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.
'It's to keep wizards and knights and so forth from prowling around while I'm gone.'
So Cimorene is a sorceress, as well as a cook and librarian and goodness knows what else, Mendanbar thought to himself. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she surprised him again.
'It's a good idea, but please warn me if you're going to do anything like that again,' he said. 'I'm not in the mood for being startled, if you know what I mean.'
Cimorene nodded, frowning slightly, and asked just what it was about the spell that had startled him. This led to a long, technical discussion of the various ways of casting spells, detecting spells, and comparing spells other people had cast. Mendanbar found it both interesting and informative. He had always known that his own methods of working magic were not much like anyone else's, but he had never had time to study other styles.
Cimorene knew something about most kinds of magic, and she was naturally very well informed indeed about dragon magic. She was as interested in Mendanbar's system as he was in everything else, and the conversation lasted all the way to Flat Top Mountain.
The sun had slipped behind the mountains and it was almost dark when they came to the foot of the last slope. Mendanbar could see the giant's castle at the top, large and dark and ominous against the graying sky. A broad road wrapped three times around the mountain as it wound its way to the castle gates.
'Are you sure this is the right place?' he asked.
'Quite sure,' Cimorene said. 'I've never been here myself, but Kazul has described it often enough. And that's certainly a giant's castle.'
'Exactly,' Mendanbar said. 'But is it the right giant?'
'We won't find out standing here. Come on.'
Cimorene marched confidently up the mountain. Shaking his head, Mendanbar followed. By the time they reached the castle gates, the stars were beginning to come out and it was getting hard to see.
'There ought to be a bellpull or a knob,' Cimorene said. 'You check that side of the gate, and I'll take this one.'
'All right, but what-' A loud grinding noise interrupted Mendanbar in mid-sentence, and the gates swung open. Yellow light spilled across the road, making Mendanbar and Cimorene squint.
'Come in, travelers,' a woman's voice said, much too pleasantly.
'Come in, and make yourselves comfortable for the night.'
Neither Mendanbar nor Cimorene moved. 'This was your idea in the first place,' Mendanbar said softly to Cimorene. 'What do we do now?'
'Ask questions,' Cimorene replied just as softly. She raised her voice and said, 'Thank you for your kind hospitality, but we're not just traveling.
We're looking for the giantess Ballimore, and we're in a hurry. So if you're not Ballimore, we'll have to go on.'
'I am Ballimore,' said the voice, still in an artificially pleasant tone that made Mendanbar's skin crawl. 'Who are you?'
'I'm Princess Cimorene, Chief Cook and Librarian to Kazul, the King of the Dragons, and this is Mendanbar, the King of the Enchanted Forest,' Cimorene answered.
'Cimorene?' said the voice in an entirely different manner. 'Oh, good. I've been wanting to meet you for the longest time. Come on in, you and your friend, and I'll have supper ready in a jiffy.'
Mendanbar and Cimorene looked at each other. 'I think it's all right now,' Cimorene said after a moment.
'Well, we won't find out standing here,' Mendanbar said. He held out his arm. 'Shall we go in, Princess?'
Cimorene gave him a bright, almost impish smile, and laid her fingertips on his arm as if they were walking into a court ball. 'I should be pleased to accompany you, Your Majesty.'
Together they walked through the gate. The courtyard inside was high, wide, and empty except for two rows of blazing torches in iron holders lined up on either side of the path. Mendanbar and Cimorene paced slowly up to the door, which swung open just as the gates had, only without the grinding.
As they went in, they heard the castle gates crunch shut. A moment later, the doors closed silently behind them.
They stood in a stone hall three times the size of any Mendanbar had ever seen. A wooden table, surrounded by high-backed chairs, stretched the length of the hall, At the far end of the room a large fire burned in an open hearth. High on the walls, more torches lit the room. A brown-haired woman in a pale blue dress was bending over a cauldron that hung from an iron hook above the fire. It all looked very ordinary, until Mendanbar noticed that the seats of the chairs were level with his eyes and everything else was similarly oversized.
The brown-haired woman sniffed at the cauldron, nodded to herself, and straightened. 'Welcome,' she
