Page 108

“Temporary orders vanish when attention moves elsewhere.”

“You intend these provisions to survive you.”

“They become Morwen’thir law. Any successor who removes them must do so openly.”

Sarveth lifts the enforcement page. “Overseers must record hours, meals, and emergency extensions. Who checks the records?”

“The household office.”

“Human workers will hesitate to accuse a Zagfer overseer.”

“They can submit the schedule rather than an accusation.”

“The overseer may alter it first.”

“Then two copies will be filed. One in the household office and one in the lower archive.”

“Records can disappear from both.”

“Use separate clerks.”

“A human clerk in the lower archive?”

“Yes. A Zagfer clerk in the household office will confirm the filing. Neither copy is valid without matching marks.”

Sarveth adds the requirement. “You have created work for two more people.”

“Assign them shifts within the new limit.”

Her mouth curves slightly.

We continue through every weakness.

An overseer who falsifies records commits a breach of service. A worker ordered beyond ten hours receives a shorter following shift. Repeated denial of assigned food permits Sarveth to remove the responsible overseer without waiting for approval from the kitchen steward or a Khuzuth officer.

“This gives me authority over dark elf supervisors,” she says.

“It gives you authority to enforce my law.”

“They may resist.”

“Then remove them.”

“The kitchens cannot function without experienced leadership.”

“They also cannot function under leadership that burns food and servants with equal carelessness.”

Sarveth marks the clause for the clerks.

We review the stable contracts next. Their shifts are shorter, but night emergencies often leave the same humans working through the following morning. The new recovery provision corrects that. Laundry workers lose meal periods whenever noble guests arrive. The full-ration clause and recorded schedules correct that as well.

The mine office uses different contracts. Workers there receive larger rations because cold and heavy labor demand them, yet K’sheng supervisors can reduce those rations as punishment. I remove that authority. Discipline must be entered separately and cannot diminish the food assigned to completed work.

“The mining overseers will object most strongly,” Sarveth says.

“They recently concealed failed deliveries and inadequate medical stores.”

“That investigation remains open.”