Authors: Piers Anthony
Tags: #Fiction, #Fantasy, #General, #Princesses, #Magic, #Epic, #Fantasy fiction; American, #Xanth (Imaginary place)
Man from Mundania
magic was false. Until that question was answered, they
could not rest easy.
Nada assumed her snake form, and they mounted their
steeds and flew back to Castle Roogna. But Ivy knew that
despite their seeming victory, it was not yet appropriate to
marry Grey. Magicians did not appear from nowhere^ and
certainly not from Mundania. She knew that her parents
would insist on learning the truth, and she knew they would
be right. Her quest with Grey was far from over; it had
only changed its nature. It was as if they had climbed to
what they thought was the top of Mount Parnassus, only
to discover that it was only a ledge, and that the real peak
remained as far above as ever.
Chapter 12 • Pewter's
Ploy
JJD
• lease. Grey, I really didn't want to admit
my ignorance there at the castle," Rapunzel said in his
ear. "I mean, I understand why you and Ivy need com-
pany on this trip, because betrothed couples aren't sup-
posed to go too far alone together, and Nada and Electra
didn't care to tangle with Com-Pewter again. But why are
you going to see the evil machine?"
Grey had not yet gotten used to having a tiny and beau-
tiful woman perched on his shoulder and holding onto his
earlobe with one doll-like hand. The parents had decreed
that he and Ivy had to be chaperoned until they got mar-
ried, which seemed to be their way of agreeing that the
doubt about that marriage was gone. Ivy had met their
ultimatum and proved Grey had a magic talent, with a
vengeance. In fact he was now eligible to be king some
day! But the parents shared Ivy's own concern about the
origin of that talent. Mysteries abounded in Xanth and
things that made no sense, but a mystery relating to the
betrothed of a princess was a serious matter. So little Ra-
punzel and her similarly little husband, Grundy Golem,
were the chaperones this time; size hardly mattered in this
land of magic. Grundy was riding Ivy's shoulder as she
walked on the path ahead, and evidently regaling her with
remarks, because every so often she giggled.
"Well, uh, it seems that this Com-Pewter is similar to
222 Man from Mundania
a machine I had in Mundania," he said. "Actually, what
I had was a computer, and all I used it for was word
processing—that's the Mundane term for writing papers. I
would type on this keyboard—that's, uh, do you know what
a typewriter is? Um, well, then, it's like a magic pen that
sort of writes the words for you; all you have to do is touch
the right keys, and it sort of saves the words and then
prints, uh, writes them all in one big swoop at the end."
"Mundania must be a very strange place," Rapunzel
observed, kicking her feet. She had petite feet and very
nice legs; he could just about see them from the comer of
his eye. He understood that she had elven ancestry, so
could assume the size of elves—or any other size, from
tiny to huge—without changing her form at all.
"Very strange," he agreed. "Anyway, I got a new pro-
gram for this computer—a program is sort of a set of in-
structions that tells it what to do, and—"
"Oh, the way Queen Irene tells Ivy what to do?"
"Uh, not exactly, but maybe close enough. This new
program changed it a lot. It started talking to me on its
screen, and uh, well, I guess granting wishes."
"That doesn't sound like Com-Pewter!" she exclaimed,
tossing her hair. That was quite a trick, because her hair
was as long as forever; in fact she had tied a hank of it to
his pocket button as an anchor in case she should fall. The
rest of it flowed out about her like a silken cloak. It was
dark at her head, but faded to almost white at the end of
the tresses, luxuriant all the way. Her eyes shifted colors
similarly, depending on the shadow. "It doesn't grant
wishes, it changes reality to suit itself."
"This, uh, program may have done the same thing. It—
well, I wanted a nice girlfriend. I really, well, I was pretty
lonely, there by myself in my room all the time, not much
good at anything, and—"
Rapunzel stroked his ear with a duster formed from
braided hair. "I understand perfectly. I was locked up in
a tower for ages. If it hadn't been for my correspondence
with Ivy, I don't know what I would have done."
"Yes, I guess you do understand! So the program, well,
it claimed to have brought Ivy—"
Man from Mundania
223
"But she was sent by the Heaven Cent!"
"Yes. To where she was most needed—and I sure
needed her! So I guess the computer was just taking credit
for that when it wasn't so. But it must have known she
was coming. And it did help; it made it possible for us to
talk together. It was, well, like magic. Ivy recognized it
as Com-Pewter. So when it turned out I had magic, she
remembered that, and figured Com-Pewter must know
something, so we're going to find out what it knows."
"But—but how could Com-Pewter be in Mundania?"
she asked, cutely perplexed. He couldn't see her face, but
the cuteness was caressing his ear like a warm earmuff on
a chill day. Grundy was a lucky golem!
"That is another mystery," Grey admitted. "I thought
it was a scientific program that accounted for the change
in my computer, but now I recognize it as magic. So we
have two problems: how can a Mundane have magic, and
how can there be magic in Mundania? They may be linked,
and surely Com-Pewter knows the answer to at least one
of them.''
"Thank you," she said. "Now I understand. Of course
you must ask the evil machine. But I hope it doesn't get
the better of you."
"Well, I do have, uh, magic, now, and if I can null
other magic, maybe I can null Com-Pewter. So we
shouldn't have much to fear."
"But if the machine knows about you and helped put
you in touch with Ivy, it may know how to handle you."
"Um, yes. I'd better warn Ivy before we go into its
cave." But Grey was not unduly worried because he knew
that computers could not take any physical action. How
could it stop him from just walking out, when its magic
couldn't work on him when he didn't want it to?
He walked faster, catching up to Ivy. "Hey, Rapunzel
thought of something," he said.
" 'Punzel's got a lot of thoughts in her little head,"
Grundy agreed. "But her hair stops most of them from
getting out, fortunately."
"Unlike Grundy's big mouth," Rapunzel retorted,
"which lets everything out, ready or not."
224
Man from Mundania
Man from Mundania
225
Grundy put his thumbs up beside his ears, waggling his
fingers at her. She responded by sticking out her tongue
at him. Again, Grey felt the gesture though he couldn't
see it. This seemed to be just another incidental aspect of
the magic of Xanth.
'Hey, I thought you two liked each other!" Grey said.
'No we don't," Grundy said, glowering.
'That's true," Rapunzel agreed with her teeth clenched.
'But—"
'We love each other!" they exclaimed together, and
broke out laughing.
Ivy laughed too. "I guess you walked into that one,
Grey," she said.
"I guess I did," he agreed ruefully.
"They do that to anyone who hasn't known them be-
fore," Ivy continued. "Before they got together, Grundy
had a loud mouth and little thought, while 'Punzel had
vice versa. Now he thinks more and she talks more, and
they overlap quite a bit.''
"Oh, you told!" Grundy exclaimed, while Rapunzel
blushed. "And you said / had a big mouth!"
Ivy looked flustered. "What I meant by 'overlap'
was—"
Rapunzel could no longer stifle her giggle. "Gotcha!"
Grundy said.
Grey stifled a grin. So it wasn't just newcomers who got
teased! "But about what Rapunzel thought of—if Com-
Pewter knows about me, should we just walk into his
lair?"
Ivy considered. "I think Pewter wants us to come to
him. I have the feeling that we shall have to do some
dealing to get our information. So we have to go in. It
isn't as if my folks don't know where I am, this time."
Grey realized that the King of Xanth could probably
make a lot of trouble for the machine, if sufficiently an-
noyed. The machine surely knew that. Maybe that was
enough of a backup.
"But if push comes to shove," she continued, "we can
coordinate on some plan to overcome the evil machine."
"But he will overhear whatever we plan!"
She brought up her right hand, putting her two larger
fingers together with her thumb in the sign for no.
Now he understood! Grey nodded, not making a big
thing of it because he realized that someone might be
magically watching or listening. They did have a secret
language, thanks to that episode in Mundania! He re-
hearsed the signs in his mind, hoping he remembered
enough to be intelligible.
They resumed their walk. ' 'Was that a magic gesture?''
Rapunzel inquired softly in his ear.
"Not exactly," he murmured. "But if you see us mov-
ing our hands when we're with Com-Pewter, pay no atten-
tion so the machine doesn't catch on."
"Very well," she agreed, perplexed.
The path was devious, but in due course they arrived at
the cave of the dread machine. It seemed to be guarded
by an invisible giant, but they were not affrighted. They
knew that the giant was there only to stampede travelers