He turned his yellow eyes on me with that speculative look of his.
“… I notice you’re both here . . . and I definitely heard my name as I phased in. What I need more than fond ‘hellos’ is a quick update as to exactly what kind of a mess we have to bail the Great Skeeve out of this time.”
I braced myself for a quick but loud lesson about “endorsements,” whatever that was, but the troll surprised me.
“No mess,” he said, leaning back casually. “Little sister and I just dropped by for a visit. In fact, we were just getting ready to leave.”
“Really?” my mentor sounded both surprised and suspicious. “Just a visit? No trouble?”
“Well, there was a little trouble,” Tananda admitted. “Something to do with the King….”
“I knew it!” Aahz chortled, rubbing his hands together.
“… But Skeeve here handled it himself,” she fin ished pointedly. “Currently, there are no problems at all.”
“Oh.”
Strangely, Aahz seemed a bit disappointed.
“Well, I guess I owe you two some thanks, then. I really appreciate your watching over Skeeve here while I was gone. He can…”
“I don’t think you’re listening, Aahz,” Chumly said, looking at the ceiling. “Skeeve handled the trouble. We just watched.”
“Oh, we would have pitched in if things got tight,” Tananda supplied. “You know, the way we do for you, Aahz. As it turned out, we weren’t needed. Your ‘mere apprentice’ was more than equal to the task.”
“Finished the job rather neatly, you know?” the troll added. “In fact, I’m hard pressed to recall when I’ve seen a nasty situation dealt with as smoothly or with as little fuss.”