[Perrin]

Perrin looked back at Archibald with no small amount of disgust. However,
there were merits in allowing the proceedings to remain open.

His promise to Fillip's father was to keep the matter as quiet as
possible, but that could be at the expense of Fillip's life. The real
killers... which most certainly were associated either with the Tower
Guard or with the office of the envoy... would gain much from secrecy.
Perrin could use the press to flush them out of hiding.... to make them
show themselves. He had done it before, and he knew that corruption could
not withstand the light of day. Yes... despite his promise and his
disdain for the reporter, the proceedings must remain open.

Perrin cleared his throat.

"Ahem... The defense is not averse to the opening of the proceedings to
the public. As long as order is kept and my client's safety is
assured."

He cast another glance back at Archibald, and even managed a
genuine-seeming smile.

*Let them figure THAT one out...* he thought.

[Allenel/et al.]

"The Crown certainly has no objections," Arno Everett added. He
looked at neither Perrin Mayce nor Archibald Chisholm. But somehow, just
in the way he stood, hands still behind his back, Allenel knew that the
prosecutor had missed neither Mayce's smile to the publisher, nor Archie's
own wide grin at having both counsel support his motion.

"Very well," Allenel agreed, and waved Archie back to the
spectator's gallery with one hand. "We shall now turn to the issue of how
to assemble a pool of names from which the jury shall be selected. Yes,
Mr. Everett?"

"Your Honor, the Crown suggests that the Court consider selecting
the jury from those registered as landowners within the city limits." A
perfectly reasonable response, stated in that same, quiet, reasonable way
-- a pool of those people most likely to have the greatest desire to
maintain favor with Bleckner.

[Perrin Mayce]

"Landowners, your honor? Are we selecting a jury comprised only of men of
means and substance... men who would already be predjudiced against the
accused due to HIS economic status? Is this what I am hearing, your
honor?"

[Fillip]

Archie Chisholm's interruption had slowed the guards' only slightly in
their removal of the prisoner; allowing Fillip to hear a little of the
discussion about the jury.

And now, as he was, about to be led out the side door and taken to the
Guards' wagon, he overheard Mayce's last comment. Fillip's lips tightened
- he was of a family of means and substance and had no desire to be judged
by the scum that crawled through Montfort!!

A shudder ran through Menagrem; he knew he was lucky his father sent
anyone at all - far easier to let him swing than to risk the family name.
And he was beginning to realize that he was even more fortunate in that
Mayce seemed to be a man who would give his case his full energies; Fillip
knew that his survival depended on keeping his mouth shut and letting his
attorney do his job.

[Jeremina Inleay]

After confirming that the prisoner had been secured in the Guard wagon,
which would transport him back to the Tower and his cell, Jeremina Inleay
resumed her seat.

[Arno/Allenel/etc.]

"Men of means prejudiced against the defendant?" Arno Everett
parried in a soft voice. "Counsel misstates his client's economic status,
Your Honor. After all, Mr. Mayce is not known for providing his services
pro bono -- a gentleman with his skill and renown commands quite a nice
sum for his representation. The Crown merely proposes that the defendant
be judged by the true peers of him and his family."

[Perrin]

"My fees are not pertinant to this discussion, your Honor," said Perrin.
"And it is common knowledge that the defendant's family disowned quite
publicly several years ago. He stands on his own, and he should be judged
by HIS peers, not those of his parents."

[Archie]

In the back, Archie Chisholm stopped scribbling long enough to
consider those before the bench. Who _was_ paying for Perrin Mayce to
come to Montfort? Was Arno Everett merely speculating? Disowned??
Hmmm... some investigation would need to be done -- what was Fillip's
family background? Were there any skeletons hidden in the family history?
Any bandit grandfathers who amassed their fortunes on the backs of the
peasants?

-Note to self,- Archie wrote, -uncover family scandals.-

[Sgt. Mercer]

He acknowledged his assistant's return with a nod, then returned to
watching the proceedings with a single-minded intensity. As the ranking
guard present, it would fall to him to make any statements on behalf of
the guard concerning the jury.

[Allenel/Arno/etc.]

"Disowned?" Allenel echoed, looking from Perrin to Arno and back
again. On the level just below the bench, Bog Antlyn continued to record
the proceedings, never once looking up from the crystals on his desk and
the neat handwriting he trailed across the parchment in front of him.
Allenel's gaze, however, did drift once more across the courtroom, with a
sinking feeling as he watched Archie Chisholm continue his own messy
scribbling in the back. When he turned his eyes back to Arno Everett, he
could read nothing in the older man's expression.

"Ah, yes," Everett answered, with a faint note in his voice that
might have indicated he just remembered the incident to which Perrin Mayce
referred. "A matter of a theft, I believe," he continued, as if trying to
hurry past the uncomfortable topic. He tilted his head backwards, to
contemplate the polished wood of the newly-finished courtroom ceiling. "I
can't recall the details -- something about Mr. Menagrem being expelled
from his mage's school for stealing from his master." Then he looked back
down and shrugged, as if he considered the matter irrelevant. "I suppose
the Crown can understand Mr. Mayce's reluctance to have the jury consist
solely of landowners, those who might ... well, look down upon him for his
change in social status." The prosecutor's tone was even, with perhaps
even the slightest sympathy for Fillip's youthful indiscretion.

The sound of Archie dropping something could be heard in the back
of the courtroom. The round ginger-haired publisher glanced about
apologetically, stooped to scoop up his papers, and then continued to
scribble. Bog, his silent, more collected counterpart, missed not a
syllable of the exchange.

Allenel paused for a moment, massaging the bridge of his nose with
two fingers and trying to ignore the headache that was starting to form.
"Current residents of Montfort then," Allenel proposed, waiting just a
moment to see if anyone would interrupt. No one did. "Land ownership
will not be a requirement -- though we will not exclude them from the pool
either," he added. "Sergeant Mercer?" He waved the Tower Guardsman
forward, indicating that the assistant -- was Inleay her name? -- should
step forward to stand before the bench. "We need to prepare a list of
residents for the pool. Anyone other than a visitor passing through the
Dragon's Inn or in town solely for the Festival. No known criminal
record." He looked at the two attorneys standing below him; Arno simply
nodded. "Mr. Mayce? Anything to add?"

[Perrin]

"No, your honor. It is a fair and very reasonable plan."

[Sgt. Mercer]

He rose and walked towards the bench. Upon hearing the decision, he
nodded and said simply, "It will be done." Then he spared a glance to
his assistant. The bulk of this job would likely fall on the two of
them, and with the various upheavals and resulting loss of records it
would be no small task to try to list Montfort's current residents.

[Jereminah Inleay]

Private Inleay silently stood at Sgt. Mercer's right side; she was already
running down a list in her memory of some of the more "stable" residents
of the town.