CustodyThese are relevant references from the Books where Custody is mentioned. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban "No!" she cried, frightened, trying to cover herself. Then she cried out, "Tellius! Barus!" "Your minions," said the man, "will be of little service. It is understood they are of Cos. They are already in the custody of the magistrates of Ar." "My dear Ligurious," said Menicius, "your confederate in Corcyrus is now in custody. He has confessed all. I deemed, accordingly, it might be of interest to venture incognito to Argentum. I did so with the papers of a minor envoy, bearing my own signature." Indeed, in some cities an unveiled free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by guardsmen, then to be veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back to her home. I danced then to those whose eyes were hardest. Some of them were not even men I had trapped, but only men who knew what I had done. Some may have been as innocent as those I had lured; others might have been murderers and brigands, suitably enchained for the expiation of sentences, their custody having been legally transferred to Ionicus, my master; at the payment of a prisoner's fee, by the writ of a praetor or, in more desperate cases, by the order of a quaestor. "There were two collars on my neck," she said, "a light, temporary slave collar, identifying me as a slave provisionally in the custody of magistrates, and, over it, a retaining collar, that by means of which I was fastened to the wall." "She is a pit slut," said the officer. "If she is still here in the morning, see that she is remanded to custody, pending claiming." "Yes, Captain," said the man. "You are now within the custody of the court of the commercial praetor of Treve," said the officer. "I understand, your honor," she said. To be sure, the glory, might, and power, so to speak, of these fine ladies does tend to annoy men, who, upon occasion, perhaps, would like to collar the lot of them and put them to slave use. I understand something like this did take place in one of the "High Cities," Tharna, where every woman except the ruler, a Tatrix, is enslaved. Even free women visiting Tharna are to be licensed and put in the custody of a male until they leave the city. "Has the noble Tarchon," I asked, "been taken into custody?" "No," said Thrasymedes, "but he is surely somewhere within the town." "Abandon her," said Samos. "She is now, as she should be, long months after her treason, her cruelty and crimes, in custody. I wondered then why Lurius of Jad, presumably through agents, had not yet availed himself, or his party, of so simple a ruse. Was he waiting for better odds? Could it be that he did not have Talena in custody? "Clearly, noble polemarkos," I said, "you do not have the lovely Talena of Ar in your custody. I must make arrangements to return to Ar immediately." "There is one more woman to see," he said, "she who was brought from Port Kar to Jad, by a rogue who identified himself as Bruno of Torcadino." Had Xenon been planted at the side of Seremides, given Seremides's knowledge of Talena, and his association with Lurius of Jad and the capture of Talena, and even more importantly, now, if Talena was to be stolen from the custody of Cos, who might be better equipped to undertake so hazardous and delicate a mission than the unscrupulous and astute Seremides, he betrayed by Cos and eager for revenge, and the reward for delivering Talena to the courts of Ar? After the tarn attack by Assassins, a few days ago, disrupting my plans to acquire Talena, stealing her from the custody of Cos, and my interview with the polemarkos, I had returned to the prearranged rendezvous in the woods, at the ten-pasang stone on the road to Samnium. "I do not think so," I said. "I pursued the escaping basket, and forced it down. Its driver was none other than Myron, the polemarkos." "Surely it was he who had Talena in custody," said Seremides. "I wonder," I said, "if Talena has now been delivered into the custody of Marlenus." "Probably, secretly," said Seremides. "But not officially?" said Xenon. "No," said Seremides, "not officially." Had Lurius of Jad realized he was dealing with Seremides of Ar, one supposes he would have had him put into custody, with the ultimate object of collecting the posted reward. "I see," I said. "And where is the hero now?" "Perhaps safe, in honored, protective custody," he said. "The prosecution began its work long ago," said the guard, "even before the traitress was taken into custody. It has gathered over a thousand depositions and affidavits." |
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