[Menagrem Household]

Kand Menagrem swore as he read the missive, and the man's already florid
face went a brighter red. As he stared at the now-crumpled piece of cheap
parchment he began to feel as if his small study was too tiny to contain
his anger - and stormed out into the hall - so his wife and their few
servants could hear his anger.

The two servants - both maid and butler aged well past any real efficiency
- peeked long enough into the hall, and with years of practise knew to
flee. Melva, the matron of the house and Kand's wife, knew it was her
place to come and sooth him, or at least give him an audience.

Melva could hear him even back in her sewing room, and after taking a
minute to tuck a stray grey curl back under her lace kerchief and
straighten her brown gown, she came out into the drafty hall. She kept her
sad brown eyes downcast as she asked, "My dear, what troubles you so?"

"That whelp!!!" he screamed, throwing the wade of torn parchment at her
feet, "Read that!!"

His wife slowly stooped to pick up the damaged missive, and after a few
moments of reading she shook her head. Looking up at her husband she
finally asked, "Will you do anything to aid him?"

"That _damned_ spawn...?! Kand raged, "He can rot..."

Melva fought back her tears - she could show no sorrow for her only son
(not with the fact that Kand blamed her  bloodline for Fillip's magic),
and she knew that the boy had been too hardheaded to listen to them and
study within the Church. A Church that no longer could be spoken of now
that the old king was dead. Too much had happened to shake their once
quiet lifes. And now to have the boy charged with murder!! Maybe it was a
curse being visited on their heads for not turning him over to the
Mageguard for conversion or cleansing. Though that sentiment was too
dangerous to be said aloud - again things had changed _too_ much!

Softly she said, "Montfort is notorious - and if he is having time to
plead for help then there will be a trial. And word of that trial will
spread...."

"And our name will be hung with him.....," Kand finished. He turned on his
heel and called out, "Essac!!"

Though white-haired and paunchy Essac still carried himself with a
straight back, and came forward to say, "Yes sir?"

"Send word to the law offices that I need to speak with Frences Pleenir
about sending an underling - a talented one - to Montfort.

---

[Perrin Mayce]

"Engarde!"    Perrin lunged forward  with his rapier thrust out before
 him in a perfectly straight line.  His young opponent jerked to one side
and blocked the strike.  Perrin brought his blade around and, with an
arrogant twist of the wrist, disarmed the young man.   The rapier
clattered to the ground several feet away.

"You see, William"  said Perrin.  "That was a trap.   You walked right into
it."

"Yes, sir."

"It's just like in court... give them an opening, and when they take it...
YOU take THEM.   Care to try again?"

"Can we rest a minute?"  William wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Tired already?"

"Well... we've been at this for over an hour..."

"So is it impatience or exhaustion?   Both are serious
detriments to men in OUR profession..."

"Well, sir...  when I asked to become your assisstant, I didn't
know the job would be so... physical."

"The mind is a part of the body, William.   Can't get a hundred percent
out of one without making good use of the other."

"Yes, sir.   But my mind is telling me that my body needs to rest
a few minutes."

Perrin chuckled and shook his head.  He was in his mid thirties...
not far out of his prime, yet far enough to embarrass the youth with
whom he sparred.   It was not an even match by any stretch of the
imagination... Perrin's loose-fitting clothes hid a  body honed by
countless hours of physical activity and years of service to the town
guard.  Those days were over, but Perrin still kept himself in as
close to peak condition as he could.     Jogging, swordplay, martial
arts... He could easily beat *two* Williams.   Of course just ten years
ago he could have taken on three... and without the benefit of a
rapier of his own.

"Now then,"  said Perrin.   "Get your weapon.   We're going to try
this again."

William reluctantly retrieved his blade.

"This time try not to make it so easy for me... I'd at least like to break
a sweat before the day is over.   Now... ENGAR-"

A knock sounded at the door.   William gave a deep sigh of relief.

"Get that will you?"

Perrin's assistant left the practice room and returned a few seconds
later with note addressed to Perrin.   He handed it over and leaned
heavily against the wall while Perrin studied it.

"Hmmm...."

"What is it, sir?"

"Clear my schedule for the week and pack yourself a bag."

"What?  What's going on?"

"Its a message from Pleenir.   Something's come up... I'm going
to the House Menagrem, and afterward I'm almost certain we'll be
making an extended trip to Montfort."

--

[Menagrem Household]

The knock at the door brought the butler, Essac, scurrying as quickly as
his ancient legs would carry him.

"May I help you?" he queried of the tall, brown haired stranger, though
the butler suspected this was the gentleman that the Master was waiting
for. From further in the house came the sound of Kand Menagrem's angry
voice.

[Perrin]

"Yes.   I am here to see Mr. Menagrem.  Tell him that Perrin
Mayce has arrived to offer assistance in a... matter of some
relevance."

[Essac]

"Right this way," the butler said with quiet deference - he had heard of
Perrin Mayce, and was pleased that such a distinguished lawyer had been
sent to handle the Master's problems.

He led the lawyer through the gloomy halls and to a door at the far end of
the hall. After knocking and a brief annoucement Essac held the door
open, revealing a stuff, small library.

"Come in, Mr. Mayce," Kand Menagrem said, obviously trying to gain some
control over his temper, though heightened color of his round cheeks gave
testimony to his mood.

"At least Pleenir had sense enough to send a man with a few brains," Kand
remarked to Melva, who was sitting silently in the corner of the room.

[Perrin]

"I see my reputation precedes me,"  said Perrin.  "Good.
Mr. Pleenir and I are old friends.   Though I am not offically on his
payroll, he knew immediately upon hearing the details of your case that
none of his *regular*  associates could do it justice.   He decided to call
in a favor... for which I am sure we will BOTH be adequately rewarded.
You can rest assured that I will represent your son to the fullest of my
considerable ability.  Now if you can tell me what you know..."

[Kand/Melva]

Another deep breath allowed Kand to regain more of his composure - it
wouldn't do to have outsiders see how badly _that whelp_ had angered him.
With a flourish of his hand Menagrim indicated a nearby chair and said,
"Please have a seat, Mr. Mayce."

Kand took the seat behind his desk and said, "I would not slight either
Mr. Pleenir - who showed astute judgement, nor you, whose reputation does
indeed precede you. You both will be well compensated - particularly if
you can keep the Menagrim name clean."

Though his voice was calm his brown eyes sparked with barely-contained
anger, and Menagrim continued, "I will speak candidly, Mr. Mayce, I
disowned Fillip - I'll have no heir that is a mage....." He caught himself
before he said "heretic" - the days of the Church were gone, and now
religion no longer figured into his anger - but Fillip's disobedience did.
"He is a disobedient whelp, but he still bears the Menagrim name which I
will not seen smeared in his filth."

Kand pushed the crumpled, torn, parchment towards Perrin and said, "This
is all I know of his troubles. He stands accused of murder and _begs_ me
to pay for his defense!"

"Please help him," Melva whispered into her handkerchief.

[Perrin]

Perrin examined the parchment.

"Tower Guard..."  he spoke aloud, though his was addressing no one in
particular.  "The officials in Montfort have a reputation for the zealous
pursuit of justice... some say OVER-zealous.  No matter... the truth of
this matter will be unveiled, and young Fillip's connection to the
Menagrim family name will be kept as far away from the public eye as
possible.  I see no reason why anyone except Fillip should know the source
of his legal support.  Speaking of which-"

Perrin produced a meticulously folded parchment of his own and
handed it to Kand.

"My statement of fees.    As you see, my retainer is due before I begin
my tasks.   I was hoping to make my leave for Montfort in the morning..."

[Kand/Melva]

Kand looked over the parchment, and nodded. Then he stood and after
briefly excusing himself he returned with a leather bag, which he held out
to the lawyer. "I have included extra for 'traveling expenses,'" he said.
Kand Menagrim took great pride in his public largess, though his household
lived frugally.

[Perrin]

Perrin accepted the payment with a smile.   He judged it to be more
than adequate just from the weight.

"Now if you will excuse me, sir... madam..."  Perrin bowed graciously.
"It has been a pleasure meeting you, though I wish it had been under
happier circumstances.   I'll send word when I arrive in Montfort, and
shall send you regular reports of my progress in the case.  Until then..."

Perrin bowed yet again.   He saw himself to the door of the library, where
a servant met him and escorted him out.

[To be continued.]