Chameleon.”
“It is no burden,” Bink said. “We thought it would be nice staying in a village that uses no meat, but actually it’s a bit dull.”
V Gan. There was the confirmation of the name. Vegan. Bryce suppressed a groan.
“Do tell him more about Xanth,” Chameleon said. “He needs to know, before he gets into trouble.”
“That’s why I’m along,” Mindy said. “So far we haven’t encountered any real dangers.”
“Tangible ones, you mean,” Bink said, giving her a hard look. “Keep his ignorance in mind lest he annoy you.”
“I am,” Mindy said.
They moved on. The dogs roused themselves and followed. “If I have annoyed you, I apologize,” Bryce said. “When I spoke of teen girls, I was thinking of the princess, not you. You’re twenty.”
“I understand.”
They came to a sandy spot. A number of what appeared to be human posteriors were sticking out of the sand. Rachel pointed at them. “Beach Bums,” Bryce said, perversely glad to be back in business. He opened his bag, and the posteriors floated in, though one did make a dirty noise of protest.
They came to a wall that was covered with yowling cats. “I think I’ve got it,” Mindy said. “Caterwaul.” And wall and cats dissolved and entered her bag.
A large fly buzzed them. “Have you seen my son, the flyer?” it asked them.
“A talking fly?” Bryce asked.
“Magical,” Mindy said. “And your dog is pointing.”
Then he got it. Bryce groaned. “Pop Fly.”
They encountered a copse of huge-trunked trees with patterns of tightly fitting boards. “Those look like beer barrels,” Bryce said.
“They are. Except these ones are alebarrel trees. Tap them and you get ale. But they’re standard; no pun there.”
“Still, Rachel is pointing.”
They followed the direction of the dog’s point. It looked like a small mint plant growing next to one of the trees. “I don’t recognize this,” Mindy said.
“A mint,” he said. “Next to an ale tree. An Ale Mint. Ailment?”
The plant dissolved. He had gotten it. But he remained dissatisfied. “May we take a break and talk?” he asked.
“By all means,” she agreed, settling down with her back against one of the ale trees. “What is your concern?”
“This business of five princesses, all Sorceresses. I had no idea!”
“There’s a reason. Back in the early days when Bink was young he managed to do the Demon Xanth a favor, and Xanth specified that all Bink’s descendants would be Magicians or Sorceresses. And when Bink’s son Dor married Magician King Trent’s daughter Irene, all those descendants were royal. So when Dor’s son Dolph married Electra, their daughters Dawn and Eve were both Princess Sorceresses. When Irene’s daughter Ivy married Grey Murphy, their three daughters were all Sorceress Princesses too. It’s really quite simple.”
“Simple as relativity married to quantum mechanics!” Bryce said facetiously.
“As what?”
“Mundane theories of the fundamental nature of things that make no sense to the ignorant common man or to each other. You didn’t encounter that in Mundania?”
“I guess I wasn’t paying attention that school day,” she said, blushing. “Please, tell me about them.”
“I’m a common man. But that little I understand of it is that all things are relative, and this unifies three of the four fundamental forces in the universe, but not the fourth, which is gravity. Quantum mechanics addresses the fourth, but is incompatible with relativity. So the struggle has been to find a way to reconcile the two theories and make one unified Theory of Everything. It is mind-bendingly difficult even to conceive the problem, let alone the solution.”
“It sounds like Demon magic.”
“Maybe it is; that would explain a lot.”
“Xanth gets its gravity via a cable connected to Mundania. Mundania gets its magic similarly from Xanth.”
“There is magic in Mundania?”
“Very little actually. Things like the
“It is no burden,” Bink said. “We thought it would be nice staying in a village that uses no meat, but actually it’s a bit dull.”
V Gan. There was the confirmation of the name. Vegan. Bryce suppressed a groan.
“Do tell him more about Xanth,” Chameleon said. “He needs to know, before he gets into trouble.”
“That’s why I’m along,” Mindy said. “So far we haven’t encountered any real dangers.”
“Tangible ones, you mean,” Bink said, giving her a hard look. “Keep his ignorance in mind lest he annoy you.”
“I am,” Mindy said.
They moved on. The dogs roused themselves and followed. “If I have annoyed you, I apologize,” Bryce said. “When I spoke of teen girls, I was thinking of the princess, not you. You’re twenty.”
“I understand.”
They came to a sandy spot. A number of what appeared to be human posteriors were sticking out of the sand. Rachel pointed at them. “Beach Bums,” Bryce said, perversely glad to be back in business. He opened his bag, and the posteriors floated in, though one did make a dirty noise of protest.
They came to a wall that was covered with yowling cats. “I think I’ve got it,” Mindy said. “Caterwaul.” And wall and cats dissolved and entered her bag.
A large fly buzzed them. “Have you seen my son, the flyer?” it asked them.
“A talking fly?” Bryce asked.
“Magical,” Mindy said. “And your dog is pointing.”
Then he got it. Bryce groaned. “Pop Fly.”
They encountered a copse of huge-trunked trees with patterns of tightly fitting boards. “Those look like beer barrels,” Bryce said.
“They are. Except these ones are alebarrel trees. Tap them and you get ale. But they’re standard; no pun there.”
“Still, Rachel is pointing.”
They followed the direction of the dog’s point. It looked like a small mint plant growing next to one of the trees. “I don’t recognize this,” Mindy said.
“A mint,” he said. “Next to an ale tree. An Ale Mint. Ailment?”
The plant dissolved. He had gotten it. But he remained dissatisfied. “May we take a break and talk?” he asked.
“By all means,” she agreed, settling down with her back against one of the ale trees. “What is your concern?”
“This business of five princesses, all Sorceresses. I had no idea!”
“There’s a reason. Back in the early days when Bink was young he managed to do the Demon Xanth a favor, and Xanth specified that all Bink’s descendants would be Magicians or Sorceresses. And when Bink’s son Dor married Magician King Trent’s daughter Irene, all those descendants were royal. So when Dor’s son Dolph married Electra, their daughters Dawn and Eve were both Princess Sorceresses. When Irene’s daughter Ivy married Grey Murphy, their three daughters were all Sorceress Princesses too. It’s really quite simple.”
“Simple as relativity married to quantum mechanics!” Bryce said facetiously.
“As what?”
“Mundane theories of the fundamental nature of things that make no sense to the ignorant common man or to each other. You didn’t encounter that in Mundania?”
“I guess I wasn’t paying attention that school day,” she said, blushing. “Please, tell me about them.”
“I’m a common man. But that little I understand of it is that all things are relative, and this unifies three of the four fundamental forces in the universe, but not the fourth, which is gravity. Quantum mechanics addresses the fourth, but is incompatible with relativity. So the struggle has been to find a way to reconcile the two theories and make one unified Theory of Everything. It is mind-bendingly difficult even to conceive the problem, let alone the solution.”
“It sounds like Demon magic.”
“Maybe it is; that would explain a lot.”
“Xanth gets its gravity via a cable connected to Mundania. Mundania gets its magic similarly from Xanth.”
“There is magic in Mundania?”
“Very little actually. Things like the
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