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.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhis station or his ability to cast a single charm."The sorcerer looked back at the smoldering embers."Yes, if by the slightestchance what you say were so, no honor would be too great,"Jemidon's eyebrows lifted.Another path to the robe! And one far more to hisliking.It would not depend on innate reasonance with sorcery that he might ormight not have, but just the solution to a puzzle, a complex one perhaps, butin principle no different from the ones he had solved so many times before."And Delia as well," he said aloud in a rush."The goals are intertwined." Histhoughts were still in a tumble, but deep inside, he knew what he mustdo track Dran-dor to unravel his mysteries.At the same time he could also free Delia fromthe trader's grip.Yes, somehow, he knew he could- And the second time, hergratitude might be worth more than a kiss.Or better yet, he could turn hisback and walk away when it was done so that she would know he was made offiner clay.He paused as he remembered their last time together.How did hereally feel about her anyhow? But then he brushed the thought aside.Thatcould be decided later, after he had accomplished his new plan."Yes, I must go to the harbor," he said excitedly."I must book passage andsail for Pluton with the next tide.""But wait," Farnel said."Do you not understand? I92offer you instruction, freely given so that you may become a master."Jemidon bolted into a run and headed down the path ofcrushed stone.He grippedthe brandel tightly to prevent it from swinging and called back over hisshoulder, "My destiny lies elsewhere.1 can feel it.When I return, it will bewith sorcery restored.""But how?" Farnel yelled."I must find Drandor on Pluton and learn what he knows.Examine the contentsof his tent.Listen to the imp when he babbles about the lattice and hismaster, Melizar.Yes, the lattice, Melizar, and the Postulate of Invariance."93PART TWOThe Postulate of InvarianceCHAPTERSixTheWhispers of MemoryJEMIDONpaused before he entered the courtyard gate and looked back to Pluton'sharbor.The passage from Morgana had been uneventful and the contrast betweenthe two islands more or less what he had expected.The population of Morganawas small, barely enough for a viable community to support two dozen mastersand cater to the lords when they came once a year.Pluton, on the other hand,was an active trading and financial center, a stopping point for the trafficbetween mainland Arcadia and Procolon across the sea, and the nexus for theinterisland traders that flitted up and down the archipelago.The harbor was crowded; several ships lay at anchor in mid-bay, awaiting theirturn for a berth.The piers jutted into the dirty water with regular-spacedprecision from two arms of land that gently curved into an enclosing circle.Asmall opening led to the unprotected sea outside the bay.Through the gap, onecould follow the shipping lanes to the heartland of Arcadia, which lay beyondthe horizon.A narrow road that ringed the shoreline was a tumult of wagons, dust, andPage 55 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlshouting drivers.Small boats pulled by oars and even a few biremes slid overthe glassy water, dashing between the waiting ships, moving people andmessages too important to delay onto the crowded shore.Two smaller islands poked above the bay's surface, one covered with treesexcept where it had been cleared for an elegant estate, and the other rockyand bare, pockmarked with the dark entrances to deep caves that came to thewater's edge.All around the ring of shore, the land sloped abruptly97upward to a circle of hills.Jemidon's eyes followed the landscape as it rose.Rough-planked shacks stood adjacent to the wagon road.In the tier behind,single-storey mud-brick boxes painted white crowded together.Above them, thelarger structures of brick and iron marked the exchanges and countinghousesthat distinguished Pluton from all the other islands in the chain.On thetopmost slopes leading to the hillcrests were the manor houses of thewealthy polished stone, fine-grained woods, and patches of cultivated greenstowering over all the rest.But his search would not take him to the hilltops, at least not initially,Jemidonthought
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