happened?”.
“It’s dead.”
“You’re very lucky. Too lucky,” he replied.
“What is it that you want, Jurt? I’d like to settle this once and for all.“
“Me, too,” he answered. “You betrayed someone I love, and only your death will set things right.”
“Who are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
He grinned suddenly.
“You will,” he said. “In the last moments of your life I’ll let you know why.”
“I may have a long wait, then,” I answered. “You don’t seem to be very good at this sort of thing: Why not just tell me now and save us both a lot of trouble?”
He laughed, and the prism effect increased, and it occurred to me in that instant what it was.
“Sooner than you think,” he said, “for shortly I will be more powerful than anything you ever met.”
“But no less clumsy,” I suggested, both to him and to whomever held his Trump, watching me through it, ready to snatch him away in an instant...
“That is you, Mask, isn’t it?” I said. “Take him back. You don’t have to send him again either and watch him screw up. I’ll promote you on my list of priorities and come calling soon, if you’ll just give me an assurance that it’s really you.”
Jurt opened his mouth and said something, but I couldn’t hear it because he faded fast and his words went away with him. Something flew toward me as this occurred; there was no need to parry it, but I couldn’t stop the reflex.
Along with two moldering corpses and Jurt’s little finger, a dozen or so roses lay scattered on the floor at my feet, there at the rainbow’s end.
CHAPTER 5
As we walked along the beach in the direction of the harbor, Coral finally spoke.
“Does that sort of thing happen around here very often?”
“You should come by on a bad day,” I said.
“If you don’t mind telling me, I’d like to hear what it was all about.”
“I guess I owe you an explanation,” I agreed, “because I wronged you back there, whether you know it or not.”
“You’re serious.”
“Yep,”
“Go on. I’m really curious.”
“It’s a long story ...,” I began again.
She looked ahead to the harbor, then up to Kolvir’s heights.
“... A long walk, too,” she said.
“... And you’re a daughter of the prime minister of a country with which we have somewhat touchy relations at the moment.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some of the things that are happening may represent kind of sensitive information.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and halted. She stared into my eyes.
“I can keep a secret,” she told me. “After all, you know mine.”
I congratulated myself on having finally learned my relatives’ trick of controlling facial expression even when puzzled as all hell. She had said something back in the cave when I had addressed her as if she were the entity, something that sounded as if she believed I had discovered a secret concerning her.
So I gave her a wry smile and nodded.
“Just so,” I said.
“You’re not planning on ravaging our country or anything like that, are you?” she asked.
“To my knowledge, no. And I don’t think it likely either.”
“Well, then. You can only speak from your knowledge, can’t you?”
“True,” I agreed.
“So let’s hear the story.”
“All right.”
As we walked along the strand and I spoke, to the accompaniment of the waves’ deep notes, I could not help but remember again my father’s long narrative. Was it a family trait, I wondered, to go autobiographical at a time of troubles if the right listener turned up? For I realized I was elaborating my telling beyond the bounds of necessity. And why should she be the right listener, anyhow?
When we reached the port district, I realized I was hungry, anyway, and I still had a lot of telling to do. In that it was still daylight and doubtless considerably safer than when I’d made my nighttime visit, I found my
“It’s dead.”
“You’re very lucky. Too lucky,” he replied.
“What is it that you want, Jurt? I’d like to settle this once and for all.“
“Me, too,” he answered. “You betrayed someone I love, and only your death will set things right.”
“Who are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
He grinned suddenly.
“You will,” he said. “In the last moments of your life I’ll let you know why.”
“I may have a long wait, then,” I answered. “You don’t seem to be very good at this sort of thing: Why not just tell me now and save us both a lot of trouble?”
He laughed, and the prism effect increased, and it occurred to me in that instant what it was.
“Sooner than you think,” he said, “for shortly I will be more powerful than anything you ever met.”
“But no less clumsy,” I suggested, both to him and to whomever held his Trump, watching me through it, ready to snatch him away in an instant...
“That is you, Mask, isn’t it?” I said. “Take him back. You don’t have to send him again either and watch him screw up. I’ll promote you on my list of priorities and come calling soon, if you’ll just give me an assurance that it’s really you.”
Jurt opened his mouth and said something, but I couldn’t hear it because he faded fast and his words went away with him. Something flew toward me as this occurred; there was no need to parry it, but I couldn’t stop the reflex.
Along with two moldering corpses and Jurt’s little finger, a dozen or so roses lay scattered on the floor at my feet, there at the rainbow’s end.
CHAPTER 5
As we walked along the beach in the direction of the harbor, Coral finally spoke.
“Does that sort of thing happen around here very often?”
“You should come by on a bad day,” I said.
“If you don’t mind telling me, I’d like to hear what it was all about.”
“I guess I owe you an explanation,” I agreed, “because I wronged you back there, whether you know it or not.”
“You’re serious.”
“Yep,”
“Go on. I’m really curious.”
“It’s a long story ...,” I began again.
She looked ahead to the harbor, then up to Kolvir’s heights.
“... A long walk, too,” she said.
“... And you’re a daughter of the prime minister of a country with which we have somewhat touchy relations at the moment.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some of the things that are happening may represent kind of sensitive information.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and halted. She stared into my eyes.
“I can keep a secret,” she told me. “After all, you know mine.”
I congratulated myself on having finally learned my relatives’ trick of controlling facial expression even when puzzled as all hell. She had said something back in the cave when I had addressed her as if she were the entity, something that sounded as if she believed I had discovered a secret concerning her.
So I gave her a wry smile and nodded.
“Just so,” I said.
“You’re not planning on ravaging our country or anything like that, are you?” she asked.
“To my knowledge, no. And I don’t think it likely either.”
“Well, then. You can only speak from your knowledge, can’t you?”
“True,” I agreed.
“So let’s hear the story.”
“All right.”
As we walked along the strand and I spoke, to the accompaniment of the waves’ deep notes, I could not help but remember again my father’s long narrative. Was it a family trait, I wondered, to go autobiographical at a time of troubles if the right listener turned up? For I realized I was elaborating my telling beyond the bounds of necessity. And why should she be the right listener, anyhow?
When we reached the port district, I realized I was hungry, anyway, and I still had a lot of telling to do. In that it was still daylight and doubtless considerably safer than when I’d made my nighttime visit, I found my
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