"As to that, your majesty," said Deirdre, "we expect no boons, but will take care of it ourselves upon our departure."
"Save for Random," she said, "who will be quite safe."
"What mean you?" asked Deirdre, for Random would not. of course, speak for himself under the circumstances.
"Surely you recall, she said, "that one time Prince Random came into my realm as a friend, and did thereafter depart in haste with my daughter Morganthe."
"I have heard this said. Lady Moire, but I am not aware of the truth or the baseness of the tale."
"It is true," said Moire, "and a month thereafter was she returned to me. Her suicide came some months after the birth of her son Martin. What have you to say to that, Prince Random?"
"Nothing," said Random.
"When Martin came of age," said Moire, "because he was of the blood of Amber, he determined to walk the Pattern. He is the only one of my people to have succeeded. Thereafter, he walked in Shadow and I have not seen him since. What have you to say to that, Lord Random?"
"Nothing," Random replied.
"Therefore, I will punish thee," Moire continued. "You shall marry the woman of my choice and remain with her in my realm for a year's time, or you will forfeit your life. What say you to that, Random?"
Random said nothing, but he nodded abruptly.
She stuck her scepter upon the arm of her turquoise throne.
"Very well," she said. "So be it"
And so it was.
We repaired to the chambers she had granted us, there to refresh ourselves. Subsequently she appeared at the door of my own,
"Hail, Moire," I said.
"Lord Corwin of Amber," she told me, "often have I wished to meet thee."
"And I thee," I lied.
"Your exploits are legend."
"Thank you, but I barely recall the high points."
"May I enter here?"
"Certainly," and I stepped aside.
She moved into the well-appointed suite she had granted me, She seated herself upon the edge of the orange couch.
"When would you like to essay the Pattern?"
"As soon as possible," I told her.
She considered this, then said, "Where have you been, among Shadows?"
"Very far from here," I said, "in a place that I learned to love."
"It is strange that a lord of Amber should have this capacity."
"What capacity?"
"To love," she replied.
"Perhaps I chose the wrong word."
"I doubt it," she said, "for the ballads of Corwin do touch upon the strings of the heart."
"The lady is kind."
"But not wrong," she replied.
"I'll give you a ballad one day."
"What did you do when you dwelled in Shadow?"
"It occurs to me that I was a professional soldier, madam. I fought for whoever would pay me. Also. I composed the words and music to many popular songs."
"Both these things occur to me as logical and natural."
"Pray tell me. what of my brother Random?"
"He will marry with a girl among my subjects who is named Vialle. She is blind and has no wooers among our kind."
"Are you certain," said I, "that you do the best thing for her?"
"She will obtain good status In this manner," said Moire, "though he depart after a year and never return.
For whatever else may be said of him, be is a prince of Amber."
"What if she comes to love him?"
"Could anyone really do this thing?"
"In my way, I love him, as a brother."
"Then this is the first time a son of Amber has ever said such a thing, and I attribute it to your poetic temperament."
"Whatever," said I, "be very sure that it is the best thing for the girl."
"I have considered it," she told me, "and I am certain. She will recover from whatever pain he inflicts, and after his departure she will be a great lady of my court."
"So may it be," I said, and looked away, feeling a sadness come over me-for the girl, of course.
"What may I say to you?" I said. "Perhaps you do a good thing. I hope so." And I took her hand and kissed it.
"You. Lord Corwin, are the only prince of Amber I might support," she told me. "save possibly for Benedict. He is gone these twelve years and ten, however, and Lir knows where his bones may lie. Pity."
"I did not knew this," I said. "My memory is so screwed up. Please bear with me. I shall miss Benedict, an' he be dead. He was my Master of Arms and taught me of all weapons. But he was gentle."
"As are you, Corwin," she told me, taking my band and drawing me toward her.
"No, not really," I replied, as I seated myself on the couch at her side. Then she said, "We've much time till we dine." Then she leaned against me with the front of her shoulder which was soft.
"When do we eat?" I asked.
"Whenever I declare It," she said, and she faced me more fully.
So I drew her upon me and found the catch to the buckle which covered the softness of her belly. There was more softness beneath, and her hair was green.
Upon the couch, I gave her the ballad. Her lips replied without words.
After we had eaten-and I had learned the trick of eating under water, which I might detail later on if circumstances really warrant-we rose from our places within the marble high hall, decorated with nets and ropes of red and brown, and we made our way back along a narrow corridor, and down, down, beneath the floor of the sea itself, first by means of a spiral staircase that screwed its way through absolute darkness and glowed. After about twenty paces, my brother said, "Screw!" and stepped off the staircase and began swimming downward alongside it.
"It is faster that way," said Moire.
"And it is a long way down," said Deirdre, knowing the distance of the one in Amber.
So we all stepped off and swam downward through darkness, beside the glowing, twisting thing.
It took perhaps ten minutes to reach the bottom, but when our feet touched the floor, we stood, with no tendency to drift. There was light about us then, from a few feeble flames set within niches in the wall.
"Why is this part of the ocean, within the double of Amber, so different from waters elsewhere?" I asked.
"Because that is the way it is," said Deirdre, which irritated me.
We were in an enormous cavern, and tunnels shot off from it in all directions. We moved toward one.
After walking along it for an awfully long while, we began to encounter side passages, some of which had doors or grilles before them and some of which did not.
At the seventh of these we stopped. It was a huge gray door of some slate-like substance, bound in metal, towering to twice my height. I remembered something about the size of Tritons as I regarded that doorway. Then Moire smiled, just at me, and produced a large key from a ring upon her belt and set it within the lock.
She couldn't turn it, though. Perhaps the thing had been unused for too long.
Random growled and his hand shot forward, knocking hers aside.
He seized the key in his right hand and twisted.
There came a click.
Then he pushed the door open with his foot and we stared within.
In a room the size of a ballroom the Pattern was laid. The floor was black and looked smooth as glass. And on the floor was the Pattern.
It shimmered like the cold fire that it was, quivered, made the whole room seem somehow unsubstantial. It was an elaborate tracery of bright power, composed mainly of curves, though there were a few straight lines near its middle. It reminded me of a fantastically intricate, life-scale version of one of those maze things you do with a pencil (or ballpoint, as the case may be), to get you into or out of something. Like, I could almost see the words "Start Here," somewhere way to the back. It was perhaps a hundred yards across at its narrow middle, and maybe a hundred and fifty long.