Myth-Gotten Gains

Buirnie looked past me. The two Trolls were slam-dancing. All around us, the stage hands had broken into a boogie. The Flute's personal assistants danced the hora in a circle in the wings.

'Oh,' he said. 'I forgot. Well, if you promise to go away, I'll stop playing.'

'You made me a promise,' Calypsa said. 'You will come with me now.'

'You can't make me, little lady,' the Fife said, with smug satisfaction.

'I can!' Calypsa said, throwing back her head easily. Her feet flew. 'You do not trifle with the line of Calypso! Music will not stop me!'

With that, she began double-stepping the music, adding flourishes and twists. Her nostrils flared, and her hands rose over her head, fingers clicking together to the drum beat. She twirled from toe to toe, moving ever closer to Buirnie. She was dancing as I had never seen anyone dance before. I was so fascinated I forgot my feet were prisoners. Buirnie upped the tempo, driving her back, but Calypsa wasn't pushed far. She stayed right with him. When he piped staccato, she drummed her heels on the floor. When he whistled a tarantella, she kicked and frolicked along. He tried hot jazz. Her big eyes flashed as she leaped in the air and came down in a split, then bounded up again and rolled over backwards to come up on one foot like an ice skater. The Flute's jeweled eyes followed her, glowing with fascination. I was fascinated, too, but I wasn't about to show it. As far as I was concerned, I wanted him to think this was a walk in the park for Calypsa.

'You can see she can take anything you throw at her,' I panted. 'You give up yet?'

'Never!' Buirnie said. He switched tempos, going to a broken beat. Calypsa didn't even blink. She added whirls and leaps to her footwork, clicking her fingers together. She fixed her luminous eyes on him. Buirnie's music hesitated. I could tell Calypsa had him now. She circled in on him, slowing. The music slowed down in response. My feet stopped pounding the stage like telegraph keys and settled into a two-step so I could keep an eye on them. She picked up the Flute from his pillow and held it aloft in triumph.

'Will you yield to me now?' she demanded.

'You bet, little lady!'

Chapter 11

'ATTA GIRL,' I said, smirking. 'Well, flute, you've been outclassed, outsung and outdanced. What do you say?'

'I think I'm in love,' Buirnie said, the emeralds turning heart-shaped. 'Little lady, I'll go anywhere you want me to!'

'Er...I...well, all right,' Calypsa said, a little uncertainly. I shook my head. She was going to have to learn to handle her successes with more confidence.

The tootling concluded in an exhausted coda that I'd describe as 'shave and a haircut, two bits' with extreme prejudice. I whirled to a halt, gasping for breath. Tananda spun in against me. I caught her before she fell over.

'I feel sick,' Asti said, from my side pocket.

'You and me both,' I said. 'You got anything in the way of motion sickness potions?'

'Coming right up,' she said. Pale pink liquid flooded the bowl of the goblet. The level immediately sank by a couple of inches. She sighed. 'Ah, that's better.' I tipped her up and glugged down a hefty swig of what was left. It tasted of peppermint and the hair of the dog, but I felt the vertigo recede immediately. I passed it off to Tananda, who gulped the rest of the potion gratefully. Calypsa didn't need it. She didn't even look winded. Buirnie was delighted. He never stopped talking.

'You're more than worthy to have me serve you, lovely lady! I can't wait to meet your grandfather. If you're anything like him, he must be extraordinary! When I think how long it's been since anyone could keep up with me...I can't even tell you, but it wasn't in THIS century! How'd you like to be my protege? We'll make beautiful music together—that is, I'll make the music, and you'll perform to it. Wow, no one's ever done such original interpretation of my polka ballet! I can't wait to play you some more of my compositions. I've got thousands that no one has ever heard, let alone danced to!'

'Back off!' Ersatz thundered from his scabbard. 'I have first call upon this wench's education!'

'You? What can a sword teach a little gal like this one? She's none of your warrior stock! Look at those legs! Look at those graceful arms.'

'I see great promise in this child, and she will not be well served by such a frivolous tootler as yourself!'

'Frivolous! Who are you calling frivolous? Swords are like dress clothes—you only need them once in a while, then you stick them in the closet until the next time! Music is for every day!'

'That is why you must not waste her time, with your everyday pipings' Ersatz said severely. 'Such a talent is not to be expended on trivia.'

'Who do you think you are?' Ersatz asked, magnificent in his dudgeon. I see promise in this girl, the likes of which I have not seen since the great Marisu! It should not be wasted on such nonsense as tootling!'

Buirnie wasn't going to let the matter drop. 'Well, you got Marisu. You ought to let this child work with me! She's got a musical bent. She belongs with me.'

'My goodness, Marisu! I haven't thought of her in years!' Kelsa said.

'Who's Marisu?' I asked.

'A protege of the greatest possible promise,' Ersatz said with a sigh. 'She might have accomplished anything, any goal she chose to strive for. I was sorely grieved to lose her.'

Tananda's face softened. 'What happened to her?'

'She got married to a handsome prince,' Kelsa said.

'And lived happily ever after,' Ersatz added, glumly.

'I suppose that is a tragedy if you're a war-sword,' Tananda said, trying not to laugh.

'Ah, fair lady, you have no notion of how great a tragedy it is!' He glanced at Calypsa. 'It would be an honor to teach you my craft, if you would care to learn.'

'How about mine?' Buirnie asked. 'Music is a lot closer to her natural talent than hacking and slashing!'

'Hold it right there,' I said, getting between them. 'What makes you think you have ANY authority over Calypsa at all?'

That stopped the two of them dead. They glared at one another, then Ersatz turned to me.

'Forgive me, Aahz,' the Sword said, apologetically. 'If I have stepped upon your purview. I did not realize you had taken her on as your protege.'

'Well, how could you...WHAT?'

'I presume that, like my companions and me, you have discerned the depths of this youngling's talents,' Ersatz said, his steel-blue eyes understanding. 'I assume that your interruption of our discussion means that you have staked a claim. I would never seek to interfere with that, friend Aahz. If you wish to be her teacher, then I defer in your favor.'

'NO! I don't need any more apprentices,' I said, maybe a little more harshly than I intended. At the sound of my voice, the stage hands had all fled for the far end of the stage. I noticed that Calypsa looked a little hurt. Ersatz didn't take offense.

'All is well, then. If you don't mind, then I shall put myself forward as her instructor. I believe that it will benefit us all to have this child trained in the martial arts. What do you say, lass?'

'I...' The Walt hesitated. 'I had not thought about it. I am concerned with my grandfather's safety.'

'Then, think,' Ersatz said, kindly. 'You are wise. Any such engagement requires due thought.'

I walked away. What was I thinking? I didn't feel the need to train anyone else, in magic or anything. My last apprentice had become a huge success, then walked away from it all. like any other teacher, I couldn't really take credit for all his accomplishments. I'd just recognized a talent and set him going on the path he was going to follow, with or without my help. He just progressed a lot farther and faster than he would have

alone. Calypsa might need the same kind of steering. She had nerves, brains and talent, three attributes that would make an excellent student, regardless of her field of study. Skeeve wasn't the only person I had ever