Dealing with Dragons

"Why not?" Therandil said, sounding rather hurt. "I said I'd be careful."

The tip of his dagger was already embedded in the lead.

"Kazul said to leave the ones with lead stoppers alone," Cimorene said.

"So put it back."

"If you insist," Therandil said, shrugging. He pulled on his dagger, but it was stuck fast in the lead. "Drat!" he said, and twisted the handle. The dagger came free, and the lead stopper came along with it.

"I should have known," Cimorene said in a resigned tone.

A black cloud of smoke poured out of the jar. As Cimorene and Therandil watched, it condensed into a dark-ski

"What is it?" whispered Therandil.

"Trouble," said Cimorene.

"Thou speakest truly, O Daughter of Wisdom," said the giant in a booming voice that filled the cave. "For I am a ji

"My what?" Cimorene said, outraged.

"Thy lover," the ji

"I know what you meant," Cimorene said. "But he isn't my lover, or my fiance, or my boyfriend or anything, and I refuse to be killed with him."

"But Cimorene, you know perfectly well-" Therandil started.

"You hush," Cimorene said. "You've made enough of a mess already."

"If he is not thy paramour, nor any of those other things, then what is he?" the ji

"A nuisance," Cimorene said succinctly.

"Cimorene, you're not being very kind," Therandil said.

"What he is matters not," the ji

"Enough for whom?" Cimorene said.

The ji

"Old age," Cimorene said promptly.

"Mock me not! Thou and he shall die, and by my hand, ere this day draws to its close!" the ji

"Do you suppose he means it?" Therandil said nervously.

"Why would he keep bellowing it at us if he didn't mean it?"

Cimorene said. "Do be quiet, Therandil."

Therandil lowered his voice. "Should I offer to fight him, do you think?"

"Don't be silly," Cimorene said. She saw that Therandil was distressed, so she added, "You came up here to fight a dragon. You aren't prepared for a ji

Cimorene turned back to the ji

"Dost thou not wish to know why I will kill thee?" the ji

"What difference does it make?" Cimorene said.

"Yes, actually," Therandil said at the same time.

"Therandil!" Cimorene said in exasperation. "Shut up!"

"Hear my story, O luckless pair!" the ji

"I am one of those ji

"You're going to kill us because it's traditional?" Cimorene asked.

"Yes," the ji

"Just how long were you in that jar?" she demanded.

"Uh, well, actually…" The ji

"How long?" Cimorene insisted.

"Two hundred and seventeen years," the ji

"You're trying to get around your oath!" Therandil said, plainly shocked by the very thought. "You pretended you had to kill us so you wouldn't have to give us the wishes!"

"No!" the ji

"Then you shouldn't have sworn an oath," Therandil said sternly.

"I had to!" the ji

'Twould be… 'twould be…"

"Improper?" Cimorene murmured.

"'Twould be improper to do otherwise," the ji

"You could go back in the jar for another eighty-three years," Cimorene suggested delicately.

"I could… go back?" The ji

"And in eighty-three years we'll both be dead of old age," Cimorene said. "Since that was my choice of death, your oath will be fulfilled and you can go straight home without killing anyone else or giving them any riches or power or anything."

"Truly, thou art a jewel among women and the very Queen of Wisdom's daughters!" the ji

"Wait a minute!" Therandil said. "What about those wishes?"

"Therandil!" Cimorene said in a shocked tone. "I'm surprised at you! How can he give us wishes if he's going back in the jar for eighty-three years? It wouldn't be right at all."

Therandil frowned. "Are you sure? After all, we did let him out during his third hundred years."

"I suppose I could let thee have one wish at least, in token of my thanks for thy help," the ji

"I wouldn't dream of it," Therandil assured him. "And my Wish is to defeat a dragon and win his princess's hand in marriage!"

The Ji

"I could use some powdered hens' teeth," Cimorene said.

The ji

Therandil was not paying attention. "What did you want something like that for?" he asked, looking at the jar of hens' teeth and wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"I don't believe I shall tell you," Cimorene said, putting the jar carefully into one of her apron pockets. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Nothing to do with me? I like that!" Therandil said indignantly.

"I'm going to marry you, just as soon as I beat that dragon of yours."

"I don't think you're going to beat Kazul," Cimorene said in a considering tone.

"But that ji

"And you ought not to be trying to rescue me anyway."

"Why not?" Therandil asked truculently.

"Because there are other princesses who've been captives of dragons for much longer than I have, and they have seniority," Cimorene explained.