“So, what can I do for you?” I said, as much to take my mind off the wine as to get an answer.
“Well, everyone in town has been talking about you,” the girl chirped, “and my girlfriend ... the cute one over there ... has a real thing for you since she saw you in court when you first came back. Anyway, it would just make her whole incarnation if you’d come over to our table so she could meet you personally.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “There are things to be said for meeting people impersonally as well.”
“Huh?” she said, giving me a blank look, and I realized I had pushed beyond her sense of humor.
“Just tell her I’ll be over in a few moments, as soon as I finish my conversation here.”
“Great! She’ll die!’
I watched her scamper off to tell her friends, and then turned back to Aahz.
“I may throw up,” he announced.
“You’re just jealous,” I grinned. “Keep an eye on my drink for me, will you?”
With that I rose and headed for the girls’ table. At least, I started to.
There was a gangly youth blocking my way. I started to move around him, but he stepped sideways, deliberately putting himself in my path again.
I stopped and looked at him.
I’d been in fights before. Sometimes against some pretty tough customers when I wasn’t sure I would survive it. This joker, however, was different.
He couldn’t have been more than my age. Probably a few years younger. What’s more, he didn’t hold himself with the confident poise of a brawler or even a soldier. In fact, if anything, he looked scared.
“Leave them alone,” he said in a shaky voice.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I said leave them alone!” he repeated, his voice gaining a bit of strength.
I let the ghost of a smile play across my face.
“Young man,” I said gently, “do you know who I am?”
“Oh, I know all right,” he nodded. “You’re Skeeve. The big bad wizard from the castle. What’s more, I know you can make me sorry I ever breathed, much less got in your way. You can turn me into a toad or make my hair burst into flame, or even whistle up some nasty creature to tear me apart if you don’t want to get your own hands dirty. You can squash me or anyone else you want just to get your way ... but it doesn’t make it right. Maybe it’s about time someone stood up to you even if it means getting killed just for trying.”
I couldn’t help but notice there were some nods and mutterings of support for the youth at the other tables in the inn, and no few dark looks cast in my direction.
“All right,” I said levelly. “You’re standing up to me. Now make your point.”
“The point is you can’t just waltz in here and put moves on our women. What’s more, if you try, you’ll be sorry.”
To emphasize his words, he reached out and gave me a shove that knocked me back so I had to take a step to recover my balance.
It was suddenly very quiet in the inn. The moment seemed to hang in the air as everyone tensed and waited to see what would happen next.
Blood was pounding in my ears.
I heard the bench behind me slide as Aahz started to get up, and I signaled behind me with my hand for him to stay out of it.
“I have no intention of putting any ‘moves’ on these women either now or in the future,” I said carefully. “The young lady there came to my table and said that her friend wanted to meet me. I was about to comply. Period. That’s it. It was an effort on my part to be polite. If, as it seems, it is somehow offensive to you or anyone else here, I’ll forego the pleasure.”
I looked past him to where the girls were watching.
“Ladies,” I nodded. “Another day, perhaps.”
With that, I turned on my heel and marched out of the place ... angry and embarrassed, but confident that I had correctly handled a dubious situation.
It didn’t help, however, that as I passed through the door, a shout from the youth came wafting after me.
“And don’t come back!”
“HOLD UP A minute, partner. We’re still together, you know,”
I slowed my pace a bit, and Aahz caught up with me, falling in step beside me.
“If you don’t mind the observation,” he said, “that little scene back there seems to have gotten you a little upset.”
“Shouldn’t it have?” I snapped.
“Don’t let it bother you,” my partner said easily. “Locals always get upset with outsiders ... especially when their women start flirting with them. It’s a problem as old as the hills. Just ask any soldier or carny person. Don’t take it personally.”
He gave me a playful punch on the arm, but, for a change, I wasn’t reassured.
“But they weren’t reacting to an outsider, Aahz. They were reacting to me. I live here, too. What’s more, they knew it. They knew who I was and that I work at the castle, but they still treated me like an outsider.”
“As far as they’re concerned, you are.”
That one stopped me.
“How’s that again?”
“Take a look at the facts, Skeeve,” Aahz said, more serious now. “Even ignoring your travels through the dimensions, you aren’t the same as them. Like you say, you work at the castle ... and not as a chambermaid or a kitchen worker, either. You’re one of the main advisors to the Queen, not to mention a possible consort ... though I doubt they know that. Things you do and say on a daily basis affect everyone in this kingdom. That alone puts you on a different social ... not to mention economic ... level from the folks here in town.”
That made me pause and think.
My new life and lifestyle had sort of grown up around me over the years. Socializing and/or clashing with kings or mayors had become pretty commonplace, though I had never stopped to consider it. Rather, I had always assumed that it sort of went with the territory when one was a magician. Then again, how many magicians had I met while I was growing up?
Aahz was right. My work with the team had cocooned me away from the rest of society to a point where I took things for granted. The extraordinary had become so ordinary to me, that I had ceased to be aware of, or even consider, how it must seem to the ordinary citizens.
I shook my head abruptly.
“No. There’s more to it than that, Aahz. Those people back there didn’t like me.”
“Uh huh,” my partner nodded. “So what’s your point?”
“What’s my point?” I echoed a little shrilly. “Maybe you didn’t understand me. I said ...”
“... They didn’t like you,” Aahz finished. “So what?”
“What do you mean ‘So what’?” I said. “Don’t you want to be liked?”
My old mentor frowned slightly, and then gave a shrug.
“I suppose it would be nice,” he said. “But I really don’t give it much thought.”
“But ...”
“And neither should you.”
There was a levelness and firmness, almost a warning, in his tone that brought me up short.
Instead of protesting, I struggled for several moments trying to understand what he was trying to tell me, and then surrendered with a shake of my head.
“I don’t get it, Aahz. Doesn’t everyone want to be liked?”
“Maybe at some level,” my partner said. “But most people realize it’s a wistful hope at best ... like it would be nice if it only rained when we want it to. The reality is that it rains when it bloody well feels like it, and that some people aren’t going to like you no matter what you do. The up side is that there are also people who will like you no matter what you do.”
“I can’t accept that,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s too fatalistic. If you’re right, then there’s no point in trying at all.”
“Of course there i
s,” Aahz snapped. “Just don’t take everything to extremes. Okay? Reality always lies somewhere between the extremes. Not trying at all to have people like you is as silly as trying too much.”
“Is that what I’ve been doing? Trying too much?”
My partner waggled his hand in front of him in a so-so gesture.
“Sometimes you drift dangerously close,” he said. “I think that sometimes you let your desire to be liked get out of proportion. When that happens, it starts to warp your perception of yourself and the world.”
“Could you give me an example or two?”
“Sure,” he said easily. “Let’s start with an easy one ... like taxes.”
“Part of your job right now is to be a consultant on the taxes being levied on the citizens. Right?”
I nodded.
“... Except that people don’t like to pay taxes. If they had their druthers, they would get the protection and services of the kingdom without paying a cent. Of course, they also realize that something for nothing is an unrealistic situation, so they accept the necessary evil of taxes. They accept it, but they don’t like it. Because they don’t like it, there is going to be an ongoing level of resentment and grumbling. Whatever the tax assessment is, it’s too high, and whatever the level of services is, it’s too low. That resentment is going to be focused on anyone involved with setting the taxes, which includes you and everyone else who works at the castle.”
He shook his head.
“What I’m saying is that if you’re in a position of decision making and power, such as you are now, you can forget about being liked by the people who are affected by your decisions. The best you can hope for is respect.”
“Wait a minute,” I said, “are you saying that people can respect you without liking you?”
“Sure,” Aahz said easily. “That one I can give you dozens of examples on. Since we’re on the subject of taxes and finances, consider Grimble. You respect his skill and dedication even though you don’t particularly like him as a person. Right?”
I had to admit that he was right there.
“Better still,” he continued, “think back to when you and I first paired up. I was pretty rough on you with the magik lessons, and made you practice even when you didn’t feel up to it. You didn’t like me for drilling you constantly, but you did respect me.”
“Um ... Well, I didn’t know you as well then as I do now.” I said uneasily. “At the time, though, I guess I had to believe that you knew what you were doing, and that what you were putting me through was necessary for the learning process ... whether I liked it or not.”
“Precisely,” Aahz nodded. “Don’t feel bad. It’s the normal reaction to an authority figure, whether it’s a parent, a teacher, a boss, or a government representative. One doesn’t always like what they make us do, but even in the midst of disliking being forced to do something, one can still admire and respect the fairness and expertise with which they do their job.”
He shrugged easily.
“I guess that’s it in a nutshell,” he said. “You’re a likeable young man, Skeeve, but sometimes I think you should worry less about being liked and more about being respected. If nothing else, it’s a more realizable goal.”
I thought about what he had said for a few minutes.
“You’re right, Aahz,” I said finally. “Being respected is more important than being liked.”
With that, I veered off to head in a different direction that the one we had been walking.
“Where are you going, partner?”
“I’m going to see Bunny,” I called back. “There’s a conversation we started this morning that I think we should finish.”
I had a fair amount of time to think about what I wanted to say before I reached Bunny’s room. It didn’t help. When I got there, I was still as much at a loss of how to express my thoughts as when I started out.
I paused for a few moments, and then rapped lightly on her door before I lost my nerve. Truth to tell, I was half hoping she was out or asleep, which would let me off my self-imposed hook.
“Who is it?”
So much for half-hopes. Maybe next time I should try a whole one.
“It’s me, Bunny. Skeeve.”
“What do you want?”
“I’d like to talk to you, if it’s all right.”
There was a silence that lasted just long enough for me to both get my hopes up, and to start seriously worrying.
“Just a minute.”
As I waited, I could hear occasional sounds of metallic clanking, as if someone was moving stacks of iron plates ... heavy iron plates, from the sound of it. This puzzled me, as I could think of no reason why Bunny would have metal plates in her room.
Then it occurred to me that she might have someone else in there with her.
“I can come back later, if this is a bad time,” I called, shutting my mind on trying speculate who might be in my assistant’s quarters at this hour ... and why.
In response, the door flew open, and Bunny stood framed in the doorway.
“Come on in, Skeeve,” she said, rather breathlessly. “This is a surprise.”
It certainly was.
Silhouetted against the light, at first I thought she was stark naked Then she turned, and I realized she was actually wearing a brightly colored outfit that was skin tight and hugged her body like it was painted on.
“Umm ...” I said smoothly, unable to tear my eyes from her form.
“Sorry I’m such a mess,” she said, grabbing up a towel and beginning to dab the sweat from her face and throat. “I was just working out.”
Now, as you know, I’ve gotten pretty intense while working out my own problems in the past, but I’ve never felt the need to wear a special outfit while doing it. Then again, I’ve never worked up the kind of sweat doing it that Bunny seemed to. Whatever her problems were, they must be dillies.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I said, genuinely concerned.
“No thanks,” she smiled. “I was pretty much done when you knocked. Maybe sometime you can come in and spot for me, though.”
Now she had lost me completely. Spot what? And how would spotting anything help her work things out?
“So what’s up?” she said, perching on the edge of her bed.
Whatever her problems were, they didn’t seem to have her particularly upset. I decided to hold off on trying to sort them out, at least, until I had settled what I came here to do.
“Basically, Bunny,” I said, “I wanted to apologize to you.”
“For what?” she seemed genuinely puzzled.
“For how I acted this morning ... or whenever it was that I woke up.”
“Oh that,” she said, looking away. “There’s no need to apologize. Everyone gets a bit out of sorts when they have a hangover.”
It was nice of her to say that, but I wasn’t about to let it slide. “No, there’s more to it than that, Bunny. You tried to raise some valid concerns about my health and well-being, and I gave you a rough time because I wasn’t ready to hear what you were saying. I guess I didn’t want to hear it. With everything else I’ve been trying to sort out, I really didn’t want one more problem to complicate things.”
I paused and shook my head.
“I just wanted you to know that since then, I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’ve decided that you may be right about my having a drinking problem. I’m not sure, mind you, but there’s enough doubt in my mind that I’m going to try to ease up for a while.”
I sat down on the bed beside her, and put my arm around her shoulders.
“Whether you were right of not, though, I wanted to thank you for your caring and concern. That’s what I should have said this morning instead of getting defensive.”
Suddenly, she was hugging me, her face buried in my chest.
“Oh Skeeve,” came her muffled voice. “I just get so worried about you. I know you’re in the middle of making some rough decisions, and I try not to add to your problems. I just wish there was something more I could do to ease things for you, but it seems that when I try to help, I just make things worse for you.”
Gradually, I became aware that she was crying softly, though I wasn’t sure why. Also, I became very aware that there weren’t many clothes between me and the body she was pressing against me ... and that we were sitting on a bed ... and ...
I shut the door on that portion of my thoughts, vaguely ashamed of myself. Bunny was obviously upset and concerned for me. It was ignoble of me to taint the moment by entertaining thoughts of ...
I shut the mental door again.
“Come on, Bunny,” I said softly, stroking her hair with one hand. “You are a big help to me. You know and I know that I’d be lost trying to straighten out the kingdom’s finances without your knowledge. You’ve taken that whole burden on yourself.”
I took her by the shoulders and held her away from me so that I could look into her eyes.
“As to doing more,” I continued, “you’re already trying harder which is probably wise. Like this morning when you talked to me about my drinking problem. I appreciate it ... I really do. Some things I just have to work out for myself, though. That’s the way it should be. Nobody else can or should make my decisions for me, since I’m the one who is going to have to live with the repercussions. All that you can do ... all that anyone can do ... to help me right now is to be patient with me. Okay?”
She nodded and wiped her eyes.
“Sorry about the waterworks,” she said wryly. “Gods. The first time you come to my room, and I look like a mess.”
“Now that is silly,” I smiled, touching my finger to the end of her nose in mock severity. “You look terrific ... like you always do. If you don’t know that, you should.”
After that, it was only natural to kiss her ... a short, friendly kiss. At least, that’s the way it started out. Then it started to last longer, and longer, and her body seemed to melt against mine.
“Well, I better say goodnight now,” I said, pulling away from her. “Big day tomorrow.”
MA10 Sweet Myth-tery of Life Page 11
