“Yes,” she told me, “for now.”
Chapter 7
I actually did get a fairly decent night’s sleep despite everything, including a distant dogfight and a lot of howling. Vinta had been disinclined to continue at questions and answers, and I hadn’t wanted her bothering Luke any more. I persuaded her to leave and let us rest. I sacked out on the comfortable chair, with my feet propped on the other one. I was hoping to continue my conversation with Luke in private. I remember chuckling right before I fell asleep as I tried to decide which of them I distrusted less.
I was awakened by the first brightening of the sky and a few arguments of birds. I stretched several times then and made my way to the bathroom. Half an ablution later I heard Luke cough and then whisper my name.
“Unless you’re hemorrhaging, wait a minute,” I replied, and I dried myself off. “Need some water?” I asked while I was doing it.
“Yeah. Bring some.”
I threw the towel over my shoulder and took him a drink.
“Is she still around?” he asked me.
“No.”
“Give me the glass and go check the hall, will you? I’ll manage.”
I nodded and passed it to him. I kept it quiet as I eased the door open. I stepped out into the hall, walked up to the corner. There was no one in sight.
“All clear,” I whispered as I came back into the room.
Luke was gone. A moment later I heard him in the bathroom.
“Damn! I’d have helped you!” I said.
“I can still take a leak by myself,” he replied, staggering back into the room, his good hand on the wall. “Had to see whether I could negotiate,” he added, lowering himself to the edge of the bed. He put his hand against his rib cage and panted. “Shit! that smarts!”
“Let me help you lie back.”
“Okay. Listen, don’t let her know I can do even that much.”
“Okay,” I said. “Take it easy now. Rest.”
He shook his head. “I want to tell you as much as I can before she comes busting back in here,” he said, “and she will, too — believe me.”
“You know that for a fact?”
“Yes. She’s not human, and she’s more attuned to both of us than any blue stone ever was. I don’t understand your style of magic, but I’ve got my own and I know what it tells me. It was your question about who she was that got me to working on the problem, though. Have you figured her out yet?”
“Not completely, no.”
“Well, I know she can switch bodies like changing clothes — and she can travel through Shadow.”
“Do the names Meg Devlin or George Hansen mean anything to you?” I asked.
“No. Should they?”
“Didn’t think so. But she was both of them, I’m sure.”
I’d left out Dan Martinez, not because he’d shot it out with Luke and telling Luke would raise his distrust of her even further, but because I didn’t want him to know that I was aware of the New Mexico guerrilla operation — and I could see that it might lead in that direction.
“She was also Gail Lampron.”
“Your old girlfriend, back in school?” I said.
“Yes. I thought there was something familiar about her immediately. But it didn’t hit me till later. She has all of Gail’s little mannerisms — the way she turns her head, the way she uses her hands and eyes when she’s talking. Then she mentioned two events to which there had only been a single common witness — Gail.”
“It sounds as if she wanted you to know.”
“I believe she did,” he agreed.
“Why didn’t she just come out and say it then, I wonder?”
“I don’t think she can. There’s something could be a spell on her, only it’s hard to judge, her not being human and all.” He glanced furtively at the door as he said this. Then, “Check again,” he added.
“Still clear,” I said. “Now what about —”
“Another time,” he said. “I’ve got to get out of here.”
“I can see your wanting to get away from her —” I began.
He shook his head. “That’s not it,” he said. “I’ve got to hit the Keep of the Four Worlds — soon.”
“The shape you’re in —”
“That’s it. That’s what I mean. I’ve got to get out of here so I can be in shape soon. I think old Sharu Garrul’s gotten loose. That’s the only way I can figure what happened.”
“What did happen?”
“I got a distress call from my mother. She’d gone back to the Keep after I’d gotten her away from you.”
“Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why’d she head for the Keep?”
“Well, the place is a power center. The way the four worlds come together there releases an awful lot of free power, which an adept can tap into —”
“Four worlds actually do come together there? You mean you’re in a different shadow depending on the direction you might take off in?”
He studied me for a moment. “Yes,” he finally said, “but I’ll never get this thing told if you want all the little details.”
“And I won’t understand it if too much gets left out. So she went to the Keep to raise some power and got in trouble instead. She called you to come help her. What did she want that power for, anyway?”
“Mm. Well, I’d been having trouble with Ghostwheel. I thought I almost had him talked into coming over to our side, but she probably thought I wasn’t making progress fast enough and apparently decided to try binding him with a massive spell after —”
“Wait a minute. You were talking to Ghost? How did you get in touch? Those Trumps you drew are no good.”
“I know. I went in.”
“How’d you manage it?”
“In scuba gear. I wore a wet suit and oxygen tanks.”
“Son of a gun. That’s an interesting approach.”
“I wasn’t Grand D’s top salesman for nothing. I almost had him convinced, too. But she’d learned where I’d stashed you, and she decided to try expediting matters by putting you under control, then using you to clinch the deal — as if you’d come over to our side. Anyhow, when that plan fell through and I had to go and get her away from you, we split up again. I thought she was headed for Kashfa, but she went to the Keep instead. Like I said, I think it was to try a massive working against Ghostwheel. I believe something that she did there inadvertently freed Sharu, and he took the place over again and captured her. Anyhow, I got this frantic sending from her, so —”
“Uh, this old wizard,” I said, “had been locked up there for — how long?”
Luke began to shrug, thought better of it. “Hell, I don’t know. Who cares? He’s been a cloak rack since I was a boy.”
“A cloak rack?”
“Yeah. He lost a sorcerous duel. I don’t really know whether she beat him or whether it was Dad. Whoever it was, though, caught him in midinvocation, arms outspread and all. Froze him like that, stiff as a board. He got moved to a place near an entranceway later. People would hang cloaks and hats on him. The servants would dust him occasionally. I even carved my name on his leg when I was little, like on a tree. I’d always thought of him as furniture. But I learned later that he’d been considered pretty good in his day.”
“Did this guy ever wear a blue mask when he worked?”
“You’ve got me. I don’t know anything about his style. Say, let’s not get academic or she’ll be here before I finish. In fact, maybe we ought to go now, and I can tell you the rest later.”
“Un-uh,” I said. “You are, as you noted last night, my prisoner. I’d be nuts to let you go anywhere without knowing a hell of a lot more than I do. You’re a threat to Amber. That bomb you tossed at the funeral was pretty damn real. You think I want to give you another shot at us?”
He smiled, then lost it. “Why’d you have to be born Corwin’s son, anyway?” he said. Then, “Can I give you my parole on this?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I
’m going to be in a lot of trouble if they find out I had you and didn’t bring you in. What terms are you talking? Will you swear off your war against Amber?”
He gnawed his lower lip. “There’s no way I can do that, Merle.”
“There are things you’re not telling me, aren’t there?”
He nodded. Then he grinned suddenly. “But I’ll make you a deal you can’t refuse.”
“Luke, don’t give me that hard-sell crap.”
“Just give me a minute, okay? And you’ll see why you can’t afford to pass this one up.”
“Luke, I’m not biting.”
“Only one minute. Sixty seconds. You’re free to say no when I’m done.”
“All right,” I said. “Tell me.”
“Okay. I’ve got a piece of information vital to the security of Amber, and I’m certain nobody there has an inkling of it. I’ll give it to you, after you’ve helped me.”
“Why should you want to give us something like that? It sounds kind of self-defeating.”
“I don’t, and it is. But it’s all I’ve got to offer. Help me get out of here to a place I have in mind where the time flow is so much faster that I’ll be healed up in a day or so in terms of local time at the Keep.”
“Or here, for that matter, I’d guess.”
“True. Then — uh-oh!”
He sprawled on the bed, clutched at his chest with his good hand and began to moan.
“Luke!”
He raised his head, winked at me, glanced at the door and commenced moaning again.
Shortly, there came a knocking.
“Come in,” I said.
Vinta entered and studied us both. For a moment, there seemed to be a look of genuine concern on her face as she regarded Luke. Then she advanced to the bed and placed her hands upon his shoulders. She stood there for about half a minute, then announced, “You’re going to live.”
“At the moment,” Luke replied, “I don’t know whether that’s a blessing or a curse.” Then he slipped his good arm around her, drew her to him suddenly and kissed her. “Hi, Gail,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”
She drew away with less haste than she might have. “You seem improved already,” she observed, “and I can see that Merle’s worked something to help you along.” She smiled faintly for an instant, then said, “Yes, it has been, you dumb jock. You still like your eggs sunny-side up?”
“Right,” he acknowledged. “But not half a dozen. Maybe just two today. I’m out of sorts.”
“All right,” she said. “Come on, Merle. I’ll need you to supervise.”
Luke gave me a funny look, doubtless certain she wanted to talk with me about him. And for that matter, I wasn’t certain I wanted to leave him alone even though I had all of his Trumps in my pocket. I was still uncertain as to the extent of his abilities, and I knew a lot less concerning his intentions. So I hung back.
“Maybe someone should stay with the invalid,” I told her.
“He’ll be all right,” she said, “and I might need your help if I can’t scare up a servant.”
On the other hand, maybe she had something interesting to tell me…
I found my shirt and drew it on. I ran a hand through my hair.
“Okay,” I said. “See you in a bit, Luke.”
“Hey,” he responded, “see if you can turn up a walking stick for me, or cut me a staff or something.”
“Isn’t that rushing things a bit?” Vinta asked.
“Never can tell,” Luke replied.
So I fetched my blade and took it along. As I followed Vinta out and down the stairs, it occurred to me that when any two of us got together we would probably have something to say about the third.
As soon as we were out of earshot, Vinta remarked, “He took a chance, coming to you.”
“Yes, he did.”
“So things must be going badly for him, if he felt you were the only one he could turn to.”
“I’d say that’s true.”
“Also, I’m sure he wants something besides a place to recover.”
“Probably so.”
“‘Probably,’ hell! He must have asked by now.”
“Perhaps.”
“Either he did or he didn’t.”
“Vinta, obviously you’ve told me everything you intend to tell me,” I said. “Well, vice versa. We’re even. I don’t owe you explanations. If I feel like trusting Luke, I will. Anyhow, I haven’t decided yet.”
“So he has made you a pitch. I might be able to help you decide if you’ll let me know what it is.”
“No, thanks. You’re as bad as he is.”
“It’s your welfare I’m concerned with. Don’t be so quick to spurn an ally.”
“I’m not,” I said. “But if you stop to think about it, I know a lot more about Luke than I do about you. I think I know the things on which I shouldn’t trust him as well as I do the safe ones.”
“I hope you’re not betting your life on it.”
I smiled. “That’s a matter on which I tend to be conservative.”
We entered the kitchen, where she spoke with a woman I hadn’t met yet who seemed in charge there. She left our breakfast orders with her and led me out the side door and onto the patio. From there, she indicated a stand of trees off to the east.
“You ought to be able to find a good sapling in there,” she said, “for Luke’s staff.”
“Probably so,” I replied, and we began walking in that direction. “So you really were Gail Lampron,” I said suddenly.
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand this body-changing bit at all.”
“And I’m not about to tell you.”
“Care to tell me why not?”
“Nope.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Can’t,” she said.
“But if I already know something, would you be willing to add a bit!”
“Maybe. Try me.”
“When you were Dan Martinez you took a shot at one of us. Which one was it?”
“Luke,” she replied.
“Why?”
“I’d become convinced that he was not the one — that is, that he represented a threat to you —”
“— and you just wanted to protect me,” I finished.
“Exactly.”
“What did you mean ‘that he was not the one’?”
“Slip of the tongue. That looks like a good tree over there.”
I chuckled. “Too thick. Okay, be that way.”
I headed on into the grove. There were a number of possibilities off to the right.
As I moved through the morning-lanced interstices, damp leaves and dew adhering to my boots, I became aware of some unusual scuffing along the way, a series of marks leading off farther to the right, where —
“What’s that?” I said, kind of rhetorically, since I didn’t think Vinta would know either, as I headed toward a dark mass at the shady foot of an old tree.
I reached it ahead of her. It was one of the Bayle dogs, a big brown fellow. Its throat had been torn open. The blood was dark and congealed. A few insects were crawling on it. Off farther to the right I saw the remains of a smaller dog. It had been disemboweled.
I studied the area about the remains. The marks of very large paws were imprinted in the damp earth. At least they were not the three-toed prints of the deadly doglike creatures I had encountered in the past. They seemed simply to be those of a very large dog.
“This must be what I heard last night,” I remarked. “I thought it sounded like a dogfight.”
“When was that?” she asked.
“Some time after you left. I was drowsing.”
Then she did a strange thing. She knelt, leaned and sniffed the track. When she recovered there was a slightly puzzled expression on her face. “What did you find?” I asked.
She shook her head, then stared off to the northeast. “I’m not sure,” she finally said, “but it went that way.”
I
studied the ground further, rising and finally moving along the trail it had left. It did run off in that direction, though I lost it after several hundred feet when it departed the grove. Finally, I turned away.
“One of the dogs attacked the others, I guess,” I observed. “We’d better find that stick and head back if we want our breakfasts warm.” Inside, I learned that Luke’s breakfast had been sent up to him. I was torn. I wanted to take mine upstairs, to join him and continue our conversation. If I did, though, Vinta would accompany me and the conversation would not be continued. Nor could I talk further with her under those circumstances. So I would have to join her down here, which meant leaving Luke alone for longer than I liked.
So I went along with her when she said, “We will eat in here,” and led me into a large hall. I guessed she had chosen it because my room with its open window was above the patio, and Luke could have heard us talking if we ate out there.
We sat at the end of a long darkwood table, where we were served.
When we were alone again, she asked, “What are you going to do now?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, sipping some grape juice.
She glanced upward. “With him,” she said. “Take him back to Amber?”
“It would seem the logical thing to do,” I replied.
“Good,” she said. “You should probably transport him soon. They have decent medical facilities at the palace.”
I nodded. “Yes, they do.”
We ate a few mouthfuls, then she asked, “That is what you intend doing, isn’t it?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because anything else would be absolutely foolish, and obviously he is not going to want to do it. Therefore, he will try to talk you into something else, something that will give him some measure of freedom while he recovers. You know what a line of shit he has. He’ll make it sound like a great idea, whatever it is. You must remember that he is an enemy of Amber, and when he is ready to move again you will be in the way.”
“It makes sense,” I said.
“I’m not finished.”
“Oh?”
She smiled and ate a few more bites, to keep me wondering. Finally, “He came to you for a reason,” she continued. “He could have crawled off to any of a number of places to lick his wounds. But he came to you because he wants something. He’s gambling, but it’s a calculated thing. Don’t go for it, Merle. You don’t owe him anything.”
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