The panel reconvened at the ninety-minute mark exactly.Five Elders.The worn stone floors.The honest light.Keswick in the center chair.He looked at the chamber.At the advocate.At Sera.At the record on the table.Then he spoke."The panel has deliberated on the petition filed under Article 7, Section 12 of the Pre-Council Bonding Statutes," he said.His voice carried the specific quality it always carried in formal proceedings.Unhurried.Precise.Forty years of deliberate process in every syllable."The petition rests on the argument that the subject engaged in material deception by concealing her vocal capacity during the period of bonding," he said. "The panel has examined this argument against the full record submitted."He looked at his notes.Then set them aside.The specific gesture of someone who had finished needing the notes.Who was speaking from what had been understood."Material deception under the statute requires three elements," he said. "Intent to deceive. Fals
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