"Everything," Kazul said. "And if you think straightening out things here was difficult, wait until you see the mess the official vaults are in."
"Oh, dear," said Cimorene. "Is it very bad?"nodded. "I've just come from looking at it. You'll see for yourself tomorrow. There's a smallish cave next to the library that I think will do nicely for you, but I'd like you to look at it before we start hauling things around."
"You mean you want me to stay?" Cimorene blurted. "But I thought the King of the Dragons didn't need a princess!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Kazul said. "How am I going to get my cherries jubilee if you don't stay? And you haven't even started cataloguing the library, and how else am I going to get the King's treasure vaults arranged so I can find things? I'm not going to have time to do it."
"Won't the rest of the dragons object?" Kazul snorted. "I'm the King.of the advantages of being King is that nobody objects to whims like keeping a princess when you're not supposed to need one. If it bothers you, we'll give you a different title: King's Cook and Librarian, maybe. Stop worrying and go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day for both of us."smiled and went off to her rooms with a light heart. She slept soundly and was up early next morning. Kazul was already awake and supervising three of the younger dragons, who were packing up the treasure and the library. Since Cimorene was pressed into service at once, it was several hours before she could get away to keep her promise to Alianora.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Cimorene apologized when she arrived at Woraug's cave at last. "But it didn't occur to me that Kazul would be moving, too, and she wanted me to help."
"It's all right," Alianora assured her. "It wasn't as big a job as I'd expected, and the prince helped. I'm almost finished." She gestured at an almost-full suitcase lying open on the floor. On the other side of the room, the stone prince was stacking the empty drawers from Alianora's bureau.
"Well, at least I got here in time to say good-bye," Cimorene said.
"You're staying with the dragons, then?" the stone prince asked, straightening with a frown. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Of course she's sure," Alianora said. "Kazul's going to need her even more than she did before, and Cimorene wouldn't be happy in a normal kingdom."
"How did you know that?" Cimorene said, staring at Alianora.
"It's obvious. Linderwall is about as normal a kingdom as you can get.you ran away from there, you certainly wouldn't be happy anywhere like it."
"I didn't mean that part," Cimorene said, reddening slightly. "I meant about Kazul wanting me to stay."
"That was obvious, too," Alianora said. "You're the only one who was worried about it." She studied Cimorene for a minute and shook her head.
"I wouldn't like being princess for the King of the Dragons, but it will suit you down to the ground."
"I think it will," Cimorene said, smiling.
"Then maybe you can tell me something," the stone prince said.
"What's being done about the wizards?"
"They've been banned from the Mountains of Morning, and there are a hundred or so dragons out checking to make sure they've gone," Cimorene replied. "They haven't had much luck, I'm afraid. Most of the wizards left after the first few got eaten."
"That's all?" asked the prince.
"What else can the dragons do? The wizards didn't actually poison King Tokoz; Woraug did that. So there's no justification for an all-out attack on the headquarters of the Society of Wizards, even if all the dragons agreed that they wanted to do it. Which they don't."
"I suppose you're right," the prince said. "But you'd better tell Kazul to keep a close eye on them. Those wizards will make more trouble just as soon as they figure out a way to do it."
"I don't know about that," Cimorene said. "I think Zemenar was behind most of it, and you melted him."
"That's it!" Alianora said, and snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot to tell you. Morwen and I talked for a long time yesterday, and she says that melting a wizard isn't permanent."
"You mean they'll all come back?" Cimorene asked.nodded. "It will take them a while, though. And Morwen said for you to come and visit soon. She thinks that in a few days she'll have figured out a way of melting wizards without dumping soapy water over them. 'A method that's a little less sloppy' was the way she put it."
"That will be useful if the wizards start making trouble again," Cimorene said thoughtfully.
"Is this everything, Alianora?" the stone prince asked, gesturing at the suitcase.
"Yes, I think so." Alianora pulled the top of the suitcase over, and the stone prince set one foot very gently in the middle of it and pushed until the latch clicked.
"Where are you going first?" Cimorene asked. "His kingdom or yours?"
"Neither," Alianora said, smiling. "We're going to Morwen's. She said she could change him back from stone to normal. We asked Kazul last night if we could go out through the Caves of Fire and Night, and she said yes, so..."
"I don't know, Alianora," the stone prince said. "I'm beginning to get used to myself this way. And there are certain advantages."
"There are disadvantages, too," Alianora said, blushing slightly.began to giggle.'s blush deepened. "I mean-uh-how are you going to get rid of that chip in your sleeve if you can't change clothes?"
"I think I see what you're getting at," the stone prince replied, eyeing Alianora meditatively. "And you're quite right. There's no comparison. We had better see Morwen as quickly as possible."and Cimorene looked at each other and burst into unstoppable giggles.stone prince blinked at them. "It's not funny!" he said indignantly, which only made them giggle harder. Shaking his head, he waited for them to stop, then picked up Alianora's suitcase. "Shall we go?"walked with them to the iron gate that led into the Caves of Fire and Night. A purplish dragon was waiting to guide them through the caves. Kazul was taking no chances on Alianora and the stone prince getting lost. Cimorene hugged them both and wished them a safe journey.
"And I hope you both live happily ever after"
"I hope you do, too!" Alianora called back as she and the stone prince followed the dragon through the gate.watched until they were out of sight, then started back toward Kazul's cave. She thought about Morwen, and the wizard-melting spell, and about Zemenar and Antorell and the other wizards who would somehow be back soon. She thought about Kazul, and about straightening out the treasure vaults that belonged to the King of the Dragons, and about all the hundreds of books in the King's library, and of all the problems that the King of the Dragons would have to deal with. She thought about Alianora's last words and smiled.ever after? Cimorene wasn't sure about that, though she was certainly hoping to enjoy herself. She was positive, however, that life with the dragons would be interesting and busy, and in Cimorene's opinion that would go a long way toward making her happy.
"Happily ever after? I don't think it's quite what you meant, Alianora," Cimorene murmured to the empty tunnel, "but one way or another, I rather think I will.
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