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great capacities. They have no ability to have the great passions elementals
have; and of all elementals, if I do say it myself, I'm capable of the
greatest passion. I always have been and I always will be."
She looked at Jim curiously.
"What's your name, my beloved?"
"Well it'sJames," said Jim.
"James& " She tried the name out on her tongue. "An odd name but it has its
charm.James . It does not sing the way some names do; but nonetheless it's a
good name.James & "
"If you don't mind, I'd like to know your name too," said Jim.
"My name?"She looked astonished. "I thought everyone knew my name. I'm
Melusine. How could you not know it? After all, I'm the only one there is.
There are no other Melusines."
"Well, you see," said Jim, "I m English."
"Ah, English!" said Melusine. "I've heard ofEngland and the English. So
you're one of those. You don't seem too different except for that strange
name.But enough about names."
She gazed into Jim's eyes with her own deep blue ones, turning the wattage of
her attractiveness up from what seemed to Jim some five hundred watts to about
a thousand watts.
"Let's talk of more immediate things," she purred. "Oh my dear one, what is
it you desire most in the world right now?"
And she turned the wattage up another five hundred watts.
Jim closed his eyes desperately.
No, he thought! I mustn't. I don't want to stay here forever and ever and
make love to an elemental. I want to go home to my own castle, to Angie, and
every so often kill an ogre or rescue a Prince or something& what am I
thinking? Anyway I mustn't. If I give in just once, I'll give in again; then I
might get to like it. Then I might want to stay here forever at the bottom of
the lake.And what then? What happens if she gets tired of me, as she must get
tired of the men she falls in love with from time to time? She probably does
something unspeakable to them. I've got to get out of this. Angie, help me!
"I've got a headache," Jim said feebly.
Chapter Nineteen
He had not expected it to work; but it had. Melusine had turned
overwhelmingly solicitous at his mention of a headache; and insisted that he
rest and sleep. There would be all the time in the world for other things
later on.
It might be, thought Jim, that her attraction-magic worked even on her; so
that when she thought she was in love, she was really and actually in love,
and ready to sacrificeherself for the good of the loved object. In this world
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where he had discovered that an individual could be tremendously gentle and
caring one moment and literally vicious thenext, and those around him or her
would not see anything the slightest bit contradictory about it, he would
believe anything. She had left him alone and he had slept.
When he woke up, she was still not there. However, within a few minutes of
his waking, some of the little fish that had done acrobatics around Melusine,
showed up. They swam in to surround him in midair and bring him things. Some
brought badly cut but good-sized jewels in their mouths. One brought a large
bunch of grapes depending from one stem, heavy enough so that it had to labor
with its tins to swim (or fly) its way to him.
"I don't like grapes," Jim told it.
It was quite true. He had never really cared for grapes; and, as a matter of
fact, as a human he did not even care too much for wine. It was only as a
dragon that he had discoveredan enjoyability in the latter.
The fish dropped the grapes on the bed, as if in exhaustion, and swam off.
But it returned a moment later with a second bunch.
The same determination seemed to operate with all the rest of the fish. They
might listen to Melusine, but they certainly did not listen to him. They only
kept piling unwanted gifts on him. Eventually, a whole school of them labored
toward him with flailing fins, carrying some iridescent green clothing.
That was followed by a ridiculous hat that looked halfway between a chef's
cap and a rather angular top hat.
As this piled up around him, he was grateful that Melusine was not around, so
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