Prince of Chaos. Chapter 3, 4
III
How long I slept, I do not know. I was awakened by Suhuy’s repeating my name.
“Merlin, Merlin,” he said. “The sky is white.”
“And I’ve a busy day,” I answered. “I know. I’d a busy night, too.”
“It reached you, then.”
“What?”
“A small spell I sent, to open your mind to some enlightenment. I hoped to lead you to answers from within, rather than burden you with my guesswork and suspicions.”
“I was back in the Corridor of Mirrors.”
“I knew not what form it might take.”
“Was it real?”
“As such things go, it should have been.”
“Well, thanks-I guess. It reminds me that Gryll said something about your wanting to see me before my mother did.”
“I wanted to see how much you knew before you faced her. I wanted to protect your freedom of choice.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m sure she wants to see you on the throne.”
I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
“I suppose that’s possible,” I said
“I don’t know how far she’s willing to go to effect this. I wanted to give you a chance to know your own mind before you’re exposed to her plans. Would you care for a cup of tea?”
“Yes, thanks.”
I accepted a mug he proffered and raised it to my lips. “What are you saying about her beyond a guess at her wishes?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“I don’t know how active her program might be,” he said, “if that is what you mean. And whether she was connected with it or another, the spell you came wearing has faded now.”
“Your doing?”
He nodded.
I took another swallow.
“I never realized how close I’d gotten to the head of the line,” I added. “Jurt is number four or five in the succession, isn’t he?”
He nodded.
“I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a very busy day,” I said.
“Finish your tea,” he told me, “and follow me when you would.”
He walked away through a dragon tapestry on the far wall.
As I raised the mug again, the bright bracelet on my left wrist came free and drifted before me, losing its braided outline, becoming a circle of pure light. It hovered above the steaming brew, as if enjoying its cinnamony aroma.
“Hi, Ghost,” I said. “Why’d you weave yourself about my wrist that way?”
“To look like that piece of rope you usually wear,” came the reply. “I thought you must be fond of the effect.”
“I mean, what were you up to the whole time?”
“Just listening, Dad. Seeing how I might be of help. These people are all your relatives, too?”
“The ones we’ve met so far, yes.”
“Is it necessary to go back to Amber to speak ill of them?”
“No, it works here in the Courts, too.” I took another sip of tea. “Any special ill you have in mind? Or was that a general question?”
“I don’t trust your mother or your brother Mandor, even if they are my grandmother and uncle. I think they’re setting you up for something.”
“Mandor’s always been good to me.”
“… And your uncle Suhuy-he seems eminently stable, but he reminds me a lot of Dworkin. Might he be sitting on all sorts of internal turmoils and ready to flip out anytime?”
“I hope not,” I said. “He never has.”
“Oh-oh, it’s been building, and this is a time of stress.”
“Where are you getting all this pop psychology, anyway?’
“I’ve been studying the great psychologists of the Shadow Earth. It’s part of my ongoing attempt to understand the human condition. I realized it was time I learned more about the irrational parts.”
“What brought all this on?”
“The higher order edition of the Pattern I encountered in the Jewel, actually. There were aspects of it I simply could not understand. This led to considerations of chaos theory, then to Menninger and all the others for its manifestations in consciousness.”
“Any conclusions?”
“I am wiser therefor.”
“I mean, concerning the Pattern.”
“Yes. Either it possesses an element of irrationality itself, like living things, or it is an intelligence of such an order that some of its processes only seem irrational to lesser beings. Either explanation amounts to the same thing from a practical standpoint.”