Man From Mundania (40 page)

for the heights of Mount Parnassus. They had to cross a

stream at its base; rather than risk wading through it, they

located a narrow place and jumped across.

"Now we'll be all right if we can avoid the Python and

the Maenads," Ivy said.

Grey could guess why a python might be awkward, but

the other wasn't clear. "What—?"

"Wild Women," she clarified.

That sounded intriguing, but he knew better than to say

so. "Suppose one of them comes upon us?"

"That depends. Electra can shock the first one, but then

she has to recharge for a day. Nada could become a big

serpent and bite one, but she would be no match for the

Python. I can do a certain amount by judicious Enhance-

ment. I could also use the magic mirror to call home, if

there was time. But of course my snoopy little brother will

be watching us on the Tapestry, and he'll alert someone

if there's trouble. Xap has been here, and could run in to

carry a couple of us away. But he really doesn't like being

limited to the ground. It will probably be best if we get

through without running into any of those creatures. Since

Clio will know we're coming and why, that should be

possible. She wouldn't wish any harm to us."

"Clio?"

"The Muse of History. Weren't you listening when we

planned this trip?"

"Uh, I hadn't caught her name."

Ivy smiled. "I was teasing. Grey. I don't expect you to

know everything about Xanth yet. Not today."

"But just wait till tomorrow!" Electra put in, laughing.

There was a clear path up the mountain. Electra led the

way, full of juvenile energy. Ivy was next, and then Grey,

with Nada bringing up the rear. They all had walking sticks

they had found at the campsite, and these were a great

help, because they walked briskly on their own, hauling

the living folk along.

They came to a fork in the path. Electra halted. "I can't

tell which one is right," she said.

"Let me check," Nada said. She became a long black

snake and slithered up past them. She paused at the fork,

184 Man from Mundania Man from Mundania 185

putting her head to one side and then the other, her tongue

flickering in and out. Then she became human again. "The

right one. The left one smells of Maenad, fairly fresh.

Let's move on quickly."

Grey would have liked to loiter, so as to catch a glimpse

of one of the Wild Women. Did they wear clothing? But

the others were evidently alarmed, so he moved along with

them.

The path became steep. Even Electra was breathing

hard. Nada gave her walking stick to Grey and assumed

her natural form: a serpent with her human head, un-

changed except that the hair was shorter. Obviously she

didn't want her hair to drag on the ground. Just as he had

tried without perfect success not to stare at Chex's bare

bosom, and not to stare at Nada's barely clothed contours

in the human state, he now tried not to stare at her incon-

gruous juxtaposition of human and reptilian parts. It was

a good thing he now believed in magic!

He offered the extra walking stick to Ivy, but she de-

clined. "I have enhanced my own endurance," she ex-

plained. Indeed, she looked relatively cool and rested.

Electra was satisfied with her single stick, scrambling ath-

letically over rocks and roots, evidently regarding the

climb as a challenge. So he took a stick in each hand, and

was propelled along by them. It was as if he had a second

set of legs.

The slope of the mountain became almost sheer, but thfr

path cut its ledge cleverly through it, and led them without

mishap to the home of the Muses. This was an ornate

building set into the steep slope, girt by stone columns

and arches and guarded by carved stone creatures. Grey

had learned enough of Xanth to realize that those statues

just might come alive and attack, if intruders misbehaved.

A woman sat in a court in front of the building. She

had a shelf of books beside her desk, and was writing with

the point of a bright feather on the middle section of a

scroll that rolled up above and below.

Ivy stepped forward. "Clio, I presume? May we speak

with you?"

The woman looked up. She was in white, and her curly

hair was verging on the same color at the fringes, but there

was an ageless look of preservation about her. There was

no telling how long she had lived or how much longer she

would live, but a fair guess might be centuries, either way.

"I am. And you would be Ivy. I was aware of your im-

pending visit; I had just not realized that this would be the

day."

"This is Grey, my betrothed from Mundania," Ivy said,

indicating Grey. "And Nada, Princess of the Naga, and

Electra, from maybe nine hundred years ago, both be-

trothed to my little brother."

Clio smiled. "Ah yes, I remember. That's in—which

volume is it? There are so many, I sometimes lose track."

Ivy stepped closer. "Are these the volumes? Maybe I'll

see the title." She peered at the shelf of books. "Isle of

View, Question Quest, The Color of Her—" She was over-

come by a rogue giggle.

"No, dear, those are future volumes," Clio said. "I

have written them, but they haven't yet happened, in your

terms. Look farther to the left."

Ivy looked to the left. "Man From Mundania—hey, does

that have anything to do with—?"

"Of course, dear," Clio replied. "And a fine volume

it is, if I do say so myself. But that is not where—"

"Oh, yes." Ivy looked again. "Heaven Cent, Vale of

the Vole, Golem in the—''

"That's it!" Clio exclaimed. "Now I remember! Heaven

Cent, when Prince Dolph went in search of the Good Ma-

gician Humfrey and got betrothed to two excellent young

women." She smiled at the two girls. "It is so nice to

meet you at last! I've written so much about you!"

Grey, meanwhile, was amazed. Several future volumes

of Xanth history had already been written? And what was

the title that had so titillated Ivy? He sidled closer, so that

he could read the words on the spines of the volumes.

"You mean you already know how it turns out with

us?" Electra asked Clio. "Which one of us married

Dolph?"

"Of course I know!" Clio said. "It is my business to

r

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186

know. That is certainly an interesting episode, and I envy

the two of you the experience of its resolution."

Grey got his eyes lined up on the titles. It was awkward,

because he was still a bit too far away, and the angle was

bad, but he was just able to piece out the words. Geis of

the Gargoyle, Harpy Thyme—but these weren't the ones

Ivy had seen!

"Do you think you could—I mean—" Electra said.

"Naturally not, dear," Clio said in her kindly fashion.

"If I told you the resolution, it would spoil it for you, and

you wouldn't like that, now would you?"

Grey realized that he was too far to the right. He was

reading titles even farther in the future! But he was head-

ing leftward, and should soon intersect the ones Ivy had

called out. Demons Don't Dream, The Color of Her—ah,

there it was at last! "Panties!" he exclaimed aloud, laugh-

ing.

There was a sudden silence as all the others looked at

him. He felt himself flushing. "Uh, I was just—"

"You really should not be peeking at future titles," Clio

said firmly. "Suppose the news got out? There could be

chaos!"

"I'm, uh, sorry," Grey said, abashed. "I won't tell, if

that helps."

She gazed at him for an uncomfortably long moment.

"There is considerable irony in that statement, do you

realize that?"

Grey spread his hands. "I, uh, no, not exactly."

Clio sighed. "My fault, perhaps; I should not have been

careless with the volumes." She touched the top of the

bookshelf, and the air before the tomes fuzzed and turned

opaque. The open shelf had become a closed shelf, a

wooden panel hiding the books. "Now, Ivy, why is it that

you came? I seem to have lost the thread again."

Ivy seemed for a moment to have lost the thread herself,

but she recovered it promptly. ' 'I want to marry Grey, but

I can't unless we find a magic talent for him, and we think

there's just a chance he might somehow have one, and

surely you know—"

"My dear, my dear!" Clio said. "I can no more tell

Man from Mundania
       
187

you in advance about Grey's talent than I can tell Nada

and Electra how their triangle with Dolph will turn out! It

would not be ethical, quite apart from the complications

of paradox."

"Oh, Clio!" Ivy said, looking woebegone. "It's so im-

portant to me! I love him, and if—"

Clio raised both hands in a stop gesture. "I understand,

Ivy, believe me I do! But this is a matter of professional

ethics. I can not compromise in this matter, no matter how

much I may wish to. This is a situation you must see

through in your own fashion."

Ivy was crying now. Grey was deeply touched to see

her break down so quickly on this issue, though he under-

stood the Muse's position. He stepped to her and enfolded

her. "She's right. Ivy! We have already seen too much.

We have no right to put her in this position."

"You are a fine young man," Clio said. "Perhaps I can

say this much: it will not be long, now."