I stopped in mid-sentence.
Mother glared at me. "what happened to the manners I've tried to teach you?"
"I-I'm sorry, Mother," I said. "I was upset."
"Being upset is no excuse," Mother said sternly. "If you're going to be rude, do it for a reason and get something from it."
I nodded.
Mother smiled. "I know it's hard, and it's rather short notice, but this will probably be the best chance we get. I can't waste it just to give you time to get used to the idea of leaving home. Besides, if I tell you too much now, it could ruin everything. You'll just have to work things out for yourself."
I was more confused than ever, but I could see Mother wasn't going to tell me anything else. She looked at me for another moment, then bit her lip as if she wanted to say something and couldn't. Abruptly, she turned and walked away. At the door of the cottage, she stopped and looked back.
"Good luck, Daystar. And stop wasting time. You don't have much of it."
Before I could say anything, she disappeared inside.
I started off toward the Enchanted Forest. Mother's advice was always good. Besides, I was afraid she'd melt me or something if I hung around very long.
I didn't bother to follow the road. It isn't particularly useful, anyway-it disappears as soon as you cross into the forest. Or at least, it usually does.
At any rate, I wanted to start with the section of the Enchanted Forest that I knew.
The Enchanted Forest comes in two parts, the Outer Forest and the Deep Woods. Most people don't realize that. The Outer Forest is relatively safe if you know what you're doing, and I'd gathered herbs there a few times. I'd never gone more than an hour's walk from our cottage, and nothing particularly interesting had ever happened, but I'd always known that something might. The way things were going, I was pretty sure that this time something would.
I felt the little tingle on my skin that marks the border between the ordinary woods, where our cottage was, and the Enchanted Forest. Some people have trouble getting in and out of the Enchanted Forest, but I never did. I was feeling exalted and adventurous, and maybe a little scared. I mean, for years I'd watched all those princes and heroes and so on go into the forest, and now it was my turn. I looked back over my shoulder to see if Mother was watching. The cottage was gone.
That shook me. You just don't expect the place you've lived in for sixteen years to vanish like that. I looked around. The trees were huge-much larger than the ones by our cottage. I couldn't reach more than a quarter of the way around the trunk of the smallest one. The ground was covered with dark green moss that ran right up the bases of the trees and stopped short. I could see a couple of bushes, including one that had three different colors of flowers on it. Everything felt very dark and green and alive, and none of it looked familiar at all.
I shivered. This wasn't the Outer Forest. This was the Deep Woods.
I waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing happened. Somehow, I wasn't reassured. Being lost in the Enchanted Forest does not do much for one's peace of mind.
After a while I started walking again. I felt much less adventurous and considerably more scared.
I walked for a long time. Eventually I quit being scared, at least mostly.
Finally I started looking for a place to rest; my feet hurt and I was getting very tired. I was careful, though. I didn't want to sit on a flower that used to be someone important. After about fifteen minutes I found a spot that looked all right, and I started to sit down.
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten I was wearing the sword. It got tangled up in my legs and I sort of fell over.
Somebody giggled. I looked around and didn't see anyone, so I decided to get untangled first. I straightened my legs out and sat up, making sure the sword belt was out of the way this time. Then I took a second look around. I still didn't see anyone, but the same somebody giggled again.
"Sir or madam on" I stopped. What was the proper honorific for something that wasn't male or female? I was pretty sure there was one, but I couldn't remember it.
"Oh, don't bother," said a high, squeaky voice. "I've never cared for all that fancy stuff."
I still didn't see anyone. "Forgive my stupidity, but I can't seem to find where you are," I said.
The giggle came again. "Down here, silly."
I looked down and jumped. A little gold lizard was sitting right next to my hand. He was about twice as long as my middle finger, and half of that was tail.
"Hey, watch it!" said the lizard. "You might hurt someone if you keep jumping around like that. Me, for instance. You big people are so careless."
"I'm very sorry," I said politely.
The lizard lifted his head. "You are? Yes, you are! How amazing.
Who are you, anyway?"
"My name is Daystar," I said, bowing slightly. It was a little awkward to do from a sitting position, but I managed. Being polite to a lizard felt peculiar, but there are only two rules of behavior in the Enchanted Forest: Don't take anything for granted, and Be polite to everyone. That's if you don't live there. The inhabitants have Their own codes, which it's better not to ask about.
"You're Daystar?" The lizard did something very tangled very quickly and ended up balanced on his tail. "So you are! Well, my goodness. I hadn't expected to see you around here for a while yet."
"You were expecting me?"
"Of course." The lizard looked smug. "I know everything that goes on in the Enchanted Forest. Absolutely everything! I've seen you in the Outer Forest. It was only a matter of time before you got this far, though I thought it would take longer. I'm Suz, by the way."
"Pleased to meet you," I said.
"You are?" The lizard leaned forward and almost lost his balance.
"Yes, you really are! How positively extraordinary. Whatever are you doing in the Enchanted Forest?"
"I don't know," I said.
"You don't know? The lizard did a back flip and scurried up onto a fat tree root, where he would have a better view. He balanced on his tail again and looked at me thoughtfully. "If you don't know what you're doing, why are you here?"
I thought for a moment. "Do you really know everything that happens in this forest?"
"Of course I do." Suz looked offended. An offended lizard is an interesting sight.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything," I said hastily. "I just wondered if you could tell me where this came from." I touched the sword Mother had given me.
The lizard squinted in my general direction. "What? It's on the wrong side of you, silly. Bring it over where I can see it. If it came from the Enchanted Forest, I can tell you about it."
I lifted the sword, sheath and all, and twisted it around so it was on the same side of me as Suz. The lizard promptly fell over backward.
"Oh dear me my gracious goodness my oh," he squeaked. "Do you know what that is?"
"I wouldn't have asked you if I knew," I said. "It's a sword. I think it's magic."
"It's a sword! He thinks it's magic!" Suz ran around twice in a small circle, then did the tail-balancing trick again. "Where did you get it?" the little lizard demanded.
"My mother gave it to me. She got it out of the Enchanted Forest somewhere." I was getting a little tired of this. "Are you going to answer my question?"
"Your mother gave it to you. The Sword of the Sleeping King, that everyone in the world has been looking for for fifteen or twenty years, and your mother gave it to you. "The lizard got so agitated he fell over again. "That isn't right. That isn't reasonable. My dear boy, that simply isn't done! Even in the Enchanted Forest there is a proper order for these things! Someone will have to notify them at the castle immediately. Oh, dear, what a stir this will cause!"