Beldren waited to see what Mabel would make of his challenge. Her face scrunched in thought, then she stuttered, "I...I will do something without permission, and you will see that she may chastise, but she is not tyrannical in her punishments."

"What will you do?" Beldren asked. "Tell her you have been to the pantry? Such an infraction would not earn more than chastisement, even from a dictator. That will prove nothing. The crime must be sufficient that a tyrant would act with ...