“Too bad there are no other good candidates,” I said, lowering my voice.
“This must seem like pretty small beer to someone from Amber.”
“Hell, it’s your home. You’ve got a right to take it seriously. I’m just sorry it’s doing such a job on you.”
“Yeah, most problems seem to start at home, don’t they? Sometimes I just feel like taking a walk and not coming back.”
“What would happen if you did?”
“Either Mom would restore herself to the throne with Dalt’s gang to back her up, which would require a mess of executions of people I can think of who’d be against it, or she’d say the game isn’t worth the candle and settle for the Keep. If she decided to enjoy her retirement, then the coalition which backed him in the first place would probably spring Arkans and continue things from where they’d had to leave off “
“Which course of action seems most likely to you?” I said.
“She’d go for it and there’d be a civil war. Win or lose, it would mess up the country and doubtless keep us out of the Golden Circle this time around, too. Speaking of which-“
“I don’t know,” I said quickly. “I’m not empowered to talk Golden Circle Treaty with you.”
“I’d kind of guessed that,” Luke said, “and that wasn’t what I wanted to ask. I was just curious whether anyone back in Amber might have said, ‘They just blew it,’ or ‘Maybe we’ll give them another crack at it a little farther down the road,’ or ‘We’ll still deal, but they can forget the Eregnor guarantees.”
He gave me an artificial grin, and I returned it.
“You can forget Eregnor,” I said.
“Figured that,” he said. “What about the rest?”
“I get the impression it’s ‘Let’s wait and see what happens.”
“Guessed that much, too. Give me a good report, even if they don’t ask, okay? By the way, I don’t suppose your presence here is technically official?”
“Personal,” I said, “from a diplomatic standpoint.”
The lady up front rose to her feet. Luke sighed.
“Wish I could find my way back to Alice’s restaurant. Maybe the Hatter would see something we’re missing,” he said. Then: “Hey! Where’d he come from? Looks just like you but-“
He was staring past me, and I could already feel the disturbance. I didn’t even bother to summon the Logrus, though, because I felt ready for anything.
I turned, smiling.
“Are you ready to die, brother?” Jurt asked. He had either managed to regrow his eye or was wearing an artificial one, and he now had sufficient hair that I could no longer tell about the ear. His little finger was partly regrown also.
“No, but I’m ready to kill,” I said. “I’m glad you happened by.”
He bowed, mockingly. There was a faint glow about him. I could feel the power that flowed through and around his person.
“Have you been back to the Keep for your final treatment?” I inquired.
“I don’t believe that will be necessary,” he said. “I am more than adequate for any task I’ve set myself, now I’ve control of these forces.”
“This is Jurt?” Luke asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “This is Jurt.”
Jurt cast a quick glance Luke’s way. I could feel him focusing on the blade.
“Is that a power object you bear?” he inquired. “Let me see it!”
He extended his hand, and the weapon jerked within Luke’s grip but did not come loose.
“No, thanks,” Luke said, and Jurt vanished. A moment later he appeared behind Luke, and his arm went around Luke’s neck in a choke. Luke gripped it with one hand, bowed, and turned and threw him over his shoulder.
Jurt landed on his back before him, and Luke made no move to follow up on his action.
“Draw that blade,” Jurt said, “and let me see it.” Then he shook himself like a dog and rose to his feet. “Well?” he said.
“I see no need for a weapon in dealing with the likes of you,” Luke told him.
Jurt raised both hands above his head and formed them into fists. They met, remained in contact for a moment. Then he drew them apart, his right hand somehow drawing a long blade out of his left.