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of the Gap.”
    “Good luck!” Chex said. But she didn't think Che would be at the centaur village, because though the centaurs did not approve of winged crossbreeds, they were honorable folk who would not interfere. They would not have cared to use so much magic, either, or to conceal their activity, for pride (some said arrogance) was a centaur's nature.
    They continued their check of the various parties. They were all searching diligently, but without any success. To stave off her developing gloom, Chex pondered her relationship with Che.
    It had all started with her wedding, really. She had met Cheiron, the only other winged centaur in Xanth, and probably would have fallen in love with him even if he hadn't been handsome and strong and smart and experienced. They had agreed to mate—the human folk called it marriage, and the Simurgh herself had flown in to officiate. The Simurgh was the largest and oldest of birds, who had seen the destruction and regeneration of the universe three times and was probably good for one or two more times. She had handled things competently, of course, and made one passing reference that astonished Chex and Cheiron. FROM THIS UNION, she had said in her powerful mental projection, WILL COME ONE WHOSE LIFE WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE HISTORY OF XANTH. Then she had required all the attending winged monsters, and even Prince Dolph, who had managed to sneak in by assuming the form of a dragonfly, to make an oath to protect that one from harm. It had become clear why the Simurgh had come: to ensure the safety of the future foal.
    In due course Che had arrived. The stork had not delivered him, and he hadn't turned up under a cabbage leaf; the centaurs, being realistic about natural functions of all kinds, had more direct if uncomfortable means of acquiring their offspring. After all, storks were notoriously myopic, and sometimes misdelivered babies. Maybe that was all right for human folk, but no centaur would care to risk it.
    Che was beautiful from the start, with his dark brown pelt and soft little wings. The winged monsters had looked out for him, so that no griffin, dragon, roc, or anything else that flew, right down through harpies to little dragonflies, was any threat. In fact, young flying dragons had flown in to play with him, though he could not yet fly himself, and they had spread the word to the landbound dragons. The land dragons were not bound by the oath, but many of them had vestigial wings and identified with their flying cousins, so they were careful of Che also.
    Their family had led an almost idyllic life, here in the glade. When she and Cheiron wanted to go somewhere alone, or to help some of their friends, they never lacked for foal-sitters. Even Draco Dragon, the terror of north-central Xanth, had come in once, and not just because of the oath. He had a special debt to the skeleton Marrow Bones, who had saved his nestful of pretty stones, and Marrow was Chex's friend. Dragons had a keen sense of loyalty to those they respected, though fortunately there were not many of these. So Che had never lacked for company and was a happy little centaur.
    What was it that the Simurgh saw in Che's future? How could he change the history of Xanth? Though Chex loved him overwhelmingly, she knew, somewhere in the nonparental reaches of her mind, that he was, after all, only a winged centaur like his parents. The regular centaurs would not acknowledge him at all, and the human folk thought him a mere curiosity. There was no indication that he was destined for greatness—or even, at this moment, for survival. Yet the Simurgh would not have made a mistake; she was the keeper of the seeds, and there was little if anything about the tides of life she did not understand.
    Then Chex had a horrible thought. Suppose Che wasn't the one the Simurgh meant? He was the result of Chex's union with Cheiron, to be sure, but perhaps not the only one. Also, it wasn't clear exactly how he was to change the