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and the only outside channel is my voice. You must now
be deaf to other thoughts and the complaints of others.
Only your friends, who give you peace and ease deserve
your loyalty. Whom do you trust, whom do you wish to
help?
My friends.
And where are they?
They are here.
Yes, of course. I will now take the box from your
head and you will see your friends. Once, long ago, there
were some trivial differences, but no one cares anymore
about these matters. Your friends are here; nothing else
is important.
Kurgech lifted the box from Moffamides head.
Breathe the fresh air and look at your friends.
Moffamides drew a deep breath and looked from face
to face. His eyes were glazed; the pupils had constricted,
perhaps under the influence of Kurgech s drug.
Kurgech asked: Do you see your friends?
Yes, they are here.
Of course! You are now one with your friends, and
you want to help them in everything they do. The old
ways were bad; your friends want to learn about the old
ways so that you can rest at ease. There are no secrets
among friends. What is your cult name?
Inver Elgol.
And your private name, known only to yourself,
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THE GRAY PRINCE
which knowledge you now want to provide your
friends?
Totulis Amedio Falle.
How pleasant to share secrets with friends. It eases
the soul. Where did Poliamides take the Outker?
To the Place of Rose-and-Gold.
Ah, indeed! And what is this Place of Rose-and-
Gold ?
It is where the erjins are trained.
It must be an interesting place to visit. Where is it?
At Al Fador in the mountains west of Depot No. 2.
And this is where Poliamides took the Outker Uther
Madduc?
Yes.
Is there danger there?
Yes, much danger.
How could we go and be safe?
We could not go safely to Al Fador.
Uther Madduc and Poliamides went to Al Fador and
returned safely. Could we not do the same?
They saw Al Fador but made no close approach.
We will do the same, if it is still safe to do so. How
shall we steer?
Southwest, hard on the wind.
The land-yawl careened across the sarai. Moffamides sat
hunched in a corner of the cockpit, apathetic, morose,
silent. Elvo watched him in fascination. What went on
in the priest s mind? Elvo attempted conversation to no
avail; Moffamides merely stared at him.
Five days the yawl sailed, from dawn until dark, and
later yet when the sarai lay flat and the stars provided
guidance for the helmsman. The two trails were crossed;
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JACK VANCE
the yawl sailed a region to the north of the hill where
they had made their first camp, then entered a hot and
dreary tract where dust lay on the soum and lifted under
the wheels as they passed. The Volwodes came into view:
a far shadow across the south which became a cluster of
steel-gray crags high against the sky.
Elvo was now as apathetic as Moffamides. He had lost
all interest in the enslavement of the erjins, which at any
rate could most expeditiously be attacked from the for-
ums of Olanje. Only a day s run to the south lay No. 2
Depot but he dared not suggest any truncation of the
journey. As always, he found Gerd Jemasze s moods
impenetrable. As for Kurgech, Elvo had reverted to his
earlier opinions. The man was cunning and wise, compet-
ent in his own milieu, which was not necessarily the
environment where Elvo himself cared to excel. All things
considered, he would be pleased to return to Olanje.
Schaine Madduc? A girl delicious to look at, with a head
full of charming notions: by now she also must be bored
with Uaia and might well choose to accompany him back
to Szintarre.
If he survived the visit to Al Fador& Elvo examined
Moffamides, wondering as to his mental condition.
Hypnotic suggestion, so he had been given to understand,
could not be relied upon to persist. A clever ill-inten-
tioned man like Moffamides might feign subservience,
the more effectively to work an act of treachery. He
voiced none of his suspicions to Jemasze or Kurgech who
presumably knew as much about the matter as he did.
The Volwodes reached high into the pink-blue sky: barren
crags marked with black thorn-bush and a few stunted
sere-trees. When the yawl halted for the night, an erjin
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THE GRAY PRINCE
came to watch from a distance of about fifty yards. It
slowly raised its massive arms and extended its talons
to attack position; the ruff at its neck began to bristle.
Jemasze brought forth his gun, but the erjin suddenly
abandoned its aggressive posture. Its ruff subsided and
after watching another minute it trotted off to the west.
Curious conduct, mused Jemasze. Through his bin-
oculars he watched the creature lope away. Elvo turned
to find Moffamides staring after the erjin, and his posture
was not that of a man dazed and subservient.
A few minutes later Elvo voiced his apprehensions to
Gerd Jemasze.
So far he s still under control, said Jemasze. Kurgech
has tested him. What may happen I don t know. If he
wants to live he won t betray us.
What of erjins? Won t they attack us tonight?
Erjins don t see well in the dark. They re not likely to
attack by night.
Elvo nevertheless went to his bed in a state of uneasi-
ness. Far into the night he lay awake listening to the
sounds of the sarai: a low moaning from the direction
of the foothills which presently faded into silence; a
chittering close at hand; an angry whirring at various
pitches; from far away a throbbing gong-like sound so
exquisite that something strange rose up within Elvo s
mind to terrify him. Kurgech had tied a steel cord from
Moffamides ankle to his own, then had rubbed it with
a dry rag until it squeaked and set Elvo s nerves on edge;
whether for this reason or from the effect of the crazy-
box, Moffamides lay inert the whole of the night.
Elvo awoke to find dawn-light burning the upper crags
of the Volwodes.
Breakfast was brief and meager. Moffamides seemed
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JACK VANCE
more glum than ever and sat to the edge of the deck
staring north, away from the mountains.
Jemasze went to squat beside him. How far now to
the training area?
Moffamides looked up with a start, and the expressions
of his face underwent a set of quicksilver changes: from
abstraction to surly contempt, to affability and candor,
to something swift and wild, like desperation. Elvo,
watching, suspected that Kurgech s suggestions had
ceased to exert an absolute influence over Moffamides.
Jemasze patiently repeated his question. Moffamides
rose to his feet and pointed. It lies somewhere beyond
that ridge, toward the grim Volwodes. I have never been
there. I can guide you no further.
Kurgech spoke in a mild voice: I notice tracks yonder:
perhaps they were laid by Uther Madduc.
Jemasze asked Moffamides, Is this the case?
I suppose it is possible.
Hard on a breeze from the west, the yawl followed the
tracks presumably laid by Uther Madduc s skimmer. A
second set of tracks joined those which guided them, to
Elvo s mystification. It looks as if Uther Madduc had
been followed!
More probably they are the tracks of Uther Madduc
coming and Uther Madduc going, said Jemasze.
I suppose you re right.
Below a bluff of red and gray sandstone Uther Mad-
duc s trail came to an end. Jemasze dropped the sails
and secured the brakes. Moffamides climbed laboriously
to the ground and stood with shoulders hunched. You
need me no more, said Moffamides. I have done my
best for you; I will now take my leave.
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THE GRAY PRINCE
Here? asked Jemasze. In the wilderness? How will
you survive?
I can reach the Depot in three or four days. There is
food and water to be had along the way.
What of the erjins? They infest the region.
I fear no erjins; I am a priest of Ahariszeio.
Kurgech came forward and touched Moffamides on
the shoulder; Moffamides leaned away quivering but
seemed unable to detach himself. Kurgech said: Totulis
Amedio Falle, you may now forget your worries; you are
with your friends whom you wish to help and protect.
The priest s head jerked back; his eyes took on a flinty
glaze. You are my friends, he declared without convic-
tion. This I know; hence, by corollary, I would grieve
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