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prepared to handle any difficulty which might arise with the dragon. The crowd’s reaction to him, however, overshadowed their horror at seeing a unicorn transformed to a dragon. I had forgotten how effective the “disreputable character” disguise was. Afraid of losing the momentum of my performance, I hurried on.
    “This misshapen wretch is my apprentice Aahz,” I announced. “You may wonder if it is within his power to stop the dragon should the beast grow angry. I tell you now ... it is not!”
    The crowd edged back nervously. From the corner of my eye, I saw the general’s hand slide to the handle of his axe.
    “ … But it is within my power! Now you know that the forces of darkness are no strangers to Skeeve!”
    I spun and stabbed a finger at Aahz.
    “Bobbelty gook, crumbs and martyrs!”
    I removed Aahz’s disguise.
    There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Aahz smiled. Aahz’s smile has been known to make strong men weak, and there were not many strong men in the crowd.
    The audience half-trampled each other in their haste to backpedal from the demon, and the sound of screeches were intermixed with hastily chanted protection spells.
    I turned to the throne once more. The king and the chancellor seemed to be taking it well. They were composed, though a bit pale. The general was scowling thoughtfully at Aahz.
    “As a demon, my apprentice can suppress the dragon if need be ... nay, ten dragons. Such is my power. Yet, power must be tempered with gentleness ... gentility if you will.”
    I allowed my expression to grow thoughtful.
    “To confuse one’s enemies and receive one’s allies, one needs no open show of power or menace. For occasions such as those, one’s powers can be masked until one is no more conspicuous than ... than a stripling.”
    As I spoke the final words, I stripped away my own disguise and stood in my youthful unsplendor. I probably should have used some fake magik words, but I had already used up all the ones Aahz had taught me and was afraid of experimenting with new ones.
    The king and the chancellor were staring at me intently as if trying to penetrate my magical disguise with will-power alone. The general was performing a similar exercise staring at Aahz, who folded his arms and bared his teeth in a confident smile.
    For a change, I shared his confidence. Let them stare. It was too late to penetrate my magik because I wasn’t working any more. Though the royal troupe and the entire audience was convinced they were witnessing a powerful spell, in actually all I had done was remove the spells which had been distorting their vision. At the moment, all of us, Aahz, Buttercup, Gleep, and myself, were our normal selves, however abnormal we appeared. Even the most adept magical vision could not penetrate a nonexistent spell.
    “As you see, Your Majesty,” I concluded. “My powers are far from ordinary. They can make the gentle fearsome, or the mighty harmless. They can destroy your enemies or amuse your court, depending upon your whim. Say the word, speak your approval, and the powers of Skeeve are yours to command.”
    I drew myself up and bowed my head respectfully, and remained in that position awaiting judgment from the throne.
    Several moments passed without a word. Finally, I risked a peek at the pavilion.
    The chancellor and the general were exchanging heated whispers over the head of the king, who inclined his head this way and that as he listened. Realizing this could take a while, I quietly eased my head to an upright position as I waited.
    “Skeeve!” the king called suddenly, interrupting his advisor’s arguments. “That thing you did with the pike. Can you always control weapons so easily?”
    “Child’s play, Your Majesty,” I said modestly. “I hesitate even to acknowledge it as a power.”
    The king nodded and spoke briefly to his advisors in undertones. When he had finished, the general flushed and, turning on his heel, strode off into the palace. The