[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
that one of the riding-beasts tripped and almost fell; and the alteration in
the two men's faces was immediate and remarkable. Arnfinn was reminded of the
first two farmers he had encountered on the road.
One of the bandits looked down at his own drawn blade as if he were surprised
beyond measure to find it in his hand; then, favoring Arnfinn with a sheepish
effort at a smile, he sheathed the weapon and turned, and rode away even more
quickly than he had approached. His companion meanwhile had been trying to
find words, words that sounded like a terrified effort at an apology. Then he
Page 26
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
too put his knife away-he had to thrust with it three times before he found
the opening in the unobtrusive sheath-and turned and fled.
Slowly Arnfinn regained his feet. He stood there beside his load beast,
listening to the crashing sounds of the enemy's retreat. It sounded to him as
if they were afraid he might be coming after them. Soon the hoof-beats
sounded more solidly on the road, and soon after that they dwindled into
silence.
Arnfinn stood there in the middle of the thicket a while longer, his eyes
closed now, his right hand still gripping Sightblinder's hilt. His shivering
fear, even before the tremors of it died out in his arms and legs, had almost
entirely transformed itself into something else. Before his eyes opened, he
had begun to smile.
He had never seen Lake Alk-maar before, but when first he came in sight of the
broad, shimmering water there was no doubt in his mind that he had found it.
He stopped and dismounted, letting the beast rest after the long, slow climb
up the landward side of the hills. Arnfinn remained standing on the tortuous
road for some time, petting his mount absently and looking down.
Well below him, and still at some little distance, lay the biggest settlement
Arnfinn had ever seen, which had to be the town of Triplicane. Even now, in
the middle of the day, the smoke from more than a dozen chimneys faintly
marked the air. At the lakeside docks in this town, his advisers in the
village had assured him, he would be able to find a boat that would take him
out to the castle.
He raised his gaze slightly. There, on an island out near the middle of the
lake, was the castle, looking appropriately magical, just as it had been
described to him. The home of the benign wizard Honan-Fu himself.
The wizard, Arnfinn had been told, was a little old man with a wispy beard and
a kindly manner. He tried now to imagine what it might be like to talk to
such a powerful man, and what the good wizard might be likely to offer Arnfinn
for such a Sword.
But now, for the first time, Arnfinn felt a stirring of reluctance to give
Sightblinder up, even at a price that would have made the people of Lunghai
very happy.
Frowning slightly, he remounted his load beast and started down the road to
town.
As he passed to and fro along the windings of the descending way, the
landscape below him changed. The far end of the town came briefly into sight,
bringing with it his first glimpse of the roofs and grounds of an extensive
lakeside manor.
Arnfinn had scarcely given that house a single conscious thought during his
journey, but even before he had started he had known of its existence. And he
knew the name of the person who was said to live there, who must be grown-up
enough by now to have her own establishment apart from her father's. Only
now, when he was actually in sight of the place, did the idea suggest itself
to him that maybe, on his way to sell the
Sword, he might just dare...
To do what? He wasn't sure exactly. But what harm could it do to simply go
out of his way a little bit, enough to ride past that manor house on the road
that ran directly in front of it. If he were to do that, then maybe, just
possibly, she would see him from a window. See him not in his scrawny, ugly,
ordinary body, but transformed, if only for
a moment, into what he would wish to be in the eyes of such a lady. Even if
he became something that frightened her, for just a moment...
Twice already in his young life, Arnfinn had seen Lady Ninazu. The first time
had been five years ago, when he was only twelve and she apparently no older.
At that time she, already well on the way to becoming a great lady, had
happened to pass through
Lunghai, escorted by a troop of the constabulary who served her father,
Page 27 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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that one of the riding-beasts tripped and almost fell; and the alteration in
the two men's faces was immediate and remarkable. Arnfinn was reminded of the
first two farmers he had encountered on the road.
One of the bandits looked down at his own drawn blade as if he were surprised
beyond measure to find it in his hand; then, favoring Arnfinn with a sheepish
effort at a smile, he sheathed the weapon and turned, and rode away even more
quickly than he had approached. His companion meanwhile had been trying to
find words, words that sounded like a terrified effort at an apology. Then he
Page 26
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
too put his knife away-he had to thrust with it three times before he found
the opening in the unobtrusive sheath-and turned and fled.
Slowly Arnfinn regained his feet. He stood there beside his load beast,
listening to the crashing sounds of the enemy's retreat. It sounded to him as
if they were afraid he might be coming after them. Soon the hoof-beats
sounded more solidly on the road, and soon after that they dwindled into
silence.
Arnfinn stood there in the middle of the thicket a while longer, his eyes
closed now, his right hand still gripping Sightblinder's hilt. His shivering
fear, even before the tremors of it died out in his arms and legs, had almost
entirely transformed itself into something else. Before his eyes opened, he
had begun to smile.
He had never seen Lake Alk-maar before, but when first he came in sight of the
broad, shimmering water there was no doubt in his mind that he had found it.
He stopped and dismounted, letting the beast rest after the long, slow climb
up the landward side of the hills. Arnfinn remained standing on the tortuous
road for some time, petting his mount absently and looking down.
Well below him, and still at some little distance, lay the biggest settlement
Arnfinn had ever seen, which had to be the town of Triplicane. Even now, in
the middle of the day, the smoke from more than a dozen chimneys faintly
marked the air. At the lakeside docks in this town, his advisers in the
village had assured him, he would be able to find a boat that would take him
out to the castle.
He raised his gaze slightly. There, on an island out near the middle of the
lake, was the castle, looking appropriately magical, just as it had been
described to him. The home of the benign wizard Honan-Fu himself.
The wizard, Arnfinn had been told, was a little old man with a wispy beard and
a kindly manner. He tried now to imagine what it might be like to talk to
such a powerful man, and what the good wizard might be likely to offer Arnfinn
for such a Sword.
But now, for the first time, Arnfinn felt a stirring of reluctance to give
Sightblinder up, even at a price that would have made the people of Lunghai
very happy.
Frowning slightly, he remounted his load beast and started down the road to
town.
As he passed to and fro along the windings of the descending way, the
landscape below him changed. The far end of the town came briefly into sight,
bringing with it his first glimpse of the roofs and grounds of an extensive
lakeside manor.
Arnfinn had scarcely given that house a single conscious thought during his
journey, but even before he had started he had known of its existence. And he
knew the name of the person who was said to live there, who must be grown-up
enough by now to have her own establishment apart from her father's. Only
now, when he was actually in sight of the place, did the idea suggest itself
to him that maybe, on his way to sell the
Sword, he might just dare...
To do what? He wasn't sure exactly. But what harm could it do to simply go
out of his way a little bit, enough to ride past that manor house on the road
that ran directly in front of it. If he were to do that, then maybe, just
possibly, she would see him from a window. See him not in his scrawny, ugly,
ordinary body, but transformed, if only for
a moment, into what he would wish to be in the eyes of such a lady. Even if
he became something that frightened her, for just a moment...
Twice already in his young life, Arnfinn had seen Lady Ninazu. The first time
had been five years ago, when he was only twelve and she apparently no older.
At that time she, already well on the way to becoming a great lady, had
happened to pass through
Lunghai, escorted by a troop of the constabulary who served her father,
Page 27 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]