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.It conveys ideas, impressions, that’s all.”“Wanderer,” Gan ground the words out, “what—does—it—say?”Eldin let his gaze shift from the message, which he knew now by heart, straight into Gan’s slitted eyes.“It says: ‘Hero, Eldin, ’ware Raffis Gan.He’s found Yath-Lhi‘s treasure-maze and would rob all the dreamlands of a priceless legacy.’”“Yes, yes!” said Gan when Eldin paused.“Nothing new in that, is there? Go on.” The Chief Regulator licked his lips.Not eagerly, Eldin noted; or at best, eager-anxious.“That’s it,” the Wanderer averted his eyes.“Liar!” Gan snapped.“What? This great long sheet of hieroglyphs, and that’s all it says?”Eldin made to cover up for his apparent error.“Oh, it’s not couched that simply, but in essence that’s the message.There is a bit more, however.” He squinted again at the sheet, his mind working furiously.“Yes, it also says: ‘The seer with invisible eyes can show you the way to Tyrhhia’s ruins.Go there—but go carefully—and bring me back irrefutable evidence of the Chief Regulator’s criminal activity.’”“Hah!” Gan snorted.“Well, no problem there, Wanderer, for we’re on our way even now.What else?”Inspiration came like a bright flash of light in Eldin’s mind.A man in a hurry makes mistakes.Panicked, an animal will fly straight into the trap.And Raffis Gan was an animal if ever Eldin saw one.“What else?” he repeated, and nodded.“A postscript, that’s all—and one you’ll not much care for.”Gan’s pinched face went narrower still and he frowned.“Go on.”“It says: ‘If I don’t hear from you by return, my next message goes straight to Baharna’s Council of Elders’!”“What?” the Chief Regulator whispered, his eyes darting from Eldin’s face to the glyph-inscribed tissue, and back to Eldin.“Where, Wanderer? Where does it say that?”“There,” Eldin nodded gravely.“The last three lines there, followed by Kuranes’ sigil.”Gan reeled for a moment, staggered until his shoulders came up against low beams.Then he seemed to draw strength from his sturdy vessel, straightened up a little.“So, it’s come at last.The Elders have had their suspicions for some time, I fancy, but word from Kuranes will clinch it.At least they’ll investigate—and I’m afraid I’m not up to much of an investigation.Then they’ll be after me full tilt.We’re into the afternoon already; Kuranes will be expecting your answer tonight, but he won’t get one—that’s when he’ll dispatch his damned accusations.The Council of Elders will know all by this time tomorrow at the latest.That gives me less than twenty-four hours to crack Yath-Lhi’s treasure-chamber …” He began to turn away, checked himself.“The girl,” Eldin reminded him, before Gan could say anything else.“You said you’d send her down to me.”Gan’s mind was now on other things.“One last question,” he said.“Did Kuranes mention … a curse?”“Eh?” said Eldin, trying to be—just Eldin.“Curse, Kuranes? Why, no.He’s not much for swearing, that one.Far too much a gentleman.Though I do seem to remember that on one occasion he—”“A curse, clown!” Gan hissed.“A malediction—a DOOM—a lurking evil connected with Yath-Lhi’s treasure.”“Oh, that sort of curse!” said Eldin.“No, not a word.D’you believe in such, then?”“These are the dreamlands, Wanderer,” said Gan darkly, “and of strange things dreamed by men in the waking world … there’s no end or limit to what might or might not be.Gugs, ghouls, gaunts, ghasts, dholes, Shantaks, zoogs, zombies and other monsters and mischiefs—their reality has to be acknowledged, because they are real.Encounters are numerous and well documented.But a curse, passed down dim centuries to the present day? No, you’re quite right: personally I’m not especially superstitious.” A worried look crossed his face; or rather, the one already there intensified.“But there have been an inordinately large number of accidental deaths among my slaves, and even a few Kledans have …” He paused, scowled.“There’s nothing, you say?”“Nothing at all,” replied the Wanderer blandly.“It seems to me old Kuranes is more interested in the theft or priceless antiquities and a certain Chief Regulator’s improper use of powers vested, than in any curse of some mummified princess dead since the dawn of dreams …”“Quite right,” said Gan, with a curt nod.And again, under his breath, “quite right.” He made his way to where a hatch stood open overhead, hauled himself up and out of sight.Moments later a short ladder came down, then Una followed, tearful as she threw herself into Eldin’s shackled arms.But between Gan’s going and Una’s coming, the Wanderer had lain there with a strange and savage grin on his scarred face.There was no pleasure in that grin, which was more the smile of a wolf, but there was a deal of satisfaction.And not a little of anticipation …“My father was right,” said Ula Gidduf, with a low moan.“I should have stayed home and looked after him.Oh, Hero—Hero, what is this place?”Hero gulped, opened his mouth, gulped again [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]