angrily.
The coati grinned and laughed, a single sharp barking.
“It seems that this Clothahump does have another who
serves him. A true famulus. A fine, intelligent, hard-
working apprentice who serves faithfully and well. Except
when he’s been treated to a few stiff sips of good belly-
warmer.”
“Sorbl! That stupid big-eyed sot!”
The coati nodded, still grinning. “Not that we had to
work hard at it, you understand. The poor little fellow
merely wanted companionship, and other servants of my
master provided it, whereupon the turtle’s servant grew
extremely talkative.”
“I’ll bet he did,” Jon-Tom mumbled disconsolately.
“It has always been a matter of great contention in this
part of the world,” the coati explained, “as to who the
greater wizard is. Clothahump of the tree or my master
Zancresta. It didn’t bother my master when opinion was
divided and drifted back and forth. But it has lately
become apparent that outside the immediate environs of
42
Alan Dean Foster
THE DAY OF THE DISSONANCE
43
Malderpot, the consensus is that your Clothahump is the
greater.” He moved closer to the wagon and lowered his
voice so that his band could not overhear.
“It’s true that saving the whole world is a tough act to
follow. When word came of the victory over the Piated
Folk at the Jo-Troom Gate, and the part your master
Clothahump played in it, there was very little my master
couid do to counteract the great shift in public opinion,
and he has been in a murderous mood ever since.”
‘ ‘As if Clothahump saved all the warmlands just to spite