MA06 Little Myth Marker by Robert Asprin Page A

the Ax was supposed to be getting his assignment. We already knew that she was smarter than she let on ... words like “purloined” didn’t go with the vacant stare she so carefully cultivated. What better place for the Ax to strike from than the inside?
    I decided that I should have a little chat with my moll as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

IT WAS WITH a certain amount of trepidation that I approached Bunny’s bedroom. In case you haven’t noticed, my experience with women is rather limited ... like to the fingers of one hand limited.
    Tananda, Massha, Luanna, Queen Hemlock, and now Bunny were the only adult females I had ever had to deal with, and thus far my track record was less than glowing. I had had a crush on Tananda for a while, but now she was more of a big sister to me. Massha was ... well, Massha. I guess if anything I saw her as a kid sister, someone to be protected and sometimes cuddled. I’ve never really understood her open admiration of me, but it had stood firm through some of my most embarrassing mishaps and made it easy for me to confide in her. Even though I still thought of Luanna as my one true love, I had only spoken to her on four occasions, and after our last exchange I wasn’t sure there would ever be a fifth meeting. The only relationship I had had with a woman which was more disastrous than my attempt at love was the one I had had with Queen Hemlock. She might not shoot me on sight, but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she would like to ... and she’s the one who wanted to marry me!
    Of course, none of the women I had dealt with so far was anything like Bunny, though whether this was good or bad I wasn’t entirely sure. The fact still remained, however, that I was going to have to learn more about her, for two reasons: first, if she was going to be a resident of our household, I wanted to get a better fix on where she was coming from so I could treat her as something other than a mad aunt in the cellar; and second, if she was the Ax, the sooner I found out, the better. Unfortunately, the only way I could think of to obtain the necessary information was to talk to her.
    I raised my hand, hesitated for a moment, then rapped on her door. It occurred to me that, even though I had never been in front of a firing squad, now I knew how it felt.
    “Who is it?”
    “It’s Skeeve, Bunny. Have you got a minute?”
    The door flew open and Bunny was there, grabbing my arm and pulling me inside. She was dressed in a slinky jumpsuit with the neck unlaced past her navel, which was a great relief to me. When I called on Queen Hemlock in her bedroom, she had received me in the altogether.
    “Geez! It’s good to see you. I was startin’ to think you weren’t ever comin’ by!”
    With a double-jointed shift of her hips she bumped the door shut, while her hands flew to the lacings in her outfit. So much for being relieved.
    “If you just give me a second, hon, I’ll be all set to go. You kinda caught me unprepared, and...”
    “Bunny, could you just knock it off for a while? Huh?”
    For some reason the events of the last few days suddenly rested heavy on my shoulders, and I just wasn’t in the mood for games.
    She stared at me with eyes as big as a Pervect’s bar bill, but her hands ceased their activity. “What’s the matter, Skeevie? Don’t you like me?”
    “I really don’t know, Bunny,” I said heavily. “You’ve never really given me a chance, have you?”
    She drew in a sharp breath and started to retort angrily. Then she hesitated and looked away suddenly, licking her lips nervously.
    “I ... I don’t know what you mean. Didn’t I come to your room and try to be friendly?”
    “I think you do know what I mean,” I pressed, sensing a weakening in her defenses. “Every time we see each other, you’re hitting me in the face with your ‘sex-kitten’ routine. I never know whether to run or applaud, but neither action is particularly conducive to getting