[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
many. Spare me them. Speak only of what I wish to know and that is about this
Princess Canda. What of her, really? Is there a land of Mogh? And such people
as the Moghs? Could there be such as El Kal, whom she calls her father, and
who rules this land? What do you think of all these tales?"
While Pelops pondered, chin in hand, Blade watched Chephron caring tenderly
for Zeena. Feeding her. The man's leg sores were healing somewhat. More proof,
Blade thought, that the meta was really pitchblende. And that in Sarma there
were mountain ranges of the stuff. Uranium.
Lord L and J would just have to take his word for it when Blade got back to H
Dimension. He had lost the chunk of raw meta
, along with the log he had started, when the
Pphira went down.
Page 90
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Pelops said: "I think she speaks the truth, sire Blade. I have, er, had some
converse with her these days. As you may know?"
"I know," Blade said dryly. "She speaks more to you than to me. What of,
little man?"
Pelops looked startled. "Oh, sire, of nothing much. She is only a woman after
all. She lacks company and when you stalk ahead, aloof and forbidding, and
Chephron nurses Zeena along, the Princess falls back to talk to me. It is
nothing."
Slowly, calmly, Blade put his great hand about Pelops' throat and gave it a
slight pressure. "Do not lie to me, little one. Of what does the lady speak?"
Pelops began to tremble but his eyes met those of Blade. "Yes, sire. I did
lie. For a moment I was a fool. But I was, I am, frightened again. She, Canda,
said that if I told you what passed between us she would have me tortured when
we come to Mogh."
Blade released him. "She may yet. But you are not in Mogh you are here with
me. And I will not torture you. I will merely beat you. So talk, and tell me
the truth."
Pelops, rubbing his throat, explained that the lady spoke only of Blade. She
asked questions. Always questions. No end of questions. She wished to know
everything about Richard Blade. And about the
Princess Zeena.
Blade heard him out. "So you think she really is a Princess? There is a Mogh
and her father is El
Kal?" Blade pointed to the unreachable mountains over which floated a yellow
paring of moon. "And you think there is an oasis there a place of water and
grass and trees?"
"I think all those things, sire. For I have heard of the Moghs before. Not
much, and perhaps only rumors and gossip, but I have heard. It is whispered
that once, long ago, a Mogh ruler came to Sarma and lay with our Queen. With
Pphira. He did not stay in Sarma. This was in the first days of Pphira's rule,
just after she had poisoned her mother, and I happen to know another scholar,
very ancient now,
who "
Pelops was off on a long rambling tale. Blade listened with slight amusement
and half an ear. There was, he supposed, an inevitability about the matter.
This El Kal, whom he might one day meet, must be the father of the late
Equebus.
That little bit of information, Blade thought grimly, I will keep to myself.
Later it grew bitter cold, as ever, and Blade could not sleep. Not that the
cold bothered him so much, but that his mind was uneasy about the future. He
was in a defensive and, almost, hopeless position. His Russian counterpart had
established himself in Mogh, even as Blade had managed to secure himself in
Sarma, and surely the first order of business would be to kill Blade.
He got up, cast a glance at the others Chephron had taken to sleeping with
Zeena, enfolding her in his scrawny arms to give her as much of his body
warmth as possible and strolled out into the desert moonlight. It was a stark,
sere, moonscape-like scene. Cold. Bitter and brooding. By now the snakes had
vanished. Blade sat on a rock and pondered the future, his future, should he
have one.
His double would be calling the shots. At least in the beginning. That much
was certain. Blade had only his sword. Not much use against a Vizier of Mogh.
Blade smiled coldly. The man had wasted no time in consolidating his position.
Just as Blade had not. And his double had begun a search for him. Just as
Blade had.
It occurred to Blade that they must be thinking very much alike. They were,
after all, twins in everything but blood. Lord Leighton's words?
Monozygotic twins?
The thing to do was to put himself in the other chap's place, probe the
Page 91
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Russian's persona and act as if he were in the other's stead. If wanted to
kill Blade.
he
And stay out of trouble doing it.
He had not gotten very far along with it when he heard her step and saw the
moon shadow fall athwart his rock. The Princess Canda.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]