The larger Shepherd steps forward, raising his walking stick, and his voice is as severe as his bearded face. "For the crime of Profanity," he announces, "of causing blight in the early crops and sickness in the cattle of Greymeadow, for inciting violence among the townsfolk, and for public lechery, the accused is to be put to death as example to all who would defy the good laws of this world."

He lowers his stick with a thud, looking out at the gathered crowd with cold, searching eyes.

The second Shepherd, a thinner man with wiry muscle, holds fast to the wrists of the accused, who seems on the verge of collapse from exhaustion and weeping.