Man From Mundania (34 page)

head from which the steam puffed regularly, and a long

supple torso—and there, riding the top of one arcing coil,

was Ivy!

The dragon slowed as it came up. Ivy dismounted and

ran across to Grey. "You made it!" she cried as she tack-

led him in a breath-knocking hug. "I was so worried!"

"Uh, nothing to it," Grey said. "I mean, after you

enhanced those pies for me, and enhanced me too, so I

could handle all those goblins—"

She looked at him, her face shining. "You mean you

believe?''

"I guess I do, now. I mean, after what I've seen—"

She kissed him passionately. "Oh, wonderful!" she

exclaimed between kisses. "Now it's perfect!"

Then she introduced him to the dragon: "This is Stan-

ley Steamer, the Gap Dragon," she said, hugging the dra-

gon's horrendous head. The steam stopped for a moment;

the dragon was evidently holding his breath so as not to

bum her. "And Stanley, this is Grey Murphy, my be-

trothed." The dragon acknowledged with a twin jet of

steam through his nostrils; it seemed that any friend of

Ivy's was a friend of his. This was just as well, because

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he had a huge mouthful of teeth, and great claws on every

one of his six feet. This was certainly no creature to run

afoul of!

Then they settled down for the night, because the dark-

ness was closing. The top of the chasm walls remained

bright, but the shadow started below. The dragon curled

around them, and the three piled pillows Ivy found and

lay in the center. It was very nice.

"Yes, the river does flow uphill, here," Ivy explained

in the morning. "It's the only way it can get out of the

Gap. There's another, larger river further east that goes

the opposite way. We could ride one of them up, but that

really isn't safe. So we'll just have to take the tedious

footpath up, near the invisible bridge."

"Invisible bridge?"

She smiled. "I'll show it to you, when we get there! In

fact, we'll cross the Gap on it, because the path up is

really better on the north side. Then we'll be on the en-

chanted path, and on our way to Castle Roogna." But then

she sobered abruptly, looking pensive.

"Is something wrong?" Grey asked.

"Nothing that hasn't been wrong from the outset," she

said enigmatically. "Don't concern yourself about it."

Then she smiled and kissed him, and his attempted con-

cern was dissipated before he could express it.

It did not take long to get to their Gap exit, for Grey

rode Donkey and Ivy rode the dragon. "See—here it is!"

Ivy said, pointing upward. "The bridge!"

Grey looked. There was nothing there. But of course it

was supposed 'to be invisible, so that made sense—he

hoped.

They dismounted. Ivy hugged the dragon farewell. It

was evident that there was a deep and abiding friendship

between this damsel and this dragon. Grey almost felt jeal-

ous of it. He had come so recently on the scene, while

they had been friends, Ivy said, since she was three: four-

teen years!

Then they climbed the path up the side. It was a better

path than the other, and it was possible for them to walk

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side by side in sections of it. Still, it was a long, wearing

climb. This must be a lot like the Grand Canyon!

"Tired?" Ivy asked, and he had to admit he was.

"Not anymore," she said, squeezing his arm. And, in-

deed, he felt new strength. Her Enhancement really did

work! It was easy to appreciate it, now that he believed.

They reached the top, and Ivy led the way to the bridge.

Suddenly she stepped into the air above the chasm. Grey

cried out in alarm, then saw she was standing, not falling.

There really was a bridge there.

Grey and Donkey followed her. The bridge had hand-

rails and was quite secure. When he shut his eyes. Grey

was quite satisfied with its solidity. Only when he opened

his eyes and looked down, down, way far down, did he

get dizzy. So he focused on Ivy, no uncomfortable task,

and walked on across without looking down again.

At the far side Ivy turned back to wave to Stanley, far

below. The dragon responded with a great puff of steam.

Then it was time to follow the magic path to Castle

Roogna.

Chapter 9. Ultimatum

I hey walked along the familiar enchanted path.

Within a day they would reach Castle Roogna, especially

if she Enhanced Donkey again so he could carry them

swiftly. But Ivy intended to spend one more night on the

road, because she was afraid of what would happen when

they arrived.

She saw that Grey and Donkey were tiring, and that was

natural. She had Enhanced them before so that Donkey

could carry them rapidly and Grey could fight off the gob-

lins, but that had to be followed by a period of rest, and

they hadn't had enough.

"There's a nice coven-tree near here," she said brightly.

"Let's camp for the night."

The two were happy to agree. Perhaps they had their

own doubts about the encounter at Castle Roogna.

The coven-tree was off the enchanted path, but was it-

self enchanted to be safe for travelers, and it served as a

way station. Indeed, it served as a place of exile for those

out of favor with Queen Irene; they had to remain there

until she suffered a change of heart, which might not occur

swiftly. Ivy had spent more than one night here when she

pushed her luck too far, and Dolph had often been sent

here for trying to peek into Nada's room at night. He would

change into something small, like a spider, and try to crawl

through a crack, hoping to catch her in Panties. The truth

157

158 Man from Mundania

was that he had seen her without her clothing often enough

before she ever came to Castle Roogna, but now she was

a Guest of the Estate, and he was Underage, so the sight

of her panties was forbidden. Ivy thought the whole busi-

ness was funny, but her mother took it more seriously.

The tree was enormous, with a huge spreading top that

was watertight, and large curling branches that made ex-

cellent supports for pillows. The temperature within its

environment was fairly constant; it cooled some at night

and warmed some by day, but not as much as the outside

forest did. There were numerous fruit and nut trees nearby,

and edible plants such as sugar beets and honey suckles.

It was an excellent place to camp, when a person wasn't

sent here as punishment.

They foraged for supper, then harvested some pillows

and went to niches in the separate branches. No branch

was large enough for two people to use together, unfor-

tunately, but they were very comfortable for single occu-

pancies. By unvoiced common consent they did not talk

about the morrow; it would come too soon.

So it was, on that soon morrow, they arrived in ner-

vously good order at Castle Roogna. Grey and Donkey

were rested and clean, and Ivy had brushed out her hair

with a bottlebrush from a bush as well as she could. Now

what was to happen would happen.

They were expected, of course. Ivy knew that her little

brother would have been tracking her via the Tapestry,

once she entered Xanth proper. It might have taken him a

while to locate her, because she had been out of Xanth for

so long, and he would not have known exactly where to

look, but probably within a day or so he had found her.

Had they not succeeded in getting clear of the goblins on

their own, help would have come.

Why hadn't her parents sent out a party to fetch her in

sooner? Ivy knew why: because they had seen her with

Grey and wanted to study the situation. She had been aware

that someone was probably watching when she teased Grey

and kissed him so ardently; she wanted them to have no

doubt about the nature of her relationship with Grey.

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This was in fact her first truly major act of defiance of

her parents: taking up with a Mundane. It was bound to

send shock waves of scandal reverberating throughout

Castle Roogna and the length and breadth of Xanth. Of

all the mischief she might have gotten into, this was just

about the most treacherous. The Princess and the Mun-

dane! This was going to be no fun session coming up!

Dolph came out to meet them at the bridge over the

moat. He was excruciatingly neatly dressed, and his hair

was freshly combed: a thing seldom seen. "I am glad to

discover you safe. Ivy," he said formally.

"Thank you, Dolph," she said as formally. She turned

to her companions. "This is Donkey Centaur, who helped

me escape a problem with goblins. And this is Grey, my

Betrothed."

"I am so happy to meet you both," Dolph said, ex-

tending his hand to each in turn. Then he leaned close to

Ivy. "Whew! You really did it this time, dummy!" he said

confidentially. "Mom's fuming! If you thought I was in

hot water when I came home with Nada and Electra, wait

till you feel yours!"

"Tough tickle, squirt," she replied in the same low

tone. "You better back me up, if you know what's good

for you!"

He pretended to consider. ' 'Weeeell ..."

"I'll tell Mom about that time you—"

"I know what's good for me!" he agreed hastily.

Then they both laughed. Ivy knew that her little brother

was thrilled to see her with boy-trouble, after his three

years of girl-trouble. There was never any doubt about his

support.

Then Nada and Electra came out, as befitted juvenile

protocol. Both were nicely dressed and mannered, for this

occasion. This was normal for Nada, but not for Electra.