Caught by Tristoh's men, Karin is brought in front of the city's elders for punishment.
summary: >
Caught by Tristoh's men, Karin is brought in front of the city's elders for punishment. She upsets Tristoh by pointing out that he always left before trouble happened. He promises to find the most corrupt judge to ensure she will spend the rest in prison or executed in the most painful way possible.
> In rural civilization, justice is a more fluid concept that frequently becomes personal. --- *An Exhaustive Review of Justice Systems in the Known World*
Karin pretended to scream in agony; she had been fighting monstrous creatures for a year, a kick was nothing. Not responding would just set off the bastard's pride and then he would put more effort into hurting her seriously.
She smiled to herself. Just like his laughter, she had heard the icy tone before. The last time, he had slipped out of town in the cover of darkness. If she was lucky, he would be considering the same thing.
Karin blew a strand of her hair from her face as she looked up at Tristoh. He stood with his back to the bar next to the empty bowl that used to have requests for Lilian. He looked annoyed, like she had stolen his toy.
There were others around her. She guessed it was the town elders, the ones who had opinions of monster hunters like herself. Among them were two uniformed men with the symbol of the city on their chests; probably the city guards.
When she heard his tone, her smile widened. There was no longer a doubt that he would be gone by morning. She could see it in his eyes. "What about the rest of your business in the area? Any investments you plan on abandoning?"
"Lord Tristoh!" said Jon as he grabbed Tristoh's hand. "Stop that!"
Tristoh shoved him aside with a snarl. Squatting down, he grabbed Karin's throat and pulled her close, jamming his face near hers. His breath smelled of beer and cheese. "Listen, you diseased old goat. I'm going to find the most corrupt judge I can bribe and make sure you have a very short, painful life before you are executed for treason."
Karin had no doubt that he had the money and the anger to do that. It scared her, but there was nothing she could do to avoid it. She turned and smiled at him. "At least she got away, you miserable horse's ass."
She was still smiling when Tristoh and his men beat her into unconsciousness.