During that morning I made inquiry as best I could, but none could answer me this riddle. Marud had been arrested in the entrance to the tunnel, but he could either have been about to leave the city or about to reenter it at the time he was seized. And no one knew which!
Unless it was Ool the Uncanny!
CHAPTER EIGHT
OOL THE UNCANNY
For the next couple of days I walked cautiously, expecting at almost any time to be arrested. But nothing of that nature came to pass, nor was I under surveillance, so far as I could judge, or even under suspicion. Gradually, I relaxed, thinking myself safe and my role in the unfortunate martyrdom of Marud unknown.
My patron had dispatched me on an errand of small importance, which took me into a portion of the palace I had never visited till now.
Delivering his message, I was on my way back to Prince Vaspian’s apartments when suddenly a soft voice from behind me halted me in my tracks.
I turned to look into the cold, glinting eyes of Ool the Uncanny!
The fat little man smiled at the involuntary expression of surprise that must have shown on my features.
“Ah, it is the komad Jandar,” he purred in his silky voice. “We have not yet had the opportunity to meet, komad, although I have followed your rise in the ranks with considerable interest.”
“I am surprised that the Lord Ool has any interest at all in a mere warrior such as myself,” I said. He laughed in a most peculiar way without making a sound.
“Ah, but I am interested in everything which touches upon the safety of my Lord Prince Vaspian,” he said. “Come―you have a moment, surely―there is chilled wine in my quarters here―indulge me for a moment.”
I accepted his invitation after some little hesitation. I was in no way afraid of this fat, buttery little priest; and I was very curious to know more about him. So I permitted him to usher me into a large chamber where he evidently dwelt.
It was a spacious, sunny room, very comfortably furnished, with thick carpets and gorgeous wall hangings and cushioned chairs. He poured me an excellent yellow wine in frosted goblets of silver and set beside me a platter of small pastries and cold sliced meats. I observed to myself that this priest obviously did not live in stark poverty but liked his bodily comforts.
I also resolved not to sample aught of food and drink in his presence, lest it be embued with some narcotic of a tongue-loosening nature. So I but moistened my lips with the wine and politely refused the pastries, saying I had just eaten, which was true enough.
Ool seated himself across from me and folded his plump soft hands across his belly, regarding me with cunning, observant eyes and a slight smile which did nothing to warm the coldness of his reptilian gaze. And I became aware that he had seated me so that I faced the windows and my face was clearly illuminated, while he himself had his back to them and was in shadow.
“Now, then, komad, we can gossip for a breath in comfort …. I believe you were last in service to the Lord of Soraba?”
I replied that this was true.
“And was my Lord Kaamurath still regnant in that city when you were there?” he inquired, which rather surprised me, for when we had chosen Soraba to be my fictitious last place of mercenary service we did so on the knowledge that the Black Legion had been far distant from that city on the shores of the Corund Lai for years, and hence there was little likelihood of my having to answer any embarrassing questions about a city which I had never seen in my life.
“Why, yes,” I replied, “although somewhat aged.”
This was true, or so Lord Yarrak had assured me. For he had carefully primed me with certain items of information about Soraba in case I did have to answer any queries about my service in that city.
Ool nodded thoughtfully, and then inquired after the health of someone called Lord Urush. I had never heard of this personage, and decided to temporize. So I laughed and said that I had been a mere swordsman in the city guard and had come into only the smallest contact with the great lords.
Ool’s smile deepened. I did not like the way he smiled. Nor the cold glitter of his black eyes as they peered cunningly at me.
“Naturally, that would be so,” he purred. “Yet is it not odd that with only a few weeks service here in Shondakor you have risen to a high rank and a place beside the Prince Vaspian himself, while for all the length of your service in Soraba you remained a mere swordsman?”
I shrugged with seeming casualness, although perspiration was running down my ribs under my leather tunic.
“No, not odd at all, my lord. My commander in Soraba was a self-seeking man who sought to curry favor with the great houses of that city by promoting only their younger sons, and passing over deserving but less well-attached warriors like myself. And as you must know, my lord, it was not my military honors which attracted the favor of my Lord Prince Vaspian to elevate me to his retinue, but a lucky chance whereby I was able to rescue him from danger by halting a runaway thaptor.”
“Ah, yes, somewhat of that story I have heard ere now―a most fortunate accident indeed, as the Prince was unharmed by it, and as you rose to good fortune by this same accident. From what land do you hail, komad? Never have I met a man with eyes and hair the color of yours.”
“A country called the United States of America,” I replied.
“What an odd name! I do not believe that I have ever heard of that city. Where is it?” he inquired lazily, and still that smile hovered about his full lips.
I felt that I was being played with, but there was nothing that I could do about it. Now I knew what it was like to be a small mouse at the pleasure of a smiling, lazy, fat, and very well-fed cat.
It lies a very great distance from these parts,” I said, and truthfully enough. “I am uncertain of the direction, for I have been long from my homeland and have visited many lands since leaving it.”
“It must indeed be very distant,” Ool said lazily, “for I have never heard of it, and geography has long been a hobby of mine. Tell me, komad, do all of your fellow citizens in that land have eyes of such a rare color?”
“No, not all. We are a nation made up of several peoples who have long interbred. A considerable number of my fellow countrymen have blue eyes, however. They seem to be the most rare here.”
“Indeed they are, most rare, most rare indeed!” he said, and once again he gave that soundless laugh which made my skin crawl, although for the life of me, I could not say why. But there was something about this fat, soft, mild-seeming little wizard-priest that instinctively put me on the alert. I had the feeling that he was about as harmless as a cobra.
I brought the interview to a close at this point, pleading that I dared not be too long absent from the side of my patron.
“Ah, yes, the Lord Prince is somewhat, shall we say ―oversuspicious?” he purred, rubbing his fat little hands together. “He has the strange feeling that he is surrounded by unfriendly persons with great secrets ―an odd thing to fear, is it not? Tell me, komad, have you secrets which you hold to yourself?”
I forced an awkward laugh. “Of course, my lord! Does not every man have a secret or two?”
He laughed again, rising to usher me out of his silken little nest.
“Oh, yes―but some of us have the most astounding secrets!” he chuckled, and I did not like the sound of that remark at all.
I bowed my farewell and made my way off down the corridor. And all the way I felt his cold, glittering little eyes on me until I had turned the corner and was out of sight.
And thus concluded my private interview with Ool the Uncanny. I had the feeling that he either knew or suspected that there was something about me which I did not wish known. But he did not thereafter interfere with my actions nor make any report of me to those who were my superiors, so I could not be certain.