"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?"
"You're sure it's under control?" Suz seemed a little nervous. I looked at the kitten. It was watching Suz with a great deal of interest.
"What do you mean, under control?" Shiara said. "She's a perfectly well-behaved kitten. Morwen wouldn't have given her to me if she wasn't."
"Cats are not-Did you say Morwen?" Suz peered at Shiara. "Yes, I said Morwen. Can't you finish a sentence?"
Suz ignored her. "You've been to see Morwen? I didn't know that. Oh, dear me, I must be dreadfully behind. Why, all sorts of things could be happening that I don't know about! How perfectly dreadful. I must really get back to work at once. Oh yes, indeed I must."
The lizard ran down the branch and disappeared behind the tree trunk.
"Wait a minute!" I said. I ducked around the back of the tree, but Suz was nowhere in sight. I shook my head and went back to where Shiara was standing.
"He's gone again," I said. "And he still hasn't told me what castle he's talking about."
"So what? Nobody else has told us anything either." Shiara glared at the branch where Suz had been sitting. "I don't think he's very polite. He didn't even say good-bye."
"He keeps going off like that," I said. "I think that's just how he is."
"Well, I can't say I'm sorry he left," Shiara said. "Come on, let's find that stream Morwen was talking about. I'm thirsty."
We started walking again. Shiara put the kitten down, and we took turns keeping an eye on her. She had a marvelous time jumping on leaves and attacking bushes while Shiara and I talked about what Shiara was going to name her. Finally she decided on Nightwitch. I didn't think that was a very good name, but Shiara liked it, so I didn't say anything.
By the time we found the stream, Shiara and I were tired and hungry as well as thirsty, so we stopped. We each took a drink, and then we sat down and opened the bundles Morwen had given us. Just as I had expected, there were packets of food right on top-meat pies and apples and gingerbread.
Shiara and I each ate some, and we gave one of the meat pies to Nightwitch.
There was a little left over, so we wrapped it up and put it back in my bundle before we started off down the stream.
We stayed as close to the bank as we could. It's easy to get lost in the Enchanted Forest, especially if you don't really know where you're going. If we got out of sight of the stream, we might never find it again.
In a couple of places the trees grew in thick clumps, right up to the water's edge, and we had to choose between wading and going around. I didn't like the dark look of the forest near the tree clumps, and the water was only ankle deep, so we waded. Nightwitch did not approve.
The forest got darker as we went along. I was sure, now, that the trees were bigger, and they were certainly closer together even when they weren't growing in tight clumps. We spent more and more time in the stream, but the water wasn't very cold and the pebbles on the bottom were smooth, so it wasn't particularly unpleasant. Even so, I was glad when the woods started to open up again.
Then I saw the clearing a little ahead of us. A minute later, I saw the person sitting in it.
She was a princess. She had to be. Her hair was long and golden and not tangled at all, and her eyes were very blue, and her skin was very white, and she was very, very beautiful. One dainty foot was peeping out from under her blue silk gown. Her hands were folded in her lap, and she was looking at them with a sad expression.
Shiara poked me. I realized that I was standing in a stream with my shoes in one hand and Morwen's bundle in the other and my mouth hanging open. I swallowed and waded over to the bank. I wanted to put my shoes back on before we got any closer. I had seen at least two princesses before, that I knew of, but both of them were enchanted and hadn't looked at all like their usual selves when I met them. When I finished with my shoes, the Princess was looking in our direction.