I stood up hastily and hurried toward her. Shiara followed. As soon as I was within speaking distance, I stopped and bowed. The Princess smiled sadly.
"I bid you such poor welcome as I may," she said in a musical voice.
"Alas! That I can offer you no refreshment. For I am in great distress."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I fear not," said the Princess. "For you are as yet a youth. Alas! And woe is me! For I am in great distress."
"All right, all right. So tell us about it," Shiara said. She sat down on the ground and looked at the Princess expectantly.
I frowned. I didn't think that was the proper way to address a princess, though I wasn't positive. Mother had taught me a lot more about dragons than she had about princesses.
"You are kind to inquire of my sad tale," the Princess said. "It is not long to tell. My father was a king, much beloved of his people, and I his only daughter. Being lonely after my mother's death, my father remarried, to a woman comely but proud, and under her influence have I suffered these seven years. And now the King my father is dead, and my stepmother hath cast me out, to wander alone and friendless through the world. Alas! For I am-" "In great distress. We know. You said that before," Shiara said. "Why didn't you throw her out when your father died? It would have saved you a lot of trouble."
The Princess's blue eyes filled with tears and she bowed her head.
"'Twas not within my power to work harm against her, alas. And now I seek some prince or hero who will take pity on my destitute state and return me to my proper place. Woe is me! That I should be without help in such distress."
"Sounds like a lousy excuse to me," Shiara muttered under her breath.
Fortunately, the Princess didn't hear.
"I'm afraid we can't help you get your kingdom back," I said. "I'm very sorry. But if there's any other service I can do for you, I'd be happy to do it."
"Daystar?" Shiara's voice was horrified, and suddenly I realized what I'd said. I swallowed. At least I'd only promised to try.
"There is one thing," the Princess said. She raised her head, and her eyes were very bright. I went cold. The Princess smiled sweetly.
"Give me your sword," she said.
7
In Which There Is a Good Deal of Discussion
I stared at the Princess.
Then I shut my mouth and swallowed again, hard. Mother isn't going to like this at all, I thought. I was just about to draw the sword and give it to her when Shiara said, "Wait a minute, Daystar."
I stopped and looked at her. She looked at the Princess. "Daystar hasn't got a sword."
"What?" the Princess and I said at the same time. The Princess frowned. "I am not blind, to be so easily deceived. See, there it is." She pointed to my scabbard.
"That," said Shiara triumphantly, "is the Sword of the Sleeping King.
So it belongs to him, not to Daystar, and Daystar can't give it away."
The Princess looked very puzzled. I thought for a minute. Shiara was right, but she was wrong, too. I mean, it was obvious what the Princess had meant, even if she hadn't said it right. I sighed and reached for the hilt.
Shiara turned on me. "Daystar, what are you doing?"
"Giving her the sword," I said, tugging at it. The sword wouldn't come out of the sheath. "You know as well as I do what she meant."
"Well, if all those wizards and sorceresses can be picky about the way people say things, why can't you?" Shiara was so mad I expected her hair to start burning any minute. "You can't even get it out of the sheath! You only said you'd try to do what she wanted. Well, you've tried. Isn't that enough?"
I sighed. "I'm sorry, Shiara, but it's my sword, and I'm not a wizard. I just have to do it."
"Daystar, you… you…" Shiara gave up and just glared.
I tugged at the sword again, and Shiara turned her back. The Princess still looked puzzled. I shook my head and unbuckled the whole sword belt. I stared at it for a minute, then held it out toward the Princess. "Here. Take it." My voice seemed too loud, and I realized that the woods had gotten very quiet. The Princess smiled and took hold of the scabbard. I let go of the sword.
There was a rumbling noise, and the Princess said, "Oh!" very loudly and dropped the sword belt. The point of the scabbard hit the ground, and there was another rumble, and an enormous geyser of water shot up into the air.
I saw the Princess cringe, and Shiara fell backward. Then I couldn't see anything but white spray. A voice said, "All hail the Holder of the Sword"
The words echoed hollowly around me as the fountain vanished.
Shiara and the Princess were both staring at me, wide eyed. All of us were dripping. The sword was standing upright in front of me, in the middle of a pool of water about four feet across. It was about halfway out of the sheath, and the blade shimmered in the sun.
The Princess burst into tears. "I knew not that this weapon was of such potency," she said between sobs. "Alas! For I cannot hold the sword, and who now will be my help? Alas, and woe is me!"
"You mean you don't want the sword anymore?" Shiara demanded.
The Princess nodded. She was weeping too hard to say much.
"And Daystar can have it back now?"
The Princess nodded again. She was still weeping.
I sighed and dug out my handkerchief. It was wet. I squeezed it out and offered it to the Princess anyway. She took it without thanking me and cried some more.
"What am I to do?" she kept saying. "Who now will be my help? Alas! For I am in great distress!"
"Oh, help yourself," Shiara said crossly. "Daystar, are you going to take that stupid sword?"
I hesitated, then reached out and took hold of the hilt. The blade flashed once, and a brief shock ran through me as the hilt came to rest. I ignored the feeling and pulled at the scabbard. It came free almost at once, and the water closed silently behind it. I took a closer look at the bottom part of the sheath. I wasn't even surprised when I saw that it wasn't wet.
I looked up. The Princess had just about stopped crying. I looked at the sword. Then I looked back at the Princess. "Are you sure you don't want this?" I asked finally.
"Daystar!" Shiara sounded like she wasn't sure whether to be mad or horrified.
The Princess didn't seem to hear her at all. "I cannot take it!" she cried. "Oh, indeed, I cannot! Alas! That I am so helpless in my time of need!"
"Well, if you didn't want the sword, why did you ask for it in the first place?" Shiara said angrily.
"I fear I have deceived you," the Princess said tragically. "Yet I myself have been misled. Alas! I beg of you, forgive me! For indeed, I am-I am in great distress."
"Distress? Ha!" said Shiara. "You better tell us the truth, right now, or you'll find out what distress is."
"Shiara-" I began.
Shiara turned. "You shut up. You obviously don't know anything about handling princesses, so let me do it. Now," she said to the Princess, "explain.
And it better be good."
"I am a king's daughter," the Princess said. "My father would have me wed the prince of a neighboring kingdom, to bring us wealth. Yet I could not, for I love not him but another. My father listened not, for all my pleading, so my love and I fled into the forest. We wandered far, and great was our suffering, yet we were happy, for we had each other. But I, being unused to travel, became tired, and my love at last set me here and bade me wait for him. And here have I stayed these two long days, and I fear me some evil may have befallen him.