Gleep cranks his head around and looks the Boss in the eye.
"Skeeve?" he sez, then goes limp.
The Boss carefully puts Gleep's head on the ground, then gets up and stands lookin' at him for a minute. Then he looks at us.
In my work with the Mob, I have met several people who could threaten you with just a look. I've even done it myself when the situation called for it. But in all my years, I have never seem anything like the look the Boss is givin' us right now.
"All right," he sez in a deadly-soft voice. "I want to know what's been going on here ... and I want to know now!!"
Remember when I said that when Nunzio went lookin' for the Boss, it seemed to take a lot longer than it actually did? Well, it seemed even longer this time before anyone spoke ... practically years.
Finally, Aahz broke the silence.
"Urn ... partner?" he sez.
"Not now, Aahz," the Boss sez, still starin' at us.
"Suit yourself," Aahz shrugs. "I just thought you might want to take care of Gleep before getting in to all this."
The Boss's head comes around with a snap.
"Take care of Gleep?" he sez. "But isn't he... ? I mean..."
Aahz frowns at him for a second, then his expression clears.
"Oh! I get it now. You thought..." he breaks off with a little chuckle. "Relax, partner. He'll be fine. He just passed out from the shock is all."
"But the arrow ... ?"
"Dragons are tough." Aahz smiles. "Besides, most people don't know much about dragon anatomy. That arrow's
nowhere near where his heart is. Once we get it out of him, he should heal up fine."
Now, I'll admit that I am among those that Aahz is referrin' to that don't know anything about dragon anatomy. This does not, however, mean that I am slow on the uptake.
"Nunzio!" I barks. "Find Massha fast. Tell her to bring that stuff she used on my arm. Spyder! Scout around for a wagon big enough that we can move Gleep back to the stables. If anyone gives you any grief, convince them. Either that or tell 'em to take it up with me later."
In the blink of an eye, they are both up and runnin'.
"Can I help out at all?" sez one of the delegates, step-pin' up to me.
"Like how?" I sez, frowniri' as I try to remember the guy's name. "You're ..."
'Tuck," he sez. "I'm a cook. I heard the ... the green gentleman say something about cutting the arrow out. Well, I'm pretty good with a knife and know a bit about animal anatomy ... though not about dragons specifically ... and ..."
"Okay, stand by," I sez. "Just don't do anything until Massha gets here."
"Massha?" he sez.
"Don't worry. You'll know her when you see her."
After that, it was pretty much routine. Tuck was as good as his word and got the arrow out of the Boss's pet with minimal blood bein' spilled. Massha was right there with her magik salve, and by the time we got around to loadin' Gleep onto the wagon, the wound was already healin'.
I was takin' a breather after helpin' with the latter chore, Gleep bein' no featherweight, when Robb beckons me aside for a quick chat.
"Guido," he sez, "the boys and I are going to take couple rooms at that inn we passed just outside the castle.
Things are crazy enough right now I think our business with Skeeve can wait until tomorrow."
"You're probably right," I sez. "It's kind of a shame, though. Your havin' to wait after havin' come all this way to meet the Boss."
"Oh, the actual meeting is more of a formality now," he sez. "I'm sure we'll be able to work out some kind of an arrangement with him. I'd say your point has definitely been proven."
"Which point is that?" I sez, genuinely puzzled.
"About how Skeeve is a nice guy and more reasonable than we gave him credit for. I mean, talk is easy and the best of us can get fooled, but that was a pretty solid demonstration we got." He paused and shook his head. "The kid was genuinely upset about his dragon getting shot, and deservedly so, I might add. He really wanted to lay into us, and no one could have or would have stopped him. Still, even when he was deadly-eyed mad, his first reaction was to ask for an explanation ... to hear our side of what had happened. Then, when it turned out that the dragon was just wounded, his main concern was taking care of his pet, not going after punishment or vengeance. To me, that makes him a hell of a man."
"That's the Boss, all right," I sez, grinnin' slightly.
"Yeah, well you can also tell a lot about a man by the friends he attracts," Robb smiles. "Even though your crew is pretty fearsome when viewed from the outside, it's also easy to see that you're all fiercely loyal to Skeeve ... far beyond a simple employee-employer relationship. It speaks well of him, and you."
Before I can say anything in response to this, he sticks out his hand. I shake it, and he turns and marches off to rejoin the rest of the delegation.
As I am watchin' him go, I suddenly realize there is someone standin' next to me.
"Oh. Hi, Boss," I sez.
"Guido," he acknowledges. "I believe you were about to explain to me what's going on. Let's take a walk and you can fill me in."
So I do.
I tell him everything we've been doin' since he got back from Perv, with only a little bit of editin' for content.
When I get done, he is silent for a long time.
"I'm sorry, Boss," I sez, finally, tryin' to prod him into commentin'.
"No, Guido," he sez, quiet-like. "I'm the one who's sorry."
With that, he walks off in the direction of the stables.
SEVENTEEN
"Some of my best friends are dragons."
SIEGFRIED
Skeeve the Great. What a joke.
If there was ever a time in my life when I felt less great than now, it has been mercifully forgotten.
The irony was that not that long ago, barely an hour really, I had been on top of the world. I had told Queen Hemlock that I didn't want to marry her and survived the experience. Not only survived it, but had also escaped the awful threat of her abdicating and leaving me to run the kingdom by myself. For the first time in months, I was completely free from obligations and commitments. I had been literally walking on air.
Then Gleep got shot. To boot, that led to my finding out that there was a whole batch of problems the team had been handling without even telling me about them. Handling, as in putting themselves in the line of fire so I wouldn't be bothered.
It was disturbing to realize that I couldn't trust the team anymore. At least, I felt like I couldn't trust them because they didn't trust me enough to be open and honest about things anymore.
I was feeling confused and more than a little hurt, so I did what I usually do when things start crowding in on me. I retreated to the stables to hang out with Gleep.
Of course now, he was sleeping. Recovering from shock while his wound healed, Massha had said. I glanced over to be sure he was resting quietly, then went back to thinking.
The nice thing about the stables is that few people ever came here. I've been told that it's the smell that keeps them away, but when you've spent years with a pet dragon whose eating habits give him bad breath that would gag a maggot, it takes more than a bit of barnyard perfume to bother you. As a result, I had a place to go where I could be alone. A place where no one would intrude. A place where ...
"Hi, Skeeve."
The voice was easily recognizable, so I didn't even look around.
"Okay, you found me, Bunny," I said, heaving a sigh. "What is it now? More spreadsheets? Did Grimble misplace a decimal in the budget?"
She didn't answer, so I finally turned to face her.
As always, she was a delightfully curvaceous bundle who is a delight to look at. Now, however, she was staring at the ground and trembling slightly.