We just watched.”
“Oh, we would have pitched in if things got tight,” Tananda supplied. “You know, the way we do for you, Aahz. As it turned out, we weren’t needed. Your ‘mere apprentice’ was more than equal to the task.”
“Finished the job rather neatly, you know?” the troll added. “In fact, I’m hard pressed to recall when I’ve seen a nasty situation dealt with as smoothly or with as little fuss.”
“All right, all right,” Aahz grimaced. “I get the message. You can fill me in on the details later. Right now, the kid and I have some big things to discuss ... and I mean big.”
“Like what?” I frowned.
“Well, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I figure it’s about time we left Possiltum and moved on.”
“Um, Aahz?” I said.
“I know, I know,” he waved. “You think you need practice. You do, but you’ve come a long way. This whole thing with the trouble you handled only proves my point. You’re ready to ...”
“Aahz?”
“All right. I know you’ve got friends and duties here, but eventually you have to leave the nest. You’ll just have to trust my judgment and experience to know when the time is right to ...”
“I’ve already quit!”
Aahz stopped in midsentence and stared at me.
“You have?” he blinked.
I nodded and pointed at the pile of gear we had been packing. He studied it for a moment as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Oh,” he said at last. “Oh well, in that case, I’ll just duck over to talk to Grimble and discuss your severance pay. He’s a tight fisted bird, but if I can’t shake five hundred out of him, I’ll know the reason why.”
“I know the reason why,” I said carefully.
Aahz rolled his eyes.
“Look, kid. This is my field of expertise, remember? If you go into a bargaining session aiming low, they’ll walk all over you.
You’ve got to ...”
“I’ve already negotiated for a thousand!”
This time, Aahz’s ‘freeze’ was longer ... and he didn’t look at me.
“A thousand?” he said finally. “In gold?”
“Plus a hefty bonus from the King himself,” Tananda supplied helpfully.
“We’ve been trying to tell you, Aahz old boy,” Chumly smiled.
“Skeeve here has been doing just fine without you.”
“I see.”
Aahz turned away and stared silently out the window.
I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed. I mean maybe I hadn’t done a first-rate job, but a little bit of congratulations would have been nice. The way my mentor was acting, you’d think he...
Then it hit me. Like a runaway war-chariot it hit me. Aahz was jealous! More than that, he was hurt!
I could see it now with crystal clarity. Up until now I had been blinded by Aahz’s arrogant self-confidence, but suddenly the veil was parted.
Aahz’s escape from Perv wasn’t nearly as easy as he was letting on. There had been a brawl—physical, verbal, or magical—some hard feelings, and some heavy promises made or broken. He had forced his way back to Klah with one thing on his mind: his apprentice ... his favorite apprentice, was in trouble. Upon returning, what was his reception? Not only was I not in trouble, for all appearances, I was doing better without him!
Tananda and Chumly were still at it, merrily chattering back and forth about how great I was. While I appreciated their support, I wished desperately I could think of a way of getting it through to them that what they were really doing was twisting a knife in Aahz.
“Um ... Aahz?” I interrupted. “When you’ve got a minute, there are a few things I need your advice on.”
“Like what?” came the muffled response. “From the sound of things, you don’t need anybody, much less a teacher with no powers of his own.”
Tananda caught it immediately. Her gadfly manner dropped away like a mask and she signaled desperately to Chumly. The troll was not insensitive, though. His reaction was to catch my eye with a pleading gaze.
It was up to me.
“Oh, we would have pitched in if things got tight,” Tananda supplied. “You know, the way we do for you, Aahz. As it turned out, we weren’t needed. Your ‘mere apprentice’ was more than equal to the task.”
“Finished the job rather neatly, you know?” the troll added. “In fact, I’m hard pressed to recall when I’ve seen a nasty situation dealt with as smoothly or with as little fuss.”
“All right, all right,” Aahz grimaced. “I get the message. You can fill me in on the details later. Right now, the kid and I have some big things to discuss ... and I mean big.”
“Like what?” I frowned.
“Well, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I figure it’s about time we left Possiltum and moved on.”
“Um, Aahz?” I said.
“I know, I know,” he waved. “You think you need practice. You do, but you’ve come a long way. This whole thing with the trouble you handled only proves my point. You’re ready to ...”
“Aahz?”
“All right. I know you’ve got friends and duties here, but eventually you have to leave the nest. You’ll just have to trust my judgment and experience to know when the time is right to ...”
“I’ve already quit!”
Aahz stopped in midsentence and stared at me.
“You have?” he blinked.
I nodded and pointed at the pile of gear we had been packing. He studied it for a moment as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Oh,” he said at last. “Oh well, in that case, I’ll just duck over to talk to Grimble and discuss your severance pay. He’s a tight fisted bird, but if I can’t shake five hundred out of him, I’ll know the reason why.”
“I know the reason why,” I said carefully.
Aahz rolled his eyes.
“Look, kid. This is my field of expertise, remember? If you go into a bargaining session aiming low, they’ll walk all over you.
You’ve got to ...”
“I’ve already negotiated for a thousand!”
This time, Aahz’s ‘freeze’ was longer ... and he didn’t look at me.
“A thousand?” he said finally. “In gold?”
“Plus a hefty bonus from the King himself,” Tananda supplied helpfully.
“We’ve been trying to tell you, Aahz old boy,” Chumly smiled.
“Skeeve here has been doing just fine without you.”
“I see.”
Aahz turned away and stared silently out the window.
I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed. I mean maybe I hadn’t done a first-rate job, but a little bit of congratulations would have been nice. The way my mentor was acting, you’d think he...
Then it hit me. Like a runaway war-chariot it hit me. Aahz was jealous! More than that, he was hurt!
I could see it now with crystal clarity. Up until now I had been blinded by Aahz’s arrogant self-confidence, but suddenly the veil was parted.
Aahz’s escape from Perv wasn’t nearly as easy as he was letting on. There had been a brawl—physical, verbal, or magical—some hard feelings, and some heavy promises made or broken. He had forced his way back to Klah with one thing on his mind: his apprentice ... his favorite apprentice, was in trouble. Upon returning, what was his reception? Not only was I not in trouble, for all appearances, I was doing better without him!
Tananda and Chumly were still at it, merrily chattering back and forth about how great I was. While I appreciated their support, I wished desperately I could think of a way of getting it through to them that what they were really doing was twisting a knife in Aahz.
“Um ... Aahz?” I interrupted. “When you’ve got a minute, there are a few things I need your advice on.”
“Like what?” came the muffled response. “From the sound of things, you don’t need anybody, much less a teacher with no powers of his own.”
Tananda caught it immediately. Her gadfly manner dropped away like a mask and she signaled desperately to Chumly. The troll was not insensitive, though. His reaction was to catch my eye with a pleading gaze.
It was up to me.
Similar Books
