A strong hand grasped each man by the belt and boosted both assassins up and over the rail before they knew what had happened. The third man rushed to the aid of his friends only to be seized and propelled over the stone railing after them. Three splashes from below confirmed that they had indeed been over the river and not the mud bank.
“Now,” said Malkin, turning to face the fourth thug.
“No need.” The man hobbled to his feet and held out a hand to ward her off. “No need. I’m going.” With that he hoisted himself over the stone rail and disappeared into the darkness below.
With the threat vanished, the spell relaxed its grip and time speeded up to normal for Wiz. He blinked as his eyes refocused, realized he was facing in a different direction and then saw Malkin looking over the bridge railing.
“Something happened didn’t it?”
Malkin looked at him oddly. “Four Bog Side bullies just tried to kill you is all. I guess that qualifies as ‘something’-at least for normal folk.”
She strode ahead briskly. “Come on,” she said over her shoulder. “Let’s get off this bridge before something else happens.”
“Who?” said Wiz as he caught up beside her.
“Hired help,” Malkin told him. “And not of the best, either. Seems as if someone wants you dead, but they don’t want to spend a lot of money on the project.”
“Dieter?”
Malkin considered. “Mayhap. But as like Mayor Hastlebone. Or one of the others.”
“Wait a minute. The mayor’s my strongest supporter.”
“He’s tied his wagon to your star and that’s a fact. But mayhap he’s afraid your star will fall and wants to hedge his bet. After all, if you die accidental-like, you can’t rightly be said to have failed, now can you?”
“Hendrick?”
“Or maybe one of the common folk, who’s afraid of dragons.”
“Well, if they’re afraid of dragons,” Wiz said despairingly, “don’t they want me to succeed?”
“They’re likely afraid you’ll stir the dragons up to burn the town again.”
“Great. Try to do them a favor and they try to kill you.”
Malkin grinned. “You expected gratitude?”
Twenty-one: Fanfare For Kazoos and Dragon
Just because it doesn’t work the way you expected doesn’t mean it’s useless.
The Consultants’ Handbook
Wiz stewed about the incident on the bridge for the next three days without coming to any kind of conclusion-except that someone here really didn’t like him. Since he had known that almost from the moment he set foot in town, the information didn’t help him any.
He was still stewing when the mayor showed up on his doorstep. He was hoarse and made liberal use of the handkerchief in his sleeve, but he looked better than he had the last time Wiz had seen him.
“What can I do for you, Your Honor?” he asked once they were settled in his workroom.
“It’s this new organization,” Mayor Hendrick said. “Oh, I’m sure it’s wonderful and all that. But it’s so, well, complicated, we meet and we meet and we meet and nothing ever seems to get done.”
“Reinventing and re-empowering an organization does take some time to get up to speed,” Wiz said. “But I’m sure once the initial formalities are out of the way you will find it a vast improvement.”
“Maybe, but that’s not exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. I need something to help me maintain my position.”
Thoughts of a palace coup flashed through Wiz’s mind. “Maintain your position?”
“With this new executive committee. I need something to increase my dignity,” the mayor said. Wiz thought about suggesting a face-lift and a personality transplant, but he decided against it.
Wiz shrugged. “Well, I’m not much on public speaking.”
“Oh, but you handled that presentation wonderfully,” the mayor said. “Anyway, I speak well enough as it is. What I need is something more, well, imposing, if you know what I mean? Something magical. I was thinking, perhaps, a halo?”
Wiz thought that a halo would make the mayor look more ridiculous than dignified. “Fine for a darkened room, but what about broad daylight?”
Mayor Hastlebone sniffled. “Yes, that is a problem. What do you suggest then?”