Quest for the King by John White Read Free Book Online

spirits of light" they had
called him. Were the others spirits of the darkness? Lisa had described
to her the strange practices in the old temple of Bamah, and Uncle
John had once said something about them. But if Risano knew, then
the Emperor also knew of her coming, and that meant that Gaal
knew . .
    She spoke her thought aloud. "The Emperor must have known I
was coming."
    "There is very little the Emperor does not know, Lady Mary. They
say he kndws all things."
    "And Gaal knows too? You know who Gaal is, do you?"
    Lady Roelane's eyes softened. "I know him very well, and love him
dearly."
    Mary began to feel embarrassed, and a little ashamed. She remembered very well her own feelings about him. She thought of the dance
of the celestial giants (were they the same as the spirits of light?) in the deep heaven on the night of the northern lights, and of the walk
with Gaal at sunrise. Her heart began to soften, but she hardened it
resolutely. She was on the other side now, and the other side had
given her the ability to control people.

    Lord Nasa said, "Mary, from what Risano told us, the Emperor has
great interest in you. He knows things about you that you do not even
know about yourself. And he wishes to rescue you."
    Mary stiffened. "What does he know? And what do I need rescuing
from?"
    "I know not. I only repeat what Risano said. Something about your
parents."
    "My parents? I-I don't remember either of them. I had a stepmother, but-well, she was O.K., I guess. I wonder what he knows.
Anyway, I don't think I need rescuing. I'm not in prison or anything.
I do what I like, an' I like using what power I have. It feels great. I
wish I'd used it before it was almost too late."
    The blue eyes of Lord Nasa twinkled with suppressed merriment.
"That is-before you got yourself into difficulties!"
    Mary bit her tongue and said nothing, feeling resentful of this lord
from the far islands. She turned to Lady Roelane and asked, "When
are you going to Bamah?"
    "Tomorrow morning, now that you are with us. It will take several
days to get there. We begin by following the trail to the Rure River.
Even that will take a few days. Have you ridden horseback before?
And can you ride side-saddle?"
    Mary had once had a lesson in Toronto-but one lesson had been
enough. Perhaps it would not be so bad in Anthropos. She looked at
the horses again and said, "Side-saddle? Oh, gosh, no! Women wear
jeans or jodhpurs in our world. I only tried to ride once, and didn't
like it. I'm no good at that sort of thing. I don't know how I'll manage
side-saddle."
    Lady Roelane nodded. "Do not worry. Nala, the horse you will ride,
is very gentle. You may experience a little discomfort at first, but I
suspect you will do well."

    Mary could eat no more. She resisted the urge to wipe her mouth
with the back of her hand (a bad habit she had only fairly recently
acquired). In any case, the jeweled rings on the fingers of both hands
would not make for a comfortable wipe. The silk dress had also wakened feelings of wanting to be a lady. And since she had discovered
a small linen handkerchief tucked into her left sleeve, she withdrew
it and dabbed her lips delicately in the way she had seen women do
in restaurants.
    For some time a question had been haunting her. The pinkish
brown stones in the tower reminded her of the stories Uncle John told
about his second visit to Anthropos. Was this tower the one he had
described?
    "Is this Rapunzel's Tower?" she asked.
    The lord and lady exchanged glances.
    "Rapunzel?" his lordship asked.
    "You know-or do you-Rapunzel got shut up in a tower by aby a witch, an' her lover would say, 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down
your long hair.' An' she would let it down, an' then he would climb
up it to be with her."
    "An interesting story," Lord Nasa murmured, "but what was it that
made you think this tower might be it?"
    "Well, when Uncle John was in Anthropos once he got into a mess
there. There was a girl