Myth 13 - Myth Alliances Asprin, Robert (top 100 novels .TXT) 📖

rose and deposited a huge iron key in her hand. She patted him on the cheek.

“Good! Now, go away and count to a thousand, and don't look! I'll come back and find you again later. All right?”

“All right,” the ravished-​looking Scammie echoed.

He rotated slowly around and ambled toward the cell door. On the threshold he paused and looked longingly at Tananda. She shook her head and twiddled her fingers at him with a rueful smile. He let out a disappointed sigh, and shuffled off into the hallway.

“How can I get out of here?” I asked. I explained my problem with the judge. “You can't convince every guard to go count to a thousand.”

“Can't I?” Tananda challenged me.

“No need,” the little gray man interjected. “Scammies believe anything they are told, so all we have to do is con?vince them that the person leaving the building is not you.”

“It'd be better if you didn't look like you,” Bunny added, looking me thoughtfully up and down.

“The whole place is magik-​proofed,” I informed them.

“They use a lot of magik in this dimension, and it's the only way they can avoid having jailbreaks. No disguise spell will work.”

“No problem,” she stated. She excused herself. In a few minutes she was back with an armload of rags. “Put these on,” she said, holding out a shapeless skirt and blouse.

“Those are the cleaning lady's clothes,” I observed.

“Good idea,” Tananda grinned at Bunny. “No one ever notices the staff.”

I was concerned. “She'll tell someone about the ex?change.”

“She's retiring,” Bunny reassured me. “I gave her enough gold to buy a cottage. She's already on her way out of town. She threw in the bucket and mop for free.”

As my distinguished counsel, Zol was permitted to depart from the building without trouble. The little gray man led Bunny and Tananda out of the prison and down to the street, where they waited at the far end of the bridge for me. All I had to do was potter my way along until I was past the magik barrier, go invisible, and leave this dimen?sion forever Ñor until the memory of the riot faded away.

I fancied myself a pretty good actor. Once swathed in the cleaner's sorry rags, I bent my spine so all anyone could see was the top of my head scarf, and shoved the pail on its creaking wheels along the hallway with hands wrapped in strips of cloth so the color of my skin wasn't visible. My progress was slow, but I couldn't hurry. I had only been along this hallway once since my incarceration, but it wasn't hard to guess which way was out.

A Scammie with a court badge on his tunic passed me, whistling through his nose as he tossed a big key in the air and caught it. He was heading for my cell door! I continued my amble, picking up the pace as much as I dared. He passed me on the way back, shouting for the guards. My

disappearance had been discovered. I ducked my face far?ther down into my blouse. I had to be careful. Moments later, a small troop hustled past, swords drawn, to investi?gate my empty cell. They started searching the immediate area, coming up with Tananda's “friend,” whom they pulled out of the corner where he was hiding.

“Eight hundred ninety-​six, eight hundred ninety-​seven .. .”

“Where is he?” the others shouted.

The Scammie looked abashed.

“I dunno,” he muttered.

“Find him!”

I was only yards from the exit now. A few more steps and I would be free.

“Hey, you!” a voice growled.

I froze. Had they seen through my disguise at last? My shoes were concealed under the hem of the skirt. Loud footsteps rang on the stone floor. I found myself looking down at a pair of guard-​issue boots. A hand gestured to my left.

“Mandrilla, come over here! We've got a spill for you to wipe up.”

I groaned to myself. Of all the rotten luck! I had no choice but to play along. They thought I was the cleaning lady. If I protested they might look closer at me. At the mo?ment my disguise was fooling them. Walking at a tottery pace I trailed behind my guide, who stopped in front of a wide, carved door and drew his sword. I blanched, but he stepped up and opened the portal for me.

“Wine's on the ground over there,” he pointed. I mut?tered something, and minced inside.

I almost turned and fled out of the room.

There was no disguising the smell. I had woken up near it or in the same building with it for years: the aroma of ag?itated Pervect. The Ten were here! Or, I counted, peering up through the frayed edge of the headscarf, eight of them. Big and green and scaly and ... looking for me?

'This is almost funny,“ the eldest one in the flowered dress said, peering up at the judge. ”You've got a witness, but he's not here. I suppose you have other evidence? If not, we've got other appointments, honey."

“The fact that he is not here is immaterial,” Senior Do-​mani blustered.

The Pervects weren't convinced. I wouldn't have been, either.

Something prodded me in the back. I nearly jumped through the ceiling.

“Go on, clean it up,” the guard reminded me, shoving me toward a broken carafe and a pool of spilled wine on the table near the Pervects. “I'll protect you from them.”

It was brave of him, because he didn't sound at all cer?tain that he could. In fact, I was pretty certain he couldn't, magikless though they were at the moment.

“He did say he was a