the Fierce & the LintKing's Amber Bits

I dreamt again.

I was riding with Brennan and Jovian (who were keeping a lively discussion about Canareth's disgust that Jovian might choose a horse to bear him for this trip down the coast.) We were on a mission suggested by the Lady, as they had referred to Lilly, who in the dream had taken a role of prominence as Random had left (some whispered disappeared) and Vialle had been struggling. Some were, in fact, calling her Queen Lilly, out of amusement.

We came upon a man losing his lunch at the seashore. He was a Knight, not of our Order, stripped of his livery. He had some sort of illness, a cancer of sorts, and I stopped to grant aid while Brennan and Jovian rode ahead. He said it was the mines, and that "they" would be attempting to stop him from his freedom. I gave him my sword, seeing that he knew how to use one, and sent him back on my horse to report to the Lady.

I heard trouble up ahead, the clash of swords, the grunts of battle. I ran up, to be surprised by two men wearing symbols I did not recognize. Unarmed, I took the injury to steal the sword out of one man's hands, and used it on the other. A moment to dispatch the first, and then Brennan and Jovian ran up to aid.

We were warned by the first Knight too late. We were surrounded. He ran off, hopefully to fulfill his mission.

We were relieved of our horses but left unharmed, and marched to a great hall surrounded by hills. Inside, we were greeted by name by a man holding a court of ruffians. I glanced at my friends, who did not know him.

He dropped the hood, and I knew him. I dropped to one knee. Wrapped around his forehead was a blackened, dirty rag, but on him, it was a crown. One eye had been removed, but it was Oberon.

I looked at my companions, who still did not seem to know him. He winked with his dead eye at me, and sent us with a warning to Random. "Things thought dead move in mysterious ways."

We appeared at the castle gates, with neither the feeling of Trump, or any magic. My friends can swear blisteringly, you know.

They rushed through the doors to see the Lady, and perhaps our Liegelord. I hesitated, and looked behind to see a tall, tall man, hooded in a dark colour. I felt a whisper in my mind that I was not to see him. And his name. Galantia?

I wandered through the halls, and once, looked down to see him. I made a noise, not much more than a gutteral, "Hmmm," and I was pulled down to the platform beneath. I blacked out for a moment, maybe more.

As I awoke, the beautiful face of one of my unknown Cousins greeted me. She had dark, dark skin, and I knew it was a disguise. She helped me up and although my left leg hurt, we climbed the stairs to the balcony overlooking the Throne Room.

The door was open, and we snuck in to see Aisling, thrumming in some sort of anger, pinned magically (like a moth) against the wall. A tall, tall man announced himself Galantia in front of Random, and claimed Amber his rightful throne.

"By what right?" Random asked, smoothly. He was nonplussed. He had seen me. The rest of the Court was frozen.

"By blood, I am brother to Kings. I died by a King's hand. I come back to take what is mine. They say you left my daughter in the Abyss. They say you took the Jewel from my mother's horn. I am royalty, you are an imposter. If you will not surrender the castle to me, I can," he gestured and let Aisling drop a few inches, "take it by force. Swear to me at dawn's light, or I will bring my brother's house down."

He disappeared.

"Marius," the King gestured to me. "Get her to fix you. You know what must be done."

Her? The dark girl laughed, and brought me to a bath. Without knowing that this was what I wanted, her lips found mine, and I embraced her to keep from drowning. A moment later, I was aghast. One of my blood, I had... I must not.

She kissed me again, and I was lost. My mind could not focus on her name.

By dark, my leg was healed, a matter of her arts. She had gone, and I travelled below to find Galantia.

I watched as Jerod, Corwin, and Martin stood like watchers, as if they were in thrall. Galantia made a symbol on Merlin's hand, and it burned with light as if from the Tir. After a moment, Merlin stood and a wisp of some sort of essence came from his breath, an essence Galantia caught in a round jar marked with many eyes. "I will see as you see now," he whispered, and closed the jar with a cork.

Merlin collapsed into Corwin's arms.

"That is one of the powers of the True King, to imbue his Knights with his Sight," Jerod mentioned to Corwin. Corwin nodded. "As I do in Parys, and Martin will do when he becomes True King below."

"And I?" I asked, stepping from the Shadows. "Is there a Kingdom left for me?"

"Who are you?" Galantia asked.

"One of little enough import, but one who would test you," I said. I gave him my palm.

"Can I trust him?" the giant asked.

Jerod shrugged, a feeling shared apparently by the others.

He scrawled the symbol on my hand. I watched it glow. I willed it away.

He looked shocked. "I am not to be one of your thralls, nor vassals. If you are to have me, it is only as a partner."

"Partner?" the giant scoffed.

"Without it, my loyalty goes to the one chosen by her Horn."

"A choice made from a limited pool," Jerod scoffed.

I smiled.

They rushed me then, and I found myself awake in the King's Prison, a place differentiated from the dungeon as one you might be free of...should the judges smile upon you.

A prison I could pull apart with my hands.

When I wandered into the city, I came across Solange and Paige. They greeted me as a suitable escort. I asked them of Galantia.

"Who?" Paige asked.

"Is it a place?" Solange asked.

I shook my head. That is when I knew I was dreaming.