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only prior riding experience.
    He leaned forward. The staff interfered, preventing him from bending his back sufficiently. He reached back to draw it out--and it fell out of his hands to the ground. There was a snort from Chester that sounded suspiciously like humor. But the centaur picked it up and returned it to him. Bink tucked it under his arm this time, leaned forward again, and hugged Cherie's slender waist, heedless of Chester's renewed glower. Some things were worth the risk--such as getting out of here in a hurry.
    "You go to the vet and get those needles out of your--" Cherie began, speaking over her shoulder to the male.
    "Right away!" Chester interrupted. He waited for her to start, then turned and cantered off in the direction he had come from, a little awkwardly. Probably each motion inflamed his hindquarters more.
    Cherie trotted down the path. " Chester is really a good creature at heart," she said apologetically. "But he does tend to be a bit arrogant, and he gets his tail all knotted up when balked. We've had some trouble with outlaws recently, and--"
    "Human outlaws?" Bink asked.
    "Yes. Kids from the north, doing mischief magic, gassing our livestock, shooting swords into trees, making dangerous pits seem to appear under our feet, that sort of thing. So naturally Chester assumed--"
    "I know the culprits," Bink said. "I had a scrape with them myself. They've been grounded now. If I had known they were coming down here--"
    "There just doesn't seem to be much discipline on the range these days," she said. "According to the Covenant, your King is supposed to keep order. But recently--"
    "Our King is getting old," Bink explained. "He's losing his power, and there's a lot of trouble cropping up. He used to be a major Magician, a storm brewer."
    "We know," she agreed. "When the fireflies infested our oatfields, he generated a storm that rained five days and drowned them all. Of course, it also ruined our crops--but the flies were doing that already. Every day new fires! At least we were able to replant without further molestation. We are not forgetting the help he rendered. So we don't want to make an issue of it--but I don't know how much longer stallions like Chester are going to put up with these annoyances. That's why I wanted to talk with you--maybe when you go home, if you could call things to the attention of the King--"
    "I don't think that would work. I'm sure the King wants to keep order; he just doesn't have the power any more."
    "Then perhaps it is time for a new King."
    "He's getting senile. That means he hasn't got the sense to step down, and won't admit there's any problem.''
    "Yes, but problems don't go away by being ignored!" She made a delicate feminine snort. "Something has to be done."
    "Maybe I can get some advice from Magician Humfrey," Bink said. "It's a serious business, deposing a King; I don't think the Elders would go for it. He did do good work in his prime. And there's really nobody to replace him. You know that only a great Magician can be King."
    "Yes, of course. We centaurs are all scholars, you know."
    "Sorry, I forgot. Our village school is run by a centaur. I just wasn't thinking of that, in the wilderness."
    "Understandable--though I'd call this range, not wilderness. I specialize in humanoid history, and Chester studies horsepower applications. Others are legal scholars, experts in natural sciences, philosophers--" She broke off. "Now hang on. There's a trench up ahead I've got to hurdle."
    Bink had been relaxing, but now he leaned forward again and clasped his hands tightly around her waist. She had a sleek, comfortable back, but it was too easy to slide off. However, if she weren't a centaur, he would never have had the nerve to assume such a position!
    Cherie picked up speed, galloping down the hill, and the motion made him bounce alarmingly. Peering ahead under her arm, he saw the trench. Trench? It was a gorge, some ten feet across, rushing up at them. Now he was more than