Kirlian Quest by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

involved Transfer, so that he was able to make an adjustment in a minute that might have required an hour or even longer for another entity.
    "Please produce the subject for exorcism," Herald said, still faintly bemused by the way his words emerged in quotes. No doubt he would grow accustomed to this, as he would to the other oddities of this situation.
    But it was not to be so easy. "I am Duke of Kade," the man said, extending his right hand.
    Herald took that hand with his own right, honoring the custom of digital contact common to many species, and a boon to those checking on aura. The Duke's aura was a strong one of seventy-five. The man was of middle human age, with pale blue-green hide color and orange disks around the black pupils of his two eyes. Since the Solarian base-stock had been black, white, yellow, or shadings between, Herald knew that this was a galactic offshoot, modified by generations of life aboard other planets. Most sapients suffered similar variations as they settled on alien worlds; local conditions inevitably had their effect.
    "There are things you must know before you proceed," the Duke said. "Your presence was imposed on this house. I shall grant you the amenities of guest status, but it is my wish to be rid of you as soon as possible. Do not allow my politeness in company to mislead you about my basic attitude. Do we understand one another?"
    Now Herald felt the hostility that permeated the man's aura, worse than that of Bore of Metamorphic. He was at the same time aware of a fundamental integrity and strength of purpose that he had to admire.
    "I am not always welcome, but I always perform proper service for my fee," Herald said. This entity's animosity did not appear to be rooted in anti-Slash prejudice, but in some local matter of principle. Could it be similar to Herald's own refusal to mate with Flame of Furnace?
    "I do not desire your service," Kade said bluntly. "I regard you as a charlatan. But I have made a covenant with my enemies that requires your participation. I shall now summon the enemy representative, who shall serve witness to the fact of your presence. Upon his arrival, you shall proceed to your ritual. I shall be pleased if it is brief."
    "I appreciate your candor, and shall be as brief as possible." This fitted nicely with Herald's own preference; the mission should be over soon.
    Kade made a snap with his fingers. A servant-Solarian appeared, garbed in a plain tunic: a contrast to the ornately embroidered robe of the master. Clothing, in this culture, made the entity. "Fetch the Witness," the Duke said.
    The servant disappeared. Kade turned to Herald with grim formality. "Now, as befits a good host, I shall show you the grounds," he announced.
    Herald was momentarily startled by the use of the word "host," but realized that in this context it lacked the usual connotations. To those who did not Transfer, a host simply meant the proprietor of a domicile. "It is not necessary," he said.
    "One does not permit the agent of a malign influence to wander the premises unattended."
    The antipathy was strong indeed! But there was no element of hypocrisy in it. This man hated him, but Herald knew he was quite safe from molestation in this residence. This was heraldic honor of the old style.
    Herald shrugged, hoping the enemy witness would arrive promptly. "May I say, sir, that I feel better at ease with an enemy of your integrity than I would feel with a friendly hypocrite."
    Kade gave him a bleakly appraising glance. "Thank you."
    Kastle Kade was an impressive fortress. It was roughly circular, as befitted an artifact of a Disk culture (though this was still an oddity, since this was evidently a Sword-culture enclave within the Disk-culture Sphere), with outer walls about eighty feet high. These were braced by a triangular pattern of towers extending upward another twenty feet. Within this large enclosure was the keep: a massive stronghold substantially taller than the main wall,