I was still contemplating the image of Massha, sitting indignant on the ground with horse's legs protruding grotesquely from beneath her rump, when the herald sprang into action.
"Now comes General Badaxe ... and a friend."
With that, the man stood aside. Actually, he took several sideways steps to stand aside.
I've already described Massha's bulk. Well, Hugh Badaxe wasn't far behind her. What he lacked in girth, he made up for in muscle. My initial impression of the General remained unchanged; that he had won his rank by taking on the rest of the army... and winning. Of course, he was wearing his formal bearskin, the clean one, which made him appear all the larger. While I had been there when they met, I had never actually seen Badaxe and Massha standing side by side before. The overall effect was awe-inspiring. Together, they might have been a pageant of a barbarian invasion gone decadent ... if it weren't for the General's axe. His namesake, a huge, double-bitted hand axe, rode comfortably in its customary place on the General's right hip, and the glitter from it wasn't all decorative. Here, at least, was one barbarian who hadn't let decadence go to his sword arm.
"Your Majesty."
Badaxe rumbled his salutation as he dropped to one knee with an ease that denied his size. One could almost imagine the skull of a fallen enemy crackling sharply beneath that descending knee. I forced the thought from my mind.
"Greetings, General. Won't you introduce me to your... companion?"
"I ... certainly, your Majesty. May I present Massha, Court Magician of Ta-hoe, and friend of both myself and Lord Skeeve, Magician to your own court here at Possiltum."
"Charmed, your Majesty."
I realized with a start that Massha was about to attempt to imitate Badaxe by dropping to one knee. Even if she were able to execute such a maneuver, it would require sufficient effort as to invite ridicule from the other court retainers present... and somehow I didn't want that.
"Ah . .. there is no need for that," I asserted hastily. "It was not our intention to hold formal court here, but rather an informal social occasion."
That caused a minor stir with the court, including the general who frowned in slight puzzlement. Still, I was already committed to a line of conversation, so I blundered on.
"In fact, that was the only reason for the summons. I wished to meet the lady dazzling enough to lure our general from his usual position by my side."
"Your Majesty gave his permission for my absence today," the general protested.
"Quite right. As I said, this is a social gathering only. In fact, there are too many people here for casual conversation. It is our wish that the court be adjourned for the day and the room cleared that I might speak freely with this visiting dignitary."
Again there was a general ripple of surprise, but a royal order was a royal order, and the various retainers bowed or curtsied to the throne and began making their way out.
"You too. General. I would speak with Massha alone."
Badaxe began to object, but Massha nudged him in the ribs with an elbow, a blow which would have been sufficient to flatten most men, but was barely enough to gain the general's attention. He frowned darkly, then gave a short bow and left with the others.
"So, you're a friend of our lord Magician," I asked after we were finally alone.
"I have that... honor, your Majesty," Massha replied cautiously. "I hope he's... well?"
"As a matter of fact, he's in considerable trouble right now."
Massha heaved a great sigh.
"I was afraid of that. Something to do with his last assignment?"
I ignored the question.
"General Badaxe seems quite taken with you. Are you sure you want to stay in the magik biz? Or are you going to try your hand at a new lifestyle?"
Massha scowled at me.
"Now how did you hear that? You haven't been torturing your own magician, have you?"
I caught the small motion of her adjusting her rings, and decided the time for games was over.
"Hold it, Massha! Before you do anything, there's something I have to show you."
"What's that?"
I had already closed my eyes to remove my disguise spell... faster than I ever had before.
"Me," I said, opening my eyes again.
"Well, I'll be ... you really had me going there, hot stuff."
"It was just a disguise spell," I waved off-handedly.
"Nice. Of course, it almost got you fried. Why didn't you let me know it was you?"
"First of all, I wanted to see if my disguise spell was good enough to fool someone who was watching for it. This is my first time to try to disguise my voice as well as my appearance. Secondly... well, I was curious if you had changed your mind about being my apprentice."
"But why couldn't you have just asked me ... I see.
You're really in trouble, aren't you? Bad enough that you didn't want to drag me into an old promise. That's nice of you, Skeeve. Like I said before, you run a class act."
"Anybody would have done the same thing," I argued, trying to hide my embarrassment at her praise.
She snorted loudly.
"If you believed that, you wouldn't have survived as long as you have. Anyway, apprentice or not, a friend is a friend. Now out with it. What's happened?"
Sitting on the steps to the throne, I filled her in about the forthcoming wedding and my suspicions about the king's conveniently scheduled vacation. I tried to sound casual and matter-of-fact about it, but towards the end my tone got rather flat.
When I was done, Massha gave a low whistle of sympathy.
"When you big leaguers get in trouble, you don't kid around, do you? Now that you've filled me in, I'll admit I'm a little surprised you're still here."
I grimaced.
"I'm a little slow from time to time, but you only have to lecture me once. If one day without a king is bad for a kingdom, a permanent disappearance could be disastrous. Anyway, what I need right now is someone to track down the real king and get him back here, while I keep bluffing from the throne."
Massha scowled.
"Well, I've got a little trinket that could track him, if you've got something around that he's worn, that is...."
"Are you kidding? You think court magicians dress this way in Possiltum? Everything I'm wearing and two more closets full in his quarters belong to the king."
". .. But what I can't figure out is why you need me? Where's your usual partner . .. whatsisname ....ahz? It seems to me he'd be your first choice for a job like this. Wherever he is, can't you just pop over to that dimension and pull him back for a while?"
Lacking any other option, I decided to resort to the truth, both about Aahz's permanent departure and my own lack of ability to travel the dimensions without a DHopper. When I was done, Massha was shaking her head.
"So you're all alone and stranded here and you were still going to give me an out instead of pressuring me into helping? Well, you got my help, mister, and you don't have to bribe me with an apprenticeship, either. I'll get your king back for you... before that wedding. Then we'll talk about apprentices."
I shook my head.
"Right idea, but wrong order. I wasn't going to bribe you with an apprenticeship, Massha. I told you before I don't know much magik, but what I know I'll be glad to teach you . .. whether you find the King or not. I'm not sure that's an apprenticeship, but it's yours if you want it."
She smiled, a smile quite different from her usual vamp act.
"We'll argue about it later. Right now, I've got a king to find."
"Wait a minute! Before you go, you're pretty good with gadgets, right? Well, I've got a D-Hopper in my quarters. I want you to show me two settings: the one for Deva, and the one for Klah. You see, I'm not all that noble. If things get too rough or it takes you longer than a week to find the king, I want a little running room. If I'm not here when you get back, you can look for your 'noble' Skeeve at the Yellow Crescent Inn at the Bazaar at Deva."