Piers Anthony - The Source of Magic

"I suppose so," Bink agreed. "I never realized how important magic was, until I saw Xanth without it. But here in our group we're left with distressing magical loose ends. Chester has a surplus Answer, and I have a wish I can't use, and Crombie is confined-"

"Ah, yes," the King agreed. "We'd better reconstitute him now."

Bink uncorked the bottle, releasing Crombie. The griffin coalesced. "Squawk!" he proclaimed.

"About time," Grundy translated.

King Trent looked at the griffin-and it became a man. "Well," Crombie said, patting himself to make certain of his condition. "You didn't need to leave me bottled up. I could hear what was going on, all the time." He turned to Chester. "And you, you hoof-headed hulk-I only fought you because the coral controlled me. You didn't have to be scared of me once that was settled."

Chester swelled up. "Scared of you! You featherbrained punk-"

"Anytime you want to try it again, horsetail-"

"That will suffice," the King said gently, and both shut up, albeit with imperfect grace.

King Trent smiled, returning his attention to Bink. "Sometimes you miss the obvious, Bink. Let Chester give his Answer to you."

"To me? But it's his-"

"Sure, you can have it," Chester said. "I don't need it"

"But I already have a wish I can't use, and-"

"Now you use Chester's Question to ask the Good Magician what to do with your wish," the King said.

Bink turned to Humfrey. The man was snoring quietly in a comfortable chair. There was an awkward pause.

Grundy went up and jogged the Magician's ankle. "Get with it, midge."

Humfrey woke with a small start. "Give it to Crombie," the Magician said before Bink opened his mouth, and lapsed back into sleep.

"What?" Chester demanded. "The Answer I sweated for only brings a free wish to this bird?"

Bink marveled himself, but handed the wish-bubble to Crombie. "May I ask what you mean to use it for?"

Crombie fidgeted a moment, an unusual performance for him. "Uh, Bink, you remember that nymph, the one who-"

"Jewel," Bink agreed. "I dread trying to explain about her to-"

"Well, I-uh, you see, I had this fragment of the magic mirror in the bottle, and I used it to check on Sabrina, and-"

"I fear consistency was never her strong suit," the King interposed. "I don't believe you two were right for each other anyway."

"What about her?" Bink asked, perplexed.

"She was two-timing me," Crombie said, scowling. "Right when she had me on the verge-but the other guy is married, so she was going to let on the kid was mine, and-I knew I couldn't trust a woman!"

So Sabrina had deserted Crombie, as she had deserted Bink himself, before he knew Chameleon. Yet she connived to marry Crombie anyway-and it had been fated that he would have to marry her unless he married someone else first "I'm sorry," Bink said. "But I think it would be best simply to let her go. No sense wasting a wish for vengeance."

"No, that's not what I had in mind," Crombie assured him. "I wouldn't trust any woman now. But I think I could love a nymph-"

"Jewel?" Bink asked, amazed.

"I don't expect you to believe this," Crombie said seriously. "I don't really believe it myself. But a soldier has to face realities. I lost the battle before it started. There I was, lying in that cleft where you had slain me, Bink. I don't blame you for that; it was a hell of a good fight, but I was really hurting. Suddenly she came, smelling of pine needles and gardenias, bringing the healing elixir. I never saw anything so sweet in my life. She was weak and hesitant, just like a nymph. No threat to any man, least of all a soldier. No competition. The kind of female I could really get along with. And the way she stood by you-" Crombie shook his head. "That's why I went back in the bottle, after pointing out the antidote for you. I wouldn't do anything to hurt that nymph, and killing you would have torn her up. And if you got the antidote, you'd get out of love with her, which was how I wanted you. She's lovely and loyal. But since she still loves you-"

"That's hopeless," Bink said. "I'll never see her again, and even if I did-" He shrugged. "There can be nothing between us."

"Right. So if you don't mind, I'll just take this wish and wish her to drink some of that love potion-and to see me next thing. Then she'll feel about me the way you felt about her. Only I'll be available, seeing as I have to marry someone anyway."

And Crombie was a dashing soldier and a handsome man. Inevitably the love the potion started would become real. The hurt Jewel felt for what Bink had done to her, striking her down with his sword, would make the transition easier. Except-"But you like to travel about," Chester said before Bink could formulate the same objection. "She lives below, planting precious stones. That's her job; she wouldn't leave it"

"So we'll separate-and rejoin," Crombie said. "I'll be seeing her part-time, not all the time. That's the way I like it. I'm a soldier."

And that, neatly, solved Bink's problem. "What about me?" Grundy demanded. "Without birdbeak, I have no job. I'm real, now; I can't just disappear."

"There is occasional need for translation around this court," the King said, "We shall find employment for you." He glanced about "That about suffices for tonight. Quarters have been arranged for all of you, here at the palace." With that he ushered them out. Bink was last to go. "I-I'm sorry I caused all this trouble," he said. "The Good Magician tried to warn me, and so did Beauregard the demon, but I wouldn't listen. Just because I wanted to know the source of magic-"

"Have no concern, Bink," the King said with a reassuring smile. "I was aware that there was an element of risk when I sent you-but I was as curious about the source of magic as you, and I felt that it was best to have the discovery made by you, protected by your talent I knew your talent would see you through."

"But my talent was lost when the magic went, and-"

"Was it, Bink? Didn't it strike you that the Demon's return was unusually fortuitous?"

"Well, he wanted a private place to-"

"Which he could have arranged anywhere in the universe. What really brought him back? I submit that it was your talent, still looking out for your long-range interests. Your marriage was in trouble, so your magic indulged in an extraordinary convolution to set it straight."

"I-I can't believe my talent could operate to affect the origin of magic itself!" Bink protested.

"I have no such difficulty. The process is called feedback, and it can and does reflect profoundly on the origin. Life itself may be regarded as a feedback process. But even if that were not the case, your talent could have anticipated the chain of events, and established a course that would inevitably bring magic back to the Land of Xanth, much as an arrow shot into the air inevitably returns-"

"Uh, when we fought the constellations, Chester's arrows didn't-"

The King shook his head. "Forgive an inept analogy. I shall not bore you further with my Mundane perspective. I am satisfied with the result of your quest, and you should be satisfied too. I suspect that had any other person released the Demon, X(A/N)th would never have returned to our realm. At this point the matter is academic. We shall have to find another occupation for you, but there is no rush. Go home to your wife and son."

"Son?"

"Oh, did I forget to inform you? As of dusk you became the father of a Magician-class baby, my likely successor to the throne-in due course. I suggest that infant's talent is the Demon's selected gift to you, and perhaps another reason your own talent put you through this adventure."

"What talent does the baby have?" Bink asked, feeling giddy. His son-an overt Magician at birth!

"Oh, I wouldn't spoil the surprise by telling you! Go home and see for yourself!" King Trent clapped him heartily on the shoulder. "Your home life will never be dull again!"