Grimble regarded me with cocked eyebrow for a moment.
"Of course I am confident. Lord Magician," he said at last. "So confident, I have staked my kingdom, and more importantly, my reputation, on your success. You will note I rate my reputation above the kingdom. That is no accident. Kingdoms rise and fall, but a chancellor can always find employment. That is, of course, providing it was not his advice which brought the kingdom to ruin. Should you fail in your campaign to save Possiltum, my career is finished. If that should happen, gentlemen, your careers fall with mine."
"That has the sound of a threat to it, Grimble," Aahz observed dryly.
"Does it?" the chancellor responded with mock innocence. "That was not my intent. I am not threatening, I am stating a fact. I maintain very close contact with the chancellors of all of the surrounding kingdoms; in fact I am related to several. They are all aware of my position in this magik versus the military issue. Should I prove wrong in my judgment, should you fail in your defense of Possiltum, they will note it. Thereafter, any magician-and you specifically, Skeeve-will be denounced as a fraud and a charlatan should you seek further employment. In fact, as the chancellors frequently control the courts, I would not be surprised if they found an excuse or a trumped-up charge which would allow them to have you put to death as a favor to me. The method of death varies from kingdom to kingdom, but the end result is the same. I trust you will keep that in mind as you plan your campaign."
With that, he turned on his heel and strode away, leaving us standing in silence.
"Well, Aahz," I said finally, "do you have any sound advice on our situation now?"
"Of course," he retorted.
"What?" I asked.
"Now that we've got the whole story," he said solemnly, "now you can panic."
Chapter Nine:
"There is more at stake here than our hues."
-COL. TRAVIS Alamo Pep Talk
ON the third night after leaving Possiltum's capital, we camped on a small knoll overlooking the kingdom's main north-south trail.
Actually, I use the phase "north-south" rather loosely in this instance. In three days' travel, our progress was the only northward movement we had observed on this particular strip of beaten dirt. The dearth of northbound traffic was emphasized by the high volume of people bound in the opposite direction.
As we traveled we were constantly encountering small groups and families picking their way steadily toward the capital in that unhurried yet ground eating pace that typifies people accustomed to traveling without means of transport other than their feet. They did not seem particularly frightened or panicky, but two common characteristics marked them all as being more than casual travelers.
First, the great amount of personal effects they carried was far in excess of that required for a simple pilgrimage. Whether bound in cumbersome backpacks or heaped in small, hand-pushed carts, it was obvious the southbound travelers were bringing with them as much of their worldly possessions as they could carry or drag.
Second, no one paid us any heed other than a passing glance. This was even more noteworthy than the prior observation.
Currently, our party consisted of three: myself, Aahz, and Gleep. We had left Buttercup at the palace, much to Aahz's disgust. He would have preferred to leave Gleep and bring Buttercup, but the royal orders had been firm on this point. The dragon was not to remain at the palace unless one or both of us also stayed behind to handle him. As a result, we traveled as a trio-a youth, a dragon, and a grumbling demon-not exactly a common sight in these or any other parts. The peasants flowing south, however, barely noticed us other than to give us clear road space when we passed.
Aahz maintained that this was because whatever they were running from inspired such fear that they barely noted anything or anybody in their path. He further surmised that the motivating force for this exodus could only be the very army we were on our way to oppose.
To prove his point, we attempted to question several of the groups when we encountered them. We stopped doing this after the first day due to the similarities of the replies we received. Sample:
Aahz: Hold, stranger! Where are you going? Answer: To the capital!
Aahz: Why?
Answer: To be as near as possible to the king when he makes his defense against the invaders from the North. He'll have to try to save himself even if he won't defend the outlands.
Aahz: Citizen you need flee no more. You have underestimated your king's concern for your safety. You see before you the new court magician, retained by His Majesty specifically for the purpose of defending Possiltum from the invading army. What say you to that?
Answer: One magician?
Aahz: With my own able assistance, of course.
Answer: I'd say you were crazy.
Aahz: Now look Answer: No, you look, whoever or whatever you are. Meaning no disrespect to this or any other magician, you're fools to oppose that army. Magik may be well and good against an ordinary force, but you aren't going to stop that army with one magician ... or twenty magicians for that matter.
Aahz: We have every confidence-
Answer: Fine, then you go north. Me, I'm heading for the capital!
Though this exchange had eventually quelled our efforts to reassure the populace, it had given rise to an argument which was still unresolved as we prepared to sleep on the third night.
"What happened to your plan to take the money and run?" I grumbled.
"Big deal," Aahz shot back. "Five whole gold pieces."
"You said you wanted a profit," I pressed.
"Okay! We've got one. So it's small... but so was the effort we put into it. Considering we didn't spend anything-"
"What about the unicorn?" Aahz countered. "While they're still holding the unicorn, we've lost money on the deal."
"Aahz," I reminded him. "Buttercup didn't cost us anything, remember? He was a gift from Quigley."
"It would cost money to replace him," Aahz insisted. "That means that we lost money on the deal unless we get him back. I've told you, I want a profit ... and definitely refuse to accept a loss."
"Gleep?"
Aahz's heated words had awakened my dragon, who raised his head in sleepy inquiry.
"Go back to sleep, Gleep!" I said soothingly. "Everything's all right."
Reassured, he rolled onto his back and laid back his head.
Ridiculous as he looked, lying there with his four legs sticking up in the air, he had reminded me of something.
I pondered the memory for a moment, then decided to change my tactics.
"Aahz," I said thoughtfully, "what's the real reason for your wanting to go through with this?"
"Weren't you listening, kid? I said-"
"I know, I know," I interrupted. "You said it was for the profit. The only thing wrong with that is you tried to leave Gleep behind, who cost us money, instead of Buttercup, who didn't cost us anything! That doesn't ring true if you're trying to show a profit with the least possible effort."
"Um, you know how I feel about that stupid dragon-" Aahz began.
"And you know how I feel about him," I interrupted, "As such, you also know I'd never abandon him to save my own skin, much less for money. For some reason, you wanted to be sure I'd see this thing through... and that reason has nothing at all to do with money. Now, what is it?"
It was Aahz's turn to lapse into thoughtful silence.
"You're getting better at figuring things out, kid," he said finally.
Normally, I would have been happy to accept the compliment. This time, however, I saw it as what it was: an attempt to distract me.
"The reason, Aahz," I said firmly.
"There are several reasons, kid," he said with uncharacteristic solemnity. "The main one is that you're not a master magician yet."