We stood in the greeting hall of Allemain, the five of us standing round a circular mosaic of serpents and fish, mermaids and sea-beasts; try as I might, I could not draw my gaze from it. The water here was tinged with pink and had a coppery taste. When I finally was able to pull my eyes up from the floor, I gasped. All those who'd followed us -- Ilie, Harrison, even Syrana, lie in a ring around us, dark clouds of blood hanging about them.
My mouth open to scream, but no sound came -- and I noticed finally that my companions were facing one another, faces contorted with rage, mouths moving with what seemed angry words to place blame -- yet I could not hear them. As Fletcher drew his guns, I yelled and moved towards him, but the water had become thick as mud somehow, and I was too slow to stop him from firing. His intended target, Cecily, seemed to be of free action, and she nimbly rolled out of the way of the projectiles -- leaving Stark to absorb them. In a breath's time, Cecily had covered the distance and slashed at Fletcher with her sword -- only this time Fletcher had evaded and Shen found the blade buried in his chest.
I'd finally found my voice, screaming for this to end, but I was still getting nowhere near them. Cecily and Fletcher had both drawn knives, and it only took seconds for both weapons to find killing blows. At that point, my mobility returned; I fell to my knees, crying out in anger that I couldn't do anything to stop this senseless slaughter -- until I noticed that my hood was pulled over my head...
*****
After breaking fast with Shen and talking again about the nature of things, and what we should do if we find our way to Amber, we went to find the others in an attempt to getting the meeting with Llewella started. Our friends were keeping busy -- Fletcher and Cecily "interrogating" someone down in the basement, the others with the more pedestrian task of shopping. That afternoon we returned to the study to pick up where we'd left off that evening.
The discussion moved mostly towards what to do next. We'd decided to continue on towards Amber, and we tossed about our options. Llewella suggested that Korbin be made to walk a Pattern that he himself had created -- just the power of that might be able to break the curse he found himself under. Another was that if we could get past Ygg, the "world tree", the Trump Card of Amber may be able to activate. Llewella mentioned her sister Flora -- whom I pointed out as Embeth, the fairy queen. I think the others paid that little notice.
In the end, since I had an in with Korbin (well, I'm from the Realms and I have his daughter as an ally) as well as one of Reynard's Trump Cards to get back there, it was decided that we'd seek the first option. Later that evening I'd tested the Realms Trump, and it opened. We were in business.
*****
Midnight. My colleagues lie snoring in their rooms. I activated my cloak and made my way along the halls until reaching Llewella's study. She was there, sitting near the light globe, lost in thought. I took off my cloak and knocked, only lessening her surprise somewhat.
I trumped that surprise with yet another as I pulled the jewel we'd found with the sword and trumps out of my cloak, and Llewella eyes lit up yet again as I explained how we had found it. She explained that what I was holding was known as the Jewel of Judgement, one of the devices that the former Kings of Amber would hold. It was known to be a magical artifact of some renown -- it had the power to control the weather and environment in the past, but that may have been on the the beginning of what it could do. Besides the magical energies it could control, Llewella told of a higher purpose -- that whoever would be King or Queen of Amber needed the Jewel to somehow cement their position -- to qualify them as worthy of the throne.
When I'd asked who should have it, she laughed. Who did not want it? Apparently Korbin and his brothers has actively fought over it many years ago. Korbin's brother Eric had taken it when their father, the old King, had disappeared and thus began a period of near all the brothers actively coveting it. Nowadays the family would want it as a hope to break the curse placed against them. When Llewella mentioned that Random (Greyson) was the last to be awarded it, I remarked that perhaps it should be returned to him, but she did not put much stock in that. He did, after all, lose it in the first place. When I asked if the sisters should want for it, she laughed again, but I could see something very primal flicker there for a moment. Noticing how late it was, I returned the Jewel to my cloak and bid her a good evening.
Once the door was closed, I leaned back against it and sighed. Funny that one item from the stash that nobody seemed to want turned out the be the keystone of the universe. Unfortunately, this factoid was more than likely about to make my life a tad more interesting -- and dangerous, to boot.
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