I saw that they wore black, red, and silver, which I remembered from the Trumps and from somewhere else to be the colors of Eric.
“Since Eric wants her, he can’t have her,” I said.
“I never much cared for Deirdre,” Random said, “but I know you do, so…” and he unsheathed his blade.
I did the same. “Get ready,” I told him, rising into a crouch. And we rushed them. Maybe two minutes, that’s about what it took.
She was watching us by then, the firelight making her face into a twisted mask. She cried and laughed and said our names, in a loud and frightened voice, and I slashed her bonds and helped her to her feet.
“Greetings, sister. Will you join us on the Road to Amber?”
“No,” she said. “Thanks for my life, but I want to keep it. Why do you walk to Amber, as if I didn’t know.”
“There is a throne to be won,” said Random, which was news to me. “and we are interested parties.”
“If you’re smart, you’ll stay away and live longer,” she said, and God! she was lovely, though a bit tried-looking and dirty.
I took her into my arms because I wanted to, and squeezed her. Random found a skin of wine and we all had a drink.
“Eric is the only Prince in Amber,” she said, “and the troops are loyal to him.”
“I’m not afraid of Eric,” I replied, and I knew I wasn’t certain about that statement.
“He’ll never let you into Amber,” she said. “I was a prisoner myself, till I made it out one of the secret ways two days ago. I thought I could walk in Shadows till all things were done, but it is not easy to begin this close to the real place. So his troops found me this morning. They were taking me back. I think he might have killed me, had I been returned — though I’m not sure. At any rate, I’d have remained a puppet in the city. I think Eric may be mad, but again, I’m not sure.”
“What of Bleys?” Random inquired.
“He sends things out of the Shadows, and Eric is greatly disturbed. But he has never attacked with his real force, and so Eric is troubled, and the disposition of the Crown and Scepter remains uncertain, though Eric holds the one in his right hand.”
“I see. Has he ever spoken of us?”
“Not of you, Random. But of Corwin, yes. He still fears the return of Corwin to Amber. There is relative safety for perhaps five more miles — but beyond that, every step of the way is studded with peril. Every tree and rock is a booby trap and an ambush. Because of Bleys and because of Corwin. He wanted you to get at least this far, so that you could not work with Shadows nor easily escape his power. It is absolutely impossible for either of you to enter into Amber without falling into one of his traps.”
“Yet you escaped…”
“That was different. I was trying to get out, not in. Perhaps he did not guard me so carefully as he would one of you, because of my sex and my lack of ambition. And nevertheless, as you can see, I did not succeed.”
“You have now, sister,” I said, “so long as my blade is free to swing on your behalf,” and she kissed my brow and squeezed my hand. I was always a sucker for that.
“I’m sure we’re being followed,” said Random, and with a gesture the three of us faded into the darkness.
We lay still beneath a bush, keeping watch on our trail.
After a time, our whispers indicated that there was a decision for me to make. The question was really quite simple: What next?
The question was too basic, and I couldn’t stall any more. I knew I couldn’t trust them, even dear Deirdre, but if I had to level with anybody, Random was at least in this thing with me, up to his neck, and Deirdre was my favorite.
“Beloved relatives,” I told them, “I’ve a confession to make,” and Random’s hand was already on the hilt of his blade. That’s how far we could trust one another. I could already hear his mind clicking: Corwin brought me here to betray me, he was saying to himself.
“If you brought me here to betray me,” he said, “you won’t take me back alive.”
“Are you kidding?” I asked. “I want your help, not your head. What I have to say is just this: I don’t know what the hell’s going on. I’ve made some guesses, but I don’t really know where the devil we are, what Amber is, or why we’re crouched here in the bushes hiding from his troops,” I told him, “or for that matter, who I am, really.”
There was an awfully long silence, and then Random whispered, “What do you mean?”
“Yes,” said Deirdre.
“I mean,” I said, “that I managed to fool you, Random. Didn’t you think it strange that all I did on this trip was drive the car?”
“You were the boss,” he told me, “and I figured you were planning. You did some pretty shrewd things along the way. I know that you’re Corwin.”
“Which is a thing I only found out a couple of days ago, myself,” I said. “I know that I am the one you call Corwin, but I was in an accident a while back. I had head injuries — I’ll show you the scars when we’ve got more light — and I am suffering from amnesia. I don’t dig all this talk about Shadows. I don’t even remember much about Amber. All I remember is my relatives, and the fact that I can’t trust them much. That’s my story. What’s to be done about it?”
“Christ!” said Random. “Yes, I can see it now! I understand all the little things that puzzled me along the way. How did you take Flora in so completely?”
“Luck,” I said, “and subconscious sneakiness, I guess. No! That’s not it! She was stupid. Now I really need you, though.”
“Do you think we can make it into the Shadows,” said Deirdre, and she was not speaking to me.
“Yes,” said Random, “but I’m not for it. I’d like to see Corwin in Amber, and I’d like to see Eric’s head on a pole. I’m willing to take a few chances to see these things, so I’m not turning back to the Shadows. You can if you want. You all think I’m a weakling and a bluff. Now you’re going to find out. I’m going to see this through.”
“Thanks, brother,” I said.
“Ill met by moonlight,” said Deirdre.
“You could still be tied to a stake,” said Random, and she did not reply.
We lay there a while longer and three men entered the campsite and looked about. Then two of them bent down and sniffed at the ground.
Then they looked in our direction.
“Weir,” whispered Random, as they moved in our direction.
I saw it happen, though only in shadow. They dropped to all fours and the moonlight played tricks with their gray garments. Then there were the six blazing eyes of our stalkers.
I impaled the first wolf on my silver blade and there was a human howl. Random beheaded one with a single blow, and to my amazement, I saw Deirdre raise one in the air and break its back across her knee with a brittle, snapping sound.
“Quick, your blade,” said Random, and I ran his victim through, and hers, and there were more cries.
“We’d better move fast,” said Random. “This way!” and we followed.
“Where are we going?” asked Deirdre, after perhaps an hour of furtive movement through the undergrowth.
“To the sea,” he replied.
“Why?”
“It holds Corwin’s memory.”
“Where? How?”
“Rebma, of course.”
“They’d kill you there and feed your brains to the fishes.”
“I’m not going the full distance. You’ll have to take over at the shore and talk with your sister’s sister.”
“You mean for him to take the Pattern again?”
“Yes.”
“It’s risky.”
“I know. Listen. Corwin,” he said, “you’ve been decent enough with me recently. If by some chance you’re not really Corwin, you’re dead. You’ve got to be, though. You can’t be someone else. Not from the way you’ve operated, without memory even. No, I’ll bet your life on it. Take a chance and try the thing called the Pattern. Odds are, it’ll restore your memory. Are you game?”