“I didn’t realize that he couldn’t touch me,” she said as they walked on. “That was a surprise.”

  “You thought he could score on you, and you taunted him anyway?”

  “I know I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. Maybe I need a dose of that submission virus.”

  “Sh. That’s in the future, not now.”

  “That’s right. We’re only five years old. Almost half my life ago.”

  “A sixth of mine. But who’s counting? Thanks for standing up for me. I like your spirit.”

  “My spirit gets me in trouble sometimes.”

  “Let’s go see.”

  The scene shifted. Now they were walking in a park Vinia remembered from when she was eight years old, where she had been attacked and had to use her talent to ugly effect to get out of it. Her dawning prettiness was a liability. “Uh, this one’s nasty. Maybe we shouldn’t be here.”

  Apoca looked older. “You helped me. Now I’ll help you.”

  Vinia wasn’t sure about that but didn’t argue. A bigger boy spied her. “Ha!” he cried. “Got you alone, tease bait! Now I’ll have you.”

  Vinia tried to back away. It had been easier when boys merely tried to hit her, not hit on her. “We’re children. We’re not supposed to—”

  He grabbed her. For this version, in her own memory, she was solid. He hauled her roughly in to him, making ready to forcibly kiss her, and maybe worse. She struggled but could not wrench herself away. She would have to use her talent.

  “Hey, bully boy,” Apoca said. “Turn her loose or else.”

  His head turned to face her. “Or else what, bigmouth?”

  “Or else this.” Apoca kissed him on the mouth.

  He fell back, stunned. “Oh, bleep! I love you!”

  “Then do what I say. Get lost!”

  The bully backed away, then fled. “Now we’re even,” Apoca said, satisfied.

  “But you shouldn’t be real, in my frame,” Vinia protested. “How could you kiss him?”

  “I’m not physically here. I didn’t touch him. But my power is not a physical thing. He never felt my physical kiss, he felt my submission kiss. That made him my love slave.”

  “Oh, my. You mean it’s your kiss that does it? That cancels the virus?”

  “Yes. When I use it on a man, it makes him my love slave. When I use it on a woman, it makes her fiercely independent. It is my kiss that cancels the virus. That how I protect the Lips women. They can kiss a man into oblivion, but only I can kiss a woman into recovery. That’s why I’m queen.”

  “Now I understand. We’d have to bring the princesses to your territory to be kissed. That’s really not feasible.”

  “As I said, I’d like to help you, but it is complicated.”

  Vinia thought of something. “Could you kiss me?”

  “I could. But why? You’re already independent, and you’re a child.”

  “So I can get a better notion of it.”

  “Very well.” They turned to face each other, and Apoca kissed Vinia on the mouth. She felt the weird magic power of it, but it didn’t change her, because she was already independent in spirit. Unimportant, but independent.

  “Let’s go back,” Vinia said. “I need to explain to the others.”

  “Not yet. We have another round to go.”

  “We do?”

  “You need to know more of the background, and I still have not fathomed the underlying mystery of you.”

  “I’m just a largely ignorant girl.”

  Apoca smiled. “So you may think. But I believe that your presence here is not coincidence. Please, there may be more here than you believe.”

  Vinia shrugged. “I am trying not to waste your time. You’re a talented queen, and I’m—”

  Avoca stalled her with a hand on her arm. “Indulge me, please.”

  “Oh. Of course.”

  “Here is the sequence that brought me here.” They walked forward, and the scene became—

  “The Good Magician’s Castle!” Vinia exclaimed, surprised.

  “Yes. My power manifested at maturity. Then I could kiss bullies into oblivion. But it did not improve my lot. Now, instead of teasing or trying to rape me, they were afraid of me. Their folks did not want me among them, as they tacitly preferred defenseless girls. It was a problem. I was being ostracized. So I came here.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I won’t bore you with the Challenges I navigated. It’s my interview and assignment that counts.” Apoca was now a shapely young woman. Vinia remained a child, as she had no memories of maturity, apart from the fleeting time with the ghost.

  Suddenly they were inside the castle, facing Wira. Wira was startled, seeing Vinia. “What are you doing here? You’re out of context.”

  “Uh—” Vinia began uncertainly.

  “It’s a reprise visit via the mirrors,” Apoca said, her hair blue green. “We are getting to know each other.”

  Wira nodded. “Now I understand. I hope you don’t mind if I mostly ignore you, Vinia.”

  “Not at all,” Vinia said. “I’ll just stay out of things as much as I can.” Which also meant that she might avoid embarrassing herself in this odd context. She was doubtful what was and was not real.

  Wira conducted them to the comfortable room where another woman stood. Her face was thickly veiled, and her hair under her cap was distinctly strange; in fact, it seemed almost alive. “This is Apoca, and her ghostly friend.” Then, to them: “This is the Gorgon, the Designated Wife of the Month. She is veiled so that her direct look won’t stone you.” She quirked a smile. “Originally she stoned only men, but as her power matured the effect extended to women and children, too.”

  “Oh, I have heard so much about you, Gorgon!” Apoca gushed, her hair now pure green. “I love your hair.”

  “And I love yours,” the Gorgon responded as she removed her cap to reveal that hair. And it wasn’t hair at all; it was a nest of little snakes! She glanced at Vinia, through the veil. “Don’t be concerned, child; my vipers don’t attack my visitors. They couldn’t hurt you, anyway, since you’re not really here.”

  “Uh, thank you,” Vinia said awkwardly.

  “I will inform Humfrey you are here,” Wira said to Apoca. She departed.

  “Our unusual hair is not the only thing we have in common, different as it is,” the Gorgon said to Apoca. “We both can stun men, I with my eyes, you with your mouth.”

  “Stun? You stone them!” Vinia knew that what she meant was not intoxicating, but literally turning them to stone statues.

  “Through the veil I can merely stun them, when I choose. When Humfrey gets too grumpy, I set him back somewhat.” The little snakes seemed to be amused.

  “Oh. Of course.” Apoca laughed, her hair flashing yellow green for humor. “My talent wouldn’t work at all through a veil.”

  “Oh, it might, when you want a partial effect. You might try it sometime.”

  The two women continued to chat amicably. Then Wira returned. “He will see you now.”

  They followed Wira up the winding stairway to the cramped office. The Magician looked up from the monstrous tome as they arrived.

  “This is Apoca,” Wira said.

  “Ask.”

  “How can I make myself useful in Xanth, and get a boyfriend, considering that I can’t really have a relationship that involves kissing?”

  “You need training. Go to the School of Magic.”

  That was it? “About my Service—”

  “That’s it.” The surly mouth cracked a token smirk. “You will find Demon Grossclout interesting.”

  Apoca’s hair turned blue. “But how will I get into that class? I doubt I qualify as a future magical adept.”

  “Bribe him.” The gaze dropped back to the tome. Apoca had been dismissed. Her hair flashed briefly red.

  “But I have nothing to bribe him with,” Apoca protested as they returned to the living room.

  “Oh, you do, dear,” the Gorgon said. “Put a gag on your mouth and take off your clothing. Grossclout does like the ladies, and you have a remarkable figure.”

  Apoca nodded, understanding. Vinia wished she did too.

  Then they were with Demon Grossclout, and Apoca was removing her clothing. Her hair was yellow, signifying mystery, turning green as the mystery was teasingly uncovered.

  “Nuh-uh,” Grossclout said, though he was plainly interested. “Not with the child watching.”

  Oh. So Vinia went to join the assembling class.

  There was Metria Demoness. “What are you doing here?” she asked Vinia, surprised.

  “Just tagging along with Apoca’s memory.”

  “Apoca. I remember her. She really prospered in class, maybe because she paid close attention. Maybe I’ll try it sometime.”

  “How can you remember, when she hasn’t started class yet?”

  “I sneaked a peek at her future. I can play memory games too.”

  Did this make sense? Vinia decided not to challenge it.

  Before long Apoca emerged from the Demon professor’s study and joined the class. Her bribe had evidently been successful.

  The following weeks were covered in passing fragments. Vinia saw Apoca learn how to control her kisses, so she could kiss without gutting a man’s willpower, when she chose. Maybe the professor taught her that so he could kiss her himself. Then Apoca learned something significant: she could kiss women, too, enhancing their independence. This secret aspect was it seemed additional to her colorful hair. This class was really profiting her!

  Finally, Apoca learned that she was not unique. She was a Lips, one of a special type of woman whose kiss could be devastating. There were other Lips, though their kisses affected only men. Grossclout told her where to find them.

  “And so I came here to join the Lips,” Apoca concluded as they returned to the present. “They were disorganized. I organized them, and made them into a tribe, and they voted me queen because of my ability to restore them when the Volents caught them and doped them with the virus. But the Volents did not like our new independence, and attacked.”

  “That’s what happened to Thanx,” Vinia said. “Men don’t much seem to like independent women.”

  “So it seems. I never contacted the Good Magician again and trusted that he had forgotten me. Now you know all about me. Let’s learn about you.”

  All about her? Hardly! But it was enough. “There’s not much to tell.”

  “Start with why you traveled.”

  “It was just random. I got tired of staying home alone, so decided to try being a tourist. It was a crazy decision, because I’m highly allergic to just about everything. I can’t think what got into me.”

  “I have a notion. Let’s go there.”

  Before Vinia could protest, they were there at her home the day she made the decision. Her folks were about to go touristing, an activity they liked. Vinia had normally stayed home alone when they went, because only there could she clean out most of the allergens from her room, so she wasn’t constantly sneezing. Spot medications for allergies existed, but they didn’t seem to work on her. There was no magic doctor near, so she couldn’t get a spell for it, and anyway she would have had to pay her way by doing messy chores. It might be even worse on other planets: she hadn’t cared to gamble. But this time she decided to go with them, touristing. It seemed to be a crazy decision on her part, but her folks didn’t argue. They were glad to take her along. It relieved them of worrying about her, and of the disapproval of neighbors when they left her home alone.

  “But why did you decide to go touristing this time?” Apoca asked her.

  “I don’t know. It didn’t seem to make much sense, considering my condition. Sometimes I do that, doing screwball things for no good reason.”

  “I am not at all sure of that. You had a reason.”

  Vinia shook her head. “I can see already that you are much smarter than I am. You pursue things that make sense. But if there was a sensible reason for my decision, I don’t know what it was. I was just a nine-year-old girl with a talent of telekinesis that was useless against my sneezing.”

  “There has to be something, considering how well things turned out for you later on.”

  “You mean meeting Prince Ion? That was sheer phenomenal luck. Whatever I am now, it is because of him.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Apoca considered. “Let’s freeze-frame right here, when you made the decision. Tell me again, why did you go touristing?”

  This was getting tiring, but of course Vinia wasn’t going to say that. She was even halfway flattered by the queen’s interest, however misplaced. “I don’t know. Maybe I was just tired of being home alone while everyone else had all the fun.”

  “The specific moment, please.”

  Vinia was beginning to wonder about the woman’s smarts, but she focused. “I was in my room while they were packing.” Now they were in the room, alone together. “And I thought about how lonely I was going to be, again. And—”

  And now she saw what she had not, before. There on the floor of her room was a pattern, as of a path diverging before her. One fork was green, the other red. Like Apoca’s hair. So maybe green was good, and red was bad?

  “What are you seeing?” Apoca asked.

  “A green path and a red path, right here in my room. Maybe I’m suffering eye strain.”

  “Did you follow one of them?”

  “Yes, actually,” Vinia said, surprised. “I didn’t see them at the time, but now I see that I stepped onto the green one, because it somehow felt right. It led to my parents as they packed. And that made me decide to go with them, this time.”

  “Which was the better long-term decision, as it turned out.”

  “I suppose. If I hadn’t gone with them, I never would have met Ion. But that was sheer coincidence.”

  “Perhaps. Now the next crisis of decision. Just let yourself feel it.”

  Vinia let herself tune in on whatever it was. She was with her parents visiting the planet Animalia, populated by assorted crossbreeds. She was wearing a heavy face mask to protect her from the allergens of the local atmosphere. They were looking at the fine horses that the folk of Equine Castle maintained. They were such lovely animals that Vinia longed to ride one, but she knew she would get too much into it and dissolve into sneezing. All she could do was look longingly.

  And there were the paths before her, one green, one red. She took the green one. “I want to stay here,” she said in her memory.

  Her mother smiled indulgently. “Dear, you know that would be futile. Your mask protects you for only an hour before it gets allergen-logged and you have to get back inside the protected vehicle.”

  Vinia knew that. Yet she persisted, following the green path she was not then aware of. “I’ll stay,” she said.

  Now her father spoke. “You are a child, only nine years old, but you have to know that in a few years you will become a woman, a pretty one. Then one of these horsemen will want to marry you, because your children with him will be more than half human, so they can be recognized as human and have human rights and recognition, the way these present crossbreeds do not. They don’t care about you personally, only that you are human. That’s why they maintain the tourist facilities: to tempt full-blooded humans to visit and maybe to stay; it is their strategy for ultimate recognition.”

  “But they won’t make me marry one of them,” Vinia said. “I can choose to leave at any time.”

  “They can be very persuasive. You’ll wind up marrying an animal.”

  Vinia knew he was probably correct. Yet her unseen path guided her this way. “I still want to stay.”

  “Then we are quit of you,” her father said sternly. “We want no animals in our family line.” Her mother did not disagree.

  So it was that Vinia stayed in Equine Castle on planet Animalia, disowned by her family. She hated that, but somehow, she had done it. Was she insane?

  “No,” Apoca said. “Merely uncertain. Now the next nexus.”

  Vinia was in her room when she heard the news that Equine Castle was sponsoring a multicastle dance. Crossbreeds from across the planet would be visiting. She was of course welcome to attend, regardless of her age, and if she needed an escort, one would be provided.

  The green path took her to attending and accepting the escort. He turned out to be a handsome young man, Benny Buck, with brown eyes, brown hair with a central white streak, and a goatee. He was a Caprine crossbreed but looked completely human. She explained to him about her young age, and her need to wear the mask, because of not daring to breathe the allergens, and he was gracious. “You are pretty, regardless. I will call you my secret lady.”

  “Thank you.” She appreciated the way he was treating her, which was so much better than she had experienced at home.

  “I understand you are telekinetic,” he said.

  “Yes.” She demonstrated by lifting his tie out from his shirt without touching it physically. “Close range only.”

  “I am nevertheless impressed.”

  She felt unduly flattered. No one had praised her talent before.

  They went to the dance, and it was glorious. Benny was a practiced dancer and made Vinia’s faltering steps seem like refined nuances. He held her just so and showed her off as the secret lady, making her feel pride even though she knew it was make-believe. She was falling into a crush on him, deeper with each dance. He could have seduced her despite her youth, but he remained a perfect gentleman, taking no liberties whatever. He was truly treating her like a lady.

  Then her mask gave out. She had not realized that an hour had passed. Suddenly she was sneezing uncontrollably. “Oh, bleep,” she gasped. “I must go back to my room, right now.”

  “I apologize. I forgot about the time limit.”