MYTH-NOMERS AND IM-PERVECTIONS 99
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing. It was just a thought.”
“Well, could you elaborate a little? C’mon, Butterfly!
Don’t drop a line like that on me without some kind of an
explanation to go with it.”
“It’s really none of my business,” he shrugged, “but I
couldn’t help but notice during your story that you seemed
to be living your life reacting to crisis rather than having
any real control over things. Your old partner and mentor
got dropped in your lap and the two of you teamed up to
stop someone who might try to assassinate either of you
next. It was Aahz who forced you to try for the job as court
magician, and ever since then you’ve been yielding to pres-
sure, real or perceived, from almost everybody in your life:
Tananda, Massha, the Mob, the Devan Chamber of Com-
merce . . . even whatzisname, Grimble and that Badaxe
have leaned on you. It just seems to me that for someone
as successful as you obviously are, you really haven’t shown
much gumption or initiative.”
His words hit me like a bucket of cold water. I had been
shouted out by experts, but somehow Butterfly’s calm criti-
cism cut me deeper than any tonguelashing I had ever re-
cieved from Aahz.
“Things have been kind of scrambled …” I started,
but the financier cut me off.
“I can see that, and I don’t mean to tell you how to run
your life. You’ve had some strong-willed, dominating
people who have been doing just that, though, and I’d have
to say the main offender has been this fellow, Aahz. Now,
I know you’re concerned about your friendship, but if I