"Come in, come in. your Majesty," the Mob's spokesman said, hurrying forward to greet me. "Have a drink . .. Dummy! Get the King something to drink!"
This last was addressed to the second hulking muscleman who heaved himself off the bed he had been sprawled upon. With self-conscious dignity he picked up the end of the bed one-handed, set it down again, then picked up the mattress and extracted a small, flat bottle from under it.
I wondered briefly if this was what Big Julie meant when he referred to the Mob tradition of "going to the mattresses." Somehow the phrase had always brought another image to mind … something involving women. Accepting the flask from his bodyguard, Shai-ster opened the top and offered it to me, smiling all the while.
"Am I correct in assuming that your Majesty's visit indicates news of the whereabouts of his court magician? Perhaps even an estimated time as to when he is expected back?"
I accepted the flask, covertly checking the locations of the bodyguards before I answered. One was leaning against the door, while the other stood by the bed. "Actually, I can do better than that. The Great Skeeve…" I closed my eyes and dropped my disguise spell.
"…is here." The bodyguards started visibly at my transformation, but Shai-ster remained unmoved except for a narrowing of the eyes and a tightening of his smile.
"I see. That simplifies things a bit. Boys, give the Great Skeeve here a chair. We have some business to discuss."
His tone was not pleasant, nor were the bodyguards smiling as they started for me.
Remember how Rupert jumped me so easily? Well, he took me by surprise, and had three hundred years plus of magical practice to boot. Somehow, I was not particularly surprised by the bodyguards' action … in fact, I had been expecting it and had been gathering my powers for just this moment.
With a theatric wave of my hand and a much more important focusing of my mental energies, I picked the two men up and spun them in midair. Heck, I wasn't adverse to stealing a new idea for how to use levitation… even from Rupert. I did like a little originality in my work, though, so instead of bouncing them on their heads, I slammed them against the ceiling and held them pinned there.
"No, thanks," I said as casually as I could, "I'd rather stand."
Shai-ster looked at his helpless protectors, then shot a hard stare at me.
"Perhaps this won't be as simple as I thought," he admitted. "Say, you've got a unicorn, don't you?"
"That's right," I confirmed, surprised by the sudden change in topic.
"I don't suppose you'd be particularly scared if you woke up in the morning and found him in your bed… not all of him, just his head?"
"Scared? No, not particularly. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd be mad enough to quit playing games and get down to serious revenge."
The Mob spokesman sighed heavily.
"Well, that's that. If we can't make a deal, we'll just have to do this the hard way. You can let the boys down now. We'll be heading back in the morning."
This time, it was my turn to smile.
"Not so fast. Who said I didn't want to make a deal?" For the first time since I met him, Shai-ster's poise was shaken.
"But… I thought… if you can …"
"Don't assume, Shai-ster. It's a bad habit for businessmen to get into. I just don't like to get pushed around, that's all. Now then, as you said earlier, I believe we have some business to discuss."
The spokesman shot a nervous glance at the ceiling.
"Um… could you let the boys down first? It's a bit distracting."
"Sure."
I closed my eyes and released the spell. Mind you, unlike the disguise spell, I don't have to close my eyes to remove a levitation spell. I just didn't want to see the results. .
The room shook as two loud crashes echoed each other. I distinctly heard the bed assume a foolproof disguise as kindling.
I carefully opened an eye.
One bodyguard was unconscious. The other rolled about, groaning weakly.
"They're down," I said, needlessly.
Shai-ster ignored me.
"Big bad bodyguards! Wait'll the Big Boys hear how good dumb muscle is against magik!"
He paused to kick the groaner in the side.
"Groan quieter! Mister Skeeve and I have some talking to do."
Having already completed one adventure after antagonizing the military arm of a large organization, I was not overly eager to add another entire group of plug-uglies to my growing list of enemies.
"Nothing personal," I called to the bodyguard who was still conscious. "Here! Have a drink."
I levitated the flask over to him, and he caught it with a weak moan I chose to interpret as "thanks."
"You said something about a deal?" Shai-ster said, turning to me again.
"Right. Now, if my appraisal of the situation is correct, the Mob wants three things: Big Julie's army back, me dead or working for them, and a crack at the new money coming into Possiltum after the wedding."
The Mob spokesman cocked his head to one side.
"That's a bit more blunt than I would have put it, but you appear to have captured the essential spirit of my clients' wishes. My compliments on your concise summation."
"Here's another concise summation to go with it. Hands off Big Julie and his crew; he's under my protection. By the same token, Possiltum is my territory. Stay away from it or it will cost you more than you'll get. As to my services, I have no wish to become a Mob employee. I would consider an occasional assignment as an outside contractor for a specific fee, but full-time employment is out.''
The Mob spokesman was back in his element, face stony and impassive.
"That doesn't sound like much of a deal."
"It doesn't?"
I reviewed the terms quickly in my mind.
"Oh! Excuse me. There is one other important part of my offer I neglected to mention. I don't expect your employers to give up their objectives without any return at all. What I have in mind is a swap: an army and maybe a kingdom for an opportunity to exploit an entire world."
Shai-ster raised his eyebrows.
"You're going to give us the world? Just like that? Lord Magician, I suspect you're not bargaining with a full deck."
"I didn't say I would give you the world, I said I would give you access to a world. Brand new territory full of businesses and people to exploit; one of the richest in the universe."
The spokesman frowned.
"Another world? And I'm supposed to take your word as to how rich it is and that you can give us access?"
"It would be nice, but even in my most naive moments I wouldn't expect you to accept a blind bid like that. No, I'm ready to give you a brief tour of the proposed world so that you can judge for yourself."
"Wait-a minute," Shai-ster said, holding up his hands. "This is so far beyond my negotiating parameters that-even if I liked what I saw, I couldn't approve the deal. I need to bring one of the Big Boys in on this decision."
This was better than I had hoped. By the time he could bring one of the Mob's hierarchy to Possiltum, I could deal with some of my other problems.
"Fine. Go and fetch him. I'll hold the deal until your return."
The spokesman gave one of his tight-lipped smiles.
"No need to wait," he said. "My immediate superior is on call specifically for emergencies such as this."
Before I could frame a reply, he opened the front of his belt-buckle and began rubbing it, all the while mumbling under his breath.
There was a quick flash of light, and an old, hairyjowled man appeared in the room. Looking round, he spied the two bodyguards sprawled on the floor and gripped the sides of his face with his open hands in an exaggerated expression of horror.