“Sure I would,” I insisted. “In a minute.”
“Oh, well,” he sighed. “I shouldn’t dwell on myself. How have things been with you? What brings you to the Bazaar?”
Now it was my turn to grimace. “Aahz and I are in a bad spot,” I explained. “We’re here trying to recruit a force to help us out.”
“You’re hiring people?” Brockhurst was suddenly intense.
“Yeah. Why?” I replied.
Too late, I realized what I was saying.
“Then you weren’t kidding about hiring me!” Brockhurst was beside himself with glee.
“Urn.. .”I said.
“This is great,” the Imp chortled, rubbing his hands together. “Believe me, Skeeve, you won’t regret this.”
I was regretting it already.
“Wait a minute, Brockhurst,” I interrupted desperately. “There are a few things you should know about the job.”
“Like what?”
“Well … for one thing, the odds are bad,” I said judiciously. “We’re up against an army. That’s pretty rough fare considering how low the pay is.”
I thought I would touch a nerve with that remark about the pay. I was right.
“How low is the pay?” the Imp asked bluntly.
Now I was stuck. I didn’t have the vaguest idea how much mercenaries were normally paid.
“We . . . um … we couldn’t offer you more than one gold piece for the whole job,” I shrugged.
“Done!” Brockhurst proclaimed. “With the current state of my finances, I can’t turn down an offer like that no matter how dangerous it is.”
It occurred to me that sometime I should have Aahz give me a quick course in rates of exchange.
“Um . . . there’s one other problem,” I murmured thoughtfully.