Exotica's Incantation

"Let me try," Exotica said. Using the magical ability that she had gained earlier, [9762] she shimmied her hips in a fashion that caused Andrew to stare even more fixedly at her, as she raised her hands and said: "Ecalp dna emit siht fo egaugnal eht kaeps ot elba eb I dna suleV, derF teL."

"I wish we'd thought of giving me the ability to speak rather earlier than this," Velus said in fluent English. Andrew, Fred and Exotica were all able to understand him, and it was hard to tell who was the most surprised, since Exotica had not thought through the full implications of her spell and had included Velus in it more out of politeness than anything else.

"Who are you people, and what are you doing in my bathroom?" Andrew asked. "And what were those creatures?"

"I am Lord Frederigo D'Honaire, this is Princess Exotica, and the dog is rightfully a teenage boy called Velus, but he fell foul of the dragon. We got here through some sort of portal. As for the creatures, I don't know what they were."

Andrew's head whirled. "It's funny that you should say that. I'm studying history, and your name is the same as that of a distant ancestor of mine from fifteen hundred years ago. I'm Andrew D'Honaire, you see. I've only ever heard of one Exotica, King Emry's daughter who disappeared so mysteriously and was never seen again. The legends said that she was abducted by a dragon, but of course we know that dragons are purely mythical creatures."

"Do we indeed?" Exotica said tartly. "And 'we' probably also know that those monsters that you saw don't exist either, I dare say."

"Well, yes," Andrew conceded. "You do have a point. Er, can I get you some clothes? My family are all out, and I think that my sister would be about your size."

1. "Thank you. I could magic up some myself, but they would probably look outlandish to you judging by how your clothes look to me."
2. "Not now. We haven't got any time to waste. Something very strange, and I suspect very important, is going on. I think it may be connected with the task that Griffyd set me." "Did you say Griffyd?" Andrew asked. [10202]
3. "Never mind that," Velus said impatiently. "Princess, now you're such a great magic user, how about you restoring me to my rightful form?"

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