The Wizardry Consulted (Wiz, #4)(81)

“I am sorry, Sparrow,” the huge wizard said, “I did not know you had a visitor.”

Llewllyn’s head was swiveling back and forth between them convulsively.

His mouth hung open and he had suddenly gone pasty white.

“Uh, leave us for a minute will you, My Lord?”

“Of course,” Bal-Simba rumbled. “I will be in the parlor.”

“You knew,” Llewllyn said dully as soon as Bal-Simba closed the parlor door. “You knew what I was all along.”

“It was a little hard for me not to,” Wiz said dryly.

Llewllyn struck a noble pose, chin-high. “Well, go ahead. Denounce me to the council. Have them stake me out for the dragons to rend and tear. Or will you simply turn me into a toad?”

It was awfully tempting, but Wiz shook his head.

“I’ve got a better idea. I’m leaving tomorrow and I’m going to make you my successor.”

Llewllyn stopped posing and gawked. “But, My Lord, I am a liar! A charlatan! A back-stabbing schemer!”

Wiz smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “I can’t think of a better set of qualifications for this job.”

It is also, he thought, called making the punishment fit the crime.

“Besides,” Wiz continued, “Anna needs you.”

Llewllyn looked blank. “Anna, My Lord?”

“My housekeeper. You know, the woman at whose merest whim you’d lay down your life. The very light of your existence. You are in love with her, aren’t you?”

“You know I am, My Lord,” Llewllyn said quietly. “But why is she your concern now that you are leaving?” His eyes narrowed. “Or was there something between you?”

“Would it make a difference to you if there was?”

Llewllyn looked at him levelly. “Only that I’d have your heart for trifling with her, be you wizard or no.”

Wiz suddenly discovered Llewllyn could be amazingly convincing under the right circumstances.

“No, there was nothing between us. But she’s a good kid and she deserves to be happy. You are apparently what makes her happy, so . . .” He shrugged.

The blond man bowed. “I will endeavor to see that she is happy, My Lord.”

“Do that. Meanwhile, come back later.” With that he pushed him out the door.





Twenty-seven: Dragon Tale Home


Always end projects on a positive note, no matter what they were like.

The Consultants’ Handbook



“Excuse me, My Lord,” Anna said from the top of the kitchen stairs. “But Llewllyn, what did he want?”

“Mostly to tell you about the dragon. I asked him to come back this evening.”

Anna frowned, prettily. “The one you killed? But I already knew that.”

“Yes, but he didn’t.”

“My Lord?” It was a good thing Anna looked so pretty when she was confused, Wiz thought, because she spent so much time being confused.

“He’ll explain it to you this evening. But I wanted to talk to you anyway.”

A shadow darkened the maid’s beautiful, empty brow. “Have I done something wrong, My Lord?”

“No, no. Not at all. It’s just that . . . Look, you know I’m leaving here tomorrow with my friends?”

The maid nodded. “I know and I’m so happy.” Then she went crimson. “Oh, that’s not what I mean at all. I mean . . .”

“I know what you mean,” Wiz said reassuringly.

“I mean it has been a pleasure serving you, My Lord, but I, I mean,” then the words came in a rush. “I mean Llewllyn has asked me to marry him and I said yes and oh, I’m the happiest girl in the world!”

Wiz ignored the disembodied snort from over his shoulder.

“Congratulations. When is the happy event?”

“As soon as can be.” Her eyes sparkled. “He is wonderful and I love him so. Besides,” her voice dropped. “I have been so alone since Grandma died. Oh you have been kind, My Lord, but there’s been no one for me to turn to for advice and Llewllyn,” she sighed, “why he knows everything!”

Wiz held up his hand, checking the explosion of spectral wrath behind him.

“Well, since I’m not going to be here for the wedding, I’d better give you your present early.”

The girl flushed again. “Oh My Lord, that is not necessary.”

“Still, I am going to give you this house. As a wedding present, you might say.” Anna’s jaw dropped and her face lit up like a child’s at Christmas. He waved a finger. “Now mind, I am giving this to you personally. Not to the two of you. I’ve arranged it with the council that it shall be yours alone.”

Anna hugged him and started to cry into his shirt pocket. “Hey, it’s okay,” Wiz protested and tried to move her away. “It’s all right.”

“Well, My Lord,” Anna said with a smile and a sniffle. “I’d best go and finish in the kitchen.”

“Yes, do that.” Before Moira catches you hanging all over me and turns us both into toads.

“Smart,” Widder Hackett said at last. “If she owns the house I’ll be able to advise the poor child. And she’ll need it, married to that empty-headed popinjay.”