Realms of Magic - Brian Thomsen King [53]
"It's tight," I said. Carrague smiled at me, but King's mouth opened as wide as I'd ever seen it when he was a dog. He looked a quick question at Carrague.
"Pixwhistle's cap of invisibility," said the ambassador proudly.
"What?" I looked down at my arms. They were plenty visible to me. "I am not invisible."
King nodded at me, then sniffed. "You're invisible all right. I can't even smell you."
"Actually, you probably couldn't smell him unless you were very close," said Carrague. "Your nose isn't the fine instrument it was."
I looked around for a mirror while the two old men discussed olfactory, auditory, gustatory, and a few other -ory functions that didn't interest me. After elbowing past some mannequins and digging through baskets and bins, I unearthed a full-length mirror framed in carved oak.
"Hey, I'm invisible!" I exclaimed. I took off the hat. "I'm visible again!" While King's transformation and the conjuration of his clothing was more spectacular, this particular magic was much more personal. It worked on me.
Carrague and King finished their discussion and turned to me. "It's time to find Dauna," said Carrague.
"Let's start with the servants at your house," said King.
*****
"Oh, Master Jame! We were so worried!"
Betha charged through the kitchen, grabbing me up in meaty arms better suited to butchering livestock than hugging children. I don't think I've ever fully recovered from those crushing embraces. At least it was Betha, and not Chesley.
I had just enough breath left to tell my story again. "I'm fine, Betha. But Dauna's been kidnapped. Oof!" She squeezed me again. "And I mean it. It isn't just a story, like Chesley says. King saw them, too."
"Oh, we know, dear boy. We know." She hugged me again, and that was the last I could speak for a while.
"Mistress Betha, I'm here to investigate Dauna's kidnapping."
"And by whose authority are you here, sir?" Chesley appeared from the dining room. He was all narrow lines and livery. Our family didn't have a livery, but Chesley insisted on wearing one all the same. Livery and uniforms were as important to him as protocol and etiquette.
"I serve Ambassador Carrague, of the Ministry of Art," said King proudly. He raised his chin. If he had been a dog, his hackles would have risen. I couldn't blame him.
"I'm afraid I don't understand why the Ministry of Art is involved in a matter for the watch," sniffed Chesley.
"I was at hand," sniffed King. Unlike Chesley, though, he was really sniffing. He walked right up to Chesley and kept on sniffing, leaning forward to get a good whiff. Chesley was unprepared for that.
"Wha-Whatever are you doing?" stammered the steward.
If I'd had any breath left, I'd have lost it all again in laughter.
"Where were you when Dauna was kidnapped?" demanded King. Chesley wasn't used to having the tables turned in that direction.
"Why, I-why, I was at market."
"Then why in the world did you send me to market this morning?" demanded Betha indignantly. "I could have finished all that washing you insisted on having this afternoon."
King kept sniffing at Chesley, moving down from his thinning hair to his narrow shoulders, and farther down. "Well?" said King.
"As if it matters!" protested Chesley, pushing away at King, who seemed oblivious to the impropriety of his own behavior. "If you must know, I had to replace a bottle of the master's wine, which I had carelessly broken this morning."
"Hmm," said King.
"Hmm?" said Chesley.
"I don't smell any wine on you."
"Of course you don't, you nonsensical fool! I changed clothes."
"Doesn't matter," said King.
"Don't be ridiculous," protested Chesley.
Even I knew something was wrong, now.
"And you're afraid of these questions. You're sweating fear."
"I've had quite enough of this bullying," said Chesley, drawing himself to his most imperious height. "It is true that I didn't believe the boy's story this morning, but that's because he is a proven lia-"
"It's because you know where Dauna is," interrupted King, rising up to tower over even the tall steward. "I