So I simply extended my hand. Luke reached for it. His fingers halted a couple of inches above it.
“It’s holding me off, Merle. Protective little devil.”
“Hell,” I said, “I’m not a shapeshifter for nothing.” I took hold of it then, slimmed my finger suddenly, and slid it off. “Here.”
He held it in the palm of his left hand as we bounced along, regarding it through narrowed eyes. Suddenly, I felt dizzy. Withdrawal symptoms from the thing? I forced myself upright, reversed my breathing, refused to let it show.
“Heavy,” Luke said at last. “I can feel the power there. Other things, too. It won’t let me in, though.”
I reached for it and he drew his hand away.
“I can feel it in the air all around us,” he said. “Merle, this thing lays a spell on anybody who wears it.
I shrugged.
“Yes,” I said. “A benign one, though. It’s done nothing to harm me, and it’s helped me a number of times.”
“But can you trust anything that came to you in such an odd way-almost by trickery, caused you to abandon Frakir when she tried to warn you about it, and for all you know has been influencing your behavior ever since you put it on?”
“I admit to a kind of disorientation at first,” I said, “but I think that was just in the way of accommodation to the levels of voltage it draws. I’ve been back to normal for some time now.”
“How can you tell for sure? Maybe it’s brainwashed you.”
“Do I seem brainwashed to you?”
“No. I was just trying to say that I wouldn’t completely trust anything with such questionable credentials.”
“Well taken,” I agreed, holding forth my hand. “But so far the benefits have outweighed any hypothetical dangers. Consider me warned, and I’ll take my chances.”
He handed it back.
“If I think it’s making you act weird I’m going to hit you over the head and pull it off, though.”
“Fair enough,” I said, slipping it back on. Immediately, I felt a rush of energy throughout my system as the lines of control were reestablished.
“If you’re not sure you can force the information out of your mother,” he said, “how do you propose finding Corwin and freeing him?”
“Several things suggest themselves,” I said. “The simplest way may be a foot in the door technique. That is, I’d open all of the channels on the spikard and go for another Trump contact. As soon as there’s any sort of opening I’d just push ahead with full force, jamming any spells that try to stop me and burning them out.”
“Sounds as if it could be dangerous.”
“I can’t think of any way to go about this that wouldn’t be.”
“Then why haven’t you tried it?”
“It only occurred to me recently, and I haven’t had the time since then.”
“However you go about it, you’re going to need some help,” he said. “So count me in.”
“Thanks, Luke. I-“
“Now, about the king business,” he said. “What happens if you simply refuse to take the throne? Who’s next in line?”
“It’s a bit tangled when you come to Sawall,” I said. “By rights, Mandor should be first in line of succession from our House. He’d removed himself from the line years ago, though.”
“Why?”
“I believe he claimed he was unfit to rule.”
“No offense, Merle. But he seems like the only one of you who is fit for the job.”
“Oh, without a doubt,” I responded. “Most of the Houses have someone like him, though. There’s usually a nominal head and a de facto one, someone for show and someone for scheming. Mandor likes the climate behind the scenes.”
“Sounds as if your House has two,” he said.
“I’m not really clear on it,” I said. “I don’t know Dara’s status right now in her father’s House-Helgram-or her mother’s-Hendrake. But it might be worth a power struggle within Sawall if that’s where the next king is coming from. Still, the more I learn of Mandor the more intimidating such a struggle would seem. I’d guess they’re cooperating.”
“I take it you’re next in line, and then Jurt?”