“Face it, kid,” I said to myself in my best imitation of Aahz. “You owe a lot to your old mentor.”
Right. A lot. Like not making him ashamed of his prize pupil… say by leaving a job half done.
With new resolve, I addressed my situation. First, I had to get back to Klah … or should I look for a solution right here?
Rather than lose time to indecision, I compromised.
With a few specific questions to the nearest vendor, I set a course for my eventual destination, keeping an eye out as I went for something that would help me solve the Queen Hemlock problem.
This trip through the Bazaar was different from my earlier visits. Before, my experience had been of wishing for more time to study the displays at leisure while hurrying to keep up with Aahz. This time, it was me that was pushing the pace, dismissing display after display with a casual “interesting, but no help with today’s problem.” Things seemed to have a different priority when responsibility for the crisis was riding on my shoulders.
Of course, I didn’t know what I was looking for. I just knew that trick wands and instant thunderstorms weren’t it. Out of desperation, I resorted to logic.
To recognize the solution, I needed to know the problem. The problem was that Queen Hemlock was about to marry me instead of Rodrick. Scratch that. Massha was bringing Rodrick back, and I couldn’t help her. I just had to believe she could do it. The problem was Queen Hemlock.
Whether she married me or Rodrick, she was determined to use Possiltum’s military strength to wage a war of expansion. If her husband, whoever it was, tried to oppose her, he would find himself conveniently dead.