"...can you read," he asks Rabka.

"...I can sound things out?"

He reads her the letter.

"That bastard -"

"Does he know that, like, you can summon her back to you -"

"He probably wants you to just beat the shit out of me any time I do. For violating his custody."

"Okay. What do we do about it -"

She calls Cathei into her lap, holds her. "I don't know."

"I'll write back that maybe he didn't know there's an embroidery that makes that impossible, our regrets?"

She leans on him. "Maybe that'll work."

"We'll think of something if it doesn't, I don't think he can take me to court for not beating you enough for summoning Cathei. Or we can claim it's automatic sometimes, happens without you doing it."

"Guy you bought me from knows it doesn't."

"How often were you away from her while he had you, is it possible he wouldn't have noticed -"

"Uh, not that often but sometimes."

"Well. I will claim it happens sometimes automatically in my letter to him and if he tracks down the other guy to disconfirm it then we'll come up with something else."

And he writes back that perhaps Cathei's father is unaware there's an embroidery that keeps her attached to her mother, who he sold and who belongs to Malare, and so the custody order cannot possibly be enforced, sincere regrets.

A reply comes to the effect that if enforcing the order requires Rabka's transfer back to him he's sure a judge will acknowledge that.

That's a blatant fraud I cannot imagine the court will look kindly on. You sold a embroidered slave intending to sue for custody of the person she is embroidered to, and thereby force her transfer back to you? Or are you just offering to purchase her to simplify custody enforcement? I'd consider it at twenty thousand; it's a very profitable embroidery.

I only want the kid because she's manumitted now, which is entirely your problem. If you can get Rabka to leave the kid with me without selling her that's fine too.

Go jump in a magic.

I can and will bring this to court if we can't settle it like reasonable people.

You sold her. There's an embroidery making it impossible for you to retain custody of her. You're not willing to pay for her mother, which would fix that. The only way this gets settled is 'you drop it'.

We'll see about that.

Why do you even want her, you didn't when you owned her.

Wasn't free then. I don't want my free kid in some other guy's house.

She's embroidered. You're out of luck.