Six Crystal Princesses

  A Xanth novel

  Piers Anthony

  Chapter 1

  Mission

  Vinia sat beside Prince Ion as he slept, holding his hand. His hair was blond, and so were his eyes when open, in contrast to her dull brown eyes. He was a year younger than she, but a bit larger in body. She loved him, but that was only part of it. She needed to be close to him, because she was hyperallergic, and his ambiance abolished all allergens, so she could, literally, breathe freely only in his presence. Connecting with him had opened much of the cosmos to her, literally. He was a prince and a Magician, while she was nothing, but he loved and valued her. They were perfect for each other and had known it from the first moment they interacted, two years before.

  Vinia smiled reminiscently. They had met, and she had learned that he was disabled. There had been an accident that crushed his legs, and he had not been able to use healing elixir to fix them because he was immune to all elixirs, good and bad. But she knew she could fix that, in her fashion, because of her telekinesis. She had put her hands on him and lifted him up, using her magic to make his legs support him. Then she had realized that in her excitement she had committed a social breach, touching a prince when she herself was the commonest of commoners, and tried to apologize. But he, pleased with the ability to stand that she brought him, had kissed her to shut her up. Then he started to demur, feeling that she would not want to associate with someone who couldn’t walk, until she kissed him back to shut him up. Then they had gazed into each other’s eyes, and kissed a third time, mutually impelled—and a little heart had flown up. They were only nine and ten at the time, but the hearts always knew: they were for each other. The others with them had seen the heart and accepted its message. They had been happily together ever since. His family accepted her, especially his sister, Hilda, a princess and Sorceress in her own right, because she truly loved her brother and wanted him to be happy, and Vinia’s presence had lifted a burden from her.

  But Vinia had a problem. She and Ion formed a tightly knit quartet with Hilda and her boyfriend, Benny. Benny was one of the Animalia, a human/Caprine crossbreed. Benny had known of Vinia, who had visited the planet Animalia as a tourist and stayed because she loved the human/Equine folk, loving horses though she could not get out to ride one because of the allergies. He had brought Ion and Hilda to meet Vinia, and there followed what followed. That was why Vinia liked Benny. He was pleasant and personable and helpful, but it was that giant favor he had done her that won her unending gratitude. Now she had a life!

  She looked again at Ion. In perhaps seven years the two of them would be of age, and probably he would marry her, and she would become a princess. But that wasn’t what brought her the main joy. It was that he truly needed her, as she needed him; they were a perfect complementary couple. To need and be needed, that was the essence. All else was secondary.

  But that was also the problem. Hilda had sewn Benny a thinking cap. That was her talent as a Sorceress; she could sew things with marvelous magic. She had made Ion a little magic carpet, which he had used to travel everywhere. If Hilda sewed a woman a kitchen apron, that person became a phenomenal cook. If she sewed a party dress, the girl who wore it became so sexy as to freak out any man in range.

  Benny had tried out the thinking cap, of course. And come privately to Vinia. “My first idea: Hilda could sew Ion a pair of walking socks,” he said. “Like walking boots, only these would fit under the boots. They should enable him to walk on his own.”

  Vinia felt a nasty chill. With such socks, Ion would no longer need her!

  “I see you understand,” he said. “I haven’t mentioned this idea to anyone. I needed to talk to you first.”

  “Yes. Thank you,” she responded, stricken. “Please, I need some time to think about it.”

  “I will not mention it to anyone else. It is your decision.” For Benny was the soul of discretion, and he never betrayed his friends.

  Now Vinia was thinking about it. She wanted what was best for Ion, of course, but this might make him better off without her. That could destroy her. If the idea had occurred two years ago, before she had fallen totally in love with him, maybe she could have survived it, but now she knew that without Ion she would not want to live. Her choice was stark: tell him, and lose him and herself, or be silent, carrying the guilt of her secret. It was overwhelming.

  Ion woke. “Vinia!” he exclaimed. “You’re crying. Did I do something to hurt you?”

  “Oh no, no, Ion,” she said immediately. “You are blameless.”

  “I had an awful dream that I lost you. Oh, Vin, I couldn’t stand that. I couldn’t be happy without you.”

  She had to tell him. “Hilda could sew you a pair of walking socks, so you could walk on your own. Then you wouldn’t need me anymore.”

  He gazed at her half a moment. “Oh, Vin, put your dear mind at rest. We thought of that long ago and tried it. But the socks had wills of their own, going where they wanted to go regardless what I wanted, and sometimes they tripped, dumping me. We knew early on it was no go.” He took a breath. “But more important, do you think I need you only for your telekinesis? I love you! You support me so much more than physically. If I could walk on my own, I would still want to walk with you. The only way we’ll ever separate is if you tire of me.”

  “Oh, no, never!”

  “So Hilda sewed me the flying carpet. She had a better template for that, and it was more responsive to my will, and I was quite satisfied with it, until you came on the scene. The socks were more ad hoc, and unruly.” He looked at her sharply. “Did you really think that I would dump you if I found a better way to walk?”

  Vinia had thought that. She should have known better. Ion was way finer than that. She had judged him unfairly. “I’m so ashamed,” she sobbed.

  “Yet you told me anyway.”

  “I had to.” Her shame was forming a little cloud around her.

  Ion nodded. “Come here,” he said, reaching for her.

  She joined him, lying on the bed, and cried into his shoulder while he held her close. Gradually she subsided into sleep. Her last thought was how adults seemed to think that children lacked real emotions, such as love. How wrong they were!

  In the morning Vinia woke to Ion’s kiss. “I will explain to Benny,” he said. “Then we need discuss this no further.” Because he was sparing her the embarrassment of her confusion.

  They talked with Benny and Hilda. Benny looked like a young human man, but he was only one-third human, two-thirds Caprine, and could change to goat form when he chose. He was adult, but this required some interpretation, because while a human person was considered adult at age eighteen, a goat was adult at age three. Each Caprine year was equivalent to about six human years, at least in youth. Thereafter the ratio diminished, further complicating the comparison. Since he was a crossbreed, his age was a matter of opinion. He looked twenty-four, but chronologically he was six. Crossbreed math was recognized, so he was accepted as adult, but he had existed only a bit more than half as long as Hilda. The others understood this and were mum about it, as there was no point in confusing strangers, and there were times when his being recognized as adult was useful.

  All the Animalia were considered animals, without the rights of humans, and all desired to achieve those rights by breeding children who would be more than half human, and thus recognized as human. Benny had been assigned to accompany Hilda on planet Animalia, to assist her in any way she needed, but also perhaps to persuade her to remain there and breed with him when she came of age. Any children of theirs would be two-thirds human. So he was highly personable, handsome as a man, with a white stripe on his brown hair that lent it character. Vinia had once seen a picture of Benny’s ancestors, and one was a Toggenburg goat with a similar stripe. He had a neat goatee.

  What, then, of his being constantly close to Hilda? Here again his Animalian training and discipline counted. He had the physical capabilities of an adult man, but Benny never treated Hilda with anything but absolute respect. The only time when she was annoyed with him was when she wanted to know what was on the other side of the dread Adult Conspiracy to Keep Interesting Things from Children. He knew but declined to tell her. Her folks knew he honored the Conspiracy, which was why they trusted him.

  “So you see,” Ion concluded, “your thinking cap is as yet new, and not all its ideas are fully informed. This one was not apt, but the next one may be. We do appreciate your courtesy in telling Vinia privately, so that she could think it through and make her own decision. She decided to tell me.” He did not mention the rest of it.

  “I see that now,” Benny said. “Thank you for clarifying it.”

  “There is no need to discuss the matter any further,” Ion said. That was code for keep your mouth shut, and Benny would honor it. There was a fair amount of silence in their tightly knit quartet.

  “Do we have any other business?” Hilda inquired. This was her way of suggesting that they change the subject.

  “If I may,” Vinia said tentatively.

  “Of course you may,” Hilda said. “You’re our dearest girl. Out with it.”

  “I have long been curious how your parents met. They seem so happy with each other, with never a hesitation or quarrel. Is there some secret there for the rest of us, when our time comes?”

  Hilda smiled. “Hardly. It was sheer compli
cated chance that brought them together, and even when they were together, they didn’t know they were destined for each other, even though they were betrothed as infants.”

  “How could that be?” Vinia asked in genuine wonder.

  “It’s a long story. The essence is that they ran afoul of forget whorls left over when the big forget spell on the Gap Chasm dissipated and forgot. Our father, Hilarion, set out looking for his betrothed, but forgot his age and her name, so he seemed to be a generation younger than she and did not recognize her. Ida, our mother, meanwhile set out to see the Good Magician Humfrey. On the way there she got lost, and at one point was captured by a dragon and frozen in a crystal along with half a dozen other princesses. She was rescued by chance and continued her excursion. Then she traveled to Castle Roogna and met her sister, Princess Ivy, only then discovering that she herself was a princess. Then the little moon Ptero came to orbit her head, representing her Sorceress-level talent of the Idea. All the ideas and all the people who had ever existed or might have existed in Xanth were to be found on Ptero and its moons and could be met if a person arranged to adapt and visit. Ida met Prince Hilarion and liked the young man. Then they discovered that he was her age and her betrothed. They kissed and that was it. They have been happy together ever since.”

  Vinia was perplexed. “I thought that in Xanth men had sons and women had daughters, as indicated by the first letter of their names. Shouldn’t you, Hilda, begin with an I for Ida, and Ion begin with an H for Hilarion?”

  Ion laughed. “We guess that this was a trace effect of their original confusion. Somehow the names got mixed up, and it can’t be changed. We’re satisfied, regardless. Or maybe I am my mother’s son, and Hilda is her father’s daughter. It seems it can happen, even in Xanth.”

  “Or at least in our adjacent Kingdom of Adamant,” Hilda said.

  “Weird,” Vinia said, laughing.

  “But it still leaves us bored with palace life, with the obsequious servants and set routines that keep us constantly on show as useless royalty,” Hilda said. “I miss the kind of adventures we had two years ago, when we got loose on our own. I wish we had a pretext to get out and go on a Quest or something.”

  Benny put on his thinking cap. A light bulb flashed over his head. “I have an idea,” he announced.

  Hilda fondly touched his hand. “As if that wasn’t brightly evident. What is it?”

  “Those other six crystallized princesses—were they rescued?”

  “No, only Ida. It was mostly an accident that broke open her crystal.”

  “Then shouldn’t they be rescued too? Aren’t they similarly deserving?”

  The others shared a three-way glance that soon crystallized into something more tangible. “What about those other princesses?” Ion asked. “They shouldn’t be frozen in crystals forever.”

  “Then isn’t that your Quest?” Benny asked. “To rescue them from the dragon?”

  “Indeed,” Hilda agreed, her eyes glowing like crystals themselves.

  It seemed to be up to Vinia to bring some common sense into this developing notion. “But would your folk allow it? Dragons are dangerous.”

  “I’ve got potions to handle dragons,” Ion said.

  “And I can sew us fireproof vests,” Hilda added.

  “But you’re children.”

  “As it happens, there is an adult member of our party.”

  Six eyes turned on Benny. “I’m six years old, chronologically,” he reminded them.

  “An adult Caprine,” Ion said. “There is precedent.”

  “But it’s chancy,” Vinia said. “Depending on how they choose to see him.”

  Hilda nodded. “We need advice.”

  Benny put the thinking cap back on. There was another flash. “Squid!” he said. “She’s traveled a lot as a child, and surely she knows how to handle parents.”

  Ion reached into a small bag he brought from a pocket. Vinia knew that bag; it was another of Hilda’s sewings. It looked small, but it contained everything Ion wanted to put in it, which was a lot. He had extra food supplies in there, and changes of clothing, and folded tents. And his collection of elixirs. He was immune to all elixirs, which meant they couldn’t help or hurt him directly, but they affected others. When Vinia had tripped and fallen and scraped her knee, Ion had brought out a vial of healing elixir that mended her knee nicely, when she got out of his range and applied it. But how did this relate to Squid?

  Ion found the vial he wanted. “Essence of Squid,” he announced. “Who wants to do the honor?”

  “I’ll do it,” Hilda said, taking the vial. She cleared a place in front of her, then poured one drop of essence on the floor. “Invoke,” she said.

  The drop puffed into vapor, which rose and swirled, forming into a floating cuttlefish with its tentacles spread. Then it put them together, two by two, forming arms and legs. The main mass of it became a body and a head. It stood on the floor, orienting, shaping further into a thirteen-year-old girl with dull brown hair and eyes like Vinia’s. She was an animation, but she seemed to be becoming aware of them.

  “Hello, Squid,” Hilda said. “We are Ion and Hilda, with our friends Vinia and Benny, here in Castle Adamant.”

  The figure spoke. “I remember. Benny’s Caprine. Vinia’s telekinetic. Ion’s immune to elixirs. Hilda’s Xanth’s best seamstress.”

  “That’s us,” Hilda agreed. “We used a drop of your essence to summon your image for a consultation. We need advice.”

  A faint man-shaped cloud appeared beside Squid. “It’s okay, Chaos,” Squid said. “These are friends.”

  The cloud nodded and faded.

  “Demon Chaos is my boyfriend,” Squid explained. “He wants to be sure I don’t get into trouble.”

  Vinia nodded inwardly. Word had circulated. Chaos was the strongest of all the Demons, and he loved Squid. The universe would shake, literally, if anything happened to her. But he preferred to stay out of her business, satisfied to observe. He was still learning the intricacies of mortal social life.

  “But first tell us where you’ve been,” Hilda said. “The news was that you disappeared for several months, and no one knew where you were. We are curious as bleep.” As a child she couldn’t say “hell,” though she knew the term; the notorious Adult Conspiracy forbade it, along with other pointless restrictions evidently designed to make children feel inferior.

  “Readily answered,” Squid said. “I was called away to solve a murder mystery. I couldn’t decline, because it was my own murder, on another track of Xanth.”

  “You were murdered!”

  “On a different track. There are millions of tracks, and this was the only one where that happened. Still, it wasn’t something I could just ignore. So we went, and it was a future track, where I was of age, so I married Larry, who is also Chaos, to lure the murderer back. It worked, and we caught him. Then I made the murderer take over as protagonist until I was ready to forgive him. But no need to bore you with that story. Now it’s done, and we’re home. And young again, more’s the pity. Now what’s this advice you need from me?”

  It was plain that Hilda wanted to know more about that other track, as did they all, but also plain that Squid had said as much about that as she cared to. She had been of age, and married her boyfriend, so she must have learned all the Conspiracy secrets! But she wouldn’t tell those either. How Vinia envied her! “We want to go rescue six princesses from their crystals,” Hilda continued. “The way our mother, Princess Ida, was rescued, but there’s a dragon in the way. Should we try?”

  Squid paused half a moment. Vinia realized that she was communing with Chaos, who could instantly gather the background information she needed. Then she spoke. “That’s Dragoman Dragon. He’s not a bad sort, as dragons go. He doesn’t eat maiden princesses, he collects them. But you will have to meet his terms to rescue the princesses, and that may not be easy. The Quest is worthwhile, but you need to clear it with the Good Magician first.”

  Ion laughed. “First we have to clear it with our folks. That’s the real hurdle.”

  “We’ll put in a word for you.” Then Squid’s eye happened to connect directly with Vinia’s eye. She froze. “Oh, my,” she murmured.