or political power or undeserved acclaim-when all they really needed was to be satisfied with what they already had? Sometimes what they had was better than what they thought they wanted. Chameleon had thought she wanted to be normal; Trent had thought he wanted armed conquest; and Bink himself had thought he wanted a demonstrable magic talent. Everyone thought he wanted something. But Bink's real quest, at the end, had been to preserve Chameleon and Trent and himself as they were, and to make Xanth accept them that way.
He had not wanted to take advantage of Chameleon in her stupid phase. He wanted to be sure she understood the full implications, before he-before he-
Something tickled his nose. Embarrassingly, he sneezed.
Iris nudged Chameleon with her elbow.
'Yes, of course I'll marry you, Bink,' Chameleon said.
Trent guffawed. Then Bink was kissing her-his ordinary, extraordinary girl. She had found her spell, all right; she had cast it over him. It was the same as Crombie's curse-love.
And at last Bink understood the meaning of his omen: he was the hawk who had carried away Chameleon. She would never get free.
