Reassured, he rolled onto his back and laid back his head.
Ridiculous as he looked, lying there with his four legs sticking up in the air, he had reminded me of something.
I pondered the memory for a moment, then decided to change my tactics.
“Aahz,” I said thoughtfully, “what’s the real reason for your wanting to go through with this?”
“Weren’t you listening, kid? I said-“
“I know, I know,” I interrupted. “You said it was for the profit. The only thing wrong with that is you tried to leave Gleep behind, who cost us money, instead of Buttercup, who didn’t cost us anything! That doesn’t ring true if you’re trying to show a profit with the least possible effort.”
“Um, you know how I feel about that stupid dragon-“ Aahz began.
“And you know how I feel about him,” I interrupted, “As such, you also know I’d never abandon him to save my own skin, much less for money. For some reason, you wanted to be sure I’d see this thing through . . . and that reason has nothing at all to do with money. Now, what is it?”
It was Aahz’s turn to lapse into thoughtful silence.
“You’re getting better at figuring things out, kid,” he said finally.
Normally, I would have been happy to accept the compliment. This time, however, I saw it as what it was: an attempt to distract me.
“The reason, Aahz,” I said firmly.
“There are several reasons, kid,” he said with uncharacteristic solemnity. “The main one is that you’re not a master magician yet.”
“If you don’t mind my saying so,” I commented dryly, “that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If I’m short on ability, why are you so eager to shove me into this mission?”