Scene 2 : Throne room in Amber.
Eric is seated on the throne: Julian and Caine stand before
him.
Eric:
Now stand we all in peril of our lives,
Now mighty
Amber shakes from head to foot:
For now our brothers, treacherous and vile,
Do lead
their armies 'gainst our regal might,
And seek to thrust me from my rightful seat.
Speak,
therefore, of their armies and their men,
Their disposition, and their future
plans.
Julian:
My liege, the traitor Bleys, so long our foe,
His temper yet as
fervent as his hair,
Marches against us now across the land,
Leading the quarter of a
million men,
Which shadow armies all believe him god,
And cry against you as the Lord
of Hell.
Caine:
My liege, upon the seas sails Corwin now,
His trust abused, his
loyalty forsworn,
Tool of our brother Bleys, most pitiable,
Yet dangerous: his ships so
full of men
That every timber screams at such a load.
He has not spoken to me since that
day
When he desired my help and begged my aid,
With many promises of wealth and
power,
Seeking that I forswear my loyalty.
Eric:
My brothers, go ye now to take
your posts,
Command the army and the navy both,
And sweep despised rebellion from
this land.
But this I charge you: let our brothers live,
Take not their lives: I would not
have them die.
I will not have their blood upon my hands:
Not even Bleys, the guiltier of
the two,
Shall meet his end from a command of mine.
Instead I'll have the pair haled forth
in chains,
And then upon my coronation day
They both shall kneel before my throne in
shame,
And live imprisoned, there to curse my name.
Exeunt
omnes.
Scene 3 : a blasted piece of high ground. Corwin stands
looking down: Bleys enters. Both are bandaged and clearly
tired.
Bleys:
Brother, are you recovered? Many wounds
Afflicted
you when from the ships you came,
You reeked with blood and fell into my arms,
Your
ears still blasted from the battle's din,
And shaken by the many blows you
took.
Corwin:
I live: that is enough. The blood you saw
Was that of others,
many others slain
In my attempt upon our brother's fleet.
Almost amusing in its
paradox,
He was as treacherous as we desired,
But in the end his treason was to
us,
Rather than to our brother on the throne.
Bleys:
You seem tonight in
melancholy mood.
Rejoice that we both live, and both stand here,
Near Arden's
boundaries and Amber's land.
Corwin:
Yet somewhat short of
men.
Bleys:
We have enough
To drive our hunter brother to his
knees,
To pierce through Arden like a flaming spear,
And strike our regal brother to the
heart,
Bringing him from the throne he has usurped.
Corwin:
Yet at what
cost?
Bleys:
I do not understand.
Corwin:
How many men
must die to reach this end?
How many of our forces will lie still
If we, at last, should
conquer in this fight?
Bleys:
They are but Shadows, and are born to serve.
Think
no more of this: they are born to die.
And die, at least, in a most noble cause,
Spending
their lives upon our battlefields.
Corwin:
Are born to die, indeed, and die so
fast,
Like specks of dust that dance upon the wind
And prompt no more than momentary
tears,
Like shadows truly, that were never real,
And cannot touch the life of one who
is,
But pass for just one moment and are gone.
Bleys:
Then why do you seem
troubled at their fate?
Corwin:
They have so little, it is gone so soon:
And now
we take away what lives they have,
Lead them to die in struggles of our own.
They throw
themselves so fiercely at the foe,
Even in their own battles, that they choose
Of their own
will, they fight, and they soon fall.
The little life that they possessed is gone:
Yet it was
real to them: they think themselves
As real as you or I, not merely shades
That flicker
brief beside us as we pass.
Bleys:
And so you mourn?
Corwin:
No, brother mine, not mourn,
But feel some slight regret at passing shades
Who
fling themselves so quick from life to death,
And do not even pause and stay to
live
Within what small reality they have.
Bleys:
Such thoughts are of no worth:
they live, they die,
Their honour if they serve us in that life,
Their honour if they serve
us with that death.
You never spoke like this in days gone by.
Corwin:
It is the
nature of all things to change,
And I have had time and enough to
change.
Bleys:
The blood of Amber is a changeless thing.
Come, let us leave
these bitter musings here.
I've wine within my tent: we'll drink therein,
And swear the
downfall of disloyal kin.
Exeunt both.
Scene 4 : Bleys,
wounded, and Fiona in their room.
Fiona:
Tell me again the tale of
your defeat,
Without the many curses at our brother
That you fast flung when I first
brought you here
To heal your wounds and stem the flow of blood.
Bleys:
We
reached high Kolvir, and we then began
To climb her steps, ascend into the
heights,
Smiting down Eric's men upon the way.
Fiona:
A simple task for you,
with all your skill...
Bleys:
It seemed a simple thing: until one man
Decided with
his life to buy my own,
And flung himself at me: I reeled, I slipped,
Teetering hard upon
the very edge,
Until all balance left me, and I fell.
Fiona:
And
then?
Bleys:
Our brother Corwin, seeing this,
Flung me his pack of
Trumps.
Fiona:
Surely you jest!
His hope of life, his sole
means of escape,
So idly flung away?
Bleys:
He cried at me
To
catch them: then he turned and raised his sword,
Parrying the next blow, spilling more
blood,
Carving a path along the narrow steps,
While swift I fell, yet caught the pack of
cards
And found your own.
Fiona:
I knew your reaching
mind
As well, my brother, as I know my own.
I brought you to my side as best I
might.
Bleys:
For which my thanks.
Fiona:
But tell me,
do we know
Where stand our brothers now? Did Corwin reach
The mighty citadel, and
could he stand
Against the armies of its Lord and King?
Bleys:
He did indeed:
he fought his bitter way
To stand upon the mountain's lofty top
And there assail eternal
Amber's gates,
But there he fell. From soldiers who have fled
And by the other hidden
means we have,
I learnt that he was captured, beaten down,
Struck with blunt arrows,
tangled in their nets,
And fell, at last, most glorious in his fall.
Fiona:
So Eric
holds him now.
Bleys:
Without a doubt.
Fiona:
If
Eric spares his life, we might yet find
Some little use for Corwin: surely now
His hate for
Eric is more bitter yet,
And he a tool most apt to suit our hand.
Bleys:
If Eric
lets him live, he can be saved,
And used as tool to serve us in our plans,
But if he
dies...
Fiona:
Why, brother, then he dies.
A pity thus to lose a
useful tool,
But would he mourn us if we chanced to die,
Or merely smile that fewer kin
remained
To meddle in his way towards the throne?
Bleys:
As you have said,
none of our kin is such
To feel great grief at any other's death.
Let us then see what
judgement Eric makes,
And then make our decision.
Fiona:
As you say.
If he can be of use, then we shall move
To give him rescue, and to aid his
pains:
If not, no further help for him remains.
(Exit Bleys and
Fiona.)
Scene 5 : Eric stands on a balcony, the Jewel around his
neck, looking out. Julian enters.
Eric:
You have him safe
secured?
Julian:
He rests below,
Confined and safe disarmed:
his chains are strong:
You need not fret, my liege.
Eric:
Insult me not:
You know our brother's strength as well as I,
You too have fallen to his
strength in arms:
While he still lives he yet remains a sword
That places us in peril of our
lives.
Julian:
So what is your desire?
Eric:
I do not
wish
To have our brother's blood upon my hands,
Since he is merely tool and
instrument
Of those who seek my power and my life:
But equally, if we should let him
live,
Then he is present danger to us all
As our sweet sister, fiery as her hair,
As
powerful in her mind as I with steel,
With but one thought may snatch him from his
cell
And bring him once again to threaten us.
Julian:
The choice is yours, my
brother: let him live,
Or see him dead, and have your power secured.
Eric:
And
what is he to you, that he should live?
He is no friend to you: nay, is your foe,
Bears you
strong malice ever, seeks your harm:
What would you have me do?
Julian:
I would first know
How much you care for him, and then how
much
You care for the security of your power.
Eric:
There is too much at stake
to let him free,
And if we let him live, he will win free:
But yet I would not bear my
brother's blood,
I would not see him die.
Julian:
Then hearken,
Sire,
There is another path that we might take:
If he should live, yet be no use to
them,
Then he might live in peace as prisoner
And you remain untroubled on the
throne.
Eric:
Continue, hunter brother: speak your mind.
Julian:
Burn
out his eyes: in time they will yet heal,
But still for many years he will be blind,
Trapped
in a private darkness, impotent,
No longer able to oppose your power.
The redheads will
no longer seek his use,
And you may reign, and Corwin may yet live.
Eric:
I did
not know you bore him hate so strong.
Julian:
Hatred is not my motive: rather
say
That I would seek to spare what life I may,
To spare the kingdom now from future
strife,
To safeguard you, as ruler of the land,
And spare our brother's
life.
Eric:
That is my wish,
But would he choose to live at
such a cost?
Julian:
The choice is yours, my liege: I wait your
word.
Eric:
Let him be blinded, then: but let it wait
Till I am duly crowned,
confirmed in power,
My coronation be the final sight
That he shall see for many a long
year.
(Exit Eric, troubled.)
Julian:
Brother, we chose to place you on the
throne
Because we thought the land was your concern
More than your power or your
consequence.
Your choice confirms me in my earlier thought
That you are the best man
to wear the crown:
That you can now show mercy and forgive,
Risk your own power,
and let your brother live.
(Exit Julian.)
Scene 6 : Great
Hall in Amber, courtiers seated, Flora, Caine and Julian present. Corwin, manacled, is led in by
guards and seated by Julian.
Fanfare of trumpets: Eric enters, wearing the
Jewel. All stand: Corwin is dragged to his feet.
Eric:
May you all dwell together
here in Amber,
Amber which shall endure till time shall end.
(All raise their glasses
for the toast.)
Corwin:
To Eric, who sits at the table's foot!
(Corwin
manages to drink most of his glass: all others empty theirs untasted.)
(Another fanfare
of trumpets. Eric stands before the throne: Caine leaves and reenters, bearing the
crown.)
Julian:
Behold the crowning of a king in Amber!
(To
Corwin)
Take up the crown and give it to our brother:
He crowns himself as king
of our fair land.
(Corwin picks up the crown and crowns
himself.)
Corwin:
I crown myself King Corwin, King of Amber!
(Guards
remove crown and beat him to his knees.)
Julian:
Take up the crown, brother, and
try again:
Give it to Eric now.
Corwin:
As you desire!
(He
throws the crown at Eric: Eric catches it, and crowns himself.)
Eric:
I thank you,
brother, for this courteous gift.
Now hear me, all you present in this Court,
And all those
folk who listen now in Shadow:
The crown and throne I take as mine this day,
Within my
hand lies Amber's sceptre now.
Justly and fairly have I won the throne,
I take and hold
it by the right of blood.
Corwin:
Liar!
Eric:
I crown myself Eric
the First,
King of eternal Amber!
Courtiers:
Long live the
King!
Eric:
Corwin, my brother, hear these final words:
Your eyes have looked
upon the fairest sight
That they will ever now behold. Ho, guards!
Have Corwin taken
to the stithy straight
And let his eyes be burnt from out his head!
Let him remember what
he has now seen
As the last sight that he shall ever see!
Then have him cast into the
darkest cell
That deepest lies below our citadel,
And let his name forgotten be by
all!
Corwin:
My curse on you, and on your rule as king:
On Amber while she
must endure your reign,
On all our royal kin who serve you now,
But most of all on you,
I lay my curse!
(Corwin is dragged out by guards, struggling.)
Eric:
My
blessing now on all of Amber's folk,
On all her nobles gathered here in Court,
On all her
wide dominions and her lands.
Courtiers:
Long live Eric the First, King of
Amber!
(More fanfares. Eric seats himself upon the throne. Courtiers
cheer.)
(Curtain.)