"It'll probably be a nuisance, but nightshades would be much worse."
Slightly startled by this unflattering comparison, Mendanbar glanced back at Cimorene. There was a decided twinkle in her eyes. Mendanbar smiled and bowed elaborately. "Thank you for your kind words, Princess."
"You're welcome, Your Majesty," Cimorene said, curtsying in response.
"Now, we'd better get to work, or we'll never get this mess cleaned up in time to get to Flat Top Mountain before dark."
Cleaning up the large cave took less time than Mendanbar had expected, despite the unpleasantly gummy look of the goo that Antorell had left behind.
A large part of the mess turned out to be leftover soapy water, which was very convenient. Cimorene mopped most of it up with Antorell's robe, then wrapped the robe around the staff and started toward the rear of the cave.
"What are you going to do with that?" Mendanbar asked curiously.
"Hide it," Cimorene said. "There's not much else you can do to a wizard's staff. They won't break, and even dragon fire won't burn them. I know because we tried everything we could think of the last time we melted some wizards."
"We?"
"Morwen and I. Antorell will get it back eventually, of course, but hiding it will slow him down a little." She left to dispose of the staff while Mendanbar scraped up the last of the goo.
The kitchen was another matter. Cimorene insisted on doing all of the dishes that had been waiting for the sink to get unplugged, which took a while. Mendanbar offered to use his magic on the dishes, but Cimorene politely declined.
"A magic sword that does plumbing is unusual but very useful," she explained as she filled the sink. "A magic sword that does dishes is just plain silly. Besides, there have been two big flares of magic in this cave in the past hour already, and if there's a third one, someone might come to see what I'm up to."
"I didn't notice anything remarkable when Antorell brought the nightshade in," Mendanbar said, frowning. "Though I'll admit I overdid it a little when I got rid of the thing. I was in a hurry."
"Yes, of course," said Cimorene, setting a clean plate on the drain board. "But you weren't in a hurry when you unclogged the sink, were you? That was the other flare I meant, not Antorell's fiddling."
"What was conspicuous about that?" Mendanbar asked defensively.
He picked up a clean towel and began drying plates. "It was a perfectly ordinary spell."
Cimorene looked at him. "Right. Just like that sword is a perfectly ordinary magic sword."
"Well, I wouldn't call it ordinary, exactly, but that's because it's linked with the Enchanted Forest," Mendanbar said. "Outside of that, it's nothing special ."
"Nothing special." Cimorene stopped washing dishes for a moment to stare at him. Suddenly, she frowned. "You mean it. You really haven't noticed."
"Noticed what?"
"The way that sword of yours positively reeks of magic," Cimorene said.
"We're going to have to do something about it, unless you want the Society of Wizards to be able to find us with their eyes closed."
Mendanbar looked at her. She was perfectly serious. He set the dishtowel down and drew his sword. It didn't look or feel any different to him from the way it normally felt, but Cimorene winced.
"Can't you… tone it down a little?"
"I still don't know what you're talking about," Mendanbar said, irritated.
"And even if I did, I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to go about 'toning it down."" "Why not? It's your sword, isn't it?"
"It didn't come with directions?"
"Most of them don't." Cimorene shook her head at him and picked another dirty teacup out of the rapidly diminishing stack. "Maybe there's something in Kazul's treasury that will take care of it. I'll check as soon as we're done here."
When the dishes were finished and the kitchen tidied to suit Cimorene's exacting standards, she left Mendanbar to mull things over while she went off to investigate the treasury. Mendanbar was glad of the chance to think.
"What is the Society of Wizards doing?" he muttered. Between the misleading things Zemenar had said to Mendanbar and the downright lies Antorell had told to Cimorene, it was clear that the wizards didn't want them comparing notes. Cimorene might even be right about their desire to start a war between the Enchanted Forest and the dragons.
Starting a war, however, would take more than a misunderstanding between the King of the Enchanted Forest and Kazul's Chief Cook and Librarian. Were the wizards behind the mysterious burned area Mendanbar had found? They could have gotten hold of Woraug's scales, and they certainly could have enchanted them.
"But why would they do it?" Mendanbar asked the sink. "They're not stupid, at least Zemenar isn't, and a war would cause the Society almost as many problems as it would cause us. What could make them overlook the problems and try to stir up trouble anyway?" The sink did not answer.
But if it wasn't the wizards, Mendanbar wondered, who was it? Where had Kazul disappeared to? And was there really a dragonsbane farm in the Enchanted Forest, or was that just a rumor someone was spreading to add to the confusion?
He was still trying to put his questions into some sort of order when Cimorene returned. She had exchanged the apron and the rust-colored dress for a dark blue tunic with matching leggings, a pair of tall black boots, and a maroon cloak. She had taken off her crown, and her braids were wound neatly around her head. A gold-handled sword hung at her side, next to a small belt pouch. She held out a sword belt and sheath, the leather gray with age.
"I think this will do the job," she said. "Try it and see."
"I've already got a sheath," Mendanbar pointed out.
"Yes, but this one blocks magic," Cimorene explained. "It'll keep your sword from being so-so obvious all the time. At least, I hope it will."
"If you say so," Mendanbar replied, taking the scabbard. He held it a moment, testing. It didn't feel magical, but then, that was the idea.
He shrugged, pulled out his sword, and put it into the sheath Cimorene had given him.
"Oh, that's much better," Cimorene said with evident relief. "I can hardly notice anything now."
"I can," Mendanbar said, touching the hilt with a thumb. The pulse of the Enchanted Forest was still there, ready for him to use.
"Of course you can," Cimorene said. "It's your sword."
"Well, I suppose I don't mind using it, then," Mendanbar said. "As long as it doesn't damage the sword."
"It won't," Cimorene promised.
Mendanbar took off his sword belt and set it aside, then buckled on the belt and scabbard Cimorene had given him.
"All right," he said, "let's go."
As they left the cave, Cimorene muttered something under her breath and waved at the entrance. Mendanbar jumped as a coil of strong, hard magic sprang into place behind them. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a solid wall of rock. He transferred his gaze to Cimorene and raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of magic was that?"
'Just something Kazul and I worked out a while back," Cimorene said.