Terrific. I start out looking for a little privacy and end up leading a parade.
“So, what do you think, Aahz?” I asked.
I knew I was going to get his opinion sooner or later, and figured I might as well ask outright and get it over with.
“About what?”
“About my problem,” I clarified.
“What problem?”
“Sorry. I thought you had been listening when I explained it to Gleep. I’m talking about the whole situation with Queen Hemlock.”
“I know,” my partner said. “And I repeat, what problem?”
“What problem!” I was starting to lose it a little, which is not an unusual result of talking to Aahz. “Don’t you think . . .”
“Hold on a second, partner,” Aahz said, holding up his hand. “Do you remember the situation when we first met?”
“Sure.”
“Let me refresh you memory, anyway. Your old mentor, Garkin, had just been killed, and there was every chance you were next on the hit list. Right?”
“Right. But . . .”
“Now that was a problem,” He continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Just like it was a problem when you had to stop Big Julie’s army with a handful of misfits . . . realizing that, if you were successful, Grimble was threatening to have you killed or worse when you returned to the palace.”
“I remember.”
“And when you decided to try to clear me of that murder rap over on Limbo, a dimension which just happens to be filled with vampires and werewolves, I’d say that was a problem, too.”
“I don’t see what . . .”
“Now, in direct contrast, let’s examine the current situation. As I understand it, you’re in danger of getting married to the Queen, which, I believe, includes having free run of the kingdom’s treasury. The other option is that you decide not to marry her, whereupon she abdicates to you . . . leaving you again with a free hand on the treasury, only without the Queen.” He showed me his impressive array of teeth. “I repeat, what problem?”