I wondered briefly if this was what Big Julie meant when he referred to the Mob tradition of “going to the mattresses.” Somehow the phrase had always brought another image to mind … something involving women. Accepting the flask from his bodyguard, Shai-ster opened the top and offered it to me, smiling all the while.
“Am I correct in assuming that your Majesty’s visit indicates news of the whereabouts of his court magician? Perhaps even an estimated time as to when he is expected back?”
I accepted the flask, covertly checking the locations of the bodyguards before I answered. One was leaning against the door, while the other stood by the bed. “Actually, I can do better than that. The Great Skeeve…”
I closed my eyes and dropped my disguise spell.
“…is here.”
The bodyguards started visibly at my transformation, but Shai-ster remained unmoved except for a narrowing of the eyes and a tightening of his smile.
“I see. That simplifies things a bit. Boys, give the Great Skeeve here a chair. We have some business to discuss.”
His tone was not pleasant, nor were the bodyguards smiling as they started for me.
Remember how Rupert jumped me so easily? Well, he took me by surprise, and had three hundred years plus of magical practice to boot. Somehow, I was not particularly surprised by the bodyguards’ action … in fact, I had been expecting it and had been gathering my powers for just this moment.
With a theatric wave of my hand and a much more important focusing of my mental energies, I picked the two men up and spun them in midair. Heck, I wasn’t adverse to stealing a new idea for how to use levitation . . . even from Rupert. I did like a little originality in my work, though, so instead of bouncing them on their heads, I slammed them against the ceiling and held them pinned there.