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eye.
"Whatever you say," she said. "But could you please change Armus back to a man?" She held up the
pouch, displaying the hamster.
"Why should I?" the wizard asked. "He came here to slay me. The two of you are fortunate that I permit
him to live inanyform!"
"Oh, absolutely," Maribelle agreed, "it was very kind of you to let him live. But you know, he didn't
come to kill you at all, hesworeto me that he didn't!"
"And you believe him?"
"Of course I do! He's my husband."
"And why did he come to me, then?"
Maribelle glanced at the servant, still leaning against the wall; she couldn't make out the wizard's
expression at all, but the woman's face was interestingly blank.
The time had come, Maribelle thought, to surprise Esotissimus and tell the truth.
"Oh, he came to decide whether or not to take the job of killing you. But he hadn't agreed yet, and he
wouldn't have, once he saw you."
Maribelle thought she saw the woman's mouth twitch, as if she were suppressing a smile.
"And you think I should forgive him for evenconsideringan attempt to slay me?"
"Well, yes," Maribelle said. "It was stupid, and he should have known better, definitely but everyone
does stupid things once in awhile."
"And when they do, they must pay the price!" Esotissimus roared.
"But no harm was done," Maribelle insisted. "Won't you please forgive him? Isn't thereanythingI can
offer you to change him back? We have money we could pay you."
"What use do I have for earthly wealth?"
Maribelle blinked foolishly. "The same uses as anyone else," she said. "I know you charge people for the
magic you do for them."
"If I did not, they would never cease to trouble me," the wizard said. "I need no gold."
"Maybe we have information you could use?" Maribelle suggested. "After all, Armus knows who hired
him."
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"Derdiamus Luc," Esotissimus said.
"Oh," Maribelle said, crestfallen. "You knew."
"Of course. My servant knew where to take the hamster, did she not?"
Maribelle glanced at the woman leaning against the wall shewas the messenger who had delivered
Armus to Luc?
"Well, if you like, Armus could kill Luc for you," Maribelle said.
"I could dispose of him myself, should I choose to do so," the wizard replied.
That was probably true enough. Maribelle was running out of suggestions, but there was always one
possibility. Her voice suddenly dropped the better part of an octave and turned husky. "Surely there must
besomethingI can do for you?"
"Are you offering to betray your husband?"
"I'm trying tosavemy husband," Maribelle protested, holding up the pouch.
"I have no interest in you," the wizard said coldly. "I am above such worldly concerns."
"But you must be lonely& " Maribelle began. Then somewhere in her head something fell into place, and
instead of finishing the sentence she turned to look at the dark-haired woman.
A mighty wizard who claimed to be above any sort of earthly matters, but who still had one
servant andonlyone who he insisted must be present during this audience. A woman who was not
quite the young beauty she tried to appear. Armus hadn't seen the wizard even move when he was
transformed. And Armus tended to fiddle with weapons behind his back when he was nervous.
Maribelle looked down at the hamster. "She was behind you when it happened, wasn't she?" she asked.
Armus cheebled, and Maribelle looked up in time to see the dark-haired woman's hands raised, fingers
arranged to cast a spell. Maribelle flung herself sideways, out of the line of fire, ignoring Armus' tiny
shriek of terror as he flew out of his pouch; she landed rolling on the floor, and rose to her knees as she
pulled one of the concealed daggers from her sleeve.
She didn't want to use the knife; for one thing, it probably wouldn't work. Even as she prepared to
throw it she groped for alternatives, and one came to her.
If her guess was right, then the black-haired woman might well want something Maribelle was uniquely
equipped to provide.
"Wait!" she shouted, as she readied the knife. "Please, wait!"
The black-haired woman turned, hands raised to enchant.
"Aren'tyou lonely?" Maribelle called.
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The woman paused, fingers poised and ready but unmoving. Clearly she had expected Maribelle to beg
for her life, or offer some sort of bribe, not repeat the question she had asked the wizard. "What?" she
said.
"Aren't you lonely?" Maribelle repeated, lowering her dagger. "I mean, living here all alone with just
him is he even real? Wouldn't you like someone to, you know, justtalkto?"
The woman looked at the dagger, and belated realization dawned a realization very much like the one
that had struck Maribelle. "You aren't just an assassinswife, are you?" she asked.
Maribelle risked a faint smile. "And you aren't just a wizard's servant."
The woman lowered her hands. "Go on," she said. "What did you want to say?"
"Armus wasn't going to kill you," Maribelle said. "If we'd taken the job, I would have. Armus is a sweet
boy, but he isn't much of an assassin I'm the brains, he's the decoy. And you're the wizard, and that
thing on the throne is just for show." She pointed to where the wizard sat, unmoving and completely
uninvolved in the rather intense discussion going on a few yards away. "You're the brains, it's the decoy."
"So now I reallyshouldkill you," the woman said, raising her hands again. "Not only are you an admitted
assassin, but you know my secret."
"And you know mine," Maribelle said. "You can kill me any time but wouldn't you rather have
someone you can talk to? Someone you can trust? Someone who's used to keeping secrets? Aren't there
times it would be handy to have a trusted friend who's trained at theft, deception, and assassination?
Someone you can talk shop with?"
"Itwouldbe nice," the wizard said hesitantly. "Itislonely. But can I really trust you? Both of you?"
"Why not?" Maribelle said. "I'll vouch for Armus he can be foolish, but he can keep his mouth shut,
and I'm sure he doesn't want to be a hamster. We've keptoursecret well enough why not yours?" She
put the dagger on the floor and displayed her empty hands. "My name's Maribelle, by the way."
For a moment the dark-haired woman still hesitated, but then she gave in. "I'm Essi," she said, reaching
out a hand to help Maribelle to her feet.
"I'm pleased to meet you," Maribelle said. "I've never met a female wizard before."
"I don't think there are any others," Essi said. "My father trained me in wizardry, but after he and my
mother died no one would ever take me seriously it's not just that I'm female, but I'm so short, and not
ugly enough for a witch. Besides, I don't know witchcraft, just wizardry. I could have changed my
appearance, but that'ssouncomfortable and hard to maintain! So I made Esotissimus over there he's a
homunculus, sort of half-alive and played the part of a servant."
"Nobody would hire a woman to fight openly," Maribelle said, dusting off her skirt. "So I tried to hire out
as an assassin, but even that wasn't working until I teamed up with Armus." She looked around, and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]