Man From Mundania (38 page)

and female. They were brought before the chief. The Tap-

estry did not make sound, so the words were lost, but it

looked as if the elves were a couple who had been trav-

eling together. They were young, and the man was hand-

some and the maid was pretty, and they stayed close

together. Lovers or newly married, going from one elf elm

to another, perhaps to visit kin. They would have run afoul

of the goblin trails and gotten trapped.

The goblins did the same thing they had done with Ivy

and Grey: they boated the girl to the isle and left her there,

then turned him loose at the edge. The man was in obvious

distress, as was the giri: should he try to cross to her or

leave her? The goblins were gloating, and their big cook

pot was boiling.

The elf decided to call the bluff. He waded into the

water^ crossed—and threw the giri into it. She charged out

and attacked him, while the goblins applauded.

They watched in horror as the two elves fought. There

was no doubt: they now hated each other. Soon the man

held the girl under until she drowned, then charged out of

the pool to attack the goblins. They hurled spears at him,

bringing him down, and dumped his body into the pot.

They used a line with a hook on it to catch her floating

174 Man from Mundania

body and haul it out, then dumped clean water over it to

clear the hate water, and dumped it into another boiling

pot.

The picture faded into a neutral plaid pattern. The six

young folk stared at each other, their eyes and mouths

round with horror. There seemed to be no doubt about it:

the spring was hate.

Grey worked his mouth. "I, uh, it didn't do that to us.

So maybe it worked on the elves because they believed it

would."

"In that case it would have worked on Ivy," Donkey

pointed out.

"No, it didn't work on me because I didn't believe in

it, and then she didn't believe in it."

But the others were uncertain. "I think it's real—and

you had magic to null it," Dolph said.

They discussed it, and found themselves in doubt and

divided. Had Grey used magic to null the hate spring, or

had something else depleted its power? They could not

decide.

In due course the parents were ready to give their ver-

dict. Grey and Ivy stood before them in the throne room,

and King Dor said what he had obviously been coached to

say:

"We can not sanction a marriage between a Princess of

Xanth who is a Sorceress, and a common man who has

no magic. We do not seek to dictate our daughter's choice

of a man to marry, and have no personal objection to the

one she has chosen, who strikes us as a fine young man.

But in the interest of Xanth we must insist that she marry

either a Prince or a man with a significant magic talent.

We therefore deliver this ultimatum: demonstrate that this

man. Grey of Mundania, is either a recognized Prince or

has a magic talent. Until one of these conditions is met,

this marriage will not have our sanction."

Ivy looked at her father, then at Grey. She could neither

defy her parents nor give up her love. She stood there, and

her throat was too choked for her to speak, and the tears

overflowed her eyes and coursed down her cheeks.

Man from Mundania
       
175

Grey spoke. "I have come to understand a little about

your magic land," he said. Ivy knew with a sick certainty

that he was going to do the decent thing. "I think I could

leam to love it, as I love your daughter. I accept your

ultimatum as fair. Ivy is not a woman, she is a Princess,

and she must do what is best for Xanth. I am neither a

Prince nor a Sorcerer, and can never be either. Therefore

I—"

"Wait!" Dolph cried from behind.

Queen Irene's eyes snapped to him. "This is not your

decision," she said tightly. "You have your own decision

to make."

"But it is my business!" Dolph said rebelliously. "Be-

cause Ivy's my sister and I love her and I think you're

wrong about Grey! I think he has magic, I don't care where

he's from. I want to find that magic!"

Irene glanced at Dor, who shrugged. "Allow me to

point out, son," she said with a certain parental emphasis

that bode ill for his future freedom, "that there is no time

limit on this ultimatum. Grey has as long as he needs to

find magic; it is merely that he may not have our approval

to marry Ivy until he does, any more than you may marry

before you clarify your own situation."

"Yes! So Grey should not break the Betrothal until we

get this straight! I think he has a talent, and I know how

he can find it!"

"If you are referring to the episode of the hate spring,"

Irene said evenly, "the evidence is inconclusive. We have

no way of judging the potency of that spring at the time

they were there. It may have variable potency, depending

on the season or other factors."

"No! I mean he has to have magic, because of the

Heaven Cent!"

Now everyone was interested, even Ivy herself. What

wild notion had her little brother come up with this time?

"The Heaven Cent appears to have been fouled by Mur-

phy's curse," Irene said. "We have noted the alignment

of the names; it is indeed the kind of thing that can happen

when magic goes wrong. The cent will have to be re-

176 Man from Mundania

charged before the search for the Good Magician is re-

sumed."

"I don't think it fouled up," Dolph said. "I think the

cent worked. It sent Ivy to the place she was most needed:

Mundania, where Grey needed her. We thought the Good

Magician needed her most, because of his message to me,

but maybe that wasn't so. Or maybe Grey is supposed to

help find the Good Magician. So he must have the magic

we need to do that!"

Ivy gazed at him, astonished. Dolph's crazy notion

might just be right! She saw that the others were just as

surprised.

"So we should take him to Parnassus to ask the Muse

of History what talent is listed for him," Dolph concluded

triumphantly.

Again Irene exchanged a glance with Dor. Again he

shrugged.

"Grey may go to Parnassus to inquire," Irene said after

a moment. "Certainly we bear him no malice, and stand

ready to facilitate any effort he wishes to make on his

behalf. We shall arrange suitable transportation for him.

But you. Prince Dolph, will remain here. You have not

yet resolved your own dilemma."

"Awwww—"

Irene's hair seemed to turn a darker shade of green.

"Ooo, you've done it now, you impertinent boy!" one of

the thrones said. "You'll never—" Irene's kick cut it off.

But Ivy was looking at Grey for the first time with gen-

uine hope. She would go with him, of course. Maybe the

Muse really did have a talent listed for him! After all, if

the Heaven Cent had not fouled up and this was part of

the good Magician's plan, Grey might indeed . . .

She was not even aware of the termination of the audi-

ence. She was too busy hugging Grey, wild with hope.

Chapter 10. Parnassus

'rey was torn. He loved Ivy and wanted to

stay in this magic land, but knew he didn't qualify. The

decent thing to do was to call it off with Ivy and return to

drear Mudania and the horror of Freshman English. He

knew he didn't have any magic. But now, with Ivy holding

him and Dolph so excited about proving he did have magic,

he found it all too easy to go along. At least it would mean

some more time with her.

What was this Parnassus? There had been some kind of

assignment relating to that in school, but he had just

skimmed over it without comprehension, as usual. Some-

thing Greek, a mountain in Greece, where people went to

see the oracle. That was all he could dredge up.

Ivy set about organizing it. Dolph could not go, but his

two fiancees would: the cute child Electra and the lovely

Nada. That promised to be an interesting trip: Grey and

the three girls.

Next day they started off. It was a good thing he now

believed in magic, because he would have been in trouble

otherwise. Ivy had somehow called in two winged cen-

taurs and a horse with the head and wings of a giant bird,

and these were to be their steeds for the trip.

"But there are four of us," Grey said. "I don't think

it's smart to ride double—not if we're flying."

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Man from Mundania

Man from Mundania

179

"We won't ride double, exactly," Ivy said. "Nada will

be with me."

"But Nada weighs as much as you do!" he protested.

Indeed, Nada weighed more, and in all the right places.

Ivy just smiled. "Let me introduce you," she said,

leading the way to the new arrivals.

The first was the handsome centaur male, like a mus-

cular man from the waist up, and like a horse below and

behind, with huge wings. This was Cheiron. The second

was Cheiron's mate, Chex, whose long brown hair merged

into her mane, and at whose ample bare breasts Grey tried

not to stare. The third was Xap, a golden yellow hippo-

gryph, Chex's sire, who spoke only in squawks that the

others seemed to understand.

Grey was to ride Cheiron. Ivy rode Xap, and Electra

rode Chex. Nada approached with Ivy—and abruptly be-

came a small snake. Ivy put the snake in a pocket and

mounted. So that was the secret! He had forgotten that

Nada was a naga, a human-serpent crossbreed, able to