Sign of chaos

«…And it is a Chaos phenomenon,» Mandor continued. «You could see that in the way it drew upon Chaos when I provided the means. But that pushed it past some limit, and there was a correction. Someone is playing with the primal forces themselves out there. Who or what or why, I cannot say. But I think it's strong testimony that the Pattern isn't involved. Not with Chaos games. So Merlin is probably correct. I think that this business has its origin elsewhere.»

«All right,» Fiona conceded. «All right. What does that leave us with?»

«A mystery,» he said. «But hardly, I think, an imminent threat.»

A faint firefly of an idea flitted through my mind. It could easily be dead wrong, though that was not the reason I decided against sharing it. It led into an area of thought I could not explore in an instant, and I don't like giving away pieces of things like that.

Fiona was glaring at me now, but I maintained a bland expression. Abruptly then, seeing that her cause was fruitless, she decided to change the subject:

«You said that you left Luke under somewhat unusual circumstances. Just where is he now?»

The last thing I wanted to do was to get her really mad at me. But I couldn't see fuming her loose on Luke in his present condition. For all I knew, she might actually be up to killing him, just as a form of life insurance. And I did not want Luke dead. I'd a feeling he might be undergoing something of a change of attitude, and I wanted to give him every break I could. We still owed each other a few, even though it was hard keeping score; and there is something to be said for old times' sake Considering what I'd judged his condition to be when I'd left him, it was going to be a while before he was in decent shape again. And then I had a number of things I wanted to talk to him about.

«Sorry,» I said. «He's my province at the moment.»

«I believe I have some interest in the matter,» she replied levelly.

«Of course,» I said, «but I feel that mine is greater and that we may get in each other's ways.»

«I can judge these things for myself,» she said.

«Okay,» I told her. «He's on an acid trip. Any inforormation you'd get out of him might be colorful, but it would also be highly disappointing.»

«How did this happen?» she asked.

«A wizard named Mask apparently slipped him some chemicals when he had him prisoner.»

«Where was this? I've never heard of Mask.»

«A place called the Keep of the Four Worlds,» I told her.

«It's been a long time since I heard the Keep mentioned,» she said. «A sorcerer named Sharu Garrul used to hold it.»

«He's a coatrack now,» I stated.

«What?»

«Long story; but Mask has the place these days.»

She stared at me, and I could tell she was just realizing that there was a lot she didn't know in the way of recent developments. I'd judge she was deciding which of several obvious questions to ask next when I decided to beat her to the punch while she was still off balance.

«So how's Bleys?» I asked.

«He's much improved. I treated him myself and he's recovering quickly.»

I was about to ask her where he was, which I knew she would refuse to answer, and hopefully we would both smile when she saw what I was driving at: no address for Bleys, no address for Luke; we keep our secrets and stay friends.

«Hello!» I heard Mandor say, and we both turned in the direction he was facing - back out through the notch.

The dark tornado-form had collapsed to half its former size, and even as we watched, it continued to diminish. It fell steadily in upon itself, shrinking and shrinking, and in about a half minute it was gone, completely.

I could not suppress a smile, but Fiona did not even notice. She was looking at Mandor.

«Do you think it was because of what you did?» she asked him.

«I have no way of knowing,» he replied, «but it may well be.»

«But does it tell you anything?» she said.

«Perhaps whoever was responsible did not like having me tinker with his experiment.»

«You really believe there's an intelligence behind it?»

«Yes.»

«Someone from the Courts?»

«It seems more likely than someone from your end of the world.»

«I suppose so…,» she agreed. «Have you any guesses as to the person's identity?»

He smiled.

«I understand,» she said quickly. «Your business is your business. But a general threat is everybody's business. That's what I was really getting at.»

«True,» he acknowledged. «This is why I propose investigating it. I'm at loose ends at the moment. It might be amusing.»

«It is awkward asking you to communicate your findings to me,» she said, «when I do not know what interests might be involved.»

«I appreciate your position,» he replied, «but to the best of my knowledge the treaty provisions still hold and no one in the Courts is promoting any special designs against Amber. In fact… If you like, we might pursue the matter together, at least part of the way.»

«I've got the time,» she said.

«I don't,» I injected quickly. «I've some pressing business to attend to.»

Mandor shifted his attention to me.

«About my offer…,» he said.

«I can't,» I told him.