Questor steepled his hands before his face. “Do you remember the wine that you drank — the wine I provided?” Ben nodded. “Well, I added a dash of sleeping tonic to its content so that you would be assured of a good night’s rest.” He gestured with his hands. “It was in the magic I used, just an inflection of the voice and a twist.” He demonstrated. “The trouble was, I overdid it. The dash became a thimbleful. So you have been asleep for a week.”
“Just a little mistake of the magic, is that it?” Ben was flushed with anger.
Questor fidgeted uneasily. “I am afraid so.”
“Well, I am afraid not! What sort of fool do you take me for? You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You put me asleep to keep me here!” Ben was shaking, he was so mad. “Did you think I had forgotten the ten-day withdrawal clause in my contract? Ten days were allotted me to return to my own world if I wanted my money back, less the handling fee. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that! Now eight of those ten days are gone! It’s all rather convenient, don’t you think?”
“One minute, please.” Questor had gone stiff with indignation. “If it were truly my intention to keep you in Landover. High Lord, I would not have bothered to tell you about the sleeping potion or the lost days of sleep at all! I would simply have let you think it was still only your second day in Landover and all ten days would have passed before you realized differently!”
Ben regarded him silently for a moment and then sat back. “I guess you’re right about that.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I suppose I owe you an apology, but frankly I’m too mad to apologize. I’ve lost a whole damn week because of you! And while I’ve been sleeping, you’ve gone right ahead with the plans for making me King — sent out the invitations and everything! Good thing I woke up on time, isn’t it, or you would have been faced with a bedside coronation!”
“Oh, I knew you would awake on time after I discovered the problem,” Questor hastened to assure him.
“You mean you hoped you knew,” Abernathy interjected, appearing through the bedroom door with a tray. “Breakfast, High Lord?”
He brought the tray over and set it on the nightstand. “Thank you,” Ben muttered, his eyes still fixed on Questor.
“I knew,” the wizard said pointedly.
“Beautiful day for a coronation,” Abernathy said. He looked at Ben over the rims of the glasses. “I have your robes of office ready. They have been altered to fit exactly as they ought to.” He paused. “I had plenty of time to measure you while you slept.”
“I’ll bet.” Ben chewed angrily on a piece of bread. “A whole week’s worth of time, it appears.”
Abernathy shrugged. “Not quite. The rest of us drank the wine as well, High Lord.”
“It was an honest mistake,” Questor insisted, brows knitting.
“You make a lot of those,” Abernathy sniffed.
“Perhaps it would please you if I simply quit trying to help at all!”
“Nothing would please me more!”
Ben held up his hands pleadingly. “Hold it! Enough, already!” He looked from one to the other. “I don’t need another argument. As a lawyer, I got my fill of arguments. I need answers. I said last night that I wanted to know the whole story behind the sale of this Kingdom — well, not last night, but the last time we talked, anyway. So maybe this is the time for it, Questor.”
The wizard rose, cast a dark glance at Abernathy, and looked back again at Ben. “You shall have your explanation, High Lord. But you must settle for hearing it as we travel to the Heart. The coronation must take place at noon, and we must leave at once in order to be there on time.”
Abernathy headed for the door. “His anticipation knows no bounds, I’m sure, wizard. High Lord, I will return with your robes shortly. Meanwhile, try eating a bit more of the breakfast. The castle’s magic continues to fail, and we may all soon be foraging the countryside for sustenance.”