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This is a science fiction book, a paperback, probably from the late 80s or early 90s. I seem to believe that the cover has the image of a woman and a man in the foreground, with a grounded spacecraft of some sort in the background.

The main character is a woman who is hired by a man of important local stature on a particular planet as a calligrapher. Whether this is actually what her profession is called in the book, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that what she is employed for has to do with beautiful writing. I think it turns out that the man, or someone one the planet with whom she is involved, is involved in some kind of clandestine freedom activism or some other furtive activity that the planetary or galactic authorities are not keen on, and of course she consequently becomes involved as well.

There is another very unpleasant man who is a mutant of some sort because of something that he was exposed to in utero. I don't have very specific memories of what his mutation consists of, but I believe that his body is malproportioned and he has a high child-like voice. He's not a nice guy. He wears sandals. My strongest memory of the book is toward the end, when he catches the heroine and takes her into custody. What I remember is that he breaks both of her hands by crushing them beneath his foot. He tells her to get up afterward and she tells him that he is unable, at which he says, "Do you want me to help you?" and she quickly finds a way to get up on her own. He gets shot shortly thereafter.

This is a technologically advanced future with numerous human-colonized worlds. I don't recall any aliens. There is a definite sense of class structure in the book, and I think a formal honorific by which to address a superior - possibly "Ser" or "Mir" or "Mer," but I might be pulling those specific forms of address from another book.

This makes me think of Crystal Witness by Kathy Tyers, Ming Dalamani is a calligrapher after being in suspended animation for twenty years. She works in gels, and can produce 3D calligraphy. Workers sometimes use nilly beans to make themselves react quicker. She is on a company planet and becomes involved in a rebellion. She has been fitted with a collar that can be used to give her pain.

THAT'S IT. I knew immediately when you gave the title, but I checked the cover to confirm. It's funny, I had the word "crystal" in my head when I thought about it, but I didn't mention that because I thought my brain was conflating it with "Crystal Singer" for some deranged reason.

I've now filed this as Adult Fiction-SOLVED. ETA: And thank you, M!

Crystal Witness by Kathy Tyers for the link.