"That's a great notion, Nada!" he exclaimed. "Hang on!" He changed into whaleboat form, slowly, so as not to dislodge the others. Soon the new form was complete: a giant flat fish (or something; he had never been quite sure what a whale was) with a hollow back that floated serenely on the placid water. His side flippers and rear flukes enabled him to swim as rapidly as he wanted, but he didn't have to, because his nose was a hole in the back of his flat head that would never sink under the water no matter how hard he slept.

"You're welcome, Dolph," Nada said. "I'll stay awake now and keep an eye on our course; I got some sleep last night, so I'm better off than the rest of you. I'll wake you if anything happens."

"Thanks, Nada!" How he loved her! She was just the most lovely and sensible and princessly person he knew, always knowing the right thing to do, and doing it. It had been a great day when he had gotten betrothed to her.

"You're welcome, Dolph," she said. She sounded a little sad. That reminded him that she didn't love him. Oh, she would marry him if he chose her, because she had given her word and a princess never broke her word, but her heart would not be in it. She was nice to him because that was the proper thing for a Betrothee to be. He knew he should do the decent thing and not marry her. But he wasn't sure he could.

There was a clamor at the bank. The goblins of the horde had arrived! Well, too bad for them; they could not reach him or his passengers, out here in the middle of the river. They could follow along the bank all they wanted; it would do them no good.

Satisfied, he let himself drift off to sleep.

Dolph drifted down the river, guided occasionally by the delicious touch of Nada's hand on his nose, so that he did not get stuck in a cul-de-sac. Cul-de-sacs were nasty offshoots which ended in sacks; once something floated into one, the drawstring would pull it closed, and it would eat whatever it had caught. Of course Dolph could change into something else and escape it, but then all the folk riding on him would get dunked. It was better this way, even apart from the simple delight of having Nada's attention.

Now and then he heard the clamor of the goblins as they raged at the shore. The three male goblins with Godiva (and wasn't she a fascinating creature, even if she was almost old enough to be somebody's mother!) took pleasure in standing halfway tall and making gestures at those on the shore. Dolph, wafting in and out of his snooze, picked up intriguing bits of dialogue.