Judged Read Online Free Page B

statement holds true to the events, as does his lack of conveyance. He hunted her.”
    The peacekeepers engaged in more pleasantries with him, and Alice was left watching as all three men went out into the yard and stood around the body, taking images of the body, the area that hosted the fight and her skimmer.
    In an hour, the body was gone with the peacekeepers and Alice was working on preparing a cold lunch. It gave her something to concentrate on while Kadenz washed her skimmer.
    “Kadenz, lunch.” She said it at conversational level, but he was inside within a minute.
    “Wow. That looks lovely.”
    She had gotten bored and arranged the cheese, meat, fruit and veg in swirling patterns. She opened a bottle of chilled white wine and poured two glasses.
    He shook his head. “You are spoiling me.”
    “Consider this payback for taking on that savage earlier. I am fairly sure that the hunter wanted me dead at that point.” She nibbled at a piece of flatbread with cheese on it and watched him load up a plate with surprisingly graceful movements.
    “It was my pleasure. Someone who takes advantage of a woman alone does not deserve to live.” He spoke with confidence and absolute belief.
    “Was that what made you retire?”
    He snorted. “You caught that?”
    “There are only a few things that would get a judge to retire and social laws that cannot be changed is one of them.”
    “It is the way other species behave with their females that truly drives me to the edge of control. The Kalians simply pay for their women, the Draklan’s steal them, the Colidors steal them and hold them until they are pregnant and then take possession of the woman’s property. These cultures have their reasons, but they are hard to deal with.”
    “So, you quit.”
    “I took a leave of absence for a minimum of two years.”
    “How far are you into your leave?”
    “Three weeks.”
    She laughed. “Well, that explains why you are trying to run the winery by yourself. What will you do when the harvest comes?”
    “I will hire workers. For now, I am busy weeding the plants and keeping the vines trained.” He shrugged. “If you keep me supplied with food while you are here, I should be fine.”
    She laughed. “That won’t be a problem as long as the credit chit doesn’t run out. I used forty-five credits today. How much is left on it?”
    He munched on a vegetable and pondered, “Sixty thousand or so.”
    Her mouth dropped open, and he put two fingers under it to close it with a soft snap.
    “Why is this place so run down if you have those kinds of funds at your disposal?”
    “Because I need to work, and when you work until you are exhausted, you don’t think and you certainly don’t care where you sleep.”
    “May I buy some more practical clothing when I go back to the market?”
    “You are not going back there without me.”
    She scowled. “I will be fine.”
    “I mean it, Alice. If there is one hunter, there will be more. You are not safe.”
    She snorted. “Fine, but this dress is the simplest one, and it is going to get very boring very quickly.”
    He grinned. “I find it very fetching. The peacekeepers commented on it when we went outside, and I explained that your daily-wear suit had been torn by the attack. They assumed it is your best dress and not the worst.”
    “It isn’t the worst or the best; it is merely the closest thing to what the ladies were wearing in the market. I thought it would be best to appear to be as local as possible.”
    “Good call. It worked very well. They believed that we are new mates and have not formalized the union because of my work schedule.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Sure, because that is logical. How long does an Oefric ceremony take?”
    “Properly organized? Two or three days with notices being filed in the newsreels weeks earlier so that everyone in the families can attend.”
    “Wow. That is a bit of time. Well, now that lunch is over, I had better finish the rest of