"Amber Short Story 06 - Hall of Mirrors 1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

_Hall Of Mirrors_ from the anthology _Castle Fantastic_ March, 1996

by Roger Zelazny
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Neither of us realized there had been a change until a halfdozen guys tried
an ambush.

We had spent the night in the Dancing Mountains, Shask and I, where I'd
witnessed a bizarre game between Dworkin and Suhuy. I'd heard strange tales
about things that happened to people who spent the night there, but I hadn't had
a hell of a lot of choice in the matter. It had been storming, I was tired,
and my mount had become a statue. I don't know how that game turned out,
though I was mentioned obliquely as a participant and I'm still
wondering.

The next morning my blue horse Shask and I had crossed the Shadow
Divide 'twixt Amber and Chaos. Shask was a Shadow mount my son Merlin had
found for me in the royal stables of the Courts. At the moment, Shask was
traveling under the guise of a giant blue lizard, and we were singing songs
from various times and places.

Two men rose on either side of the trail from amid rocky cover,
pointing crossbows at us. Two more stepped out before usone with a bow, the
other bearing a rather beautiful looking blade, doubtless stolen,
considering the guy's obvious profession.

"Halt! and no harm'll happen," said the swordsman.

I drew rein.

"When it comes to money, I'm pretty much broke right now," I said, "and I
doubt any of you could ride my mount, or would care to."

"Well now, maybe and maybe not," said the leader, "but it's a rough way to
make a living, so we take whatever we can."

"It's not a good idea to leave a man with nothing," I said. "Some
people hold grudges."

"Most of them can't walk out of here."

"Sounds like a death sentence to me."

He shrugged.

"That sword of yours looks pretty fancy," he said. "Let's see it."

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said.

"Why not?"