He passed me the scroll he had been clutching and I realized he had actually been thinking out this suggestion well in advance.
“Funny name for a soldier,” I said, scanning the document. “Spyder.”
“Trust me, Boss,” Guido pressed. “This is the person for the job.”
“You said there were two things?” I stalled. “What’s the other?”
“Well, I thought you could have a couple personal envoys tag along. You know, reportin’ directly to you. That way you could be doubly sure the army wasn’t hidin’ anything from you.”
“I see,” I said, toying with the scroll. “And I suppose you have a couple specific people in mind for the envoys, as well?”
“Um … As a matter of fact . . .”
“I don’t know, Guido,” I said, shaking my head. “I mean, it’s a good idea, but I’m not sure I can spare both you and Nunzio. If nothing else, I want Nunzio to do a little work with Gleep. I want to find out for sure if there’s anything wrong with him.”
“Ah . . . Actually, Boss,” my bodyguard said, carefully studying his massive hands, “I wasn’t thinkin’ of Nunzio. I was thinkin’ maybe Pookie and me could handle it.”
More than anything else he had said, this surprised me. Guido and his cousin Nunzio had always worked as a team, to a point where I practically thought of the two of them as one person. The fact that Guido was willing to split the team up was an indication of how concerned he was over the situation. Either that, or a sign of how far he was willing to go to get some time alone with Pookie.
“Really, Boss,” he urged, sensing my hesitation. “There ain’t a whole lot to do here for three bodyguards. I mean, the way I see it, the only one here in the castle who might want to do you any bodily harm is the Queen herself, and I don’t think you have to worry about her until after you’ve made up your mind on the marriage thing. I’m just lookin’ for a way that we can earn our keep . . . something useful to do.”