Luck of the Draw (Xanth) (17 page)

“Rachel came across from Mundania with me,” Bryce explained. “She helped me get oriented in Xanth. But there’s someone in Mundania who needs her more. She had to go.”

“We understand,” Anna said, and the others nodded.

Now it was really time to begin the Quest.

7

S
UITORS

T
hey assembled outside the castle. There was Bryce’s trike. “I brought it,” Mindy said. “I thought you might have use for it.”

“Bless you!” Bryce exclaimed, hugging her. “But the others will need them too.” He looked at Piper. “You have your duplication spell?”

“Of course.”

“What is this contraption?” Arsenal demanded, eying it suspiciously.

“It’s a device to assist rapid travel,” Bryce explained. “I brought it with me from Mundania, and it became magic here. Allow me to demonstrate.” He got on the trike and pedaled. The trike zoomed forward, cruising through the brush, narrowly avoiding a tree. Bryce circled around and came back to the group. “Anyone can use it.”

“I’m not sure I want to,” Mindy said.

Bryce looked at her. Unlike Anna, she was wearing a skirt. On the trike, her knees would be almost as high as her head, and her panties would show. “Do you have jeans you can use for this purpose?”

“Oh, I suppose so,” she said grumpily. She reached down, pushed her skirt together between her legs, and buttoned it. Now she had what amounted to trousers or culottes. She had come prepared after all.

Piper invoked the duplication spell, and soon there were seven identical trikes.

They all practiced briefly, following Bryce’s guidance and example. It wasn’t hard, because it was difficult to fall over on the trike, and the magic made brush and rocks no problem.

Only Arsenal hesitated. “This is your device, Bryce. Why are you sharing, when you could have zoomed off ahead and been first to the station? Do you know something we don’t?”

“I know nothing,” Bryce said. “Least of all where we’re going. I just feel we’ll all benefit if we share where we can. The trikes will help us all.”

Arsenal did not seem convinced, but the others were satisfied.

“So where
are
we going?” Anna asked.

“The Good Magician gave me a scroll,” Mindy said. “It will unroll just enough to reveal one site destination at a time. He told me that you will have just one day to find an Object. If you don’t, it will dissipate and be forever lost.” She unrolled it and read: “Base of Mount Rushmost.”

“That’s way to the south!” Anna protested. “And there are dragons there.”

“Not so much at the base,” Mindy said. “They use the plateau at the top for their gatherings. They shouldn’t bother us.”

“We will need the trikes,” Piper said. “Unless we want to camp on the way.”

“But we have a deadline,” D Pose said.

“The Good Magician said we would be able to make the schedule,” Mindy said. “So you should have whatever time you need.”

“Let me get this straight,” Lucky said. “We each need to fetch one thing for the princess, and she’ll pick the one she wants. Suppose someone doesn’t get his gift?”

“Then I think he loses,” Mindy said. “The Magician didn’t tell me that; it just stands to reason.”

“So we might as well cooperate and share,” Lucky said. “Unless we’ve got a grudge against one of us.”

“I think that’s the idea,” Mindy agreed. “So Bryce’s sharing his trike makes sense. The sooner you all collect your gifts, the sooner the final decision will be made. I doubt that any of you really want to mess up any other. If you did, and the princess learned of it—”

“She will,” Bryce said. “She’s got a Tapestry.”

“And if that one was the very gift she most wanted,” Mindy concluded, “where would you be then?”

They considered, and nodded. The point had been made.

“Then let’s go,” Arsenal said, and forged ahead. He was a natural leader, it seemed.

They triked southward, following one of the enchanted paths. But after a while Arsenal called a halt. “The enchanted paths wind all around. It will take us too long. We need a shortcut.”

“That could be dangerous,” Piper pointed out. “There are dragons and other menaces we had best avoid if we can.”

“I can handle a dragon,” Arsenal said.

“But what about the rest of us?” Piper asked.

“Anyone who’s afraid of dragons should not be on this Quest.”

“Now that’s not fair,” Piper said. “Anyone who isn’t cautious about dragons is a fool.”

“Are you saying I’m a fool?” Arsenal demanded, resting one hand on his sword.

Bryce stepped in between them, knowing that Arsenal
was
a fool, because if push came to shove Piper could probably handle both him and a dragon together. But he thought it better for Piper to conceal his nature as long as feasible and for there to be peace in the group as long as possible. “The rest of us may have a different perspective on dragons, lacking your martial expertise,” he said to Arsenal. “We are sure you will protect us if we encounter a dragon, but dispatching it would surely delay us, and none of us wish to be delayed.” He glanced at Piper. “Isn’t that what you meant?”

Piper was privately amused, knowing that Bryce knew his nature. “Yes, I believe it was.”

“Well, then,” Arsenal said grumpily, realizing that he had been managed, but not able to do much about it.

“And you do have a point,” Bryce said. “If we want to reach that checkpoint today, we will need a shortcut.” He looked around. “How do the rest of you feel?”

The remaining three Suitors exchanged a three-pronged glance. Then Anna shrugged. “I prefer to get through this as expeditiously as possible, regardless of the deadline. A shortcut will do, provided it’s safe.”

“Sure,” Lucky agreed.

“Right,” Pose said. “There will surely be plenty to challenge us, and getting there is bound to be the least of it. Let’s take our chances.”

“Next question,” Piper said. “Do we have a suitable shortcut path to follow? I have seen signs along the way, but mainly for more popular destinations.”

“I see a cluster of signs,” Lucky said. He was of course the one to be lucky in that respect.

“What’s that you’re holding?” Anna asked. “You’re not wearing jewelry?”

“It’s a charm the princess gave me,” Lucky said. “To focus my luck for better effect.”

“A lucky charm?”

“It charms luck. This is the first time I’ve tried it.”

“That’s interesting,” Anna said. “She gave me a trinket too. A little magic purse.” She held up a postage-stamp-sized mini purse. “It holds more than you might think.” She inverted it, dumping out the contents, and a small torrent of items dropped out: a hairbrush, comb, makeup kit, a spare dress, shoes, and a wrapped sandwich. “It’s quite handy, really.” She picked up her items and packed them back inside.

“She gave me a penknife,” Arsenal said. He brought out a small object, and opened it to reveal a small knife blade on one side, and a pen on the other. “It cuts or draws. I haven’t found much use for it yet, but I like it.”

“She gave me a bottle,” Pose said, holding up an ornate little glass bottle. “I can dematerialize and enter it, and it’s a perfectly appointed room complete with bed and lamp so I can rest in complete private comfort.”

“Unless someone puts a cork in it,” Lucky said.

“It locks from the inside, not the outside,” Pose said, “I can’t be trapped. It’s very nice.” He put the bottle away.

The others looked at Piper. “Yes, I too,” he said, producing a small musical pipe. “A magic piccolo with perfect tone and four keys.”

“It looks like a toy,” Arsenal said.

“It’s no toy.” Piper put it to his lips and played a brief and utterly lovely melody whose notes seemed to range far beyond what such a tiny instrument should be able to do. But of course it was magic, not limited as an ordinary instrument might be.

They looked at Bryce. “She gave me a magic pen,” he said. “I can sketch objects and make them become physical.”

“We are wasting time,” Arsenal said. “Better be on our way.”

They went to the cluster of signs Lucky had spotted. Sure enough, there was one for Mount Rushmost.

“But can we trust it?” Anna asked. “How do we know it wasn’t planted to lead folk like us into a trap?”

“Good question,” Bryce said. “We could use some reassurance on that score.”

“I agree,” Arsenal said, surprisingly. “Unenchanted paths are normally used by land dragons and other monsters for their own convenience; others use them at their own risk. I doubt anyone knew that we would take this particular path, so there is unlikely to be a trap. But we should use it with caution, with every person alert for danger and the women in the middle.”

“Hey, I’ll pull my own weight,” Anna said. “I don’t need to be coddled.”

“Two things,” Arsenal said. “There are trolls and goblins that delight in catching and eating delicate flesh, and human women are prime targets. You look good enough to eat, no offense. You could put us all at risk by being on the edge. And Mindy would surely appreciate the company in the center.”

“I would,” Mindy agreed.

“Oh. Yes,” Anna agreed, slightly disconcerted.

Arsenal glanced at Pose. “And you might invoke your demonly talent to find us something useful, such as ripe pie trees so we can eat while traveling.”

“Actually, I prefer to act human, with human limitations, because I’ll be courting the human princess and want to seem halfway suitable. She knows I’m a demon, of course; I clarified that when we met. But I assume it will be easier to win her trust and her interest if I at least seem human. So I won’t be puffing into smoke or popping instantly from place to place.”

Arsenal considered that. Bryce had the impression that he didn’t much like the demon, but knew better than to challenge him in too obvious a manner. “Point made. We all want to impress the princess, apart from our offerings to her. But can you help us with the things we need along the way? Such as by popping off invisibly, locating food, and returning to let us know so we can find it ourselves?”

“Can do,” Pose said. “I do have a certain demonly awareness that may be helpful.” He flickered briefly. “There is food at a nearby house: pie and cake plants growing profusely in the yard. We might ask.”

“Exactly,” Arsenal agreed. “Let us know when we are in the vicinity of that house.”

“I will murmur something,” Pose agreed. “Meanwhile I would appreciate it if the rest of you do not make anything of my nature to strangers. Let me pass as a man. It will be good practice for me.”

“Readily done,” Arsenal said. “You look like an ordinary man to me.” His mouth formed a somewhat malignant smile. “Very ordinary.”

The demon did not take offense. “Thank you.”

Now Arsenal looked at Piper and Bryce. “Are we in agreement, on this and other matters?”

“We are,” Piper said.

The others nodded. They might have been nervous about traveling with a demon, but this was reassuring.

Bryce saw that Arsenal really was an effective leader, at least as long as he got his own way. So it was easiest to let him lead. It might indeed get them to where they were going faster. “Yes.”

“Then onward,” Arsenal said, and stepped off the enchanted path and onto the shortcut path. The others followed, with Pose second, Anna and Mindy next, then Lucky, Piper, and Bryce bringing up the rear.

They followed the path through the forest as it gently curved here and there. Then it came to a tangle of alternate paths radiating out in all directions. There were eight of them, with no indication which one was correct.

“Oh, no, it’s probably my fault,” Anna said. “An anomaly. They probably all go there, but some will be longer than others, and some may be dangerous.”

“We don’t have time to dither,” Arsenal said. “We need to decide on one.”

“But it has to be the right one,” Lucky said. “I used my luck finding the original path; I can’t be sure to be lucky again so soon.”

“We can’t afford to gamble,” Pose said.

There was a crash of thunder, and a fierce gust of wind blasted them. “Oh, bleep!” Mindy swore. “Fracto was just waiting for us to leave the enchanted path. Now we’ll get soaked.”

“We can handle rain,” Arsenal said gruffly.

“But we girls don’t care to get soaked,” Mindy said. “It messes up our hair and plasters our shirts and forces us to wring out our underwear.”

A significant glance ricocheted around the five men, none of whom would really mind seeing women with plastered shirts wringing out their panties. But it wasn’t expedient to say that.

Anna put up her hand, intercepting the look before it could make another loop and squeezing it into nothing. “You should try being a woman, before enjoying a woman’s humiliation,” she said.

“We apologize,” Bryce said quickly.

“I have a raincoat in my purse,” Anna said to Mindy. “But only one, and it’s not big enough for both of us.”

“So we’d just better avoid that storm,” Mindy said tightly.

Meanwhile the swirling cloud was looming closer, menacingly dark in the center. The wind was blowing leaves from nearby trees. This would be a deluge.

They pedaled on, but the storm was gaining on them.

“I spy a house,” Lucky said.

“And there’s something useful in it,” Pose said. “That is the house with the food.”

They forged toward the house. It was a neat cottage surrounded by a tall hedge. There were a fair number of pie and cake plants growing within the enclosure. Obviously the occupant had plenty to eat.

They stopped their trikes and got to their feet.

“Let me ask,” Mindy said. “I may make a better impression.”

“To be sure,” Arsenal agreed.

Mindy went up to the door and knocked. The wind whipped her hair about and tugged at her clothing, doing a bit of plastering of its own, making her look appealingly wild. In a moment the door opened, showing an ordinary young man. “Yes?”

“He’s the one,” Pose murmured. “He is what we need, one way or another.”

Mindy considered hardly half a moment, absorbing that. Then she made her best effort. “Please, we are a traveling group of two women and five men, not looking for trouble,” she said with a nice smile. “We seek refuge from the storm and advice about our route. We are depending on your generosity. May we come in?”