Mirelle's villa, year one, day one

Well, I finally learned the name of the stranger with pieces of glass over his eyes. His name is Driscoll and the pieces of glass are called "sunglasses". Driscoll wears them to protect his mind as well as his eyes. Apparently not all Amberites are equally resistant to the powers of the mind. My plan to explore these strange new worlds of "shadow" did not quite go as I had anticipated. I returned home to pack a few belongings and select some guards to accompany me. I chose Jan, Arn, Randal and Lorin, along with Kira as my maidservant. We departed early the next morning, and it was quite exciting for a while. This shifting of shadow felt rather odd at first, but after a while, I felt like I was getting the hang of it.

It was around midmorning when we crested the top of a hill and I saw a figure waiting atop the next one. Somehow, I knew it was Driscoll. He told me that there was a civil war looming among the Amberites, and asked for my help in stopping it. Of course I agreed, and we walked together for a time. I noticed that he appeared to be shifting shadow, but he had an easier time of it than I. I suppose I will get better with practice.

After a while we reached our destination, which looked much like my homeland in appearance. Driscoll told me that he was going to leave me with a friend, who would explain things to me. He warned me that she did not consider herself a god, and that it bothered her to be treated as such. I do not understand this attitude at all, but I agreed to respect her wishes on the matter. Driscoll then introduced me to his friend, who's name is Mirelle.

Mirelle showed me many squares of paper with pictures of people on them, which she called "trumps". According to her, if I stared long enough at one of the pictures, I would actually be able to talk to that person. This is how Driscoll was able to talk to me the night we first met. Mirelle says that these trumps can only be drawn by certain people, but she did not say whether this was an innate power, or one that could be learned. She went through the trumps with me, and told me a little bit about the relative pictured on each of them. I was careful not to look too long, since we do not want them to know about me yet. One of them was covered in silk, and Mirelle told me that this was a trump of Fiona. Mirelle fears that she can sense if anyone simply touches her trump. I cannot imagine what kind of power that would take. I recognized only two of the pictures she showed to me, one of Driscoll, and one of myself. I looked at the cards long enough to feel that I could recognize the people portrayed on them if I met them, and then I returned them to Mirelle. I think this surprised her somewhat, although I do not understand why.

I asked for more information about Amber, and she showed me to a library where there were some books that I could peruse. Their writing was strange to me at first, but I found that within a short while I had no trouble understanding their meaning. I must remember to ask Mirelle about this. Perhaps it is a language that only gods can read?

After I was done reading, I asked Mirelle about the sides in this incipient war. She took the trumps and made four piles. One pile contained my relatives with flame colored hair. There names are Bleys, Brand and Fiona. These, Mirelle told me, were the enemies of Amber. Another contained several men with black hair and the air of warriors. They are named Eric, Caine, Julian and Gérard. These were in opposition to the first pile. A third pile contained those who are missing or undecided. They were Osric, Finndo, Benedict and Corwin. The final pile represented those of us who are trying to prevent this war from happening. Mirelle mentioned that enemy forces had some mysterious allies from a place named Chaos (which seems an odd name to me). We passed the rest of the afternoon talking of Amber and the Pattern, and things were uneventful until dinner.

While we were in the midst of eating, Driscoll returned, along with an odd guest. She wore the most uncomfortable looking clothing, and did not look happy to be here. Her name is Heather. Driscoll (who finally told me his name at this point) said that he found her in shadow, and the two of them proceeded to argue until Driscoll left.

Later that evening, I was passing by Heather's room, when I heard her talking to someone else. I could only hear her voice, so I assume that she was using one of those trump pictures that Mirelle showed me. It sounded to me like she intended to injure Driscoll. It is obvious that she is not here to help us stop the war. Later on, when I asked Driscoll about her, he said he brought her here to keep an eye on her. But if that is the case, why did he allow her to leave? And why did he let her remove his sunglasses? Without their protection, she could easily have killed him. I do not understand Amberites at all. I would never willingly let an enemy put me at such a severe disadvantage.

And for all their talk about secrecy, another Amberite just popped right in, much to Mirelle's discomfort. I talked to him during the brief time he was here. His name is Felix, and he was brought to the villa by an associate of Driscoll's named Ariadne. Driscoll was somewhat upset when he found Felix here, since he is apparently one of the undecided ones, and escorted him out. Given the way people keep popping in and out of here, I do not see how they expect to keep their plans secret.

I learned one other thing of interest. Driscoll has these odd cylindrical objects called cigarettes that he is fond of lighting and placing in his mouth. I was curious and tried one, and they are quite vile. I could not stop coughing for the next ten minutes! I cannot figure out why Driscoll finds them appealing. Oh well, the one good thing about Heather taking Driscoll's sunglasses off is that I finally got to see his eyes. They are the most beautiful shade of blue. I have to admit, I find him quite attractive. I wonder how he is related to the Amberites I was shown pictures of? And how he found me? Mirelle says he has some ability that helps him to find people in shadow, but I do not know if he was looking for me specifically at the time, or just looking for Amberites in general.

What is most upsetting is that I seem to be no closer to learning who my birth parents are. I did notice a stronger resemblance between myself, Eric, Corwin and Deirdre than with the others, but this could just be coincidence. After all, all of the people in the trumps have the same pater (or so I was told). Mirelle said that it was being looked into, but I hate sitting around waiting. I will have to ask her tomorrow if there is anything I can do to help.

"Outrageous Fortune"
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All text on this page is © 1993-1994 by Kris Fazzari.

Last modified on August 4, 1994 by Kris Fazzari.