“I might summon some reinforcement from the Courts.“
“Here? To Amber? I’d really be up shit creek if Random ever got wind of that. He might start suspecting subversion.”
He smiled.
“This place reminds me a bit of home,” he remarked, turning back toward my door.
When we entered, I saw that Nayda was still seated, her hands upon her knees, staring at a metal ball that hovered about a foot before her. The other continued its slow circuit down on the floor.
Seeing the direction of my gaze, Mandor remarked, “Very light trance state. She can hear us. You can rouse her in an instant if you wish.”
I nodded and fumed away. Now it was Jasra’s turn.
I removed all of the garments I’d hung upon her and placed them on a chair across the room. Then I fetched a cloth and the basin and washed the clown makeup off her face.
“Am I forgetting anything?” I said, half to myself.
“A glass of water and a mirror,” Mandor stated.
“What for?”
“She may be thirsty,” he replied, “and I can just tell she’ll want to look at herself.”
“You may have a point there,” I said, drawing up a small table. I placed a pitcher and a goblet upon it; also, a hand mirror.
“I’d also suggest you support her, in case she collapses when the spell is removed.”
“True.”
I placed my left arm about her shoulders, thought of her deadly bite, stepped back, and held her at arm’s distance with the one hand.
“If she bites me, it will knock me out almost instantly,” I said. “Be ready to defend yourself quickly if this occurs.”
Mandor tossed another metal ball into the air. It hung there for an unnaturally long moment at the top of its arc, then dropped back to his hand.
“All right,” I said, and then I spoke the words that raised the spell.
Nothing as dramatic as I’d feared ensued. She slumped and I supported her. “You’re safe,” I said, and added, “Rinaldo knows you’re here,” to invoke the most familiar. “Here’s a chair. Do you want some water?”
“Yes,” she replied, and I poured some and passed it to her.
Her eyes were darting, taking in everything as she drank. I wondered whether she’d recovered instantly and might not now be stalling for time as she sipped, her mind racing, spells dancing at her fingertips. Her eyes returned more than once to Mandor, appraising, though she gave Nayda a long, hard stare.
Finally, she lowered the goblet and smiled.
“I take it, Merlin, that I am your prisoner,” she said, choking slightly. She took another sip.
“Guest,” I replied.
“Oh? How did this come about? Accepting the invitation escapes my mind.”
“I brought you here from the citadel at the Keep of the Four Worlds in a somewhat cataleptic condition,” I said.
“And where might ‘here’ be?”
“My apartment in the Palace of Amber. “
“Prisoner, then,” she stated.
“Guest,” I repeated.
“In that case, I should be introduced, should I not?”
“Excuse me. Mandor, I introduce Her Highness Jasra, Queen of Kashfa.”
(I intentionally omitted the “Most Royal” part.) “Your Majesty, I request leave to present my brother, Lord Mandor.”
She inclined her head, and Mandor approached, dropped to one knee, and raised her hand to his lips. He’s better at such courtly gestures than I am, not even sniffing the back of her hand for the scent of bitter almonds. I could tell that she liked his manner-and she continued to study him afterward.
“I was not aware,” she observed, “that the royal house here contained an individual named Mandor.”
“Mandor is heir to the dukedom of Sawall in the Courts of Chaos,” I replied. Her eyes widened.
“And you say he is your brother?”
“Indeed.”
“You’ve succeeded in surprising me,” she stated. “I had forgotten your double lineage.”
I smiled, nodded, stepped aside and gestured.
“And this-“ I began.
“I am acquainted with Nayda,” she said. “Why is the girl …preoccupied?”
“That represents a matter of great complexity,” I said, “and there are other things I am certain you will find to be of much greater interest.”
She cocked an eyebrow at me.