'That's what the tingling is,' I said. I was completely sure of myself, though I didn't know why. 'Different tingles mean different kinds of magic, and the tingles get stronger when the sword gets closer to the magic.' I looked at Shiara. 'No wonder it gave me such a jolt when we both touched it at the same time.'
Shiara had been reaching for the hilt, but she pulled her hand back hastily. 'If the sword finds magic, how come I couldn't feel anything until you touched it? And if the tingles are the way it finds things, why can't you feel them all the time?'
'I don't know,' I said. The tingling was fading again, the same way it had when I held onto the sword before, so I let go of the hilt.
Morwen considered me through her glasses. I couldn't tell what she was thinking from her expression. Finally she nodded very slightly. 'I see.
There is considerably more to you than I had expected, Daystar,' she said in a thoughtful tone.
I was still trying to figure out what that statement meant when Morwen turned away and said briskly, 'However, it is time for you to be going.
You see those two trees? Walk straight between them and keep on until you get to a stream, then follow the stream northward. You'll get to something eventually, and you should be able to figure out what to do from there.'
My eyes turned in the direction Morwen was pointing. It was the same way I'd been looking when I'd been concentrating on the purring tingle from the sword. I looked back at Morwen.
'Exactly,' Morwen said.
'What?' said Shiara.
'Let's go,' I said. I was feeling a little unsettled by the whole thing, and I didn't want to talk about it anymore. Shiara scowled, but she didn't insist on an explanation.
We said good-bye and thank-you to Morwen and started walking toward the trees. Shiara carried the kitten for a while, but pretty soon the kitten decided it wanted to walk. We slowed down a lot after that, until the kitten got tired enough to let Shiara pick it up again without scratching her.
Shiara and I spent most of the walk talking. I hadn't realized how little she knew about the Enchanted Forest, and I wound up telling her a lot of things. Like about being polite to people and why you shouldn't promise things without knowing what they are first.
Morwen hadn't told us how far away the stream was, and eventually I started wondering how much longer it would take us to find it. I was also curious about where we were going. Right about then, I noticed that the trees we were walking past were larger than the ones I'd seen the previous day. At least, I thought they were larger. I studied them as we walked, trying to decide whether it was my imagination or whether they really were larger.
I was just getting ready to mention this to Shiara when I heard a cough. I stopped and looked around.
'Ahem,' said a voice.
This time I located the speaker. It was the little gold lizard, Suz.
He was sitting on a branch at just about eye level, watching me.
'Oh, hello, Suz,' I said. Shiara looked around. I nodded toward the lizard and said, 'Shiara, this is Suz. You remember, I told you about him.
Suz, this is my friend Shiara.'
The lizard ignored the introduction and continued staring at me.
'Why,' he demanded in an aggrieved tone, 'didn't you tell me Cimorene was your mother?'
'You didn't ask,' I said.
Suz looked at me reproachfully. 'It would have saved me a great deal of trouble if you'd mentioned it.'
'I'm sorry,' I said. 'I didn't know it mattered.'
'You didn't?' Suz ran down the branch and peered at me. 'No, you really didn't! How amazing. I can't understand how it happened.'
'What are you talking about?' Shiara said.
The lizard appeared to see her for the first time. He leaned outward in Shiara's direction and I thought he was going to fall off, until I saw that his tail was wrapped tightly around a sturdy twig on the far side of the branch.
'You've brought someone with you? Dear me, this will never do. Who is this?'
'I've already introduced you once,' I reminded him. 'You weren't listening.'
'You did? Yes, of course, you did. How perfectly dreadful.' Suz ran around the branch very fast, and for a minute I was afraid he was going to try to stand on his tail. If he did, I was sure he'd fall off, because the branch wasn't very wide.
'What's so dreadful?' Shiara demanded. 'There's nothing wrong with me.'
'No, of course, there isn't. Oh, dear, Kazul will be terribly unhappy about this.'
'Who is Kazul?' I asked.
Suz looked at me in astonishment. 'You don't know? No, you don't. I haven't told you yet. Kazul is who you're going to see.' He cocked his head to one side as if that explained everything.
'Why should I want to see Kazul?' I asked. 'And why should he care about me, or Shiara, or anything?'
'She,' Suz said. 'And of course you want to see her. You have the Sword of the Sleeping King, don't you? I'm afraid she'll be dreadfully upset if you bring someone with you, though.'
'Well, I'm not going to leave Shiara alone in the middle of the Enchanted Forest,' I said firmly.
'No, no, you couldn't possibly do that,' the lizard agreed. 'That wouldn't be right at all. Dear me, whatever are we going to do?'
'You don't have to worry about me,' Shiara said indignantly. 'I'm a fire-witch. I can take care of myself.'
'You are?' Suz turned his head and looked at Shiara so intently that his eyes crossed. 'You really are! How convenient! Everything's quite all right, then. Kazul won't mind a fire-witch at all.'
'Who,' I said very slowly and carefully, 'is Kazul?'
The lizard stared thoughtfully at me for a long time. 'I don't think I ought to tell you any more,' he said at last. 'You're quite safe, you really are, but it wouldn't do at all for Kazul to lose her temper with me. Oh, dear, no.'
'Quite safe? In the middle of the Enchanted Forest, with wizards after us?' Shiara said sarcastically. 'You're crazy.'
'I am? No, I'm not at all! How very rude.' He turned his back, looking extremely offended. Shiara stared at him. As I said, an offended lizard is an interesting sight.
I sighed. 'Shiara.'
Shiara looked at me. I just stood there. After a minute, she looked down. 'Well, it's dangerous to be out here, even if you do have that stupid sword,' she said defensively. 'What's wrong with saying so?'
'It wasn't very polite,' I said. 'And you promised you'd try.'
Shiara glanced up at me, then sighed. 'Oh, all right. I'm sorry, Suz.'
The lizard twisted his head around. 'You are?' He ran around the branch again and peered at her upside down from underneath the limb.
'No, you're not at all. How disappointing. I accept.' He ran back up on top of the branch.
'Accept?' Shiara said.
'Your apology,' the lizard said with dignity. A dignified lizard looks even odder than an offended one.
'Oh.' Shiara looked at Suz doubtfully.
'If you won't tell us who Kazul is, will you at least tell us how to find her?' I asked hastily. I didn't want Shiara to say anything that would offend Suz again, and she looked like she was going to. Besides, I was curious.
'You won't have any trouble,' the lizard assured me. 'Just head for the castle. Kazul will-' He broke off in mid-sentence, staring at the kitten Shiara was holding. 'What is that?' he asked disapprovingly.
'A kitten,' Shiara said. 'What does it look like?'
