Myth-Chief

Hermalaya sprang to her feet. She balled up her fists.

"Well, I didn't think it mattered to you anymore where I was after you showed me my own border, you terrible man!"

"Border?" I asked. "Is this ... your prime minister? The usurper?"

The black-haired Swamp Fox was aghast. "Terrible? I don't mean to be terrible!"

"Well, that's just what you are," Hermalaya declared, putting her long nose in the air. "How else do you want me to think of you?"

"Well, never as anything but respectful, ma'am. You've got to understand where I've been coming from...."

"Princess?" Aahz asked, his eyes narrowing. "No kidding! That's the little spendthrift herself?"

Hermalaya's eyes went wide with shock. "Spendthrift! Is that what you think of me! How dare you!" She recoiled with dignity. "How can you expect me to remain here for one more moment with that man! You're right, Miss Massha, I don't feel safe here any longer. Take me away! This minute, if you don't mind!"

"But, I..." Matfany began.

Massha gave us all a reproachful look and blinked out, with Hermalaya in tow. Aahz pushed the black-haired Swamp Fox toward the door.

"Wait for me outside," he said. Tananda grabbed Matfany's arm and towed him away. Aahz turned around, the orange veins throbbing in his eyes with fury. Both of us rounded on Bu

"You knew," I accused her. "You knew they knew each other. You knew you were setting us against each other head to head!"

Bu

"I don't believe in fate," Aahz snarled.

"Neither do I," I growled.

"Tough," Bu

"But his client's a black-hearted throne-stealer!" I exclaimed, pointing at Aahz.

His scaly hand pointed directly at me. "His is a brain-less party girl who fiddled while Foxe-Swampburg fell apart!"

Bu

With a fierce glare at me, Aahz stomped out. Guido gave us an apologetic shrug and followed him. Bu

"You, too."

"But this is my office!" I protested.

She shook her head. "This is neutral territory, and it's going to stay that way until all this is over. Go with him, Nunzio." She pointed toward the door.

"Yes, Boss," he said. "I mean, Miss Bu

With a groan, I went.

EIGHTEEN

"Hey, Aahz, good to see you." The Geek, a snappily dressed Deveel, started to stick out a hand, then thought better of it when he glanced up at Tananda and Guido. unobtrusively holding up the wall. He sat down in his upholstered office chair and waved us to a couple of seats. "[ don't owe you any money that I know of."

"Not to me," I agreed, after a quick shuffle through my memory. No sense in letting a debt slide if there was one. but there wasn't. The walk through the Bazaar had cleared my head. I'd deal with the concept of Skeeve's working directly against me later. "I'm here with a business proposition for you. You'll thank me for thinking of you first." The Deveel shook his head.

"It means you think I'm the biggest sucker you could think of, you mean." the Geek said.

"Now, how can you say that?" I asked, mellowing my voice out to the smoothest consistency I could.

"I know how Perverts think."

"That's Per-vect!" I corrected him with a snarl, then moderated my tone. You could catch more dragons with meat than a punch in the snout, I reasoned.

"Who's your friend?" the Geek asked.

"I'd like you to meet Matfany," I said, ushering the Swamp Fox forward to shake hands. "Prime minister of Foxe-Swampburg. Nice guy. Runs everything. This is the Geek."

"You run everything, huh?" the Geek asked, with a grin.

Matfany gave him an uneasy look up and down. "I guess so," he said. "Right glad to meet you, sir. It's an honor." He gave a courtly bow. The guy seemed to have an inexhaustible supply.

The Geek eyed him suspiciously. "Is this a put-on?"

"They have ma

"You want to apply hot iron to my posterior, or someone else's? Not interested, Aahz."

"Not that kind of brand," I said. "The Geek brand. I want to set it up so that when people see your name, they automatically think of your style, your business savvy."

The Geek looked even more suspicious.

"And what is going to make people think I'm savvy and stylish?"

"When they see your name associated with a great place like Foxe-Swampburg."

"Foxe-Swampburg? Wasn't that the dimension that got hit with that insect plague about two years ago? I heard the place is a desert—culturally speaking."

I should have known he would have heard all about it. Well, when you can't hide something, minimize it. I shrugged.

"Just a hiatus. They like to think of it as a chance to clear out the old public-relations material and come up with something new. That's why they want to align themselves with notable businesspeople such as you."

The Geek sighed and rested his chin against his fist. "I presume this is go

"Naming rights," I said, proudly. "Landmarks with your name on them. Anyone who sees them will think of you as a Deveel of importance. You get your choice of any prominent location in Foxe-Swampburg: mountains, rivers, beaches, buildings. Anything you want—first come, first served, of course. That's why I brought Matfany here before anywhere else. We are offering you, and nobody but you, first crack."

"Naming rights?" The Geek looked thoughtful. "I du

"What's the problem? You get to be famous."

"I've already got all the recognition I can handle. But in a tourist spot, which as you admit hasn't been much of a tourist spot lately? I don't want to be associated with insect hordes and bad food."

Matfany glowered at him. "Sir, our food is the top-rated by Dragon Rotay and the Witchelin Guide. We've got five four-star restaurants and four five-star restaurants."

"Yeah yeah," the Geek said, dismissively waving a hand. "Until some rival restauranteur sticks a cockroach in the canapes. And what about those bugs?"

I snorted. "The bug problem's under control. It's still a beauty spot. Everyone knows it's spawned a million cheap oil paintings. And you could have your name all over it. Think of it. Geek's Peak. Geek Lake! Geekville! It's only limited by the level of your imagination—and your investment." I whipped out the portfolio from my inside pocket and unrolled the map, full-color with magikal three-dimensional images, that we had bought from one of the waterfront shops. In spite of himself, the Geek looked intrigued. "The longest white-sand beach in any civilized dimension. Crystal blue waters. Even the fish are friendly.

Picturesque cliffs. Rivers. Canyons. And all a wagon's ride from the center of town which, as my pal just reminded you, has a bunch of live-star restaurants. What do you think? Sounds like the perfect investment for a guy on his way to the top."