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sparsely populated at this time of day, and sighed with satisfaction.
"Used to have." Proteus turned his gaze toward the window, and the high
castle
beyond, looming over everything. "But it may be that he thinks I'm still
working
for him. If so, then as soon as he learns I'm back, and Jason's back in good
health, he's going to want to ask me why a certain job never got done."
"What job?" The northman wiped mead from his mustache.
"He wanted Jason dead, and I was supposed to handle it." Proteus poured more
golden liquid from the big jug left on their table by the server.
There was a pause, while the northman digested this revelation. At last he
said
again: "You're serious."
Triton/Proteus nodded.
"But you didn't."
"You wouldn't think a man could forget an assignment like that, would you?"
Haraldur leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Proteus, have y'gone raving
mad?
To betray the king and still come back here?"
"Raving maybe, but not crazy. Though my brains were scrambled; that's the
point,
you see. That's what caused most of the confusion. Remember the day I joined
the
company?"
The other leaned back. "Not likely to forget it. The way you buried that
spearhead in the log. Then, I thought I was making a joke, when I said you
had
to fight three of us. But now I think you might have."
Proteus nodded. "Almost all my memory was gone. I didn't know who I
was anything
beyond my name. When Jason asked me, I managed to come up with that. I didn't
know who I had been the day before, whether I had family or not, or if I was
coming or going. No idea what I had been trying to do before the Giant sank
the
other ship. I thought it was the knock on my head that had wiped me out, but
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I
was wrong."
"What was it, then?"
"I know now I killed that Giant." Proteus drank.
"By all the gods!"
"But before I did, he swept me with his special weapon. Scrambled my brain
for
sure."
The northman was following him closely. "But their special weapon has no
effect
on us poor mortal humans. It works only against . . ."
Haraldur's speech trailed off gradually. He sat there while his face changed
slowly, until he was staring at the man across the table from him in a way
that
Proteus had never seen him look at anyone or anything before.
Proteus nodded slowly. "That's almost right, shipmate. But it does work
against
human minds, sometimes. It works inside any human head where a god-Face has
come
to dwell."
"So you . . . are . . . oh, by all the gods, I should have seen it! What's
your
name?"
"I picked up the Face of Triton a couple of hours before I joined the Argosy.
Right after the Giant killed the previous avatar."
"Oh, by all the gods!" The discovery called for a deep drink, from which
Haraldur emerged once more wiping his mustache. "Triton! The fish, and
everything. I should have seen it I've met a god or two before. And the
waves.
It was you who pried us free from Circe's island." He made it sound like an
accusation. "Or washed us free, was more like it. And then on Corycus. It was
you finished the Bronze Man, it wasn't the princess and her jabbering."
Proteus nodded again. "I expect that Pelias already knows what's happened to
his
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secret agent."
"How could he know?"
Proteus didn't answer that directly. "But just possibly he doesn't. In that
case
he'll be very interested in finding out why the man he sent to kill Jason has
been so busy saving his life instead."
Haraldur wiped his forehead. "Not only saving Jason's life but getting him
the
Fleece and what about that Giant in the Grove of Ares, I suppose you settled
him
too? Hah! And now you're just hanging around here so you can explain your
conduct to King Pelias? You've got " He stopped suddenly and lowered his
voice,
though no one else in the tavern seemed to be paying them any attention.
"Were
you a mere man, I'd say that you've got balls, standing up to a king!"
Triton nodded. "I do want to see old Pelias, face to face. There are some
other
things that have to be cleared up between us."
"Like what?"
"I don't know if I can explain it, even to myself. But I won't be sure of who
I
am now, until I know who I was before I became an Argonaut. Does that make
sense?"
Haraldur snorted. "Shipmate, you're asking the wrong man about what in the
world
makes sense, what doesn't. Anyway, I'd give much to be there, when you
confront
the king and he tries to figure out if you're really a god or it's all some
crazy story. Triton, by all the hells!"
"I was hoping you'd say that, Hal." Proteus sat up straight in his chair. "I
have many of Triton's powers, but perhaps not all have come back to me. There
are times when even a god can use another pair of hands, another pair of eyes
to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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sparsely populated at this time of day, and sighed with satisfaction.
"Used to have." Proteus turned his gaze toward the window, and the high
castle
beyond, looming over everything. "But it may be that he thinks I'm still
working
for him. If so, then as soon as he learns I'm back, and Jason's back in good
health, he's going to want to ask me why a certain job never got done."
"What job?" The northman wiped mead from his mustache.
"He wanted Jason dead, and I was supposed to handle it." Proteus poured more
golden liquid from the big jug left on their table by the server.
There was a pause, while the northman digested this revelation. At last he
said
again: "You're serious."
Triton/Proteus nodded.
"But you didn't."
"You wouldn't think a man could forget an assignment like that, would you?"
Haraldur leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Proteus, have y'gone raving
mad?
To betray the king and still come back here?"
"Raving maybe, but not crazy. Though my brains were scrambled; that's the
point,
you see. That's what caused most of the confusion. Remember the day I joined
the
company?"
The other leaned back. "Not likely to forget it. The way you buried that
spearhead in the log. Then, I thought I was making a joke, when I said you
had
to fight three of us. But now I think you might have."
Proteus nodded. "Almost all my memory was gone. I didn't know who I
was anything
beyond my name. When Jason asked me, I managed to come up with that. I didn't
know who I had been the day before, whether I had family or not, or if I was
coming or going. No idea what I had been trying to do before the Giant sank
the
other ship. I thought it was the knock on my head that had wiped me out, but
Page 356
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
I
was wrong."
"What was it, then?"
"I know now I killed that Giant." Proteus drank.
"By all the gods!"
"But before I did, he swept me with his special weapon. Scrambled my brain
for
sure."
The northman was following him closely. "But their special weapon has no
effect
on us poor mortal humans. It works only against . . ."
Haraldur's speech trailed off gradually. He sat there while his face changed
slowly, until he was staring at the man across the table from him in a way
that
Proteus had never seen him look at anyone or anything before.
Proteus nodded slowly. "That's almost right, shipmate. But it does work
against
human minds, sometimes. It works inside any human head where a god-Face has
come
to dwell."
"So you . . . are . . . oh, by all the gods, I should have seen it! What's
your
name?"
"I picked up the Face of Triton a couple of hours before I joined the Argosy.
Right after the Giant killed the previous avatar."
"Oh, by all the gods!" The discovery called for a deep drink, from which
Haraldur emerged once more wiping his mustache. "Triton! The fish, and
everything. I should have seen it I've met a god or two before. And the
waves.
It was you who pried us free from Circe's island." He made it sound like an
accusation. "Or washed us free, was more like it. And then on Corycus. It was
you finished the Bronze Man, it wasn't the princess and her jabbering."
Proteus nodded again. "I expect that Pelias already knows what's happened to
his
Page 357
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
secret agent."
"How could he know?"
Proteus didn't answer that directly. "But just possibly he doesn't. In that
case
he'll be very interested in finding out why the man he sent to kill Jason has
been so busy saving his life instead."
Haraldur wiped his forehead. "Not only saving Jason's life but getting him
the
Fleece and what about that Giant in the Grove of Ares, I suppose you settled
him
too? Hah! And now you're just hanging around here so you can explain your
conduct to King Pelias? You've got " He stopped suddenly and lowered his
voice,
though no one else in the tavern seemed to be paying them any attention.
"Were
you a mere man, I'd say that you've got balls, standing up to a king!"
Triton nodded. "I do want to see old Pelias, face to face. There are some
other
things that have to be cleared up between us."
"Like what?"
"I don't know if I can explain it, even to myself. But I won't be sure of who
I
am now, until I know who I was before I became an Argonaut. Does that make
sense?"
Haraldur snorted. "Shipmate, you're asking the wrong man about what in the
world
makes sense, what doesn't. Anyway, I'd give much to be there, when you
confront
the king and he tries to figure out if you're really a god or it's all some
crazy story. Triton, by all the hells!"
"I was hoping you'd say that, Hal." Proteus sat up straight in his chair. "I
have many of Triton's powers, but perhaps not all have come back to me. There
are times when even a god can use another pair of hands, another pair of eyes
to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]