Free A Spell for Chameleon (Xanth 1) by Piers Anthony

keeps--absolutely no blabbing about the details after you get out, understand?"
    They all nodded. Bink was becoming more perplexed. He now understood about playing opposite a sweet young thing--but what kind of play was this, with an audience of one, that no one was permitted to report on later? Well, so be it; maybe it was a kind of magic.
    The three men sat in a row on one side of the table, and the three girls faced them. Bink was opposite the beautiful one; her knees touched his, for the table was narrow. They were silky smooth, sending a shiver of appreciation up his legs. Remember Sabrina! he told himself. He was not ordinarily swayed by a pretty face, but this was an extraordinary face. It didn't help that she wore a tight sweater. What a figure!
    The judge entered--a portly man with impressive paunch and sideburns. "All stand," the bailiff said.
    They all stood respectfully.
    The judge took a seat at the end of the table and the bailiff moved to the far side. They all sat down.
    "Do you three ladies swear to tell no truth other than that presented in this hearing, any time, anywhere, and to shut up about that?" the bailiff demanded.
    "We do," the girls chorused.
    "And do you three louts swear the same?"
    "We do," Bink said with the others. If he was supposed to lie here, but never to talk about it outside, did that mean it wasn't really a lie? The bailiff knew what was true and what was false, presumably, so in effect--
    "Now this is the hearing for an alleged rape," the bailiff announced. Bink, shocked, tried to conceal his dismay. Were they supposed to act out a rape?
    "Among these present," the bailiff continued, "is the girl who says she was raped--and the man she charges. He says it happened but it was voluntary. That right, men?"
    Bink nodded vigorously along with the others. Brother! He would rather have chopped wood for his night's lodging. Here he was, possibly lying about a rape he never committed.
    "This is done anonymously to protect the reputations of those involved," the bailiff said. "So's to have an advisory opinion, in the presence of the first parties, without advertising it to the whole community."
    Bink was beginning to understand. A girl who had been raped could be ruined, though it was no fault of her own; many men would refuse to marry her for that reason alone. Thus she could win her case but lose her future. A man guilty of rape could be exiled, and a man accused of rape would be viewed with suspicion, complicating his own future. It was almost, he thought grimly, as serious a crime as having no magic. Getting at the truth could be a very delicate matter, not something either party would want to advertise in a public trial. Win or lose, reputations would suffer grievously. Yet how could justice be done if it never came to trial? Thus this private, semianonymous hearing. Would it suffice?
    "She says she was walking down by the Gap," the bailiff said, glancing at his notes. "He came up behind her, grabbed her, and raped her. Right, girls?"
    The three girls nodded, each looking hurt and angry. The vigorous head motion caused the knee of the girl facing Bink to shake, and another ripple of suggestion traveled up his leg. What an opposite lady, in what a play!
    "He says he was standing there and she came up and made a suggestion and he took her up on it. Right, men?"
    Bink nodded with the others. He hoped his side won; this was nervous business.
    Now the judge spoke. "Was it close to a house?"
    "'Bout a hundred feet," the bailiff said.
    "Then why did she not scream?"
    "He said he'd push her off the brink if she made a sound," the bailiff replied. "She was frozen in terror.
    Right, girls?"
    They nodded--and each looked momentarily terrified. Bink wondered which of the three had actually been raped. Then he corrected his thought hastily: which one had made the accusation? He hoped it wasn't the one opposite him.
    "Were the two known to each other prior to the occasion?''
    "Yes, Your Honor."
    "Then I