David Eddings - The Redemption of Althalus

THE
REDEMPTION of
ALTHALUS

David and Leigh Eddings

THEBALLANTINE PUBLISHING GROUP
NEW YORK

Contents

C H A P T E R F O R T Y - S I X

I ts good to be home again, Gher said as he and Althalus rode north through deep-forested Hule in early autumn. I sort of missed the trees. Then he frowned. But they arent really the same trees, are they?

Some of the smaller ones might be, Althalus replied.

Do trees really live for that long?

Some of them do.

And they just keep getting bigger and bigger, dont they?

Oh, Id imagine theres some kind of limit.

Just exactly wheres this place where were going?

Youll probably recognize it, Gher. Its the place where you joined usright after Eliar and I caught you trying to steal our horses. Its one of those significant places we come across from time to time.

Thats spooky, Gher said.

Youll have to talk with Emmy about that. Althalus looked up at the massive trees around them. Weve changed a lot of things as weve gone along, but the trees are still the same, and Im sure Nabjors camp hasnt changed all that much either. Then he grinned. I do feel better this time, though. I was in a foul humor last time. Id just gone through a year of incredibly bad luck. Then he cocked his head to listen to a sound theyd been hearing since theyd first ridden through the door that had led them to Hule. Thats also a definite difference. Last time it was the wailing noise we used to hear every time we turned around. This time its Eliars Knife.

That means that were going to win, doesnt it?

Its a little hard to say for sure, but Id say that were ahead this time. Althalus peered on up the trail. Nabjors camps just ahead. Ill introduce you to him. Youd probably better keep on talking sloppy. Ghendll be along soon, and you talked that way back at Gostis place. A good thief should be consistent. Part of what youre doing when youre trying to trick somebody is to make up a different person.

Tenlike Im him instead of me, you mean?

Exactly. There are a lot of tenlike people in every thiefs saddlebags. You get to know them after a while, and you can pull out whichever ones going to work best. Then Althalus scratched his cheek thoughtfully. I think Id better use the happy tenlike Althalus this time. Last time I didnt have anything to talk about but my bad luck, but this time Im up to my ears in good luck.

That sort of means that youre in charge, doesnt it?

I think that was the whole idea, Gher. Last time, Ghend was running things; this time its me. Go along with the story Im going to spin for Nabjor. There wont be much truth to it, but thats not too important.

I sort of think youre wrong, Althalus, Gher said. Were changing things, so any story you tell anybody is true this time, isnt it? Youre not really tenliking, are you?

Althalus blinked.

If I was you, the first thing Id do is get rid of them dogs in that rich mans house in Deika. If he dont have dogs, thingsll turn out a lot different, wont they? The neat part of this is that you can change anything that happened back then that you didnt like. This is your dream thing, so you can make it come out any way you want it to. No matter what kind of story you tell, itll turn out to be the truth.

Youre starting to give me a headache again, Gher.

Its not really that hard, Althalus. Itll be easy if you just remember that anything you say is the truth. You cant lieeven if you want to.

Youre making it worse. Althalus reined in his horse. Id better let Nabjor know that were coming. He doesnt like to have people just ride into his camp without any kind of warning. He raised his voice then. Ho, Nabjor, he called. Its meAlthalus. Dont get excited. Im coming in.

Ho! Althalus! Nabjor bellowed. Welcome! I was starting to think that maybe the Equeros or the Treboreans had caught you and hung you up on a tree down there.

Not a chance, Nabjor, Althalus called back. You should know by now that nobody ever catches me. Is your mead ripe yet? That batch you had last time I passed through was just a trifle green.

Come on in and try some, Nabjor invited. This new batch came out rather well.

Althalus and Gher rode forward into the clearing, and Althalus looked at his old friend with a peculiar sense of sadness as then and now clashed in his mind. He knew that Nabjor was long dead in the world from which he and Gher had come to revisit the past, but there was Nabjor the same as alwaysbig, burly, squinty eyed, and dressed in a shaggy bearskin tunic.

Althalus dismounted, and he and Nabjor clasped hands warmly. Whos the boy? Nabjor asked curiously.

His names Gher, Althalus replied, and Ive sort of taken him under my wing as an apprentice. He shows quite a bit of promise.

Welcome, Gher, Nabjor said. Sit you down, gentlemen. Ill fetch us some mead and you can tell me all about the splendors of civilization.

Ah, no mead for the boy, Althalus said quickly. Ghers got an older sister who doesnt really approve of drinking. She doesnt get upset about lying, cheating, or stealing, but she can go on for weeks about some of the simpler pleasures of life. If word happened to get back to her that I was leading Gher astray, she might haul him back home.

Ive met a few like that, Nabjor said. Sometimes women get a little strange. Ive got some cider that hasnt turned yet. Would that be all right for your apprentice?

I dont think shed find any fault with cider.

Good. Mead for us and cider for Gher, then. Thats a haunch of forest bison on that spit over the fire. Help yourselves to some of it. Ill bring a loaf of bread, too.

Althalus and Gher seated themselves on a log by the fire and carved some chunks of meat from the spitted haunch while Nabjor filled two cups with foaming mead and a third with golden cider. How did things do down there in civilization? he asked.

Althalus realized that this was the important moment. This would change things. It went beyond my wildest expectations, Nabjor, he replied expansively. My luck was smiling at me every step of the way. She still absolutely adores me. He took a long drink of his mead. You got a good run on this batch, my friend, he complimented Nabjor.

I thought you might like it.

Its good to come home where I can get mead to drink. Down there in civilization, they dont seem to know how to brew it. The only thing you can buy in their taverns is sour wine. Hows business been?

Not bad at all, Nabjor replied expansively. Words getting around about my place. Just about everybody in Hule knows by now that if he wants a good cup of mead at a reasonable price, Nabjors camp is the place to go. If he wants the companionship of a pretty lady, this is the place. If hes stumbled across something valuable that he wants to sell with no embarrassing questions about how he came by it, he knows that if he comes here, Ill be glad to discuss it with him.

Youre going to fool around and die rich, Nabjor.

If its all the same to you, Id rather live rich. All right, since thats out of the way, tell me what happened down there in the low country. I havent seen you for more than a year, so weve got a lot of catching up to do.

Youre not going to believe just how well things went, Nabjor, Althalus replied with a broad grin. Everything I touched down there turned to gold. He laid an affectionate hand on Ghers shoulder. This boy here has luck thats at least as good as mine, and when you pour both of them into the same pot, we just cant possibly loseas we discovered when we got to Deika. After wed looked at all their fancy stone buildings, we just happened to overhear talk about a rich salt merchant named Kweso. Im positive that it wasnt really a coincidence. My luck was herding us from one direction, and Ghers was coming from the other. Anyway, if youve bought any salt lately, Im sure you can understand how a salt merchant can end up richer than any gold miner in the world.