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They had taken on the semblance of beetles, or rather what a beetle-folk would have looked like. They had only the two arms and two legs, and their heads were in the right place. They wore their Chitin like armor; only Pink had kept the antennae.

They were short and squat, like dwarves, except they were clearly not made of stone and Violet, the largest, barely came up to my waist.

Still, to make such profound anatomical changes in such a short period of time? They HAD been eating well, possibly better than I myself had.

“Stop looking at us. We all hate you.” Blue said.

“You have all developed nicely.” I said. “I approve.”

The sound of rock striking rock resounded through the chamber. “The accused will address all comments to the bench!”

I gave a slight bow of acknowledgment.

“Well, good, then. First matter, are you denying the charges?”

.....

“What, specifically, are the charges?” I asked.

“First, that you kept these three in cages.”

“That is true.” I said.

“Good.” the justice said. “Especially since we’ve got ample evidence that you have done exactly that. Do you deny these cages were some kind of maze, filled with devices to obstruct travel?”

“An obstacle course, that is also true, your honor.”

“Do you deny that you underfed them?”

“They had more food, and more reliably, than I did at their age.”

Actually, I had been worried that I had been spoiling them; my food sometimes fought back at their age. I supposed that we probably wouldn’t hunt together the way I had planned, and was sad for it. But if they felt so strongly about it, I’d probably practiced enough discipline.

“I see.” he said. “And you remember this well?”

“It wasn’t that long ago. I’m certain I remember.” I said.

“And these ... obstacles. You were aware of their injuries when they failed to navigate them?”

“I received reports.” I said, “There were no life-threatening injuries reported.”

“That one,” the justice roared, pointing at Blue, “told me he nearly lost an eye!”

I sighed. “He’d have grown it back.”

“GROWN IT BACK? Is that something you think I’m going to believe?”

I spread my arms helplessly, to the extent the manacles allowed. “I can also regrow my eyes. A week. Two, at most.”

“Ridiculous.” the justice snorted.

I ground my teeth. “Is that truly relevant to the case at hand?” I asked.

“And if I said yes it was? FORGE AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH! What are you DOING?”

But it was done. I had tried to just scoop them out of my head, but my talons were sharp, and eyeballs are just so fragile. I retained a calm tone of voice. “I have other senses. Two weeks, no more.”

There was quiet, except for someone behind and to the left of me clearing their throat.

“I won’t deny that they were placed in pain, but at no point did I fear they would become maimed. They were watched closely, and I received weekly reports. When my training allowed...”

“Your training as a warrior.” he said.

“Yes, that training.” I said.

“You understand it is not legal to put children through that level of training?” he asked. “Are you... are you sane?”

I hissed at him; not my proudest moment, but it happened. “YOU said it was critical to this hearing!”

He slammed his hand on the desk between us. “I asked what if it were, not... this.”

“Two. Weeks.” I said. “You speak of wounds, not of injuries or maiming.”

“And you know this because?”

“Obviously, because I’ve lost my eyes before.”

“When?” he sounded curious now, rather than incredulous.

“Twice that I can recall right now.” I admitted. It was REALLY hard to remember, what with the searing pain from my eye sockets.

“And when was that first time?” he asked.

“Oh, I was one year old, not much older than my siblings are now. You see, I’d defied a human child named...”

“I am not concerned with this story, as it does not impact the punishment any more than your temporary blindness does.”

I clenched my jaw, but held my tongue. “I understand.” I eventually said.

“How long do your kind remain children?” he asked. “How long should I keep them in common custody?”

“I don’t know.” I said. “I’ve never encountered an adult of my species to ask.”

“How long was it before you hit puberty?” the justice asked.

“I don’t believe that I have.” I admitted.

He became belligerent again. “How old are you, young sir?”

“Almost five, but literally still four.” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of this before.

He cleared his throat. “You are?”

“Four years of age, but I might become five before I have my eyes back.”

There was a shuffling of stone tablets, and the justice coughed.

“You realize that under the law, YOU are a child?”

“Given my rapid development...”

“You. Are. Four.” he said. “Unless you expect to tell me your people only live a dozen years before dying of old age?”

Closer to sixty thousand, in my case. “Barring unfortunate accidents, violence, or other events, we live quite older, although I don’t have an exact number.”

He sighed. “As a CHILD, I formally remand you into common custody. Your crime ... is bullying.” He actually sounded sad. “Reschedule his hearing, and appoint the appropriate justice. I’ve no more time for this farce in my court. Criminal and accusers are to be assigned separate housing, their living expenses to be paid by the criminal’s... estate.”

“We hate you!” Pink shouted. “We hate you for always!”

The guards who pulled me away were not gentle. So much for concern about the health and well-being of children.

I sat on the bench they eventually seated me on, and sobbed quietly. Not because of how close I’d come to another poorly considered trial, but because I knew what rights children had under Duhric law.

Or rather, the rights we didn’t have. Until age twelve, our activities would be tightly scheduled, monitored, and yes, judged. Based on our abilities, we would be assigned our castes.

In eight years. Eight. Longer than I’d been alive. Well, seven in my case.

I wasn’t sure the Tidelands had that long, not at the rate we were losing troops. I needed to re-think my plan, in a way that got me the heck out of the dwarven child care system. For as much as I complained about being of a child’s age, I didn’t much care to actually be... are children considered property? No, just something in my background, then?

In any case, I wasn’t about to just play nice for a number of years. I shook and shivered, and realized I was actually crying. And, I became aware, people nearby were watching and aware.

“Why is that child in manacles?” a woman asked. “What crime is he accused of?”

“Bullying.” an officious male told her. “Of all three of his siblings.”

“That isn’t cause for...”

“He was pretending to be an adult. Had his entire barracks fooled.”

“Children make terrible warriors.” she responded.

“I can’t unchain him until common custodians arrive to take him into custody.”

“This is the Magisterium. I can report you for child cruelty.”

“THAT child might be going into an asylum.” officious voice sounded. “He gouged his own eyes out to make a point.”

“That is insane.” she said. “You didn’t actually...”

She forced open one of my eyelids, then the other, to look into the empty sockets. “I can take custody.” she said, hollowly. “I’m here for your public disorderly in any event.”

“Oh, well I’ll get the chains off him then.”

“Not unless you are having a lapse of judgment.” She pulled a set of manacles from her inventory. “You put these on him, first. This chain goes around his back, to limit where he can move his hands to.”

I sighed. “None of this is necessary.”

“Perhaps I should introduce myself.” she said. “I am Madame Doctor Thuria, and I specialize in the criminal mentality, specifically in its treatment. Your... biological differences aside, I can assure you, professionally, that you need my care.”

“I have a class level of Psychologist.” I said. “I am quite sane.”

.....

Sight is not a requirement for the Reticule, and it was easy enough to focus it on my hand.

[Sane.] it confirmed.

“Hm.” she said. “Naturalist and Psychologist. Good, you aren’t a stranger to the sciences.”

I made the mistake of focusing on her to speak to her.

[Unknown/Unidentified Insanity. Quantity: 3.] my System informed me.

Yes, even without a System group, even in such different forms, I could recognize and name my siblings. It’s not some mystic sense or anything; I could recognize them from their stylistic choices and behavior.

Do NOT apply the human term of ‘your honor’ to a duhric judge. The implied insult that other duhr lack honor doesn’t go over well. I may not have gotten a formal briefing, but even I knew that dwarves are not humans, and had learned a few things to just never do.

Turpentine. Dwarves who want to become drunk enough to forget things chug down turpentine. It’s quite illegal, although not to the degree of say, child abuse. And, yes, it results in quite a few mental disorders, as I was about to learn by direct experience.