It was much worse man she had had any right to fear. There was a misty veil, and beyond it a plunge into a dark ocean. That seemed hopeless.

She turned back to find Jenny-and the elf was already there, being carried right into the plunge. Jenny shrieked as she floated over the brink.

Kim dived for her. Her hands caught hold of something.

Then she, too, was hauled over the brink. Instead of saving Jenny, she had just gotten herself into trouble.

They fell, seemingly endlessly. Water was all around, in columns. Below was a frightening whirlpool.

They plunged into it, Jenny was swirled away. Kim inhaled to try to scream, but breathed water. She choked.

Then something was hauling her. She struggled feebly, to no avail. Whatever it was would have its way with her.

She landed on a warm gra.s.sy bank. She blinked, seeing the head and shoulders of a man. She had been rescued!

"Jenny!" she gasped. "Jenny Elf! She's in there-"

The man dived under the water. A fluke showed as he disappeared.

A fluke?

Kim sat up, coughing out pockets of water. She was utterly bedraggled, but safe, and the rain had stopped. But where was she?

Then Jenny Elf appeared, still holding Sammy. She seemed to be swimming rapidly, but without effort, just halfway sliding across the water. Kim blinked, then realized mat Jenny was being carried by the man, who seemed not to need his arms for swimming. How strange!

The man set Jenny on the bank beside Kim. She was smaller than Kim had realized, being only about two-thirds her own height. But of course she was an elf. Other elves of Xanth were even smaller.

The man started to haul himself out of the water. "Eeeek!" Jenny cried. "You can't change here! I'm not in the Adult Conspiracy!"

"Oops," the man said. "Then I remain in merform for the nonce." He flipped up his nether section, and lo, it was a green tail. He was a triton! A man with the tail of a fish.

"Thank you for saving us," Jenny said. "I am Jenny Elf, and this is Kim, a Player in the game. I'm her Companion. if I may ask-"

"I am Cyrus Merman," the man said. "Son of Morris Merman and the Siren. My mother makes beautiful music, but she no longer makes it for strangers."

"That music!" Kim exclaimed. "That was the Siren's song!"

Cyrus looked chagrined. "Oh, you heard it! We thought no one was near. My mother's music always leads strangers to trouble, so she never-"

"She didn't know," Jenny said. "We were just pa.s.sing, and then we ran afoul of Fracto, and he blew up a tempest and washed us into the Water Wing."

"The Water Wing!" Kim cried with recognition. "That's where we were heading."

"You picked a treacherous route," Cyrus remarked. "It was fortunate I happened to be near. Of course I was near because I was listening to my mother's music. I don't have a wife to keep me distracted, you see."

"I thought the Siren stopped her music," Kim said, perplexed. "I read how Chester Centaur destroyed her instrument, where the magic was."

"For a long time she wouldn't sing or play at all," Cyrus agreed. "But there are so few people in the Water Wing that it seemed safe, so she remade her magic dulcimer, and now my father and I love to listen. The music doesn't hurt anyone, it is just incredibly fascinating to men, who must come and listen to it. The problem is that they tend to forget what they are doing, and crash their ships into rocks or do other foolish things. But my father and I are used to it, and anyway, we are unlikely to drown. So we just listen and enjoy it."

"Oh, I would like to hear some more of it, before we go," Kim said. "All I heard was so faint, but I loved it"

"My aunt the Gorgon's talent affected only men, when she was young," Cyrus said. "But when she matured, so did her power, until it affected everyone, even animals. I think the same is true for my mother's talent"

"Then we should listen, before we go," Jenny said. "Because Kim wants to experience all the things of Xanth as she goes along."

Cyrus turned his handsome gaze on Kim. "What is this game you are playing?" he inquired. "You look like an attractive but otherwise ordinary young woman to me."

Kim opened her mouth, but stalled out before speaking. Attractive?

"She's Mundane," Jenny explained. "She won a talent contest, and the prize was to be the first to play the demon's Xanth Game of Companions. Somebody else sneaked in and was first, so she's actually the second, but still, she's playing the game. We're going down to ask the Good Magician how to proceed, since we don't know where the prize is, or even what it is. I mean, it's a magic talent, but we didn't know what talent."

Cyrus considered. "I suspect it is a good talent, so as to provide a strong incentive for the Players. I suppose it would be especially strong for Mundanes, who otherwise can never have magic."

Kim finally found her voice. "It hardly matters, since I can never actually be in Xanth. All I can do is play a role from the other side of the screen."

"The screen?" he asked blankly.

"This one." Kim put her hand out to touch it. And froze, astonished.

"Your screen is gone!" Jenny exclaimed. "Now I remember: you grabbed my hand. Trying to stop me from going over the waterfall. But instead I pulled you down. I must have pulled you through the screen!"

"But you couldn't have!" Kim protested. "There's no direct contact."

Cyrus smiled. "Are you saying that I merely imagined hauling you to sh.o.r.e? It certainly seemed like contact to me."

Kim reached down to touch the ground. It was solid. She touched Jenny's shoulder. It was there. She reached for Cyrus, then hesitated.

"By all means touch me," the merman invited. "In fact, lean over the water, and I will kiss you. That should be contact enough." Was he daring her? Or teasing her? Kim decided to take him up on it. After all, she would never have another chance to kiss a merman.

"Uh, I don't think-" Jenny started, worried.

Kim leaned forward, and Cyrus leaned forward, and their two faces met They kissed. It was wonderful.

"You are an effective kisser," Cyrus remarked, smiling.

"I must be here," Kim said dreamily.

"You must have taken the second step," Jenny said. "Now you believe in magic."

"So it seems all the way real," Kim agreed. "But I know it isn't."

"But in Xanth, illusion is part of our reality," Cyrus said. "So if you have the illusion that you are here, that is good enough for me. You must come and meet my parents."

Jenny looked alarmed. "I'm not sure-"

"But I want to hear the Siren sing," Kim said. "I'd love to meet your folks, Cyrus."

"Excellent allow me to go change. When my mother changes, she can form a sequined dress at the same time, but I have never mastered that ability. I shall return." He swam away.

"Changes?" Kim asked.

"They can turn their tails into legs," Jenny explained. "But men they are bare. As a juvenile, I'm not allowed to see a bare man. That is why I had to stop him from changing before."

"Oh. Changing from merform to manform," Kim said. Then she thought of something else. "Why were you alarmed when he offered to introduce us to his parents?"

"In Xanth, people mostly meet people just as they are," Jenny explained. "But if they bring their parents in, it means they may be getting serious."

"Serious?"

"Like maybe getting married."

"Married!" Kim exclaimed, astonished.

"He likes you. He's not married. So-"

"But I'm only sixteen!"

"So maybe he would have to meet your parents, too. Prince Dolph was still fifteen when he married Electra." Jenny smiled. "I understand they had a time trying to figure out how to signal the stork, because neither knew. But they did manage to do it."

"This is ridiculous. I'm not about to get married. Certainly not to signal any stork! This is only a game."

"Maybe it's not a game to him. Remember, you did kiss him. That's a pretty strong sign." Jenny shrugged. "Of course I'm not party to the Adult Conspiracy, so maybe I'm all wrong."

Kim was nonplussed. She was not at all sure the elf was wrong. She liked the merman, but this was getting ridiculous. "Maybe we had better get on out of here, then."

"Maybe we had better," Jenny agreed.

They stood, and Kim became aware of two things: her clothing was sodden and chafing because of the dunking, and Jenny was not only smaller than she was, she had pointed ears and four-fingered hands. She was different not only from Kim, but from other Xanth folk.

But already Cyrus was returning. Now he was with legs, and he wore a shirt and trousers. He looked twice as handsome as before. It was too late to get away, and it would have been impolite to go without waiting. Anyway, Kim realized that she wasn't eager to separate from him quite yet. For all the mischief it might portend, that kiss had been fun. Back home, no boy had kissed her and complimented her the way the merman had.

"Right this way, ladies," Cyrus said grandly. "My folks are expecting you."

Kim wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. But she did want to meet the Siren, about whom she had read.

They followed Cyrus along a pleasant path. Soon they came to a nice little house. It seemed to be made of gla.s.s. But the gla.s.s shimmered, as if not quite solid.

Cyrus saw her looking. "Water bricks," he explained. "Lacuna's son Ryver made them for us."

Water bricks? "May I touch one?" she asked timidly.

"Certainly; they are tough. It's just his magic; he's good with water. That's a talent we respect, here in the Water Wing."

Kim gingerly touched a brick. It was soft but resilient, giving way only a small amount before resisting. Like a velvet-covered block of stone. Ryver was indeed good with water.

The door opened, and a lovely older woman stepped out. This was the Siren. "Come in, come in!" she said, "We have set the table for you."

Set the table? But Kim knew she couldn't eat, because she wasn't really here. Or could she? About all she could do was try it and see what happened.

Then the Siren got a closer look. "But you're soaking wet, both of you. Come inside; we'll have you dry and changed in no time."

Inside it was pleasantly warm. A fire was burning in the hearth. The sticks there were translucent and colorless: waterlogs, of course. Ryver wasn't the only one who was good with water.

The Siren bustled them into a lavatory whose walls were fortunately lined with opaque water bricks, and helped them out of their sodden clothing, and put them into nice fresh dresses. Jenny looked much improved; her regular trousers and jacket had made her look like a child, while now she looked more like a young woman. A very pet.i.te one, by human standards, but still ladylike.

"You look wonderful, Kim!" Jenny said.

Which was what Kim should have said to Jenny first. "You too," she said belatedly. But she sneaked a peek at the ice mirror on the wall, and saw that she did look rather nice, in contrast to her usual. Maybe the magic of Xanth was enhancing her. Too bad she didn't have that magic in Mundania!

They went out to join the family. Kim tried to remind herself that this was all just a game setting. But it did indeed seem like a friendly backwoods family, and she liked it. Maybe Fracto had done them a favor, blowing them here so that Cyrus had had to rescue them.

Morris Merman was a handsome older man, also wearnig legs and clothing for the occasion. "So you're Cyrus' young woman," he said affably.

Kim knew she should demur, but she didn't quite know how. She looked desperately at Jenny.

Jenny tried. "Kim is just pa.s.sing through. This is a game to her-"

"A game!" Morris exclaimed. "That was a serious kiss!"

Kim's emotions were getting so mixed it was as if someone were stirring a big wooden spoon in them. She loved being complimented, but knew she couldn't afford to be taken seriously.

"I mean, she's a Mundane, just visiting Xanth, and-"

"A Mundane!" the Siren said.

It was sounding worse and worse. "Maybe we can talk later," Kim said uncomfortably.

But underneath her embarra.s.sment was the wild excitement of recent developments. She had made the giant second step, and now seemed to be right in Xanth-and a handsome magical man had kissed her and called her attractive. Who needed to win the prize? This was fun enough.

The Siren served water cress, water chestnuts, water lemon, water rice, and water fowl, served on water lily leaves. For a beverage there was seltzer water. This was, after all, the Water Wing.

Somewhat dubiously, Kim tried her first mouthful-and it seemed real. So her belief was strong enough now to make it work. Relieved, she went ahead and enjoyed her meal.

Then they sat before the fire, and the Siren played and sang for them. It was absolutely beautiful and wonderful, and it evoked emotions Kim could not define. She wanted to be here always!

"Now we must talk," Cyrus said. "There is something I would like to ask you, Kim Mundane."

"Oh? I really don't know very much about things here." Kim had thought she knew a lot, but she had made so many mistakes that she realized she was an ignoramus.

He was unfazed. "As you know, I am unmarried. I am twenty-eight years old, and it is past time. But until now I have not had much opportunity to find a suitable woman. Now I think I see that opportunity."

Oh, no! Kim had almost forgotten about that She loved this adventure, but she knew she couldn't stay, and she knew she couldn't marry anyone here. She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Especially not anyone as handsome and nice as Cyrus.

She looked at Jenny, but it was evident that the elf didn't know what to say either. Kim had once again overridden Jenny's cautions about kissing Cyrus and meeting his parents, and thus sent signals she had not properly understood.

How was she going to get out of this?