Question Quest by Piers Anthony Page A

likely that in another year or so he would relent and marry her and allow her to make him deliriously happy after all. That feet that his life was nearing its end didn't matter; it only meant that he had less to lose if he was not satisfied with her delirium. Now it seemed he had waited too long, and her long effort would be wasted.
    He insisted on talking to me alone. He smiled when he saw me, and I tried to smile back, but the signs of his demise were on him, and dark vultures perched on the roof of his house. “Please, Your Majesty, let me give you some healing elixir,” I urged him. “Then I can go fetch some water from the Fountain of Youth, which I discovered serendipitously in the course of my survey, and that will make you young again.”
    He shook his head feebly no. “You must not give the water of youth to any other person not of your immediate family,” he said. “Use it for yourself only. It is not right to interfere with the natural process.”
    I had to promise. Of course it would be a long time before I had any need of such water myself, considering my excellent health, though I had hoped that MareAnn would take some when she got old. But the word of a King must be obeyed, and besides, he was probably making sense. I would not give either youth elixir or information about the location of the fountain to any person not of my family.
    But worse was coming. “Have you found a Magician?”
    “No. Not even any talent close to it. You are the only one in Xanth, I think, Your Majesty.”
    “Then a desperate measure is called for. I shall be dead within the hour, and Xanth must have a king. More particularly, it must have a king who will carry on the proper traditions of the role, and who will continue the good works I have tried to do. We have the potential to bring Xanth out of the Dark Age, if continuity is maintained.”
    “Yes, it must be maintained,” I agreed. The survey was only one of this King's endeavors; he was trying to see that every human being had a reasonable livelihood and was secure from the depredations of trolls and dragons. He was causing enchanted paths to be made, along which folk could walk in peace without molestation. Already it was possible to travel north and south from the South Village a considerable distance safely, and houses were being made along these paths, so that folk could come in to trade in the village without fear. The King hoped that such a network would be extended throughout Xanth eventually, and I liked the idea too. “There is so much good to be done! So you must live to do it, Your Majesty, and just a few drops of elixir—”
    “No!” he said, showing uncharacteristic anger. “No, my time is done. Since we have no Magician to assume the throne, we shall simply have to make one. As king, I am the final authority on who is and is not a Magician. In due course we shall have to set up a committee or council of elders for this purpose; that is one of the reforms you shall see to.”
    “I don't understand, Your Majesty.” Indeed, I was perplexed and feared he was becoming incoherent.
    “I hereby declare—” he said, and coughed again, worse than before, sounding really bad, “that you are the Magician of Information, and as such the only person qualified to assume the crown.”
    “But, Your Majesty!” I protested, stunned. “I am not—”
    His rheumy eye fixed me with its fading glare. “Do you charge me with lying, Humfrey?”
    “No, of course not! The King's word is law! But—”
    “Then take the crown. Use it well, until you find another Magician to whom to pass it along.”
    “But—” I said helplessly.
    “Take it!” he said. His withered hand clutched mine. “Promise!”
    I was stuck for it. His glare would not let me go. “I promise,” I whispered.
    Only then did his eyes close and his grip relax. He was dead.

Xanth 14 - Question Quest
    Chapter 6: King.
    I emerged from the death chamber carrying the crown in my hands. MareAnn and