Part Two - Flashback of the Past and a Mission for the Future
"What do you mean, 'You've got a little
job for me?'"
-Hercules
Those
little details were taken care of, but I ended up in a lot of
pain because of them. Not only did I have to act out my feelings
betrayal and rage, but Andrews plan to get Brand on his side was
to knife me.
Brilliant
plan, but I would have liked it better if he had warned me first.
Here's how things went:
He
waited until we(Dellen, Margo, Andrew and I)
*accidentally*(Andrew planned it) met up with Brand. Acting as
shocked as the rest of us, he maneuvered his way to the front of
the group and pulled a dagger. He then said this:
"Uncle
Brand," he said, "once before you offered me a place by
your side, to help you destroy Amber, and I refused. Now though,
I have reconsidered and ask you to accept me."
"As
a token of my good will, I put the blood of my own kin on my
hands." Without another word he turned to his right and put
the dagger into my chest. I was shocked.
Now the
wound should have been fatale, but Andrew wouldn't have delivered
it if he had thought it would kill me.
While
Andrew went and stood next to Brand, Dellen and Margo took
defensive stances before me and Adamantis knelt beside me and
used his healing powers to patch up the hole. I, in the mean
time, spit up a lot of blood and concentrated on not choking. The
knife had gone into my right lung.
Somewhere
during the time that Adamantis healed me and I coughed up a lot
of my precious bodily fluids, Brand and Andrew trumped out, and
as soon as I was healed, Dellen, Margo, Adamantis and I trumped
out.
I went
on to drink a couple shots of scotch to revive me from the shock
and get the horrid taste of my own blood out of my mouth. I then
drank a glass of sugar water to get the taste of scotch out of
mouth, followed by a can of root beer to get the taste of sugar
water out of my mouth.
I then
spent the next half-hour telling Dellen how I hadn't known about
this(half true) and how I was shocked(most definitely) and
outraged(yeah, that, too) that my brother would do this to me.
After
all, Brand had tried to kill us both when we were younger by
forcing us to walk the Pattern.
Ah, the
past. The only thing that is truly the opposite of the
future.......
:::::Flashback:::::
My
father left when Andrew and I were three, M'ky twelve. That was
the time that dear Grandpa Oberon disappeared from Amber. He was
gone, we didn't remember him, life was semi-normal.
Andrew
and I enrolled in school and ever since the first day of
kindergarten Andrew and Adamantis were competing to be better
than one another. At the time we didn't know Adamantis was an
Amberite.(I later learned that Eric had visited my father and
stayed for about two weeks years and years before. He had also
had his way with several local women, producing two bastards nine
months later. One was Adamantis, the other a girl named Seri.)
After
the two had been kicked out of school several times for fighting,
they suddenly decided not to try and get the better of each other
and to get along. I never understood what happened(some sort of
weird male bonding, perhaps?), and I still don't know now what it
was that occurred. They just quit hating each other and said
"Buddy!" and "Pal!" to one another. Weird.
When we
were twelve things changed. We met Dellen and Margo. They told us
we were Amberites(to confirm this they sliced our wrists open to
see how long it took them to heal. Charming people, Margo and
Dellen) After they confirmed it among each other, Margo bought a
place in town and became a permanent resident(oh, happy day!).
Andrew
and I both began to spend a lot of time around her. Mom didn't
know.
We
learned to fence, to shoot, and other warrior traits. Cyanne, who
fancies herself a magician, taught us magic. Andrew learned magic
from Cyanne, I learned to fence from Margo, and Adamantis learned
the healing arts from some old woman who lived in the woods. The
women's name was Mardi and she taught him everything he knows
about the healing magic.
Adamantis
didn't have a problem. His mother was a bar maid and she worked
long, late hours and didn't notice if son was out until after
dark. Andrew and I, however, were not so fortunate. Not only did
Mom oppose to us being out past sunset, when a month or so after
we turned fourteen Brand nabbed us(Andrew, Eric's daughter Seri
and I) and took us to the Pattern.
Andrew
and I had thankfully heard of it from Dellen, Cyanne and Margo,
but Seri didn't even know she was an Amberite, let alone what to
do when Brand shoved her on to the Pattern.
I'll
make things short and simple. She died, obliterated upon stopping
near the first veil. Andrew and I survived, each reaching the
center and then returning home based on an earlier
agreement(don't ask, just don't ask.......).
We were
too young to have walked the Pattern. We both made it home, but
became mysteriously ill with extreme fatigue for the next two
weeks.
We got
better and Margo and Dellen gave us each crash courses in shadow
walking, then took Adamantis to walk the Pattern. We all learned
to manipulate shadow at a very young age.
Then
came sweet sixteen. Things went fine. Three months later Dad came
home, having sorted things in Amber out best he could, and
planned to stay.
Neither
Andrew or I remembered him, and he actually made us follow the
rules. If we were told to be home by seven o'clock and we didn't
get home 'till seven forty-five, we were grounded. Andrew never
pushed him beyond that. I on the other hand was caught sneaking
back in more than once. Andrew was a magician, therefore he could
practice alone. I was a warrior and required an opponent. Dad
lost his temper more than once. He set rules, Mom set rules, I
was expected to follow those rules and except the punishment that
came with breaking them. Dad slapped me on more than one occasion
for breaking his rules. It's not something you forget easily.
Gerard is known as the strongest Amberite for a reason, he's
strong and whether he's breaking somebody's neck or slapping you
across the face it hurts. It's not that he's cruel or anything,
but I managed to push him over the edge more than once with my
lack of following the rules......that among other things.
Delwin
was a real problem. He wanted Dellen dead and Dellen was hanging
around and helping me with my fencing.
I was
arrested seven times for disturbing the piece, four times for
breaking and entering, and twice for arsine. Each time Dad, sadly
I might add, paid the fine and my bail. Each time I had been
arrested because of something that had occurred with Delwin. I
never even graduated high-school(which was something Andrew did
manage), too many cuts.
When I
was twenty-five I was still living at home(by this time M'ky had
walked the Pattern and was off in shadow and Andrew had told
everyone(a lie of course) that he had gotten a job as a clown in
the circus. Therefore, he left town and the shadow, keeping in
touch with me via the trumps Cyanne had drawn and helping Dellen
deal with Brand). One night I was trying to think of a lie on why
I was leaving home, when I decided to scurry my fathers trump.
His
words have lived with me to this day.
"She's
hopeless," he had said to my mother sadly. "A punk kid
whose ruined her life and," he had drawn a shaky breath,
"I feel it's my fault for not being here for her."
Not
only had my father called me "hopeless", but he thought
it was his fault. Shame was what drove me that night. Shame at
being a useless daughter, the shame of having to lie on so many
occasions because either Brand or Dellen was trying to kill
someone, I was ashamed of who he thought I was.
I left
that night, trumping out with a packed bag via Andrew. Not once
in the two centuries that have passed since then have I dyed my
hair. I let my short cut locks grow long, and in my shame I never
spoke another word to my father, except to give my regrets to him
and M'ky at my mothers funeral. Neither had recognized me. Shame
still drove me to hide my face.
**************************************************
Dellen
interrupted my musing with a sharp knock on my door.
"What?"
I asked.
He
replied with, "Can I come in?"
"A
question answered with a question," I mused. Then,
"Yeah, come on in."
He
entered, slamming the door behind him and sat down across from me
in my favorite easy chair. I was lying on my bed.
"Might
I ask again, 'what'?"
He
studied me for a moment and leaned back in the chair.
Dellen's
a tall man, well over six feet. His hair the same sandy color as
his father, but unlike his father's his is long, well past his
shoulders, and always neatly cut, while Delwin's always seems to
be short and a mess. He wore light leather armor; no weapons that
I could see.
"I
need you to do me favor," he said.
"Depends
on what kind of favor it is," I said bluntly. I wasn't about
to let myself be suckered into something bad.
"It's
nothing bad." Is he reading my mind? "Just
dangerous." Ah. My brothers a traitor so you want to kill me
off, eh? "I need you to go to Amber." Hah! You really
do want me dead don't you! Shall I let the Pattern fry me, or
simply try and assassinate Uncle Julian, or even better Random?
"To
do what?" I really do wish that he would get to the point.
"The
Golden Circle kingdom of Tyshen is siding with Brand....."
"Everyone
knows he's alive?"
"Not
everyone. Rinaldo in Kashfa knows......"
"Does
he know about Coral?" I interrupted again.
"No.
But hear me out will you?" I nodded. "Good. Brand used
to hang around in a Golden Circle kingdom known as Tyshen. Tyshen
is on very good terms with another kingdom known as Serlyn."
I nodded again, wondering what his point was. "I've arranged
things so that Serlyn is going to send several ambassadors to
talk with Random about Tyshen's sudden alliance with Brand."
"You
arranged this?"
"Yes.
I want you to go and take Margo and Adamantis with you while
Cyanne and I further explore Brands defenses around the
Abyss."
"I
will," I said.
"Good,"
he said with a nod. "You three leave tomorrow for
Serlyn."
