"That's not how manumission works, Mr. Finere," says the judge. "You can't contingently free someone."

"I've heard of manumissions being invalidated for the wrong name and information on the paperwork. Look, you see the portrait, you have to admit that it's a stronger resemblance even than to Rabka -"

"Babies all look a lot alike. I can't decide the case on the strength of a portrait."

"Can you decide it off the fact there's an embroidery making it impossible for him to retain custody unless he takes the slave, which I offered at significantly under how much I expect to make off her over the course of her life and which he refused."

"Do you really think it's impossible to train the child out of teleporting?" sighs the judge.

"At this age? Yes. You can't even beat it out of her if she jumps back into her mother's arms every time it looks like she's about to get hit, and she will."

"Presumably it's not impossible to spank her from that vantage point."

"At twelve months that doesn't make her stop, it just makes her upset and confused. He could file again when she's five or something, old enough not to do it on instinct and old enough that the resemblance will be more informative."

"Perhaps the slave's remunerative embroidery could be remanded to you by contract and you could otherwise sell her to the claimant, such that you need charge only a little for physical possession of her and get back the results of whatever it is she does," says the judge.

"Some of the messages are confidential and some are time-sensitive and require I be around her to ask for them every hour or something, that's how I make so much off them. She's also the mother to the baby who is undisputedly mine, and I'd rather have her around to nurse her and take care of her and things. Twenty thousand is the offer."

The judge sighs. "I'll want an hour to consider. Final remarks?"

"Cathei is a teapot on full moons, if that's of interest to the court for any reason."

"I suppose it means she could be transported via parcel post." Sigh.

He folds his arms and waits.

The judge goes into her office. She comes out an hour later and slaps Malare with two high-end instances of damages for trespassing and an even higher-end one for property damage, declares Cathei's paternity "formally unspecified bastard", and says Malare can keep Rabka and the kid.

"Thank you." The fines are painful but he was only a little bit exaggerating how much money he can make off teleporting dishware communications with Caranth helping.

They leave.

Rug guy spits at Rabka as they leave. She shuffles away faster.

Asshole. "If Atyel were still alive I'd have just asked her to murder him for me," he says once they're out of earshot.

"That would've been something."

"I'd do it myself but I don't really know how to get away with murder." Hug. 

Hug. "Thank you."

"He didn't have twenty thou around so I did not have to figure out how to get away with murder!"

"Oh, is that what you were going to do if he called you on that?"

"It was a candidate. What were you going to do -"

"Not sure."