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consent to it, though no love is lost between him and Brownoak."
"Don't you have protective custody?" Ethan asked.
What?"
"Never mind. Well, that sticks it, then," he said disgustedly.
"I am sorry, friend ,than. I do not understand."
"Forget it, Hunnar." He patted the knight on one massive, hairy arm. "I hope
you find your assassins. Would-be assas-sins." On Terra, he mused, he'd be a
prune suspect.
His reason for paying a nocturnal visit to the Landgrave was completely
forgotten. Anyhow, dais wasn't the proper time to discuss it.
He looked around at a sound from the doorway. September was standing there,
swaying slightly and looking a little be-mused. Ethan didn't find the big
man's drunkenness a bit funny just now.
" Now, what's all the racket here?"
"The du Kanes were kidnapped by a bunch of local nasties. They intended to
kill the Landgrave and frame the du Kanes for it." He eyed September intently.
"I broke it up."
"Bravo, young feller-me-lad, bravo!" He belched loudly. "`wonder what they do
for hangovers here.
This damned rack-et's given me a devil of a one-practically shook me out of
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bed."
"Then why don't you go back to it?" Ethan spun away in disgust.
September stared at him sharply for a moment, then sagged. " Yerse, young
feller, I believe that's exactly what I'm going to do." He turned and stumbled
of down the hall.
It was much, much too soon when the servant woke Ethan politely and brought in
his breakfast. A
carton of their own emergency rations, thank Rama! Not that the local food
last night hadn't been edible. Even tasty in spots, but it was good to smell
real terran food again even if fast frozen.
He searched through the case and came up with a can of self-cooking bacon and
eggs, a smaller cylinder of coffee, and a fiat, two-sided slab that when keyed
down the middle broke into two hot slices of buttered toast.
He wolfed it all down, rearranging the more persistent itches within the
parka. Preparing to don his shoes, he found a pair of fur-lined boots next to
them. They were a little large, but then the royal tailor no doubt had a hell
of a time with their foot shapes. Not to mention the odd task, as the tran
didn't wear footgear.
Probably September had slipped him instructions and a rough sketch or two. So
they were ill-
fitting and awkwardly stitched, but they were warm and that was all that
counted. The soles were even studded with tiny metal shards, to give them some
grip on the slick ice.
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20...20Dean%20-%20Icerigger%201%20
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Unfortunately, he was still stuck with the too-large sur-vival suit. He might
do better with a native coat like September's.
The castle that morning was a carnival of conversation and gossip. It centered
around the attempted assassination and the role played by the visitors from
the sky. September went off somewhere with Balavere and Hunnar to inspect the
city and harbor defenses and make pertinent suggestions. Ethan wondered about
the big man's profession for the nth time and finally gave it up. An admitted.
criminal ...
No, he cautioned himself. Being wanted on several worlds did not automatically
convict him. Church and Commonwealth notwithstanding, the legal tenets of
planets varied hugely from system to system.
They had to. Monolithic law would make the gigantic humanx Commonwealth
unworkable.
So the same act that might condemn a man to death on one world could make him
hero on another.
A servant told Ethan that on awakening Williams had been visited by no less a
personage than the great wizard himself. So those two were off again somewhere
trading anecdotes and information.
The du Kanes were keeping to their room. As for Walther, he was allowed out
under guard for exercise only.
That left him alone to explore the town and the castle.
Several days of comparative freedom from official dinners and such gave him
time to examine
Wannome in more depth. In many ways it resembled a host of small ancient
terran walled towns.
Especially those few that had been preserved as historical monuments. Ethan
knew a little of them from school and the traveldees.
Personally, he'd never been able to afford a trip to the home world. Nor had
the company found it fit or necessary to send him. Someday, perhaps ...
But there were endless differences.
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For example, there were none of the fountains that dec-orated so many human
and thranx towns.
Naturally not. Not when it would require constant heating to keep the water
flowing.
Alternatively, many of the houses sported fantastic roof decorations carved in
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