The Ring of Solomon

with violent passion. ‘You dare try bartering with me? Pass me the artefact, demon, or by my secret name I swear I shall plunge you screaming into the Dismal Flame 2 before the hour is out!’ He glared at me, eye popping, jaw jutting, thin white lines of moisture on his parted lips.
    ‘Very well,’ I said. ‘Be careful not to drop it.’
    I tossed it over from one circle to the other, and the magician stretched out his clawing hands. And whether it was his single eye that did it, so that he had trouble judging distance, or his trembling eagerness, his fingers fumbled on the serpent: it danced between them and fell back towards the circle’s edge. With a cry the old man snatched at it, clasped it against his wrinkled chest.
    This, his first unguarded movement, was almost his last. If so much as the tips of his fingers had crossed above the circle, he would have lost its protection and I would have been on him. But (by a whisker) they didn’t cross, and the pretty maiden, who for an instant had seemed just a little taller, whose teeth had perhaps grown just slightly longer and sharper than a moment previously, settled back in the centre of her circle with a disappointed look.
    The old man did not notice any of this. He had eyes only for his treasure. For a long time he turned it over in his hands, like a vile old cat playing with a mouse, cooing at the workmanship and practically dribbling with delight. After a while it was too revolting to bear. I cleared my throat.
    The magician looked up. ‘Well?’
    ‘You have what you asked for. Solomon will reward you richly for this. Let me go.’
    He chuckled. ‘Ah, Bartimaeus, but you clearly have such a gift for this line of work! I am not sure I care to let such a skilful thief go … You just stand there quietly. I must explore this most interesting device. I see small hinged studs upon the toes … I wonder what they do .’
    ‘What does it matter?’ I said. ‘You’re giving it to Solomon, aren’t you? Let him investigate.’
    My master’s scowl was expressive. I smiled to myself and looked out of the windows at the sky, where the dawn patrols were barely visible, circling at great heights, leaving faint pink trails of steam and sulphur in the air. Looked good, but it was all for show as much as anything, for who would seriously attack Jerusalem while Solomon had the Ring?
    I allowed the magician to inspect the serpent for a while; then, still looking out of the window, said: ‘Besides, he’d be terribly cross if one of his magicians withheld an object of such power. I really wish you’d let me go.’
    He squinted up at me. ‘You know what this is?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘But you know it has power.’
    ‘Even an imp could see that. Oh, but I forget – you’re only a human. You can’t see the aura it radiates on the seventh plane … But even so, who can truly tell? There were probably many such serpent statuettes made in Eridu. It’s probably not the one.’
    The old man licked his lips; his caution fought with curiosity, and lost. ‘Not the what?’
    ‘It’s none of my business, and none of yours. I’m just standing here quietly, as ordered.’
    My master spat out a curse. ‘I revoke that order! Speak!’
    ‘No!’ I cried, holding up my hands. ‘I know what you magicians are like, and I don’t want any part of it! Solomon on one side with that terrible Ring, and you on the other with … with …’ The maiden shivered, as if with sudden chill. ‘No, I’d be caught up in the middle, and that wouldn’t do me any good at all.’
    Blue fires leaped in the centre of the magician’s outstretched palm. ‘Not another second’s delay, Bartimaeus. Tell me what this object is, or I’ll pummel you with the Essence Fist.’
    ‘You’d hit a woman?’
    ‘Speak!’
    ‘Oh, very well, but it won’t do you any good. It bears a passing resemblance to the Great Serpent with which the old kings of Eridu conquered the cities of the plain. That treasure contained a mighty spirit which was compelled to do its master’s bidding.’
    ‘Its master being …’
    ‘Whoever held it, I suppose. The spirit was contacted by pressing a secret catch.’
    The magician considered me in silence for a time. At last he said: ‘I have never heard this story. You lie.’
    ‘Hey, of course I do. I’m a demon, aren’t I? Just forget all about it and give the thing to Solomon.’
    ‘No.’ The old man spoke with sudden decision. ‘Have it back.’
    ‘What?’ But it