3 In Which Cimorene Meets A Witch And Has Doubts About A Wizard

Therandil left, but he came back again the next day, and the day after that. It got so that Cimorene

could not even step outside the cave without running into him. She might have been flattered if it hadn't

been so obvious that Therandil was only worried about how foolish he'd look if he went home without

fighting the dragon. On his fifth visit Cimorene was very sharp with him, and when he had not returned

by midafternoon of the next day, she began to hope that he had finally left for good.

Cimorene was in the kitchen taking the pits out of cherries when she heard someone knocking at the

mouth of the cave.

"Go away," she shouted in complete exasperation. "I've told you and told you, I don't want to be

rescued, and I'm not going to argue with you any more!"

"I didn't come here to argue," said a no-nonsense female voice from outside. "I came to meet the

person who keeps borrowing my crepe pan.

It's not something there's normally much call for."

"Oh, dear," said Cimorene. She wiped her hands hastily on a corner of her apron and hurried out to

greet her visitor. "I'm sorry," she said, coming around the gray rock at the cave mouth. "But I've been

having a problem with knights lately, and I thought-" She stopped short as she got a good look at her

caller for the first time.

The woman standing outside the cave was considerably shorter than Cimorene. Her ginger hair was

piled in waves on top of her head. She had on a loose black robe with long sleeves, which she wore

unbelted.

A small pair of glasses with rectangular lenses sat firmly on her nose, and she carried an extremely

twiggy broom in her left hand. Despite her unusual appearance, she projected an air of great selfassurance.

"I quite understand," she said, studying Cimorene shrewdly. "You must be Kazul's new princess."

"Yes, I'm Cimorene. And you are… ?"

"Morwen," said the black-robed woman, leaning the broom against the rock. "Kazul and I have been

friends for a long time, ever since I moved to the Enchanted Forest, so I thought I'd come have a look at

her new princess."

"You're the person Kazul's been borrowing dishes from, aren't you?"

Cimorene said, and blinked. "But then you must be-" "A witch," Morwen finished. "I don't see why you find it surprising.

It's not exactly an unusual profession in these parts."

"It's just that I haven't met one before," Cimorene said, not mentioning the fact that in Linderwall

witches were considered dangerous and probably evil and were therefore avoided if at all possible. But

then, people in Linderwall didn't like dragons much, either. "Won't you come in and have some tea?"

"I certainly will," said the witch, and she did. She prowled around like a nervous cat while Cimorene

put the kettle on the stove and got out the tea things.

"Well," Morwen said approvingly as Cimorene filled the teapot, "you're the first princess I've ever met

who has the sense to keep up with the kitchen."

Cimorene decided that she liked Morwen's down-to-earth manner. She soon found herself telling

Morwen everything, from the fencing and philosophy and Latin lessons to the seemingly endless stream

of knights. The story lasted through two cups of tea and finished with Therandil's stubborn insistence on

rescuing her.

"That is absurd," Morwen said decidedly when Cimorene finished. "If this continues, you'll never get

anything done."

"I know," Cimorene said. "I keep telling them I don't want to be rescued, but they're all so honorable

that none of them will tell anyone when they go back because they think it would be gossiping."

"More likely they don't want to look foolish."

"Maybe, but even if they did tell people, I'm not sure anyone would believe it. I have a hard enough

time convincing the knights when they show up in person."

"It's just as well that your visitors have been honorable," Morwen said, looking thoughtful.

"Linderwall's a prosperous kingdom. Sooner or later the chance of getting hold of half of it is going to

tempt someone to try rescuing you whether you want to be rescued or not."

"That hadn't occurred to me," Cimorene said with a worried frown.

"What can I do about it?"

"I'm not sure," Morwen replied. "The situation's not at all usual, you know. I've never heard of a

princess volunteering for a dragon before.

Which rather surprises me, now that I think of it. A dragon's princess is practically guaranteed a good

marriage, so you'd think princesses from the smaller kingdoms would be clamoring for the job."

"They're probably worried about being eaten," Cimorene said. "Do you think it would help if I sent my

parents a letter?"

"Probably not," Morwen said after a moment's consideration. "But it can't hurt to try. I'll check my

spell books when I get home. It may give me an idea. I suggest that you hunt through Kazul's library.

She's been collecting scrolls for centuries; you ought to be able to find something useful. Meanwhile,

we'll put up a sign."

"A sign?" Cimorene stared at Morwen for a moment, then began to smile.

"'Road washed out,'" she said. "'Use alternate route." Is that the kind of sign you were thinking of?"

"Exactly," Morwen said with approval. "It won't stop anyone who's really determined, but it will

certainly slow them down. That should give us time to come up with something better."

The two women set to work at once and in a short time produced a large, official-looking sign.

Morwen offered to set it up on her way back to the Enchanted Forest, but Cimorene thought it would be

too awkward for her to carry while riding the broom. So, once Morwen had gone, Cimorene tucked the

sign under her arm and started down the path.

Cimorene had not had a chance to do any real exploring before, though she had looked out at the

mountains every day and wondered. She was happy to have an excuse to see more of the outside of her

new home.

It was a lovely day, warm and sunny, and at first the path was level and easy. Cimorene was just

beginning to wonder whether anyone would believe her sign, once she got it put up, when the path

swung left around a boulder and narrowed to a tiny ledge that sloped steeply upward.

Cimorene stopped. Now she knew why none of the knights had ridden up to the cave. The ledge was

barely wide enough for a person on foot to edge along sideways; the best rider in the world couldn't have gotten a horse down it. Cimorene rolled her sign up into a firm, tight cylinder and stuck it through her

belt, so she would have her hands free while she climbed. Then she stepped out onto the ledge.

Sidling up the slope took a long time, for Cimorene was careful to make sure that each part of the

ledge would hold before she trusted her weight to it. She was also careful not to look down. Heights had

never bothered her before, but there was a big difference between standing solidly on top of a tower in

Linderwall Castle behind a four-foot parapet and inching along a ledge barely six inches wide with

nothing between her and a long fall.

She had almost reached the top of the slope, where the path widened again, when a portion of the

ledge disappeared just ahead of her.

Cimorene pulled her foot back and tried to figure out what had happened. She hadn't seen or heard the

rock crumble and fall away; there was simply a two-foot gap in the ledge that hadn't been there before.

She studied it for a moment, trying to think of a way of getting past. Nothing occurred to her. She felt a

twinge of annoyance at the thought of all her wasted efforts, but cheered up at once when she realized

that this would solve the problem of the visiting knights.

If she couldn't get around or over the gap, an armored knight wouldn't be able to get by, either.

Cimorene smiled and turned her head to creep back to safety.

There was another two-foot gap in the ledge on her other side.

Cimorene frowned. Something very odd was going on, and she didn't like it.

"You look as if you are in need of assistance," said a deep voice from above her. "May I be of help?"

Cimorene turned her head and saw a man standing four feet away, on the path at the top of the ledge.

He was tall and sharp-featured, and his eyes were a hard, bright black. Though he had a gray beard that

reached nearly to his waist, his face did not look old. He wore loose robes made of blue and gray silk,

and in one hand he held a staff as tall as himself made of dark, polished wood.

"Possibly," Cimorene answered. She was certain that the man was a wizard, though she had never met

one before, and she did not want to agree to anything until she was sure of what she was agreeing to.

The court philosopher had always claimed that wizards were very tricky.

"May I know to whom I am speaking?"

"I am the wizard Zemenar," the man said. "And you must be Kazul's new princess. I hope you're not

trying to run away. It's-" "Not done," Cimorene said, feeling particularly annoyed because for once she

was not doing anything improper. "Yes, I'm Cimorene."

"I was going to say that it isn't wise to run away from your dragon," the wizard corrected mildly. "I

believe it's done all the time."

"I'm sorry," Cimorene said, but she didn't try to explain. "And I'm not running away. How did you

know who I was?"

"It seemed unlikely that I would find any other charming young lady walking so casually through the

Pass of Silver Ice," Zemenar answered.

He smiled. "As you see, it is easy to find oneself in difficulties if one is not properly . .. prepared."

Cimorene decided that she didn't like him. He reminded her of one of her father's courtiers, a

humorless, sneaky little man who had paid her compliments only when he was after something and who

couldn't resist giving advice even when nobody wanted it. "The ledge was all here when I started," she

said. An idea crossed her mind, and she looked hard at Zemenar. "I don't suppose you know what

happened to the two missing bits?"

A flash of startled annoyance crossed the wizard's face; then his expression smoothed back into

pleasant politeness. He shrugged. "The Pass of Silver Ice is a strange place. Odd things frequently

occur."

"Not like this," Cimorene muttered. She was sure, now, that the wizard had made the ledge vanish so

that he could pretend to rescue her, but she had no idea why he would want her to think she owed him a

favor.

Actually, it surprised her that he had destroyed the ledge. She didn't think the dragons would be too

happy when they found out. Unless he hadn't really destroyed it.

"What did you say?" Zemenar said, frowning uncertainly.

Cimorene ignored him. Without looking down, she slid her right foot along the ledge. The rock felt

firm and solid. Slowly she transferred her weight and brought her left foot up beside her right. She

shifted again, still careful not to look down, and slid her right foot forward once again.

"What are you doing?" Zemenar demanded.

"Getting off this ledge," Cimorene replied. "I should think that was obvious." One more step would

bring her to the path, but Zemenar was squarely in her way. "Would you mind moving back a little so I'll

have somewhere to stand?"

Zemenar's eyes narrowed, but he backed up several paces, and Cimorene stepped onto the path. She

wanted to heave a sigh of relief, but she did not. She wasn't going to let Zemenar have the satisfaction of

knowing she had been worried. Instead, she gave him her best royal smile and said with polite

insincerity, "Thank you for offering to help, but as you see, it wasn't needed. Do stop by and visit some

time."

"I will," Zemenar said as if he meant it. "And a very good day to you, Princess Cimorene."

With that he vanished. There was no smoke or fire or whirlwind.

There wasn't even a shimmer in the air as he disappeared. He was simply and suddenly gone.

Cimorene stared at the place where the wizard had been and felt a shiver run down her spine. It took a

very powerful wizard indeed to vanish so quietly. And she still didn't know what he wanted.

She shook herself and started down the path. She would worry about the wizard later; right now she

had to find a place to put up her sign so she could get back to the cave. She didn't feel much like

exploring any more.

She hadn't taken more than two or three steps when a dark shadow passed over her. Looking up,

startled, she saw a flash of yellow-green scales.

An instant later a dragon landed on the path in front of her, blocking the way completely. His tail hung

over the edge, and he had to keep his wings partly unfurled in order to stay in balance. Cimorene

recognized him at once. It was the yellow-green dragon who had wanted to eat her the day she arrived so

unexpectedly in the dragons' cave.

"I saw the whole thing," the dragon said with nasty, triumphant glee.

"Running away-and talking to a wizard! Just wait until Kazul hears.

She'll be sorry she didn't just let us eat you and be done with it."

"I offer you greetings and good fortune on your travels," Cimorene said, figuring that it was best to be

polite to anyone as large and toothy as a dragon, even if he wasn't being at all polite to her. "I'm not

running away."

"then what are you doing? Kazul doesn't have any business that would bring you down this side of the

pass."

"I came out to put up a sign to keep the knights away," Cimorene said.

"That's ridiculous." the dragon sniffed. "I've been on patrol in this part of the mountains for the past

week, and I haven't seen or smelled even a hint of a knight."

"You haven't been by Kazul's cave, then," Cimorene said. "At least nine of them have shown up there

in the past week. though for the past couple of days it's been mostly a prince."

"Princes don't smell any different from knights, and I'd have noticed if any of them were hanging

around," the dragon said flatly. "And what about that wizard you were talking to?"

"Chaaarrge!" shouted a familiar voice from the other side of the dragon.

"Therandil!" Cimorene shouted. "I told you to go away!" the yellow-green dragon twisted his long

neck and glanced back over his shoulder. He seemed to bunch together like a cat crouching. Then he

sprang straight up into the air, and Cimorene was blinded by the cloud of dust raised by the flapping of

his enormous wings. She had the presence of mind to flatten herself back against the rocks by the side of

the path, and a moment later she heard someone blundering by. She stuck out a foot.

"Ow!" she said as Therandil fell over with a clatter. She'd forgotten that he'd be wearing iron boots

along with the rest of his armor.

"Cimorene? Is that you?" Therandil said.

"Of course it's me," Cimorene replied, rubbing her ankle. "Open your eyes; the dust's settled." She looked up as she spoke and saw the dragon soar out of sight behind a cliff.

"I'm sorry," Therandil said, and then in an anxious tone he added, "I hope I didn't hurt you, stumbling

into you like that."

Cimorene started to say that it was nothing and that it had been her fault anyway, when she suddenly

got a much better idea. "I think you've sprained my ankle," she declared.

"Oh, no," Therandil said. He sounded truly dismayed, though Cimorene couldn't see his face because

he was wearing his helmet with the visor down.

"I probably won't be able to walk for at least a month," she declared.

"And there's certainly no way I can climb down this mountain."

"But if you can't walk-" Therandil said, and paused. Then he squared his shoulders and went on, "-then

I suppose I'll have to carry you."

He didn't sound as if he liked the idea.

"I don't think that would work very well," Cimorene said quickly.

"How will you fight when all the dragons come back if you're carrying me? No, you'll have to leave

me here and go back alone."

"You can't stay here!" Therandil protested, though Cimorene's talk of when all the dragons come back

had plainly made him nervous.

"I have to," Cimorene said, trying to sound noble and long-suffering.

"The dragons will make sure I get safely back to Kazul's cave, and a month isn't too long a wait, after

all."

"I don't understand," Therandil said, and he did look thoroughly puzzled.

"There's no point in you or anyone else coming up here to rescue me for at least a month, not till my

ankle's better," Cimorene explained patiently.

"Oh, I see," Therandil said. He tilted his head back and scanned the empty sky. "You're quite sure

you'll be all right? Then I'll just be going before those dragons return." He turned and started down the

path as quickly as he could manage in full armor.