"Quite right," Morwen said approvingly. "You have a good head on your shoulders, young man. What's this?" She held up a sharp-edged black pebble.
"It's a piece of stone I found in the Caves of Fire and Night," Cimorene said.
"Where, exactly?"
"In the King's Cave," Cimorene said. "Morwen, shouldn't we do something about that spell Zemenar mentioned?"
Alianora was watching the sky, shading her eyes with her hand.
"Woraug's nearly halfway to the mountain," she said anxiously.
"Good," said Morwen, though neither Cimorene nor Alianora could tell which of them she was talking to. The witch shook her wet robes and walked over to the patch of dead moss where the wizards had been working, picking her way carefully past little piles of robes and staffs. Cimorene followed. In the center of the brown area was a black stone the size of Cimorene's fist. A web of yellow-green light flickered across its smooth surface.
"Sloppy," Morwen said. "Very sloppy. Though I'm not surprised.
Wizards always seem to depend on brute force when a little subtlety would be far more effective." She fingered Cimorene's pebble for a moment, then reached out and dropped it on top of the wizards' stone.
There was a noise like a great deal of popcorn all popping at once, and the light that flickered over the black stone spat yellow-green sparks in all directions. Alianora jumped and backed away. Cimorene would have liked to do the same, but she did not want to give Morwen a bad impression of her courage, so she stayed where she was.
The sparks died, and the flickering light went out. From the sky high above came a faint shriek of surprise and rage. Cimorene looked up and saw three black specks in the sky. No, not three: four, and the two escort dragons were swooping to catch the speck that was Colin's Stone, which Woraug had just dropped.
Cimorene gave a sigh of relief and looked at Morwen. "So much for Woraug and the wizards," she said. "We didn't even need the fireproofing spell. What did you do?"
"And what happens now?" Alianora added.
"Duck," said Morwen, and threw herself sideways into the bushes.
"Wha-" said the stone prince, and then he and Cimorene and Alianora were engulfed by a blast of dragon fire.
The stone prince leaped in front of the two princesses, but he was much too late to protect them. Fortunately the fireproofing spell was still in effect, and neither of them even felt warm, though Alianora lost the ends of her sleeves and Cimorene's hemline rose six scorched inches.
"I knew I shouldn't have said that about the fireproofing spell," Cimorene muttered.
With a wordless snarl and a thunder of wings, Woraug landed just in front of the little group.
"You!" he shouted when he saw Cimorene. "I might have known it would be you!" Flame shot from his mouth once more, but it was just as useless as it had been the first time.
Cimorene glanced up and saw one of the escort dragons spiraling down to see what was going on. "You might as well give up, Woraug," she said, hoping to distract the angry dragon long enough for help to arrive.
"You can't be King of the Dragons now."
"I'll tear you limb from limb!" Woraug raged. "Every last one of you!"
One arm shot out as he spoke, and shining silver claws snapped around the stone prince's waist.
Alianora screamed.
"Hurry up!" Cimorene shouted at the dragon in the sky.
The dragon heard and dove toward them, but he was not fast enough.
Woraug shoved the stone prince into his mouth and bit down hard. An instant later he howled in pain and spat out the prince and four teeth.
"What is all this?" said the escort dragon, landing carefully beside Woraug. The clearing was getting rather crowded.
"A plot to cheat on the test to see who the next King of the Dragons will be," Cimorene said. "Woraug was in it, and a lot of wizards."
"Are you all right?" Alianora asked the stone prince, who was just picking himself up. His stone was black in places from the dragon fire, but otherwise he seemed unhurt.
"More or less," the stone prince said. "But just look what that fire did to my clothes! And that dragon's put a chip in my sleeve. What am I supposed to do about that? It's not as if I can just change clothes when I get home, you know."
"That's ridiculous!" the escort dragon told Cimorene. "No dragon would cooperate with wizards. I don't see any wizards, either. I think you're making it up."
"Of course you don't see any wizards," Cimorene said, feeling very cross. "We melted them."
"Melted them?"
"where do you think those staffs came from?" Cimorene pointed at the wizards' staffs lying across the scattered brown puddles.
The dragon backed up a pace and sniffed experimentally.
"It's all quite true," Morwen said, poking her head out of the bushes.
"And we'll be more than happy to explain the whole thing to your new King as soon as you have one. Provided, of course, that you take that maniac away before he burns the whole Enchanted Forest to the ground."
She gestured at Woraug. "Cimorene, I really must insist on getting a copy of that fireproofing spell. It will clearly be worth every minute of the months of hunting it will take me to find some hens' teeth, and I may as well get started as soon as I can."
"who's that?" said the escort dragon. "Morwen? That does it! This is too much for me. I'm taking you all into custody until the trials are over and the King can sort it out. Come along."
"I assume that doesn't apply to me," Woraug rumbled. He winced as he spoke.
"It certainly does," the escort dragon said. "I said all, and I meant all. If I'd meant 'all the humans,' I'd have said 'all the humans,' or maybe 'some of you' or 'you over there' or 'all you non-dragons' on" "Nonsense!" Woraug interrupted. "Don't you know who I am?"
"You're the dragon who caused a ruckus just now for no reason I can see," the escort dragon replied. "And it's my duty and my job to take you into custody. When the trials are over, you can explain it to the King, and if I've done something wrong, well, I'll take what I have coming. And if I haven't, you'll take yours. And-" "All right, all right," Woraug said. "But I warn you, you'll regret this."
"That's as may be," the escort dragon said with dignity. "Right now, though, you're in custody along with the rest of these people, and you'd better not go snacking on any of them until things are sorted out. I saw what you did to the gray one."
"Did you?" said the stone prince. "Then what are you going to do about this chip in my sleeve?"
"Tell it to the King," the escort dragon advised. "Now, off we go, the lot of you."
Morwen came cautiously out of the bushes, brushing leaves from her already wet black robes. She stopped and peered at the escort dragon over the tops of her glasses. "This has not been a good day for anyone's clothes," she said severely. "I shall send the cleaning bill to your king."
"Whatever you want," the escort dragon said impatiently. "Come on."
Scowling furiously, Woraug marched off into the forest. The stone prince and Alianora followed, talking in low voices. Morwen paused to pick up the wizards' black rock and Cimorene's pebble, then went on after them.
Cimorene hesitated.
"Go on," said the escort dragon.
"I will, but I think you ought to know that another batch of wizards is supposed to show up soon," Cimorene said. "Zemenar said something about a second shift. I don't know what they can do without the stone they were using, but I'm sure they'll try something."
"Wizards always do," the escort dragon said with a sigh. He studied the wizards' staffs that were lying around the clearing with a melancholy air.
"All right, I'll send someone back to keep an eye on things as soon as we get to the ford. Whatever was going on here, there certainly were wizards in it, and that's enough for me."
"Good," said Cimorene. "And thank you." She smiled at the startled expression on the dragon's face and started after the others.
15
In Which the Dragon
s Crown a New King, and Cimorene Gets a New Job
The walk to the Ford of Whispering Snakes took longer than Cimorene expected. The trees of the Enchanted Forest grew close together in many places, forcing the dragons to take a zigzag path instead of heading straight up the bank of the river. Woraug, who was in the lead, seemed to be deliberately setting a slow pace. Cimorene was sure he was hoping that the second shift of wizards would arrive at the blackberry clearing before the dragons at the ford had been warned.
She had no idea what would happen then, but she doubted that it would be good. The escort dragon was not interested in Cimorene's worries, however, and he refused to speed things up, so the group ambled on.
As they approached the ford at last, they heard cheering ahead of them.
Woraug flinched visibly, and Alianora and the stone prince were startled out of their quiet conversation.
"What's that?" Alianora said.
"Sounds to me as if we have a new King," the escort said with great satisfaction. "That means I can get you lot off my hands right away.
What a relief! I thought I was going to be stuck with you for hours."
Alianora looked faintly indignant at this unflattering opinion. Morwen was merely amused. Woraug's wings sagged momentarily, but then he seemed to pull himself back together, and he continued on as confidently as ever. Cimorene's concern deepened. What if Woraug managed to convince the new King that they were all lying?
They reached the edge of the cheering crowd of dragons. "Who did it?" the escort dragon asked. "Who's the new King?"
"How should I know?" the other responded. "I can't see a thing from way out here."
"You'll find out soon enough," the escort dragon said. Then he raised his voice and shouted, "Make way! Coming through! Prisoners for the King! Make way!"
The crowd of dragons parted reluctantly, and the escort dragon herded the group forward, still shouting. They made their way through the cheering dragons until they reached the edge of the river. "Stand away!" shouted someone in the crowd. "Stand away for the King!"
The nearby dragons drew back, leaving Woraug, the escort dragon, and Cimorene and her friends standing by themselves on the trampled moss.
As the dragons moved away, Cimorene caught sight of Kazul, lying comfortably beside the river. "Kazul!" Cimorene cried, and ran forward.
"Are you all right?"
A mottled dragon standing beside Kazul shifted and flicked his tail angrily at Cimorene. "You should say 'Your Majesty,'" he said with a warning scowl.
"Don't be ridiculous, Frax. She's my princess," Kazul said. "I'm quite all right, Cimorene. What are you doing here?"
"You're the new King of the Dragons?" Cimorene said in astonishment.
"But-but when you left this morning, you could barely fly! How did you get Colin's Stone all the way from here to the Vanishing Mountain?"
"Colin's Stone apparently does more than merely pick out the right King," Kazul said. "The minute I picked it up, I felt fine."
"This is impossible? Woraug said.
"Are you accusing me of fraud?" Kazul asked mildly.
"He'd better not," Cimorene said. "He's the one who was cheating, with the help of Zemenar and the rest of the wizards."
"Really," Kazul said in tones of great interest.
"It's all nonsense," Woraug declared. "The girl's just trying to attract attention."
"Really," Kazul said again, and smiled, displaying all her silver teeth.
"Oh, come now, Kazul. Surely you won't take a mere princess's word over mine," Woraug said.
"That depends entirely on what she says. Tell us about it, Princess," Kazul commanded.
So Cimorene told them. She brought the stone prince forward to explain what he had overheard the wizards and Woraug discussing in the banquet hall, and she made Alianora tell everyone about melting wizards with wash water and lemon juice. She told about getting to the Ford of Whispering Snakes on the first feather and being unable to convince any of the dragons to listen to her. She told about going to Morwen's house to find out where the wizards were, and about using the last feather to get to the wizards and melt them. She described Zemenar's unexpected appearance and subsequent melting, and the way Morwen had broken the wizards' spell, and she finished with an account of Woraug's futile attack.
"And then he landed"-Cimorene waved in the direction of the escort dragon-"and decided to bring us all back here. And I think somebody ought to go back to that clearing where the blackberries are before the next batch of wizards arrives. I don't know what they'll do when they find out what's happened, but…"
"Yes, I see," said Kazul. She turned to a pale green dragon beside her.
"Yes, Your Majesty," said the pale dragon with a fierce grin.
"Surely you don't believe this!" Woraug said.
Kazul stared at Woraug without saying anything, and the dragons around the edge of the circle rattled their scales.
"Ah-Your Majesty," Woraug added hastily.
"Why should I disbelieve it?" Kazul said, still watching Woraug.
"The whole thing is preposterous!" Woraug said. "How could wizards do anything to affect Colin's Stone? Your Majesty."
Kazul looked at Cimorene.
"I'm sorry, Kazul," Cimorene said, shaking her head. "I know what the wizards were trying to do, but I don't have the slightest idea how they were doing it."
"I believe I can explain that, Your Majesty," Morwen said. She stepped forward, tossing and catching the wizards' black rock casually in her right hand. "They were using this. I believe you'll find that it comes from the Caves of Fire and Night. From the King's Cave, in fact, where Colin's Stone was found. And one of the properties of the Caves of Fire and Night is that you can use one piece to cast spells which affect similar pieces."
'Just the way that impossible book says!" Cimorene exclaimed.
"DeMontmorency? Yes, I suppose he is fairly impossible," Morwen said.
"Is this sufficiently similar to Colin's Stone that the wizards could have affected the stone through it?" Kazul asked.
"Certainly, Your Majesty," Morwen said.
"This is-" Woraug began.
"-ridiculous, impossible, and unbelievable," Kazul said. "You've said that already. But I haven't heard you say anything particularly convincing in support of that attitude."
"Oh, really, Your Majesty!" Woraug said. "Next you'll be saying I poisoned King Tokoz!"
"It doesn't seem likely," Kazul admitted, "since Tokoz was poisoned with dragonsbane, and dragons can't get anywhere near the stuff without feeling the effects."
"What if Zemenar made a… a dragonsbane-proof packet for him to carry it in?" Cimorene said, thinking of the bag Antorell had been carrying when she and Alianora met him in the valley. "Something that would melt when he dropped it in the King's coffee."
"I suppose it's possible," Kazul said. "But there's no evidence at all that Zemenar did any such thing."
"What would it have looked like?" Alianora asked suddenly. "Would it have been something like a very large tea bag?"
Everyone turned to look at Alianora. "I think that would have worked quite well, Princess," Kazul said. "Why do you ask?"
"Because Woraug had something like that with him when he went to see King Tokoz the night before the King was killed," Alianora said. "I saw it."
An angry muttering ran through the crowd of dragons.
"Lies!" Woraug snarled. "They're all lies!"
"Are they?" Kazul said coldly. "I don't think so. You must have wanted to be King very badly indeed."
"I-" Woraug darted a glance around the circle of dragons. What he saw did not appear to reassure him. "No!"
"Consorting with wizards, killing the King, and plotting to cheat in the trials with Colin's Stone," Kazul said as if Woraug had not spoken.
"Hardly proper behavior for a dragon."
The crowd muttered agreement. Cimorene looked from Woraug to Kazul and back. Woraug appeared to be terrified of something, but Cimorene coul
d not tell what it was. He crouched and seemed to shrink away from Kazul, drawing his wings in close and making himself as small as possible. Cimorene blinked. It was remarkable how much smaller Woraug could make himself look. In fact…
"He's shrinking!" Cimorene exclaimed.
"No!" Woraug cried again, but it was much too late. He shrank faster and faster, his wings melting into ridges along his back and his claws retracting.
He was barely as tall as Cimorene's shoulder. Then, with a sudden shiver, he collapsed in on himself. A small rain of scales pattered to the ground. A moment later, an extremely warty toad with angry red eyes crawled clumsily out of the center of the pile.
"Is that is that Woraug?" Alianora asked in a hushed tone.
The toad turned and glared at her, and she stepped back a pace. The stone prince put a protective arm around Alianora's shoulders and glared back at the toad.
"Behave, or I'll step on you," he said.
"Yes, it's Woraug," Kazul said. She sounded almost sad. "That's what happens when a dragon stops acting like a dragon."
The toad turned his glare in Kazul's direction, then hopped off and disappeared among the stones along the riverbank.
Alianora shuddered. Kazul studied her for a moment. "You were Woraug's princess, weren't you? I'm sorry about all this, but it couldn't be helped. It won't take long to find you another dragon."
"I don't think you have to worry about finding her another dragon," Cimorene said. She had been watching Alianora and the stone prince, and an idea had occurred to her.
"What? Why not?" said Kazul.
"Because the stone prince fought with Woraug, and Woraug certainly didn't win. Doesn't that mean that he gets to rescue Woraug's princess?"
"I'm not sure the rules cover this situation at all," Kazul said. "But it sounds reasonable enough, and under the circumstances I doubt that anyone will object. Unless of course she does."
"Oh!" said Alianora, and blushed a rosy red. "No, I don't object at all!"
"Are you sure?" the stone prince said anxiously. "You won't mind waiting a while to marry me? I mean, if you're willing to marry me? You needn't, you know, if the idea doesn't appeal to you."
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