Free Cube Route by Piers Anthony Page A

should be a remarkable experience.”
        “Only it seems I have to go there alone,” Cube said. “I wonder why I need Companions, when they aren't supposed to travel with me. That is, openly.”
        “I can answer that. In any trip there are likely to be occasions where a single traveler is balked or in danger. For example, you may encounter a crevasse you can't safely cross. Then you would bring me out of the pouch, and I would fly you across. You would do it when no one was observing, so my presence would not be advertised. Similarly, there may be tasks the others can perform at need, inconspicuously. We do not need to be traveling openly with you to be effective aids to your progress.”
        “That must be it. You make it so clear.”
        “I would be less than a proper centaur if I did not reason and express myself clearly.”
        “I am glad to have you along,” Cube said. “That leaves me only seven more to find, to make up the nine.”
        “Nine? That's interesting. That's the square of three. It must have significance.”
        “It must,” Cube agreed, seeing it. “Now if only--” She cut that off.
        “If only?”
        “No need to bother you with it.”
        “Is it relevant to the Quest?”
        “Not really.”
        “Allow me to be the judge of that.”
        “All right. It's that I had hoped to recruit another person, a man I met just before I met you, but I can't.”
        “A man. You are attracted to him?”
        “Does it show?”
        “Yes. A faint little heart leaked from you when you mentioned him. But he lacks interest in you?”
        “Yes. Because--”
        “I understand. That is why you want to be beautiful.”
        “Yes. Actually I wanted to be beautiful before I met him, but he added to the desire.”
        “There are other qualities than physical appearance.”
        “That men notice?”
        Karia nodded. “Point taken. Still, there are other reasons to undertake this Quest, as I have just learned. They should be sufficient to enlist him also.”
        “The demoness Metria asked him, and he asked if I was beautiful yet. That was answer enough.”
        “Perhaps not. It is true that men are governed mostly by appearance, but there is a mitigating factor here.”
        “There is?”
        “If you succeed in the Quest, you will be beautiful. He might want to be present for the occasion.”
        “I hadn't thought of that! Maybe he would.”
        “So I suggest we make an effort to recruit him, and perhaps in due course you will have your beauty and your man.”
        “It's a dream.”
        “Where is he?”
        “He said that everybody knew him in his area, but I'm not sure what his area is.”
        “The demoness Metria knows, however, since she spoke with him.”
        “That's right. I'll bring her out and ask her.”
        Cube brought out the pouch and reached in. “Metria.”
        A smoky-feeling hand caught hers. She drew it out, and in a fraction of a moment the demoness was with them. “But I just went in,” she said. “Why did you bring me out immediately?”
        “It has been several hours,” Cube said.
        “Impossible!”
        “Consider the position of the sun,” Karia suggested.
        “What are you doing here, horse-rear?” But the demoness looked at the sun. “It's evening!”
        “I joined Cube here, as agreed,” Karia said. “The flight took some time, during which she walked to this campsite. I have joined the Quest.”
        Metria shrugged, her shoulders lifting briefly off her body, then settling back into place. “Time has passed,” she agreed. “So that pouch is timeless. We aren't aware of it.”
        “Interesting point,” the centaur agreed. “So we shall be traveling without effort or loss of time in our awareness. It will seem like