Read Online Esrever Doom (Xanth) by Piers Anthony - Free Book Online
Authors: Piers Anthony
Ads: Link
Ione.”
“Hello again,” she agreed, smiling prettily.
“Please tell me about yourself. Your history, your likes and dislikes, and why you are here in this setting instead of home with your mother.”
“I’m too little to have much history,” the child said, speaking well for her age. “I like eye scream, I don’t like bathtime, and I’m here because Mother is busy at Castle Roogna today so I need a babysitter even though I came on a mission of my own.”
“You seem to have a very good understanding of your situation.”
“Yes. I am very mature for my age.”
“What is your mission here?”
“I want to learn my magic talent.”
Her magic talent. Could that relate? “And what is your talent?”
“I don’t know.”
“The Good Magician wouldn’t tell you?”
“Yes.” Ione grimaced cutely. “So now I’m stuck here for the rest of the day until Mother picks me up tonight.”
“Are you sure you have a magic talent?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because all people in Xanth, except Mundanes, have magic talents. And the Good Magician told me I did. A really good strong talent, maybe even Sorceress level. He just wouldn’t tell me what.”
“That seems unkind of him.”
“Oh, he has a reason. He always has a reason. But it’s frustrating.”
So far he did not seem to be learning anything useful. “Tell me about your mother, Princess Ida.”
“She’s great! She can make anything true, just by agreeing with it. Only—”
“Only?”
“The one who says it mustn’t know her talent.”
That was odd. “She can use her magic talent only if someone doesn’t know it?”
“Yes.”
“Then how does she ever use it?”
The child focused. “When someone says something, like maybe the sky is blue, and she wants it to be true, she agrees.”
“But the sky is blue.”
“Yes. It’s a great talent.”
Kody took stock. Was the child confused, or did her mother really have magic strong enough to change the reality of the color of the sky? It was becoming more important to know how these things were.
“How is it your mother has such a great talent?”
“Way, way, way long ago, Great Grandpa Bink helped the Demon Xanth, and he made all of Bink’s descendants Magicians or Sorceresses. Ida is a Sorceress.”
“All of them? Then you must be a Sorceress too.”
“Yes, maybe.”
“I gather there are different levels of talents, and a Sorceress is at the top. Princess Dawn has a really powerful talent, knowing anything about any living thing she touches.”
“Yes. Aunts Dawn and Eve are Sorceresses. Eve knows about anything not alive.”
“I wonder if part of my Challenge is to figure out what your talent is? That might explain why the Good Magician wouldn’t tell you.”
The little girl pursed her lips, considering. “Maybe so.”
“Because maybe you can help me solve Lyre’s problem.”
“Yes!” Ione agreed eagerly. “Figure it out now!”
But Kody was cautious. There could be some better reason why the Good Magician had withheld the information. Maybe he didn’t want the child to have to serve for a year. Or maybe—
He began to get a glimmer.
“I saw it!” Ione said. “I saw the bulb flash! You got an idea!”
“I think I did,” Kody agreed. “But it’s complicated.”
Her little face clouded. “You won’t tell me?”
He felt like a heel, yet he had to follow through. “Not yet.”
“Why not?”
Maybe he could explain that much. “Because I think your talent resembles your mother’s talent. It works only if the person with you doesn’t know it. So if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to use it. At least that’s my assumption. That would explain why the Good Magician wouldn’t tell you. So it’s for your own good.”
“That’s what Mother says when she makes me take a bath! I hate it!”
“I understand your frustration. Let me see if I can make your talent work, then I’ll tell you. Is that a fair
“Hello again,” she agreed, smiling prettily.
“Please tell me about yourself. Your history, your likes and dislikes, and why you are here in this setting instead of home with your mother.”
“I’m too little to have much history,” the child said, speaking well for her age. “I like eye scream, I don’t like bathtime, and I’m here because Mother is busy at Castle Roogna today so I need a babysitter even though I came on a mission of my own.”
“You seem to have a very good understanding of your situation.”
“Yes. I am very mature for my age.”
“What is your mission here?”
“I want to learn my magic talent.”
Her magic talent. Could that relate? “And what is your talent?”
“I don’t know.”
“The Good Magician wouldn’t tell you?”
“Yes.” Ione grimaced cutely. “So now I’m stuck here for the rest of the day until Mother picks me up tonight.”
“Are you sure you have a magic talent?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because all people in Xanth, except Mundanes, have magic talents. And the Good Magician told me I did. A really good strong talent, maybe even Sorceress level. He just wouldn’t tell me what.”
“That seems unkind of him.”
“Oh, he has a reason. He always has a reason. But it’s frustrating.”
So far he did not seem to be learning anything useful. “Tell me about your mother, Princess Ida.”
“She’s great! She can make anything true, just by agreeing with it. Only—”
“Only?”
“The one who says it mustn’t know her talent.”
That was odd. “She can use her magic talent only if someone doesn’t know it?”
“Yes.”
“Then how does she ever use it?”
The child focused. “When someone says something, like maybe the sky is blue, and she wants it to be true, she agrees.”
“But the sky is blue.”
“Yes. It’s a great talent.”
Kody took stock. Was the child confused, or did her mother really have magic strong enough to change the reality of the color of the sky? It was becoming more important to know how these things were.
“How is it your mother has such a great talent?”
“Way, way, way long ago, Great Grandpa Bink helped the Demon Xanth, and he made all of Bink’s descendants Magicians or Sorceresses. Ida is a Sorceress.”
“All of them? Then you must be a Sorceress too.”
“Yes, maybe.”
“I gather there are different levels of talents, and a Sorceress is at the top. Princess Dawn has a really powerful talent, knowing anything about any living thing she touches.”
“Yes. Aunts Dawn and Eve are Sorceresses. Eve knows about anything not alive.”
“I wonder if part of my Challenge is to figure out what your talent is? That might explain why the Good Magician wouldn’t tell you.”
The little girl pursed her lips, considering. “Maybe so.”
“Because maybe you can help me solve Lyre’s problem.”
“Yes!” Ione agreed eagerly. “Figure it out now!”
But Kody was cautious. There could be some better reason why the Good Magician had withheld the information. Maybe he didn’t want the child to have to serve for a year. Or maybe—
He began to get a glimmer.
“I saw it!” Ione said. “I saw the bulb flash! You got an idea!”
“I think I did,” Kody agreed. “But it’s complicated.”
Her little face clouded. “You won’t tell me?”
He felt like a heel, yet he had to follow through. “Not yet.”
“Why not?”
Maybe he could explain that much. “Because I think your talent resembles your mother’s talent. It works only if the person with you doesn’t know it. So if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to use it. At least that’s my assumption. That would explain why the Good Magician wouldn’t tell you. So it’s for your own good.”
“That’s what Mother says when she makes me take a bath! I hate it!”
“I understand your frustration. Let me see if I can make your talent work, then I’ll tell you. Is that a fair
Similar Books
