“Thank you.” And I meant it.

“Though the first help I might be giving you is of a legal nature.” He glanced at Mychael. “I heard from your friends the Khrynsani last night.”

I swore silently. Mychael tried not to look concerned, but I wasn’t buying it.

“Actually, I didn’t see their representatives directly,” Justinius continued. “They filed their formal complaint with the magistrate. He brought the papers to me. Your ship hadn’t docked yet.”

“What papers?” Mychael’s voice betrayed no emotion.

“The papers charging Miss Benares here with grand larceny, attempted murder, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.”

I blinked. “Of who?”

“Grand Shaman Sarad Nukpana. The Khrynsani have requested that we turn you over to them for prosecution.”

“What?”

“We won’t do that,” Mychael assured me.

“I should hope not!”

“Actually, we can’t do that,” Justinius said. “Not legally, anyway.”

“For the Khrynsani to have any legal claim, they would have to go through the elven embassy,” Mychael told me. “That would take time; no doubt they want to resolve this quickly.”

Justinius cleared his throat. “Actually, I just heard from Giles Keril this morning.”

The name sounded vaguely familiar. “Who?”

“The elven ambassador to Mid,” Justinius said.

Oh, that Giles Keril.

“Keril got an identical set of papers this morning,” Justinius continued. “The sight of goblin lawyers on his embassy doorstep probably made the little weasel crap his pants. The goblins are claiming that Miss Benares here has stolen the Saghred, which is a treasured possession of the goblin people, attempted to murder a counselor of the royal House of Mal’Salin, and has kidnapped and falsely imprisoned said royal counselor.” He winked slyly at me. “Not a bad week’s work, girl.”