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Sween Myth-tery of Life :: Asprin Robert
Страница: 29 из 110I want to find out for sure ifthere's anything wrong with him."
"Ah ... Actually, Boss," my bodyguard said, carefully studying his massive hands, "I wasn't thinkin' of Nunzio. I was thinkin' maybe Pookie and me could handle it."
More than anything else he had said, this surprised me. Guido and his cousin Nunzio had always worked as a team, to a point where I practically thought of the two of them as one person. The fact that Guido was willing to split the team up was an indication of how concerned he was over the situation. Either that, or a sign of how far he was willing to go to get some time alone with Pookie.
"Really, Boss," he urged, sensing my hesitation. "There ain't a whole lot to do here for three bodyguards. I mean, the way I see it, the only one here in the castle who might want to do you any bodily harm is the Queen herself, and I don't think you have to worry about her until after you've made up your mind on the marriage thing. I'm just lookin' for a way that we can earn our keep ... something useful to do."
That did it. His point about reassigning my bodyguards played smack into my current thinking about trimming the team or expanding their duties. Then, too, I wasn't eager to prolong any discussion which involved my making up my mind about what to do about Hemlock.
"Okay, Guido," I said, scribbling my signature across the bottom of the scroll. "You've got it.
Just be sure to keep me posted as to what's going on."
"Thanks, Boss," he grinned, taking the scroll and looking at the signature. "You won't regret this."
It hadn't occurred to me at all that I might regret it ... until he mentioned it. I mean, what could go wrong?
Chapter Six:
"Money is the root of all evil. Women need roots."
D. TRUMP
THOUGH THE VARIOUS administrative hassles of trying to straighten out Possiltum's finances weighed heavily on my mind, there was another, bigger worry that ran like an undercurrent through my head whenever I was awake.
Should I or shouldn't I marry Queen Hemlock?
Aahz kept saying that I should go along with it, become the royal consort with an easy (not to mention well-paying) job for life. I had to admit, in many ways it looked more attractive than having her abdicate and ending up holding the bag for running the kingdom all by myself. I had that "opportunity" once before courtesy of the late King Roderick, and really didn't want to repeat the experience.
So why was I dragging my feet on making my decision?
Mostly, my indecision was due to my reluctance to accept the obvious choice.
"Ah ... Actually, Boss," my bodyguard said, carefully studying his massive hands, "I wasn't thinkin' of Nunzio. I was thinkin' maybe Pookie and me could handle it."
More than anything else he had said, this surprised me. Guido and his cousin Nunzio had always worked as a team, to a point where I practically thought of the two of them as one person. The fact that Guido was willing to split the team up was an indication of how concerned he was over the situation. Either that, or a sign of how far he was willing to go to get some time alone with Pookie.
"Really, Boss," he urged, sensing my hesitation. "There ain't a whole lot to do here for three bodyguards. I mean, the way I see it, the only one here in the castle who might want to do you any bodily harm is the Queen herself, and I don't think you have to worry about her until after you've made up your mind on the marriage thing. I'm just lookin' for a way that we can earn our keep ... something useful to do."
That did it. His point about reassigning my bodyguards played smack into my current thinking about trimming the team or expanding their duties. Then, too, I wasn't eager to prolong any discussion which involved my making up my mind about what to do about Hemlock.
"Okay, Guido," I said, scribbling my signature across the bottom of the scroll. "You've got it.
Just be sure to keep me posted as to what's going on."
"Thanks, Boss," he grinned, taking the scroll and looking at the signature. "You won't regret this."
It hadn't occurred to me at all that I might regret it ... until he mentioned it. I mean, what could go wrong?
Chapter Six:
"Money is the root of all evil. Women need roots."
D. TRUMP
THOUGH THE VARIOUS administrative hassles of trying to straighten out Possiltum's finances weighed heavily on my mind, there was another, bigger worry that ran like an undercurrent through my head whenever I was awake.
Should I or shouldn't I marry Queen Hemlock?
Aahz kept saying that I should go along with it, become the royal consort with an easy (not to mention well-paying) job for life. I had to admit, in many ways it looked more attractive than having her abdicate and ending up holding the bag for running the kingdom all by myself. I had that "opportunity" once before courtesy of the late King Roderick, and really didn't want to repeat the experience.
So why was I dragging my feet on making my decision?
Mostly, my indecision was due to my reluctance to accept the obvious choice.