"I just did what I could," I shrugged. "I just wish I hadn't been so clumsy about it all."

"Actually," Hugh said, "I was referring to the last several years in their entirety. Still, I see the subject is making you uncomfortable, so I'll let it drop. Friends should not make each other uncomfortable on occasions such as these."

"As a matter of fact, I'm more comfortable than I can recall ever being before," I said. "But the thought is appreciated, anyway."

"There you are! C'mere, Hot Stuff!"

Massha had come surging out of the crowd to sweep me into a gargantuan hug.

"Oh, Skeeve," she whispered, her voice much softer than her usual boisterous self. "Thank you so much. For everything. I've never been so ... oh, here I go again."

She hid her face on my shoulder as tears started to leak from her eyes.

Hugh looked at me over her shoulder and winked.

"Come, my dear," he said gently, putting a hand on her back. "We mustn't neglect our guests. They're expecting us to lead off the dancing."

"That's right," she said, straightening and dabbing at her eyes. "Don't go away, Skeeve. We want to share a drink with you before all this breaks up."

I watched as they made their way back into the crowd, and realized I was smiling.

They were both so happy they glowed. They had settled on what they wanted to do and then gone ahead and done it. No apologies, no trying to work it around other people's opinions.

Well, the truth of the matter was that I was happy now, too.

Aahz's suggestion had been right on the money. My vacation had given me the time I needed to straighten out my head and review my options. After all these years, I knew what I wanted to do.

Now it was just a matter of letting the team know at the M.Y.T.H. Inc. staff meeting tomorrow.

"So, when are the fireworks going to start?" a harsh voice demanded, interrupting my reverie.

I looked up to find a rather hefty young lady confronting me, hands on her hips and scowling.

"Fireworks?" I said. "I don't think anyone is going to get into a fight here ... unless you count that melee for the flowers a few minutes ago."

"No, I mean sky-rockets and stuff," she said. "Gandalf was famous for his fireworks displays any time he attended a party."

"I don't believe I've met the gentleman," I said. "As far as sky-rockets go, however, I don't believe there are any planned."

"I guess Robb was right," she said, pursing her lips. "You really aren't much of a magician, are you?"

This lady was starting to annoy me, but, keeping with the spirit of the occasion, I tried to be polite.

"Robb?" I said, ignoring her comment about my abilities. "The gentleman from Sherwood Arms?"

"That's right," she said. "We got to talking with him at the Tiki Lounge, and he insisted that we didn't have to worry about you as a force of evil, much less do anything about you."

"That's reassuring," I said drily.

"That being the case, I guess I should give this back to you."

Fumbling with her belt pouch, she fished out a small, cloth-wrapped bundle and thrust it at me.

"What is it?" I said, deliberately not reaching for it.

"It's the ring that sort of disappeared from your room," she said with a shrug. "Finger and all. It's just a little purple from us dropping it in Volcanos."

For a change, I knew exactly what to do ... and what not to do. What I didn't do was ask for a clarification or accept the ring.

"Actually," I said carefully, "it's not mine. It really belongs to the Queen."

"The Queen?"

"Yes. Queen Hemlock. That's her right over there," I said, pointing. "I think it would be better if you returned it to her personally. I'm sure she'll want to reward you properly."

"If you say so," she said. "Thanks for the tip."

With that, she turned on her heel and went marching off to confront the Queen.

I ran a hand across my face, hiding my smile. Yes indeed. This party was just getting better and better.

Just then, I noticed that Don Bruce was standing nearby by himself. Catching his eye, I left my wall to join him.

There were a couple of things I wanted to go over with him before tomorrow's meeting.

TWENTY

"I suppose you're all wondering why I asked you here."

D.MACARTHUR

Everyone was in attendance when I walked into the meeting.

Aahz was at his familiar perch in the window. Guido and Nunzio were holding down one end of the table, and Chumley and Tananda were seated next to them. Bunny was sitting a few chairs away, slightly apart from the rest of the group, her pad out and ready to take notes. The only one missing was Massha, but, under the circumstances, that was understandable. Besides, she had already told us she was resigning from M.Y.T.H. Inc., and this was a planning session for the future.

Prior to, and just after the wedding, I had had a chance to speak with a few of the team, but not all of them and not in detail. As such, there was an air of expectancy in the room. Everyone knew something was up, but nobody was sure exactly what.

I took the seat at the head of the table, and for a few moments just scanned the room, looking each of them in the eye one at a time.

"Any way you look at it," I said, finally, "it's been quite an assignment."

There were smiles and grimaces at that.

"What's more, it wasn't even a paid job. Oh, we eventually showed a healthy profit," I nodded pointedly at Aahz, "but, if you'll recall, it started out as a freebie. Specifically, I was worried about what Queen Hemlock was doing here in Possiltum but felt I had to travel to Perv to square things away with Aahz. Consequently, I asked the team to pinch hit for me. Again, not a job. Just a favor for me.

"Those investigations ending up being an assortment of exercises, placing everyone under stress and, in some cases, physical danger. Still, by the time we arrived here, things were pretty much in hand.

"When we got back, however, we discovered what Queen Hemlock really had in mind. Again, the whole thing with her proposal of marriage, as well as trying to straighten out the kingdom's finances, was essentially my problem. Still, the team pitched in, helping me out on all levels—including some I didn't know about at the time— and, as per usual, we fought and conned our way though it all."

There were some smiles swapped back and forth, but I noticed there were also those who were watching me carefully.

"On another level, however," I said, "this assignment has raised some questions in my mind. One of them, in particular, has been distracting me through this whole thing. It's affected my judgment and performance, and placed the rest of you in the position of having to work around me... or, in some instances, behind my back. That question is: What do I want?"

I glanced over at Aahz and inclined my head slightly. "As my partner and mentor told me, that isn't a question anyone else can answer for me. It's something I had to work out for myself. So, during our break before Mas-sha's wedding, I spent some time by myself addressing that specific question. It took a lot of thought, but I have finally come up with an answer."

I took a deep breath and thought for a moment. Now that I had arrived at my reason for calling the meeting, I found myself strangely reluctant to verbalize it.

"When I first took up with Aahz," I said, "my old ma-gik teacher had been killed and we had a couple assassins on our trail. Practicing magik then was mostly a matter of survival.

"When that was done, Aahz kept up my lessons, but it still seemed to be one situation after another. If it wasn't a matter of helping out one of our friends, then it was following our endless quest for financial stability.