Part 8 (2/2)
”Press with the one on the side you wish me to turn from. That's much more efficient.”
”Oh.” He tried it, and sure enough, she moved quickly in response. In a moment he was directing her wordlessly.
He guided her onto the path, and the path held. It was, indeed, the walker's vision that determined it; as long as she kept her eyes closed, her footing was firm. When she drifted toward one side or the other, he kneed her gently, and she moved immediately back to the center. The lake monster eyed them, but did not approach; the path was indeed enchanted. The trip across was surprisingly easy.
”Well,” Chex said as they arrived at the far side. ”That is indeed a relief.”
Esk dismounted, and they walked on along the path, their spirits restored. Perhaps at Castle Roogna they would discover the answer to the Good Magician's strange disappearance.
But as they drew closer to the castle, Chex became increasingly nervous. ”Is something wrong?” Esk finally inquired.
She sighed. ”I'm not sure. It is a personal matter.”
”Oh. Not my business, then.”
”Perhaps it is your business, because it may affect your reception, and Volney's”
The vole's little ears perked up. ”There iv trouble at Roogna?”
”In a way. I shall have to rehea.r.s.e some history to make it clear.”
Esk shrugged. ”We'll listen.” He was more curious than he cared to admit; what could bother a creature who was completely open about natural functions?
”I am, as you have noted, a crossbreed,” she said.
”So am I,” Esk reminded her. ”We might even have a common human ancestor somewhere way back.”
She smiled briefly. ”We might. But the centaur species, whatever its origin, considers itself a pure stock, and does not look kindly on adulteration.”
”Oho! So they may not like you much!”
”Some may not,” she agreed wanly. ”Unfortunately, the ones who may look least kindly on my mixed ancestry are my grandsire and grandam on the centaur side.”
”Your grandparents don't know?” Esk asked, surprised.
”My dam, Chem Centaur, did not find a mate of her own species. Centaurs are not common beyond Centaur Isle, so this problem can arise.
She-a.s.sociated with a hippogryph. This is why I have wings. But because she was aware that such a liaison might not be approved, she did not inform her sire and dam of the matter. Only her brother, Chet, with whom she was closer. Thus, to the indiscretion of the liaison was added that of deceiving her sire and dam. Such things are not necessarily light matters, with centaurs.”
”But it really was her own business, wasn't it?” Esk asked. ”I mean, she wasn't under any obligation to report to her parents, was she?”
”That was Chem's conclusion,” Chex agreed. ”It is possible that other centaurs might disagree.”
”And your-grandparents-are at Castle Roogna,” Esk concluded, getting the picture.
”I believe that they are.”
”And when they see you, with your wings-”
”I am uncertain of the nature of their reaction.”
”Maybe you can wait in the forest, while Volney and I go on in.”
She sighed. ”No, thank you, Esk. I believe it is time to face the melody.”
”If that is the way you want it.”
”I believe it is the way it must be. I do not like deception, and to the extent that my very existence represents a deception, I owe it to myself to eliminate it.”
”I suppose that makes sense,” Esk said. Centaurs were known to have an impervious sense of ethics, which had both advantages and disadvantages for others who dealt with them.
They moved well, encountering no more dragons; it seemed that the little smokers had finally gotten wherever they were going and left the path. As night approached, they judged that they were near Castle Roogna.
They set up an overnight watch system as before, not quite trusting the safety of the path. Nothing happened, and in the morning they feasted on fruits and tubers and resumed walking.
There was the sound of hooves ahead. ”That's a centaur!” Chex exclaimed. ”Oh, I'm nervous!”
Esk could understand her feeling. He was nervous too, but for a different reason; he had never been to Castle Roogna, and wasn't certain how the King would feel about a human-ogre crossbreed. Of course he was only bringing a message, at this point, about the absence of the Good Magician; still, he worried. Volney Vole did not look any more comfortable.
They drew to the sides of the path, so as to let the centaur pa.s.s if it had a mind to. But now Volney was sniffing the low-lying air nervously. ”Ventaur-and dragon,” he announced.
Chex immediately unslung her bow and nocked an arrow, and Esk moved to stand before the vole, so that he could say no if the dragon attacked.
”And human,” Volney added.
A party of three-centaur, dragon, and human? How strange! Then he realized that their own party of centaur, vole, and human (approximately) was equivalently strange.
The centaur came into sight. It was a stout male, with a little girl on his back. A truly formidable dragon whomped along behind. Esk's nervousness increased; this could be a great deal of trouble!
”Uncle Chet!” Chex exclaimed, delighted.
The centaur slowed, startled. ”Graywing!” he exclaimed.
”He calls me that,” she murmured, flus.h.i.+ng slightly with pleasure. ”He doesn't mind my-”
”Who?” the little girl asked, as Chet stopped before them, and the dragon whomped to a halt behind, puffing steam.
”I'll introduce ours, and you introduce yours,” Chet said briskly. ”I am Chet Centaur, foaled of Chester and Cherie Centaur; this is Ivy Human, daughter of King Dor and Queen Irene; and beyond is Stanley Steamer, formerly known as the Gap Dragon.”
Esk almost swallowed his tongue. The daughter of the King, and the Gap Dragon?
But Chex was doing her side of the introduction. ”I am Chex Centaur, filly of Chem Centaur and Xap Hippogryph; this is Esk Human, son of Smash Ogre and Tandy Nymph; and this is Volney Vole from the Kiss-Mee River Valley, otherwise known as the Vale of the Vole.”
”The Kiss-Mee River!” Ivy exclaimed excitedly. ”I'd love to visit that!” She seemed to be ten or eleven years old, pretty in an elfin way, with very little green hair and eyes to match. ”Is it really true that anyone who touches its waters gets so affectionate she just has to kiss the first person she meets?”
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