Part 7 (2/2)
”We heard only that his name was Armand. None of us ever saw him, because he was dead by the time we reached the brothel. After the people found out what he had done to Mi-randa, they were so incensed that they beat him to death and tore his body into rags.”
”And now you would sell your own sister's head?”
”Of course! She was a wh.o.r.e! What difference does it make what we do with her head?”
”I guess I could give you a few pieces of gold for her,” Azzie said. ”Unless her features are all battered and distorted.”
”Not in the slightest!” Ansel said. ”She looks as good now as she did while she was alive. Better, perhaps, if you like the languid type.”
”Before I buy,” Azzie said, ”I must see her.”
”You shall. But from the bottle, of course!”
”Of course,”Azzie said. ”Trot her out.”
Ansel called to his brothers to bring out Miranda's head. Chor and Hald scuttled to the back of the cellar. Soon they returned, bearing an object. Before presenting it, Ansel wiped it with his s.h.i.+rt, to get off the ice crystals.
Azzie saw that she was quite lovely, even in death. The long, sad lips were slightly parted. Her ash-blond hair clung to her forehead. A drop of water glistened on her cheek. . . .
Azzie knew at once that his instinct had been correct; she was indeed the one he needed.
”So what do you think?” Ansel asked.
”She'll do,” Azzie said. ”Now let me out of here and we'll discuss the fee.”
”How about granting us three wishes first?” Ansel asked.
”No,” Azzie said.
”Just that? No?”
”That's right.”
”No counteroffer?”
”Not while you have me in this bottle.”
”But if we let you out, we won't have anything to threaten you with.”
”That's right,” Azzie said.
Ansel and his brothers held a whispered conference. Ansel came back. ”They told me to tell you that we know an incan-tation that can make life very difficult for you.”
”Do you really?” Azzie said.
”Yes, we do. Really.”
”Then incant away.”
The three brothers began to chant.
”Excuse me, fellows,” Azzie said, ”but I think you have some of the words a little wrong. You should say fantago, not fandrago. Subtle, but there it is. p.r.o.nunciation is everything in the matter of magic spells.”
”Come on,” Ansel said. ”Grant us a couple of wishes, what's it to you?”
”I know you think demons have all sorts of special powers,” Azzie said. ”But that doesn't mean we have to use them.”
”What if we don't release you? How would you like to spend years in a bottle?”
Azzie smiled. ”Have you ever wondered what happens when the demon and the people who have captured him can't reach an agreement on his ransom? The old stories don't tell about that, do they? Be sensible now. Don't you think I have any friends? Sooner or later they'll see I'm missing and come looking for me. When they find me here, your prisoner-well, perhaps you can imagine what they might do.”
Ansel thought about it and didn't like what he came up with. ”But why should they do anything to us? By the rules of magic, we are allowed to trap demons. We caught you fair and square.”
Azzie laughed. It was a horrible sound he had practiced for occasions such as this.
”What do you poor fools know of the rules of magic, or for that matter, of the laws that govern the conduct of creatures supernatural? You'd do better to confine your dealings to human things. Once you get into the supernatural area, you can never tell what might happen.”
Ansel was trembling now, and his two brothers looked ready to flee. ”Great demon,” he said, ”I didn't mean to intrude. It's just that Dr. Parvenu said it would be so simple. What do you want us to do now?”
”Unstop the bottle,” Azzie said.
Ansel and his brothers tugged out the stopper.Azzie stepped out. He adjusted his height so that he was about one and a half feet taller than Ansel, the tallest of the three.
”Now then, my children,” Azzie said. ”The first thing to learn about dealing with supernatural creatures is this - despite the folklore to the contrary, they will get the better of you every time. So don't try to trick them or cheat them. Note how you opened the bottle for me when actually I was helpless.”
The brothers exchanged looks.
After a moment, Ansel asked, ”You mean we actually had you at our mercy?”
”Indeed you did,” Azzie replied.
”That you were a helpless prisoner?”
”That is correct.”
”Sure fooled us,” one of the others observed, nodding slowly.
Another round of glances was exchanged.
Ansel cleared his throat then. ”You know,” he said, ”at your present size, great demon, I don't see any way you could be gotten into that bottle. I daresay your excellency couldn't even put yourself into it now if you wanted to.”
”But you'd like to see me try, is that it?”
”Not at all,” Ansel said. ”We are entirely at your orders. I just wish you would show me that you can do it again.”
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