Esrever Doom (Xanth) (24 page)

“Maybe it was,” Yukay agreed, impressed.

“So this whole Quest could be the result of a Demon bet?” Ivan asked.

“It could be,” Yukay said. “That is not to say that it is. We’ll probably never know for sure. It is merely a possible explanation for seeming coincidences we encounter.”

Kody mulled that over. It would explain a lot.

“Meanwhile we need to decide whether to go to Caprice Castle, or somewhere else,” Naomi said.

“I’d love to see it in person,” Yukay said.

“Let’s vote on it,” Kody suggested. “All in favor?”

Everyone agreed. It seemed they liked the idea of visiting this mysterious traveling castle.

They collected together, and Zap pecked the square. They stood before the front gate of Caprice Castle. They were definitely in Xanth, because Ivan was looking away from Yukay. She had become ugly to him.

A bell sounded. A dog barked. In about one and a third moments two young dogs charged out.

“Hello, Wolfe!” Kody called. “Hello, Rowena! Remember me? Kody Mundane?”

“Woof!” “Rowe!” Their tails were wagging. They remembered.

“I’m on my Quest. These are my Companions. We need a safe place for a few hours, and I was wondering—”

Princess Dawn appeared. “By all means, Kody.” She stepped up to hug him briefly. She remained as alluring as ever.

Then she shook hands with Ivan. “That’s a marvelous talent, Ivan. And it even works on people!”

“Uh, thanks.” He was plainly daunted despite her phenomenal ugliness; her warmness had countered it to some extent.

Dawn hugged Zosi. “Oh, you poor thing! But with luck you won’t have to be alive much longer.”

“I don’t know,” Zosi said uncertainly. “Kody needs—”

“Oh, I see! You love him. That’s awful.”

“Yes.”

Dawn moved on to Zap. “And you have a soul! That’s a distressing burden. But if you can learn to live with it, there can be rewards.”

“Squawk,” Zap agreed doubtfully.

Then Yukay. “And your talent, too, is special, if only it weren’t so unpredictable. But you have so many other fine qualities to compensate.”

“Thank you.”

Dawn hugged Naomi. “Oh, my!”

“There’s something wrong? Are naga not allowed?”

“Not at all, dear. It’s much worse.” Dawn glanced around. “Come in, all of you. This will require some difficult discussion.”

“Worse?” Naomi looked confused.

They followed Dawn into the castle, accompanied by the dogs. She settled them into chairs, and a nice rug for Zap. “We’ll be glad to help you make progress in your Quest,” she said to Kody. “But there’s a problem you could not have anticipated. One of your number is a spy for your enemy.”

All of them stared at her. “Spy?” Kody asked.

“Not knowingly. That’s why it is difficult.” Dawn turned to Naomi. “You are not a real person. You are a construct that will disintegrate within a month. You are being cruelly used to betray the one person you most want not to hurt.”

“I don’t understand,” Naomi said. “I have no intention of betraying anyone, certainly not Kody. He rescued me from a dragon, surely saving me from ravishment and ugly death, at great risk to himself, and I really like him. You say I am going to perish anyway?”

“Yes. You are a kind of twin, an alter ego of the one who set off the Bomb. Her name is NoAmi, meaning no friend. You are her opposite in every way: lovely where she is ugly, nice where she is nasty, well-meaning where she is full of malice. Her opposite, but nevertheless animated by her life force. You share her soul. You were sent to intercept Kody and prevent him from locating the Bomb, so that it won’t be turned off.”

Kody kept silent. This was fascinating but alarming information. He saw the others keeping similarly mum.

“But I want to help him!” Naomi protested.

“Opposite to her design,” Dawn agreed.

“But if I help him, how does that satisfy her?”

“In two ways. First, you would never have been suspected, because you do want to help him, and are falling in love with him.”

“No! I am merely teasing him, as Yukay is. We’re not serious.”

Dawn merely looked at her.

“Falling in love,” Naomi agreed faintly. “Maybe it started as teasing, but when he rescued me it got serious.”

“I didn’t know,” Kody said. “I thought it was teasing.”

“I’m still teasing,” Yukay said. “She isn’t. Neither is Zosi.”

“But you know I can’t stay!”

“That’s why teasing is safe,” Yukay said. “But sometimes it gets out of hand.”

“This is part of the plot,” Dawn said. “Naomi is designed as she is so she can literally seduce you away from your Quest. She had to fall for you, because you are unlikely to be fooled by an insincere schemer. When she was made, her mistress did not know that Zosi and Yukay would join you. You were still on the way to see the Good Magician. But she was made to be competitive in this respect, and she is. You have not seen her when she tries.”

“Not anymore,” Naomi said, pained. “I won’t touch him now.”

“You will have no choice,” Dawn said. “You can’t go against your nature.”

Kody was not comfortable with this development. “What is the second way she is helping her evil alter ego?” he asked Dawn.

“She is a complete spy. Everything that Naomi sees or hears is being relayed to her mistress. Thus NoAmi knows all about your Quest.”

Kody felt a chill. “Including this present interview?”

“No. She can’t penetrate Caprice Castle, which has its own potent magic. But the moment you leave here, NoAmi will know everything in Naomi’s memory, so it’s only a temporary reprieve.”

“Then I can’t leave here!” Naomi said.

“You will have to, when Kody does. Remember the pain you felt when the dragon abducted you? It was not merely your fear of ravishment and death; it was that you were separated too far from Kody. You have to stay within range of him, or suffer unbearably.”

“Then I’ll just hunker down near him and do nothing to interfere with him.”

Dawn shook her head. “No. You have not yet felt the compulsion to prevent him from finding the Bomb, because there has been no opportunity for him to do that yet, but when he does succeed on orienting on it, you will be compelled to act.”

Naomi sank to the floor, sobbing. Kody got up, stepping toward her, wanting to comfort her, but stopped himself.

“Oh, do it,” Yukay said. “She won’t hurt you.”

Kody looked at Dawn. “Am I … safe?”

“Here in Caprice Castle you are,” Dawn said, understanding that it was not physical safety that concerned him. “Not outside it.”

He went to Naomi, put his arms around her, and lifted her up to stand in his embrace. She turned in to him, still weeping. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” she wailed.

“So are we all,” he said. “But we’ll try to find a way around this.”

“There is no way,” she sobbed.

Then he became aware that she was too close to him. Her whole body was pressing into him, and it was a phenomenal body. It was turning him on embarrassingly. He realized that she was probably not conscious of it; the process was automatic. She simply was compelled to make her female nature score. As Dawn had said, she was equipped.

He tried to pull away, but she clung desperately. His attempt merely succeeded in snagging her blouse, drawing it open, baring a breast. As a naga whose clothing was awkward when she changed, she wore no underclothing, merely a simple outer shirt and skirt. The view was electric, making him want to see more.

He had to break this up without succumbing or hurting her or embarrassing the whole group. But how?

Then he got a notion. He conjured a reverse wood chip. He touched it to her bare shoulder.

Naomi froze an eighth of a moment. Then she drew away, covering up. “What am I doing?”

“It was just an accidental wardrobe malfunction,” Kody said quickly. “My clothing snagged on yours. I apologize.”

She glanced at him, now away from the chip and no longer emotionally reversed. She fully understood what had happened. “No need to apologize.” Literally true.

Kody returned to his chair. “I fear we have some things to figure out before we get to the Bomb Sniffer,” he said.

The others nodded grimly.

“All of you are of course welcome to stay here at Caprice Castle until this matter is resolved,” Dawn said. “Naomi must remain inside, which means Kody should also, lest he cause her avoidable pain. In fact, the closer the two of you are together, the less pain she will feel. Do you wish to share a room?”

“No!” Naomi cried in emotional agony.

“I agree,” Kody said. “That would be asking for trouble.”

“Here is the logic,” Dawn said. “She must make every effort to stop you from reaching the Bomb. One obvious way would be to seduce you, make you love her, and voluntarily give up the mission for her sake. She is motivated to try that first. It might be better to give her that opportunity than to force an alternative.”

“Alternative?” Kody asked.

“She might have to try to kill you.”

He considered that. It did make sense. If she loved him she would not want to kill him, and would suffer grievously if she had to do it, but if she had no alternative, she would have to make the attempt. Kody was not sure he could be killed, here in Xanth, but the equivalent might be simply to end the dream and send him home to Mundania. In any event, it would end the Quest, which would give victory to NoAmi. It might be better to buy time by giving Naomi the chance to seduce him if she could.

Except for one thing. He was already close to loving Zosi. That might protect him. But how would Zosi feel about letting Naomi try to seduce him? Zosi was already in serious doubt about continuing her living state. If that pushed her over the edge, and she returned to zombie status, her Quest to restore the zombies would end in failure, or at least be long delayed.

“Put it to a vote,” Yukay suggested.

At least that would eliminate the difficult decision for him. “Do you want to vote?” he asked the group.

A glance circled around, eliciting nods. They were ready.

“Then vote, the four of you,” Kody said. “Naomi and I won’t vote, of course.”

“I will call the roll,” Yukay said. “Should Naomi room with Kody, whatever that may lead to. Ivan?”

“No,” Ivan said. “He can see her as she is. I saw her that way in Hades and on Demo. She’s a knockout. She’ll seduce him.”

“One nay,” Yukay said. “Zap?”

“Squawk.” It was affirmative.

“One nay, one yea,” Yukay said. “Tie vote. I will abstain, so that it can’t conclude as a tie. That leaves it to Zosi. Zosi?”

“Yes,” Zosi whispered.

Kody stared at her, astonished. “But that means—”

“She must have her chance to accomplish her mission,” Zosi said. “We all deserve that. She must win you or lose you.”

“But what if she wins me?” Kody asked, appalled. “She’s no incompetent creature. She’s one bleep of a lot of woman, as Ivan says. I can’t be sure I can hold out against her.” He glanced at Dawn. “When she tries.”

“I don’t want to try,” Naomi said tearfully. “Because I don’t think you can resist me, when I try.”

“Then we all lose, including you, Kody, because you will give up your Quest,” Zosi said. “But we will have our answer.”

Yukay too was surprised. “I thought you would vote no, Zosi. You love him yourself. That’s why I cleared the way for you. Are you sure?”

“Thank you,” Zosi said. “I am sure.”

Yukay spread her hands. “Then so be it. The motion is carried, two to one. Kody rooms with Naomi.”

“I think you have put me in the lion’s den,” Kody muttered.

“Not the lion,” Dawn said. “The naga. That’s more formidable.”

“I would rather have roomed with Zosi.”

Now Zosi smiled, faintly. “All you have to do is resist her. Then it will be my turn.” She paused thoughtfully. “Or even if you don’t.”

“If I don’t what?”

“If you don’t succeed in resisting her. I would rather have a small leftover part of you, than none. I will always be yours to claim, on any basis.”

“Zosi, no!”

“She truly loves you,” Dawn said. “She would rather see you happy with another woman, than unhappy with her. She may lose you, but you can’t lose her.”

“I don’t want to be happy with another woman!”

“We have here what I believe is called a situation,” Yukay said. “A kind of triangle, wherein none of the participants want to play it out the likely way, yet all are bound to do so anyway. Someone is going to be hurt. Maybe all of you.” She looked at Dawn. “Can’t they simply refuse to participate?”

“And proceed as before, as if they have learned nothing?” Dawn asked. “That would mean that NoAmi would continue to know exactly what Kody is doing, and be able to balk it by means of her choosing.”

Yukay sighed. “I suppose then it does have to be played out.”

“It does,” Ivan agreed. “What use to get the Bomb Sniffer if she can counter it regardless?”

“Squawk,” Zap agreed.

“So it seems you do have to settle things with Naomi,” Dawn said.

“I hate this,” Kody said.

But that night he shared a room with Naomi. He donned a bathrobe, ready to take a shower. But she blocked his way.

“There is an easy way for you to handle this,” she said as she undressed and stood beautifully naked. “Take your magic sword and cut off my head. I will die immediately and you will have no further problem. Except for a bit of blood to clean off the floor.”

“I couldn’t do that,” he protested.

“Get your knife-sword. It’s right there in your pants pocket on the chair. Take it out and use it.”

“I am supposed to kill a lovely woman who wants only to make out with me? And live with my conscience thereafter?”

“I am your enemy. I seek to destroy your Quest and leave all of Xanth under the Curse. That’s why you need to destroy me. Now, before I get close to you and subvert your resolve.”

“You are not my enemy! You are an innocent person co-opted to mess me up. You don’t want to do it. You don’t deserve death.”

“Believe me, Kody, I am dangerous to you. Don’t temporize any longer. Do it now. That’s the quickest and cleanest way, messy as it may be for the moment.”

“No. I couldn’t murder someone even if I wanted to, and I don’t want to.”