"If being outside the Enchanted Forest is what makes your sword behave like a-a magic beacon, then we have to get it back inside the Enchanted Forest as fast as we can," Cimorene explained patiently. "Otherwise every ogre and wizard for leagues and leagues around will come looking for whatever is making all the fuss. And the carpet is a lot faster than walking."
"I don't trust it."
"We managed before. It ought to be easier now that we know what to expect. Here, help me." She knelt and began unrolling the carpet as she spoke.
'Do we know what to expect?" Remembering the bumping, spinning, unpredictable ride, Mendanbar shuddered.
"Look, I don't like it any better than you do, but we have to do something about that sword. Besides, the sooner we get to the forest, the sooner you can find out where those wizards have Kazul. And do we have any other choice?"
"I could probably use the sword to get us to the Enchanted Forest," Mendanbar suggested.
Cimorene sat back on her heels, staring at him. "You can do that? Why on earth didn't you say so to begin with? We could have gone straight to Kazul's grandchildren's cave and saved a lot of time."
"I didn't mention it before because I'm not really sure it will work," Mendanbar said. "I've never tried that particular spell outside the Enchanted Forest before, and it wouldn't be a good idea to test it for the first time to get somewhere I've never been. Especially somewhere that isn't in the Enchanted Forest either." Actually, he hadn't tried any of his usual spells outside the Enchanted Forest before, for the very good reason that he hadn't been outside the Enchanted Forest since he'd become King and started working magic, but he didn't like to mention that in front of Cimorene.
He was quite sure that if she had suddenly become the ruler of a magical kingdom, she would have tested all her new spells and powers and abilities immediately, under as many different conditions as she could come up with. He didn't want her to think he was careless or neglectful.
"So we can either experiment with the carpet again or experiment with your spell," Cimorene said. She scowled thoughtfully at the teddy bears, then looked up at Mendanbar and smiled. "Let's try the spell.
What do you want me to do?"
"Just stand there," Mendanbar said, returning her smile. "I've never worked with another magician, and one experiment at a time is enough."
"Why haven't you?" Cimorene asked as she climbed to her feet.
"Worked with another magician, I mean. From what you were telling me yesterday, you've got more than enough work for a couple of assistants."
"I've never had time to find any assistants," Mendanbar said. "Except Willin, my steward, and he's never learned much magic."
"You mean you're trying to run the whole Enchanted Forest by yourself?"
Cimorene said. "You're as bad as the dragons!"
"What?"
"It took me six months to persuade them that the King of the Dragons didn't need to do everything all the time," Cimorene explained. "And then it took me three more months to get a system set up so they wouldn't keep returning to Kazul with every little problem."
"You set up a system? How? I mean, how did you know…"
Mendanbar's voice trailed off.
To his surprise, Cimorene flushed very slightly. "I studied a lot of unusual things when I was growing up," she said. "Unusual for a princess, I mean. Politics was one of them."
"It sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing for a princess to study to me," Mendanbar said. "Look how useful it's been for you."
"Well, it's not one of the things a princess is supposed to learn," Cimorene said. "You wouldn't believe the fuss they made when they found out I'd talked my protocol teacher into covering it."
"What were you supposed to be learning, then?"
Cimorene made a face. "Embroidery and dancing and etiquette and proper behavior."
"No wonder princesses are silly, if that's all they're supposed to know about," Mendanbar said without thinking. He blinked and added hastily, "Not you. I mean, you aren't silly, even if you are a princess. I mean-" "Don't try to explain any more; you'll only make it worse," Cimorene said, laughing. "Now, hadn't we better try that spell? We are in a bit of a hurry, remember."
"Right." With some difficulty, Mendanbar pushed the discussion out of his mind and tried to remember how he had been planning to work the transportation spell. Usually he simply twisted one of the threads of power that crisscrossed the Enchanted Forest , pulling himself to his destination, but outside the forest there were no threads that he could feel. There was power in the sword, though, and it was linked with the Enchanted Forest . If he pulled on that, he should be able to move whatever he chose back to the forest.
Before he moved anything, however, he would have to indicate who and what he wanted to move. He didn't want to arrive in the Enchanted Forest with a magic carpet covered with pink teddy bears and no Cimorene.
Mendanbar suppressed a sigh. Spells were so much easier at home, where he didn't have to think about them as much. He dismissed that thought and concentrated on figuring out the shape of the spell he wanted.
When he was satisfied that he knew exactly what he intended to do, and in what order, he put a hand on the hilt of his sword and looked at Cimorene. "Ready?"
"Whenever you are," Cimorene said.
Mendanbar nodded and drew his sword. He heard Cimorene suck in her breath as he raised the weapon over his head and swung it in a slow circle. Carefully, he pointed the sword at the carpet and pushed a tiny bit of power out to label it for the next part of the spell. Then he pointed the sword at Cimorene and repeated the process even more gently than before.
Cimorene shivered, but she remained silent.
Turning, Mendanbar pointed the sword in the direction of the Enchanted Forest. Now for the tricky part. He drew on the power in the sword, feeling it hum through the hilt and into his hands. In his mind he pictured the giant trees of the Enchanted Forest, ranged in silent rows around the rocks that edged the Green Glass Pool, with the still water reflecting them like a green mirror. When he was sure he had the picture clear and steady in his mind, he gave the power in the sword the same twisting pull he used to move from place to place within the Enchanted Forest.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, the rocks began to blur and fade. Mist rose, wavering, to veil the mountains and sky. Then, just as the landscape was about to vanish into thick, woolly grayness, the mist stopped condensing.
For a moment, everything was still. Then the mist thinned and the outlines of the rocks and mountains grew sharper.
Almost, thought Mendanbar. It must need more power because we're outside the Enchanted Forest. He clenched his hands around the hilt of the sword and pulled again, hard.
Gray fog slammed down around him like a window shutter dropping closed. Something hit him like a giant's hammer, and he felt himself falling. Now I've done it, he thought vaguely, just before everything went black. I hope Cimorene is all right. Then he lost consciousness completely. He didn't even feel himself land.
Mendanbar could feel it, even before he was fully awake. The magic of the Enchanted Forest floated all around him, but it seemed tenuous and tottery, almost disconnected. He thought he had better get up and fix it. He opened his eyes.
Cimorene's concerned face hovered a foot above him. Her braids had come loose from their tight crown and there was a worry line between her eyebrows. He didn't want her to be worried. He tried to say so, but all he managed was a coughing fit. Cimorene bit her lip, and her troubled expression intensified.
"Don't try to talk," she said unhappily. "Don't try to do anything yet.
Your sword is safe, and I'm all right, and everything else can wait for a few minutes. Just lie there and breathe slowly."
It occurred to Mendanbar that Cimorene was anxious about him. That was nice, in a way, but he still didn't want her to be unhappy. In fact, it was suddenly very important to him that Cimorene should not be worried or unhappy in the slightest. He closed his eyes to consider how best to convey this and fell asleep at once.
When he woke, the sky was the pale blue of late afternoon. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up carefully, remembering what had happened earlier when he'd tried to talk. Cimorene was at his side at once.
"Are you sure you should do that?" she said.
"It hasn't hurt so far," Mendanbar replied. "What happened?"
Cimorene studied him for a moment, then relaxed visibly. "I'm not sure," she said. "One minute we were going somewhere, and the next minute we weren't. When I picked myself up, you were lying there looking three-quarters dead and as white as cracked ice, and you've been that way for over four hours. If that's your transportation spell, I think I would have preferred the carpet."
"At least it got us to the forest."