Part 11 (2/2)

”You mean it wasn't just chance that you intercepted me?” Cube asked, knowing the answer.

”You're on a mission for the Good Magician,” Melody said.

”Because you want to be beautiful,” Harmony added.

”But we can make you beautiful right now,” Rhythm finished.

Cube was halfway overwhelmed. ”But I can't tell you what my a.s.signment is.”

”Mice!” Melody swore. As a child she wasn't supposed to know any bad words, like Rats.

”We can't see or hear into Humfrey's study,” Harmony said.

”And his designated wives know how to fuzz out our snooping,” Rhythm said.

So they truly didn't know. That was a relief.

”We don't like mysteries,” Melody said grimly.

”Especially when they are excluding us,” Harmony agreed.

”The Adult Conspiracy is bad enough,” Rhythm concluded.

”I wish I could tell you, but I can't,” Cube said. ”It would ruin everything.”

To her surprise, they relented. ”Okay,” Melody said.

”Now we'll show you the grounds,” Harmony added.

”And maybe help you find some Companions,” Rhythm concluded.

”That would be very nice of you,” Cube said, not quite trusting this.

”Where shall we go?” Melody asked her sisters.

”Not the Good Magician's Castle,” Harmony said. ”Humfrey would threaten us with an Answer.”

”Not the Nameless Castle,” Rhythm said. ”Nimby would take away our magic.”

Cube was privately interested. There was a person who could overrule the power of three Sorceresses?

”Not Castle Zombie,” Melody said. ”Breanna would make us eat zombie pie.”

Another person they were wary of? What was her secret?

”Not the realm of Mixed Metaphor,” Harmony said.

”Because that puts all our eggs in one place in the sun,” Rhythm said.

”And our kettle of fish in the farthest pasture,” Melody said.

”You girls are teasing me again,” Cube said, forcing a frown. The three looked suitably abashed. They might be Princesses and Sorceresses, but they were also children, who could be cowed by an adult rebuke. That helped.

”So it must be Castle MaiDragon,” Harmony said.

”Becka's fun,” Rhythm said.

”Who is Becka?” Cube asked.

The three little princesses exchanged a wicked triangular glance. ”You'll find out,” Melody said.

She surely would. While her search for suitable Companions waited. But what could she do?

The Princesses formed a circle around her, so that she was enclosed in a manner. Melody hummed, Harmony played her harmonica, and Rhythm beat on her drum. The music swelled; these were really not toys, it turned out, but full musical instruments. Cube felt the magic intensifying around them. The Princesses might be young, but there was nothing childish about their power of magic.

Then the room wavered and faded. There was a moment of vertigo. Then the room re-formed. What had happened?

Cube saw that it wasn't the same room. The Tapestry was gone, and the furniture was different, as was the color of the walls.

”We're here,” Harmony said, putting away her harmonica.

”Let's go find Becka,” Rhythm said, putting away her drum.

”This way,” Melody said, running out the door.

The others followed, with Cube trailing. The room turned out to be in a high turret, with a long winding stairway down. She got halfway dizzy going around and around. But finally they reached the ground floor. They ran on through chamber after chamber, looking for Becka, but the castle was empty.

”She must be outside,” Harmony cried breathlessly.

They ran out the front gate. There was no moat; instead the castle was surrounded by a beaten dirt track. ”Not here,” Rhythm said.

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