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"I wish I shared your confidence in the courts. If you want a fair trial, you can't make her confess in advance." 

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"If I want a - let's call it procedurally normal trial, one where I am not seen to be telling the judge or the prosecutor which outcome I want - I cannot tell the prosecutor not to use any confession, if she can get a second one."

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"There has got to be a way that doesn't -"

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"Élie could advise Wain not to confess again. Or Alex or her lawyer could. Or really nearly anyone else besides me."

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"I suppose you're going to say that me doing it would be too close to you doing it even if nobody besides her sees me."

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"I'm not sure procedural normality is the same thing as the rule of law, or for that matter that we have any such thing as a normal procedure to begin with. But I agree that you can't give the order – politically, if for no other reason. I – shouldn't speak to her attorney, that's almost as bad, but I can talk to Alex." 

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"Normalcy is established in the doing... Unless there's anything else, I'll send this back to the prosecutors with instructions to drop the treason, and you can talk to Alex and tell him to warn Wain not to confess to anything again. And to tell her that her accomplices have already been released, having not done anything related to the speech which the prosecutors saw fit to pursue."

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"I'll do that. And if it works, I'll have packs of rabid aristocrats  in my convention the next morning trying to make sure nobody else in this country ever dares open their mouth again. Tell me you have a plan for them, please – as a personal favor."

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"You'll have the pack of rabid aristocrats either way, I fear. I didn't think you'd want me to exert my influence to steer the convention, but - I can put in a word with the nobles that strike me as more liberally-inclined. I doubt they'll support full freedom of pen and speech after this last week, but... I don't think the elected or sortitioned delegates would either."

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"I'm frankly worried they'll rebel if she's acquitted. Or at least that we've failed to anticipate how willing these people are to escalate to senseless violence at every other stage of these proceedings."

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"I've been preparing for that possibility, and the possibility of the people of Westcrown thinking an acquittal represents an endorsement of the mobs. I plan to speak before the trial, hopefully to avoid that confusion, the Reclamation are in the streets - I don't think the nobility we raised are going to rebel in any serious way. Some of them may attempt to murder Wain or her political allies. I am taking precautions against that possibility."

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They're not going to rebel in any serious way, just make his life impossible. 

"I comfort myself with the hope that organized political activity is too much for these people. Is there anything else you need from me, while I'm out?"

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"When you talk to Alex, ask him if there's somewhere we could borrow another five hundred reclamation men for a day or two. If so, I could use you for the teleportation circle."

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There definitely aren't, but Alex is probably too polite to laugh in his face. 

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