The Redemption of Althalus. David Eddings

going to take some getting used to. I’ve never had somebody inside my head before.’

      ‘Is it really that unpleasant?’

      ‘Not really.’

      ‘Now I’ll be with you wherever you go.’

      ‘I wasn’t going to leave without you, Em. I’d been meaning to talk with you about that. I’m not going anywhere without you, kitten – even if that means that the world goes all to smash. The world doesn’t matter; you do.’

      ‘Please don’t say things like that, Althalus.’ Her voice inside his head had a melting sort of tone. ‘You’re making it very hard for me to think.’

      ‘Yes, I noticed that.’ He considered it. ‘When you get right down to it, though, this is where we’ve been going since I first came here, isn’t it? You started out by talking to me out loud, and a talking cat isn’t the most natural thing in the world. All we’ve done is take that one step further, so now you won’t have to waste all those thousands of years teaching me how to use the Book. We could leave right now if winter weren’t settling in.’ He looked at her with one raised eyebrow. ‘Now that you’ve opened the door, all sorts of things are coming through,’ he said aloud. ‘I don’t want to seem critical, Em, but you shouldn’t really be having those kinds of thoughts, you know.’

      She glared at him for a moment. Then she jumped down from the bed and stalked away.

      ‘Are you blushing, Em?’ he asked mildly.

      She turned and hissed at him.

PART TWO

       The Gathering

CHAPTER SEVEN

      ‘Stay out of there, Althalus! What’s in there is none of your concern!’

      ‘You’re the one who opened the door, Em,’ he replied mildly. ‘It swings both ways, you know.’

      ‘Just mind your own business and quit snooping. You have to start paying closer attention. When I tell you which word to use, I’m sending a picture of what the word’s going to do. You must have the picture in your mind as well as the word. The word’s just a sound, pet. Nothing’s going to happen if all you’re doing is making noises. Now try it again.’

      ‘How much longer is it before we have to leave?’

      ‘About a month – six weeks at the most. As soon as spring arrives, we go, whether you’re ready or not.’

      ‘We have to pick something up in Arum?’

      ‘The Knife, yes.’

      ‘Is that the knife I’ll use when I kill Ghend?’

      ‘Will you stop that?’

      ‘Isn’t that what this is all about? Ghend’s interfering with what Deiwos is trying to do, so I’m supposed to get rid of him. It’s not really all that uncommon, Em. I’ve done it before. I’m primarily a thief, but I’ll take on a murder if the pay’s right. I thought that’s what you had in mind.’

      ‘It most certainly is not!’

      ‘It is a simple solution, Em, and you wouldn’t even have to get your little paws dirty. We go to Arum and pick up the knife. Then I go to Nekweros and cut Ghend’s throat with it.’

      ‘That’s not what it’s for, Althalus. It has writing on the blade. There are some people we’re going to need, and we’ll recognize them because they’ll be able to read that writing.’

      ‘Isn’t that just a little exotic? Talk to your brother and find out who these people are. Then we’ll chase them down and get on with this.’

      ‘It doesn’t work that way, Althalus. Situations change. If things have happened one way, we’ll need certain people. If they’ve happened in another way, we’ll need different people. Circumstances decide exactly who we’re going to need.’

      ‘Wouldn’t that mean that the writing on the knife-blade changes as the circumstances change.’

      ‘No. It’s not the writing that changes, pet. It’s the reading.’

      ‘Wait a minute. Doesn’t the writing mean the same thing to everybody?’

      ‘Of course it doesn’t. Everybody who reads any writing gets a different meaning from it. When you look at the writing on the blade, you’ll see a certain word. Other people will see a different word. Most people won’t see words at all – only decorations. The people we want will see a word, and they’ll say that word out loud.’

      ‘How will we know that they’ve read it right?’

      ‘We’ll know, pet. Believe me, we’ll know.’

      The tag-end of winter dragged on for the next month or so, and then one night a warm wind blew in from the southwest, cutting the snow away almost overnight. Althalus stood at the south window watching the muddy brown streams overflowing their banks as they ripped their way down the mountainsides of Kagwher. ‘Did you do that, Em?’ he asked.

      ‘Do what?’

      ‘Call up that wind that’s melting all the snow.’

      ‘I don’t tamper with the weather, Althalus. Deiwos doesn’t like it when we do that.’

      ‘If we don’t tell him, maybe he won’t notice. We’re already cheating, Em. What’s one more little cheat? Maybe we should work on that a bit. You teach me how to use the Book, and I’ll teach you how to lie, cheat, and steal.’ He grinned at her.

      ‘That isn’t funny, Althalus!’ she flared.

      ‘I sort of liked it. How about a little wager on which of us can corrupt the other first?’

      ‘Never mind.’

      ‘Corruption’s a lot of fun, Em. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to try it?’

      ‘You stop that!’

      ‘Think it over, Em, and let me know if you change your mind.’

      They were both edgy for the next week while they waited for the spring runoff to subside. Then, after the mountain streams had returned to their banks, Althalus gathered up his weapons and they made ready to leave.

      He pulled his cloak over his shoulders and looked around. ‘I guess that’s everything,’ he said. ‘I’m going to miss this place. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a permanent home. Do you think we’ll be able to come back some day?’

      ‘I think so, yes. Shall we leave?’

      He picked her up, reached back and spread the hood of his cloak. ‘Why don’t you ride back there, Em?’ he suggested. ‘Once we get outside, I might need to have both hands free in a hurry.’

      ‘All right,’ her voice murmured in his head. She crawled up over his shoulder and down into the bag-like hood. ‘This should work out just fine.’

      ‘Will other people be able to see you when we get outside?’

      ‘If we want them to. If we don’t, they won’t.’

      He looked at the curved wall and saw that she’d put the door back.

      ‘No questions