Thraxas and the Ice Dragon - By Martin Scott Page 0,66

I missed Makri's fight?"

"You did."

"What happened?"

"She won, no thanks to you. You weren't there to lead her into the arena. She had to ask General Hemistos, something she'd much rather not have done. What were you thinking about, spending the day getting roaringly drunk when you were meant to be attending to Makri? You knew how important that fight was to her. She was fighting Parasas, who beat her before."

I spread my hands wide. "I didn't plan it, it just happened. I left the house early to do some investigating and I ran into the Baron. Girimos has a very healthy thirst."

"So you couldn't even control yourself for a few hours?"

While it's uncomfortable having the Head of the Sorcerers Guild so angry at me, I'm not about to give in without a fight. "You can't blame me," I inform her, quite forcibly. "There are extenuating circumstances. Look at what I've had to put up with since we got here. Nothing but you and Makri talking about your romantic problems. If it's not Kublinos doing something you don't like, it's Makri complaining about General Hemistos. Just a constant barrage of things I don't want to hear about. It's no surprise I needed a day off with a good drinking companion."

Lisutaris shakes her head. "Thraxas, I can understand your need to make an utter pig of yourself occasionally, but could you not have waited? It was bad to miss Makri's fight. She's absolutely furious. So am I. Have you forgotten you were meant to be helping me repel hostile sorcery?"

"Was there any hostile sorcery?"

"I don't think so. I didn't detect any. Makri had a hard time though, it was a tough fight. Parasas dealt her some painful blows before she beat him."

"I'll make it up to her."

"I wouldn't bet on it. And talking of betting, I had to place our bet with Big Bixo. Yes, Thraxas, thanks to you, I have now suffered the unmatched humiliation of walking into a bookmaker's shop and placing a wager, something no Head of the Sorcerers Guild has ever done before, not even Julia the Bad, and she did most things. Word of this has also spread all round Elath, further destroying my reputation. I'm now the Sorcerer who's addicted to gambling and employs Turai's biggest drunkard as my Adviser."

"Was I really arrested?"

"Yes. But they didn't take you to jail, because you were with the Baron. They just threw the two of you in the guardhouse and sent a messenger to me to pick you up."

I'm sure Lisutaris is exaggerating the whole thing. "If I was really as drunk as you claim, why am I feeling so healthy now?"

"Because I used a Sleep and Regenerate spell on you. Partly because I was worried you'd actually die from klee-poisoning, and partly to stop you singing obscene drinking songs."

Lisutaris fishes in her magic purse, and finally brings out my spell protection necklace. "Here, this belongs to you. I removed it before I used the spell." Lisutaris digs around some more in her purse while I fasten the charm around my neck.

"So what happened when you went to put the bet on?" I ask.

Lisutaris shudders at the memory. "There was some adverse comment. Not to my face, of course, but I could hear people whispering. When I reached the front of the queue, I wasn't even sure how to place the bet properly. It was all very embarrassing."

"What odds did you get?"

Lisutaris tells me that both fighters were listed at five to six. "Was that reasonable? Or was Bixo cheating me?"

"It's all right, it's about what I'd have expected."

"Good. I wagered 5,000. I might have put on more, but Bixo said that was the most he would take. Is that fair?"

I nod. "Bookmakers are like that. When you start winning they're suddenly not so keen to take your bets. They put a limit on."

Lisutaris's 5000 guran bet has won us 4,167, making 9,167. With the 2,875 she kept back, we now have 12,042 gurans.

"I've never been so successful at gambling before," says Lisutaris.

"At least something's going well. So now Makri's in the semi-final. When is it?"

"This afternoon," Lisutaris tells me. "And it's going to be difficult."

"Of course. Anyone who's made it this far will be a tough opponent."

"I don't just mean that. I've been wondering why Lasat hasn't been using more sorcery against Makri. I put some pressure on one of the junior Sorcerers here and he told me Lasat's been holding off, hoping Makri would lose in a