“Ran roo,” Larral said politely from beneath the table, then went back to gnawing on his bone.

“What’s going to happen to Remp now?” Abi wanted to know.

“That will depend on the King, I think,” said her mother. “Someone as wealthy as Remp shouldn’t be handled by the City Courts. Sedric will probably convene a High Court to try him, so he can’t claim he’s not being judged by a jury of his peers.”

“Is that a good idea, though?” Abi persisted. “Brice said that Remp lends out money to important people so they owe him favors.”

“Then I’ll make sure that every juror has to undergo Truth Spell to ensure that they aren’t among that group,” Amily replied firmly. “The judges too.”

“What about the families of all those littles?” Perry asked. “Are they going to be all right? After all, Remp’s wife and Dudley aren’t being charged, and they own those properties. What if they throw the families out on the street? Or worse, so the younglings can’t testify?”

“I made certain sure t’bring thet up, no worries, Perry,” Mags replied. “They’ll be put somewhere safe.”

“I wouldn’t put it past Dudley to hire thugs to silence them,” Abi said darkly. “He’s worse than his father.”

Mags looked at her oddly for a moment, then nodded. “Yer Mama’ll make sure th’ King knows thet.”

“Well, what I want to know,” Perry interjected. “Is what else you have for us to do at the Fair!”

7

Amily came in to the family dinner late and looking resigned. “Well,” she said as she sat down, “it seems we are not finished with Fenris Remp quite yet.”

Mags put his fork down. “What happen’d?”

“It appears that more people than I would have suspected owe him money, and he has been putting pressure on all of them to somehow get the charges against him dismissed,” she replied. “It won’t happen, of course. He was running a criminal enterprise. But this is making things very complicated.”

“Am I going to have to testify?” Abi asked.

“No,” her mother and father both answered at once. Mags nodded to his wife, who took up the tale. “No, because we have the reported goods that were stolen in the report of the Watch, and the goods were found in the possession of his underling. He was found in the tent, and, providentially, your purse is the one his underling chose to give him his ill-gotten gains in, and that was on his person when he was arrested. He’s not going to be able to squirm out of this, although he’s trying every trick he can think of.” She frowned. “The jury pool is dismayingly small.”

“Add th’ Queen’s Handmaidens?” Mags suggested. “They’re all highborn. They should qualify, aye?”