"Klung's spell brought us hither. But that final adjustment, to transport also our clothes and gear, is still not right. So all our possessions, including my money belt, and that jeweled sword, and some nicknacks I bought in Kuromon for gifts, remain in Kwatna." Wistfully he added: "I had saved a liberal sum from the money the Emperor gave me for the return journey, too; but it would be silly to try to go back to Salimor for it."
"We're so glad to see you," said Margalit, "that we should never have thought about homecoming presents. And you seem to have changed."
Kerin's eyebrows rose. "How?"
"You were such a shy fellow, so easily embarrassed. And here you come galloping up in the gig of the wine merchant Morcar, borrowed without his permission, and banging on our door without a stitch on, as if it were the most normal thing. Didst get the facts of the escapement?"
"Aye; but my drawings are in my bag at Klung's house. I suppose that sprite Adeliza hired to watch over me will be along when she wearies of her fairy lover."
"Adeliza will be wild," said Gytha, Kerin's other sister-in-law. "She might bring an action against Mistress Nogiri for filching her betrothed."
"We weren't—" began Kerin, but Jorian interrupted: "Hadn't you heard? She's wedded young Cenred, the village troublemaker. Eomer's the wild one."
Kerin grinned: "So hiring that sprite to haunt me was effort wasted?"
The practical Margalit said: "Hadn't we better get you some garments? The pair of you got soaked. And what if someone come in?''
Kerin knotted the towel around his loins. "One thing I need more than clothes right now is pen and paper, to redraw the diagrams of the great clock from memory. I can do it, but on conditions."
"Eh?" said Jorian. "My dear little brother, becoming a sharp haggler? What conditions?"
"That I be left alone without interruption whilst doing it; and that the family pay my tuition at Othomae University. I don't think I shall ever see my own money, left in Salimor, again. Ah, thankee, Margalit."
Taking the pen, ink bottle, and paper that his sisterin-law handed him, he headed for his bedroom.
About the Author
L. Sprague de Camp, who has over ninety-five books to his credit, writes in several fields: historicals, SF, fantasy, biography, and popularizations of science. But his favorite genre of literature is fantasy.
De Camp is a master of that rare animal humorous fantasy. As a young writer collaborating with the late Fletcher Pratt, he set forth the world-hopping adventures of Harold Shea and the delightfully zany Tales from Gavagan's Bar, a book which has remained in print for forty years.
In 1976, at the 34th World Science Fiction Convention, he received The Gandalf—Grand Master Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Fantasy. The Science Fiction Writers of America presented him with their Grand Master Nebula Award of 1978. Alone, and with his wife and sometime collaborator Catherine, de Camp has been a welcome guest of honor at fan conventions throughout the United States.
The de Camps live in Texas. They have two sons: Lyman Sprague, and Gerard Beekman, both of whom are distinguished engineers.
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