'Now, where did you find that?' Morwen asked.
'The sorceress didn't like running to town for groceries,' Brandel said, setting the basket in front of Killer. 'So she enchanted her pantry so it would always have whatever she needed, for herself or for any visitors who happened to stop by.'
'I thought she didn't have visitors,' Morwen said.
'She didn't have many. I suppose she thought having company was bad enough without having to go shopping to feed them, too.'
Killer's ears stiffened, and he paused in midbite. 'Enchanted?' he said around a mouthful of clover. 'This is more enchanted food?'
'No, no, it's the pantry that's enchanted. The food is perfectly normal,' said Brandel. 'Weren't you listening?'
'You'll have to pardon him,' Morwen said. 'He's trying to be cautious because he's had a bad experience. A series of bad experiences.'
'You're sure this is safe?' Killer said anxiously. 'I'm getting tired of all these changes.'
'It's a little late to worry about it now,' Trouble told him. 'You've already eaten some. I don't suppose Brandel thought to bring a saucer of cream along with all that rabbit food?'
'Yes, about the rest of us… ,' Morwen said.
'Oh, sorry.' Brandel looked embarrassed. 'I guess I'm not used to having company. What would you like?'
'Let's see what you have,' said Morwen, and started for the stairs.
By the time Cimorene returned, Morwen and Brandel had laid out a substantial supper, including roast boar, baked potatoes, carrots, green beans and tiny onions, and spring water for the people; and sardines with cream for the cats. Killer had finished his first basket of clover, the second was half gone, and he was beginning to slow down.
It looked as if he might, for once, have enough to eat at a meal.
'Did you have a nice chat with your dragon?' Brandel asked as Cimorene pushed the laundry basket into a corner where it would be out of the way.
Cimorene rolled her eyes. 'Kazul is not, and never has been, my dragon. I was her princess for a while, but now we're just friends.'
'Oh. Well, did you have a nice chat with your friend, then?'
'Sort of.' Cimorene looked at Morwen. 'Kazul is leaving.'
Morwen considered. 'When? And why?'
'Right away. She-' Something large whooshed past the window outside.
'There she goes,' Cimorene said.
'That still leaves why.' Morwen pulled a chair up to the table and sat down. 'You can explain over dinner.'
'Something smells good up here,' Scorn said from the staircase, poking her black nose over the top of the last step. 'Hey, Horatio, there's cream!'
'If i don't get any, I will be very upset,' said Trouble, lashing his tail for emphasis as the other two cats bounded out of the stairwell and headed for the bowls Brandel had left on the floor.
Cimorene smiled absently at the cats and joined Morwen at the table.
'It's-well, dragons aren't very patient at the best of times. And we haven't run into any wizards yet, and Kazul wasn't sure your enchanted pantry would be up to feeding a dragon. So since I was worried about Mendanbar-' 'And since Mendanbar said something about wizards in the Enchanted Forest when you talked to him last night-' Morwen said.
And since there's not much dragon food in the swamp-' Killer put in.
'-Kazul offered to go home and-and see what's going on.' Cimorene took a large helping of the roast boar and dug in with relish.
'It may be just as well.' Morwen took a much smaller portion of the boar and looked at it doubtfully, wondering whether her stomach was up to it. 'Once we have the sword, we'll want to return to the Enchanted Forest immediately. Telemain won't be fit for much for a day or so, but-' 'Oh no! Morwen, we can't afford to sit around here for a whole day!'
'If you have a better idea, I'd like to hear it,' said Morwen.
'Besides, we haven't got the slightest idea where we're going, so rushing off won't get us there any quicker. We'll be better off if we take time to plan.'
'I suppose so,' Cimorene said, but she didn't sound happy about it.
'As I was saying: By tomorrow morning, I'll have some idea when Telemain will be able to do a proper transport spell again. Without Kazul, he can take us considerably farther each time and still stay within the safety position.'
Cimorene swallowed a mouthful of potato. 'That's good. The faster we go, the sooner we'll get the sword back to the Enchanted Forest.'
'Exactly.' With some regret, Morwen set down her fork. 'For tonight, the best thing we all can do is rest. Brandel, will you help us with Telemain?'
'I don't need help,' Telemain said unexpectedly from the floor in front of the fire. 'I need dinner. Where are we, and why is there a cat on my chest?'
'He was supposed to be making sure you stayed asleep,' Morwen said, turning to give Trouble a reproving look.
'It's not my fault,' Trouble said. 'He doesn't react right. I've never had to use that spell on a magician before; maybe that's why.'
He rose and stepped carefully down from Telemain's chest. 'Are there any sardines left?'
Telemain sat up and looked at Trouble with dislike. 'That animal is remarkably heavy for something that looks that skinny.'
'That's gratitude for you,' said Trouble. 'He should be glad I'm not Chaos.'
'How are you feeling?' Cimorene asked Telemain anxiously.
'Squashed,' said Telemain. 'And may I point out that as yet no one has answered my first question. Where are we?'
'The Smoking Swamp,' Morwen told him. 'And this is Brandel. We were fortunate enough to find his tower in time to spend the night, or you'd be sleeping in mud.'
'I appear to have done that already,' Telemain said, picking flakes of dried mud from the left shoulder of his vest. Suddenly, he looked up, frowning.
'Spend the night?'
'You got an unusually heavy Dose of backshock when you lost control of the transportation spell,' Morwen told him. 'You've been unconscious all day.'
'Ridiculous,' said Telemain. 'I did not lose control of the transportation spell, and I am not suffering from backshock.'
'Well, this certainly isn't the edge of the Great Southern Desert,' Cimorene said. 'And something knocked you out for most of the day.'
'I had to carry you,' Killer said, bobbing his head up and down for emphasis. 'You're heavy.'
Morwen's eyes narrowed. 'If it isn't backshock, what is it?'
'The opposite of backshock,' Telemain said. 'I don't believe there is a word for it.'
'Explain.'
'Backshock occurs when the accumulated magical energy contained within an enchantment-in-process rebounds upon the magician casting the spell due to his inability to maintain control,' Telemain said.
'He's feeling better, all right,' said Trouble, glancing up from the sardines.
'Mrrow vrow?' said Horatio.
'Yes,' said Scorn. 'Sometimes he's even worse.'
'In this instance, both the disruption of the transportation spell and the prolonged unconsciousness that followed resulted from an expropriation of magical energy as a result of the partial absorption of my enchantment- inprocess by a similar but much more extensive enchantment.'
