Faun and Games (48 page)

"We will behave from now on," Dawn said.
 
"Until the mission is done."

"But thereafter," Eve said, "we may indeed tease you in fun, and play

with you in the manner of nymphs."

"That isn't necessary," he said quickly.
 
"I never meant to suggest-"

"We are of age," Dawn said.

"And we are learning respect for you," Eve added.

"But-"

"So now we will apologize to you in the manner of the gourd-"

"And leave you with a moderate notion of what we have in mind."

"But the gourd apologies are excessively-" he began, alarmed.

But he was cut off by Dawn, who stepped into him, embraced him closely,

and kissed him with such passion that his head seemed in danger of

floating away.
 
It was as if the sun were rising and blinding him with

its warm, delightful light.
 
Then she released him, and Eve hugged him

so firmly that he needed no eyes to appreciate her every contour, and

kissed him even more passionately.
 
This time it was as if the sun were

setting and carrying him into the lovely encompassing night.

Then she let him go, and he stood stunned, with little suns and moons

circling his head.
 
Dawn had primed him, and Eve had wiped him out.

From what seemed like a far distance he heard them speaking again.
 
"We

do like you, Forrest," Dawn murmured in his left ear.

"And when we do show you our panties, we won't be fooling," Eve murmured

in his right ear.

Then they kissed his pointed ears, simultaneously.

Forrest found himself lying on the ground, with little hearts and

planets spinning crazily over his face.
 
The girls were fanning him and

brushing off his fur.
 
"I guess we overdid it," Dawn said.
 
"He

fainted."

"But we'll be more careful from now on," Eve agreed.

"We had better change to blue jeans."

"And not too tight."

"But once this is done-"

.
 
"We'll show him everything."

This had gone on more than long enough.
 
Forrest opened his eyes. "I

think I'm all right," he said.
 
"I-"

"We double-teamed you," Dawn said.
 
"We apologize."

"No!" he exclaimed desperately.

They both laughed.
 
"Not gourd fashion, silly," Eve said.
 
"We've

already done that." Then they helped him up.
 
They were now in baggy

blue jeans and blue plaid shirts that cut their feminine appeal in half.

Since there were two of them, that was still more than enough.

" We thought you were being gallant," Eve said.
 
"Now we realize that

you really do like us, as we like you."

"I'm a faun," he repeated.
 
"I like nymphs.
 
Recently I have been

learning to like real folk too.
 
But I'm not used to the emotions."

"So we gather," Dawn said.
 
"You have surely had far more physical

experience than we, as delicate maidens, would care to imagine. While we

have had more emotional experience than you have been equipped to

comprehend.
 
It will be fun merging experiences, in due course."

"But it is true that we face what may be a deadly challenge, here,"

Eve said.

"So while maybe we shouldn't have teased you," Dawn said, "we do feel

that you were being na:fve about the approach to the Wizard's castle."

"And while we don't want to interfere with your role as assigned by the

Good Magician," Eve said, "we hope you will reconsider."

"I think I had better," he agreed ruefully.
 
"Suppose we approach the

castle cautiously, staying out of sight, and see what we can make of

it?"

Imbri returned to the dialogue.
 
She had been so still that he had

almost forgotten her.
 
"The girls can explore the castle to a degree

without even approaching it."

"That's better," he agreed.
 
"If we can find someone who goes in and out

of the castle, or some object that has been inside-"

"We can watch and see," Imbri said.

So they made their way on toward the castle.
 
Forrest refreshed the

blanket of obscurity; that was proving to be a big help, because they

might otherwise already have been noticed and surrounded by the Wizard's

minions, if he had minions.

The castle was a huge, grim structure of mottled blue.
 
There was an

odor waiting from it.
 
"I know that smell," Imbri said.
 
"I have

encountered it on the moon.
 
Blue cheese!"

"But isn't that squishy?" Dawn asked.

"Not when it's old enough.
 
The cheese of the moon ranges from almost

liquid brie to rock hard cheddar.
 
Any cheese gets firm when exposed to

the sun for a few years."

"And magic could stiffen it," Eve said.

A guard marched around the castle.
 
He didn't see or notice them, thanks

to the obscurity and their care in hiding, and passed quite close. "Look

at that!" Dawn whispered.
 
"His hand is metal!"

"Silly-that's a hand gun," Eve pointed out.
 
"It makes sense for a

guard."

The man marched on past them, and Forrest saw that his hand really was a

gun.
 
He wondered what happened when the man wanted to shake hands with

anyone.

A light came on at the side door of the castle.
 
It was a special shade

of bright blue.
 
"Oh, I wouldn't want to smear that UltraViolent light

bulb," Eve said.
 
"Those are mean when messed with."

Then the door opened and a man emerged.
 
He was carrying a bag of

something.
 
He walked to a pit some distance from the castle, and tossed

the bag in.
 
Then he returned and reentered the castle.

"Garbage!" Dawn said.
 
"Ugh!"

"But it's been inside the castle," Forrest pointed out.
 
" So-'

"Ugh!" Eve said.

"Well, maybe it's not a good idea."

Eve sighed.
 
"No, it makes sense.
 
It's just not very romantic."

So they circled the castle at a distance, until they came to the pit. It

had every type of refuse, and it stank.
 
But they climbed down into it,

looking for the most recent bag.

"Ah, here it is," Eve said, putting her hand on it.
 
"Recently carried

by Jan Itor.
 
It contains trash and kitchen leavings collected by the

night watchman, A.
 
Lert.
 
They are from all over the castle."

"Just what we need," Dawn said.
 
"I know you'll just love sinking your

hands in all that, sister dear."

"With luck, some of it isn't dead yet, sister dear," Eve agreed,

wrinkling her nose.
 
"So you will also have the pleasure." She opened

the bag and pulled out a tube.
 
"Toothpaste that pastes the mouth

closed.
 
No wonder they threw it out."

Dawn spied a large ant struggling to escape the bag.
 
She let it walk on

her hand.
 
"This is a de-odor-ant.
 
It can make a person lose the sedse

of smell.
 
I guess they threw it out because they like the smell of blue

cheese."

Eve pulled out an old pen.
 
"This is what is left of an invisible ink

pen," she said.
 
"Originally the pen held several large ugly animals,

but each animal used up some of the ink, and the pen gradually shrank,

until it was too small to be of use."

"What about the layout of the castle?" Forrest asked.
 
"Is there a

secret entrance?
 
Whe.-e does the Wizard stay?"

In due course, piecing through the thrown away junk, they were able to

work out a fair notion of the castle plan.
 
The Wizard lived in the

highest chamber, through which the blue lines passed.
 
The lines

actually seemed to come from below, however: the dungeon. That was

entirely sealed off from outside, and only the Wizard had access from

inside.
 
There was no refuse from it; evidently it had its own internal

garbage dump.
 
So the riddle of the lines remained.

"We need more information than we can get from outside," Forrest said.

"But if even the servants don't know what's in that dungeon, who else

will know?"

"Only the Wizard," Imbri said.
 
"And he keeps the secret, so that no one

else can steal talents from Ptero and give them away for power."

"But someone else must know," Forrest said.
 
"Because there are three

other Wizards with the secret."

"And they used it to make themselves supreme in their triangles," Dawn

said.

"And they won't tell us either," Eve agreed.

"We need a better idea," Imbri said.

Something flirted with Forrest's attention, and slid away.
 
He pursued

it, and managed to nab it before it escaped.
 
It was an idea. "Idea!" he

exclaimed.
 
"Ida-her talent is the Idea.
 
Maybe she would have an idea."

"But Ida's far away," Dawn said.

"That is, her head is-and huge," Eve agreed.

"No-I mean the Ida who must be here.
 
Your world of Ptero orbits Ida of

Xanth; this world of Pyramid orbits Ida of Ptero.
 
So there must be an

Ida here with another world, and maybe she would know the secrets of the

worlds."