That was not true! Or was it?

Amber casts an infinity of shadows, and my Avalon had cast many of its own, because of my presence there. I might be known on many earths that I had never trod, for shadows of myself had walked them, mimicking imperfectly my deeds and my thoughts.

“No,” said Ganelon, “I never paid heed to the old stories. I wonder if it could have been the same man, ruling here. That is interesting.”

“Very,” I agreed, to keep my hand in things. “But if he ruled so long ago, surely he must be dead or decrepit by now.”

“He was a sorcerer,” said Lance.

“The one I knew certainly was,” said Ganelon, “for he banished me from a land neither art nor artifice can discover now.”

“You never spoke of this before,” said Lance. “How did it occur?”

“None of your business,” said Ganelon, and Lance was silent once again.

I hauled out my own pipe — I had obtained one two days earlier — and Lance did the same. It was a clay job and drew hot and hard. We lit up, and the three of us sat there smoking.

“Well, he did the smart thing,” said Ganelon. “Let’s forget it now.”

We did not, of course. But we stayed away from the subject after that.

If it had not been for the dark thing behind us, it would have been quite pleasant, just sitting there, relaxing. Suddenly, I felt close to the two of them. I wanted to say something, but I could not think what.

Ganelon solved that by bringing up current business once more.

“So you want to hit them before they hit us?” he said.

“That’s right,” I replied. “Take the fight to their home territory.”

“The trouble is that it is their home territory,” he said. “They know it better than we do now, and who knows what powers they might be able to call on there?”

“Kill the horned one and they will crumble,” I said.