The Four Corners of the Law

Less than an hour later Astra slowed and came to a stop beside an abandoned roadside lemonade stand. She was grateful to be out of the clutches of that janitor, but she still worried for Fred, as well as for all the lands... she had to think, most especially over what she had seen in the sooty orb -- She had seen an uprising of barmaids and street- cleaners armed with pitchforks and torches. The mass of rabble surged toward the intersection of the King's Street and the Janitor's Street, known from ancient times in Camelyn as "the Four Corners of the Law." Here were the Camelyn Central Post Office, the Central Allarian Mint and Exchequer, the Headquarters of the Armies and Police, and the Supreme Court, which interpreted the law, and many times carried out justice as well.

The rabble surged into this famous intersection. Astra sensed that Reaibn was dead. The crowd was disorganized. Astra could pick up scattered shouts - "We want to see King Fred!" "Down with the kidnappers." "Free Fred!" Astra saw thought she saw several young men - was it Martine among them, or was it her imagination? - rousing the crowd against some nameless enemy. The she saw a phalanx of men with great pikes marching down from King's Street, holding pikes out and forcing back the terrified crowd. She then heard someone shout something like "Present arms!" and then a terrified scattering, and a great shout and bedlam. She smelled the scent of lilacs. Although she was not part of the scene, what should have been a pleasant scent terrified her for some reason and she felt as if she could hardly breathe, as if someone had taken all the air away...

... and she was back in the present. She had perhaps six more days in this bizarre country if she rode at top speed, and then she could cross to the dangerous but sane Shreken, and then into her own country. But she could tell it was getting late. She had heard of a hermit who could give refuge. Farther away there was a huge castle that might provide more varied company.

1. Astra calls on the hermit.
2. Astra tries to reach the castle before sunset.
3. Astra turns back to Camelyn.
4. Reaibn talks with Fred about a new spectacle to entertain the masses. It is something he calls a "Miss Havnheim" contest....

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