Chapter 110: One Good Turn

"Give me something to lose, give me something to gain,

Give me something to believe in.

Even if it ain't quite right

Give me something I can pretend,

That might do me some good.

Yeah, uh huh, yeah, that might do me some good!"

What Am I Gonna Do? - The Residents

Our footsteps echoed down the strangely quiet corridor, seemingly amplified by the green and purple tiles that covered both floor, walls, and ceiling. The design was hard to take in at a first glance, with many unexpected curves and loops that catered more to Chaosian sensibilities than to mine. I found its effect to be rather unnerving. The sight of the few demonic servants we passed on the way didn't help either, although I guessed I ought to be used to them by now. Perhaps it was just the sharp contrast of the eerie silence after all the bustle in Galoria that was getting to me. That and the prospect of the coming conversation.

The long corridor spiralled down and inwards, then turned sharply to the right, to end at a set of steps leading up to a heavy wooden door. Taureth knocked and opened the door without waiting for a reply, stepping aside to usher me in. As I entered he gave me a final encouraging nod before he quietly closed the door behind me, leaving me alone to face his father.

This being the first time I'd visited Ornach's study, I was struck by its close resemblance to Random's study and de facto conference room back in Amber. Bookcases lined the walls, but the room was really dominated by the huge desk in its centre, almost completely covered by stacks of reports and other papers. Momentarily looking up from the page he was just finishing, Ornach beckoned me to pull up one of the two free chairs. As I did so, I caught a glimpse out of the room's only window of a peaceful woodland scene under a royal blue sky.

Waiting for Ornach to finish, I reflected on the little time I'd spent in his company thus far. After our first  conversation, back when Taureth had been delivered from his Trump prison, we'd only exchanged one or two words whenever we had chanced to meet in the halls and corridors of his Ways. He wasn't one for pleasantries, and he tended to strike me as rather over-bearing and somewhat larger than life (which, in all honesty, he was). One seldom saw him smile, and as a result he gave the impression of usually being rather grumpy. His real mood was hard to fathom, however, as many who had talked to him could testify and as I also came to realise during this conversation. He would listen attentively, yet could alter the course of the conversation with one well-placed word. Sometimes he would just let you go on about a single topic without so much as saying a word himself until you're really floundering, yet at other times he would all of a sudden cut to the chase. It all seemed to depend on his mood, which as I've said couldn't be gauged.

"I take it we can talk freely here?" I said as Ornach put aside his papers. He nodded, so I continued: "I don't know whether Taureth has indicated why I asked for this meeting?"

Ornach shrugged non-committally. "It would be convenient if you were to state your purpose once more." All right, he wasn't going to meet me halfway, or at least not right away. Well, I'd better not beat about the bush.

"Some time ago," I said, "Taureth rather formally asked me for my daughter's hand in marriage."

"Yes, I know," he said calmly. "I have no immediate objections myself."

"Neither do I," I said, "but there are some issues that could play a role in this marriage which I would like to see clarified, by you if no one else."

"I can imagine you would," he said. When I didn't reply immediately, looking as I was for a way to breach the subject subtly, he said: "Let me cut a few corners here. How much do you already know?"

I laughed. "How much? Well, a tale has reached my ears about Archai, and about sub-Archai, and about a conflict between Lothair and you." I hesitated, but if my answer had somehow annoyed or otherwise displeased him he didn't show it, so I decided to plunge ahead. "It's also a tale of you having committed a crime, at least by Archai standards."

Ornach nodded, but his expression remained neutral. "That's about it?" he asked.

"More or less, in a nutshell. There's also a lot of talk about what the Archai really are, and about their life cycle and the way they are supposed to procreate "

"May I ask who is the source of all this information?" Again I hesitated, so he added, quite calmly: "I can venture a guess who the indirect source is, of course, but it would be nice to know what course this tale travelled."

Hmm, most of this had come from Murlas, I realised, but even if I was about to name any names here, I certainly wouldn't name his. Still, his question was a valid one. "I'm really not quite sure about the actual source," I said. "You're undoubtedly aware of all the trouble that's been plaguing Amber lately. Quite recently there was a Family meeting to address the various problems, at which such matters as the Archai were also discussed. Quite extensively I must add."

"And now you're looking for confirmation, I take it?"

"Confirmation? Not really, no, although I am interested in hearing your version. That's not my primary reason for coming here, though. No, what's more important to me is that as far as Diana and I have been able to tell Taureth doesn't know anything about any of this. Now, if you were to deny everything we've heard about the Archai, that would of course explain why he's so unaware."

"Oh, I guess I could try to tell you that, I suppose," Ornach mused, "but it would simply not be true." For a moment his gaze seemed to turn inward and his expression became vaguely pensive. "It's rather a long time since anyone addressed me as an Archai," he said. "Actually, it's the first time in all these ages that this issue has come up. Of course, I have been fully aware all this time that our family has a different origin than the Courts, or Amber, or anywhere in Shadow, but no one else here knew about that. I have deliberately never told anyone. The fact that Lothair has finally gone public with this information will no doubt cause some trouble, but I'm not going to deny it. There's no point for me to do so.

"My children - my subs, if you will - have indeed not been told anything either. It would be difficult to deal with that aspect of oneself if it couldn't be expressed. My subs are inherenly Archai, but in their current state it would be very difficult or even impossible for them to employ their full powers. There seemed little point in saddling them with such a legacy until the time would come when they would be able to use it. It was safer too.

"Taureth always wondered why his first wife couldn't bear him any children. I could have told him, yet I didn't. Under the current circumstances it would be unwise to keep these facts from him any longer. If I don't tell him, Lothair surely will."

"Or he will hear it from some other source," I said. "As I said, these matter were discussed quite extensively during the Amber Family meeting."

"So by now most of this Reality know about this," Ornach concluded stoically.

"Aside from that there's also the fact that Lothair's made it quite clear during his negotiations with Galoria that you are his enemy."

            "Yes, he would say as much. That too is true, at least from his perspective. However, his feud is a bit more personal than he's letting on to. He rather likes to present himself as Justice incarnate, the long arm of the Archai that must bring the criminal to justice, but that's not entirely true. In that regard he does not have all that much backing. Should Lothair fail in his mission, there won't be any other Archai coming to finish the job. Lothair has formed his own interpretation of a sentence that was passed. He simply felt he needed to take action personally.

"I won't tire you too much with details," Ornach said, "but it's probably enough to know that the feud is real and that it is rather personal."

"Oh, I must confess I'm not too interested in all the details," I rushed to say. "They wouldn't be of much help anyway, although it is interesting to hear your side of the story. However, I'm more interested in hearing what will happen now."

"What happens now?" Ornach mused rhetorically. "I'm not intent on this conflict, but Lothair is. With his current tactics it will be hard for me to avoid it. He is very gradually building up to a confrontation between us, but he's doing this through other parts of this Reality, for he's not yet ready to face me directly." His voice was purely factual and quite devoid of pride or other emotions. Suddenly he struck me as more alien than I'd seen him before. "I don't think it would be in the interest of this Reality if this confrontation were to take place," he said. "For ultimately I shall defend myself."

"Is there still a possibility of moving this battle between the two of you to some other Reality?" I asked softly, disheartened by his inevitable vision of our final fate.

"No," he replied. "Not under the current circumstances. It would take too much time to change, and there is no time." He halted momentarily, as if he was trying to assess how much he should tell me. "I've entrenched myself in this Reality in certain ways. It was necessary to fit certain requirements. It also means that I lack the mobility I would otherwise have had. To change that I would first have to activate all my subs, and that act in itself would tax this Reality severely.

"Whether you give Taureth and your daughter your blessing is up to you," he said, shrugging slightly. A curiously human gesture. "In his current form Taureth is as close to a normal member of the Courts of Chaos as can be, albeit that his interests are rather broader than usual, and that he has the abilities to satisfy them. Naturally, he is quite a bit older too. If your daughter desires to have children, there's going to be problems." Something in the way he said this made me think that it would not be completely impossible, but that it would not be wise to try. "I shall take this up with Taureth," he said. "He also ought to be aware of the consequences. I don't think your daughter would survive if she bore him a child."

Well, that ruled that option right out as far as I was concerned. "I think," I said, "that if Taureth and Diana still want to get married when they are fully aware of all the complications and consequences, I shall give them my blessing."

"There's one aspect that should certainly be discussed, being Diana's formal status," Ornach said thoughtfully. "I'm still in doubt. Ordinarily I would require her to join the House and sever all ties with her family, but at the moment that is a most dangerous option."

"Well, it's not a political marriage in any case," I sighed,  "so it's either one thing or the other. There's not much in between, unless there would be a way for Diana to marry Taureth and become a member of House Ornach without pledging allegiance to Chaos, but I don't really know whether that's at all possible."

"If she doesn't swear allegiance," Ornach said quite calmly, "she won't officially be a citizen of the Courts. Naturally, she would be very welcome in my family, that would never be a problem. I don't care too much for such formalities myself. However, it would make a difference for her personal safety in the Courts. Should she be here under those circumstances, none of the Chaosians would feel obliged to come to her aid, should anything happen to her. We of House Ornach would of course feel bound to defend her, that goes without saying, but without official citizenship status she would not be anyone in the Courts and any aid she might receive would be nothing more than a courtesy. This ought to be perfectly clear. As a citizen of the Courts of Chaos she would have more rights.

"I regard this as one possibility. It would have her be less involved in local affairs, which would also make a difference for Lothair. If she were to take the other option and become a full member of my House and a loyal citizen of the Courts, Lothair would, given an oportunity, have her killed just to be certain, without her even being an Archai or a sub. If he only sees her as Taureth's mistress, I'd expect him to act differently. Naturally, he could still use her to get to Taureth if he so chooses. He is rather unpredictable. We haven't spoken in quite a while."

Unpredictable Lothair might be, but I made no secret of the fact that I had plenty of reasons to expect the worst from him. My barely concealed anger did very little to impress Ornach, though. His feud with Lothair may be personal, yet he had apparently already come to realise how futile rage would be. He still wanted me to be absolutely clear about Diana's future, though.

"According to the laws and customs of the Courts it is possible to accept your daughter as a full member of the House Ornach," he said, "but this requires her oath of allegiance to the King. In order to avoid any future complications this new oath would have to replace the one she swore to Amber, although she would naturally remain a member of the Amber Family. She would be expected to take the side of the Courts if it ever came to a conflict between the two."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of all the implications," I said, though having this all spelled out made me wonder once more about my dear brother. What side would he take should the Courts and Amber ever resume their earlier hostilities? I would ask him, I decided, the next time we would have a moment to talk in private, even though I also realised he might not give me a straight answer. As for the marriage, however… "Whatever the case may be," I said, "as far as I'm concerned the choice is entirely up to Taureth and Diana."

Ornach again shrugged slightly and nodded. "I wouldn't mind having her join us," he said. "Both possibilities have their pros and cons."

"But whatever the choice…," I began, but faltered. "Look," I said, "I may not have to tell you this explicitly, but I'll do so just the same: this marriage won't be political in any way, meaning that Amber won't feel bound to offer her support and assistance, whatever the form their union may ultimately take."

"Will Amber be likely to veto their marriage, or have they left this completely in your hands?"

"It is up to me," I replied. Or rather, it was up to Taureth and Diana, for I'd already made it clear that I wasn't going to stand in their way.

"I can imagine Random, or Benedict, or whoever is in charge right now, would prefer the wedding not to be too official, but that's just a guess."

I smiled. "Since we are talking about Amber," I said, "there is another matter I'd like to discuss. As I already said before, you are undoubtedly aware of the current problems we're facing back home. There's a theory we have come up with which, if successful, might help to solve a large part of these problems. However, we need Taureth's special knowledge and skills for this."

"If Taureth agrees to help you, I will not object either," Ornach said. "Considering my personal level of involvement in the conflict, I would support any initiative that would trouble my adversary. I don't believe it's right to take Amber out of the game in this way." I smiled, but he wasn't going to give away any free favours, though. Calmly he added: "I do expect Amber fully to appreciate the service it is being rendered and to offer something of a similar magnitude in return. Something along the lines of a one-time strategic Amberite strike to help solve some single problem, I think. I don't expect Amber to support me during the entire conflict. Taureth helps you solve one specific problem, and Amber helps me solve one specific problem. Similar risks, similar level of importance."

"Hmm," I said, my expression a bit doubtful, "I'll have to take that up with the people in charge. However, should the Crown, so to speak, decide against such a deal…"

"Then the Crown wouldn't be acting very sensibly," Ornach interjected bluntly. I got the feeling there was very little room for negotiation, but I had to try.

"To what extend would it be possible to strike up such a deal on one's personal title?" I asked.

"Instead of the Crown of Amber, Dorian of Amber, you mean?" He regarded me steadily for a few seconds before he continued. "I would agree to that, provided there are some back-up guarantees in case you were suddenly to perish." A cheerful thought, but I guess he was right. There was enough danger for any of us right now. "Someone like Caine would do," Ornach said. "That would seem reasonable considering everything Taureth has already done for that part of your Family. Still, if Amber itself would want to deal, it would not be a problem."

"Like I said, I would have to go back and discuss it first. However, it would be best for me, and for Amber, and for everyone involved really, if as soon as possible Taureth could…"

"Oh, as soon as we have come to an agreement, he can go and help you," Ornach said, with the kind of finality I was getting used to hearing from him. That wasn't what I had been trying to say, however.

"You have to realise that this theoretical plan we need Taureth's help with is only a theory right now," I said. "It largely depends on whether he will be able to do what we ask him to. It could be that he says our plan cannot be carried out at all."

"You're free to discuss the details with Taureth. If he doesn't agree with your plan, we'll need to have another meeting." Something in his tone made me didn't like the sound of this. I once again emphasized the importance of Taureth being informed of his heritage, since our project could bring him in close contact with Lothair's people, and he would be spending time with various Amberites anyway. Ornach said he would talk to him, and he invited me to stay for dinner, implying that by then Taureth would know the truth and we would be able to discuss our solution to the Kreel problem. With that I was dismissed, so I wandered back through the Ways to my own semi-permanent guest chamber where I proceeded to Trump Random.

Gerard and Janice had in the meantime told the King about their daring scheme to deal with the Kreel menace, and he was guardedly optimistic. When I told him about my conversation with Ornach, he immediately wanted to know whether Ornach had, directly or otherwise, confirmed the various stories we'd heard about the Archai. I merely nodded, but quickly turned to the conditions Ornach had placed on Taureth's participation in our plans. Naturally, Random wasn't too happy about this, but he seemed content enough with the fact that I hadn't struck any deals yet. He instructed me to contact him again once Taureth had fully been briefed, at which point he would send one of our relatives over to negotiate the finer points of the deal with Ornach, while Taureth and I would be able to get on with the practical stuff. Random couldn't yet tell me who would be the negotiator, but that didn't matter too much, he said, for it was the kind of job he could entrust to nearly any of us. And anyway, Bill Roth, the Royal Counsellor, would be coming along to make sure it would be an airtight contract, so there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

As I put away Random's Trump, I thought how amusing it might be to listen in on these coming negotiations. Ornach was a tough customer, as my recent conversation had showed, but the little I'd seen from Bill Roth made me think that any contract these two would work out between them would be well worth watching. From that point of view Random's assessment that it didn't really matter who of our relatives would be there was quite right: we'd just need someone to act as the King's authority, and Bill Roth would make sure that we wouldn't be signing away the crown jewels.

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