Free Up In A Heaval by Piers Anthony Page A

come in.”
    Thus they found themselves in her small chamber. Sesame coiled tightly to fit.
    “We have — ” Umlaut began again.
    “A letter for me? How nice!”
    “Only—”
    “You have to read it first? Be welcome.”
    Princess Ida seemed to have a pretty good grasp of the situation. Umlaut took off the knapsack and sorted through it until he found the letter addressed to PRINCESS IDA, CASTLE ROOGNA, LAND OF XANTH.
    This was embarrassing. He should have looked at the letter before coming here, but somehow there had been no time. "It's be-“
    “There can be severe negative reactions,” the princess said. She handed him a simple letter opener.
    “Uh, yes.” He slit open the letter and unfolded the single sheet of paper within. “Uh, maybe if I read it aloud.”
    “That will be fine,” Princess Ida agreed.
    Umlaut remained embarrassed, but there was nothing to do but plow on. He cleared his throat and read:
    Dear Princess Ida,
    Despite your living in Xanth and me in Mundania, I believe we have a great deal in common.
    Around your head orbits Ptero. On that planet is Pyramid, Torus, Cone, Tangle, and who knows how many others.
    I too have worlds swirling around, only luckily they are on the inside and not visible. If others were to see them, I would immediately be institutionalized by medical “experts” and labeled as “mentally challenged” (being encouraged to think deeper is a good thing, but the term recently has been given negative connotations). If that didn't happen, the other probability would result in my being incarcerated in some creepy government scientific laboratory where they would perform numerous unspeakable “tests” on my brain. Using an understated summary: Mundania is weird.
    My world is concepts, or complex thoughts and ideas. One of them is called Creative Chaos. Many people live there; some of the most important are named Character, Imagination, Mythology, Dreamer, and Designer. Another world is called Hort City, in which resides all the plant life of this portion of Mundania. One is called Literature. There dwell all the great and mighty words of past centuries, as well as ones that have come to be today. There are many, many more. Vestiges' of everyone of our realm who ever lived, or ever will exist, are there.
    This all requires a great deal of controlled organization. At times worlds are permitted to merge and run amok. Then a new manifestation is created. This one is called Stress—a very common affliction here in Mundania, yet one to be avoided at all costs.
    Though my various worlds are populated by an infinite number of beings, I am thankful that there are no actual real visitors. If others intruded, I fear the Stress Sector would become a dictator state. I admire your coping abilities.
    Sincerely, Arjayess
    Umlaut looked up. “That's the whole of it. Seems like a nice enough letter. No cause to hurl anything.”
    “Indeed not,” Princess Ida agreed. “Yet I commend your caution, for we certainly don't want any more mischief thrown our way.”
    “You seem like a nice person,” Umlaut said. He realized he was being patronizing. “I mean, for a princess.” That was worse. “Uh—”
    Princess Ida laughed. “Thank you. I see you encountered the three mischievous little princesses.”
    “Yes,” he said gratefully. She had nicely defused his clumsiness, making it seem as if he had reason to question the niceness of princesses. She was a nice person. “Um, if you don't mind my asking, just what is your magic talent?”
    “Let's hold that answer in abeyance for the nonce,” she said. “Now you must go on to deliver the Zombie Master's letter. That will be a bit more complicated.”
    “Uh, yes,” he agreed. “The letters were found in Castle Zombie, so we thought maybe he would know something about them.”
    “Surely he will,” she agreed. She was a very agreeable person. She glanced at Sammy and Sesame. “With Sammy to locate the Zombie Master or Millie the