He paused to stare at me hard.
“I’m afraid this dragon poker thing just might push you into the second category. A lot of beings excel here at the Bazaar, but they’re only noted in one field. The Geek, for example, is a recognized figure among the gamblers, but he doesn’t have any reputation to speak of as a magician or merchant. People can accept that . . . work hard and you rise toward the top of your group. You, on the other hand, have just made a strong showing in a second profession. I’m afraid there’s going to be some backlash.”
“Backlash?” I echoed weakly.
“It’s like I’ve been trying to tell you: people aren’t going to want you to get too much above them. At the very least they might start boycotting our business. At most. . . well, there are ways of sabotaging other people’s success.”
“You mean they’re going to …”
“That’s enough!” Chumley declared, slapping his palm down on the table loudly.
It suddenly occurred to me that I had never seen Chumley mad. It also occurred to me that I was glad our furniture was strong enough to withstand even Aahz’s tirades. If not, the troll would have destroyed the table just stopping the conversation.
“Now listen up, both of you!” he ordered, leveling a gnarled finger at us. “I think the current crisis has gone to your heads. You two are overreacting … snapping at shadows! I’ll admit we’ve got some problems, but we’ve handled worse. This is no time to get panicky.”
“But…”
“Hear me out, Aahz. I’ve listened to you bellow often enough.”
I opened my mouth to make a witty comment, then, for once, thought better of it.