The jinn blinked in surprise, but he waved his hand again, his face a mask of concentration. Then he bowed and handed Cimorene a fat brown jar. “There’s thy desire. Farewell!” With an elaborate salaam, the jinn dissolved back into a cloud of smoke that poured back into the copper jar from which it had come. Cimorene leaned over and plucked the lead stopper from the end of Therandil’s knife. She jammed it back into place and heaved a sigh of relief.

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 jinn just said—”

“He said that if you fight a dragon, you’ll defeat him. But Kazul is a her, not a him,” Cimorene pointed out. “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.

“Oh,” said Therandil, looking considerably taken aback. “How do you know?”

“They came to visit and told me all about it,” Cim­orene said. “I think you should try for Keredwel. She’s from the Kingdom of Raxwel, and her hair is the color of sun-ripened wheat, and she wears a gold crown set with diamonds. You ought to get along with her very well.”

Therandil brightened perceptibly at this description but said, “But everyone expects me to rescue you.”

“As long as you defeat a dragon and rescue a princess, no one will care,” Cimorene said firmly. “And Keredwel will suit you much better than I would.”

“Are you sure her dragon isn’t female, too?”

“Positive,” Cimorene said. “Gornul’s cave is two down and three over. If you follow the path outside, you can’t miss it. He ought to be there now, and if you leave right away, you’ll be able to get everything settled before dinner.”

“All right, then,” Therandil said. “As long as you’re sure you don’t mind.”