KNIGHT OF SHADOWS Read Free Page A

Marches,” I said, “not a prince.”
    “I was referring to the House of Sawall,” she replied.  
    “You’ve been doing homework,” Mandor noted, “recently “
    “I’d hate to commit a breach of protocol,” she said.  
    “I seldom use my Chaos title at this end of things,” I explained.
    “A pity,” she told me.   “I find it more than a little...elegant.   Aren’t you about thirtieth in the line of succession?”
    I laughed.
    “Even that great a distance is an exaggeration,” I said.
    “No, Merle, she’s about right,” Mandor told me.   “Give or take the usual few.”
    “How can that be?” I asked.   “The last time I looked-“
    He poured a goblet of wine and offered it to Jasra.   She accepted it with a smile.
    “You haven’t looked recently,” Mandor said.   “There have been more deaths.”
    “Really? So many?”
    “To Chaos,” Jasra said, raising her goblet.   “Long may she wave.”
    “To Chaos,” Mandor replied, raising his.
    “Chaos,” I echoed, and we touched the goblets together and drank.
    A number of delightful aromas came to me suddenly.   Turning, I saw that the table now bore serving dishes.   Jasra had turned at the same moment, and Mandor stepped forward and gestured, causing the chairs to slide back to accommodate us.
    “Be seated, please, and let me serve you,” he said.
    We did, and it was more than good.   Several minutes passed, and apart from compliments on the soup nothing was said.   I did not want to be the first with a conversational gambit, though it had occurred to me that the others might feel the same way.
    Finally, Jasra cleared her throat, and we both looked at her.   I was surprised that she suddenly seemed slightly nervous.
    “So, how are things in Chaos?” she asked.
    “At the moment, chaotic,” Mandor replied, “not to be facetious.” He thought a moment, then sighed and added, “Politics.”
    She nodded slowly, as if considering asking him for the details he did not seem to care to divulge, then deciding against it.   She turned toward me.
    “Unfortunately, I’d no opportunity to sight-see while I was in Amber,” she said.   “From what you told me, though, life seems a bit chaotic there also.”
    I nodded.
    “It’s good that Dalt’s gone,” I said, “if that’s what you mean.   But he was never a real threat, just a nuisance.   Speaking of whom-“
    “Let’s not,” she interrupted, smiling sweetly.   “What I really had in mind was anything else.”
    I smiled back.
    “I forgot.   You’re not a fan of his,” I said.
    “It’s not that,” she responded.   “The man has his uses.   It’s just” -she sighed- “politics,” she finished.
    Mandor laughed, and we joined him.   Too bad I hadn’t thought to use that line about Amber.   Too late now.
    “I bought a painting awhile back,” I said, “by a lady named Polly Jackson.   It’s of a red ‘57 Chevy I like it a lot.   It’s in storage in San Francisco right now.   Rinaldo liked it, too.”
    She nodded, stared out the window.
    “You two were always stopping in some gallery of other,” she said.
    “Yes, he dragged me to a lot of them, too.   I always thought he had good taste.   No talent, but good taste.”
    “What do you mean, ‘no talent’?”
    “He’s a very good draftsman, but his own paintings were never that interesting.”
    I had raised the subject for a very special reason, and this wasn’t it.   But I was fascinated by a side of Luke I’d never known, and I decided to pursue the matter.
    “Paintings? I never knew he painted.”
    “He’s tried any number of times, but he never shows them to anyone because they’re not good enough.”
    “Then how do you know about them?”
    “I’d check out his apartment periodically “
    “When he wasn’t around?”
    “Of course.   A mother’s privilege.”
    I shuddered.   I thought again of the burning woman down the Rabbit Hole.
    But I didn’t want to say what I felt