To a suddenly popular lawyer...

[channe]

The dismissal is curt; and, somehow, as he slides the fee into his jacket pocket, tips his hat, and takes his leave, he can't help feeling, somehow, that the brooding drow and her shifty charge are going to attempt to use him like a trained monkey to obtain their desired ends.

But Coriolanus Helstone is a little smarter than your average trained monkey, and he has his own ends to consider this time.

When that thought passes through his mind on his way back into town, it's bare comfort.

He has no qualms about representing the accused, as long as he is allowed to be a lawyer and not a puppet or pawn. His record shows, even here in Myrken Wood, that he favors neither innocent nor guilty, and serves as advocate for either side depending on the day -- even Daniels will have to admit that. Nevertheless, the reputations of both Jirai and Suede precede them, and Helstone knows that he'll have to be extra-vigilant this time.

He'll whistle a little, and put a bit of spring into his step. There are things to do -- many, many things to do. Money is money, and work is work, and the truth is the truth.