“The shape you’re in-“
“That’s it. That’s what I mean. I’ve got to get out of here so I can be in shape soon. I think old Sharu Garrul’s gotten loose. That’s the only way I can figure what happened.”
“What did happen?”
“I got a distress call from my mother. She’d gone back to the Keep after I’d gotten her away from you.”
“Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why’d she head for the Keep?”
“Well, the place is a power center. The way the four worlds come together there releases an awful lot of free power, which an adept can tap into-“
“Four worlds actually do come together there? You mean you’re in a different shadow depending on the direction you might take off in?”
He studied me for a moment. “Yes,” he finally said, “but I’ll never get this thing told if you want all the little details.”
“And I won’t understand it if too much gets left out. So she went to the Keep to raise some power and got in trouble instead. She called you to come help her. What did she want that power for, anyway?”
“Mm. Well, I’d been having trouble with Ghostwheel. I thought I almost had him talked into coming over to our side, but she probably thought I wasn’t making progress fast enough and apparently decided to try binding him with a massive spell after-“
“Wait a minute. You were talking to Ghost? How did you get in touch? Those Trumps you drew are no good.”
“I know. I went in.”
“How’d you manage it?”
“In scuba gear. I wore a wet suit and oxygen tanks.”
“Son of a gun. That’s an interesting approach.”
“I wasn’t Grand D’s top salesman for nothing. I almost had him convinced, too. But she’d learned where I’d stashed you, and she decided to try expediting matters by putting you under control, then using you to clinch the deal-as if you’d come over to our side. Anyhow, when that plan fell through and I had to go and get her away from you, we split up again. I thought she was headed for Kashfa, but she went to the Keep instead. Like I said, I think it was to try a massive working against Ghostwheel. I believe something that she did there inadvertently freed Sharu, and he took the place over again and captured her. Anyhow, I got this frantic sending from her, so-“
“Uh, this old wizard,” I said, “had been locked up there for-how long?”
Luke began to shrug, thought better of it. “Hell, I don’t know. Who cares? He’s been a cloak rack since I was a boy.”
“A cloak rack?”
“Yeah. He lost a sorcerous duel. I don’t really know whether she beat him or whether it was Dad. Whoever it was, though, caught him in mid-invocation, arms outspread and all. Froze him like that, stiff as a board. He got moved to a place near an entranceway later. People would hang cloaks and hats on him. The servants would dust him occasionally. I even carved my name on his leg when I was little, like on a tree. I’d always thought of him as furniture. But I learned later that he’d been considered pretty good in his day.”
“Did this guy ever wear a blue mask when he worked?”
“You’ve got me. I don’t know anything about his style. Say, let’s not get academic or she’ll be here before I finish. In fact, maybe we ought to go now, and I can tell you the rest later.”
“Un-uh,” I said. “You are, as you noted last night, my prisoner. I’d be nuts to let you go anywhere without knowing a hell of a lot more than I do. You’re a threat to Amber. That bomb you tossed at the funeral was pretty damn real. You think I want to give you another shot at us?”
He smiled, then lost it. “Why’d you have to be born Corwin’s son, anyway?” he said. Then, “Can I give you my parole on this?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’m going to be in a lot of trouble if they find out I had you and didn’t bring you in. What terms are you talking? Will you swear off your war against Amber?”