Man From Mundania (46 page)

Man from Mundania
        
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Meanwhile Ivy got a clearer look at the girl behind Grey.

That wasn't Nada—that was a Maenad! What had hap-

pened?

Grey, true to his sometimes infuriating nature, ignored

the warning. He stared the Python right in the eye.

Ivy froze, appalled. So did everyone else, for their own

assorted reasons. So did Grey—and the Python. The two

were locked into that deadly gaze.

Then the Python moved. His head sank slowly to the

ground. His coils thrashed aimlessly.

Ivy felt her mouth hanging open. She looked around and

saw that the jaws of the proprietors were similarly slack.

Grey walked forward. "Are you all right. Ivy? We were

afraid maybe the Python—"

"You—you stared him down!" Ivy exclaimed.

"Of course he did, dummy!" the Maenad said. "He's

a Magician!"

"Well, not exactly that," Grey said, abashed.

Electra hurried up. "Where's Nada?"

There was a motion at Grey's breast pocket. A snake's

head poked out. Grey put up his hand, and the snake slid

up into it and around his arm. Then Nada manifested in

her human form, her feet landing neatly on the stone as

her arm was steadied. She was naked, of course, because

she was unable to transform her clothing when she changed

form. "But something very like it, I think," she said.

"Do you know, Ivy, he nulled their wine spring, then

restored it more potent than before?"

"He has a talent! He has a talent!" Electra exclaimed,

jumping up and down. "I knew it! I knew it!"

"What is this Maenad doing here?" Ivy demanded, fo-

cusing on the lesser matter because she wasn't quite pre-

pared to tackle the greater one.

"Well, this is, uh, Mae," Grey said. "She—I—we—"

"Oh?" Ivy inquired, looking more closely at the crea-

ture. Mae Maenad was just as nakedly wild and voluptu-

ous as before, surely quite intriguing for those who liked

that type.

"The Magician needed a guide," Mae explained. "So

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213

I showed him the off-trail the Python uses and sniffed your

scent thereon, so he could find you."

"It's a good trail for serpents," Nada put in. "But there

was an uprooted nettle bush there that really had it in for

serpents, and I had to return to his pocket. Then the nettle

couldn't touch me."

"But how did he tame you?" Electra asked. "Everyone

knows that Maenads can't be—"

"Well, I don't really like blood," Mae confessed,

abashed. "When he made our spring blood—"

"Now I have to reward Mae for her help," Grey said.

"But I'm not sure, uh, how."

Ivy realized that she had better figure out a suitable

reward soon, because she didn't trust whatever the Mae-

nad might think of. That Wild Woman was entirely too

well formed!

"What happened to our guardian?" a proprietor de-

manded.

"Nothing bad," Grey said. "I just, uh, nulled him so

he wouldn't hurt anyone. Here, I'll revive him for you."

He walked across to the Python and touched the huge head.

The thrashing stopped. The head lifted. The eyes

blinked. "Go about your business," Grey said. "We are

visitors here, not intruders. Here, I'll pull out that arrow

for you." He put his hand on the shaft.

"You can't dislodge that arrow," Centurion said. "It

has a magic point. Only a centaur can—"

He broke off as the arrow came loose. The point was

red with blood but intact.

The Python quivered as if recovering from a fundamen-

tal shock, then slithered away across the stone.

"I guess it did hurt," Grey said. "Here is your arrow

back, centaur."

"Thank you. Magician," the centaur said, looking

much the way the Python had. He accepted the arrow.

The old man approached. "What is your business here,

Magician? We have no prior knowledge of you."

"Well, I, uh, just came to rescue Princess Ivy and Elec-

tra. It was nice of you to take care of them."

"Nice?" Ivy and Electra demanded together.

"Princess?" the proprietor demanded at the same time.

"Uh, yes," Grey said innocently. "This is Princess Ivy

of Castle Roogna, and this is Princess Nada of the Naga.

Didn't you know?"

The old man looked somewhat out of sorts. "We did

not inquire," he said gruffly.

"Well, they'll be leaving now," Grey said. "Thank you

again."

"Wait—what about my oracle?" Centurion asked.

"We have interpreted the message," the old man said

quickly. "It is: 'no Centaur has less magic than you.' "

"Oh." The centaur nodded, quite satisfied. "Yes.

Quite. Thank you. I shall be on my way." He suited action

to word, in the fashion of his kind.

"But we need our Pythia!" another proprietor cried.

"If you take these two away. Magician, what will we do?"

Ivy stepped in. "Mae, how would you like to have the

Magician arrange for you a new situation with a hard stone

room, a dismal white gown, no raw meat at all to eat, and

regular sessions with fumes that really drive you wild?"

Mae's face seemed to catch fire. "What a wonderful

thing!"

Ivy turned to the old man. "Here is your next priestess,

proprietor. You know she's a virgin; these Wild Women

don't love men, they eat them. Put her on the tripod and

she'll babble an incomprehensible streak you can interpret

to your heart's delight.''

"But she's a Maenad!" he protested.

"But a tame one! The Magician tamed her." She turned

back to Mae. "He did, didn't he? You won't try to tear

people apart anymore?"

Mae was a Wild Woman but not stupid. "He tamed me!

He tamed me!" she exclaimed. "No more Miss Nasty

Nymph!"

"But the Maenads are incorrigible!" the old man said.

"That's why we have the Python! To hold them off!"

Nada stepped in, in the perceptive way she had. "This

one is different. She no longer fights with serpents or tears

men apart. See." She assumed her snake form, the large

version. Mae, understanding, reached down to pet the

Man from Mundania

214

snake's head, though she did look a bit nervous about it.

Then Nada resumed human form. "Now kiss the Magi-

cian without biting him," she said.

This really set the Wild Woman back. "Do I have to?"

"Does she have to?" Ivy echoed, disturbed for a dif-

ferent reason.

"Well, I suppose she might kiss the proprietor ..."

The old man stumbled back, terrified.

"Point made," Ivy agreed with resignation. "Kiss her,

Grey, but don't enjoy it too much."

Grey did not look quite as upset about the prospect as

she might have wished. He turned to face Mae, and she

stepped into his embrace. They clinched and kissed, hold-

ing it a good long time.

"See?" Nada said to the proprietors. "She is perfectly

tame—affectionate, even. One might even call her lov-

able."

"Let's not go that far," Ivy muttered.

The proprietors were daunted by this display. "Perhaps

she will do," the old man said.

"But let's stop that kiss before she gets un-innocent no-

tions," an old woman added.

Ivy agreed completely. To her relief, they finally com-

pleted the kiss.

Mae looked dazed, and the candle flames in her eyes

were flickering. "Maybe I have misjudged men," she said.

"They—"

"They aren't all like that!" Ivy said. "This one's a Ma-

gician, remember. Ordinary ones won't be worth your

while. You don't have to eat them, just ignore them."

"Yes, of course," Mae agreed. But she did not look

entirely convinced.

"Come with us," one of the old women said. "We

must clean you and garb you."

"Clean me?" Mae asked, alarmed.

"They just sponge you off," Ivy explained quickly. "It

doesn't hurt. They just want you to look pretty for the

Clients."

"Look pretty ..." Mae repeated, glancing sidelong at
 
i

Grey. "Yes, maybe that is best."
                       
I

Man from Mundania
       
215

"Let's get out of here!" Ivy said briskly.

Nada held her back. "One more thing." She turned to

the old man. ' 'Is there a path around the base of the moun-

tain we can use to return to our starting place?"

"Certainly; all the Clients use it. Right that way." He

pointed.

"Thank you," Nada said, flashing him a smile. She was

better at that than Ivy was.

Electra led the way, skipping toward the indicated path.

Ivy took very firm hold of Grey's hand and led him away

from the ruins. Nada followed, the suggestion of a smile

on her face. She reverted to naga form, as it really was

best for windy paths.

Grey had not spoken a word since the kiss. Ivy turned

on him the moment they were out of sight and earshot of