The hand of Oberon (11 page)

“Really?” I said. “It sounds strangely familiar.”

He smiled, nodded.

“He told me you had brought it back for him from Tir-na Nog’th. In fact, he wants to speak with you about it as soon as possible.”

“I’ll bet,” I said. “Where is he now?”

“At one of the outposts he has established along the black road. You would have to reach him by Trump.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Anything further on Julian or Fiona?”

He shook his head.

“All right,” I said, turning toward the door. “I guess I will go see Brand first.”

“I am curious to know what it is that he wants,” he said.

“I will remember that,” I told him. I left the room and headed for the stairs.

I rapped on Brand’s door.

“Come in, Corwin,” he said.

I did, deciding as I crossed the threshold that I would not ask him how he had known who it was. His room was a gloomy place, candles burning despite the fact that it was daytime and he had four windows. The shutters were closed on three of them. The fourth was only part way open. Brand stood beside this one, staring out toward the sea. He was dressed all in black velvet with a silver chain about his neck. His belt was also of silver-a fine, linked affair. He played with a small dagger, and did not look at me as I entered. He was still pale, but his beard was neatly trimmed and he looked well scrubbed and a bit heavier than he had when last I had seen him.

“You are looking better,” I said. “How are you feeling?”

He turned and regarded me, expressionless, his eyes half-closed.

“Where the hell have you been?” he said.

“Hither and yon. What did you want to see me about?”

“I asked you where you’ve been.”

“And I heard you,” I said, reopening the door behind me. “Now I am going to go out and come back in. Supposing we start this conversation over again?”

He sighed.

“Wait a minute. I am sorry,” he said. “Why are we all so thin-skinned? I do not know. . . . All right. It may be better if I do start over again.”

He sheathed his dagger and crossed to sit in a heavy chair of black wood and leather.

“I got to worrying about all the things we had discussed,” he said, “and some that we had not. I waited what seemed an appropriate time for you to have concluded your business in Tir-na Nog’th and returned. I then inquired after you and was told you had not yet come back. I waited longer. First I was impatient, and then I grew concerned that you might have been ambushed by our enemies. When I inquired again later, I learned that you had been back only long enough to speak with Random’s wife-it must have been a conversation of great moment-and then to take a nap. You then departed once more. I was irritated that you had not seen fit to keep me posted as to events, but I resolved to wait a bit longer. Finally, I asked Gerard to get hold of you with your Trump. When he failed, I was quite concerned. I tried it myself then, and while it seemed that I touched you on several occasions I could not get through. I feared for you, and now I see that I had nothing to fear all along. Hence, I was abrupt.”

“I see,” I said, taking a seat off to his right.

“Actually, time was running faster for me than it was for you, so from where I am sitting I have hardly been away. You are probably further recuperated from your puncture than I am from mine.”

He smiled faintly and nodded.

“That is something, anyway,” he said, “for my pains.”

“I have had a few pains myself,” I said, “so don’t give me any more. You wanted me for something. Let’s have it.”

“Something is bothering you,” he said. “Perhaps we ought to discuss that first.”

“All right,” I said. “Let’s.”

I turned and looked at the painting on the wall beside the door. An oil, a rather somber rendering of the well at Mirata, two men standing beside their horses nearby, talking.

“You’ve a distinctive style,” I said.

“In all things,” he replied.

“You stole my next sentence,” I said, locating Martin’s Trump and passing it to him.

He remained expressionless as he examined it, gave me one brief, sidelong look and then nodded.

“I cannot deny my hand,” he said.

“It executed more than that card, your hand. Didn’t it?”

He traced his upper lip with the tip of his tongue.

“Where did you find it?” he asked.

“Right where you left it, at the heart of things-in the real Amber.”

“So . . .” he said, rising from the chair and returning to the window, holding up the card as if to study it in a better light. “So,” he repeated, “you are aware of more than I had guessed. How did you learn of the primal Pattern?”

I shook my head.

“You answer my question first: Did you stab Martin?”

He turned toward me once again, stared a moment, then nodded sharply. His eyes continued to search my face

“Why?” I asked.

“Someone had to,” he explained, “to open the way for the powers we needed. We drew straws.”

“And you won.”

“Won? Lost?” He shrugged. “What does any of this matter now? Things did not come about as we had intended. I am a different person now than I was then.”

“Did you kill him?”

“What?”

“Martin, Random’s son. Did he die as a result of the wound you inflicted?”

He turned his hands palms upward.

“I do not know,” he said. “If he did not, it was not because I did not try. You need look no further. You have found your guilty party. Now that you have, what are you going to do?”

I shook my head.

“I? Nothing. For all I know, the lad may still be living.”

“Then let us move on to matters of greater moment. For how long have you known of the existence of the true Pattern?”

“Long enough,” I said. “Its origin, its functions, the effect of the blood of Amber upon it-long enough. I paid more attention to Dworkin than you might have thought. I saw no gain to be had in damaging the fabric of existence, though. So I let Rover lie sleeping for a long, long while. It did not even occur to me until I spoke with you recently that the black road might have been connected with such foolishness. When I went to inspect the Pattern I found Martin’s Trump and all the rest.”

“I was not aware that you were acquainted with Martin.”

“I have never set eyes on him.”

“Then how were you aware he was the subject of the Trump?”

“I was not alone in that place.”

“Who was with you?”

I smiled.

“No, Brand. It is still your turn. You told me when last we talked that the enemies of Amber hied all the way from the Courts of Chaos, that they have access to the realm via the black road because of something you and Bleys and Fiona had done back when you were of one mind as to the best way to take the throne. Now I know what it is that you did. Yet Benedict has been watching the black road and I have just looked upon the Courts of Chaos. There is no new massing of forces, no movement toward us upon that road. I know that time flows differently in that place. They should have had more than enough time to ready a new assault. I want to know what is holding them back. Why have they not moved? What are they waiting for, Brand?”

“You credit me with more knowledge than I possess.”

“I don’t think so. You are the resident expert on the subject. You have dealt with them. That Trump is evidence that you have been holding back on other matters. Don’t weasel, just talk.”

“The Courts . . .” he said. “You have been busy. Eric was a fool not to have killed you immediately-if he was aware you had knowledge of these things.”

“Eric was a fool,” I acknowledged. “You are not. Now talk.”

“But I am a fool,” he said, “a sentimental one, at that. Do you recall the day of our last argument, here in Amber, so long ago?”

“Somewhat.”

“I was sitting on the edge of my bed. You were standing by my writing desk. As you turned away and headed toward the door, I resolved to kill you. I reached beneath my bed, where I keep a cocked crossbow with a bolt in it. I actually had my hand on it and was about to raise it when I realized something which stopped me.”

He paused.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Look over there by the door.”

I looked, I saw nothing special. I began to shake my head, just as he said, “On the floor.”

Then I realized what it was-russet and olive and brown and green, with a small geometric pattern. He nodded.

“You were standing on my favorite rug. I did not want to get blood on it. Later, my anger passed. So I, too, am a victim of emotion and circumstance.”

“Lovely story-“ I began.

“-but now you want me to stop stalling. I was not stalling, however. I was attempting to make a point. We are all of us alive by one another’s sufferance and an occasional fortunate accident. I am going to propose suspending that sufferance and eliminating the possibility of accident in a couple of very important cases. First though, to answer your question, while I do not know for certain what is holding them back, I can venture a very good guess. Bleys has assembled a large strike force for an attack on Amber. It will be nowhere near the scale of the one on which you accompanied him, however. You see, he will be counting on the memory of that last attack to have conditioned the response to this one. It will probably also be preceded by attempts to assassinate Benedict and yourself. The entire affair will be a feint, though. I would guess that Fiona has contacted the Courts of Chaos-may even be there right now-and has prepared them for the real attack, which might be expected any time after Bleys’s diversionary foray. Therefore-“

“You say this is a very good guess,” I interrupted. “But we do not even know for certain that Bleys is still living.”

“Bleys is alive,” he said. “I was able to ascertain his existence via his Trump-even a brief assessment of his current activities-before he became aware of my presence and blocked me out. He is very sensitive to such surveillance. I found him in the field with troops he intends to employ against Amber.”

“And Fiona?”

“No,” he said, “I did no experimenting with her Trump, and I would advise you not to either. She is extremely dangerous, and I did not want to lay my self open to her influence. My estimate of her current situation is based on deduction rather than direct knowledge. I would be willing to rely on it, though.”

“I see,” I said.

“I have a plan.”

“Go ahead.”

“The manner in which you retrieved me from durance was quite inspired, combining the forces of everyone’s concentration as you did. The same principle could be utilized again, to a different end. A force such as that would break through a person’s defense fairly easily-even someone like Fiona, if the effort is properly directed.”

“That is to say, directed by yourself?”

“Of course. I propose that we assemble the family and force our way through to Bleys and Fiona, wherever they may be. We hold them, locked in the full, in the flesh, just for a moment or so. Just long enough for me to strike.”

“As you did Martin?”

“Better, I trust. Martin was able to break free at the last moment. That should not occur this time, with all of you helping. Even three or four would probably be sufficient.”

“You really think you can pull it off that easily?”

“I know we had better try. Time is running. You will be one of the ones executed when they take Amber. So will I. What do you say?”

“If I become convinced that it is necessary. Then I would have no choice but to go along with it.”

“It is necessary, believe me. The next thing is that I will need the Jewel of Judgment.”

“What for?”

“If Fiona is truly in the Courts of Chaos, the Trump alone will probably be insufficient to reach her and hold her-even with all of us behind it. In her case, I will require the Jewel to focus our energies.”

“I suppose that could be arranged.”

“Then the sooner we are about it the better. Can you set things up for tonight? I am sufficiently recovered to handle my end of it.”

“Hell, no,” I said, standing.

“What do you mean?” He clenched the arms of the chair, half-rising. “Why not?”

“I said I would go along with it if I became convinced that it was necessary. You have admitted that a lot of this is conjecture. That alone is sufficient to keep me from being convinced.”

“Forget about being convinced then. Can you afford to take the chance? The next attack is going to be a lot stronger than the last, Corwin. They are aware of your new weapons. They are going to allow for this in their planning.”

“Even if I agreed with you Brand, I am certain I could not convince the others that the executions are necessary.”

“Convince them? Just tell them! You’ve got them all by the throat, Corwin! You are on top right now. You want to stay there, don’t you?”