Centaur Aisle by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online

Xanth. The people know I'm not really King. They think King Trent is nearby, just giving me more practice. They won't obey me much longer."
    "Perhaps you should get help," Roland suggested. "I disapprove on principle of deception, but I think it best in this case that the people not know the gravity of the situation. Perhaps it is not grave at all; Trent may return in good order at any time. Meanwhile, the Kingdom need not be governed solely by one young man."
    "I could get help, I guess," Dor said uncertainly. "But what about King Trent?"
    "He must return by himself—or fail to. None of us can locate him in Mundania, let alone help him. This is the obvious consequence of his neglect in obtaining the prior advice of the Council of Elders. We must simply wait. He is a resourceful man who will surely prevail if that is humanly possible."
    With that Dor had to be satisfied. He was King, but he could not go against the Elders. He realized now that this was not merely a matter of law or custom, but of common sense. Any situation in Mundania that was too much for King Trent to handle would be several times too much for Dor.
    Irene was more positive than he had expected, when he gave her the news on his return. "Of course the Elders would say that. They're old and conservative. And right, I guess. We'll just have to make do until my father gets back."
    Dor didn't quite trust her change of heart, but knew better than to inquire. "Who can we get to help?" He knew it would be impossible to exclude Irene from any such activity. King Trent was, after all, her father, the one person to whom her loyalty was unfailing.
    "Oh, all the kids. Chet, Smash, Grundy—"
    "To run a Kingdom?" he asked dubiously.
    "Would you rather leave it to the Elders?"
    She had a point. "I hope the situation doesn't last long," he said.
    "You certainly don't hope it more than I do!" she agreed, and he knew that was straight from her heart.
    Irene went off to locate the people mentioned so that Dor would not arouse suspicion by doing it himself. The first she found was Grundy the Golem. Grundy was older than the others and different in several respects. He had been created as a golem, animated wood and clay and string, and later converted to full-person status. He was only a handspan tall, and spoke all the languages of all living things—which was the useful talent for which he had been created. Grundy could certainly help in solving the routine problems of Xanth. But he tended to speak too often and intemporately. In other words, he was mouthy. That could be trouble.
    "Now this is a secret," Dor explained. "King Trent is lost in Mundania, and I must run the Kingdom until he returns."
    "Xanth is in trouble!" Grundy exclaimed.
    "That's why I need your help. I don't know how much longer I'll have to be King, and I don't want things to get out of control. You generally have good information—"
    "I snoop a lot," Grundy agreed. "Very well; I'll snoop for you. First thing I have to tell you is that the whole palace is sniggering about a certain essay someone wrote for a certain female tutor—"
    "That news I can dispense with," Dor said.
    "Then there's the gossip about how a certain girl went swimming in her birthday suit, which suit seems to have stretched some since her birth, along with—"
    "That, too," Dor said, smiling. "I'm sure you comprehend my needs."
    "What's in it for me?"
    "Your head."
    "He's King, all right," the golem muttered. One of the walls chuckled.
    Irene brought in Chet. He was a centaur a little older than Dor, but he seemed younger because centaurs matured more slowly. He was Cherie's son, which meant he was highly educated but very cautious about showing any magic talent. For a long time centaurs had believed they lacked magical talents, because most creatures of Xanth either had magic or were magic. Modern information had dissipated such superstitions. Chet did have a magic talent; he could make large things small. It was a perfectly decent