“My being sent here is not coincidental,” Vinia said, appreciating the revelation. “It is not only to do the princesses a favor, but do you a favor too.” Could this Quest turn out to be simpler than she had feared?

  “Simple in theory,” the dragon agreed. “But not necessarily in practice.”

  “Oh? What is complicated about it?” she asked warily. She had a notion, from what Dara Demoness had told her.

  “The nature of the princesses. They are the last ones for a reason. They are essentially feminists, stemming from times and cultures that did not accept such a concept. Things have liberalized, but I fear not yet sufficiently. Finding suitable princes for them—because for this purpose a princess must be matched with a prince or king—may be a chore even today. That will be your challenge.”

  Vinia glanced at Ion and Hilda, who had sat in perfect silence. “Our challenge,” she said. “We want what is best for them.”

  “Perhaps it is time for you to interview the princesses directly.”

  “You will free them already?” Vinia asked, surprised.

  “No.”

  “Um, I may not be the smartest Quester, but—”

  “I appreciate that,” Dragoman said supportively. “You are a common girl. I will explain in simple terminology. One of the princesses is telepathic. She is a full telepath, not a partial one like me. We have had compatible dialogues. She will connect you to each of the princesses in turn. Their bodies will remain frozen; only their minds will be tweaked, in the manner of a dream. Then you will have the information you need to go forth and find suitable princes for each.”

  Oh. That was indeed more complicated than she had imagined. “Thank you. How do I contact her?”

  “No problem. She is with you now.”

  Then something changed in Vinia’s head. “Hello,” a new voice said. “I am the telepath.”

  “Uh, hello,” Vinia answered uncertainly. There was something about the mind that she liked. It was friendly and understanding.

  “I am Chloe, a crystal princess. My name means Fresh Blooming.”

  “Um, I am Vinia. Short for Wivinia, meaning Of the Quiet Life. I am good at keeping quiet.”

  The presence in her head expanded. “I am a winged centaur.” Now there was a picture of an attractive bare-breasted filly centaur with brown fur and long brown hair on her head, but white wings.

  “I, uh, am human, brown hair, brown eyes. My talent is telekinesis. That is, I can move things in my vicinity with my mind.”

  “Have you a mirror? That will let me see you through your eyes. I can’t use my own at present.”

  Vinia fished out her compact mirror and held it before her face so Chloe could see Vinia’s reflection.

  “Thank you. Now I see you. Our hair and eyes match,” Chloe said. “So do our talents, to a degree. We’re both tele, kin and path. That’s nice.”

  “Uh, yes.” Then Vinia thought of something. “I thought the folk of Xanth either have magic or are magic. You are a magic creature. I realize that the ability to fly is part of your creature definition, but how can you have telepathy? That’s a whole other thing.”

  “To be sure. But once a species gets thoroughly established, it can develop magic, at least in some individuals. Yet it is somewhat random, but as time passes, there should be more magic showing up in centaurs, elves, ogres, dragons, and others. I, as an early developer of a separate talent, did not fit in well with my peer group. That was part of my problem. The fact that I possessed an independent mind was another.”

  Oh. “Chloe, you seem like a nice person, and pretty. Why are you here? I mean, surely a smart stallion centaur would like you, mind and all.”

  Chloe smiled. “All the stallions liked me in my day, royal and common, and some human princes, too. Because I am attractively endowed, physically, a fair-fleshed filly, and easy to ride by the humanoid types because I know the mind of my rider. But I didn’t like them, because I could read their minds. All they wanted, really, was one thing. Nothing wrong with that in itself; I like it myself. But it was too narrow for me: I prefer to integrate with the whole person. The purely physical aspect can wait its turn.”

  That made sense to Vinia. The body was only part of the person. “Yes.”

  “I see you understand. I am satisfied to remain in stasis until the external situation is appropriate. I hope you are able to find me a suitable stallion.”

  “I will try,” Vinia promised.

  “One who won’t mind that I can read his mind.”

  “I will specify that.” How did males feel about females reading their minds? Some should be able to accept it. Maybe a telepathic stallion. “Dragoman told me that the two of you have had compatible dialogues.”

  “We have. He is one male who is more interested in my mind than my body.”

  They being of completely different species. “While you remained in stasis?”

  “Physically, yes. It is like a waking dream for me. He is a limited telepath, mainly to enable his speech, while I am a full telepath, able to read minds, so dialogue is feasible.” She paused three-fifths of a moment. “I didn’t mean to snoop; I was just orienting so we could talk. But I learned that he really does like maidens of all types. He dreams of being the dragon in a damsel and dragon combo, with the damsel fawning over him. Sort of like girls and horses, really.”

  “Girls do like horses,” Vinia agreed. “I traveled to Animalia because I wanted to see their fine horses. Then my allergies interfered so it didn’t work out. But that’s a separate story.”

  “Surely so. Now I will connect you with the next,” Chloe said. “I will be here, of course, so it will not be a completely private dialogue, but I will confine myself to the background.”

  “Yes, that should work,” Vinia agreed uncertainly.

  There was a shift. “Who is this?” a new voice asked.

  Vinia realized from the blankness in the mind that this princess did not understand the situation. “Hello, I am Vinia Human. I have been telepathically connected to you so I can get to know you and find out what kind of a prince you would like me to locate for you to be with when you get uncrystallized.”

  The other mind absorbed that. “I am still crystallized?”

  “Yes. Only your mind has been awakened. Think of it as a dream while you sleep.”

  “Ah. That makes sense.” The mind coalesced, becoming imperious.

  “Who are you, please,” Vinia said. “I can’t see you with my eyes.”

  “I am Hula Human. It will take some man to accommodate my impulses. The princes I encountered simply didn’t measure up. Not smart enough. Not bold enough.”

  “But if you are a feminist, a dominant man might not measure so much as demand.”

  “There are feminists and feminists. I don’t want a weak-kneed man, I want one who can satisfy me, intellectually and physically. That’s a different matter. Dominant is fine; I will match him stroke for stroke, and he’d better like it.”

  Vinia was having trouble quite understanding that, but the Conspiracy got in the way and stifled her next question. “Uh, okay, I guess.”

  Hula peered at her. “You are juvenile,” she said, catching on.

  “Yes.”

  “So you might have trouble making my case for me. Or any of our cases. Maybe we should speak for ourselves.”

  “But we have to fetch the princes before the dragon will release any of you.”

  Hula smiled. “Perhaps we should make holograms.”

  “Make what?”

  “Little moving scenes you can play for the princes, showing what we look like and how we talk. Men can see better than they can think. We can make our own presentations, so you don’t get violated as a child.”

  That made sense to Vinia. She had caught on to more adult business than the Conspiracy realized, but didn’t care to advertise it. “But I don’t know how to make such a thing.”

  “Spot research will fix that.”

  “I will tell the others in our party,” Vinia said. “They should be able to research it. Meanwhile I will try to find the smartest and manliest of princes for you.”

  “See that you do.”

  Hula faded and a new mind formed.

  “Hello,” Vinia said. “You are in a dream state, still crystallized. I am Vinia Human, telepathically connected to you to learn what kind of prince you would like to have when you emerge from your crystal.” She hoped that would do it without undue confusion. “Please identify yourself.”

  “A dream state. Ah. I am Goblette Goblin. But I want no prince.”

  “No prince? But princesses aren’t supposed to be with common men.” But then she thought of her own relationship with Ion, and Hilda’s with Benny. Royals could mix with ordinary folk if they so chose and had the gumption to make it stick. “That is, well, usually, unless they decide otherwise.”

  “I am not usual. I am lesbian. I can intoxicate a man simply by gazing into his eyes, but I don’t want him in my bed. Goblin males are such boors! Only the females have any delicacy at all. I want a princess, lesbian or at least amenable.”

  Oh. Now Vinia remembered. Dara had mentioned that one of the princesses was a ladies’ woman. That did make sense. Goblette was certainly right about goblin males. They were uncouth brutes. “I will search for a goblin princess who prefers women.”

  “Exactly. Of course, she will have to be compatible. Some women can be as bad as men.”

  “We hope to have each of you make a hologram, so you can make your own cases. You can spell out exactly what you want.”

  “That will do.” Goblette faded out.

  Vinia breathed a sigh of relief. It should be possible to find another goblin princess who preferred the niceness of females and wasn’t too assertive.

  The mind changed again. “We meet at last!” the new princess said. “I am Demesne.”

  “Demesne! Dara sends her greeting.”

  “Yes, of course. I recognize her ring. How is she?”

  “She is one of the wives of Good Magician Humfrey and seems satisfied.”

  “One of? I remember when she married him. But then she became impatient with his grumpy mortality and took off.”

  “She finally got bored with the single life,” Vinia said. “So later returned to him. But by then he had four and a half other wives, so they had to share.”

  “Half a wife? There is surely an interesting story there.”

  “His first love was MareAnn, but she didn’t want to sacrifice her innocence.”

  “I remember. It is a mortal woman’s most significant asset. That’s when I stepped in, having no innocence to lose.”

  “But when MareAnn died of old age, she went to Hell, and that was hard on her innocence. So when Hell released all his wives at once, she joined them with a half-sized ceremony. She is the half wife.”

  “Ah. Now it makes sense.”

  “They take turns as Designated Wife of the Month. It seems a month is about the limit of their tolerance for the grumpiness of the Good Magician, so it works well enough. It was Dara’s turn when I got there.”

  “Thank you for that update. Being crystallized got me a bit out of date.”

  “Dara said you would help me if I needed it. In fact, you already have, because the glow of the ring signaled your direction so we could locate the dragon’s lair.”

  “I felt the signals, but could not respond, being limited. How did you come here? Dragons’ lairs are not the usual tourist fare, unless the tourists are suicidal.”

  “We are on a Quest. Princess Ida was crystallized, but escaped via a fluke, and now her children want to rescue the other princesses.”

  “Her children?”

  “Prince Ion, who is a Magician, immune to all elixirs. Princess Hilda, his twin sister, a Sorceress who can sew the most remarkable magic things. Such as the flying carpet we flew here. They are age eleven.”

  “Ah. They are descendants of Bink, all of whom are cursed to be Magicians or Sorceresses. But that doesn’t explain you.”

  “Prince Ion suffered an accident and can’t use his legs properly, and he is immune to healing elixir. I am ordinary, but my talent is telekinesis. I use it to move his legs for him, so he can walk, at least with me. I am highly allergic, and his ambiance makes me immune to the allergens of the air, so I love being close to him. In fact, I think we’re in love.”

  “That’s nice,” Demesne said sympathetically.

  “The fourth member of our party is Benny Buck, a human-Caprine crossbreed. He is six years old, but adult because that’s an adult age for a goat. He’s a nice guy. He is Hilda’s boyfriend.”

  “She has an adult boyfriend? A billy goat? Her mother must have something to say about that.”

  “I think Hilda put her foot down. She can be assertive despite being young.”

  “Surely so,” the Demoness agreed. “I am familiar with the type.”

  It was time to get back to the subject. “You will want a Demon prince to be your consort?”

  “Yes. We Demonesses are versed in being seductive, but it generally takes a male Demon to really satisfy us.”

  “What was wrong with the males in your day?”

  “They wanted to control the land. I need to find a Demon prince who is more interested in power, wealth, or bleep than in land, because I mean to manage the estate.”

  The Conspiracy gave Vinia a jolt when it bleeped out the word Demesne used. “I’m juvenile. But I think I follow the gist.”

  Demesne laughed, her body briefly turning smoky. “Gist is foul-tasting stuff.”

  “We hope to make holograms, so each of you can make your own case to the princes.”

  “That should be effective. Meanwhile, if you should need my assistance on anything, just speak my name to the ring. I should be able to answer you, now that I know you.”

  “Thank you. I will.”

  The mind changed. “Hello,” Vinia said, getting better at this. “I am Vinia Human, here to interview you via telepathy provided by Chloe Centaur. You remain crystallized, but this is like a dream state for you. I am not a princess, but there is a prince and a princess in our party. Please identify yourself, as I can’t see you until you assume your form in my mind.”

  “I am Elga Elf,” the mind replied. “My name means Tiny Fighter. I am here because none of the garden-variety elf princes interested me beyond the first few minutes.”

  “All they wanted was one thing. You wanted more.”

  “Exactly! You understand.”

  “Actually I don’t, because I am only twelve years old. But Chloe clued me in to the nature of men.” And boys, she thought, remembering how Ion had wanted to sneak in some action. She couldn’t blame him, being curious about it herself, but hadn’t wanted to get him in trouble with his mother.

  “That’s it. They are so limited. If I could only find a male, any male, who was truly different, where that was only one of many interests, then it would be another matter. I’m just hoping that the elf princes of my future are different, at least to that extent. He wouldn’t even have to be my own species of elf.”

  Vinia remembered that there were many species of elves, light and dark, ranging from small to human size. That broadened the prospects. “We hope to have you princesses make holograms to introduce yourselves to prospective partners. When we find the right ones, we’ll bring them here to meet you.”

  “That seems like a good plan. I will cooperate as well as I am able to.”

  The mind changed again. This time there was a buzzing sound. That must be the bee princess. “Hello,” Vinia said, and introduced herself.

  “I am Beetrix,” the princess said as her image clarified. She was a healthy blue-and-yellow bee with translucent wings. She was buzzing her wings, but the telepathically enabled scene translated it into words. “My name means She Brings Joy. I’m sure I could have done that, as all the drones were interested in only one thing for their joy.”

  “Which would have confined you to a lifetime of laying eggs, nothing else,” Vinia said.

  “You got it. I wanted to fly free, experience the world, enjoy myself. Egg-laying could wait and be intermittent so I could get some variety. Nobody else understood.”

  Bees did not understand independence, to be sure. “Are you sure you want a drone prince? I understand they hardly have minds at all, just focus on that one thing.”

  “If an independent one exists, he’ll be an outcast like me. That’s the one I want, if you can find him.”

  “All the crystallized princesses are going to make holograms to share their preferences. When you make yours to introduce yourself, make sure you make that clear,” Vinia said. “So that he will know you exist.”

  “I will.”

  That concluded the interviews. Vinia came out of her trance and looked at the others on the carpet. “I have a lot to tell you.” And she did.

  “I think you have it,” Ion said when Vinia finished. “The next step is to see about recording those interviews.”

  But Vinia, partly to her own surprise, had a reservation. Something about all this was bothering her.

  “Uh-oh,” Hilda said. “I have seen that expression before, and that foggy cloud over your head. You have a Doubt.”

  “I suppose I do,” Vinia said apologetically.

  “What is it? You’re the protagonist; it surely counts.”

  “I’m not sure. It’s just that something about this disturbs me. I don’t know what, exactly, just that something’s not quite right. Maybe it’s just my general background uncertainty.”

  “And maybe it isn’t,” Hilda said firmly. “You have more sense than you think you have.” She glanced at Ion and Benny, who nodded. So did Dragoman.

  But still it didn’t coalesce. “I don’t know exactly what it is.”

  “Borrow my thinking cap,” Benny said. “It is generally good for one idea at a time. You can tell by the dim flash. Put it on and focus on your Doubt.” He held it out.