“Will we be living by ourselves, or do you have a girlfriend?”
Markie was clinging to my hand as we made our way through the Bazaar. The wonders of the stalls and shops dispensing magic reached out to us as they always do, but she was oblivious to them, choosing instead to ply me with questions and hanging on my every word.
“ ‘No’s to both questions. Tananda lives with me, but she isn’t my girlfriend. She’s a free-lance assassin who helps me out on jobs from time to time. Then there’s Chumley, her brother. He’s a troll who works under the name of Crunch. You’ll like them. They’re nice… in a lot of ways they’re nicer than I am.”
Markie bit her lip and frowned. “I hope you’re right. I’ve found that a lot of nice people don’t like little kids.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. “But I’m not done yet. There’s also Guido and Nunzio, my bodyguards. They may seem a little gruff, but don’t let them scare you. They just act tough because it’s part of their job.”
“Gee. I’ve never had a daddy who had bodyguards before.”
“That’s not all. We also have Buttercup, who’s a war unicorn, and Gleep, who’s my very own pet dragon.”
“Oh, lots of people have dragons. I’m more impressed by the bodyguards.”
That took me aback a little. I’d always thought that having a dragon was rather unique. I mean, nobody else I knew had a dragon. Then again, nobody else I knew had bodyguards, either.
“Let’s see,” Markie was saying. “There’s Tananda, Chumley. Guido, Nunzio, Buttercup, and Gleep. Is that all?”