Robert Charrette: Never trust an elf

The catboy gave him that look again. "You make a very ugly David." "David?"

"The shepherd boy with the sling who fought Goliath."

"But he slew da giant and became king when he grew up, didn't he?"

Arching an eyebrow, Neko said softly, as if to himself, "Crown the wise."

Now Neko was talking like the dragon, too. "Don't know dat I can be called any kind of wise."

"Wisdom itself." Neko chuckled. "I suppose it doesn't really matter. What kind of king could you be, anyway? The world has outgrown that sort of thing." What kind of king, indeed? By now Kham had figured that the dragon's proverb wasn't meant to be taken literally. He shrugged. "Magic came back." "So it did."

"Well, it's not like I gotta boss odder people around. Don't know dat I wanta. But I can leastways always rule myself. If I can't beat 'em, at least I'll never bow ta 'em. And sure as fragging hell is hot, I ain't gonna join 'em."

Kham looked down at the diminutive catboy. The Biblical David was a shrimp, too. "Ya gonna keep playing dere games, catboy? Or are ya brighter dan ya look?"