Guns Of Avalon

“You remember!” she cried. “It was a part-time job. I used to break horses during the day.”

“I give up,” I said, and I poured more wine.

The really irritating thing was that there was something damnably familiar about her. But from her appearance and her behavior, I guessed her age at about seventeen. This pretty much precluded our paths ever having crossed.

“Did Benedict teach you your fencing?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“What is he to you?”

“My lover, of course,” she replied. “He keeps me in jewels and furs-and he fences with me.” She laughed again.

I continued to study her face. Yes, it was possible... “I am hurt,” I said, finally.

“Why?” she asked.

“Benedict didn't give me a cigar.”

“Cigar?”

“You are his daughter, aren't you?”

She reddened, but she shook her head. “No,” she said. “But you are getting close.”

“Granddaughter?” I said. “Well... sort of.”

“I am afraid that I do not understand.”

“Grandfather is what he likes me to call him. Actually, though, he was my grandmother's father.”

“I see. Are there any others at home like you?”

“No, I am the only one.”

“What of your mother-and your grandmother?”

“Dead, both of them.”

“How did they die?”

“Violently. Both times it happened while he was back in Amber. I believe that is why he has not returned there for a long while now. He does not like to leave me unprotected-even though he knows that I can take care of myself. You know that I can, too, don't you?”

I nodded. It explained several things, one of them being why he was Protector here. He had to keep her somewhere, and he certainly would not want to take her back to Amber. He would not even want her existence known to the rest of us. She could be made into an easy armlock. And it would be out of keeping to make me aware of her so readily.

So, “I do not believe that you are supposed to be here,” I said, “and I feel that Benedict would be quite angry if he knew that you were.”

“You are just the same as he isl I am an adult, damn it!”

“Have you heard me deny it? You are supposed to be someplace else, though, aren't you?”

She filled her mouth instead of answering. So I did, too. After several uncomfortable minutes of chewing, I decided to start on a fresh subject. “How did you recognize me?” I asked. She swallowed, took a drink of wine, gri

“What picture?”

“On the card,” she said. “We used to play with them when I was very small. I learned all my relatives that way. You and Eric are the other good swordsmen, I knew that. That is why I—”

“You have a set of the Trumps?” I interrupted.

“No,” she said, pouting. “He wouldn't give me a set -and I know he has several, too.”

“Really? Where does he keep them?”

She narrowed her eyes, focusing them on my own. Damn! I hadn't meant to sound that eager.

But, “He has a set with him most of the time,” she said, “and I have no idea where he keeps the others. Why? Won't he let you see them?”

“I haven't asked him,” I told her. “Do you understand their significance?”

“There were certain things I was not allowed to do when I was near them. I gather that they have a special use, but he never told me what it is. They are quite important, aren't they?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so. He is always so careful with them. Do you have a set?”

“Yes, but it's out on loan just now.”

“I see. And you would like to use them for something complicated and sinister.”

I shrugged.

“I would like to use them, but for very dull, uncomplicated purposes.”

“Such as?” I shook my head.

“If Benedict does not want you to know their function yet, I am not about to tell you.”

She made a small growling noise.

“You're afraid of him,” she said.

“I have considerable respect for Benedict, not to mention some affection.” She laughed.

“Is he a better fighter than you, a better swordsman?”

I looked away. She must have just gotten back from someplace fairly removed from things. The townspeople I'd met had all known about Benedict's arm. It was not the sort of news that traveled slowly. I certainly was not going to be the first to tell her.

“Have it as you would,” I said. “Where have you been?”

“The village,” she said, “in the mountains. Grandpa took me there to stay with some friends of his called Tecys. Do you know the Tecys?”

“No, I don't.”

“I've been there before,” she said. “He always takes me to stay with them in the village when there is any sort of trouble here. The place has no name. I just call it the village. It is quite strange-the people, as well as the village. They seem to-sort of-worship us. They treat me as if I were something holy, and they never tell me anything I want to know. It is not a long ride, but the mountains are different, the sky is different -everything! -and it is as if there were no way back, once I am there. I had tried coming back on my own before, but I just got lost. Grandpa always had to come for me, and then the way was easy. The Tecys follow all of his instructions concerning me. They treat him as if he were some sort of god.”

“He is,” I said, “to them.”

“You said that you do not know them.”

“I don't have to. I know Benedict.”

“How does he do it? Tell me.” I shook my head.

“How did you do it?” I asked her. “How did you get back here this time?”

She finished her wine and held out the glass. When I looked up from refilling it, her head was cocked toward her right shoulder, her brows were furrowed, and her eyes were focused on something far away.

“I do not really know,” she said, raising the glass and sipping from it automatically, “l am not quite certain how I went about it...”

With her left hand, she began to toy with her knife, finally picking it up.

“I was mad, mad as hell for having beed packed off again,” she said. “I told him that I wanted to stay here and fight, but he took me riding with him and after a time we arrived at the village. I do not know how. It was not a long ride, and suddenly we were there. I know this area. I was born here, I grew up here. I've ridden all over, hundreds of leagues in all directions. I was never able to find it when I went looking. But it seemed only a brief while that we rode, and suddenly we were at the Tecys' again. But it had been several years, and I can be more determined about things now that I am grown. I resolved to return by myself.”

With the knife, she began scraping and digging at the ground beside her, not seeming to notice what she was doing.

“I waited till nightfall,” she went on, “and studied the stars to take my direction. It was an unreal feeling. The stars were all different. I didn't recognize any of the constellations. I went back inside and thought about it. I was a little bit afraid and did not know what to do. I spent the next day trying to get more information out of the Tecys and the other people in the village. But it was like a bad dream. Either they were stupid or they were purposely trying to confuse me. Not only was there no way to get from there to here, they had no idea where 'here' was and were none too certain about 'there. ' That night I checked the stars again, to be sure about what I had seen, and I was about ready to begin believing them.”

She moved the knife back and forth as if honing it now, smoothing the soil and packing it flat. Then she began to trace designs.

“For the next several days, I tried to find my way back,” she continued. “I thought I could locate our trail and backtrack along it, but it just sort of vanished. Then I did the only other thing I could think of. Each morning I struck out in a different direction, rode until noon, then headed back. I came across nothing that was familiar. It was totally bewildering. Each night I went to sleep more angry and upset over the way things were turning out-and more determined to find my own way back to Avalon. I had to show Grandpa that he could no longer dump me like a child and expect me to stay put.