Free Tribal Court by Stephen Penner

table. Talon was just shaking her head, waiting her turn. Quilcene was staring daggers at Freddy.
    Fitting , Brunelle thought.
    "That leaves one question to resolve," Freddy declared. "Who will carry out the killings? The jury? the judge? Maybe our tribal police? Or best yet, just leave it to the members of our community to kill each other, according to our custom. As long as they stick to the schedule, they won't be held any more accountable for their murderous acts than Johnny Quilcene was for the premeditated intentional murder of George Traver."
    The courtroom reverberated in stunned silence for several seconds.
    Finally, Judge LeClair asked, "Are you done?"
    Freddy, who was practically panting after his impassioned monologue, took a couple more deep breaths and nodded. "yes, Your Honor. Thank you."
    LeClair nodded back, his expression inscrutable. He turned to Talon. "Response?"
    Talon stood up and threw her silky hair over her shoulder. "Thank you, Your Honor. To begin with, I'm not even sure which argument to respond to: Mr. Brunelle's specious treatise on our legal traditions, or Mr. McCloud's ridiculous melodrama." She smoothed out her suit. "I suppose I'll start with Mr. Brunelle's written brief…"
    Freddy sat down next to Brunelle, still breathing heavily, and stared straight ahead. Talon was launching into her attack on Brunelle's perfectly crafted brief, but he didn't bother listening. He'd been around long enough to know that LeClair was going to rule however he was going to rule. One of the biggest delusions trial attorneys nursed was the belief that they ever really influenced the judge. LeClair had probably made up his mind about Talon's defense the same morning she first proposed it at the status conference, anticipating and weighing every argument in advance.
    Well, almost every argument.
    "Impressive," Brunelle whispered to Freddy as Talon droned on. "Did you rehearse that or was it all impromptu?"
    Freddy looked down and shook his head. His grin peeked out of the corner of his mouth. "A little of both, actually."
    Brunelle nodded. "You were smart not to tell me what you were going to say. There's no way I would have let you argue that if I'd known."
    The grin widened. "Yeah, I kind of figured that."
    "But actually," Brunelle went on. "That's not what I found really impressive."
    Freddy turned and looked askance.
    "What's really impressive," Brunelle observed with his own subdued grin, "is that hidden in that overly dramatic, hyperbolic, even buffoonish diatribe, was the fact that you actually believe it."
    Freddy affected a laugh. "Naw. I was just exaggerating. Trying to make a point."
    Brunelle shook his head. "You're not fooling me. That was too passionate. You'd be just fine to let the families fight this out and leave the cops and the courts out of it."
    Freddy stared at Brunelle for several second, then down at the table. "Yeah, well, that's not really an option, so it doesn't really matter."
    Brunelle took a moment to look up at Talon. She was still talking. It seemed like she had moved on to part II, Freddy's argument. Based on where she seemed to be in her presentation, Brunelle figured she'd talk for another three, maybe five minutes.
    "I would think," Brunelle whispered as he turned back to face Freddy, "that the bigger problem is Traver doesn't have any surviving family."
    Freddy turned away again. "Is that right?" he whispered.
    "Yeah. I'm pretty sure I told you that at the casino the other night."
    Freddy didn't reply.
    "What would happen then, Freddy?" Brunelle pressed. "What happened to the blood feud if one side ran out of family members? Would that end it?"
    Freddy shrugged. "It could."
    "But it might not?" Brunelle asked.
    "Depends."
    "On what?"
    Freddy shifted in his seat. "On whether another member of the tribe agreed to take up the feud on behalf of the victim."
    Brunelle frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "That's what I was afraid you were going to say."
    "…and for those