“I don’t like to quote you back at yourself. Hot Stuff,” Massha drawled, “but didn’t you say something about disguises being the first thing before we went any further?”
“Of course. That’s why I just . . . wait a minute. Are you trying to say we still have the same appearance as before I cast the spell?”
One of the problems with casting a disguise spell is that as the caster, I can never see the effects. That is, I see people as they really are whether the spell is on or not. I had gotten so used to relying on the effects of this particular spell that it had never occurred to me that it might not work.
Massha and Guido were looking at each other with no small degree of concern.
“ymmm … maybe you forgot.”
“Try again.”
“That’s right! This time remember to….”
“Hold it, you two,” I ordered in my most commanding tone. “From your reactions, I perceive that the answer to my questions is ‘yes.’ That is, that the spell didn’t work. Now just ease up a second and let me think. Okay?”
For a change they listened to me and lapsed into a respectful silence. I might have taken a moment to savor the triumph if I wasn’t so worried about the problem.
The disguise spell was one of the first spells I had learned, and until now was one of my best and most reliable tools. If it wasn’t working, something was seriously wrong. Now I knew that stepping through the door hadn’t lessened my knowledge of that particular spell, so that meant that if something was haywire, it would have to be in the….
“Hey, Hot Stuff! Check the force lines!”