Roc And A Hard Place by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

ORDINARY BERYL, THE BLUE IS AQUAMARINE, THE YELLOW HELIODOR, THE PINK MORGANTTE, AND THE RED BIXBYITE, THE RAREST BUT FOR ONE.
    “One?” Metria asked somewhat stupidly.
    BLACK BERYL.  The Simurgh twitched her head, and a bag appeared in her beak.  TAKE THIS.  The bag dropped to Metria's involuntarily outstretched hands.
    She opened the bag.  It was filled with glistening black disks.  “What am I supposed to do with this?”
    THESE ARE SUMMONS TOKENS.  YOU WILL SERVE ONE ON EACH PERSON OR CREATURE OR THING NAMED, AND WILL GUIDE THOSE WHO NEED IT TO THE NECESSARY SITE.
    Metria had never felt so stupid in her existence.  “Necessary site?”
    THE NAMELESS CASTLE.  THAT IS WHERE THE TRIAL WILL BE.
    “Trial?” She still had not caught her mental balance.
    ROXANNE ROC HAS BEEN INDICTED AND WILL BE TRIED BEFORE A JURY OF HER PEERS A FORTNIGHT HENCE.  YOU WILL SERVE SUMMONSES ON ALL PARTICIPANTS:  TRIAL PERSONNEL, WITNESSES, JURY.  YOU WILL SEE THAT THEY ARE PRESENT AT THE CORRECT TIME.  THAT IS YOUR SERVICE TO ME.
    “But Roxanne's a decent bird.  What did she do?”
    THAT WILL BE MADE EVIDENT IN THE COURSE OF THE TRIAL.
    “And how do I know whom to serve the summonses on?”
    EACH BEARS THE NAME OF THE SUMMONEE.
    “But suppose they don't want to come?”
    THAT WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM.  EACH PERSON MUST KNOWINGLY ACCEPT THE SUMMONS, AND ACKNOWLEDGE THIS TO YOU BEFORE YOU DEPART.
    “But—”
    'Give it a rest, dope!  You are trying her patience.’
    TRUE, WORSER SELF.  The great eye oriented on Metria again.  YOUR INFORMATION is NOW SUFFICIENT.  PERFORM YOUR SERVICE, GOOD DEMONESS.
    Metria realized that she had been dismissed.  She started to change into her ladder form.
    YOU MAY POP ACROSS TO XANTH.
    “Thank you,” she said, relieved, and popped off, carrying the bag of tokens.

Xanth 19 - Roc and a Hard Place
    Chapter 3:  MYSTERY.
    Metria popped across to Xanth, to her home castle, where she made her husband deliriously happy enough to leave him in a trance for several days.
    Then she considered.  She realized that there could be a good many summons tokens in the bag, and it might take time to use them all up, so she had better get them efficiently organized.  She opened the bag and spread the glistening black beryl disks on a table.
    Sure enough, there were thirty tokens, and each was inscribed with a name.  Most of the names were familiar, but some were obscure, and some amazed her.  For example, her old nemesis Demon Professor Grossclout was on a chip.
    What in Xanth could he have to do with this?  She turned over the disk, and on the other side it said JUDGE.  Oh, of course; that was the perfect role for him.  Another chip bore the name of the Simurgh herself; on the back it said WITNESS.
    She could have served that token at the outset, saving herself a difficult trip.  Then she reconsidered:  She might need to consult with the Simurgh if she couldn't find one of the people to summon, so she should save the Simurgh's own token as a pretext for that occasion.  So she put that one at the end of the line.
    One token was blank.  That was interesting.  Whom was it for?  Or was it a mistake?
    Then she got marginally smarter, and turned over all the tokens, classifying them by assignment.  There was one for Prosecutor, and another for Defense, and others for Bailiff, Special Effects, and Translator.  Translator?  She turned that one over.  It was Grundy Golem.  That figured; he could translate anything spoken by any living thing, including plants.
    Who was Special Effects?  The Sorceress Iris, mistress of illusion.  That figured too.  Someone had chosen these roles well.  Since it must have been the Simurgh herself who marked the tokens, this was no surprise; she was, after all, the wisest creature in all Xanth.
    But why did she want Roxanne Roc put on trial?  Metria's limited direct experience with the Simurgh suggested that she was a fair-minded creature, and Roxanne was a good