Amber, year one, day 131 continued

Evening

We have learned the name of the man responsible for burning several of the Unicorn shrines around here. He is called Dalt, apparently another one of Oberon's children. It seems he raped some woman named Deela, and Dalt was the result. Not surprisingly, he does not hold much love for Amber.

We obtained this information from one of Dalt's men. They had set another shrine on fire, and engaged Julian's forces, so naturally Ahab wanted to investigate. Not having much else to do, Felix, Ariadne and I went along as well. We were ambushed. I told Ahab that we should spread out, but he would not listen. So I had my horse shot out from under me, and received a crossbow bolt in my leg. Not my favorite way to spend an evening. We killed all of them, except for one that I shot in the arm. He tried to slit his throat before we could question him, but I stopped him before he could complete the stroke. We ripped every shred of information about Dalt from his mind. Neither Ahab or I felt particularly inclined to make the process painless. We also learned Dalt's men were to rendezvous in Kashfa. We decided the man might be useful, so Felix stitched him up (mental note: I must start carrying suturing materials myself). I made sure our assailant was awake for most of the experience. Ambush me, will he?

Thankfully I did not have to ride back to Amber. Felix passed me (and the prisoner) through to Driscoll via his Trump. Driscoll was actually quite gallant, and carried me to a bath where I could clean myself. Between the blood from our prisoner and the blood from my horse (Ahab had to slice it in pieces to get it off of me), I must have been quite a sight! Kira certainly seemed to think so. Driscoll stitched my leg up when I was done, and I reported our findings to Random. He already knew about Dalt, but not about the rendezvous in Kashfa. Score one for the younger generation. He had me tell Benedict about the rendezvous, and Benedict actually paid me a compliment! He said I had done good work, which is high praise coming from him.

Ahab and the others showed up shortly afterward, along with Alex and Mebd. Ahab wanted to know if I had talked to Random, but I would not say in front of Alex, so I told him psychically. I am afraid that Alex was offended by this, but he does represent Chaos now, and is no doubt obligated to report what he hears back to their King. Even if he does not wish to help Chaos, why place him in an awkward position? Oh well, we will be heading to Bloody Jake's shortly. I am looking forward to the opportunity to get drunk and relax for a while.

Amber, year one, day 132 (Monday, November 8, 2987)

Early morning

Oh, what a headache I have! I should have known that it is impossible to relax for long in Amber. Things started well enough. Ahab spared me the trouble of limping into town by carrying me to the bar. The man continues to surprising me! One minute he is obnoxious enough to try even Eral's patience, the next he is amazingly considerate. He did not drink very much, but given how little he likes alcohol, I am surprised he drank at all. Coral refrained as well, for diplomatic reasons. She said that she had her country's reputation to uphold. I think she was really afraid that she might be taken advantage of by one of the men. It seems that she was right to be worried, but for the wrong reasons.

My recollection of what happened is rather hazy. I remember Mebd passing out, and I showed Heather one of our drinking games. There was a fight. I think it started when someone bumped into Felix, but I am not sure. At some point after it ended, Ahab said that Coral was missing and left. Ariadne left too. I am not sure if she left with him or later. They returned to Amber together, I remember that. Heather tried to draw a Trump of Coral, but she was too inebriated to do so. She was having trouble even drawing the correct number of arms on the picture.

Somehow we wound up in the main hall of the Castle - I believe we Trumped back. Ahab and Ariadne ran by, but would not stop. I tried to follow them, but I could not keep up. I had not begun to sober up yet, and I am embarrassed to admit that I began calling out their names, like a lost child. Fortunately, I began to regain my senses soon afterwards, and made the sensible decision to head up to my room and lie down. So, of course, that is when I finally found Ahab. Or he found me. He told me that Random placed him in charge of finding Coral. He wanted to talk to Alex, so we tried his quarters. What Ahab suggested to Alex there made me wonder if perhaps he had consumed more alcohol than I had suspected. It seems Ariadne believes Coral was kidnapped by Chaosites, and Ahab wanted to ask Swayvill about it! I cannot imagine what he hoped to accomplish. If Swayvill was responsible, he would hardly admit it to Ahab. If not, I doubt he would react kindly to being accused of such an act, even if it was put politely to him. And Ahab tends to be rather blunt about most things. Alex and I were not able to convince him that this was a really bad idea, so Alex brought Mandor in on the conversation. He thought it was a bad idea as well, but he was very interested in the details of the kidnapping. And, unless I imagined it, he asked Ahab the oddest question. He wanted to know if Coral had walked the Pattern yet. Which implies she is an Amberite. I would guess that it is on her pater's side, since it is obvious that she is not Orkuz's child. Another lost child of Oberon's perhaps? We do seem to have been scattered all over Shadow. I am not sure if Ahab caught the inference. He does tend to be rather focused at times. I think he wants to talk to Dworkin next. I have my doubts as to how useful he will be. Maybe if we tell him that Coral is an Amberite...but he probably knows that already.

I am not sure what to do at this point. I have no idea why Coral was kidnapped in the first place. Someone seems to be trying to provoke a war between Amber and the Golden Circle. First Dormel is murdered, and an Amberite is implicated, then Coral is kidnapped, while with a group of Amberites. Certainly a Chaosite shapeshifter could have taken on the form of an Amberite and murdered Dormel. They may be backing Dalt as well. Or maybe Dalt and Kashfa are behind all this. They also would gain from a war between Amber and Eregnor or Begman. This is not helping my headache at all.

I have learned one lesson from all of this. I can no longer afford to let my guard down while in Amber. Maybe if I was home I might feel differently, but tonight has illustrated quite clearly that I must remain alert while in Amber. Maybe this is why Ahab does not drink very often. I miss the parties we would have at home, where we would drink and love, and not have to worry about being kidnapped or killed. I can see now that I will never have such freedom in Amber. I fear I never will again, no matter where I travel.

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

Last modified on August 5, 1994 by Kris Fazzari.