Without waiting for a response, Mendanbar took hold of a thread of magic and pulled. Mist rose and fell, and they were standing in front of the main door to the palace.

"Willin!" Mendanbar shouted, throwing open the door. "Willin, come here. I need-" He stopped short. Standing in the middle of the entrance hall was a boy of about ten in a blue silk doublet heavily embroidered with gold, a middle-aged man in black velvet with a pinched expression, two cats (one cream-and-silver, the other a long-haired tabby), Morwen, and an extremely harried-looking Willin. The footman who tended the front door was watching them all with the carefully blank face he kept for odd visitors and unusual events. He had had a lot of practice.

"Your Majesty! Oh, thank goodness," said Willin in tones of heartfelt relief. "This woman-these people-"

The elf stopped abruptly and made a visible effort to pull himself together. While he was still working at it, Morwen stepped forward.

"Hello, Cimorene, Mendanbar," she said briskly. "You're back just in time. These people have some very interesting infor-" "Morwen?"

Telemain's incredulous voice interrupted from behind Mendanbar. A moment later, the magician pushed his head between Cimorene and Mendanbar to get a better look. "It's you. What on earth are you doing in the Enchanted Forest ?"

"Living in it," Morwen answered calmly. "As you would know if you bothered to keep up with the doings of your old friends, Telemain."

"I've been busy," Telemain said defensively.

One of the cats made a small growling noise. "Nonsense," Morwen told it. "It's perfectly normal for him to be busy. The question is, has he got anything to show for it?"

Both cats turned Their heads and gazed expectantly at Telemain.

Mendanbar decided it was time to take a hand in the conversation, before things got so far off track that he'd never get them back on again.

"Telemain has been very helpful," he said. "Morwen, who are these other people?"

"His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Jorillam of Meriambee," Willin said in a loud, formal tone before Morwen could reply. The elf nodded at the boy, who bowed uncertainly.

"And His Royal Highness's uncle and guardian, Prince Rupert," Willin continued. This time, the older man stepped forward to acknowledge the introduction.

"They have come with the witch Morwen"-Willin paused, obviously waiting for Morwen to curtsy. Morwen only looked at him, and after a moment the elf went on-"with the witch Morwen to beg a boon of His Majesty Mendanbar, the King of the Enchanted Forest."

"It's not a big thing, Your Majesty," Prince Rupert said hastily.

"Really. If I could just have a minute or two of your time…"

His voice trailed off in an indistinct murmur.

Mendanbar looked from Prince Rupert to Morwen and back, completely baffled. "I'm in something of a hurry just now," he said at last.

"What is it?"

"If we could, ah, discuss the matter in private… ," Prince Rupert said with a sidelong look at his nephew.

"Oh, Uncle," said Crown Prince Jorillam in an exasperated tone. He turned to Mendanbar. "He just doesn't want to say straight out that we're lost. And he especially doesn't want to say that the whole reason we came was so he could leave me in the forest and go home and take over my kingdom."

"Jorillam!" Prince Rupert said, plainly horrified.

"Well, it's true, Uncle," the Crown Prince insisted. "And if they're in a hurry, it's better to tell them and not waste time."

"Mrow!" one of the cats agreed emphatically.

"Morwen…" Mendanbar said, hoping he did not look or sound as confused as he felt.

The ginger-haired witch shook her head and peered sternly over the top of her glasses at Prince Rupert . "You, sir, are here to tell these people your story with as little shilly-shallying as you can manage.

You'd better get started, or I shall be tempted to do something drastic."

"Like what?" asked the Crown Prince, greatly interested. "Could you turn him into a toad?"

"I could," Morwen said repressively, "but I won't. Not yet, anyway.

Provided he starts talking."

"Isn't that a bit severe?" Telemain asked, frowning.

"You wouldn't think so if you'd been dealing with him for the last two hours," Morwen said.

Cimorene stepped forward and gave Prince Rupert a perfectly charming smile. "Perhaps it would be best if you told us your story," she said.

"Ah, yes, of course," Prince Rupert said, rubbing his hands against each other. "I, um, we, en" "It's because of that stupid club Uncle joined," said Crown Prince Jorillam helpfully. "Tell them, Uncle."

"What club is that?" Cimorene asked.

Prince Rupert gave her a hunted look. "The Right Honorable Wicked Stepmothers' Traveling, Drinking, and Debating Society," he said, and sighed. "I've been a member of the Men's Auxiliary for the past fifteen years."

"That would be for Wicked Stepfathers?" Mendanbar guessed, wishing the man would get on with it.

"Yes, though we don't get many of those," Prince Rupert said.

"Mostly, it's wicked Uncles. You can even join on expectation, if you're not an uncle yet." He sighed again. "That's what I did. I never really expected to be an uncle at all. Rosannon-she's my sister-was under a curse for a hundred years, and I thought I'd be dead when someone finally broke it and married her."

"So you joined this club," Cimorene prompted.

"And it was wonderful!" Prince Rupert's face lit up, remembering.

"The places we went to, and the wines, and the discussions! It was everything I dreamed. Only then a smart-alec prince figured out a shortcut and broke the curse, and he and Rosannon got married and had Jorillam here.

And then the two of them left on some silly quest or other and put me in charge of him."

"It isn't a silly quest!" Jorillam objected. "It's a matter of vital importance to the future of Meriambee."

"You can see my problem," Prince Rupert said earnestly. "If I don't do something really wicked soon, I'll get kicked out of the club. I only have until sunset tomorrow."

"So you brought Crown Prince Jorillam to the Enchanted Forest , intending to abandon him here," Mendanbar said.

"Actually, it was my idea," the Crown Prince put in. "After the other thing didn't work out, we needed to think of something fast."

"Other thing?" said Telemain, fascinated.

Prince Rupert looked embarrassed. "I hired a giant to ravage a village by the eastern border. He was supposed to show up yesterday, and I was all ready to send the documentation in to the club when I got a letter of resignation saying he'd quit that line of work and wouldn't be coming."

Mendanbar and Cimorene exchanged looks.

"Did he say why?" Cimorene asked.

"No, just that he'd done enough pillaging for one giant, thank you all the same, and now he was going to try something new."

"So I said Uncle Rupert should abandon me in the woods," Jorillam said.

"That's much more wicked than hiring a giant, isn't it? And I'd get to have some adventures, too, instead of sitting home while Mother and Father are off on their quest. Only first we couldn't find the forest, and then we got chased by some wizards, and then we found the forest just in time and lost the wizards, except we got lost, too, and Uncle Rupert wouldn't leave. And then we were captured by a witch and she brought us here. Are you going to throw us in a dungeon?"

"What was that part about wizards?" Mendanbar demanded.

"I thought you'd be interested," Morwen said with considerable satisfaction.

"But that was before we got to the Enchanted Forest," Prince Rupert said in a bewildered tone. "Why would the King of the Enchanted Forest be interested in that?"

"Never mind," said Mendanbar. 'Just tell me what happened."

"Well, we were just coming out of the old Pass of the Dragons," Prince Rupert said. "It cuts straight through the Mountains of Morning to the Enchanted Forest, and hardly anyone uses it these days, so I thought it would be a good choice. Only things must have changed, because when we came out of the pass we were in a wasteland, and not in the Enchanted Forest at all."