Blood of Amber

«Yes, I mind. I'm afraid I'm going to have to play this game your way and trade you information a piece at a time. Now that I think of it, it will probably make me feel more comfortable too. How does that sound to you?»

«Either one of us can call it quits at any time?»

«Which stops the trading, unless we can negotiate it.»

«All right.»

«So you owe me one. You just returned to Amber the other day. Where had you been?»

I sighed and took another bite of the apple. «You're fishing» I said finally. «That's a big question. I've been to a lot of places. It all depends on how far back you want to go.»

«Let's take it from Meg Devlin's apartment to yesterday,» she said.

I choked on a piece of apple. «Okay, you've made the point - you have some damn good sources of information» I observed. «But it has to be Fiona for that one. You're in league with her some way, aren't you?»

«It's not your turn for a question,» she said. «You haven't answered mine yet.»

«Okay, Fi and I came back to Amber after I left Meg's place. The next day Random sent me on a mission, to turn off a machine I'd built called Ghostwheel. I failed in this but I ran into Luke along the way. He actually helped me out of a tight spot. Then, following a misunderstanding with my creation, I used a strange Trump to take both Luke and myself to safety. Luke subsequently imprisoned me in a crystal cave -»

«Aha!» she said.

«I should stop there?»

«No, go on.»

«I was a prisoner for a month or so, though it amounted to only a few days, Amber time. I was released by a couple of fellows working for a lady named Jasra, had an altercation with them and with the lady herself and trumped out to San Francisco, to Flora's place. There, I revisited an apartment where a murder had occurred -»

«Julia's place?»

«Yes. In it, I discovered a magical gateway which I was able to force open. I passed through it to a place called the Keep of the Four Worlds. A battle was in progress there, the attackers probably being led by a fellow named Dalt, of some small notoriety hereabouts at one time. Later, I was pursued by a magical whirlwind and called names by a masked wizard. I trumped out and came home - yesterday.»

«And that's everything?»

«In capsule form, yes.»

«Are you leaving out anything?»

«Sure. For instance, there was a Dweller on the threshold of the gateway, but I was able to get by.»

«No, that's part of the package. Anything else?»

«Mm. Yes, there were two peculiar communications, ending in flowers.»

«Tell me about them.»

So I did.

She shook her head when I'd finished. «You've got me there,» she said.

I finished my coffee and the apple. She refilled my cup.

«Now it's my turn,» I said. «What did you mean by that `Aha!' when I mentioned the crystal cave?»

«It was blue crystal, wasn't it? And it blocked your powers.»

«How'd you know?»

«It was the color of the stone in the ring you took from that man last night.»

«Yes.»

She got to her feet and moved around the table, stood a moment, then pointed to the vicinity of my left hip.

«Would you empty that pocket onto the table, please?»

I smiled. «Sure. How'd you know?»

She didn't answer that one, but then it was a different question. I removed the assortment of blue stones from my pocket - the chips from the cave, the carved button I'd snatcher, the ring - and placed them upon the table.

She picked up the button, studied it, then nodded.

«Yes, that's one also;» she stated.

«One what?»

She ignored the query and dipped her right forefinger into a bit of spilled coffee within her saucer. She then used it to trace three circles around the massed stones, widdershins. Then she nodded again and returned to her seat. I'd summoned the vision in time to see her build a cage of force about them. Now, as I continued to watch, it seemed as if they were exhaling faint wisps of blue smoke that remained within the circle.

«I thought you said you weren't a sorcerer.»

«I'm not,» she replied.

«I'll save the question. But continue answering the last one. What is the significance of the blue stones?»

«They have an affinity for the cave, and for each other,» she told me. «A person with very little training could hold one of them and simply begin walking, following the slight psychic tugging. It would eventually lead him to the cave.»

«Through Shadow, you mean?»

«Yes.»

«Intriguing, but I fail to see any great value to it.»

«But that is not all. Ignore the pull of the cave, and you will become aware of secondary tuggings. Learn to distinguish the signature of the proper stone, and you can follow its bearer anywhere.»

«That does sound a little more useful. Do you think that's how those guys found me last night, because I had a pocket full of the things?»

«Probably, from a practical standpoint, they helped. Actually, though, in your case, they should not even have lien necessary at this point.»

«Why not?»