Chapter 103: Playing A Forced Hand

"It seemed the time was for action,

It seemed so cool to be that kind...

My tongue writhed to form some retraction

But I knew I was flying blind."

Flight - Peter Hammill

            "Concerning your possible future in-laws," Murlas said, "how much do you know exactly about the Archai by now?"

            "Honestly?" I replied. "Next to nothing. I know that this is what Lothair and his people are calling themselves, but that's about it."

            He gave me a long, pensive look, before he nodded. We were back at the Galorian Royal Palace where we would be staying the night with a host of other guests from the party at the embassy. I had managed to intercept my dear brother towards the end of the party, intent on straight away taking him up on his offer to tell me more about Ornach, and he had been surprisingly co-operative. It had seemed a better idea, however, to conduct our conversation somewhere else than in Lothair's den, so to speak. Fortunately, the Galorian authorities had taken into account the possibilities of people feeling the need for some private, after-party meetings, and there were a great number of comfortable sitting rooms that had been reserved for just this purpose. Of course, I had added the usual security Weave features to make it just that little bit more private.

            "Well, the Archai," Murlas began. 'The term is more than just a name, it is a generic one denoting a species of a higher kind than ours. One could say that the Archai are as far removed from us as we are from mere Shadow beings. They traverse Reality levels as we move through Shadow and are even apparently able to exist on more than one Reality level simultaneously. Lothair is an Archai, and as you may have guessed, so is Ornach. The reasons behind their conflict are all to do with the Archai cycle of life and death, which is markedly different from what we are used to, to say the least."

            Indeed it was. As Murlas explained it to me, the Archai appeared to differentiate between two genders much the same as we did, but their manner of procreation varied greatly from ours. Two Archai of different genders would mate, but instead of only one of them bearing children, they would each subsequently generate seven offspring, or rather sub-Archai. These seven subs would each reflect a certain aspect of the parent Archai's personality and abilities. Parent and subs would live in a state of harmony, all feeling a strong mutual bond, until the moment when the parent would die. At their parent's death the entire attitude of the subs towards one another would change: they would suddenly feel an inherent, insuppressible urge to kill one another, and would strive to do so until only one of them were left. The one surviving sub-Archai would then become a full Archai, inheriting as it were all the powers and abilities of its siblings, and the cycle would be ready to start again.

            Ornach was said to have committed the worst crime imaginable in Archai society. Apparently, he had felt strongly attracted to another Archai by the name of Prisma, but while she had been a full Archai, free to mate, he had still been a sub-Archai. Instead of abiding by the rules and waiting for his parent Archai to die, Ornach had taken matters into his own hands and had cold-bloodedly murdered first his parent and then his sibling subs. After his terrible crime he had fled the scene with Prisma, and in hiding they had bonded. Thus, as I already expected by now, Ornach's seven children were really his seven sub-Archai, and the place where they had hidden was our Reality.

            Lothair was said to be intent on bringing Ornach to "justice", or whatever passed for this in Archai society. It was logical to assume the people closest to him, like Sonia and Aurelia,  were in fact his subs. They had found, however, that removing Ornach from our Reality was going to be a lot harder than they had reckoned it would be, for he had managed to entrench himself quite effectively. Prisma, meanwhile, was not wanted by them in the same way as Ornach was, since she had had no part in the actual murders. She and her subs, who went by the name of the Seven Sisters, had remained close to Ornach's place of residence, and while she had as yet not taken a side in the current conflict, she was said not to be very happy with the way that Lothair had just barged in. She and her subs seemed to be lying low so far, but they definitely remained a strong wildcard.

            I realised that I didn't really know what to think of all that Murlas was telling me. This was way beyond anything I had ever expected, yet his story made a bizarre kind of sense. The fact that Ornach and Lothair were in the strictest sense aliens, for instance, helped to explain why their actions and  motives seemed so unfathomable to me.

            "So, Ornach's children are his subs, are they?" I mused. "Yet I seem to have gathered that Samal is no longer part of the family. Is this true, and how does this work with him being a sub-Archai?"

            "It is true," Murlas replied. "Ornach has severed their connection and Samal is no longer one of his subs. I cannot say what the consequences of this action are or will be, but for all intents and purposes Samal is now dead to Ornach."

            "And how many of his other subs have resurfaced so far?"

            "Well, you appear to spend more time in Ornach Ways than I do, so why not tell me instead?" Ah yes, that was the old uniformative Murlas I knew. Still, he had a point. As far as I could remember I had only seen Taureth, Samal and Bihaye while I had been there, although I had heard a vague rumour that one of the other "daughters", Malketh, had also been round to pay her respects to her sire. Why she had decided not to stay was unclear, however. And there were still three of them that had not been found yet.

            "Did you get this story from Samal?" I asked.

            "I have various sources," he replied vaguely.

            "I didn't want to pry," I said, "I was just wondering  how much people like Samal and Taureth, who are most closely involved in all of this, know about it. To what extent are they aware of their true nature?" I was only asking because I had never had any indication from Taureth that he knew any of this.

            "Ornach's children are not aware of the entire story," Murlas said, confirming my suspicions. "The only thing they know is the strong, instinctive family bond which they all feel."

            "Yes, I had noticed as much with Taureth. Does Ornach know that you know all of this?"

            "Partially," he said, and I wondered which part and how big. Murlas was painting a pretty bleak picture of Ornach, the inter-Reality criminal, yet I could still recall a conversation between the two of them where there had been hints of Murlas somehow being related to Ornach too. If what he had just told me about the whole cycle with the Archai and sub-Archai was true, then how did the two of them being related fit into this? And what did that make Murlas?

            "Are there perhaps any other things you would like to know more about," Murlas said with an enigmatic smile, as if he had been reading my mind. I hesitated, but decided against pursuing my train of thought any further. I knew enough for now, although I wasn't sure how this new information would change my thoughts about Taureth and Diana's marriage, if it would at all.

            "No," I said, "this will do. The only positive thing I see in your story is that these Archai can apparently be killed."

            "Well, yes," he smirked, "by other Archai, or so it is said. Let me put it this way: there was this great war involving Ornach and his sub-Archai quite long ago, and in the end they did not kill them. Instead they took great pains to imprison them."

            "I see your point. It's a pity that there are so few people left who were around at that time. I think it would be interesting to hear more about what happened back then and the reasons behind their decisions."

            "Suhuy is still alive, is he not? And he actively helped to imprison Ornach's children."

            "More than that, he was one of the decision makers." But neither of us had to add that a quiet conversation with Suhuy was about as likely as having tea with Dworkin.

            We left it at that. I had heard enough strange tales for one evening and I needed some time to dwell on them to figure out what I was going to do. A marriage between my daughter and one of Ornach's sub-Archai… No, I couldn't yet get my head around the whole idea of them being the way that Murlas had described them to me. This would take some time. However, the extra background might serve me well in the meeting with Ornach that Taureth had promised to arrange for me. I had grown even more curious as to Ornach's reaction to his "son's" wedding plans.

**

            Back in the guest chamber that had been set aside for me, I was already in the middle of getting ready to go to bed, and for some sleep this time too, when I got a Trump call. Well, whoever this was, it had better be important, I thought. And it was. In short, yet informative sentences, cousin Alexander quickly informed me that there had been an apparent assault on the lady who had accompanied Caine to the party tonight, and that Alex himself had taken her to the infirmary here in the palace. I had my boots back on and was out of the door in less than a minute.

            A greyish, pale cast lay over Janice's countenance, and she was frowning and twitching as if she were in the middle of a particularly bad nightmare. Alexander was standing at the foot of her bed, but the doctors seemed to have decided that there was little to nothing they could do for her. I couldn't fault them, for Alexander briefly explained to me how Janice had suffered some kind of Power attack just when she and Caine had left the embassy building. Caine had described it as some sort of green or blue rain of sparks that had descended on her, leaving her like she was now, unconscious and in distress. Caine had had the strong impression that it had been something more akin to the Nexus than to any of the other Powers, and he and Galoran had gone back to the place where it had happened to look for more clues. Shortly, they returned, Caine frowning deeply, but Galoran with an air of barely suppressed excitement.

            "It's true," he said urgently. "It was a Nexus assault, with the other Nexus of course. We were not able to gather exactly who it was or what they did, but it looks like it was an attack from some distance away. That's what makes this so very interesting!" He grinned happily at Alexander, who by now was frowning too. "It may come as a shock to hear me saying this," Galoran continued excitedly, "but I don't think I would be able to do this myself. I, this Power's specialist if ever there was one, wouldn't know where to begin in order to attain the same effect as they have, that's what is so very, very fascinating! Now do you see how good it is for us to have linked our fate to theirs? There's still so much to be learned!"

            "Galoran…," Alexander began in a low tone with a clear hint of warning. I, meanwhile, exchanged a meaningful look with Caine. Linking their fates, indeed. We would worry about that later, though, for at the moment Janice's condition was more important. Alexander seemed to agree, or at least he was smart enough no to want to risk antagonizing the two of us any further. "None of that is of any direct interest," he said, "and as for linking our fate to theirs, I still have some serious reservations about that. However, there are more pressing matters: this young lady needs our attention. We know she was attacked, but what are the consequences and how can we help her?"

            "Alright," Galoran muttered, "hmm, she does seem to be under a lot of stress. Something is still going on, but what is it…? Hmm, complicated…" He did some quick Power scans, then continued: "It seems that the Nexus part of the attack was mainly used to force some kind of entrance, to establish some immediate contact. Whatever it is that is still active doesn't seem to have anything to do with that. At least, I cannot sense any Nexus influence anymore, can you?" Both Alexander and Caine shook their heads. Damned, with no Nexus around anymore, there seemed to be only one thing possible that could be harassing her.

            "Caine," I asked softly, "how far had the two of you got with that research you were working on?" He shot me a quick glance before indicating that we'd better talk about this in private. Alexander and Galoran didn't seem too surprised as the two of us withdrew to a neighbouring room; they simply started their own private conversation on Janice's condition.

            "Alright," said Caine when we were alone, "Janice and I discovered that there a quite a lot of Kreel in Amber. She had some private way of detecting them, which seemed to be rather stressful and tiring to her. I don't know what she was doing precisely, but it may be that she was somehow drawing upon the Power of those Crystal Spires. If she is under attack from the Kreel right now, we have to find some way to keep her from them. She is too valuable to lose." I couldn't agree more, but there were other, perhaps even more pressing consequences of this assault.

            "If she is under attack from the Kreel," I said, "as we both suspect, we have to consider seriously the need for taking immediate action in Amber, if not now then later tonight."

            "Fair enough. Is there a way that we can delegate this task of curing her? To Alexander possibly? Then again, this kind of scene has never been his forte, has it? And I don't want to trust Galoran any more than we have to."

            "Perhaps it would be better to assay one concerted effort at curing Janice," I suggested.

            "And if it fails, we can take further action," Caine added. "Yes, let's do so."

            As we walked back into the infirmary, Galoran and Alexander were still in the middle of a heated discussion, and I just caught Galoran exclaiming loudly: "Well, what's in a name anyway? Call it a scientific alliance, if you will…"

            "No, Galoran," Alex interrupted him forcefully, "I want this to be taken care of." There was a finality to his tone of voice that strongly reminded me of Benedict.

            "Okay, okay," Galoran muttered annoyedly, before glancing up at us. "I believe we should do something to improve this young lady's condition," he said almost sincerely. "Would the two of you care to assist me?" Once again I exchanged a glance with Caine, who was looking very suspicious indeed. This was more or less what we had decided to do, but with Galoran's open and downright enthusiastic attitude towards the Archai I was beginning to have some doubts myself. I could see Caine contemplating the possibility that the attack on Janice had just been a feint to lure him or perhaps even the both of us into this trap, but to me that seemed just a bit too elaborate to be true. So, I nodded my assent to Galoran, and after a moment's hesitation so did Caine.

            "Very well then," Galoran said. "We'll be acting on the assumption that she is still suffering from some sort of mental attack, which was enabled by the use of Power."

            "She could have been an easy target too," I said. "After all, she's an initiate of the Crystal Spire Power."

            "Yes, that may have rendered her more vulnerable," Galoran agreed. "The most direct way to deal with this would be to seek entrance to her mind, although there is no telling what we'll find there."

            "We'll deal with whatever it is when we get there," I replied firmly, but Caine wasn't looking so happy. He was still casting suspicious glances at Galoran, who appeared not to notice.

Suddenly I was struck by the notion of them acting out this little scene for me. Too far-fetched, you might object, but remember that Galoran was the one who had rescued Caine from Rinaldo's assassination attempt and had initiated him in the Power of the Nexus. Or so Lisa had told us, way back when. Point was, Caine may be my father and all, and things may have cleared up between the two of us, but there were some things that he still had neglected to explain to me, so somewhere in the back of my mind there still lurked the uneasy feeling that he might just be stringing me along. And of course I hated myself for harbouring the thought in the first place, but then, what's an average Amberite to do?

            Galoran indicated that he would be willing to make the actual attempt, but that he needed Caine and me to give him back-up. While he would be rummaging around in her mind, we would have to guard his and make sure nothing would try to take him over as well. Galoran placed the palms of his hands lightly on Janice's forehead, and when Caine and I had both placed a hand on his shoulder, enabling a light contact, he started to concentrate. One minute went by, then two, and all seemed to remain quiet. Then I sensed Galoran withdrawing his mind, seemingly still himself.

            "There is something that is apparently acting as some sort of amplifier," he said once out of the link. "That's a bit of a problem. The mental attack itself isn't all that powerful, but this amplifier quite messes things up."

            "What kind of thing is it?" Alexander asked.

            "I would assume…," Galoran began, but hesitated.

            "One of those Crystal Spires?" Alex insisted, and Galoran nodded absent-mindedly. He was apparently already thinking of other things beyond Janice's problem again. It was rather difficult to keep him focused.

            "Could we try to shield her from this amplifier's influence?" I asked.

            "Maybe with the Nexus?" Alex added.

            "No, Nexus would be of little use here," Galoran muttered. "It wouldn't be able to shield her completely, for this amplifier is somewhat Nexus related too."

            "I could try using Pattern," I said.

            "Yes, that might work better."

            "Alright, but I won't be able to function as your back-up at the same time."

            "Very well," he grumbled, "then I'll just have to rely on Caine. And Alexander, I guess," he added. Not that Alex was such a mental powerhouse, but I think he realised just in time that trusting only Caine with his mental well-being might not be that wise. Suspicion and counter-suspicion, that was how the game was played.

            So, I quickly wove my Weave once more, and watched as Galoran went in again, this time with Alexander at his right shoulder. Things went very quiet and in silence the minutes crept by, but slowly a change seemed to come over Janice's unconscious body. The twitching and straining of her muscles became less and less, until she lay perfectly still. She was still looking rather pale, however.

            "Well, I think I did it," Galoran said with a smug look as he resurfaced.

            "What or who was she fighting in there," Alexander wanted to know, "and what were they trying to achieve?"

            "It wasn't one single who or what," Galoran replied, "there were more of them. Quite a lot, actually, and they were pretty powerful too. When it comes to that, I must admit that I'm not entirely sure that I managed to achieve just what I wanted. The attackers have been evicted from her mind, that much is certain, but I can't tell how Janice herself came out of this whole ordeal." He shook his head pensively. "It was a strange kind of connection these attackers had," he mused. "It was as if they were mentally still connected to some other place, or something to that effect."

            "The Kreel," I said.

            "What are they?" Alexander asked immediately.

            "A shared-consciousness being that is able to spread out over a large number of bodies. They remain in contact with the collective no matter where they are."

            "Could be," Galoran muttered. "I'm not sure, though, that that was them. It could have been an attack by several individuals using the same Power medium." That was possible too, I guess. Janice's erstwhile colleagues in Quendor sprang to mind right away.

            "The thing I would like to know," Alexander said, "is what it is that Janice knows or can do that makes her so dangerous to them that they decide to attack her so openly. As far as I can tell, the mode of attack is one that could have been used anywhere in Shadow, save for Amber perhaps, so the question is: why here? And why now?" His gaze moved from me to Caine and back again, but we both refrained from answering immediately. Galoran's remarks about the linking of fates and scientific alliances were yet too fresh in our minds.

            "The point is that this is really a violation of our treaty," Alexander resumed unperturbedly. "I for one cannot imagine them risking something like this without valid reason. They must have been acting under some time constraint too, for from the execution it seems that this attack couldn't have waited a day or two either."

            "However, when it comes right down to it," I said grimly, "how much is there that they cannot risk without valid reason? I mean, are you really in a position where you can afford to object to these kind of actions?"

            "This happens to be official neutral territory," Alex replied, looking a bit nettled by my remark. "The occasion happens to be the official opening of their embassy. If I was to let this slip by without doing anything…"

            "On the other hand," I cut in, "you don't have anyone identified as the culprit. We may all claim that Lothair and his people were behind this attack, but we don't have any real evidence, do we?"

            "No," Alex said grudgingly, "but the question still remains why they would try to pull something like this right here and right now. And on a mere Shadow dweller too, or at least that's all she is according to Galoran."

            "Janice is no mere Shadow being," I said darkly. Still, it was a pity that he had managed to get the discussion back to her instead of dwelling on Galoria's inability to stand up to their new neighbours.

            "Fact is that they displayed a new mode of attack here tonight," Alex plunged on, "one that had been unknown to us so far. They could have saved this as a surprise measure for later, but instead they decided to show us what they can do, and right under Caine's nose too."

            "Well," I sighed, "it's no use asking me about their reasoning. You'd have better luck asking them instead."

            "I can think of some reasons why they would attack in this manner," Caine suddenly said. "Janice has spent most of her time in Amber lately. We had not planned on spending the night in your palace, but we would have gone back to Amber immediately. It could be that the reach of this particular mode of attack doesn't stretch quite that far yet. In other words, this may have been their only opportunity."

            "The Crystal Spire that's close to Galoria is nearing completion," Alex mused, seemingly relenting a little. "The one near Amber may not be that far along. Of course, the Pattern may have a distorting effect too, while the Nexus may in fact facilitate such an attack. In that case they couldn't have done this anywhere else. And she must have presented some kind of risk to them."

            "Well, she is the only one on our side who has been initiated in this Crystal Spire Power," I said, "and they may very well be planning to do something on that front."

            "Do you know whether she's able to locate these Spires from a distance?" Alex asked.

            "Could be," I replied vaguely. Actually I knew she could, but there was no need to tell him that.

            "Anyway," he said, "I'm convinced that Lothair and his people regard her as a potential threat. When you go back to Amber, you'd better be careful."

**

            "Oh," I said casually, "I don't think we're leaving just yet. If you don't mind, I think we could use another private moment." I was looking at Caine as I said this, and he nodded. We left Alexander in the infirmary, keeping watch over Janice's unconscious body, while Galoran had slipped away back to his reasearch lab. As soon as we had found a deserted sitting room, I set the Weave again. I was getting enough practice this way.

            "Alright," I said, "What's your take on the whole situation?"

            "Quite dangerous, I'd say. I'm torn between taking swift and immediate action and taking things just a bit more carefully. I'm wondering whether they haven't done this to Janice to force us to act too hastily. Then again, we cannot be certain, and it may just have been a straightforward attack to take her out." Cagey, cautious, careful Caine. Well, if he wouldn't plot our course, I would.

            "I'm torn too," I said, "though not in the same way as you are. No, I see two possible courses of action. The first is that we take swift and immediate action to put Julian on the Throne of Amber. That has its pros and cons. Alternatively, we take swift and immediate action to form a broader and stronger Amberite alliance in order to kick the Enemy out of Amber as quickly as possible." Caine studied my firm expression, careful not to let anything of his own feelings show.

            "I think I would be able to pull off that first option…," he said.

            "But are you sure?" I insisted.

            "I believe I can handle it." He still didn't sound completely positive, though.

            "And will you able to do it in such a way that we end up with a strong and stable Amber that will allow us to proceed accordingly?"

            "That will be harder," he admitted.

            I pressed on: "It's no use if we end up in a bigger mess than we already are. I've been talking to Murlas tonight, and believe me, we cannot afford to keep on muddling through from one mess to the other."

            "No, I think you're right," Caine said, regaining some of his usual firm composure. "The Courts are too weak. Galoria has been neutralised. Sherwyn has never been a powerful player in the game. So, it's up to us. However, do you have anything in mind if we're going to follow that second course of yours?"

            "Did you talk to Benedict?" I asked in return.

            "Benedict." Hmm, was that a slight hint of disapproval in his voice? "No, Julian did, I believe. And Benedict is always difficult. He has a way of seeing these situations in a slightly different light. I wouldn't expect Julian to have been very open with him about his intentions. About our intentions," he corrected himself with a wry smile. "Benedict is always just about the last hurdle you've got to take in cases like these." The voice of experience. I needed to know the full situation, however, if we were to proceed.

            "I'll try and Trump Julian," I said, taking out my cards, "and see what passed between Benedict and him. And then we can plan further."

            To my surprise Julian was still at the party, dancing the last dance, or so it would seem. He merely glanced from me to Caine and nodded, indicating that he would be with us shortly. Some minutes later he showed up and listened attentively while I gave him the brief version of what had happened to Janice. Julian was suitably quick on the uptake, realising as I did that we needed to act immediately or risk losing the opportunity. However, while he appeared to think that he would be able to count on a majority of our relatives' support, there would still be a sufficiently large cadre of Bleys supporters, which would certainly make an immediate ascension to the Throne troublesome to say the least. He agreed with me that we couldn't afford any further problems, but he didn't think it would be wise to wait.

            "That's why we need to rethink our options," I said.

            "I'm open to suggestions," Julian replied with a calculating look.

            "Did you by any chance talk to Benedict?"

            "Hmm, Benedict." Well, at least Julian only looked thoughtful when I mentioned his name. "Yes, I spoke to him, but I mainly tried to gauge his current attitude towards Random. He was noncommittal, as usual, but I got the strong impression that he's not yet quite prepared to take the next step. Benedict still regards Random as the rightful King of Amber, and he doesn't seem prepared to see it any other way. He made one remark that led me to infer that if we were to take up arms against Random right now, we would find Benedict in charge of the defenses. Then again, if we were to handle this carefully, and he were to be away at the time…" He shrugged. "Anyway, that's as much as I gathered. Benedict is a man of few words. However, he clearly wasn't too happy with the current situation either, but not unhappy enough yet to break his oath. If someone were to ask him openly to support them against Random, he would have to see this as an act of treason, so simply no one is asking." That was more or less as I had expected, but Julian had misread me as to why I needed to know about Benedict. He would be crucial, but in a more unifying way.

            "Alright," I said. "Earlier this evening someone suggested a course of action to me, which at that moment I rejected because it simplt didn't seem practical. However, things being what they are now, it's suddenly become relevant. The plan is to try and get Benedict to agree to take up the Regency as a temporary replacement for Random on the grounds of Random's current incompetence, or something like that." Caine frowned and Julian looked more pensive. Well, I hadn't exactly expected them to be ravingly enthusiastic about this.

            "It would be very hard," Julian said. "Just hear me out, for I've known Benedict longer than you have. Benedict acts according to the letter of the law. The Family Law of Amber does allow for certain situations that might warrant the kind of actions that you're proposing, but there's a whole list of conditions to be met before steps can be taken. Unfortunately, Random is still some way away from meeting these conditions completely."

            "He may be," I objected, "but if we wait much longer it won't matter anymore."

            "That's the whole problem," Julian replied. "You want to take action before it gets that far, and the fact that I'm here talking about this with you means that we're basically in agreement over this." At this Caine nodded. "However, Benedict is a different story altogether. And there are others like him who would rather err on the side of caution. Someone like Gerard, for instance, wouldn't be going along with this so easily either."

            "That's all very well," I sighed, "but I'm afraid that we simply don't have any other choices. We're not quite sure yet as to what happened to Janice tonight, but our strongest suspicion is that it involved the Kreel. Remember that she has been present at most of our meetings. This means that there is a good chance that the Enemy now knows almost everything that we know, as well as anything else that may be going on." And how sure could I be that my mind wipe on her had been totally successful? If they got wind of that little gem, we might as well forget about Random, Vialle, and Ruby altogether. I sighed again and smirked: "Although someone would have to be completely blind not to have noticed by now that we are up to something. But if they knew exactly what we were planning…"

            "It's still a question as to what their goal really is," Caine said. "If their first priority is to keep Amber from getting involved in their bigger conflict, they would be likely to take countermeasures should we try anything. However, if the whole point of this exercise is to keep Amber turned in on itself, to keep us busy with our internal problems and conflicts so they wouldn't have to pay us any heed, then there might be a chance that they will simply withdraw. It all depends on their goals and their overall strategy. What are they trying to accomplish? And there is a subtle difference between the two possiblities I've just mentioned. They want to keep Amber out of the equation, but at what cost? I know there are a lot of Kreel in Amber, but is there anything else?"

            "It's very likely that there is a Crystal Spire in the vicinity of Rebma," I said. "Although it may not have been fully constructed yet. But as to what else they may have up their collective sleeves, I couldn't say. Their neutrality pact with Galoria gives me reason to believe that their resources may not be as infinite as they would like us to think."

            "It's very probable they want to avoid having to wage a war on several fronts," Caine said. "This could mean that they might not continue their fight with Amber if Amber were to focus on other things. They might not value their position in Amber that highly to defend it at all cost." He noticed my sceptical look and added: "I'm not saying that this is absolutely true, I'm merely speculating."

            "I take it that by now the both of you are aware of Lothair's reasons for coming to our Reality?" I asked.

            "They're after Ornach, aren't they? That means their main conflict will be with the Courts, for he has fully entrenched himself there. Ornach is well protected by the rest of Chaos, and I don't see him giving up that position any time soon. I must admit that there's still something to be said for Random's policy of non-intervention, even though you and I may not agree with it." Trust Caine to be able to see the other side of anything.

            "No," I said, "I still think we should approach Benedict and explain the situation to him. And if it really comes down to it, I believe that there's something I could do to convince him. However, if the both of you would rather not see Benedict become Regent, the whole deal is off."

            "It would be so much easier if we could be pulling all the strings ourselves," Caine complained. "Benedict is the one variable that is beyond our control. That will be annoying, but on the other hand…"

            "Look," Julian said, "I don't care primarily about taking the Throne for ourselves, I want to bring an end to this situation. And fact is that if I were to take Random's place, we would end up wasting all our time with internal conflict and strive."

            "Bleys would never agree to you taking the Throne," I said, "and as soon as Fiona's back to lend him her support…"

            "Exactly. We've all seen this before, and I think at the moment it's not the right way to go."

            "And there might be other parties that could try and make our lives miserable." Benedict and Gerard, for instance, but people like Corwin or Llewella or Flora could also have their objections to the idea of King Julian the First.

            "Well, rather Benedict than Bleys in any case," Julian said darkly. "I don't trust Bleys at all."

            "Nothing personal," I said with a smile, "but I think that Bleys's sentiments may not differ all that much from yours. I would expect him to prefer Benedict over you too. No offense, though."

            "None taken. It's a logical conclusion. And if Benedict is the least of our possible evils, we may as well go ahead and talk to him. Although there is still a risk that he will refuse us, which will leave us completely unable to do anything."

            "If he does refuse us," I replied firmly, "he'll be taking full responsibility for dealing with the Kreel situation, and he can try to kick them out of Amber by himself for all I care."

            "He'll never manage it," Julian said. "Perhaps with Fiona's help…"

            "Well, I hope he realises this too."

            We decided that it would be best to talk to Benedict together to impress upon him the seriousness of the whole situation. And since time was ticking away, we had better do it now…