisia looked up at the ceiling. "Buttercup said the only reason I stayed behind was that I wasn't pretty enough to have anyone on the staff offer to protect me." He shrugged. "I told you already, that's not true -- I did have someone offer. I didn't want to tell Buttercup that, though, and so then he said I'm just jealous and stupid to be staying at the facility and doing so much work when I could be a consort like they are."

"Ah." Cobweb put his hand on Lisia's shoulder. "Well, I'm sure you know better than to believe that."

"I do. I just wish it could be different. And I wish the other two hadn't gone."

"Phaden and the doctor?"

Lisia nodded. "I really wanted to talk to Laran. You know," he said, hesitantly, "he helped me deliver half my pearls."

"He must have been very important to you."

"He was," Lisia agreed solemnly. "I trusted him. Of course, as it turns out, he was lying to me."

"Hara do that," Cobweb replied cynically. "But come on now, come with me to lunch. Let's just eat and come back here for the rest of the session."

Lisia pushed himself out of the chair. "All right. Let's leave this behind us, at least for a little while."

Lunch was a subdued affair. Lisia and Cobweb ate at a table in the large almost cafeteria-like eatery located next door to the assembly hall. Neither har was in a talkative mood, both of them absorbed in their own private thoughts.

Cobweb observed the hara around him with a jaded eye, thinking of how the former Varrs were making such a show of being civilized, non-violent, democratic "Parasiel." The current hearings certainly had the hallmarks of the tribe's current aspiration, to tidy up the past in order to greet the new Gelaming-assisted future. Of course, the fact that none of the witnesses had been provided a defense showed that they had not swung totally away from their autocratic past; in this way they were much like the Gelaming, who for all they hearkened to the Hegemony, was ruled by the Tigron Pellaz and above him, Thiede.

Lisia for his part appeared to be mulling over the prior proceedings. He picked at his food and on and off held a glass of water to his lips without really drinking. His eyes drifted over the masses of eaters, including several families that had met up, harlings come to visit their parents who were members of the assembly. Cobweb could clearly see that the young har was unused to sitting amidst such large crowds of adult hara. He assumed that Lisia would be particularly sensitive to the wide variety of gender styles presented, from the very soume to the stridently ouana to everything in between. Of course, it was true that even in Galhea, Lisia himself represented a fairly extreme end of the soume spectrum, although how Lisia placed himself Cobweb did not know. Imagining Lisia's perceptions of things was a good way to pass the time.

Finally time was up and they headed back into the hall together.

"So this is when the decisions will be made?" Lisia asked. They were making their way to their seats just behind the legislators.

"I assume so," Cobweb replied, seating himself. "This is where they'll pick everything over and then try to come up with a proper response -- not punitive but what they and their Gelaming mentors would like to think of as 'enlightened.'"

Lisia frowned. "You sound skeptical. Don't you think the Gelaming are fair?"

"Fair? Well, let's just say I've been dealing with them for a couple years now and fair doesn't necessarily always factor in. Think what they did to--" Cobweb stopped himself, surprised at what he was about to say. "Terzian."

Lisia didn't press the point, opting to observe the various legislators moving about the stage. Seel and Swift were there as well. The four witnesses filed into the first row together, chaperoned by guards. The hall was nearly full when at last Swift rose to address the assembly.

"Members of the House and public audience," he began, "as you know, I personally have been very much involved in the follow-up on the breeding facility ever since it was discovered and I made my initial assessment. Now you've heard the witnesses speak before us and share their own experience. I think we all agree that the project carried out under the former regime was despicable in both its ends and the means by which those ends were achieved. Many lives were damaged."

At this point Swift paused and looked out into the crowd -- at Lisia. "I know that Tiahaar Lisia, at least, will be able to overcome his past. Since I appointed him headmaster of Harling Gardens, he has done an outstanding job leading in the conversion of the facility into a school dedicated to the education of the remaining harlings. This is hardly surprising given the heroism he showed in standing by the more than 180 harlings who he manage to rescue and manage as sole caretaker."

He now turned his eyes down to front row, where Springtime, Buttercup, Phaden and Laran were sitting. "As for the four witness which spoke earlier, it is up to you to decide. I would hope that you will remember to rise up above vengeance and strive for something appropriate to the crimes involved."

With that, the representatives began what proved to be a long and drawn out discussion. While in the end they managed to avoid the dangers pointed out by the young governor, it was an uncomfortable affair for all concerned.

The two hostlings were considered together, as both existed in a similar circumstance. In testimony they had both expressed a strong, even vehement, desire to remain with Phaden. Many of the representatives were loath to allow it. The hostlings, they stressed, should be separated from Phaden and given other options and, above all, counseling.

"These hara have clearly been brainwashed," member Serron argued. Like Gella, Serron had once been consort to a high-ranking military officer. "At their age and with their experience, I can't see how either of them can be considered self-aware to know what's really best for them. They say they're happy with Phaden but what else do they know?"

There was considerable assent on this point but another quarter of the crowd countered this, arguing that the hostlings were not harlings but grown hara, free to make their own decisions and their own mistakes.

"But isn't it just too likely they'll make those mistakes?" another har questioned. "I mean, these hara are hardly the type to stand up for themselves, and they'll just submit to anything. Submissives like that can't make good decisions!"

Given the particular sensitivities of the crowd at large, it was up to Seel to diffuse the arguments -- soume versus ouana -- that ensued. In the meantime Lisia and Cobweb had their own reactions.

"'Submissives like that can't make good decisions.' What do you think of that, Lis?" Cobweb questioned.

Lisia rolled his eyes. "Well, it's insulting but it's also true. Well, in this case anyway. They are still very naive and... compliant. I know I was like that when I was their age, still full of romantic notions and believing most of what I was told."

At length the assembly arrived at a compromise. The hostlings could remain free, not in any sort of 'custody.' However, they would be taking counseling and undergoing education so that they would be able to make more informed decisions about their lives. Whether the counseling was carried out in Galhea or elsewhere would depend on the final decision on Phaden. As for the harlings, it was decided that so long as they weren't being mistreated -- and looking at the harlings, now in their hostlings' laps, that hardly seemed to be the case -- there was no reason the hostlings couldn't raise them as their own.

Phaden was next. After a lengthy discussion on his role and the way he had defended himself as having been "following orders," he was ordered to serve community service for a period of two years -- as a janitor at Galhea's chief school. He would not be making any decisions, only taking orders. In keeping with this decision, Springtime and Buttercup were to be assisted with finding jobs at one of the local beauty establishments, this in order to earn enough money to pay for rent, food and other family expenses. Their harlings could remain with them at work. The hostlings' counseling would come in the evenings when Phaden, who had professed to wanting to serving as father to the harlings, would be home to care of them.

The doctor's destiny was even more hotly debated. He, much more than Phaden, had been a true position of power. Furthermore, it was obvious from his bearing that he had known exactly what he was doing. Even to the end some hara wanted to see him severely punished. One har actually dared to make the very same suggestion that Lisia had mentioned -- forcing him to bear a few pearls. This was meant as a dark joke but a few hara did not appreciate the humor. However, after a long discussion a consensus was reached and rather than choosing to be wholly punitive, the assembly decided that the doctor was to be retained in the service of the Parasiel. There was a catch, however. He would never again serve as a doctor but instead would be given a place as a medical researcher -- under strict supervision with absolutely no direct contact with patients and in an area in no way relating to procreation.

"I find myself quite proud of the way these hearings have been conducted," Swift observed. "Let us hope that in the end we set all these lives on the right path -- and that never again will anyone have to tread the path they've come from. That path should be left behind us."