Chapter 082: Scenes Of Amberite Domestic Life
"The
worried father, long lost lover
Brushes
ashes with his broom
Rehearses
jokes to fly and hover
Bursting
over the bride and groom
And
the talk goes on"
The
Family and the Fishing Net - Peter Gabriel
If there's one trait that I tend to find both annoying and amusing in my
elders, it's their ability to act entirely unsurprised in the face of the most
unexpected of developments. Of course the mask tends to slip now and again, but
as a rule you will not be able to catch them out very often. My mother is no
exception from the others in this: I had vaguely expected her to be all fussing
and concerned when I contacted her, like she had done a couple of times before,
but instead she merely smiled and pleasantly invited me to step through for a
little talk. It turned out that she had just had word from Alexander about my
recent return. Well, news travels swiftly, I guess.
All remarks about our Family gossip circuit died on my lips, however,
when I accepted her invitation and subsequently found myself in a place that
felt markedly odd - no, unpleasant even. The room looked like a fairly normal
one in a medieval-style castle, albeit a bit dark, but the unpleasant feeling
came from the power of a Pattern that I could sense quite close by. A strange
and eerie Pattern, and not at all one like I was used to.
"Where are we?" I asked, guessing the answer before she had had
a chance to reply.
"Sherwyn." She smiled her little smile. "Would you care
for some wine?"
"Yes, please. So, you're still here."
"I'm here once again," she said, rummaging around in the
drinks' cabinet and returning with a glass of wine for me and something a bit
stronger for herself. "Actually, this time I'm here at Alexander's
request," she explained. "He has asked me to arrange a meeting between
him and his father. As I understand it, they're not really on speaking terms and
haven't been for quite some time, so someone has to mediate between them."
"I see," I said, not seeing very much in particular, but
vaguely approving of the idea of getting Alexander and Corwin to talk to one
another again. Alex was not really that much of a bad guy, certainly not
compared to some of my other relatives, yet he seemed rather isolated compared
to the rest. Now, I knew this isolation was at least partially his own doing,
but that did not necessarily mean that he deserved it. The two of us had been a
bit closer ever since our adventures in the cave of the Logrus, and although I
was fairly sure that he had not known that I had been aboard Martin's
"borrowed" Nexus ship, I still felt a slight tinge of guilt at not
having taken him into our confidences then. Perhaps I ought to talk to him soon.
Mother took the news of Flora's betrayal and my imprisonment rather
calmly, saying that she had never trusted her sister to begin with. When I began
telling her about Fabian being Flora's other prisoner and his uncanny
resemblance to Brand, she stiffly lit a cigarette, a sure sign of some increased
tension. I explained about his dreams and the nature of that other Reality,
slowly building up to the revelation of Brand's actual return. I had expected
some kind of show of emotion from her at least, but with some effort she managed
to remain calm, only a certain strain around her eyes and a tightness of her
lips as she inhaled the smoke betraying something of her inner turmoil.
"He has not yet regained his true memory," I added.
"Meanwhile, he remains in Amber, and Random is bound to call a Family
meeting to discuss his fate, as well as Flora's actions and any other relevant
stuff that may come up."
"Do you think Random is going to have him executed?" she asked.
"What were his initial reactions?"
"I got the impression he first wants to hear from the rest of the
Family."
"Bleeding heart bullshit," she snorted savagely. "Oberon
would never have stooped to anything like this." I was inclined to say
something about some other differences between our once and our present king,
but I wisely held my tongue. "Still," Deirdre said, "if it's my
advice he wants, he shall have it."
"Yours being?"
"Well, his execution has merely been postponed, so unless he - or
anyone else - comes up with a good story, I'd suggest that we'd go ahead as
planned."
"I can certainly understand why you feel this way," I said,
"but for my part, I wouldn't be too hasty in having him executed,
especially while he's in his current state."
"No, you're right," she said pensively, "he certainly must
understand why he's going to die, that's for sure." Hmm, despite her calm
exterior her resentment ran as deep as I had both feared and expected.
"That's not the only reason," I said. "I fear that we may
need him in the near future."
"You cannot control someone like Brand," she sighed. "You
can never trust him. Well, no one in the Family is to be trusted, as I've tried
to make clear to you, but Brand is several shades worse than most of the others.
He's a wild card, and a dangerous one to boot." She looked at me squarely,
trying to penetrate beyond my eyes and gauge my private thoughts. "Do you
think my conviction that he should be executed is simply motivated by feelings
of revenge?" she asked. "It may be, partially at least, but that's not
all. Some threats are just too big to ignore, and some risks you never take more
than once. These are the kinds of fears that you just cannot dispell so
easily."
I could certainly understand her feelings, for I recognized them all too
well. For a while Fabian had been my companion and had come very close to being
my friend, and for this reason I did not want to see him die. However, him
really being Brand had made this an entirely different matter: in a way I saw
reflections of his extreme actions in some taken by other relatives, like
Caine's willingness to sacrifice Diana for Deirdre's sake or the things Flora
had done in her hatred for Random, and I felt that there ought to be some kind
of accountability. The matter with Caine had been settled (at least to my
satisfaction) with him being stabbed by Diana and his subsequent explanation,
and I felt certain that he understood what the consequences would be, should he
ever try something like that again. Flora would be held accountable in all due
course, which was mainly Random's concern, although I would like some kind of
explanation for the way in which she had seen fit to imprison me. So, Brand
would have to pay for his crimes as well, and like Deirdre I feared that he
might not be willing or able to change his ways; even though I wasn't much in
favour of the death penalty, I would not let this stand in the way of keeping
him from having any chance to repeat his actions. Meanwhile, I would continue to
argue against his summary execution, for I had a feeling that there would be
plenty of others in favour of the idea. And then there were other reasons…
"Have you ever heard of or come across some group called the
Wolves?" I asked Deirdre. She shook her head. "I still know very
little about them," I said, "save for the fact that I've heard their
name mentioned twice now, on separate occasions, and both times in connection
with some kind of future threat that will come to represent a great danger to
Amber. The second time I've heard about them, Brand was involved; it would seem
that he knows a lot more about them."
Deirdre slowly exhaled, letting the smoke drift in a thin, long cloud
past her eyes as she regarded me steadily. Then she shrugged. "As I said,
if he's got a good story for us, he might be able to convince even me."
Well, that was something at least. Which brought me to my next awkward
issue, and it was high time that I had this out in the open. Before I did,
though, I made sure to weave a Pattern shield around to room to keep us safe
from eavesdroppers, which worked despite the fact that it wasn't as easy as
usual, being this close to Corwin's Pattern. Once the shield was safely in
place, I cautiously broached the subject of the hereditary nature of the Curse
and the possibility of Caine being my real father. I also explained Caine's
reasoning behind this, making it clear that I had dealt with this in my own way
and that I harboured no resentment towards her on this count. Deirdre had lit
another cigarette while I had been weaving the shield, and now she once again
used the smoke as a screen to hide most of her features while I relayed my tale.
"And if I deny this?" she asked coolly, when I had finished.
"Feel free to do so," I said, "but I need some strong
counterarguments to convince me otherwise."
"Caine's theory is nothing more than that," she spat angrily.
"It's only based on suppositions."
"That may be so, but it has the ring of truth to it."
She was not going to confirm it, though. "You're free to believe
anything you want to," she snorted. "The only thing that's certain is
that you are my son." That was undeniably so, yet I felt that this also
touched upon the main issue: she was simply not prepared to share her rights of
parenthood with Caine. Personally, I felt that this would never become a real
point of contention, for there would be no way in which Caine would ever be able
to claim any official status as my father. I made it clear to her that I at
least didn't have any problems with Caine's story, and that it didn't change
anything either between her and me or between Vilcon and me. The only thing that
had been changed was my relationship with Caine, and that had been for the
better. She, however, did not relent.
"Whatever you believe," she said, "always remember that
Caine is an Amberite too. And he's a sneaky, manipulative bastard!" I met
her burst of anger with a weak and wistful smile, indicating that I still
couldn't help myself when it came to trusting certain people. Deirdre sighed.
"I can only warn you. That's my job. Even against Caine." And she was
right too. Even though Caine's story was probably true, it was just like him to
try and use it to manipulate me, and in a way it had already worked, for he had
managed to turn me from a prospective enemy into a likely ally. Still, I did not
mind being manipulated in this particular way, and it didn't mean that I would
not stay on my guard in my future dealings with him.
"I'll consider myself warned," I said. "There is, however,
another connected matter that you should know about." And I proceeded to
tell her about Taureth and his promise to try and rid us of the Curse. Of
course, she was quite indignant at first at the idea of me having involved an
outsider in our problems, and she made her anger plain to me in some rather
strong language. Behind all her ranting, however, I sensed some very deeply
rooted feelings of fear. It was sad, but after all this time, she just couldn't
allow herself to harbour any kind of hope. Aside from that, she couldn't help
but wonder at what she saw as my inherent naïveté. On this particular point I
refused to yield to her natural distrust, though; I had already carefully
considered the issue many a time, and I believed that if anyone would be able to
help us with the Curse, it was Taureth. So, I made a little speech about
sticking together as a true family, about trying to solve our problems together
instead of muddling through by ourselves, and finally I put it to her plain and
simple: either cooperate or do not interfere at all. She glared at me a while,
but seeing that I wouldn't budge she ultimately gave in. As I knew she would.
She was too much of a hands-on person not to get involved herself.
Having reached this agreement of sorts, I suggested that we'd travel to
the Courts at once, so that I would be able to introduce her more fully to
Taureth. Also, I wanted a chance to see how both he and Diana were doing. Just
before we could Trump out, however, there was a knock at the door, and Adrian,
the King of Sherwyn himself, entered. He seemed only mildly surprised to find me
present there as well, and his attention was primarily focused on my mother.
"Could I have a word with you?" he asked her.
"Of course," she replied gracefully. "Do come in."
Adrian entered and made for the drinks' cabinet right away. Oh well, it
was his own supply after all. I decided to sit down again; no telling how long
this might take.
Adrian turned to face Deirdre with a certain amount of hesitation, but it
seemed to me that he was less unsure of himself than he had used to be. The way
in which Deirdre regarded him, though, indicated some kind of friction between
the two of them, probably something that had occurred during my recent absence.
Still, Adrian appeared willing to discuss whatever was on his mind in my
presence, for he didn't ask me to leave.
"I have been thinking," he began, "and I feel that I may
have been making some character judgements that were rather based on an
insufficiency of information. Perhaps if I had known some things that I know
now, I would have adopted a different tone of voice with you from the one I used
during our last conversation."
"Why, Adrian," Deirdre said with the sweetest of smiles,
"are you trying to apologize to me?"
"Of course not," he replied with a similar smile of his own.
Yes, he was getting better at this sort of thing. Not that I was sure that I
liked him better this way, but never mind.
"Well," she said, "your apologies, though unoffered, would
have been accepted in any case." He nodded, looking rather pleased, but
almost immediately his expression turned quite grave.
"Father is not doing very well," he said in a subdued tone of
voice.
"No," Deirdre said, "so I gather from what I've
seen."
"You know but little about this situation… I know Corwin would not
ask you this himself, but if you don't mind, would you please look after him a
bit? I have some things to take care of. For one thing, I have to find some kind
of solution for all of this." He gestured vaguely around him. "This
must be solved. Soon."
Deirdre briefly glanced from Adrian to me, but I merely raised my
eyebrows a little to indicate my befuddlement. I had no idea what this was all
about, but it didn't sound good at all.
"Look," Deirdre said, "I don't know everything about this,
and it's none of my business either, but I have a lot of respect for your father
and I will do anything in my power to help him."
"Good. That's all I can ask for." Adrian looked genuinely
relieved, and Deirdre, well, for a moment she reminded me of her alter ego, the
one I had met in the other Reality, the one who did not suffer from the Curse.
Sometimes you can see the parallels.
"If there comes a time when it is less objectionable to talk about
his condition," Deirdre said, "I would certainly be interested."
"You'll be among the first to know," he assured her. This
matter between them apparently closed, he turned to me. "It's good to see
you again," he said. "It's been quite a while, and the last time we
talked was under rather less pleasant circumstances." Oh, I remembered them
very well. Actually, the last time had been a bit better, for it had allowed me
to see him squirm over Mother's stubbornness in refusing to leave Sherwyn.
However, he had been in league with what I had come to think of as the Enemy,
albeit rather reluctantly (or so it had seemed), and I had had no word about his
situation having changed in any way, so I found myself a bit wary of my dear
cousin the King. Meanwhile, Deirdre poured herself another drink, and I nodded
to my empty glass. Might as well join in.
"So, how are you?" Adrian said.
"How am I? Reasonably well, I guess, all things considered. A lot
has happened lately, but you're bound to hear about it soon enough."
"Tell me some of these things I'm supposed to know about," he
cajoled, and well, I couldn't think of any reason not to.
"Have you heard about Flora?"
"Yes, actually I have." Oh, right, he'd been the one to
corroborate Caine's story I recalled. "Aunt Flora is currently residing in
Sherwyn," he added with a smirk. It figured, what with both of them in bed
with the Enemy.
"How nice," I said sarcastically.
"As if…" He caught my expression and quickly added:
"She's not staying here at my request. I had this deal with her concerning
a wedding gift, in return for which I had promised her safe haven here in
Sherwyn, and that is why she's here right now."
"I see," I said, still sounding not quite convinced of his
self-proclaimed innocence.
"At the time I had no idea about her treacherous nature," he
insisted. "No one did." Well, I guess he had a point.
"There'll be a Family meeting in Amber to discuss her case as well
as some other stuff fairly soon."
"Other stuff? Like what?"
"Like Brand being back," I said casually.
"What!!?" For a few moments he was completely speechless, and
during these few precious seconds when he had totally been caught off guard I
got the feeling that he was really trying to be sincere in his dealings with me.
In any case, he didn't regard me as an enemy, and I wondered if I ought not
treat him in the same way. My caution still got the better of me, though.
"Does he already know?" he asked Deirdre, meaning his father of
course.
"I've only just heard myself," she replied with a curt shake of
her head.
"Random will be sure to let everyone know soon enough," I said.
"But he's back, entirely, totally, completely?"
"No, not quite. He believes himself to be somebody else, but we're
quite sure it's really him."
"Ah well," Adrian sighed, "two of the three people present
here know how fascinating a close view of the Abyss can be, so…" Ouch,
that earned him a really vicious look from my mother, but he just smirked in
return. He had already apologized once today, and he wasn't about to do so
again. "Will you be staying in Sherwyn a while?" he asked.
"Should I make some arrangements?"
"Don't bother," I replied. "We were just about to
leave."
"We'll be stopping by again one of these days," Deirdre added.
"Very well," he said with a shrug. We exchanged a few more
informative pleasantries, about my
children and Melusine's heritage for instance, until we decided it was time to
go. With a final nod to Adrian, I trumped the two of us through to Ygg, from
where I tried to contact Taureth, who fortunately answered quite promptly. He
appeared as stiff and formal as always, but his eyes shone with a friendly
light. He told me he had made some progress during my absence, and he was eager
to do some more experiments on me to test his theories. The fact that I had
finally let Deirdre in on our little secret was, therefore, quite welcome news
to him, and he immediately invited us to step through. However, instead of
marching us off to his laboratory right away as I had more or less expected,
Taureth surprised me by playing the perfect host: he made us quite comfortable
in one of the more human-styled sitting rooms, and he summoned some demon
servants to supply us with some Chaosian equivalent of tea and biscuits. Then,
with an awkward look at Deirdre, he surprised me again by requesting a moment to
discuss 'a matter of some importance', as he put it. With a shrug I let him
guide me into an antechamber and curiously waited for whatever it was that was
so important that he couldn't discuss it in front of my mother.
"I shan't beat around the bush," he said firmly. "I would
like to request the hand of your daughter in marriage."
Well, I was stunned. Whatever I had expected him to say, this wasn't it.
Him marrying Diana? It seemed so… unreal. Like something out of a dream. Just
for a moment I found myself wondering whether I had not returned to the wrong
Reality after all, one that was almost identical to my own, but that would
spring these kinds of impossible surprises on me.
No, I was sure that I had really come home, and now that I stopped to
think about it I might have seen it coming. I had noticed Taureth and Diana
growing more fond of one another, and I had approved, although at the time I'd
figured it to be a normal part of their quite intimate doctor/patient
relationship.This proposal of marriage was something else, though. Unicorn, talk
about an age difference! At least several thousands of years! And then there was
the whole issue of Ornach and the rest of Taureth's House, as well as their
unofficial vendetta against Dworkin. And…
And my own feelings for Diana, of course. We had grown a bit more apart
lately, that was true, but… Deep in my heart I knew it was right, that I
should let her go this way, that Taureth may be the best of possible choices,
but I just couldn't let myself consent right away.
"I need some time to think this over," I said softly. Then,
when I noticed Taureth's stiff expression, I added: "It's not that I'm
unfavourably inclined towards the idea, I just need to mull on it for a
while." He nodded.
"Naturally, I will do anything to make her happy," he said.
"Well, I think I would like to hear what Diana herself has to say on
the matter."
"Oh, be assured that my request concurs completely with her own
wishes," he hastened to add. I didn't doubt it, really. Still, I needed to
hear it from her own mouth, so Taureth swiftly sent word to her that her father
had returned.
Had Taureth's eyes glinted with some unspoken happiness, Diana was simply
radiant with the feeling. Yes, she knew all about his official proposal and of
course she had already agreed to become his wife. It was just that he was rather
old-fashioned in these matters and had insisted on asking for my consent first,
otherwise they might simply have announced their engagement straight away. As I
pried a bit more, however, she turned more serious and explained that it was not
simply love that formed the bond between them, there was trust too, and even
respect. Taureth knew more than anyone else about her situation and to him it
seemed to be no great problem. She was happy with him and didn't think she would
be likely to find anyone more suitable, so why not marry?
Why not, indeed? The more I thought about it, the more I realised that my
initial objections seemed not so substantial, only very, very personal. When it
came right down to it, I knew that I could not wish for a better match for my
daughter, as above all I wanted to see her happy. And there was no denying that
she was very happy indeed. So, yes, I consented, although I got Diana to promise
me that I would break the news to Deirdre privately. There was no telling how
she would react to the news of her granddaughter getting married, and to such a
powerful Chaos lord to boot.
As a matter of fact, mother took the news rather well, although the
notion of marrying seemed a bit alien to her (I guess it would be in her
condition, although she and my father had been married, after a fashion). I
concurred with her doubts about the rest of Taureth's family, but since that was
her only real objection, there seemed to be nothing to impede what looked like
almost certain matrimonial bliss. When I told Taureth that the marriage had my
blessing, he started delivering an awkward, but mercifully short speech that he
had apparently prepared for the occasion. We agreed that we would postpone
making arrangements for an engagement feast and the actual wedding itself until
some preliminaries had been arranged between Amber and House Ornach, meaning
that I would tell Random and Taureth would inform his father. I guess this
wedding was bound to be one of the upcoming social high points for the entire
Universe.
While I had been talking to Diana, filling her in about some ofthe most
recent events, Taureth had done some preliminary testing on Deirdre, and he was
pleased to find confirmation for all of his current theories. At his urging I
agreed to let him run some tests on me as well to compare the results to his
most recent findings and to check my level of intensity, so to speak, for when I
told him that the Curse hadn't really bothered me at all while I had been away
from our Reality it sparked his curiosity. Mine as well, though, for I realised
that I hadn't actually felt any urgings after I had returned either, at least
not of the sort that might not be explained by an ordinary sex drive. So, I
spent a few minutes under his coloured lights and strange magical equipment,
trying to remember when the last time had been that I'd actually been aware of
the Curse.
As soon as Taureth got his first results in, his mouth literally dropped
open. "What have you done to It?!?" he exclaimed. "You've
reversed It! You've reversed the entire Curse!" I just gave him a confused
look, slightly taken aback myself, for I had never seen him so emotional.
"Look," he said, "it doesn't drain from you anymore, it's
actually generating." He pointed at a few read-outs that were,
unfortunately, complete gobbledygook to me. "This requires more
testing," Taureth said firmly, and he immediately started making
alterations to his equipment. A moment later the coloured lights were on me
again, though slighty different this time, and after a few seconds I began to
feel a peculiar twitchy sensation, as if I had been drinking too much coffee or
something. It was rather familiar, though, in a way that I couldn't precisely
remember. This sensation gradually intensified, until Taureth flicked some
switch and I experienced a sudden feeling of release and relaxation, which was
accompanied by an again strangely familiar orange glow around my body. Yes, I
had seen this before, once, immediately following upon the collapse of my Shadow
storm.
As I explained this to Taureth and told him about the circumstances, he
nodded as if it made sense. He said that the power of the Curse in me had been
completely altered: instead of draining energy away from me, it now generated
its own through much the same process as the one on which the Curse had been
based (i.e. sex); he added that I could even apply this energy to some
constructive purpose. Not that I could really use it on myself, but it might,
with some practise, become a tool to heal others for instance, much in the same
way that Svarta and the surrounding Shadows had been `healed' in the wake of the
storm's passing. This must also have been how Caine had been healed so
miraculously after I had seen him go down in his fight with Karnach, come to
think of it. Athough an actual recreation of the events that had brought this
change about appeared unlikely (there was no way I was going through all that
again!), Taureth felt that since this new power in me was the complete opposite
of the Curse, there might be a way to cancel It out in some of the others,
especially in my children and perhaps in Caine as well. In Diana and Deirdre the
Curse was too powerful, however, but even they might benefit from some kind of
treatment based on my new healing power, if only to take the edge of the Curse
and temporarily leave it at a much lower power level than they experienced
ordinarily.
Both Taureth and I, and Diana as well, were very enthusiastic about this
new development, seeing all kinds of hopeful possibilities, but Deirdre was not
as easily swayed. These ages of having lived with the Curse had left her rather
bitter and cynical when it came to such a simple matter as hope. I had to
explain and show to her again and again how I had been changed and what this new
power did before she could accept that we really might be a step closer to a
solution. It was good that we'd had this breakthrough right now, I felt, for it
showed to her straight away how right I had been in involving Taureth in our
troubles. If she could learn to trust his knowledge and experience at least a
little, there might be hope for us all.
Even though I would have liked to stay a while longer in Ornach Ways, I
really felt the need to check up on Wylde and the kids, and while Taureth was
eager to get back to his research, he assured me that he didn't actually need me
around, already having collected all the data from me that he required to
continue his work. He said he needed some time to devise some kind of healing
ritual for the children and he'd contact me as soon as he would be ready to give
it a try. Both Deirdre and Diana said they would stay in the Courts at least a
little while longer, but I would see them again pretty soon at the scheduled
Family meeting, so we just hugged and said goodbye before I Trumped away once
more.
No sooner had I arrived near gloomy old Ygg, when I received a Trump
call. It was from Alexander this time, who wanted to tell me that there was
something not quite right in the Shadow of Quendor. He'd passed through
recently, and something there had really given him the shivers. I told him I'd
look into it, and we exchanged some other titbits of news, like the usual stuff
about Flora and Brand, and in his case something about a possible cessation of
hostilities between Galoria and Sherwyn, although he could not give me any
details, things still being in the rather delicate stages of negotiation.
Alex rather surprised me, however, by suddenly asking whether I
remembered our meeting with Sand from the time when we had first set out
together, and whether I knew of any way to get in touch with her. I had never
told anyone about the role Sand had played in Caine and Diana's little drama or
about the fact that I still had her Trump, except for Random and the actual
people involved, so I was perhaps a bit more cagey than I might have been with
him, saying that I knew of no immediate way to contact her. He said that he
needed some information that she might have, and he mentioned the four people
whose Trumps she had shown to us at that first meeting. Apparently he was
looking for Aradia and the other young man, who possibly was her brother Alwin
if rumours in the Courts were to be believed. To give him at least something to
go on I told him I had last seen Aradia in Cardane together with Benedict, but
the idea of asking our Uncle about her whereabouts merely made him laugh, as if
he would never get a satisfactory answer to such a straight question. Well, that
was his problem, I guess. We agreed that we would take some time to talk a bit
longer came the meeting in Amber, for there were undoubtedly many interesting
things that we could disclose to one another. Should we decide to do so…
From Ygg's I quickly shifted towards Cardane and the whole New Svarta
cluster of Shadows, finding nothing untoward upon my way. As soon as I had
entered New Svarta territory, however, a loud stamping of giant feet quickly
came to welcome my return. But a few seconds later I spied Harry's many
monstrous heads above the treetops as he lumbered towards me, each one eagerly
looking for either something to eat or to squash. I felt sorry to disappoint
him, but he, or rather they, seemed more than happy to see me again. The thing I
noticed right away was that he was wearing some kind of badge with the initials
G.G.C., which apparently stood for Guild of Guardian Creatures, and that on each
of his heads he wore what looked like a giant silvery skull cap, to keep him
safe from psychic attacks or so he said. While I had been away, he had been
approached by a representative of this union, a wizened harpy who'd had some
kind of breakdown and who now only handled administrative matters, and he had
enrolled, feeling that they would help to look after his interests. And now that
he mentioned it, he had the distinct feeling that he'd been promised more food
than he was getting at the moment, so what was I going to do about this? I
smiled and told him that I would immediately see to it that he'd get his
rightful due, thus instantly mollifying the big guy. He was a good guardian to
have around I felt, though I wondered slightly about this Guild he'd joined.
Surely someone must be behind this, organising such a thing, but who? And that
harpy he had described seemed awfully familiar…
Harry's news about Cardane was a mixture of mainly good and a little bad,
the latter being that time here had passed a little faster than I would have
liked, meaning that the children had actually not seen me again for a couple of
years. They were doing very well, though, as was the whole region, with but few
intruders daring to face the wrath and stomping claws of Harry. In fact, these
days he spent more time entertaining my kids than actually fighting off alien
invasions, giving them rides on his back and everything. Part of me was a bit
concerned about their apparent adventurous spirit, but I realised that Harry
could be trusted to look after them. After all, that was what he was here for.
As we talked, we slowly strolled towards Cardane, where I finally said
goodbye to Harry, promising him once again to see to an increase in the quantity
of his meals. I had already noticed how the whole region had flourished in the
aftermath of the Shadow storm, but what surprised me was the frequency of the
exchanges and trade between the separate Shadows in the cluster. This was mostly
due to the Lur who had made their home in the central region of New Svarta, I
soon gathered. These little fellows had apparently discovered a natural affinity
as traders, and they were to be found everywhere, chattering away quite happily
while always looking for the better deal. In a strange sort of way they weren't
primarily concerned with making profit but rather with making the deal itself,
but I would need to spend much time among them really to understand their
peculiar philosophies.
The only part where the Lur were not so active was Limas with its
high-tech centaur population. This, aside from Svarta itself, was the Shadow
that had been worst affected by the war, but unlike the miraculous restoration
of New Svarta conditions in Limas had failed to improve so dramatically. Instead
a kind of post-apocalyptic society had developed, never reaching the heights of
civilization that they had known before. Very slowly, however, some contact with
the other cultures in the Shadow cluster was being established and some of the
centaur folk were even beginning to emigrate to the other Shadows, but still a
substantial number of small, xenophobic communities remained in the rural
regions of Limas, refusing any and all contact with the outside world. I hoped
this would change in time, but felt it better not to force the matter right
then.
Cardane itself was doing wonderfully. Both Wylde and the children were a
bit older than I remembered, the kids now being somewhere near the comparative
human age of ten. Their feelings at seeing me again were a bit mixed, I'm sorry
to say, although some like Nicholas or Miri were just too cheerful or kind to
stay mad with me for very long. Vilcon was mainly just curious and wanted to
know everything that had happened to make me stay away from them for so long. Of
course I couldn't tell him everything, but I did let on to having been held
prisoner somewhere very far away, and I also explained that for me far less time
had passed than for them. Rowena acted rather indifferently, trying to hide her
true feelings, but Dennis and Laura had no trouble in letting me feel their
anger at having been left alone for so long. In light of all this I decided to
stay a bit longer than I had planned, and as time wore on all their feelings
mellowed out a bit again. This would remain a problem, I knew, but the only way
really to solve it would be to forget about everything else going on out there
and stay in here with them until they were fully grown. How I would have wanted
for this to be a real option… Anyway, the increased time flow in Cardane came
in handy for a change, and I managed to stay with them for a couple of weeks
before I felt that I needed to see to other matters again. Meanwhile, I took the
opportunity to slow the entire cluster down a bit; time would still run faster
here than in Amber, but more at the rate of days instead of weeks.
Wylde was much more sedate than I'd remembered her; at some moment in
time she must have made a transition into middle age, and I felt that it quite
suited her. Between the kids and running Cardane she remained fairly busy, but
somewhere in between she had had time to find herself a new partner, a sleek,
black-haired man called Gregorio, whose feline form mirrored her own. Wylde
didn't introduce us right away, for apparently she was a bit apprehensive about
my possible reaction. She need not have been afraid, though, for while I might
have considered getting back with her at some earlier time, her way of life and
mine really didn't mix, and I'd rather have her as a good friend than as a
troublesome mate. Actually, I found that I quite liked Gregorio, and even went
out roaming with him and some of the kids a couple of times. Although he wasn't
the children's real father, they appeared to accept him as some kind of uncle or
guardian, and I must say he got on quite well with them. Privately he told me
how fond he was of them and how he was pushing Wylde to have another litter of
their own. She wasn't entirely for it, but slowly and surely he was winning her
over.
Of course the news of Diana's marriage plans was the most exciting thing
the kids had heard for quite a while. Wylde cautioned me, however, that I should
take them with me to Amber for a while to brush up on their etiquette, for their
stay in Cardane had brought out the wild side in some, if not all of them. The
prime exception here was Rowena, the only one to insist upon daily wearing her
dresses, thus quite standing out among the regular Cardane folk. Vilcon was also
eager to return to Amber, but for other reasons: he liked puzzles and figuring
out how things worked, and life in Cardane was simply not complicated enough for
him. Of course he was full of questions about Diana and Taureth too, as were all
of the others. This was their half-sister, after all. I had some trouble
explaining the concept of marriage to them, since in Cardane such arrangements
tended to be somewhat less formal, but once they caught on they quickly drew
their conclusion: Diana and Taureth were simply going to have a litter of young
kittens of their own. It took some more explaining to make them see that humans
don't usually have litters, and that if they do have babies it's usually just
one at a time. Privately, I felt some concern, though, and I resolved to check
with Diana as soon as possible. I didn't quite relish the thought of becoming a
granddad just yet.