Emperor and Clown Read Online Free PDF

youth stuck his head round the door. “You! Your master wants you.”
    Gathmor
smiled and said softly, “Did I hear you correctly?” The camel driver brightened
and glanced at the youth. For a moment the evening began to look interesting.
    “Your
friend?” the youth said, scowling.
    “
`Employer’ would do,” Gathmor admitted, and heaved himself to his feet. “Lead
on, Valiant.” Turning red faces redder was the best fun he’d found in Zark so
far. It wasn’t much.
    He
swung his bundle up on his back and followed. Common porter!
    When
he reached the door, he saw that Andor was as good as dismasted. So the sailor
took the proffered lantern in one hand and a firm grip on the imp’s arm with
the other, and steered him out into the night before the cheerfully
wine-scented farewells were finished. The door thumped shut behind them; bars
and chains rattled behind it, and the night was hot.
    It
was also dark. He’d been rash, Gathmor realized, going outdoors before he’d got
his night eyes back; he wasn’t used to these landlubber games. He pulled Andor
back into the doorway again, raising the lantern high to peer at all the
shadows. Andor hiccuped discreetly.
    There
were a lot of shadows, but most of them were too small to conceal anything. The
walls were very high, but moonlight played its magic in places, and some
windows still glowed here and there. A few households kept lamps burning above
their doors.
    “Uphill
or downhill?” Gathmor said, when he was satisfied that there were no footpads
close.
    “Uphill,
downhill, in my lady’s chamber . . .”
    “Call
Sagorn!”
    Andor
sniggered. “I think I’m too drunk to remember how. Gods, but that kid was a
trader! I couldn’t get a thing out of him sober. Ooops, I think I’m going to
call the gnomes.”
    “Do
it, then, or bring Sagorn now and do it next year.”
    Andor
reeled into a corner, but there were some things even Andor could not do
elegantly. Gathmor studied the shadows and the narrow moonstruck sky roofing
the canyon and tried not to listen. Serve the sleazy twister right!
    He-
was getting very tired of the whole bunch of them. In the last two days he’d
been working with all five-one at a time, of course-and Evil knew how confusing
it was. He’d no sooner get one straightened out than he’d be dealing with
another and having to start all over.
    “Awright!”
he said when silence returned. “Tell me what you found out, or else call Sagorn
and let me have his ideas firsthand.”
    “You
boneheaded Nordland blackguard!” Andor gagged a few more times, but nothing
more happened. “I still think we’re wasting our time. Why don’t we go back
down-”
    “Don’t
try it!” Gathmor snarled. “It didn’t work the last time, and it won’t now.”
    Andor
could probably still talk him into leaving Arakkaran and abandoning his
shipmate. He’d done so two days ago, and they’d sailed on the dawn breeze. But
only Jalon could work the pipes to summon real winds, and when Andor had called
Jalon, Jalon had simply waited until Gathmor recovered his wits and stopped
threatening. Then they’d come back to Arakkaran. Andor’s charm was
irresistible, but it wore off. Jalon was a jotunn, and a real man inside,
despite his puny exterior.
    Andor
started to speak, groaned briefly, and vanished. -
    Sagorn
stood in his place, pale face and silver hair shining bright in the light of
the lantern. He sighed approvingly. “Nicely done, sailor.”
    “What
did he learn?”
    “Ah!”
For a moment the old man stood in silence, pondering or perhaps merely
rummaging through Andor’s memories. “Uphill,” he said, and began striding into
the dark. Adjusting the bundle on his back, Gathmor moved to his side, and the
shadows danced away at their approach, only to sneak in softly behind again. “What
did Andor find out?”
    “I
never thought I should be grateful to a gnome,” Sagorn remarked. “But
Dragonward Ishist outshines any doctor I have ever heard of. He