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HogeyeGrex🌻's avatar

I was wondering this as well. My guess is that:

A) Privatized prison, with extra special kickback action!B) run by the county, rather than the city, so ha, ha, bill's on them.and/orC) the prisons are largely subsidized by the feds/state, so, back to B.

As long as it ain't costing the city, woo-hoo!

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Doctoryy Dilettanteyy Debbyy's avatar

Chapter 276- The Vigil

The eastern horizon started to glow. Queen Zenobia finally slept. Her nurses now napped upon the couches and cushions of the Queen’s bedchamber after the latest night of fever and convulsion. The Corinthian Doctor, Barr-Geld, sat at Zenobia’s side checking her pulse and listening to her breathing.

The only other person in the room was the gray maned King of Aquilonia, shrouded in a thick plain-wool horse blanket, who had crammed his bulky frame into a side chair designed for ladies-in-waiting. This man had not left this room for a week. He had not slept in that time and had only eaten and drunk of the leftovers that the Doctor and nurses had provided. He rarely spoke and he hardly ever took his eyes away from the Queen. He moved so little that he could have been mistaken for a statue cast in bronze.The only sign that this man was a king was the massive gold circlet that rested upon his head. A pair of matched diamonds, each as large as a quail egg, were mounted in the center of this crown above his burning blue eyes.

The doctor arose and crossed the room to stand in front of King Conan. He stood mute for a long time trying to say that which was unspeakable.

The King broke the silence with a whisper: “Tell me Bar-Geld, shall she be here when the sun sets today?”

The Doctor shook his head.

The King reached his hands from under his blanket and removed the crown from his head. Conan then twisted and broke the gold circlet into two halves, each with a diamond attached at the end. He handed the two halves to Doctor Bar-Geld.

“You have done all you could. One half of that crown is to pay you, the other half is for the nurses. I pay you now because, in a very short time, I will not be able to think of the matter in any civilized way and I would not have you and the nurses get short changed in the confusion.”

Suddenly the King arose from his chair and softly walked to the door. He opened it carefully and eased himself out into the hallway where 36 of his Black Dragon Guardsmen stood at attention. The Squad Leader of the guardsmen instantly presented himself to the King.

“What orders have you my King?”

“Tell Publius to have my court assembled by midmorning! I want the debt collectors and the judge who dunned the Queen last month for ‘unpaid medical services’ to be brought to me. And have all the rugs in the audience hall rolled up and stored. By Crom! I would not see those rugs fouled with the blood of vermin!”

Next- The Settlement

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