Blood of Amber. Chapter 5, 6
5
Walking, with the Lady Vinta and two servingmen of the House of Bayle, my side still hurting from its encounter with a sword hilt, beneath a moonbright, starbright sky, through a sea mist, away from Death Alley.
Lucky, actually, that a bump on the side was all I acquired in my engagement with those who would do me harm. How they had located me so quickly upon my return, I could not say. But it seemed as if Vinta might have some idea about this, and I was inclined to trust her, both because I knew her somewhat and because she had lost her man, my Uncle Caine, to my former friend Luke, from whose party anything involving a blue stone seemed to have its origin.
When we turned onto a seaward side way off Harbor Street, I asked her what she had in mind.
“I thought we were heading for Vine,” I said.
“You know you are in danger,” she stated.
“I guess that’s sort of obvious.”
“I could take you to my father’s place up in town,” she said, “or we could escort you back to the palace, but someone knows you are here and it didn’t take long to reach you.”
“True.”
“We have a boat moored down this way. We can sail along the coast and reach my father’s country place by morning. You will have disappeared. Anyone seeking you in Amber will be foiled.”
“You don’t think I’d be safe back in the palace?”
“Perhaps,” she said. “But your whereabouts may be known locally. Come with me and this won’t be the case.”
“I’ll be gone and Random will learn from one of the guards that I was heading for Death Alley. This will cause considerable consternation and a huge brouhaha.”
“You can reach him by Trump tomorrow and tell him that you’re in the country-if you have your cards with you.”
“True. How did you know where to find me this evening? You can’t persuade me that we met by coincidence.”
“No, we followed you. We were in the place across the way from Bill’s.”
“You anticipated tonight’s happenings?”
“I saw the possibility. If I’d known everything, of course I’d have prevented it.”
“What’s going on? What do you know about all of this, and what’s your part in it?”
She laughed, and I realized it was the first time I had ever heard her do it. It was not the cold, mocking thing I would have guessed at from Caine’s lady.
“I want to sail while the tide is high,” she said, “and you want a story that will take all night. Which will it be, Merlin? Security or satisfaction?”
“I’d like both, but I’ll take them in order.”
“Okay,” she said, then turned to the smaller of the two men, the one I had hit. “Jarl, go home. In the morning, tell my father that I decided to go back to Arbor House. Tell him it was a nice night and I wanted to sail, so I took the boat. Don’t mention Merlin.”
The man touched his cap to her. “Very good, m’lady.” He turned and headed back along the way we had come.
“Come on,” she said to me then, and she and the big fellow-whose name I later learned was Drew led me down among the piers to where a long sleek sailboat was tied up. “Do much sailing?” she asked me.
“Used to,” I said.
“Good enough. You can give us a hand.”
Which I did. We didn’t talk much except for business while we were getting unbuttoned and rigged and casting off. Drew steered and we worked the sails. Later, we were able to take turns for long spells. The wind wasn’t tricky. In fact, it was just about perfect. We slid away, rounded the breakwater and made it out without any problems. Having stowed our cloaks, I saw that she wore dark trousers and a heavy shirt. Very practical, as if she’d planned for something like this ahead of time. The belt she stowed bore a real, full-length blade, not some jeweled dagger. And just from watching the way she moved, I’d a feeling she might be able to use the thing pretty well. Also, she reminded me of someone I couldn’t quite place. It was more a matter of mannerisms of gesture and voice than it was of appearance. Not that it mattered. I had more important things to think about as soon as we settled into routine and I had a few moments to stare across the dark waters and do some quick reviewing.