“I already said I was willing to call things even. It still goes. Where does Jurt come into all this? I don’t understand how they got together and what they are to each other.”
Mandor added a touch of wine to my own glass before returning to his seat. Jasra met my eyes.
“I don’t know,” she said. “She had no allies when we fought. It had to have happened while I was rigid.”
“Have you any idea where she and Jurt might have fled?”
“No.”
I glanced at Mandor, and he shook his head.
“Neither have I,” he said. “However, a peculiar thought has occurred to me.”
“Yes?”
“Besides the fact that he has negotiated the Logrus and come into his powers, is it necessary for me to point out that Jurt-apart from his scars and missing pieces bears you a strong resemblance?”
“Jurt? Me? You’ve got to be kidding!”
He glanced at Jasra.
“He is right,” she said. “It’s obvious that the two of you are related.”
I put down my fork and shook my head.
“Preposterous,” I said, more in self-defense than as a matter of certainty. “I never noticed.”
Mandor shrugged, very slightly.
“You want a lecture on the psychology of denial?” Jasra asked me.
“No,” I said. “I want a little while in which to let this sink in.”
“Time for another course anyway,” Mandor announced, and he gestured widely and it was delivered.
“Will you be in trouble with your relatives for having released me?” Jasra asked after a while.
“By the time they realize you’re gone, I hope to have a good story ready,” I answered.
“In other words, you will be,” she said.
“Maybe a little.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t like to be obligated to anyone,” she said, “and you’ve done more for me than I have for you in this. If I come upon a means of turning their wrath away from you, I’ll employ it.”
“What could you possibly have in mind?”
“Let it go at that. Sometimes it’s better not to know too much.”
“I don’t like the sound of this at all.”
“An excellent reason for changing the subject,” she said. “How great an enemy has Jurt become?”
“To me?” I asked. “Or are you wondering whether he’ll be returning here for second helpings?”
“Both, when you put it that way “
“I believe he’ll kill me if he can,” I said, glancing at Mandor, who nodded.
“I fear that is so,” he stated.
“As for whether he’ll be back here for more of whatever it is that he got,” I continued, “you’re the best judge. How close did he seem to be to possessing the full powers one might gain from that ritual at the Fountain?”
“It’s hard to say exactly,” she said, “as he was testing them under very chaotic conditions. Fifty percent, maybe. Just a guess. Will that satisfy him?”
“Perhaps. How dangerous does that make him?”
“Very when he gets the full hang of things. Still, he must realize that this place will be heavily guarded even against someone such as himself-should he decide to return. I suspect he’ll stay away. Just Sharu-in his present circumstances-would be a formidable obstacle.”
I went on eating.
“Julia will probably advise him not to try it,” she continued, “familiar as she is with the place.”
I nodded my acceptance of the notion. We would meet when we met. Nothing much I could do now to forestall it.
“Now may I ask you a question?” she said.
“Go ahead.”
“The ty’iga…”
“Yes.”
“Even in the body of the duke Orkuz’s daughter, I am certain that she did not just walk into the palace and wander on up to your apartments.”
“Hardly,” I replied. “She’s with an official party.”
“May I ask when the party arrived?”
“Earlier in the day,” I answered. “I’m afraid, though, that I can’t go into any detail as to-“
She dipped her well-ringed hand in a gesture of denial.
“I’m not interested in state secrets,” she said, “though I know Nayda usually accompanies her father in a secretarial capacity.”
“So?”
“Did her sister come along or did she stay home?”