It occurred to Bryce that it would be best if she never realized the full potential of her talent. She could do a lot of damage if she wasn’t very careful.
At last the parade of talents was done. Bryce had made notes all along, not trusting his memory, and found that the magic pen worked perfectly well to write with.
“Now the judges will consult,” Trent said. “We will break for half an hour for refreshments, then return for the verdict.”
Mindy had set up a refreshment stand loaded with good things. Now she came to serve the Suitors, bringing little cups of tsoda pop from Lake Tsoda Popka, and biscuits.
They formed their chairs into a circle for discussion. “If I may,” Bryce said. “I think I have an important insight.”
“You have had them before,” Piper said. “I’m interested.”
“It is this,” Bryce said. “We have faced a serious challenge each day, and I’m not sure today is an exception. There may be something we have to learn or achieve today that will help us in our presentations tomorrow. So that it’s not the perhaps foolish whim of a teen girl that decides the issue. I suspect the point is not the talent contestants, but us. We may be judged as we judge others. We may need to fathom the real challenge, just as we have had to do throughout. The difference is that this one is not presented as such; we have to figure it out for ourselves.”
“Makes sense to me,” Piper said.
“And me,” Anna agreed.
“Well I don’t see it,” Arsenal said. “So they gave us a day off while they set up, put us to some useful incidental work. We don’t need to delve for nonexistent meanings.” Pose and Lucky nodded agreement.
Bryce shrugged. “I have said my piece. Let’s get on with the judging.”
It soon turned out the leading candidates were Wayne who could conjure weapons, and Flora who changed flowers. “Conjuring weapons is a man’s talent,” Arsenal said.
“And adapting flowers is a woman’s talent,” Anna said.
“He makes nice use of unlikely weapons, broadening his talent,” Pose said. “He could wipe her out.”
“She is really clever with the passion flower,” Piper said. “She could seduce him.”
“Power is what ultimately counts,” Lucky said.
“Subtlety can subvert power,” Bryce said.
They were unable to come to an agreement. The vote was tied with three for Wayne, three for Flora.
Trent came by. “What is your decision?”
“Tie vote,” Bryce said. “Wayne Weapons, Flora Flowers. That’s the best we can do.”
Trent nodded. “I will take it from here.”
Which way would he decide, to break the tie? He was a warrior, but also a man with considerable life experience.
The people returned to their seats, and Trent addressed them. “We have a tie vote between Wayne who summons weapons, and Flora who changes flowers. I am electing not to break that tie. The prize will be split between the two of you.”
“But those vials can’t readily be divided. What do you expect us to do, fight each other for it?” Wayne demanded.
Flora shook her head. “We can each take one vial, and maybe share the third.”
“I’ll take the healing elixir, for when I get wounded.”
“I’ll take the youth elixir, for when I get old.”
“That leaves the love potion,” Wayne said.
“Maybe we could share that,” Flora suggested.
Wayne considered. “You did not try to use a passion flower on me.”
“You did not threaten me with a weapon.”
“You know, you’re good-looking.”
“You’re handsome.”
The two gazed at each other. A small heart formed between them.
“I don’t think we need to open the love vial,” Wayne said.
“We can share it without opening it,” Flora agreed.
They came together. They kissed. A larger heart formed over their heads. Then they walked away together, sharing the complete prize.
The audience burst into applause. Then the assembly adjourned. It had been a successful event.
It seemed that Magician Trent had known what he was doing. Bryce marveled at how straightforward love could be, in this magic realm. Assuming that love match had not been set up as entertainment.
That evening Anna washed and changed without waiting for Bryce to turn his back. “It’s our last night,” she said. “Tomorrow if I don’t win for my brother, I’ll go with Piper. If he wins he’ll go with the princess. If anyone else wins, he and I will be together. You’re a good friend; I feel at ease with you.”
“Thank you,” Bryce said. “I feel the same.” But he averted his eyes at key moments, so as not to freak out.
“She wants to choose you,” she continued. “I know it. But you don’t have a gift, thanks to my interference.”
“She’ll be better off with one of the others.”
“I don’t think so.”
He shrugged. “What will be, will be.”
“You made good sense today. Something may be up. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow.”
“We don’t know,” he agreed. “But you should make sure to make the best presentation you can.”
“I will, thank you. What will you do, after?”
“I expect to return to Caprice Castle and help them collect puns. It’s useful work.”
“We’ll be there too. Piper has long experience, and I will be with him, so I’ll learn.”
“He’s a good man, regardless of his form.”
Bryce lay on his bed and pulled the cover up. Then Anna blew out the candle and came to join him. “Indulge me,” she whispered.
“Anna, what are you up to?”
“There is something I must do. That I must say, but can’t. As before.”
“You know I won’t touch you, any more than I would touch Mindy. Apart from everything else, you’re way too young.”
“I’m twenty-four. There are worse barriers than youth. Trust me.”
“I don’t understand.”
She’s serious, the Queen Bee thought. Bryce was startled; he had forgotten about the Bee she had won. Could that telepathy help?
I can’t do this for you, the Bee thought. She’s beeing watched by her sponsor Demon. Not with full attention, not with even a fraction of one percent attention, but if she says something that relates to a key concept, she’ll bee in trouble.
Bryce realized that it was like a computer set to spot a particular word or situation. As long as it did not occur, the machine, or in this case Demon, would not be alerted.
“Play the game,” Anna whispered urgently. “The one we did before. While pretending to be using me, so that no one will catch on.”
“Using you!”
Kiss her. Feel her. Make it look good.
Oh. There was something serious on her mind that she couldn’t tell. She had been trying in her fashion to let him know, but he had stupidly been missing it. He had to make whatever was watching her think she was merely diverting herself with a spot tryst, not spilling secrets.
He braced himself, then kissed her and put a hand on her bottom over her nightie. Both were dangerously conducive. “Tell me how you feel about me,” he said.
“I hate you.”
That verified the reverse game. She was not his girlfriend, but she certainly didn’t hate him. Now how should he zero in on her concern, with her unable to advise him?
“I’m not sure exactly how to proceed,” he confessed, stroking that too-evocative bottom. What an anomaly!
Ask her about her brother.
Oho! He was not the one being watched, so he could speak freely though she couldn’t. It was another anomaly. “Why hasn’t your brother shown up yet? You’ve won the Queen Bee. You’ve done your part.”
“He can appear any time he chooses.”
That had to be a lie, but in what way? Why couldn’t the man appear to present the gift to the princess? �
�Is he incapacitated?”
This time she struggled for an answer. “No. Yes. Not exactly.”
Bryce’s head was feeling strained. “Is he imprisoned?”
“No. Not exactly.”
Get more basic.
Bryce got a notion. “Does he even exist?”
“Yes, at the moment.”
That was a lie? “Does he just pop in and out of existence?”
“No,” she said firmly.
Which meant yes. “Is he like a demon?”
“Yes.”
So that wasn’t it. “Does he change into something else?”
“No. Yes. Not exactly.”
So he did change, but maybe not completely. But why should that prevent him from showing up for this most important occasion?
Then Bryce got an idea that momentarily lighted the room. “He changed into you!”
“No,” she said gladly.
“One Demon selected him, but the others needed someone to distract me from winning an Object, so they turned him into you,” Bryce said. “You have no brother, exactly, because you are your brother.”
She kissed him hard. “No!”
“And you won’t get to change back unless you win the contest. There’s your incentive to perform.”
“No!”
“But now there’s a complication: you fell in love with Piper.”
“No!”
“So maybe you no longer want to change back. You prefer being a woman. So long as you can be with Piper.”
“No.”
“But you can’t tell Piper, because of that geis on you, that ban.”
“No.” Now he felt her tears against his face.
“And you want me to tell him, since you can’t.”
“No.” The tears increased.
Bryce considered. “Anna, I’m not going to do that. Here’s why: either you will win the princess, and convert, in which case Piper will know, albeit too late. Or you will not win, and I presume be locked into your female form for the rest of your life. So there’s no need to tell him. But if you feel you have to, you should be able to do it yourself, at a time of your choosing. You don’t need me for this.”
Idiot! She needs to know whether Piper will still want her when he learns. She’d rather die than have him bee repulsed by her. The Queen Bee was thinking in bee dialect, of course, and couldn’t spell it “be” even in thought.
“But for what it’s worth,” Bryce continued, “Piper is a literal monster who has finally found a woman who loves him for himself. Surely he will be similarly tolerant of your situation.”
“Would you be?” She was able to ask a straight question.
That made him pause. He wasn’t sure. “Let me test my feelings,” he said. “To see whether I am or am not repulsed, now that I know the truth. I don’t want to seem to be making a move on you, but I think my body will not lie.”
“Never,” she said, taking his hand and threading it into her nightie so he could feel her bare torso.
He felt it, in its assorted curves and contours. He kissed her, and she met him more than halfway. She was completely female, physically. He had to react.
Then she threaded her hand into his pajamas and confirmed his arousal. He was not repulsed. Bemused by the anomaly, but turned on. “Thank you!” she breathed. Now that it was a question of physicality, she was no longer barred from expressing her honest sentiment.
“Now get away from me before I lose control,” he said.
She hesitated. “I did not mean to tease you. You have done me another huge favor. If you wish to—to proceed now, I will cooperate. We both know it’s merely an act, not a commitment. I will pretend you are Piper.”
“No, I don’t want that!”
“You’re lying,” she said fondly. “Thank you.” She got out of his bed and went to her own in the darkness.
He had indeed been lying. She had made him desire her fiercely. But he really appreciated her withdrawal. How would he have lived with himself if he had yielded to the moment and done it with a twenty-four-year-old girl who loved another man?
“I hope this helps you appreciate that there may be mysteries yet,” she said from her bed. “The Demons have crafted a truly devious course for us all.”
“There may indeed be further mysteries,” he agreed. But what surprises could possibly remain? Why did he fear that there was something he should have figured out, and hadn’t? Something vital.
They settled down to sleep. In one more day it would be over, one way or another.
* * *
“I wish all of you well,” Mindy said as she served them breakfast. “It has been great knowing you.”
“You also,” Piper said. “You made the details easy.”
“Thank you.”
There was a similar crowd in the stadium. Bryce was surprised that Princess Harmony was not there. Maybe she would make an appearance when the moment was right.
They took the seats that Mindy indicated in the front row before the platform. Bryce knew that he should not be nervous, but he was. He suspected the same was true for the other Suitors. Mindy hovered near, perhaps relieved that her service here was almost done. Maybe she missed Caprice Castle.
King Ivy took the stage, along with two of the triplet princesses. They looked painfully like Harmony, but Bryce was not in love with them. “The Princess Harmony will appear soon,” she said. “You will make your presentations to me.”
The king paused, gazing at the six Suitors. “Arsenal,” she said. “Stand and speak your piece.”
Arsenal stood. “My gift for the Princess Harmony is the Sword,” he said, drawing it and holding it aloft. “With this she can defend herself against any man or creature. It is feather light to the wielder, but full force to the target.” He demonstrated by balancing it on his little finger without effort, then grasping the hilt and cleaving a stone in twain.
“Thank you,” Ivy said. “I’m sure the princess is impressed. Be seated.” She paused. “Demon Pose.”
Pose stood. “My gift is the Ring of Power. With this on her hand, the princess could move a mountain if she chose.” He smiled briefly. “No mountain here, but maybe this boulder will do.” He walked to it, put his arms around it, and lifted it high. “Virtually unlimited force. She will be able to accomplish great constructions.”
“That might someday be convenient,” King Ivy agreed. “Be seated.” She focused on the next. “Lucky.”
Lucky stood. “I have a marvelous magic Dress that will make the princess even prettier than she already is.” He held it up.
“Harmony would look pretty in anything,” Ivy said. “Let’s see it demonstrated.” She looked around. “Mindy, try it on.”
Mindy came forward and took the Dress. “Please don’t make me change in public.”
“Melody, Rhythm,” Ivy said. “Provide her an illusion screen.”
The two princesses hummed and beat a little drum. An opaque circular curtain appeared around Mindy.
In a moment and a half Mindy called, “Okay.”
The curtain vanished. There stood Mindy in the Dress. She looked astonishingly lovely, even though Bryce had seen her in it before. Maybe she was further enhanced by the weight she had lost during the Quest.
“You’re adorable, dear,” Ivy said. “It is effective magic. Now give it back.”
Mindy frowned as if reluctant. The curtain surrounded her again, and in two more moments she was back in her own dress, looking relatively plain. The demonstration was done.
“Anna Molly.”
Anna stood. “I proffer the Queen Bee, courtesy of my brother. She is telepathic, and so responds to thoughts. Her hive can provide protection, reconnaissance, some transport, and food.”
A small swarm of bees appeared, carrying a dripping honeycomb. The king took it and tasted it. “Delicious.” The bees buzzed away, leaving the comb.
“And you can comb your hair with it, when you have eaten the honey,” Anna said with three-fifths of
a smile. The king echoed the smile with another two-fifths, completing it. Then everyone smiled.
“Piper,” Ivy said.
Piper stood. “I present the hypnotic Gem that can pacify any monster. The princess will be safe from any monster, including me.”
There was general laughter. Most of the audience thought he was joking.
“That is good to know,” Ivy said. “Bryce Mundane.”
Bryce stood. “I regret that I did not succeed in capturing the magic Monocle that enables a person to fathom the mind-set of anyone it focuses on.”
“You failed?” the king asked sharply. “Do you care to explain?”
“No.”
There was a murmur of chagrin. It seemed he had committed a breach of manners.
“Please,” Mindy said. “May I speak?”
Ivy considered briefly, then decided to be tolerant. “You may, briefly.”
“Bryce lost the Monocle because I was being attacked by dragons. He saved me instead. He is trying to spare me a deserved rebuke for interfering with his Quest.”
The king eyed Bryce. “What is this servant girl to you, that you sacrificed your mission for her?”
“No Object, however magical, is worth the loss of a human life. I would have done the same for any other person.”
The king nodded. “You showed more honor in your failure than others might have in their successes. Make your presentation.”
This was the chance Bryce had hoped for. “The Monocle would surely be a useful tool, especially when dealing with possibly hostile or deceptive leading figures. But the princess doesn’t need it. What she will be better served by is to develop her own observational and intellectual skills. The judgment to assess any situation, and decide objectively what course to follow. That will enable her to be the best king she can be, when the time comes.”
Ivy nodded. “Judgment. I agree. This is worthy advice. Be seated.”
Bryce sat. Was he really being allowed to present advice rather than a magic gift?
“Now it is time for the Princess Harmony to choose, completing this occasion,” the king said. “Harmony?”
Mindy came forward. As she walked, she shifted, until she halted before the king. “Here, Mother,” she said, and turned to face the audience.
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