'... Here we go,' I said, pointing to an image in crabbed green handwriting in one corner of the image.
The ad read, 'Ecologically minded game warden to oversee target range on royal estate. Must love animals. Preserve endangered species for the sake of the royal hunt.'
I frowned. 'Gee. it sounds like they don't know what they want.'
'Don't you know this name?' Bunny asked. 'Prince Bosheer of Whelmet.'
I frowned, it sounded familiar. Yes, Massha had told me about him. She had borrowed Gleep to do a favor for a friend, who had ended up married to Prince Bosheer.5
'Yes. I do,' I said. 'Massha said he's a good guy.'
'Should we answer this ad?'
'Oh. I don't know,' Flinna said, timidly.
I gave her an encouraging smile.
'Why not? It's worth a try. He can always say no. Well cheek with Massha to see what she thinks.'
Massha was enthusiastic about the idea of introducing Flinna to Prince Bosheer.
'He'll think it's a hoot,' she promised, so we bamfed over to Whelmet.
The Crown Prince and Princess were a big hearty couple. I liked them immediately Gloriannamarjolie had thick blond braids bleached lighter by the sun surrounding a sun-browned face in which twinkled very intelligent blue eyes. Her husband, a Whelt, was big. handsome, and friendly, like most of his kind. The throne room, a huge beamed hall, was hung with as many hunting trophies as royal banners. Weapons of every description and some that defied description hung along the walls.
'Massha has told us so much about you,' Gloriannamarjolie said, kindly gesturing to us to sit down. I boosted Flinna into a chair made of the foot of some huge bird and sat down in an armchair made of immense curving tusks.
'I am honored to meet the Great Skeeve,' Bosheer boomed at me. 'So where did you say you kept game before?'
'I have never been a gamekeeper,' I said.
Bosheer frowned. 'Massha sent us a note saying you were coming by. Couldn't understand why you wanted the job anyhow. I thought you liked wizarding.'
'He retired,' Glory murmured to him, closing her hand around his wrist. I noticed that she had two thumbs on each hand, one on either side of the palm.
'That's right. I'm launching a new career,' I said proudly.
'Ah. So what about the job appeals to you?' Bosheer asked.
'I like to solve problems for people.''
''How does being a game warden solve problems'?' Bosheer looked puzzled. I was beginning to realize that Gloriannamarjolie had married him more for his looks and personality than his brains.
'I answer questions,' I said. ''Flinna here asked me to help her find a job. I think she'd be ideal for your purposes.' I indicated the Pixie.
'Her?' Bosheer asked. His voice was making the little girl recoil. 'What does she know about hunting?'
'Nothing ... sir,' the Pixie admitted in an almost inaudible tone.
'Really?'
'Well, I like animals.'
'I do, too! Especially birds. They make good sport!''
'Bosheer ...' Glory said warningly. 'Not everyone likes to hear about that. Such as me.'
'And that is exactly why we're here' I said, moving into what Aahz used to call 'closing the deal.' 'In your ad you said you wanted someone who could help conserve species. Flinna does really wonderful illusionary birds.'
'Illusions? What do I want with illusions? I like shooting real birds.'
The wince from his wife told me that Massha's assessment of her former charge and her new mate had been spot on. Having once been the quarry of the Wild Hunt, Gloriannamarjolie liked the idea of illusionary birds so the real thing wouldn't be targeted unnecessarily.
'It's hardly as if we need to eat songbirds, darling,' Glory added pointedly. 'A wild boarotamus feeds the entire castle for a week.'
'But I like shooting at them,' Bosheer said. His handsome lip drooped in a pout.
'And you can, all you want,' I said. 'The same one several times over, if you like, if Flinna comes to work for you. She can manifest any kind of bird you want. I bet she can make them die really dramatically. In all different ways '
'Oh, yes,' the Pixie said, her eyes shining.
'Really?' Bosheer asked, brightening. 'I say, that would be fun. Can I see?'
Flinna sat up on her chair and put her tiny hands together. From the shelter of her palms, a pointed beak poked out, followed about a foot later by beady black eyes. The head gave rise to a neck, then a body about the size of a melon with a long pointed wing on each side. Two very long legs escaped next, until a blue storkron was walking around the room
'Terrific! Where is my crossbow!'
A Whelf servant ran to the nearest wall and returned with a loaded weapon. The Prince took it from him
and sighted down the quarrel at the bird. It squawked and tried to fly away, but Bosheer tugged the trigger. The quarrel smacked into the storkron, which staggered back and forth melodramatically a few times across the room before it collapsed to the floor and vanished. Bosheer was overjoyed.
'Tally ho!' he caroled. 'You're hired, young lady!'
'I miss having Massha around,' Princess Glory said. 'I got used to having magik around the palace. We would love to have you here. Flinna.'
Prince Bosheer strode over and picked the Pixie off the ground. 'Marvelous!' he exclaimed. 'Infinite numbers of birds to shoot, and not endanger the breeding population? That will be just jolly. Could start a new trend! We could have really big shooting parties. We both love parties. We'll do it. Thank you, Master Skeeve.'
'Just Skeeve,' I said, modestly.
'Thanks,' Glory whispered to me.
I collected my fee and left Flinna with her new employers. Everyone was happy. I'd found the best possible outcome.
Not a bad start, I thought, wandering out of the castle. Between Flinna and Marmel, I had been successful twice. Two for two. A few gold coins in the kitty. Whistling, I bamfed out of Whelmet and back into my own office.
To my surprise, there was someone in the office besides Bunny. The curtain to my private office had been pulled back, and someone was sitting in my desk chair. Someone with green scales and yellow eyes and four-inch pointed teeth.
'Aahz!' I cried.
He scowled at me.
'Where the hell have you been?' he asked.
'Who needs competition?'
As much as I had been looking forward to seeing my old mentor and partner ever since returning to the Bazaar, now that the moment had arrived, I felt strangely uneasy, almost shy.
To my surprise, Aahz seemed to feel almost as awkward as I did. He quickly rose from the chair, offering it to me with a sweep of his hand.
