Thomas Reed’s Failure
Chapter 16 - Thomas Reed’s Failure
Thomas had spent seventeen years searching for Vivian through legal channels.
He also stopped searching actively for long periods.
Richard’s lawyers threatened professional ruin. Thomas had a family and judicial career. He convinced himself the covenant’s safeguards would eventually work.
They did not work until Vivian found the bronze disk herself.
At a public review, Thomas admitted failure.
“I obeyed the letter of a protective structure while a child lived inside the reach of the people we feared.”
Some praised his honesty.
Vivian did not use praise to erase delay.
She maintained a relationship with him but refused to make him a father figure.
He became a trusted elder with a specific history.
Thomas accepted the smaller role.
Before retiring from the covenant, he gave Vivian Elias Hartwell’s original legal notes.
One margin read:
The greatest danger is not a guardian who hates the child. It is a guardian who loves the system more.
Vivian placed the note in the public archive.
The sentence applied to Richard.
May you like
It also applied to Thomas.
He agreed.
