“Hello!” I heard Mandor say, and we both turned in the direction he was facing — back out through the notch.

The dark tornado-form had collapsed to half its former size, and even as we watched, it continued to diminish. It fell steadily in upon itself, shrinking and shrinking, and in about a half minute it was gone, completely.

I could not suppress a smile, but Fiona did not even notice. She was looking at Mandor.

“Do you think it was because of what you did?” she asked him.

“I have no way of knowing,” he replied, “but it may well be.”

“But does it tell you anything?” she said.

“Perhaps whoever was responsible did not like having me tinker with his experiment.”

“You really believe there’s an intelligence behind it?”

“Yes.”

“Someone from the Courts?”

“It seems more likely than someone from your end of the world.”

“I suppose so…” she agreed. “Have you any guesses as to the person’s identity?”

He smiled.

“I understand,” she said quickly. “Your business is your business. But a general threat is everybody’s business. That’s what I was really getting at.”

“True,” he acknowledged. “This is why I propose investigating it. I’m at loose ends at the moment. It might be amusing.”

“It is awkward asking you to communicate your findings to me,” she said, “when I do not know what interests might be involved.”

“I appreciate your position,” he replied, “but to the best of my knowledge the treaty provisions still hold and no one in the Courts is promoting any special designs against Amber. In fact… If you like, we might pursue the matter together, at least part of the way.”

“I’ve got the time,” she said.