The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) - Michelle Sagara Page 0,163
the tabard.
He was also not allowed to enter said presence in any of the clothing he currently owned, and Elluvian’s forays into the High Halls had given Severn clothing he would never have owned before because the cost was so high. If he’d thought Elluvian’s choice of clothing appropriate for a visit to the High Halls expensive, he repented; he hid both distaste and shock at the cost of the clothing Elluvian considered necessary for a meeting with the Emperor.
Elluvian hid almost nothing. He was appalled at Severn’s request—but could, given Severn’s relative ignorance, barely accept that it had been made. He was shocked that the Wolflord had passed the request on. Severn was almost certain that the Wolflord had heard an earful of less impeccable Barrani about this very subject.
Lord Marlin had, however, declined Elluvian’s “request” that the request for an appointment be withdrawn. The Wolflord had reasonably pointed out that there was no guarantee such an audience would be granted.
He had pointed this out to Severn as well.
No immediate need for the Wolves had been handed down by the Emperor, and Severn was therefore free to take the classes that the Wolves required of their recruits. In theory. Severn, however, was dragged off shopping instead, where he could be confronted with the ridiculous expense of clothing that seemed, to his eye, to be less durable and far less practical, given the general duties he would have as a Wolf.
He was a private, but he was no longer on probation. Rosen had given him the news, but quietly, as if it were a guilty secret. She was of the opinion that cutting off both of her legs with her own daggers was preferable to an audience with the Emperor—and possibly one of her arms as well—but she nonetheless admired either Severn’s ignorance or his balls.
The appointment was granted almost two weeks after Severn had made his request.
“You don’t seem surprised,” Rosen said, because it was Rosen who informed him of the date and the time.
“Should I be?”
“He’s the Emperor.”
“He is. But he commands the Wolves. The cases given to the Wolves come from him. The Swords and the Hawks are different—but without the Emperor’s personal oversight, the Wolves wouldn’t exist. They wouldn’t be part of the Halls of Law.”
“You think of him as a step above Helmat.”
Severn nodded, because he was. Rosen stared at him. Her stare unearthed more words. “The Emperor’s will is law. The Emperor’s Laws exist because he desires that they exist—and be obeyed. His laws are commands the rest of us follow and enforce.”
Rosen nodded.
“I haven’t memorized all of his laws.”
“You will.”
“Yes. But I’ve studied enough of his laws—the larger ones, at least—that I can see a connecting thread between them. We’re the outliers. We’re expected—of course we are—to follow those laws while in pursuit of the criminals the Emperor wishes apprehended. But in some cases, we’re commanded to kill on sight.
“That breaks the rest of his laws. His kill on sight command is...it’s an exception. It’s only legal because the command comes from the Emperor. We’re given permission to break laws specifically because his commands supersede his written laws.”
Rosen nodded, folding her arms across her desktop.
“The Emperor therefore makes exceptions in his governance.” At Rosen’s expression, Severn exhaled. “He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and he’s not technically a criminal. It’s impossible for the Emperor to be a criminal in his own Empire.”
“And this leads you to somehow expect that you’ll be granted an audience directly with the Emperor?”
“Yes.”
“Try a better explanation—the one you made makes no sense.”
“What the Emperor wants for his Empire seems clear in his laws. He’s not stupid. He understands that laws will be broken, which is why the Halls of Law exist at all. What he wants—from us, and for the Empire—is clear in the laws. He’s a Dragon. He’s had to create laws that remove friction. It’s why the laws of exemption exist.”
“You don’t like the laws of exemption.”
“No one who works in the Halls of Law, in any branch, likes the exemptions. It allows the castelords to do whatever they want with their own people, free from consequences.”
“You don’t consider the Emperor’s edicts to be the same thing.”
“They’re not. Except perhaps in the overlap between Wolves and the rest of the Halls. I believe that the laws of exemption exist as a practical measure. Allow caste exemptions based on race, or face another war with the Barrani. Which would kill most of the rest