Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [17]
What indeed? Elminster wondered. "As ye know, thy grace, I was a good friend to Nameless, but when he proceeded with his experiment against my advice, I felt..
. betrayed. I was angry with him, so I did nothing to defend him. I now believe I was wrong to do nothing."
"It is a master bard's sworn duty to protect his apprentices," Morala continued.
"Nameless was found guilty of recklessly endangering his apprentices, resulting in the death of one and injury to the other. What can you possibly say in his defense?" Morala asked.
"Nothing, thy grace," Elminster said.
"Nothing?" Breck asked with surprise.
Kyre tilted her head in confusion, but Morala's eyes narrowed suspiciously. The sage had some trick up his sleeve; she was sure of it.
"Nothing, good ranger," Elminster said. "But then," he added, "there is also nothing I can say in defense of the punishment meted out by the Harper tribunal that sentenced the bard." Elminster's tone deepened with anger and contempt.
"How long did they sentence Nameless to exile?" The sage answered his own question. "Forever. Two hundred years he has spent alone. Like barbarians who slice off the hands of a thief, the Harpers have given him no opportunity to atone for his crime. And what was done with the best part of the man, the beautiful music he composed despite his vanity and thoughtlessness, music which might have proven there was some good in him? The Harpers tried to wipe it out, just as barbarians wipe out the innocent children of their enemies."
Kyre raised her eyebrows at the sage's analogies, and Breck blushed with shame, but Morala rose angrily to her feet.
"Nameless knows nothing of atonement!" Morala insisted. "He was adept at charming others into spending their lives on his schemes. Not even the deaths of his apprentices stopped him from attempting to build a second singing simulacrum. If not for the intervention of others, who knows what evils Cassana and her consortium would have set this Alias to accomplish? We exiled Nameless alone so he could never again harm another with his recklessness. As for his music, he was unwilling to have his songs passed from one generation of bards to the next, so we honored his wish."
"It is not justice to imprison someone for what he might do, Morala," Elminster replied. "Tomorrow you or I might cause some great harm. Should we then go into exile this very day? And as for his music, if the Harpers had only imprisoned Nameless for a few years but allowed his songs to be passed on in the natural way, Nameless might have learned to accept the way his music would evolve and change. Instead, the Harpers exascerbated the bard's fears."
"We could not afford your fine sense of justice, Elminster," Morala said. "We had to protect others from Nameless. A few years would not have changed his attitude. I doubt that two hundred years has done so. Even now that he has his singer, Alias, is he any less likely to use people? Can you offer any proof that Nameless himself has changed?"
Elminster considered the question carefully, searching his memory for any speech or action by Nameless that would demonstrate the bard's redemption. "Yes," he said finally.
The Harpers waited impatiently for the sage to continue. Elminster rose to his feet and circled around the table till he stood directly before the tribunal.
"Three things…" he began. Then suddenly his face went pale. He gasped and clutched at his chest.
"Elminster?" Morala cried, rising to her feet.
"Are you all right, sir?" Breck asked, leaping from his seat to come to the aid of the sage. Some invisible force, though, repelled the young ranger. He bounced backward onto the dais at Kyre's feet.
In the span of three breaths, Elminster's body seemed to turn to clear crystal.
Then, in a flash of bright light, the sage was gone. In his place stood a huge, hideous beast.
The creature stood as tall as a hill giant, towering over the three Harpers. The long red robe and