Castle War

Thirty-seven Queen’s Dining Hall

“… so Sheila and I went back to the weird aspect where the cloud was,” Linda was saying. “We reversed the thing’s rotation, and it started absorbing the clone Snowclaws. We told all of them to report back to the aspect for … well, for getting sucked back up into the thing, and they went. Snowclaw’s clones are good troupers.”

“That’s because Snowclaw’s a good trouper,” Dalton said. “But the question that arises is, what did they feel about vanishing into the oblivion from which they came?”

Linda waved the issue away. “We didn’t ask. And I don’t want to think about it.”

“If you start thinking about things like that when you do magic,” Sheila said, “you’ll never sleep at night. I still have a submarine crew I created sitting around doing nothing — but that’s another story.”

Dalton took a sip of coffee. “By the way, where’s the real Snowclaw?”

Linda froze, then put down her toast and looked at Sheila. “Did you —?”

“Well, I thought you knew where he was,” Sheila said.

“Oh, my God,” Linda said, hands up to her face. “You don’t think he got …?”

“Oh, I expect he’s around somewhere,” Dalton said. “He can certainly take care of himself.”

“Well, anyway,” Linda said, “it’s been a crazy couple of days. I hope the cosmic disturbance is over. I wouldn’t want to go through that again.”

“You’re sure all the strangers have been shooed out?” Dalton asked.

“Whoever’s left, the Guardsmen ought to take care of,” Sheila said.

“What about the bogus Incarnadines?” Thaxton said.

“We don’t know about those,” Linda said. “They all seemed pretty much immune to whatever we were doing. In fact, they all seemed to be having a pretty good time.”

“I hope Lord Incarnadine managed to get back,” Dalton said.

“I sent a page up to the laboratory to check. He ought to be reporting soon. I kind of suspect Incarnadine returned okay. Things are quieting down.”

“There he is,” Sheila said.

Gene and Snowclaw had entered the dining hall.

“Hi, guys!” Snowclaw said, throwing down his broadax.

“I found him sleeping in my room,” Gene said.

“I was tired. Besides, I was sick of looking at myself all over, so I thought I’d get some sleep. Great White Stuff, am I hungry!”

“Dig in,” Linda said. “I had the cooks bring your beeswax candles and Thousand Island dressing.”

“Thanks! Sometimes I like beeswax, sometimes paraffin. It depends on my mood.”

Snowclaw dipped a candle into a bowl of dressing and popped it into his toothy maw.

Thaxton looked disgusted and put down his Reuben sandwich.

Other Guests entered the hall, laughing and chattering away. Deena Williams waved and said hello.

“Hi, there!” Sheila called.

“I’ll bet they all have stories to tell,” Linda said. “And I’ll bet you have one, too, Gene. Whatever happened to you?”

“Got into a strange universe. But that’s nothing new.”

“What about school?”

“Forget it,” Gene said. “I’ve had enough reality to last me awhile. Give me swords and sorcery. Can’t get enough of that stuff.”

“Well, you came to the right place,” Dalton said.