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. 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. file:///C|/3278%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2.ack%20Vance%20-%20The%20Gray%20Prince.html (92 of 132) [1/11/2005 11:52:19 PM] THEGRAYPRINCE 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 attemptedconversation 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 starsprovided guidance for the helmsman.The two trails were crossed; the yawl sailed a region to the north ofthe hill where they had made their first camp, then entered a hot and dreary tract where dust lay on thesoum and lifted under the wheels as they passed.The Volwodes came into view: a far shadow across thesouth 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, whichat any rate could most expeditiously be attacked from the forums of Olanje.Only a day s run to the southlay No.2 Depot but he dared not suggest any truncation of the journey.As always, he found GerdJemasze s moods impenetrable.As for Kurgech, Elvo had reverted to his earlier opinions.The man wascunning and wise, competent in his own milieu, which was not necessarily the environment where Elvohimself 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 Uaiaand 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-intentioned man like Moffamides might feign subservience, the more effectively to work an act oftreachery.He voiced none of his suspicions to Jemasze or Kurgech who presumably knew as much aboutfile:///C|/3278%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2.ack%20Vance%20-%20The%20Gray%20Prince.html (93 of 132) [1/11/2005 11:52:19 PM] THEGRAYPRINCEthe matter as he did.The Volwodes reached high into the pink-blue sky: barren crags marked with black thorn-bush and a fewstunted sere-trees.When the yawl halted for the night, an erjin came to watch from a distance of aboutfifty yards.It slowly raised its massive arms and extended its talons to attack position; the ruff at its neckbegan 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 binoculars he watched the creature lope away.Elvoturned to find Moffamides staring after the erjin, and his posture was not that of a man dazed andsubservient.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 uneasiness.Far into the night he lay awake listening to thesounds of the sarai: a low moaning from the direction of the foothills which presently faded into silence; achittering close at hand; an angry whirring at various pitches; from far away a throbbing gong-like soundso exquisite that something strange rose up within Elvo s mind to terrify him.Kurgech had tied a steelcord from Moffamides ankle to his own, then had rubbed it with a dry rag until it squeaked and setElvo s nerves on edge; whether for this reason or from the effect of the crazy-box, Moffamides lay inertthe whole of the night.Elvo awoke to find dawn-light burning the upper crags of the Volwodes.Breakfast was brief and meager.Moffamides seemed more glum than ever and sat to the edge of the deckstaring 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 quicksilverchanges: from abstraction to surly contempt, to affability and candor, to something swift and wild, likedesperation.Elvo, watching, suspected that Kurgech s suggestions had ceased to exert an absoluteinfluence over Moffamides.file:///C|/3278%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2.ack%20Vance%20-%20The%20Gray%20Prince.html (94 of 132) [1/11/2005 11:52:19 PM] THEGRAYPRINCEJemasze patiently repeated his question.Moffamides rose to his feet and pointed. It lies somewherebeyond 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
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