The assassin was not a happy man. Trying to kill an experienced knight
like Frederigo D'Honaire
would be a risky business at the best of times. Trying to do so when he
spent most
of his time in the company of the formidable Princess Astra made it even
more
dangerous. And to try to do so when the man was staying as a guest in the
Queen's
Palace, which was protected by a troop of formidable guardswomen, seemed
to him almost to
amount to lunacy. No doubt Fred would be making some trips outside the
palace
from time to time,
but unless he had some way of predicting when these trips would be and
where Fred would be
visiting, getting close to him would be difficult.
The assassin sipped his drink moodily. He was in an inn just the other side of the main square from the palace. Across the table sat Zardoz, confident that the magical illusion he had cast on himself would prevent him from being recognised in the remote event of his encountering anyone who knew him. That illusion gave the assassin an idea. He didn't much like what he was about to suggest, but it was certainly preferable to getting himself killed. "My lord, could you cast an illusion on me so that I would appear as one of the guardswomen?" "A good idea, Dalt, but whilst an illusion spell will work well for amall things, such as disguising facial features, making a man appear to be a warrior woman - at least for more than a few minutes - is not possible. The amount of disguise required is too great." The assassin was not sure whether he should be sorry or relieved. But Zardoz went on: "However, you were on the right lines. Whilst an illusion spell wouldn't work, I am quite capable of casting a spell to transform you into an exact duplicate of one of the guards...
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12/23/2000 11:45:11 AM
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