"Zelazny, Roger - Amber 09 - Knight Of Shadows" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

moment. I suppose it makes it easier to hate me if you feel I lack even maternal
virtues."
"Hey, I thought we were calling things even," I said.
"That doesn't preclude hating each other," she replied.
"Come on, lady! Outside of the fact that you tried to kill me year after
year, I've got nothing against you. You happen to be the mother of someone I
like and respect. If he's in trouble, I want to help him, and I'd as soon be on
good terms with you."
Mandor cleared his throat as the flames dropped ten feet, shuddered,
dropped again.
"I've some fine culinary spells," he remarked, "should recent exertions
have roused some appetites."
Jasra smiled almost coquettishly, and I'd swear she batted her eyelashes at
him. While he makes a striking appearance with that shock of white hair, I don't
know that you'd exactly call Mandor handsome. I've never understood why women
are as attracted to him as they usually seem to be. I've even checked him out
for spells on that particular count, but he doesn't wear one. It must be some
different order of magic entirely.
"A fine idea," she responded. "I'll provide the setting if you'll take care
of the rest."
Mandor bowed; the flames collapsed the rest of the way to the ground and
were damped therein. Jasra shouted an order to Sharu, the Invisible Guardian,
telling him to keep them that way. Then she turned and led us toward the
downward stair.
"Underground passage," she explained, "to more civilized shores."
"It occurs to me," I remarked, "that anyone we encounter will probably be
loyal to Julia."
Jasra laughed.
"As they were to me before her and to Sharu before me," she replied. "They
are professionals. They come with the place. They are paid to defend the
winners, not to avenge the losers. I will put in as appearance and make a
proclamation after dinner, and I will enjoy their unanimous and heartfelt
loyalty until the next usurpation. Mind that third step. There's a loose
flagstone."
So she led us on, through a section of fake wall and into a dark tunnel,
heading in what I believed to be a northwesterly direction toward the area of
the Citadel which I had investigated somewhat on my previous journey this way.
That was the day I had rescued her from Mask/Julia and taken her back to Amber
to be a coatrack in our citadel for a while. The tunnel we entered was totally
dark, but she conjured a darting dot, bright in its will-o'-the-wispiness, which
preceded us through the gloom and the damp. The air was stale and the walls were
cobwebby. The floor was of bare earth, save for an irregular patch of flagstones
down its middle; there were occasional fetid puddles at either hand; and small
dark creatures flashed past us--both on the ground and in the air--every now and
then.
Actually, I did not need the light. Probably none of us did. I held to the
Sign of the Logrus, which provided a magical way of seeing, granting a silvery,
directionless illumination. I maintained it because it would also give me a
warning against magical effects--which might include booby trap spells about the
premises or, for that matter, a bit of treachery on Jasra's part. One effect of