The Stranger's Magic: The Labyrinths of Echo: Book Three (32 page)

The girls were smiling. Their smiles were very shy, almost indiscernible, but all three of them were smiling. That was a success. Nay, it was my hour of triumph. I had been waiting all my life
for something of this kind. If anything, I was ready to die right then and there since I’d already put on the best show of my life.

“It’s good that you’re smiling,” I said to them. “It’s the shortest path to my heart, if that silly muscle is of any interest to you. Plus, you and I have
landed in a really awkward situation, so your reaction is most appropriate. Marriage is a funny thing, especially our marriage.”

“You don’t need us?” said one of the sisters, the one whose brightyellow looxi had made me laugh. “When Fairiba took us with him, he warned us that this might happen. He
told us that you were not like the former kings of the Lands of Fanghaxra, which our elders still remember. From the beginning, we were ready for anything.”

“Well, don’t lay it on too thick,” I said. “I’m sure I need you for something, ladies, since you’ve appeared in my life. Fate is no fool: she won’t
bring people together for no reason. I never needed a wife, not to mention three wives, that’s true. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to kick you out. I want you to stay here at
the Furry House and do whatever you want, as long as you’re having fun. The only thing I’m going to have to ask you to do is to forget all this nonsense about husband and wives.
Let’s just agree that you’re my guests. Wait. No. That’s not exactly right. Guests come and go, and you don’t have anywhere to go, nor do you have to. Echo is a wonderful
place. You’re lucky that fate brought you to the Capital of the Unified Kingdom. I’m still crazy about it, even though one might say I should’ve gotten used to it by now.
Let’s say you’re something like my nieces. Are you okay with this term?”

One of the sisters smiled and nodded. The other two stared at her in disbelief and then looked at me again.

“I’m sure we’ll soon be able to replace the word ‘nieces’ with the word ‘friends,’” I said. “But the process of turning someone you barely
know into someone you can call a friend is not something you have much control over. It just happens, so let’s not plan anything ahead.”

“If I understand you correctly, our lives should somehow change after this conversation. Right?” said the girl in the yellow looxi. She was the most serious of the three, despite her
frivolous taste in clothing.

“That’s right,” I said. “Your lives should change radically. First, I’d be happy if you stopped trembling in my presence. There’s no need for that. Listen to
Sir Kofa: you should talk to me in the same way he does. I know it’s going to be hard in the beginning, but you’ll get the hang of it sooner or later. Oh, and the most important thing
you should know: you’re totally free. You can leave the house and come back whenever you feel like it. You can invite whomever you want. And you should turn to me if you need help or a piece
of advice or some other silly thing, like money, but never to ask my permission. If I don’t like something, you’ll be the first to know. And if someone happens to step all over your
heart, as we say here in Echo, just know that your life is your life. I’m not going to stick my nose into it—unless you ask me to, of course.” I wiped off my forehead and gave Sir
Kofa a sorrowful look. “Do you think I sounded convincing?”

“Very much so. I never knew you were capable of giving such fiery speeches with such a straight face. You had me worried for a second there,” said Kofa.

“Well, I’m still worried,” said Melifaro. “Very worried, in fact.”

“Stuff it, mister,” I said.

“Oh, I’d love to,” said Melifaro, “but there’s nothing in this sinning tavern to stuff it with. Would you mind if I performed this barbarian ritual some other
time?”

“Permission granted,” I said. “I’m in a very good mood today.”

The sisters were still examining me. I thought they looked a little more relaxed now, however. I should’ve had this conversation a few dozen days sooner, I thought. I have a nasty habit of
putting off forever what I should’ve done a hundred years ago.

“Okay. Now let’s move on to the introductions,” I said to the sisters. “I’m going to try to tell you apart, if I can.”

“I’m Xeilax,” said the girl in the bright-yellow looxi. “This is Xelvi,” she said, pointing at the giggly sister who had liked my proposition to call them nieces.
Then she put her hand on the shoulder of the third sister and said, “And she’s Kenlex.”

Kenlex was the one dressed in a strict black-and-white outfit. She gave me a sudden heavy, piercing look, sending shivers down my spine. Up until that point, I’d thought she was the
harmless goodygoody, the meekest of the three. Then again, I’m such a poor judge of character.

“Okay, let’s hope I won’t mix you up next time. Now I really must go back to work. Kurush would peck out my eyes if I stayed another minute here, and he would be absolutely
right to do so.” I gulped the rest of my kamra and got up. “Good night, everyone.”

“Take care, buddy,” said Melifaro. “Don’t get into trouble, and if you do, take my favorite looxi off first.”

“Aw, I kind of already set my heart on rolling in the nearest puddle,” I said. “What am I supposed to do now? Change my plans because of your whining? Tough luck,
mister.”

I returned to the House by the Bridge in a superb mood. A good dinner combined with the satisfaction of my “conjugal visit” had affected me in a most invigorating manner. I brought
Kurush a dozen pastries. It was clear he’d never eat that many, but in this respect, he and I adhered to the same principle: the more the better.

It turned out I wasn’t terribly late. Kurush mumbled something about how it was typical for people to say they were going to step out for just a minute and then come back two hours later.
I thought I’d been gone for much longer. It didn’t matter anyway because nothing had happened while I’d been out. Which was typical: in this wonderful World, bad things prefer to
happen precisely when I’m in.

It didn’t seem as though bad things were going to happen today, however. For about an hour and a half, Kurush and I loafed around peacefully. I browsed through yesterday’s Royal
Voice, and the buriwok ate his pastry. Then I wiped the cream off his beak. Finally Kurush puffed up his feathers and fell asleep. Around midnight, one of the junior staff members of the
Headquarters poked his head into the office.

“A visitor for you, Sir Max,” he said.

“Let me guess: short, plump, and very brazen?” I thought it must have been Anday Pu, still shocked about the loss of his grandfather’s chest. I was sure that his imagination
was running wild, coming up with new hypothetical “treasures” that had once been unfairly neglected and were now suddenly gone from his life.

“On the contrary, Sir Max. The visitor is tall, thin, and very polite. He’s dressed like an Echoer, but he has a beard down to his waist and braided hair. He also has a Tasherian
accent.”

“Heh,” I said. “When I’m wrong, I can’t be more wrong. Well, if he really has a beard that long, show him in. I can’t miss a show like that.”

The courier nodded, embarrassed, and left. My jokes have the tendency to befuddle and confuse our junior staff, and I’m still trying to be more democratic with them.

A tall bearded man in a dark looxi stood in the doorway.

“Captain Giatta!” I said. “Of course! I should’ve guessed it was you.”

This captain from Tasher had been hanging out in Echo for almost two years, and frankly, it was my fault. I had once saved his life. It was almost an accident: back then I hadn’t known
what I was doing or why. Captain Giatta, however, took my actions very seriously, however: he had taken it into his head that he must pay me back with something worthy of my feat. As I had never
gotten around to coming up with a task for him, he’d had to stay in Echo. He still hoped that sooner or later I’d need his help. I had almost forgotten about his “eternal
debt” to me—too many things had happened since then. I’d been through numerous troubles, but they’d required the help of specialists in completely different fields.

“Am I interrupting something, Sir Max?” said Giatta.

“No, of course not. Has something happened?” I said.

“If you mean to ask whether something bad has happened, then no, nothing of that sort,” he said, sitting on the edge of the armchair. “I just came to say goodbye.”

“Good,” I said. “I told you I didn’t need anything from you. I’m sure you have been missed at home.”

“You’ve misinterpreted my words, Sir Max,” said the captain. “I still hope to pay you back for saving my life someday. I’m not going home. I’m just going on a
sea voyage.”

“That’s excellent,” I said. “Where are you going?”

“Frankly, I’m not quite sure myself. The captain of the karuna that hired me hasn’t yet told us where we’re going. He says, though, that the voyage shouldn’t take
more than a year. I came to tell you that no later than a year from now I will be at your service again at any time.”

“Hold that thought, Giatta,” I said. “I don’t get it. What captain? Who hired you? You’re a captain yourself. Plus, as far as I know, you have your own ship. The
entire staff of the Minor Secret Investigative Force went to admire your Old Maid when you arrived in Echo. Has anything happened to it?”

“No, the Old Maid is all right, praise be the heavens,” said the Tasherian. He looked perplexed. It seemed he’d just remembered his ship and was happy with his rediscovery.

“Okay, I’m confused,” I said. “I think we need a large pitcher of kamra to get to the bottom of this. Or would you like something stronger, Giatta?”

“I think I would,” he said.

“Something stronger it is then,” I said and sent a call to the Glutton Bunba. I had been going to do it anyway.

“Spit it out,” I said, when my desk was crowded with empty dishes. “Because I just don’t get it. Instead of going on your own ship, you’re hired by some other
captain who didn’t even bother to tell you where he was going. Is he an old friend?”

“No,” said the Tasherian, staring at the ceiling as though he were trying to read the answer there. “Until this morning, I had never heard of him.”

“Why then? Is the pay good?”

“Probably . . . I didn’t ask.” Captain Giatta looked like he had just woken up.

“Well, I’ll be,” I said, shaking my head. “Now I’m beginning to understand how you ended up working for that scoundrel merchant Agon. I’m sorry, Giatta, but
is this how you usually get hired?”

“No. You probably won’t believe me, but I’m actually a very cautious man,” he said. “I understand you must have a different impression, but when Mr. Agon offered to
hire me, I found out every possible detail of the journey and then spent a few days pondering it. I was actually going to decline because I thought he’d been holding something back. I think
that was why he put his blasted enchanted belt on me.”

“I’d love to believe that,” I said. “But your latest venture has surpassed all my notions of human carelessness. All my notions, mind you. Did your new acquaintance put
something on you, too?”

“No, no. Nothing of the sort. After the last time, I made a vow not to accept gifts from people I don’t know well. The odd part is that I wasn’t really looking for a job. I get
a good salary at the Customs Service: I transfer large shipments of confiscated goods to warehouses outside town. My Old Maid is excellent for this kind of job. It’s a spacious and fairly
lightweight banf. I even hired a few people to help me. You have to have other people helping you on a ship even for such short trips. I signed contracts with them until the end of this year. If I
leave my job now and go on that voyage, they’ll sue me. What was I thinking?”

Captain Giatta gulped down a glass of Jubatic Juice that I had ordered for him and drew a deep sigh. He looked like he had just woken up after an unhealthy midday nap in a poorly ventilated
room.

“I take it you’ve changed your mind about leaving now,” I said. “I’m very keen on getting into all sorts of risky ventures, but you’ve clearly outdone me
here.”

“Thank goodness I was smart enough to remember my debt and come here to say goodbye to you,” said the captain. He took a few more sips from his glass and shook his head. “What
was it? It’s like a spell. I saw that captain, listened to him telling me about this upcoming ‘great voyage,’ and got as excited as a kid. I completely lost track of everything. Now I realize I was prepared to go with him to the ends of the earth as a regular sailor if
he’d called me.”