#desertkingdom

 "What exactly is the Compendium of Ver?" He asked absently whilst pouring over an illuminated scroll.

"The most beautiful and the most horrific tome ever written," his master replied without looking up from his own pile of work "It is a work of art."

"Why is it referenced so many times here?"

"Because these scrolls are medical in nature, and Ver was a raving psychopath who did a lot of unethical things which mean that no-one else ever has to."

"What do you mean?"

The master looked up from his work and met the student's enquiring gaze with a deep coldness in his eyes.

"We no longer have to wonder how long it takes for someone to be digested alive by a worm. We no longer have to ask how long someone can survive on the shoulders without water or food. We now know exactly how long a person's guts can be open before they die. We now know how long it takes a human body to decompose in the sands and how well the mummified organs are preserved... Ver was a mass murderer and a meticulous record keeper. His compendium is full of the results of his wicked experiments and we use that tainted knowledge to save people's lives."

The student shuddered "So why is it a work of art?"

The master maintained his grave expression "The tome is bound with human ivory bleached by the sun. It is so pristine that it glows with an unearthly aura. Each piece of parchment is so perfectly flawless that you forget all too quickly that it is made from human skin. He favoured the pale skinned for his books and the dark skinned for his clothes. The ink on every page is a mixture of charcoal and Gavia blood, and it is all enchanted and bound so that it never fades, never ages and never falls apart."

They both felt as though the room had grown colder.

"Now that you know. Do not speak of it."

 As she sat in by the window of her well lit and spacious office, she struggled to comprehend the level of desperation that would have driven her current accused to do what he did. The case file scroll sat open on her desk a short distance away. She gazed out across the city as she considered the facts of it. That morning the prosecution had made their case quite clear and the defense had very little to say in defense of their client. It was clear from the representative's face that his own client disgusted him. She was so lost in her own thought that she didn't even notice she was no longer alone.

"Nasty case, that."

She turned to look at her guest. He was another of the judges here at the courthouse, and he came with another scroll, this one marked with the royal seal.

"Orders from above," he commented dryly "His majesty has granted you leave a judgement of either exile or forced labor if you pass a guilty sentence."

She frowned "Not imprisonment? He butchered someone."

He replied "His majesty has no love for loan sharks."

"Does anyone?"

A face appeared in her doorway "Your honour, ten minutes till we resume."

She sighed, her fellow judge frowned, and the face vanished into the gloom away from the window.

"Wheres the labor sentence?" She asked plainly,

"The new reservoirs at the utmost edge and the new aqueduct leading deeper into the wilds."

Honored as she was to receive the residential posting from her dear nephew, his great and almighty highness Stivanous the Fourth, King of Adjisa Gor, she was horribly bored. Her apartment in the upper reaches of the temple was suitably comfortable and richly furnished. All of her favorite artworks had been brought here from her old family seat, and her sons were allowed to visit whenever their schedules permitted. The food here was also quite excellent and the monks were very generous with their provisions so she never wanted or went without. But for all her comforts, there was no-one to gossip to. No courtiers to scandalize or proper young men to embarrass. No plays, no musicals, no tawdry affairs to witness and expose to the world. She did so love that whole process, and she had been especially excited to have learned the truth of the king's children last month and now she had absolutely no-one to share it with.