Faun and Games (41 page)

of obscurity was protecting them.
 
Forrest stepped across. There was no

sensation.
 
It was just a marking, not an actual barrier.

Forrest breathed a sigh of relief.
 
"I think we'll have to cross several

more lines, but it seems to be safe."

Imbri nodded, and they continued toward the castle.
 
They did cross

other lines, each a different color, without trouble.
 
He wasn't sure

whether this was because of the obscurity spell, or the enchanted path,

or because the lines weren't actually dangerous.
 
He didn't like the

idea of wasting magic, but he didn't like unnecessary risk either. Until

they understood exactly what was happening here, they had to be careful.

The path led through the great orchard, where pie trees and shoe trees

and many other types were cultivated.
 
It passed a cemetery with a sign

saying BEWARE OF ZOMBIES.
 
It led up to a deep moat where an old moat

monster eyed them warily.
 
In short, things were completely ordinary,

near the castle.
 
Even the monster was familiar: "Hello, souffle!" Imbri

called.

"But this monster is too old to be that one," Forrest said.

"You forget we have come far west, into the To," she reminded him. "Folk

are older here.
 
" She went up to pat the monster on the nose.

But Souffld shied away, not recognizing her.

"You're in the wrong form," Forrest murmured.

"Oh, yes." She faced the monster.
 
"In my natural form I look like

this." She fuzzed out and assumed her mare form.
 
It wasn't dense, but

it was clear enough to see.

Souffld's eyes brightened.
 
Now he recognized the day mare.
 
He lowered

his head as she returned to girl form, and this time suffered himself to

be patted on the nose.
 
"I have only enough mass to be this form," she

explained.
 
"Besides, I'm traveling with Forrest Faun, so it's easier to

be two footed.
 
But I'm still Mare Imbri."

They crossed the moat and came to the castle entrance.
 
A woman came to

meet them at the gate.
 
Something was orbiting her head. "Princess Ida"'

Imbri cried.

"Do we know each other?" the princess inquired politely.

"I'm Mare Imbrium, in human form because that's all the mass I have.

This is Forrest Faun.
 
We met a few days ago, in Xanth."

Forrest nodded as he was introduced.
 
But he wondered, because this

woman was older than the one they had met before.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember.
 
About what age was I then?"

"Twenty eight, I think-the same as Princess Ivy."

"That explains it, then; that is in our blanked year.
 
Until that

passes, we won't know what happened therein."

"Blanked year?" Forrest asked.

"Remember Ogle Ogre," Imbri murmured.

Now he understood.
 
The year surrounding their "present" existence in

Xanth.

"What year is it now?" Imbri asked.

"We are forty now.
 
Twelve years after that."

That explained why she looked older.
 
But there was also something odd

about her moon.
 
"When we met you, your moon was round," Forrest said.

Princess Ida smiled.
 
"Of course.
 
My present existence here is a

derivative of that reality, so my moon differs." She angled her head so

that the moon swung into full view.
 
"This is Pyramid."

Now he saw that the moon was not round, but triangular.
 
Or at least had

a triangular outline.
 
It seemed to have four sides, each triangular. It

rotated around three, while the fourth faced down, becoming the base of

the figure.

Forrest found this a bit hard to assimilate.
 
"Is-is it also a world in

its own right?
 
The way Ptero is?"

"Of course.
 
Though we don't know what is on it.
 
No one has been there.

But we suspect that the ideas that never were are there."

"That makes sense," Forrest agreed.

"And what brings you folk of Xanth to our realm?" Ida inquired politely.

"We seldom if ever have visitors from there."

"Forrest has a quest to find a faun for a neighboring tree," Imbri

explained.

"Oh, you will have to go farther To for that; the faun territory is

there.

"But meanwhile I'm on a mission for the Good Magician," Forrest said. "I

have to advise Princesses Dawn & Eve, to help them save the human

territory from marginalization."

"Oh, that's wonderful!
 
We were so afraid that help would not come.
 
Now

I'm hopeful that it will be all right."

"But I hardly know what to do."

"The Good Magician would not have sent you unless he were sure you could

do the job.
 
Our situation is verging on desperate.
 
There are so few of

us left."

"So few?" Imbri asked.

"Come, you must meet King Ivy.
 
She will help explain."

"King who?"

"King Ivy.
 
She had to take over when King Dor was lost.
 
Right this

way."

"But what of King Dolph?" Imbri asked.

"Oh, he's not until later.
 
But he's lost too."

"Lost?"

"There are only six of us here now.
 
Ah, here we are."

They had arrived at the throne room.
 
Sure enough, a woman of forty sat

on the throne.
 
She rose to come to them as they entered.

"King Ivy, this is Forrest Faun, and Mare Imbrium, from Xanth,"

Princess Ida said.
 
"They are here to enable Dawn & Eve to handle the

margins."

"What a relief!" King Ivy said.
 
"Come, we must have a banquet."

"But is this the time for that?" Forrest asked.
 
"I mean, if the

situation is serious-"

"We can talk best then," Princess Ida explained.
 
"Everyone gets

together for a banquet."

Soon they were at the banquet hall.
 
The other members of the castle

arrived and were introduced: Consort Grey, a handsome man just beyond

forty, Princess Electra, who was 872 or 38 depending on whether

chronological or normal living time was counted, and her daughters Dawn

& Eve, who were a buxom eighteen.
 
Dawn had flame-red hair, green eyes,

and wore bright clothes.
 
Eve had jet black hair and eyes, and wore dark

clothing.
 
Both were startlingly beautiful.

"When I met you two, a few days ago, you were six years old"$ Forrest

said, bemused.

"Yes, that's our blank year," Dawn agreed.

"So we don't remember you," Eve said.
 
"But we're sure you're an

interesting person."

"Girls, don't be too forward," their mother Electra warned them.

"Oh, pooh!" Dawn said.
 
"He's a faun."

"It's impossible for us to embarrass him," Eve agreed.

Then they both leaned forward over the table, so that their ddcolletages

fell open, flashing four impressive hemispheres.
 
And for the second

time in his life Forrest blushed.

"Girls!" Electra exclaimed indignantly.

"See?" Dawn asked her sister as they straightened up.
 
"I told you it

was possible to embarrass a faun."

"You win," Eve agreed.
 
"But we probably couldn't do it again."

"You won't!" Electra cried before they could do it again.
 
"You'll have

to excuse my impetuous children."

The two girls shrugged in unison, looking halfway smug.
 
Forrest found

himself becoming a trifle nervous about having to advise them. While he

was trying to show them what to do, what would they be showing him?
 
It

would have been easier to work with the two six year olds, whose

naughtiness would have been more limited.

The banquet was good, with slices of buttered breadfruit and chipped

potatoes, and pitchers of drink.
 
Forrest spied one whose label seemed

to say Boot Rear, so he poured himself a mug of that, as he liked forest

products.
 
He took a sip, and it was very good.
 
But Dawn, sitting

across from him, looked alarmed.
 
"You're drinking Toot Rear?"

oops-had he taken the wrong drink?
 
He had seen only the latter part of

the label.
 
The last thing he wanted was to embarrass himself at the

King's banquet!
 
But then he saw that the pitcher did say Boot, not

Toot.
 
Both girls, seeing his face, burst out laughing.
 
They had fooled

him.

Electra glared at them, and the two subsided.
 
This was surely going to

be a long assignment.

"How can we help you perform your Service?" King Ivy inquired as they

proceeded to dessert.

"I admit that I have no idea how I should proceed," Forrest said. "I

don't think I have any qualifications."

"Oh, you are surely qualified," Consort Grey said.
 
"The Good Magician

always knows.
 
You just have to discover how you are qualified.

"But I don't even know anything about human women, let alone princesses.

How can I presume to advise them?"

"Your authority derives from that of the Good Magician," Ivy said.
 
"The