“Perhaps there was a touch of that too,” — I agreed. “You never know what might blow in out of Shadow. But almost everyone I know who’s had it is okay now.”
She furrowed her brow. “It was very strange.”
I had a few more crackers and sips of the wine. They did keep the good stuff for themselves.
“There is absolutely nothing to worry about,” I repeated.
She smiled and nodded. “I believe you. What are you doing here, anyhow?”
“Stopover. I’m on my way back to Amber,” I said, “from elsewhere. Which reminds me — may I borrow a horse?”
“Certainly,” she replied. “How soon will you be leaving?”
“As soon as I get the horse,” I said.
She got to her feet. “I didn’t realize you were in a hurry. I’ll take you over to the stables now.”
“Thanks.”
I grabbed two more crackers and another piece of cheese on the way out and tossed off the rest of the wine. I wondered where the blue fog might be drifting now.
When I’d located a good horse, which she told me I could have delivered to their stable in Amber, I saddled him and fitted his bridle. He was a gray, named Smoke. I donned my cloak then and clasped Vinta’s hands.
“Thanks for the hospitality,” I said, “even if you don’t recall it.”
“Don’t say good-bye yet,” she told me. “Ride around to the kitchen door off the patio, and I’ll give you a water bottle and some food for the road. We didn’t have a mad affair that I don’t remember, did we?”
“A gentleman never tells,” I said.
She laughed and slapped my shoulder. “Come see me sometime when I’m in Amber,” she told me, “and refresh my memory.”
I grabbed a set of saddlebags, a bag of chow for Smoke and a longish tethering rope. I led him outside as Vinta headed back to the house. I mounted then and rode slowly after her, a few dogs capering about me. I circled the manor, taking the long way around, drew rein and dismounted near the kitchen. I considered the patio, wishing I had one just like it where I could sit and take coffee in the morning. Or had it just been the company?
After a time, the door opened and Vinta came out and passed me a bundle and a flask. As I was securing them, she said, “Let my father know that I’ll be back in a few days, will you? Tell him that I came to the country because I wasn’t feeling well, but that I’m all right now.”
“Glad to,” I said.
“I don’t really know why you were here,” she said. “But if it involves politics or intrigue I don’t want to know.”
“Okay,” I said.
“If a servant took a meal to a big red-haired man who seemed to be pretty badly injured, this would be better forgotten?”
“I’d say.”
“It will be, then. But one of these days I’d like the story.”
“Me too,” I said. “We’ll see what we can do.”
“So, have a good journey.”
“Thanks. I’ll try.”
I clasped her hand, turned away and mounted.
“So long.”
“See you in Amber,” she said.
I mounted and continued my circuit of the house until I was back near the stables again. I headed past them then to a trail we had ridden that led off in the direction I wanted. Back toward the house, a dog began to howl and another joined it moments later. There was a breeze out of the south, and it carried a few leaves past me. I wanted to be on the road, far away and alone. I value my solitude because that is when I seem to do my best thinking, and right now I had many things to think over.
I rode to the northwest. About ten minutes later I came to a dirt road we had crossed the other day. This time I followed it westward, and it finally took me to the crossroads with the marker indicating that Amber lay straight ahead. I rode on.
It was a yellow dirt road that I traveled, showing the impress of many wagon wheels. It followed the contours of the land, passing between fallow fields bordered by low stone fences, a few trees at either hand. I could see the stark outlines of mountains far ahead, standing above the forested area I was soon to encounter. We moved along at an easy gait, and I let my mind drift over the events of the past few days.
That I had an enemy I did not doubt. Luke had assured me that it was no longer him, and I had found him to be more than a little persuasive. He need not have come to me to be patched up, as both he and Vinta had pointed out. And he could have found his own way to the crystal cave or some other sanctuary. And the business about my helping him to rescue Jasra could have waited. I was more than half convinced that he was trying to get back on better terms with me again quickly because I was his only contact with the Court of Amber, and his fortunes had taken a turn for the worse. I had a feeling that what he really wanted was an official determination as to his status with Amber, and that he had mentioned the piece of important information he would be willing to surrender both as a sign of good faith and as a bargaining chip. I was not at all certain that I, personally, would be very crucial to any plan he might have for rescuing Jasra. Not when he knew the Keep inside and out, was some kind of sorcerer himself and had a band of mercs he could transport from the shadow Earth. For all I knew, that fancy ammo of his would work there as well as in Amber. And whether that was true or not, why couldn’t he just trump his attack force into the place? He wouldn’t even really have to win a battle — just get in, grab Jasra and get out. No, I did not feel that I was really necessary to whatever operation he finally decided upon. I’d a feeling he’d waved a red herring at me, hoping that when the air cleared we would simply consider what he had and what he wanted and make him an offer.
I’d a feeling, too, that he might be willing to call it quits on the vendetta now that Caine was out of the way and family honor satisfied. And I’d a notion that Jasra was the stumbling block on his side. While I’d no idea what hold she might have over him, it had occurred to me that the piece of information to which he’d referred might represent some means of neutralizing her. If he got it to us quietly and it seemed to come from our side, he could save face with her as well as buying peace with us. Tantalizing. My problem now was to find the best way to present this at court without looking like a traitor for having let him go. Which meant I had to show that the profit would be worth the investment.
There were more trees at the roadside now, and the forest itself was nearer. I crossed a wooden bridge above a clear stream, and the gentle splashing sounds followed me for a time. There were brown fields and distant hams to my left, a wagon with a broken axle off to my right…
And if I had read Luke wrong? Was there some way I might be able to pressure him and make my interpretation come out right anyway? A small idea began to form. I was not overjoyed with it, but I considered it nevertheless. Risk and speed were what it involved. It had its merits, though. I pushed it as far as I could, then put it aside and returned to my original train of thought.
Somewhere, there was an enemy. And if it wasn’t Luke, who was it?
Jasra seemed the most obvious candidate. She had made her feelings to ward me pretty clear on the occasions of our two meetings. She could well be the one who had dispatched the assassins I had encountered in Death Alley. In that case, I was probably safe for a time — with her a prisoner back at the Keep — unless, of course, she had sent along a few more before she had been captured. That would have been redundant, though. Why waste all that manpower on me? I had only been a minor figure in the event she sought to avenge, and the men who came after me had been almost sufficient for the task.
And if it wasn’t Jasra? Then I was still in jeopardy. The wizard in the blue mask, whom I assumed to be Sharu Garrul, had caused me to be pursued by a tornado, which seemed a far less friendly overture than the flowers that had followed. This latter, of course, identified him with the individual behind my peculiar experience at Flora’s apartment back in San Francisco. In that instance, he had initiated the encounter, which meant that he had some designs on me. What was it he’d said? Something about the possibility of us being at cross-purposes at some future time. How interesting, in retrospect. For I could now see the possibility of such a situation’s occurring.