“Princess Dara, Prince Merlin,” came that awful voice I had last heard on the day of the confrontation at Amber Castle, “I did not wish to disturb your repast, but that thing you harbor makes it necessary.” A jagged branch of the image was flipped in the direction of my left wrist.
“It’s blocking my ability to shift away,” Ghost said.
“Give it to me!”
“Why?” I asked.
“That thing has traversed the Logrus,” came the words, differing at seeming random in pitch, volume, accent.
It occurred to me that I might defy it now if I were really as valuable to the Logrus as Dara had indicated. So, “It’s theoretically open to all comers,” I responded.
“I am my own law, Merlin, and your Ghostwheel has crossed me before. I’ll have it now.”
“No,” I said, moving my awareness into the spikard, seeking and locating a means of instant transport to an area where the Pattern ruled. “I’ll not surrender my creation so readily.”
The brightness of the Sign increased.
At this, Dara was on her feet, moving to interpose herself between it and myself.
“Stay,” she said. “We’ve more important matters to deal with than vengeance upon a toy. I have dispatched my cousins Hendrake for the bride of Chaos. If you wish this plan to succeed, I suggest you assist them.”
“I recall your plan for Prince Brand, setting the lady Jasra to snare him. It could not fail, you told me.”
“It brought you closer than you ever came, old Serpent, to the power you desire.”
“That is true,” it acknowledged.
“And the bearer of the Eye is a simpler being than Jasra.”
The Sign slid past her, a tiny sun turning itself into a succession of ideograms.
“Merlin, you will take the throne and serve me when the time comes?”
“I will do what is necessary to redress the balance of power,” I replied.
“That is not what I asked! Will you take the throne under the terms I set?”
“If that is what is needed to set things right,” I answered.
“This pleases me,” it said. “Keep your toy.”
Dara moved aside, and it passed near to her before fading.
“Ask him of Luke and Corwin and the new Pattern,” it said, and then it was gone.
She turned toward me and stared.
“Pour me a glass of wine,” she said.
I did this. She raised it and took a swallow.
“So tell me of Luke and Corwin and the new Pattern,” she said.
“Tell me of Jasra and Brand,” I countered.
“No. You will go first in this,” she said.
“Very well,” I said. “It neglected to mention that they were Pattern ghosts. Luke’s appeared to me on the way over here, sent by the Pattern to persuade me to depart this realm. The Logrus sent Lord Borel’s to dispose of Luke.”
“Luke being Rinaldo, the son of Jasra and Brand, husband of Coral and King of Kashfa?”
“Very good. Now tell me of all that business at the end. You set Jasra to snare Brand, to guide him down the path he took?”
“He would have taken it anyhow. He came to the Courts seeking power to further his ends. She merely made things a little easier for him.”
“That’s not how it sounded to me. But does that mean my father’s curse was not really a factor?”
“No, it helped — in a metaphysical way — making it easier to extend the Black Road to Amber. Why is it you are still here, when King Rinaldo bade you depart? Is it loyalty to the Courts?”
“I had a date with you for lunch, and it’s been a while. Hated to miss it.”
She smiled, very slightly, and took a small sip of wine.
“You change the subject well,” she stated. “Let us return to it now. The ghost of Borel dispatched that of Rinaldo, I take it?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“My father’s ghost showed up about then and dealt with Borel, permitting us to depart.”
“Again? Corwin bested Borel again?” I nodded.
“Neither remembered their first encounter, of course. Their memories only go back to the time of their recording, and —”
“I understand the principle. Then what happened?”
“We fled,” I answered, “and I subsequently came here.”
“What did the Logrus mean in referring to the Pattern?”
“My father’s ghost was apparently generated by it, rather than by the old one.”
She sat upright, eyes suddenly wide.
“How do you know this?” she demanded.
“He told me,” I answered.
She stared past me then at the now-silent sea. “So the third power is actually taking a part in things,” she mused. “This is fascinating, as well as disconcerting. Damn the man for having drawn it!”
“You really hate him, don’t you?” I said.
Her eyes focused again upon my own.
“Let that subject be!” she ordered. “Save for this,” she amended a moment later. “Did he give you any indication as to the new Pattern’s allegiance — or its plans? The fact that it sent him to protect Luke might be seen as a seconding of the old Pattern’s action. On the other hand — either because it was created by your father, or because it has its own uses for you — I can see it simply as an effort at your protection. What did he say?”
“That he wanted to get me away from where I was.”
She nodded.
“Which he obviously did,” she said. “Did he say anything else? Did anything else happen that might be important?”
“He asked after you.”
“Really? And that was all?”
“He had no special message, if that’s what you mean.”
“I see.”
She looked away, was silent for a time. Then, “Those ghosts don’t last very long, do they?” she said.
“No,” I replied.
“It’s infuriating,” she said at last, “to think that, despite everything, he is still able to play a hand in this.”
“He’s alive, isn’t he, Mother?” I said. “And you know where he is.”
“I’m not his keeper, Merlin.”
“I think you are.”
“It is impertinent to contradict me this way.”
“Yet I must,” I responded. “I saw him off on his way to the Courts. Certainly, he wanted to be here with the others for the peace settlement. Even more, though, he must have wanted to see you. There were so many unanswered questions in his mind — where you came from, why you came to him, why you parted as you did —”
“Enough!” she cried. “Let it be!”
I ignored her.
“And I know he was here in the Courts. He was seen here. He must have looked you up. What happened then? What sort of answers did you give him?”
She rose to her feet, glaring at me now.
“That will be all, Merlin,” she said. “It seems impossible to conduct a civilized conversation with you.”
“Is he your prisoner, Mother? Do you have him locked away somewhere, someplace where he can’t bother you, can’t interfere with your plans?”
She stepped quickly away from the table, almost stumbling.
“Wretched child!” she said. “You’re just like him! Why did you have to resemble him so?”
“You’re afraid of him, aren’t you?” I said, suddenly realizing this could well be the case. “You’re afraid to kill a Prince of Amber, even with the Logrus on your side. You’ve got him locked away somewhere, and you’re afraid he’ll come loose and blow your latest plans. You’ve been scared for a long time now because of what you’ve had to do to keep him out of action.”
“Preposterous!” she said, backing away as I rounded the table. There was a look of genuine fear on her face now. “You’re just guessing!” she went on. “He’s dead, Merlin! Give up! Leave me alone! Never mention his name in my presence again! Yes, I hate him! He would have destroyed us all! He still would, if he could!”