The Goblin's Puzzle by Andrew Chilton

Author:Andrew Chilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2016-01-18T16:00:00+00:00

Plain Alice, Mennofar and the boy walked in silence for a bit. The boy took the chance to go through The Tales to see how he might best a dragon. Usually it took armor, a horse and lance to defeat a dragon, but the boy did not have any of those. Or know how to use them. Something like a magic sword might do. The Tales always made it seem like the countryside was littered with them. Certainly, a proper hero would have gotten hold of one by now, but somehow the boy had failed to find one. And then, there was his promise.

Quite suddenly, Plain Alice blurted out, “If it’s just that you have a really terrible name, like Toad or Wyrm or something, you can tell me.” She hurried a bit to close the gap that had opened between the two of them. “I’d keep it a secret. I’m good at keeping secrets.”

The boy said, “That’s not—”

“I mean, nobody likes their name,” said Plain Alice. “Not really.”

“I think Alice is a nice name,” said the boy.

“Yes, I suppose it is nice.” She stuck out her tongue. “Still, it’s my ekename I really hate.”

“Plain Alice,” said the boy. “I wondered about that. You’re not plain at all.” Her pale skin and red hair were striking, particularly to the eyes of an Albemarlman.

Now Plain Alice blushed. “That’s not how it’s meant,” she said. “It’s ‘plain’ as in common, not the Princess,” she said.

“Well then, they should call you Just Alice,” said the boy. “That’d be better.”

“Why?” asked Plain Alice.

The boy said, “ ‘Just’ also means, well”—he did not know how to put the meaning into words—“you know, justice and such.”

“Just Alice,” she said. “Just Alice. That’s pretty good.” It would be nice to have an ekename that also meant ‘fair’ instead of ‘not particularly good-looking.’ “Just Alice,” she said. “Yes, I think I like that. Only when we get back to Middlebury, you have to make sure that everyone hears you call me Just Alice.”

“Umm…all right,” said the boy.

“So it sticks. Everyone will copy you,” said Just Alice, answering the question the boy had not asked.

“Why would they copy me?” said the boy.

“Because you’ll be a big hero,” said Just Alice. “Isn’t that why you came and rescued me?”

“No, I did it because of my fate,” said the boy.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re one of those people who’s always on about fate,” said Just Alice.

The boy stopped and looked at her. “I don’t understand,” he said. “Do you mean—are you saying you don’t believe in fate?” The boy knew there were people in the world who did not believe in fate, but he had never met one before.

“Why should I?” said Just Alice.

“Because having a fate, even a bad one, is a gift from the gods,” said the boy.

“Look, either I have a fate or I don’t,” said Just Alice. “If I have a fate, then that’s what’s going to happen to me, whether I believe it’s my fate or not—”

“Yes,

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