“Yonder are my prize pair of matched unicorns,” I said dramatically. “Would Your Majesty be so kind as to choose one of them?”
The king blinked in surprise at being invited to participate in my demonstration. For a moment he hesitated.
“Umm … I choose the one on the left,” he said, finally indicating Buttercup.
I bowed slightly.
“Very well, Your Majesty. By your word shall that creature be spared. Observe the other closely.”
Actually, that was another little stunt Aahz had taught me. It’s called a “magician’s force,” and allows a performer to offer his audience a choice without really giving them a choice. Had the king chosen Gleep, I would have simply proceeded to work on “the creature he had doomed with a word.”
Slowly, I pointed a finger at Gleep and lowered my head slightly.
“Walla walla Washington!” I said somberly.
I don’t know what the words meant, but Aahz assured me they had historic precedence and would convince people I was actually doing something complex.
“A lla kazam shazam,” I continued, raising my other arm. “Bibbity bobbity …”
I mentally removed Gleep’s disguise.
The crowd reacted with a gasp, drowning out my final “goo-gleep.”
My dragon heard his name, though, and reacted immediately. His head came up and he lumbered forward to stand docilely at my side. As planned, Aahz immediately shambled forward to a position near Gleep’s head and stood watchful and ready.
This was meant to imply that we were prepared to handle any difficulty which might arise with the dragon. The crowd’s reaction to him, however, overshadowed their horror at seeing a unicorn transformed to a dragon. I had forgotten how effective the “disreputable character” disguise was. Afraid of losing the momentum of my performance, I hurried on.