Nine Princes In Amber Chapter 6 The land was known as Avernus, and the assembled troops were not quite men. I reviewed them the following morning, walking behind Bleys. They were all of them around seven feet in height, had very red skins and little hair, catlike eyes, and six-digited hands and feet. They wore garments that looked as light as silk, but were woven of something else and were mainly gray or blue in color. Each bore two short blades, hooked at the end. Their ears were pointed and their many fingers clawed. The climate was warm and the colors bewilderIng, and everyone thought we were gods. Bleys had found a place where the religion involved brother-gods who looked like us and had their troubles. Invariably, in the terms of this mythos, an evil brother would seize power and seek to oppress the good brothers. And of course there was the legend of an Apocalypse where they themselves would be called upon to stand on the side of the surviving good brothers. I wore my left arm in a black sling and considered those who were about to die. I stood before a trooper and looked up at him. I asked him, "Do you know who Eric is?" "The Lord of Evil," he replied. I nodded and said, "Very good," and passed on. Bleys had custom-made cannon fodder. "How large is your army?" I asked him. "Around fifty thousand," he replied. "I salute those who are about to Give Their All," I told him. "You can't take Amber with fifty thousand men, even providing you can get them all to the foot of Kolvir intact-and you can't It's silly even to consider using these poor bastards against the immortal city, with their toy swords and all." "I know," he said, "but they're not all I've got." "You'll need a lot more." "Then how do three navies sound, half again the size of Caine's and Gerard's fleets put together? "I've a way." "Not yet enough," said I, "and barely a beginning." "I know. I'm still building," he said. "Well, we'd better build a lot more. Eric will sit in Amber and kill us as we march through Shadows. When the remaining forces finally reach the foot of Kolvir, he'll decimate them there. Then there will be the climb to Amber. How many hundred do you think will remain when we reach the city? Enough to be dispatched in five minutes, at almost no cost to Eric. If this is the best you've got, brother Bleys, I have misgivings concerning this expedition." "Eric has announced his coronation in three months' time," he said. "I can triple my forces by then-at least. Perhaps I can even have a quarter of a million Shadow troops to lead against Amber. There are other worlds like this one, and I will penetrate them. I will raise me such a force of holy crusaders as has never been sent against Amber before." "And Eric will have had the same time to intensify his defenses. I don't know, Bleys . . . it's almost a suicide run. I didn't know the full situation when I came here-" "And what have you brought with you?" be asked. "Nothing! It is rumored that you once commanded troops. Where are they?" I turned away from him. "They are no more," I said. "I am certain." "Gould you not find a Shadow of your Shadow?" "I don't want to try," I said. "I'm sorry." "Then what real good are you to me?" "I'll go," I told him, "if that's all you had in mind, if that's all you really wanted me around for-more hodies." "Wait!" he cried out. "I spoke hastily. I don't want to lose your counsel, if nothing else. Stay with me, please. I will even apologize." "That is not necessary," I said, knowing what this thing means to a prince of Amber. "I'll stay. I think I can help you." "Good!" and he clapped me upon my good shoulder. "And I'll get you more troops," I added. "Never fear." And I did. I walked among Shadows, and found a race of furry creatures, dark and clawed and fanged, reasonably manlike, and about as intelligent as a freshman in the high school of your choice-sorry, kids, but what I mean is they were loyal, devoted, honest, and too easily screwed by bastards like me and my brother. I felt like the dee-jay of your choice. Around a hundred thousand worshiped us to the extent of taking up arms. Bleys was impressed and shut up. After a week my shoulder was healed. After two months we had our quarter million and more. "Corwin, Corwin! You're still Corwin!" he said, and we took another drink. But I was feeling kind of funny. Most of these troops were destined to die. I was the agent responsible for much of this. I felt some remorse, though I knew the difference between Shadow and Substance. Each death would be a real death; however, I knew that also. And some nights I dwelled upon the playing cards. The missing Trumps had been restored to the pack I held. One of them was a portrait of Amber itself, and I knew it could bear me back into the city. The others were those of our dead or missing relatives. And one was Dad's, and I skipped it over quickly. He was gone. I stared at each face for a long while to consider what might be gained from each. I cast the cards several times, and the same thing came up on each occasion. His name was Caine. He wore satin that was green and black, and a dark three-cornered hat with a green plume of feathers trailing down behind. At his belt there was an emerald-studded dagger. He was dark. "Caine," I said. After a time, there came a reply. "Who?" he asked. "Corwin," said I. "Corwin! Is this a joke?" "No." "What do you want?" "What've you got?" "You know that." and his eyes shifted and lay upon me, but I watched his hand, which was near to his dagger. "Where are you?" "With Bleys." "There was a rumor you'd shown up in Amber recently-and I wondered at the bandages on Eric's arm." "You're looking at the reason," I said. "What's your price?" "What do you mean?" "Let us be frank and to the point. Do you think Bleys and I can take Eric?" "No, that's why I'm with Eric. And I won't sell out my armada either, if that's what you're after-and I'd imagine you are." I smiled. "Perceptive brother," I replied. "Well, it's been nice talking to you. See you in Amber-maybe." I moved my hand, and he cried out. "Wait!" "Why?" "I don't even know your offer." "Yes. you do," I said. "You've guessed it, and you're not interested." "I didn't say that. It's just that I know where the equities lie." "You mean the power." "Okay, the power. What've you got to offer?" We talked for maybe an hour, after which time the northern seaways were open to the three phantom fleets of Bleys, which might enter expecting reinforcements. "If you fail, there'll be three beheadings in Amber," said he. "But you don't really expect that, do you?" I asked. "No. I think either you or Bleys will sit upon the throne before too very long. I'll be satisfied to serve the winner. That regency would be nice. I'd still like Random's head as part of the price, though." "No deal," I said. "Take it as you've heard it or forget it." "I'll take it." I smiled and placed my palm upon the card and he was gone. Gerard was a matter I'd leave for the morrow. Caine had exhausted me. I rolled into bed and slept. ----- Gerard, when be learned the score, agreed to lay off us. Mainly because it was I who was asking, as he had considered Eric a lesser of potent evils. I concluded the deal quickly, promising him evervthing he asked, as no heads were involved. Then I reviewed the troops again and told them more of Amber. Strangely, they got along like brothers, the big red guys and the little hairy ones. It was sad and it was true. We were their gods, and that was that. ----- I saw the fleet, sailing on a great ocean the color of blood. I wondered. Iin the Shadow worlds through which they sailed, many of them would be lost. I considered the troops of Avemus, and my recruits from the place called Ri'ik. Theirs was the task of marching to Earth and Amber. I shuffled my cards and cast them. I picked up the one called Benedict. For a long while I searched it, but there was nothing but the cold. Then I seized upon Brand's. For another long while there was nothing but the cold. Then there came a scream. It was a horrible, tormented thing. "Help me!" came the cry. "How can I?" I asked. "Who is that?" be asked, and I saw his body writhe. "Corwin." "Deliver me from this place, brother Corwin! Anything you name shall be yours in return!" "Where are you?" "I-" And there came a swirling of things my mind refused to conceive of, and another scream, torn forth as though in agony and ending in silence. Then the coldness came in again. I found that I was shaking. From what, I did not know. I lit a cigarette and moved to the window to consider the night, leaving the cards where they had fallen upon the table-top of my room within the garrison. The stars were tiny and misted over. There were no constellations that I could recognize. A small blue moon dropped quickly through the darkness. The night had come on with a sudden, icy chill and I wrapped my cloak close about me. I thought back to the winter of our disastrous campaign in Russia. Gods! I'd almost frozen to death! And where did it all lead? To the throne of Amber, of course. For that was sufficient justification for anything. But what of Brand? Where was he? What was happening about him, and who had done this thing to him? Answers? None. I wondered, though, as I stared up and out, tracing the path of that blue disk in its descent. Was there something I was missing In the whole picture, some factor I didn't quite dig? No answer. I seated myself at the table once more, a small drink at my hand. I fingered my way through the pack and found Dad's card. Oberon, Lord of Amber, stood before me in his green and his gold. High, wide, and thick, his beard black and shot with silver, his hair the same. Green rings in gold settings and a blade of golden color. It had once seemed to me that nothing could ever displace the immortal liege of Amber from his throne. What had happened? I still didn't know. But he was gone. How had my father met with his end? I stared and concentrated. Nothing, nothing- Something? Something. There came a responding movement, though ever so weak, and the figure on the card turned in upon itself and shriveled to a shadow of the man he had been. "Father?" I asked. Nothing. "Father?" "Yes . . ." Very faint and distant, as though through a seashell, immersed in its monotone humming. "Where are you? What has happened?" "I . ." Long pause. "Yes? This is Corwin, your son. What came to pass in Amber, that you are gone?" "My time," he said, sounding even further away. "Do you mean that you abdicated? None of my brothers has given me the tale, and I do not trust them sufficiently to ask them. Eric now holds the city and Julian guards the Forest of Arden. Caine and Gerard maintain the seas. Bleys would oppose all and I am allied with him. What are your wishes in this matter?" "You are the oaly one-who-has asked," he gasped. "Yes. . ." " 'Yes' what?" "Yes, oppose-them. . ." "What of you? How can I help you?" "I am beyond help. Take the throne. . "I? Or Bleys and I?" "You!" he said. "Yes?" "You have my blessing, . . . Take the throne-and be quick-about it!" "Why, Father?" "I lack the breath- Take it!" Then he, too, was gone. So Dad lived. That was interesting, What to do now? I sipped my drink and thought about it. He still lived, somewhere, and he was king in Amber. Why had he left? Where had he gone? What kind of, which, and how many? Like that. Who knew? Not I. So there was no more to say, for now. However... I couldn't put the thing down. I want you to know that Dad and I never got along very well. I didn't hate him, like Random or some of the others. But I, sure as hell, had no reason to be especially fond of him. He had been big, he had been powerful, and he had been there. That was about it. He was also most of the history of Amber, as we knew it, and the history of Amber stretches back for so many millennia that you may as well stop counting. So what do you do? As for me, I finished my drink and went to bed, ----- The following morning I attended a meeting of Bley's general staff. He had four admirals, each in charge of roughly a quarter of his fleet, and a whole mess of army officers. Altogether there were about thirty of the high-ranking brass at the meeting, big and red or small and hairy, as the case might be. The meeting lasted perhaps four hours, and then we all broke for lunch. It was decided that we would move three days hence. Since it would require one of the blood to open the way to Amber, I was to lead the fleet aboard the flagship, and Bleys would take his infantry through lands of Shadow. I was troubled by this, and I asked him what would have happened had I not shown up to give this assistance. I was told two things in reply: one, if he had had to go it alone, he would have led the fleet through and left them at a great distance from shore, returned in a single vessel to Avernus and led his foot soldiers forward to rendezvous at a given time; and two, he had purposely sought for a Shadow in which a brother would appear to give him aid. I had some misgivings when I heard about the latter, though I knew I was really me. The former smacked of being a bit unworkable, since the fleet would be too far out to sea to receive any signals from the shore, and the chance of missing the date-allowing for mishaps when it came to a body that large-was too great, as I saw it, to encourage a whole big lot of faith In his general plan. But as a tactician, I had always thought him brilliant; and when he laid out the maps of Amber and the outlying Country which he himself had drawn, and when he had explained the tactics to be employed therein, I knew that he was a prince of Amber, almost matchless in his guile. The only thing was, we were up against another prince of Amber, one who occupied what was definitely a stronger position. I was worried, but with the impending Coronation, it seemed about the only course available to us, and I decided to go along for the whole ride. If we lost, we were creamed, but he held the biggest threat available and had a workable time schedule, which I didn't. So I walked the land called Avernus and considered its foggy valleys and chasms, its smoking craters, its bright, bright sun against its crazy sky, its icy nights and too hot days, its many rocks and carloads of dark sand, its tiny, though vicious and poisonous beasts, and its big purple plants, like spineless cacti; and on the afternoon of the second day, as I stood on a cliff overlooking the sea, beneath a tower of massed vermilion clouds, I decided that I rather liked the place for all that, and if its sons would perish in the wars of the gods, I would immortalize them one day in song if I were able. This mild balm in mind for what I feared, I joined the fleet and took command. If we made it, they would be feted forever in the halls of the immortals. I was guide and opener of the way. I rejoiced. So we set sail the following day. and I directed things from the lead ship. I led us into a storm, and we emerged that much nearer our destination. I led us past an enormous whirlpool, and we were so much to the good. I led us through a shallow rocky place. and the shade of the waters deepened afterward. Their colors began to approximate those of Amber. So I still knew how to do it. I could infiluence our fate in time and place. I could take us home. Home for me. that is. I led us past strange islands where green birds cawed and green apes hung like fruit in the trees, swung, sometimes gibbered, and threw rocks into the sea. Aimed, doubtless, at us. I took us far out to sea, and then nosed the fleet around back in the direction of shore. Bleys by now was marching across the plains of the worlds. Somehow, I knew he would make it, past whatever defenses Eric had set up. I kept in touch with him by means of the cards, and I learned of his encounters along the way. Like, ten thousand men dead in a plains battle with centaurs, five thousand lost in an earthquake of frightening proportions. Fifteen hundred dead of a whirlwind plague that swept the camps. Nineteen thousand dead or missing in action as they passed through the jungles of a place I didn't recognize, when the napalm fell upon them from the strange buzzing things that passed overhead. Six thousand deserting in a place that looked like the heaven they had been promised, five hundred unaccounted for as they crossed a sand flat where a mushroom cloud burned and towered beside them. Eighty-six hundred gone as they moved through a valley of suddenly militant machines that rolled forward on treads and fired fires, eight hundred sick and abandoned, two hundred dead from flash floods, fifty-four dying of duels among themselves, three hundred dead from eating poisonous native fruits, a thousand slain in a massive stampede of buffalo-like creatures, seventy-three gone when their tents caught fire, fifteen hundred carried away by the floods, two thousand slain by the winds that came down from the blue hills. I was pleased that I'd lost only a hundred and eighty-six ships in that time. To sleep, perchance to dream...Yeah, there's a thing that rubs. Eric was killing us by inches and hours. His proposed coronation was only a few weeks away, and he obviously knew we were coming against him, because we died and we died. Now, it is written that only a prince of Amber may walk among Shadows, though of course he may lead or direct as many as he chooses along such courses. We led our troops and saw them die, but of Shadow I have this to say: there is Shadow and there is Substance, and this is the root of all things. Of Substance, there is only Amber, the real city, upon the real Earth, which contains everything. Of Shadow, there is an infinitude of things. Every possibility exists somewhere as a Shadow of the real. Amber, by its very existence, has cast such in all directions. And what may one say of it beyond? Shadow extends from Amber to Chaos, and all things are possible within it. There are only three ways of traversing it, and each of them is difficult. If one is a prince or princess of the blood, then one may walk, crossing through Shadows, forcing one's environment to change as one passes, until it is finally in precisely the shape one desires it, and there stop. The Shadow world is then one's own, save for family intrusions, to do with as one would. In such a place had I dwelled for centuries. The second means is the cards, cast by Dworkin, Master of the Line, who had created them in our image, to facilitate communications between members of the royal family. He was the ancient artist to whom space and perspective meant nothing. He had made up the family Trumps, which permitted the willer to touch his brethren wherever they might be. I had a feeling that these had not been used in full accord with their author's intention. The third was the Pattern, also drawn by Dworkin, which could only be walked by a member of our family. It initiated the walker into the system of the cards, as it were, and at its ending gave its walker the power to stride across Shadows. The cards and the Pattern made for instant transport from Substance through Shadow. The other way, walking, was harder. I knew what Random had done in delivering me into the true world. As we had driven, he kept adding, from memory, that which he recalled of Amber, and subtracting that which did not agree. When everything corresponded, he knew we had arrived. It was no real trick, for had he the knowledge, any man could reach his own Amber. Even now, Bleys and I could find Shadow Ambers where each of us ruled, and spend all of time and eternity ruling there. But this would not be the same, for us. For none would be the true Amber, the city into which were were born, the city from which all others take their shapes. So we were taking the hardest route, the walk through Shadow, for our invasion of Amber itself. Anyone knowing this and possessing the power could interpose obstacles. Eric had done so, and now we faced them as we died. What would come of this? No one knew. But if Eric were crowned king, it would be reflected and shadowed everywhere. All the surviving brothers, we princes of Amber, I am sure, felt it much better, each in his own simple way, personally to achieve this status and thereafter let the Shadows fall where they might. We passed ghost fleets, the ships of Gerard, as we sailed-the Flying Dutchmen of this world-that world, and we knew we were coming near. I used them as reference points. On the eighth day of our voyaging we were near to Amber. That is when the storm broke. The sea turned dark, the clouds collected overhead, and the sails grew slack within the still that followed. The sun hid its face-an enormous blue one-and I felt that Eric had found us at last. Then the winds arose, and-if you'll excuse the expression-broke-upon the vessel I rode. We were tempest-tossed and storm-torn, as the poets say. or said. My guts felt loose and watery as the first billows hit us. We were hurled from side to side like dice in a giant's hand. We were swept over the waters of the sea and the waters from the sky. The sky turned black, and there was sleet mixed in with the glassy bell ropes that pulled the thunder. Everyone, I'm sure, cried out. I know I did. I pulled my way along the shifting deck to seize the abandoned wheel. I strapped myself in place and held it. Eric had cut loose in Amber, that was for damn sure. One, two, three, four, and there was no letup. Five hours, then. How many men had we lost? I dunno. Then I felt and heard a tingling and a tinkling, and I saw Bleys as through a long gray tunnel. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I've been trying to reach you." "Life is full of vicissitudes," I replied. "We're riding out one of them." "Storm?" he said. "You bet your sweet ass. It's the granddaddy of them all. I think I see a monster off to port. If he has any brains, he'll aim for the bottom. . . . He just did." "We just had one ourselves," Bleys told me. "Monster or storm?" "Storm," he replied. "Two hundred dead." "Keep the faith," I said, "hold the fort, and talk to me later. Okay?" He nodded, and there were lightnings at his back. "Eric's got our number," be added, before he cut off. I had to agree. It was three more hours before things let up, and many more later I learned that we had lost half of the fleet (and on my vessel-the flagship-we had lost forty of the crew of one hundred and twenty). It was a hard rain that fell. Somehow, to the sea over Rebma, we made it. I drew forth my cards and held Random's before me. When he realized who was talking. the first thing he said was "Turn back," and I asked him why. " 'Cause, according to Llewella, Eric can cream you now. She says wait a while, till he relaxes, and hit him then-like a year from now, maybe." I shook my head. "Sorry," said I. "Can't. Too many losses involved in getting us this far. It's a now-or-never situation." He shrugged, wearing a "Like, I warned you" expression. "Why. though?" I asked him. "Mainly because I just learned he can control the weather around here," he said. "We'll still have to chance it." He shrugged again. "Don't say I didn't tell you." "He definitely knows we're coming?" "What do you think? Is he a cretin?" "No." "Then he knows. If I could guess it in Rebma, then he knows in Amber-and I did guess, from a wavering of Shadow." "Unfortunately," I said, "I have some misgivings about this expedition, but it's Bleys' show." "You cop out and let him get axed." "Sorry, but I can't take the chance. He might win. I'm bringing in the fleet." "You've spoken with Caine, with Gerard?" "Yes." "Then you must think you have a chance upon the waters. But listen, Eric has figured a way to control the Jewel of Judgment, I gather, from court gossip about its double. He can use it to control the weather here. That's definite. God knows what else he might be able to do with it." "Pity," I said. "We'll have to suffer it. Can't let a few storms demoralize us." "Corwin, I'll confess. I spoke with Eric himself three days ago." "Why?" "He asked me. I spoke with him out of boredom. He went into great detail concerning his defenses." "That's because he learned from Julian that we came in together. He's sure it'll get back to me." "Probably," he said. "But that doesn't change what he said." "No," I agreed. "Then let Bleys fight his own war," he told me. "You can hit Eric later." "He's about to be crowned in Amber." "I know, I know. It's as easy to attack a king, though, as a prince. isn't it? What difference does it make what he calls himself at the time, so long as you take him? It'll still be Eric." "True," I said, "but I've committed myself." "Then uncommit yourself," he said. " 'Fraid I can't do that." "Then you're crazy, Charlie." "Probably." "Well, good luck, anyhow." "Thanks." "See you around." And that was that, and it troubled me. Was I heading into a trap? Eric was no fool. Perhaps he had a real death-gig lined up. Finally, I shrugged and leaned out over the rail, the cards once again behind my belt. It is a proud and lonely thing to be a prince of Amber, incapable of trust. I wasn't real fond of it just then, but there I was. Eric, of course, had controlled the storm we'd just passed through, and it seemed in line with his being weather master in Amber, as Random had told me. So I tried something myself. I headed us toward an Amber lousy with snow. It was the most horrible blizzard I could conjure up. The big flakes began to fall, out there on the ocean. Let him stop them a normal enough Shadow offering, if he could. And he did. Within a half hour's time the blizzard had died, Amber was virtually impervious-and it was really the only city. I didn't want to go off course, so I let things be. Eric was master of the weather in Amber. What to do? We sailed on, of course. Into the jaws of death, What can one say? The second storm was worse than the first, but I held the wheel. It was electrified, and focused only on the fleet. It drove us apart. It cost us forty vessels more. I was afraid to call Bleys to see what had been done to him. "Around two hundred thousand troops are left," he said. "Flash flood," and I told him what Random had told me. "I'll buy it," he said. "But let's not dwell on it. Weather or no, we'll beat him." "I hope so." I lit a cigarette and leaned across the bow. Amber should be coming into sight soon, I knew the ways of Shadow now, and I knew how to get there by walking. But everyone had misgivings. There would never be a perfect day, though. So we sailed on, and the darkness came upon us like a sudden wave, and the worst storm of them all struck. We managed to ride out its black lashings, but I was scared. It was all true, and we were in northern waters. If Caine had kept his word, all well and good. If he was getting us out, he was in an excellent position. So I assumed he had sold us out. Why not? I prepared the fleet-seventy-three vessels remaining-for battle, when I saw him approach. The cards had lied-or else been very correct-when they'd pointed to him as the key figure. The lead vessel headed toward my own, and I moved forward to meet it. We hove to, and side by side regarded one another. We could have communicated via the Trumps, but Caine didn't choose to; and he was in the stronger position. Therefore, family etiquette required that he choose his own means. He obviously wanted to be on record as he called out, through an amplifier: "Corwin! Kindly surrender command of your fleet! I've got you outnumbered. You can't make it through!" I regarded him across the waves and raised my own amplifier to my lips. "What of our arrangement?" I asked. "Null and void," he said. "Your force is far too weak to hurt Amber, so save lives and surrender it now." I looked over my left shoulder and regarded the sun. "Pray hear me, brother Caine," said I, "and grant me this then: give me your leave to confer with my captains till the sun stands in high heaven." "Very well," he replied, without hesitation. "They appreciate their positions, I'm sure." I turned away then and ordered that the ship he turned about and headed back in the direction of the main body of vessels. If I tried to flee, Caine would pursue me through the Shadows and destroy the ships, one by one. Gunpowder did not ignite on the real Earth, but if we moved very far away, it too would he employed to our undoing. Caine would find some, for it was probable, were I to depart, the fleet could not sail the Shadow seas without me, and would be left as sitting ducks upon the real waters here. So the crews were either dead or prisoners, whatever I did. Random had been right. I drew forth Bleys' Trump and concentrated till it moved. "Yes?" he said, and his voice was agitated. I could almost hear the sounds of battle about him. "We're in trouble," I said. "Seventy-three ships made it through, and Caine has called on us to surrender by noon." "Damn his eyes!" said Bleys. "I haven't made it as far as you. We're in the middle of a fight now. An enormous cavalry force is cutting us to pieces. So I can't counsel you fairly. I've got my own problems. Do as you see fit. They're coming again!" And the contact was broken. I drew forth Gerard's, and sought contact. When we spoke it seemed I could see a shore line behind him. I seemed to recognize it. If my guess was correct, he was in southern waters. I don't like to remember our conversation. I asked him if he could help me against Caine, and if he would. "I only agreed to let you by," he said. "That is why I withdrew to the south. I couldn't reach you in time if I wanted to. I did not agree to help you kill our brother." And before I could reply, he was gone. He was right, of course. He'd agreed to give me an opportunity, not to fight my battle for me. What then did that leave me? I lit a cigarette. I paced the deck. It was no longer morning. The mists had long vanished and the sun warmed my shoulders. Soon it would be noon. Perhaps two hours. I fingered my cards, weighed the deck in my hand. I could try a contest of wills through them, with either Eric or Caine. There was that power present, and perhaps even others of which I knew nothing. They had been so designed, at the command of Oberon, by the hand of the mad artist Dworkin Barimen, that wild-eyed hunchback who had been a sorcerer, priest, or psychiatrist-the stories conflicted on this point-from some distant Shadow where Dad had saved him from a disastrous fate he had brought upon himseIf. The details were unknown, but he had always been a bit off his rocker since that time. Still, he was a great artist, and it was undeniable that he possessed some strange power. He had vanished ages ago, after creating the cards and tracing the Pattern in Amber. We had often speculated about him, but no one seemed to know his whereabouts. Perhaps Dad had done him in, to keep his secrets secret. Caine would be ready for such an attack, and I probably couldn't break him, though I might be able to hold him. Even then, though, his captains had doubtless been given the order to attack. Eric would surely be ready for anything, but if there was nothing else left to do, I might as well try it. I had nothing to lose but my soul. Then there was the card for Amber itself. I could take myself there with it and try an assassination, but I figured the odds were about a million to one against my living to effect it. I was willing to die fighting, but it was senseless for all these men to go down with me. Perhaps my blood was tainted, despite my power over the Pattern. A true prince of Amber should have had no such qualms. I decided then that my centuries on the Shadow Earth had changed me, softened me perhaps, had done something to me which made me unlike my brothers. I decided to surrender the fleet and then transport myself to Amber and challenge Eric to a final duel. He'd be foolish to accept. But what the hell-I had nothing else left to do. I turned to make my wishes known to my officers, and the power fell upon me, and I was stricken speechless. I felt the contact and I finally managed to mutter "Who?" through clenched teeth. There was no reply, but a twisting thing bored slowly within my mind and I wrestled with it there. After a time when he saw that I could not be broken without a long struggle, I heard Eric's voice upon the wind: "How goes the world with thee, brother?" he inquired. "Poorly," I said or thought, and he chuckled, though his voice seemed strained by the efforts of our striving. "Too bad," be told me. "Had you come back and supported me, I would have done well by you. Now, of course, it is too late. Now, I will only rejoice when I have broken both you and Bleys." I did not reply at once, but fought him with all the power I possessed. He withdrew slightly before it, but he succeeded in holding me where I stood. If either of us dared divert his attention for an Instant, we could come into physical contact or one of us get the upper hand on the mental plane. I could see him now, clearly, in his chambers in the palace. Whichever of us made such a move, though, he would fall beneath the other's control. So we glared at each other and struggled internally. Well, he had solved one of my problems, by attacking me first. He held my Trump in his left hand and his brows were furrowed. I sought for an edge, but couldn't find one. People were talking to me but I couldn't hear their words as I stood there backed against the rail. What time was it? All sense of time had departed since the beginning of the struggle. Could two hours have passed? Was that it? I couldn't be sure. "I feel your troubled thought," said Eric. "Yes, I am coordinated with Caine. He contacted me after your parley. I can hold you thus while your fleet is demolished around you and sent down to Rebma to rot. The fishes will eat your men." "Wait," I said. "They are guiltless. Bleys and I have misled them, and they think we are in the right. Their deaths would serve no purpose. I was preparing to surrender the fleet." "Then you should not have taken so long," he replied, "for now it is too late. I cannot call Caine to countermand my orders, without releasing you, and the moment I release you I will fall beneath your mental domination or suffer physical assault. Our minds are too proximate." "Supposing I give you my word that I won't do this thing?" "Any man would be forsworn to gain a kingdom," said Eric. "Can't you read the thought? Can't you feel it within my mind? I'll keep my word!" "I feel there is a strange compassion for these men you have duped, and I know not what may have caused such a bond, but no. You know it yourself. Even if you are sincere at this moment-as you well may be-the temptation will be too great the instant the opportunity occurs. You know it yourself. I can't risk it." And I knew it. Amber burned too strongly In the blood of us. "Your swordsmanship has increased remarkably," he commented. "I see that your exile has done you some good in that respect. You are closer to being my equal now than anyone save Benedict, who may well be dead." "Don't flatter yourself," I said. "I know I can take you now. In fact-" "Don't bother. I won't duel with you at this late date," and he smiled, reading my thought, which burned all too clearly. "I more than half wish you had stood by me," he said. "I could have used you more than any of the others. Julian I spit upon. Caine is a coward. Gerard is strong, but stupid." I decided to put in the only good word I might. "Listen," I said. "I conned Random into coming here with me. He wasn't hot on the idea. I think he would have supported you, had you asked him." "That bastard!" he said. "I wouldn't trust him to empty chamber pots. One day I'd find a piranha in mine. No thanks. I might have pardoned him, save for your present recommendation. You'd like me to clasp him to my bosom and call him brother now, wouldn't you? Oh no! You leap too quickly to his defense. It reveals his true attitude, of which he has doubtless made you aware. Let us forget Random in the courts of clemency." I smelled smoke then and heard the sounds of metal on metal. That would mean that Caine had come upon us and was doing his job. "Good," said Eric, catching it from my mind. "Stop them! Please! My men don't have a chance against that many!" "Not even were you to yield-" and he bit it off and cursed. I caught the thought, then. He could have asked me to yield in return for their lives, and then let Caine continue with the slaughter. He would have liked to have done that, but he'd let those first words slip out in the heat of his passion. I chuckled at his irritation. "I'll have you soon, anyhow," be said. "As soon as they take the flagship." "Until then," I said, "try this!" And I hit him with everything I had, boring into his mind, hurting him with my hatred. I felt his pain and it drove me harder. For all the years of exile I'd spent, I lashed at him, seeking at least this payment. For his putting me through the plague, I beat at the barriers of his sanity, seeking this vengeance. For the auto accident, for which I knew he had been responsible, I struck at him, seeking some measure of anguish in return for my hurt. His control began to slip and my frenzy increased. I bore down upon him and his hold upon me began to slacken. Finally, "You devil!" he cried, and moved his band to cover the card that he held. The contact was broken, and I stood there shaking. I had done it. I had bested him in a contest of wills. No longer would I fear my tyrant brother in any form of single combat. I was stronger than he. I sucked in several deep breaths and stood erect, ready for the moment the coldness of a new mental attack occurred. I knew that it wouldn't, though, not from Eric. I sense that he feared my fury. I looked about me and there was fighting. There was already blood on the decks. A ship had come alongside us and we were being boarded. Another vessel was attempting the same maneuver on the opposite side. A bolt whistled by my head. I drew my blade and leaped into the fray. I don't know how many I slew that day. I lost count somewhere after number twelve or thirteen. It was more than twice that, on that engagement alone, though. The strength with which a prince of Amber is naturally endowed, which had allowed me to lift a Mercedes, served me that day, so that I could raise a man with one hand and hurl him over the rail. We slew everyone aboard both boarding ships and opened their hatches and sent them down to Rebma where Random would be amused by the carnage. My crew had been cut in half in the battle, and I had suffered innumer able nicks and scratches but nothing serious. We went to the aid of a sister vessel and knocked off another of Caine's raiders. The survivors of the rescued vessel came aboard the flagship and I had a full crew once more. "Blood!" I called out. "Give me blood and vengeance this day, my warriors, and you will be remembered in Amber forever!" And as a man. they raised their weapons and cried out, "Blood!" And gallons-no, rivers-of it were let that day. We destroyed two more of Caine's raiders, replenishing our numbers from those of the survivors of our own fleet. As we headed toward a sixth, I climbed the mainmast and tried to take a quick count. We looked to be outnumbered three to one. There seemed to be between forty-five and fifty-five remaining of my fleet. We took the sixth, and we didn't have to look for the seventh and the eighth. They came to us. We took them too, but I received several wounds in the fighting that again left me with half a crew. My left shoulder and my right thigh had been cut deeply, and a slash along my right hip was hurting. As we sent those ships to the bottom, two more moved toward us, We fled and gained an ally in one of my own ships which had been victorious in its own recent battle. We combined crews once more, this time transferring the standard to the other vessel, which had been less damaged than my own, which had begun shipping water badly and was beginning to list to starboard. We were allowed no breathing space, as another vessel neared and the men attempted to board. My men were tired, and I was getting that way. Fortunately the other crew wasn't in such great shape either. Before the second of Caine's vessels came to its aid, we had overwhelmed it, boarded, and transferred the standard again. That ship had been in even better shape. We took the next and I was left with a good ship, forty men, and gasping. There was no one in sight to come to our aid now. All of my surviving ships were engaged by at least one of Caine's. A raider was heading toward us and we fled. We gained perhaps twenty minutes this way. I tried to sail into Shadow, but it's a hard, slow thing that near to Amber. It's much easier to get this close than it is to depart, because Amber is the center, the nexus. If I'd had another ten minutes, I could have made it. I didn't, though. As the vessel hove nearer, I saw another one off in the distance turning in our direction. It bore the black and green standard beneath Eric's cotors and the white unicorn. It was Caine's ship. He wanted to be there for the kill. We took the first one and didn't even have time to open its hatches before Caine was upon us. I was left standing on the bloody deck, with a dozen men about me, and Caine moved to the bow of his ship and called upon me to surrender. "Will you grant my men their lives if I do this thing?" I asked him. "Yes," he said. "I'd lose a few crewmen myself if I didn't, and there's no need for that." "On your word as a prince?" I asked. He thought about it a moment, then nodded. "Very well." he said. "Have your men lay down their arms and board my vessel when I come alongside." I sheathed my blade and nodded about me. "You have fought the good fight. and I love you for it," I said. "But we have lost in this place." I dried my hands on my cloak as I spoke and wiped them carefully, as I'd hate to smudge a work of art. "Lay down your arms and know that your exploits of this day will never be forgotten. One day I will praise you before the court of Amber." The men, the nine big red ones and the three remaining hairy ones, wept as they put down their arms. "Do not fear that all is lost in the struggle for the city," I said. "We have lost only one engagement and the battle still continues elsewhere. My brother Bleys hacks his way toward Amber at this moment. Caine will keep his word to spare your lives when he sees that I have gone to join with Bleys upon the land, for he would not have knowledge that he was forsworn come into Amber. I am sorry that I cannot take you with me." And with this, I drew Bleys' Trump from the pack and held it low and before me, out of sight of the other vessel. Just as Caine came alongside, there was movement beneath that cold, cold surface. "Who?" Bleys asked. "Corwin," I said. "How fare you?" "We won the battle, but lost many troops. We're resting now before we renew the march. How go things with you?" "I think we've destroyed nearly half of Caine's fleet, but he's won the day. He's about to board me now. Give me escape." He held forth his hand and I touched it and collapsed into his arms. "This is getting to be a habit," I muttered, and then I saw that he was wounded too, about the head, and there was a bandage around his left hand. "Had to grab the wrong end of a saber," he remarked, as he saw my eyes fall upon it. "It smarts." I caught my breath and then we walked to his tent, where he opened a bottle of wine and gave me bread, cheese, and some dried meat. He still had plenty of cigarettes and I smoked one as a medical officer dressed my wounds. He still had around a hundred and eighty thousand men behind him. As I stood on a hilltop and the evening began around me, it seemed as if I looked out over every camp I had ever stood within, stretching on and on over the miles and the centuries without end. I suddenly felt tears come into my eyes, for the men who are not like the lords of Amber, living but a brief span and passing into dust, that so many of them must meet their ends upon the battlefields of the world. I returned to Bleys' tent and we finished the bottle of wine.