The courts of chaos Read Free Page B

gotten away.”
    I raised the Trump, stared at it.
    “No good,” she said. “It will not function between here and there.”
    I recalled how difficult Trump communication had been when I had been to the fringes of that place. I tried anyway.   The card grew cold in my hand and I reached out. There was the faintest flicker of a responding presence. I tried harder.
    “Merlin, this is Corwin,” I said. “Do you hear me?”
    I seemed to hear a reply. It seemed to be, “I cannot-“ And then there was nothing. The card lost its coldness.
    “Did you reach him?” she asked.
    “I am not sure,” I said. “But I think so. Just for a moment.”
    “Better than I thought,” she said. “Either conditions are good or your minds are very similar.”
    “When you began waving Dad’s signet around you spoke of orders,” Random said. “What orders? And why is he sending them through you?”
    “It is a matter of timing.”
    “Timing? Hell! He just left here this morning!”
    “He had to finish one thing before he was ready for another. He had no idea how long it would take. But I was just in touch with him before I came here-though I was hardly prepared for the reception I walked into-and he is now ready to begin the next phase.”
    “Where did you speak with him?” I asked. “Where is he?”
    “I have no idea where he is. He contacted me.”
    “And... ?”
    “He wants Benedict to attack immediately.”
    Gerard finally stirred from the huge armchair in which he had sat listening. He rose to his feet, hooked his thumbs in his belt and looked down at her.
    “An order like that would have to come directly from Dad.”
    “It did,” she said.
    He shook his head.
    “It makes no sense. Why contact you-someone we have small reason to trust-rather than one of us?”
    “I do not believe that he can reach you at the moment. On the other hand, he was able to reach me.”
    “Why?”
    “He did not use a Trump. He does not have one for me. He used a reverberation effect of the black road, similar to the means by which Brand once escaped Corwin.”
    “You know a lot of what has been going on.”
    “I do. I still have sources in the Courts, and Brand transported himself there after your struggle. I hear things.”
    “Do you know where our father is right now?” Random asked.
    “No, I do not know. But I believe that he has journeyed to the real Amber, to take counsel with Dworkin and to re-examine the damage to the primal Pattern.”
    “To what end?”
    “I do not know. Probably to decide on the course of action he will take. The fact that he reached me and ordered the attack most likely means that he has decided.”
    “How long ago was this communication?”
    “Just a few hours-my time. But I was far from here in Shadow. I do not know what the time differential is. I am too new at this.”
    “So it could be something extremely recent. Possibly only moments ago,” Gerard mused. “Why did he talk with you rather than one of us? I do not believe that he could not reach us if he wished to.”
    “Perhaps to show that he looks upon me with favor,” she said.
    “All of this may be entirely true,” Benedict stated. “But I am not moving without a confirmation of that order.”
    “Is Fiona still at the primal Pattern?” Random asked.
    “Last I heard,” I told him, “she had set up camp there. I see what you mean. . . .”
    I shuffled out Fi’s card.
    “It took more than one of us to get through from there,” he observed.
    “True. So give me a hand.”
    He rose, came to my side. Benedict and Gerard also approached.
    “This is not really necessary,” Dara protested.
    I ignored her and concentrated on the delicate features of my red-haired sister. Moments later, we had contact.
    “Fiona,” I asked, seeing from the background that she was still in residence at the heart of things, “is Dad there?”
    “Yes,” she said, smiling tightly. “He is inside with Dworkin.”
    “Listen, urgency prevails. I do not