Breanna smiled. “I really appreciate that, Sim. I have all kinds of black secrets I’d rather not share.”
Sim nodded. There seemed to be a smile on his beak.
“I love weddings,” Cynthia said. “I can hardly wait until we have one, and start our family of winged centaurs.”
“But we’re only thirteen,” Che protested.
“I was older once, so I’m entitled to romantic notions. Do you think our foal will have a separate magic talent?”
“But our talent is making things, including ourselves, light, so we can fly.”
“That’s a species talent, like walking on four feet. Do you see human beings limited to the talent of walking on two feet?”
Che glanced at Gwenny Goblin. “I agree with her,” Gwenny said. “It’s high time goblins had individual magic talents too. Why should my friend Gloha Goblin-Harpy be limited to flying?”
So he glanced at Sim, who this time projected a thought to the group: “Flying is plenty of magic for anyone.”
Gwenny made a cute moue. “That’s right—side with your own gender, bird-brain. What does Breanna say?”
“Don’t get into it,” Justin warned.
So Breanna avoided the issue. “I’m still waiting for Mundanes to find magic.”
They laughed, and moved on.
Two winged mermaids flew in, and joined the three at the moat. These were Aurora and Erica, whom the three kings knew. Soon after, another party of winged centaurs descended: the ones they had met on Mount Rushmost and gotten the lip bomb from.
Then Voracia arrived, representing the Isle of Women. And Tipsy Troll with Phil Istine, who had evidently worked things out well. And a handsome princely young man with a breathtakingly lovely young woman, who introduced themselves as Nimby and Chlorine. Justin had never heard of them, but they seemed to know everybody. He had been too long away from human society; he must have missed much. There was something odd about this couple, but he couldn’t place it. They seemed somehow too knowing.
On it went, as it seemed that just about everyone who was anyone in Xanth came to attend the wedding. All for Jenny Elf, who had arrived mostly by accident nine years before, from the World of Two Moons, with her cat Sammy, and become very popular in Xanth. Justin was glad for her, as she was certainly a nice girl. But it made him much aware of what he had missed when he became a tree. Romance, marriage, enduring human interactions. Of course he could ask Magician Trent to transform him back to man form, but to what point? He would be cripplingly old.
Everything came together on the appointed day. Justin watched the proceedings through Breanna’s eyes, and his sadness of joy increased. They had removed the stage, so that the girl did not get frightened. Jenny looked beautiful in her elfin way, and Jeremy Werewolf was darkly handsome. King Dor gave Jenny away in a royal manner, and for this occasion even the floor and furniture managed to keep their smart remarks to a minimum.
When it was done, King Dor announced that there would be a banquet for all after the reception. A reception line formed, with Jenny and Jeremy meeting the guests personally.
The worst was over. Breanna stepped back, wiping her face. “MareAnn said that women are supposed to cry at weddings,” she said. “I thought it was applesauce, but I can’t stop my eyes.”
“It is natural,” Justin said. “There is no shame in it.”
“But I don’t believe in such idiocy.”
“Under that rebellion, you are a woman.” She couldn’t know how sincerely he meant that.
“I guess I am.”
“Anyway, I must confess that some of those tears may have been mine. There is just something about a wedding.”
“For sure.”
The odd couple approached. “May we speak with you, Breanna and Justin?” the lovely woman asked. “I am Chlorine, and this is my friend Nimby.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Justin prompted Breanna, though they had already met, passingly.
“Pleased to meet you,” Breanna echoed aloud. “Sure, tell me what’s on your mind.”
“You have done Nimby a significant favor, and he wishes to give you another gift.”
“But we never met before today.”
“We have met, but you don’t remember. That’s what this concerns.”
Breanna’s confusion was one with Justin’s. “He wants to give me something?”
“The gift of memory,” Chlorine said. “On condition that you share it only with Justin.”
“Okay?” Breanna asked Justin, unsure what this could be about.
“I agree,” he said. “I am curious about this too.”
“We agree,” Breanna said.
“Look Nimby in the eye.”
Breanna and Justin looked the handsome young man in the eye. The eye seemed to expand, becoming like a portal, and through it was a scene of a lovely woman and a donkey-headed dragon and Mare Imbri. Suddenly a phenomenal memory flooded through Breanna, and through Justin too, though it had not been his experience. This was the Demon X(A/N)TH in mortal form, and he had given Breanna her talent of seeing in blackness, in exchange for the right to watch her dreams. Breanna had agreed to the deal, then had her memory of the experience deleted. This explained how a girl originating in Mundania had come to have a magic talent.
Breanna became unsteady, but Chlorine took her arm to keep her balanced. “I made the deal,” she breathed. “But then Imbri had to take away the memory, so no one would know about Nimby.”
“Yes. Thanks to you, he has at last learned to dream. He has learned that dreams are not confined to sleep; they also represent a person’s most cherished ambitions. This is so immensely valuable to him that though he will no longer watch your dreams, you may keep the talent—and the memory.”
“But I didn’t really do anything,” Breanna protested.
“You gave permission, and this was enough. That enabled him to learn what he wished to, without having to depart the Land of Xanth.”
“But if he had left, the magic would have gone too!”
“True. Most of it, at any rate. Just as the law of gravity would be repealed if the Demon E(A/R)TH departed from Mundania. The natives probably wouldn’t like that. So we prefer that the Demons not travel too much.”
“Amen!” Justin agreed.
Chlorine nodded, smiling. “We feel it appropriate for you to know the truth about Nimby. There may come times when you need to protect this knowledge from discovery elsewhere, as was the case with Magician Bink’s talent. Do not reveal Nimby’s nature to anyone else, any more than you reveal Bink’s secret.”
“You know about that?”
“Nimby knows about everything he wishes to. He thanks you for your assistance, and your discretion.”
“Gee—thanks,” Breanna said, awed. “I never dreamed—”
“You dreamed; you did not remember. And if you should ever encounter something that you suspect warrants Nimby’s attention, focus on his name, and we will soon make an appearance.” Then Chlorine looked through Breanna’s eye to Justin. “And your own dream is not necessarily foolish. It can be realized, if you find the way before this day ends.”
“But it’s impossible!” Justin protested.
“No. Merely improbable.” Then Chlorine and Nimby turned away.
“What dream?” Breanna asked.
“It’s nothing. Just a completely foolish passing fancy.”
“What dream?” she repeated more firmly.
“Please, this is nothing you wish to know about.”
“Justin, if there’s anything I really want to know about, it’s whatever some adult says I don’t want to know about. Come on—we’re about to separate, so I won’t have another chance. What was she talking about?”
He felt the pain again. “As you say, we are about to separate, our adventure together completed. There is no point in complicating it by an irrelevancy.”
Breanna paused, and he knew by her expression that she was working out a strategy. “Suppose we ex
change secrets? I’ll tell you mine, and you tell me yours.”
“No, that would not be wise.”
“Here’s mine: I don’t want you to go, Justin. I know you want to return to your tree, but I wish you would stay. I mean, beyond the adventure.”
“I would like to stay, but should not.”
“Why can’t you? I really need your guidance. You have helped me grow up so much, and besides I like your company. I like it a lot.”
“And I like yours. But you have your own life to lead, without the complication of my presence.”
“What’s your secret?”
“I did not make your deal.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“I fear you would find it dismaying.”
“Tell me, Justin. Please.”
She was bound to have it. “It’s similar in a certain respect to the situation Jenny found herself in. She—”
“She liked Jeremy too well. Justin—are you saying—?”
“I’m afraid I am. I like you too well, Breanna. So rather than embarrass you further—”
“Like a friend, or like a romance?”
“Like both. But of course that’s ludicrous, because in actuality I am neither. I am an adviser and vicarious adventurer.”
“But I’m young and impulsive and militant, and sometimes I blow up for no good reason.”
“And I am old and staid and a tree, and sometimes I become too dictatorial in my advice. So there is no point in further discussion.”
Another guest was approaching. “This isn’t finished,” Breanna said, and turned to meet the other.
But it soon would be, he knew. Perhaps that was just as well.
It turned out to be a pair of guests: Xeth and Zyzzyva Zombie. They were well-dressed, and looked very good, considering. He was in a suit and was handsome in a pale way, while she was in a low-cut formal gown that was attracting many gazes. Justin suspected that many guests did not even realize that these were zombies.
“We want to thank you for your timely help,” Xeth said. “You introduced us.”
“Well I just—you know,” Breanna said, embarrassed.
“Whatever your motive, we appreciate the result,” Zyzzyva said. “We thank Justin Tree too.”
“You are welcome,” Justin said through Breanna’s mouth.
The couple moved on, mingling with the guests without awkwardness, and Justin was glad that Breanna had made an issue and gotten them admitted. They were well-preserved zombies—the very best preserved—and their nature hardly showed, but the principle was a good one. Breanna’s surprising liberalization about zombies was carrying him along; zombies were indeed worthy folk in their own right.
“Now about that discussion,” Breanna said to him. “I thought you were mostly putting up with me, for the sake of having your adventure. I thought we got along well because you are so good at smoothing over my outbursts. At hiding your own feelings of disgust, and coming up with reasonable ways to interpret what you know is crazy, so I won’t feel bad. Even when I went nuts and told you to go, you forgave me, instead of taking the chance to bug out. I thought you thought I was pretty much of a snot.”
“I never thought that!”
“Well, even if I was a perfect teen, there’d be things you’d find ridiculous. And I know I’m not perfect. That’s why I need your guidance. You helped me get over my prejudice and be a better person. You never even saw me as black.”
“As what?”
“That’s my point. Maybe it’s because you’re a tree. You understand about being different.”
“But you’re not different, except in your inimitable character, which always did appeal to me. Your charmingly direct manner—”
“I’m just better with you than without you. That’s why I wanted to keep you.”
“I can appreciate that. But now that you know my failing, there is no need to—”
“Failing?”
“I have admitted that I failed to maintain a proper objectivity with respect to your person. To keep the necessary emotional distance. This places you in an unfairly awkward position. It is in fact a tacit violation of the Adult Conspiracy. So it seems best to disengage immediately.”
“Let’s see if I have this straight: you like me, so you want to leave?”
“That is essentially it, though I would use the word ‘need’ rather than ‘want.’ I need to vacate before I corrupt you.”
“Corrupt me! Justin, you never did anything of the kind! You helped me grow up where I needed to.”
“And now, by my transgression of emotion, I threaten to force on you the kind of awareness you should not yet encounter. I fear I have already said too much.”
She pondered a moment. “I have to tell, you, Justin, I wasn’t, as you would put it, entirely candid with you either.”
“You have been more than polite, considering the affront.”
“I said I like you. Like you a lot. But that’s an understatement, hiding the truth. I’ve got a Jenny problem too.”
“You are a good friend. Unfortunately I spoiled it. I wish you well with the man whose interest you seek.”
Her bosom heaved. “I was right: you don’t understand about that. But now I’ll tell you. There is no man. Not like that, I mean. Justin, I think I love you.”
“That is the very corruption that must be avoided! You can’t—”
“Damn it, Justin, give me credit for knowing what I’m talking about. It isn’t just storks or sex, it’s love, and I think I know it when I feel it. I think I’m feeling it.”
He was almost dumbfounded. “That isn’t possible, at your age and my circumstance. You mistake a passing fancy for—”
“The hell I do! I don’t want to keep you because you give me good advice. I want to keep you because I can’t stand to lose you. But I didn’t want to be a brat about hanging on to you, when I know I’m just a child in your eyes. When I thought you were just being diplomatic, encouraging me so as not to hurt my feelings. I guess that’s why I blew up at you: I was mad because of the futility of my interest. But now that I know you care—”
“Oh, I do, Breanna! But this is absolute foolishness. We are merely mind companions. We can never be more.”
Her jaw set. “I want to make love with you.”
Justin reeled, mentally, emotionally. “This—this—even if it were possible, it would be forbidden, because—”
“I’m the one who rejected the Adult Conspiracy, remember? I think a girl is old enough if she thinks she is. If she knows what it’s all about. I do know. And if she wants to. And I do want to. With you.”
“This is unacceptable. Your age—”
“Justin, if I were old enough, would you do it?”
It was as though he were sailing in a tiny boat on a treacherous sea in a storm. He wanted to be honest, but it was difficult. “I must confess I would want to. But even so, I wouldn’t be able to. My age—”
“If you were young again.”
“But I’m not young, and in any event any such speculation would be corruptive to your innocence.”
“$$$$!”
The obscene expletive almost blew him away. “Breanna, please!”
“Then stop pretending I’m innocent. You can’t corrupt me, because I already know the forbidden words and deeds. Do you want me to spell out exactly how folk summon the stork?”
He knew she wasn’t bluffing. “I spoke figuratively. I am aware that you brought the knowledge with you from Mundania. But in experience, in this respect, you are innocent, and it would be a violation for me to even suggest that you take any such action with anyone.”
“All I want is a straight answer to a straight question. I think you owe me that much.”
He capitulated. “If I were young, and you of age, and you wished to, yes, I would do it. Not because of the personal pleasure there might be, but because the sweetest thing I can imagine is simply loving you and being loved by you. But since you are too young, and I too old, it is
no fit subject for speculation.”
“Well, I’m brash and impulsive, and I have a notion.”
“I must confess that it is your very boldness and animation that draws me to you. Life with you could never be dull, regardless of the surrounding circumstances. What is your notion?”
“We must talk with the Zombie Master again.”
“With Jonathan? How could that relate?”
“Let’s find out.” She marched across the hall to where the Zombie Master and Millie the Ghost were standing.
“Why hello, Breanna,” Millie said. “It is so nice to see you again. We enjoyed your visit to Castle Zombie so much. You must come again.”
“Maybe I will, thanks.” She turned to the Zombie Master. “You’re going to retire, aren’t you?”
“When the Good Magician procures a suitable replacement for me,” he agreed.
“And for me,” Millie said. “We thought that Bink and Chameleon might be the ones, but it turns out that they aren’t interested.”
Breanna nodded. “How about Justin Tree?”
The Zombie Master shook his head. “He is almost as old as I am, apart from his vegetable state.”
“For sure. But would he be good to do the job, apart from that? If he resumed human form?”
The Zombie Master considered her question seriously. “Yes, I believe he would. If he were interested. But the age—it does need to be a much younger person.”
“Someone Bink’s age?”
“Yes. His present physical age. He is of course much older mentally.” Then he did a double-take. “Are you suggesting that Justin take the elixir of youth, as Bink did?”
“Yeah.”
“I think the Good Magician would provide it, for that purpose,” Millie said. “But there would still need to be a woman. The castle—the situation—would be too lonely otherwise. The zombies mean well, but they aren’t good company on cold evenings.”
“How about a woman of eighteen, three years from now?”
The Zombie Master looked blank, but Millie understood immediately. “Oh, Breanna, yes! That would be beautiful. You have already done so much for the zombies.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m the zombie lover. But it’s not just for them. It’s because I want Justin. I want him human and young. As he could be, if someone with some clout spoke for him. I thought that maybe if you put in a word to the Good Magician—”
Zombie Lover Page 32
