Knot Gneiss by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

Companions, at least for a while. So I came.”
    “How can you help us?” Meryl asked.
    “I don’t know. But I’ll try.”
    That seemed to be it. They had another Companion, if not exactly by mutual choice. At least Dipper would not need a bed; he was satisfied to perch on a convenient rung.
    They were about to settle down for the night, when two more people appeared. “Charming!” Wenda cried joyfully.
    “Eris!” Jumper cried similarly.
    The Demoness had promised to visit and bring Charming too; that had slipped Wenda’s mind for the moment. She was about to try to explain to Meryl, but then she found herself alone with Charming in a curtained room sectioned around a bed. He kissed her and caught hold of her backside. First things first, of course.
    In seven minutes he was asleep beside her. Then the curtains faded and he was gone. She saw that Jumper was similarly asleep on the other bed. Eris was gone too.
    “Fascinating,” Meryl said. “What happened?”
    “I think we blinked,” Dipper said. “Suddenly they were asleep on the beds.”
    Wenda realized that the Demoness had frozen time for the remaining two. They did not know the whole or even the half or quarter what had happened. Maybe that was just as well. “I think they are just trying out the beds,” she said. “I will tell Jumper to move.”
    She went and touched Jumper’s shoulder, waking him. “You said you’d use the hay,” she reminded him.
    “Oh. Yes,” he agreed, catching on. Then he smiled. “There was a time when you would have said ‘Yew said yew’d yews the hay.’ I miss that accent.”
    “So do I. I’ll be sure to take it back when the mission is done.”
    “Something happened,” Meryl said suspiciously.
    It seemed better to explain. “Jumper and I are married. Our spouses made conjugal visits. You and Dipper were suspended for the duration.”
    “Conjugal visits!”
    “Spouses get restive if neglected,” Jumper said.
    “I wish I had an ardent spouse,” Meryl said.
    “Quests can be good for meeting potential spouses. Wenda and I met ours last year during my Quest.”
    “Just what was your Quest?”
    “I had to splice together the cable that brings the magic of gravity from Mundania. Wenda and the Princesses Dawn and Eve helped. It was quite a challenge.”
    “And you met the Demoness on the way?”
    “Yes. It was a convoluted adventure.”
    Meryl shrugged. “Maybe there’ll be a convolution for me along the way.”
    “It’s certainly possible,” Wenda said. “Now we need to get to sleep. We may have a big day tomorrow.”
    They did that without further ceremony.

3
    P RINCESS I DA
    In the morning, after a bit of maneuvering so that neither Jumper nor Meryl saw the other bare, they washed, breakfasted, and resumed travel.
    Jumper turned back to a small spider and jumped to Wenda’s hair. Wenda packed his fallen clothes and got on her bicycle. Meryl and Dipper flew into the sky. They were on their way.
    But still Wenda wondered: How could Princess Ida, a mature woman of forty-one and a Sorceress, possibly be interested in joining such a motley crew? A woodwife, a spider, a flying mermaid, and a swimming bird. None of them were fully human, while Ida was completely human, and the twin sister of King Ivy. It seemed impossible.
    Yet the Good Magician had said to ask her. He had to know something Wenda did not.
    The high turrets of Castle Roogna came into view. Wenda quailed, but kept cycling. All she could do was ask.
    They came to the orchard surrounding the castle. Meryl and Dipper flew down to join them. Meryl caught hold of Wenda’s bike for support, and Dipper perched on her shoulder. Evidently the two had gotten to know each other during the flight, and were getting along well.
    “I’m not sure I should go in,” Meryl said. “I’d have to fly, and that means bare. They might not approve.”
    Wenda saw her point. Still, she preferred to have her Companions with her, if only for moral support. What to