Blood of Amber

«Luke,» she replied.

«Why?»

«I'd become convinced that he was not the one - that is, that he represented a threat to you -»

«-and you just wanted to protect me,» I finished.

«Exactly.»

«What did you mean `that he was not the one'?»

«Slip of the tongue. That looks like a good tree over there.»

I chuckled. «Too thick. Okay, be that way.»

I headed on into the grove. There were a number of possibilities off to the right.

As I moved through the morning-lanced interstices, damp leaves and dew adhering to my boots, I became aware of some unusual scuffing along the way, a series of marks leading off farther to the right, where

«What's that?» I said, kind of rhetorically, since I didn't think Vinta would know either, as I headed toward a dark mass at the shady foot of an old tree.

I reached it ahead of her. It was one of the Bayle dogs, a big brown fellow. Its throat had been torn open. The blood was dark and congealed. A few insects were crawling on it. Off farther to the right I saw the remains of a smaller dog. It had been disemboweled.

I studied the area about the remains. The marks of very large paws were imprinted in the damp earth. At least they were not the three-toed prints of the deadly doglike creatures I had encountered in the past. They seemed simply to be those of a very large dog.

«This must be what I heard last night,» I remarked. «I thought it sounded like a dogfight.»

«When was that?» she asked.

«Some time after you left. I was drowsing.»

Then she did a strange thing. She knelt, leaned and sniffed the track. When she recovered there was a slightly puzzled expression on her face. «What did you find?» I asked.

She shook her head, then stared off to the northeast. «I'm not sure,» she finally said, «but it went that way.»

I studied the ground further, rising and finally moving along the trail it had left. It did run off in that direction, though I lost it after several hundred feet when it departed the grove. Finally, I turned away.

«One of the dogs attacked the others, I guess,» I observed. «We'd better find that stick and head back if we want our breakfasts warm.» Inside, I learned that Luke's breakfast had been sent up to him. I was torn. I wanted to take mine upstairs, to join him and continue our conversation. If I did, though, Vinta would accompany me and the conversation would not be continued. Nor could I talk further with her under those circumstances. So I would have to join her down here, which meant leaving Luke alone for longer than I liked.

So I went along with her when she said, «We will eat in here,» and led me into a large hall. I guessed she had chosen it because my room with its open window was above the patio, and Luke could have heard us talking if we ate out there.

We sat at the end of a long darkwood table, where we were served.

When we were alone again, she asked, «What are you going to do now?»

«What do you mean?» I asked, sipping some grape juice.

She glanced upward. «With him,» she said. «Take him back to Amber?»

«It would seem the logical thing to do,» I replied.

«Good,» she said. «You should probably transport him soon. They have decent medical facilities at the palace.»

I nodded. «Yes, they do.»

We ate a few mouthfuls, then she asked, «That is what you intend doing, isn't it?»

«Why do you ask?»

«Because anything else would be absolutely foolish, and obviously he is not going to want to do it. Therefore, he will try to talk you into something else, something that will give him some measure of freedom while he recovers. You know what a line of shit he has. He'll make it sound like a great idea, whatever it is. You must remember that he is an enemy of Amber, and when he is ready to move again you will be in the way.» «It makes sense,» I said.

«I'm not finished.»

«Oh?»

She smiled and ate a few more bites, to keep me wondering. Finally,

«He came to you for a reason,» she continued. «He could have crawled off to any of a number of places to lick his wounds. But he came to you because he wants something. He's gambling, but it's a calculated thing. Don't go for it, Merle. You don't owe him anything.»

«I don't know why you think me incapable of taking care of myself,» I replied.

«I never said that,» she responded. «But some decisions are finely balanced things. A little extra weight this way or that sometimes makes the difference. You know Luke, but so do I. This is not a time to be giving him any breaks.»

«You have a point there,» I said.

«So you have decided to give him what he wants!»

I smiled and drank some coffee. «Hell, he hasn't been conscious long enough to give me the pitch,» I said. «I've thought of these things, and I want to know what he's got in mind too.»

«I never said you shouldn't find out as much as you can. I just wanted to remind you that talking with Luke can sometimes be like conversing with a dragon.»

«Yeah,» I acknowledged. «I know.»

«And the longer you wait the harder it's going to be,» she added.

I took a gulp of coffee; then, «Did you like him?» I asked.