[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
echoed in his ears.
But during the small moment between, the shadows had moved closer. He lifted
the staff and they drew back... not far, but they drew back. He glanced for a
moment down at himself. His clothes were untorn, his shoes complete again, his
hands unlacerated. Angie was looking at him penetratingly, but outside of
that, none of the others showed any sign of being conscious he had been away.
Your rod is no threat, said ibn-Tariq.
Jim risked a glance at his staff. It was neither as tall as nor as thick as
Carolinus s had been in those first days when they had come and with
Carolinus s help they had made the assault on the Loathly Tower to rescue
Angie. Then Carolinus s rod had held back the Dark Powers while he, Brian and
Dafydd ap Hywel fought its creatures and won.
This that he grasped would not hold as much power as Carolinus s had; but it
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
was straight and weathered. It fitted like a talisman in his right hand. Its
lower end now rested on the floor of the room; and the floor, through various
underpinnings, reached down finally to touch the earth itself, drawing
strength upward from the planet into the staff and him.
I say, came the voice of ibn-Tariq again, the staff is no threat. We are
Muslim. Your Christian magic cannot attack us, as you yourself know. Lay it
down. You will suffer less from us.
Not all of you are Muslim, said Jim. For the first time he noticed that
Baiju, seated with knees drawn up to his chest, had his wrists bound tight to
his ankles.
Baiju, he said, if it is what you wish-come stand with us.
As he spoke, he visualized it. A small lightning flickered from the top of
his staff, burning through the cords that bound Baiju-and the little Mongol
appeared behind Jim, standing on his feet. Baiju gave a grunt, but that was
all.
So much for magic, said Jim. I went a long way and a hard way for what I
hold; and you re right-I m not allowed to attack with it. But I m not here to
attack, but to defend those who need defense. Even you- I will defend you,
too, if you ll come to me. But you ll have to leave your own unlicensed
sorcery behind.
Ibn-Tariq s gaze sharpened like that of a cornered hawk.
Am I only an apprentice in my art, he said, to think I might need the aid
of one like you?
Jim did not answer.
His mind was fully open and understanding, sharp and clear now that he had
the staff in his hand.
To begin with, he said, you could have wanted only to stop Brian and me
from finding Sir Geoffrey and taking him back to England. Then you found out
about us by chance, probably from abu al-Qusayr-carefully hiding the sorcerous
element in you when you dealt with him-that our success would mean the end of
all you planned-
Ibn-Tariq s eyes glittered.
I hide from no magician! he said.
If that was true, you d be a fool, said Jim, and you re not that. So, you
found out about me, and that I was one of the junior grades of magician, who
ought to be easy to handle. But when you couldn t get me to talk about magic,
so you could get some idea of my powers, as we traveled in the caravan, you
arranged to have Brian and me captured by the Assassins; and tried to trick me
into showing what magic I had by forcing me to escape with it, didn t you?
Ibn-Tariq only smiled.
But then when we escaped, using no important magic, but learning of the
secret way in and out-knowing which could allow the Golden Horde Mongols to
get in and conquer the White Palace easily-we became a real danger. But why
should we, or even Baiju, who met us as we left the secret way, tell those of
the Golden Horde about this?
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He is of the Horde, said Hasan, behind ibn-Tariq.
Ya barid! snapped ibn-Tariq, turning on him. Fool!
Both Hasan and the dog cowered away from him. Ibn-Tariq turned back to face
Jim; but Jim had already looked back to meet the eyes of Baiju.
Is that true? Jim asked. Baiju met his gaze unyieldingly.
No, he said. I am of the Il Khanate, those of the first horde who hold
Persia, as I told you in the caravan. I thought you, with your magic, would
understand.
I didn t then, said Jim, but I do now. By letting them think you were of
the Horde, you hoped to learn what the Mamelukes of Egypt planned for the
Horde.
Baiju did not nod or speak-but he smiled tightly.
So, said Jim, you never were their spy. But your learning the exit point
of the secret way out of here was still a threat to ibn-Tariq, who wanted the
White Palace to survive.
He turned back to face ibn-Tariq, who spread his hands before him, calm once
more.
I? he said. I have something of a friendship for Hasan ad-Dimri, but why
should I be concerned with the White Palace or the attack on it by any
Mongols? And what could one sorcerer do, in any case, against an army?
One sorcerer alone might not be able to do much, said Jim. But a sorcerer
connected with an army of Mamelukes coming to oppose Mongols is something else
again.
I have no connections with Mamelukes, said ibn-Tariq. Though I have
friends among them, of course.
I think you have, said Jim. You re what, where I originally come from, is
called a politician. I wondered, when I first saw you here just now, why you
talked to Murad in front of us about a new leader being needed to make Egypt
into an empire. A leader like Saladin, who was a Kurd-as was Murad. Why say
this to Murad, when you and he knew he wasn t really Murad, but Sir Geoffrey?
Of course, it was all for my benefit. For our benefit. Sir Brian s and mine,
to reinforce the image of Murad, so we d not even suspect he could be Sir
Geoffrey. It was your idea, wasn t it? To arrange for us to catch a glimpse of
Sir Renel?
And when did you come to these wild imaginings? asked ibn-Tariq.
As I say-when I first looked down on you here through a crack in the wall of
that room above us that connects with the palace of Murad, said Jim. If you
knew Murad was Sir Geoffrey, why talk to him like that when the only ones
listening were Brian, myself and Baiju? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
echoed in his ears.
But during the small moment between, the shadows had moved closer. He lifted
the staff and they drew back... not far, but they drew back. He glanced for a
moment down at himself. His clothes were untorn, his shoes complete again, his
hands unlacerated. Angie was looking at him penetratingly, but outside of
that, none of the others showed any sign of being conscious he had been away.
Your rod is no threat, said ibn-Tariq.
Jim risked a glance at his staff. It was neither as tall as nor as thick as
Carolinus s had been in those first days when they had come and with
Carolinus s help they had made the assault on the Loathly Tower to rescue
Angie. Then Carolinus s rod had held back the Dark Powers while he, Brian and
Dafydd ap Hywel fought its creatures and won.
This that he grasped would not hold as much power as Carolinus s had; but it
Page 201
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
was straight and weathered. It fitted like a talisman in his right hand. Its
lower end now rested on the floor of the room; and the floor, through various
underpinnings, reached down finally to touch the earth itself, drawing
strength upward from the planet into the staff and him.
I say, came the voice of ibn-Tariq again, the staff is no threat. We are
Muslim. Your Christian magic cannot attack us, as you yourself know. Lay it
down. You will suffer less from us.
Not all of you are Muslim, said Jim. For the first time he noticed that
Baiju, seated with knees drawn up to his chest, had his wrists bound tight to
his ankles.
Baiju, he said, if it is what you wish-come stand with us.
As he spoke, he visualized it. A small lightning flickered from the top of
his staff, burning through the cords that bound Baiju-and the little Mongol
appeared behind Jim, standing on his feet. Baiju gave a grunt, but that was
all.
So much for magic, said Jim. I went a long way and a hard way for what I
hold; and you re right-I m not allowed to attack with it. But I m not here to
attack, but to defend those who need defense. Even you- I will defend you,
too, if you ll come to me. But you ll have to leave your own unlicensed
sorcery behind.
Ibn-Tariq s gaze sharpened like that of a cornered hawk.
Am I only an apprentice in my art, he said, to think I might need the aid
of one like you?
Jim did not answer.
His mind was fully open and understanding, sharp and clear now that he had
the staff in his hand.
To begin with, he said, you could have wanted only to stop Brian and me
from finding Sir Geoffrey and taking him back to England. Then you found out
about us by chance, probably from abu al-Qusayr-carefully hiding the sorcerous
element in you when you dealt with him-that our success would mean the end of
all you planned-
Ibn-Tariq s eyes glittered.
I hide from no magician! he said.
If that was true, you d be a fool, said Jim, and you re not that. So, you
found out about me, and that I was one of the junior grades of magician, who
ought to be easy to handle. But when you couldn t get me to talk about magic,
so you could get some idea of my powers, as we traveled in the caravan, you
arranged to have Brian and me captured by the Assassins; and tried to trick me
into showing what magic I had by forcing me to escape with it, didn t you?
Ibn-Tariq only smiled.
But then when we escaped, using no important magic, but learning of the
secret way in and out-knowing which could allow the Golden Horde Mongols to
get in and conquer the White Palace easily-we became a real danger. But why
should we, or even Baiju, who met us as we left the secret way, tell those of
the Golden Horde about this?
Page 202
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He is of the Horde, said Hasan, behind ibn-Tariq.
Ya barid! snapped ibn-Tariq, turning on him. Fool!
Both Hasan and the dog cowered away from him. Ibn-Tariq turned back to face
Jim; but Jim had already looked back to meet the eyes of Baiju.
Is that true? Jim asked. Baiju met his gaze unyieldingly.
No, he said. I am of the Il Khanate, those of the first horde who hold
Persia, as I told you in the caravan. I thought you, with your magic, would
understand.
I didn t then, said Jim, but I do now. By letting them think you were of
the Horde, you hoped to learn what the Mamelukes of Egypt planned for the
Horde.
Baiju did not nod or speak-but he smiled tightly.
So, said Jim, you never were their spy. But your learning the exit point
of the secret way out of here was still a threat to ibn-Tariq, who wanted the
White Palace to survive.
He turned back to face ibn-Tariq, who spread his hands before him, calm once
more.
I? he said. I have something of a friendship for Hasan ad-Dimri, but why
should I be concerned with the White Palace or the attack on it by any
Mongols? And what could one sorcerer do, in any case, against an army?
One sorcerer alone might not be able to do much, said Jim. But a sorcerer
connected with an army of Mamelukes coming to oppose Mongols is something else
again.
I have no connections with Mamelukes, said ibn-Tariq. Though I have
friends among them, of course.
I think you have, said Jim. You re what, where I originally come from, is
called a politician. I wondered, when I first saw you here just now, why you
talked to Murad in front of us about a new leader being needed to make Egypt
into an empire. A leader like Saladin, who was a Kurd-as was Murad. Why say
this to Murad, when you and he knew he wasn t really Murad, but Sir Geoffrey?
Of course, it was all for my benefit. For our benefit. Sir Brian s and mine,
to reinforce the image of Murad, so we d not even suspect he could be Sir
Geoffrey. It was your idea, wasn t it? To arrange for us to catch a glimpse of
Sir Renel?
And when did you come to these wild imaginings? asked ibn-Tariq.
As I say-when I first looked down on you here through a crack in the wall of
that room above us that connects with the palace of Murad, said Jim. If you
knew Murad was Sir Geoffrey, why talk to him like that when the only ones
listening were Brian, myself and Baiju? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]