Eric:
You
speak of the Black Road?
Julian:
It stretches
now
Throughout the Vale of Garnath, till it comes
Almost to Kolvir's heights. From
whence it comes
Is still a mystery to all of us.
Gerard and I attempted, as you
know,
To journey on it till we reached its end,
But were attacked by creatures strange
and foul,
And barely saved our lives.
Eric:
As you have
said
It yet remains a mystery to us,
And yet I feel a cold and bitter dread,
A strong
foreboding that it soon will reach
Even to Amber... it is driven, I fear,
By some malicious
hate and constant spite,
And seeks the fall and ruin of our land.
(Caine enters, clearly
worried.)
Caine:
My liege, my hunter brother: I bring news,
Disastrous news for
us.
Eric:
Then tell it straight!
Caine:
Corwin has fled
from out his prison cell.
This morning, when the guards would give him food,
They found
untouched his meal from yesterday,
And fearing lest he might be ill or dead,
They looked
inside. There was no sign of him,
Merely the ashes of his bedroll, burned,
Two pictures
scrawled upon the prison wall,
And nothing else.
Eric:
How can
he have escaped?
Caine:
The guards are innocent, I think, in this.
If you should
wish them... questioned...
Eric:
Little point.
Corwin
is fled, and doubtless far away,
Plotting a dire revenge upon us all:
Just as he swore,
when, four long years ago,
Upon my coronation day, he cursed
Me and my reign until
the day I die.
But now our strongest and our first concern
Is the Black Road that winds
towards our walls:
Who knows what enemies are marching now
Along its shadowed
length to the attack?
Let search be made for Corwin, by all means,
And if he should be
found, have him brought here
To take due council with us: if needs be
I'll grant him
power and a regency
If he will stand with us against these foes.
Caine:
Your
will, my liege.
(Exit Caine.)
Julian:
Do you believe then,
Sire,
That Corwin now will cast aside his hate
And aid us here?
Eric:
As you once said to me,
Corwin's concern was ever for the land,
Amber his constant
love and dearest care:
These words I now acknowledge as the truth,
And I can only trust
that this great love
Is stronger in him than his hate for me.
Julian:
As you
command.
(Exit Julian.)
Eric:
Now is the price of
power
Bitter against the sweetness of power's taste.
I must forgive and trust a savage
foe,
Gathering him as ally to my side,
Lest all the forces massing 'gainst us now
Bring
darkness and destruction to the land.
This Jewel, the symbol of the power I wield,
Be
witness to the oath that I now swear:
That as I am the ruler of this land,
So am I also
servant to the land,
And swear the preservation of the land.
(Exit
Eric.)
Scene 2 : Room, chairs, fireplace: Fiona and Bleys
seated.
Fiona:
Now the conspiracy which we began
Recoils upon
our heads, and family blood
Stains both the Pattern and our guilty
hands.
Bleys:
My sister, you refine too much on this:
Brand's actions were his
own concern and choice,
And we should not be held to blame for
them.
Fiona:
But we as three together laid our plans,
Turned to the Courts of
Chaos as ally,
And took the help they gave.
Bleys:
What
Brand learnt there
Was learnt without our aid.
Fiona:
He
is our kin,
Our brother, ever closest to we twain,
And we cannot be held as guiltless
here.
Bleys:
We did not choose to shed our family's blood
That we might mar
the Pattern's burning line,
And thus gain power.
Fiona:
We did not
know we could.
If we had known, my brother, can you swear
That we would not have
done as much?
Bleys:
I can:
I know myself, sister, and
I know you
As I have never known our brother's heart.
Neither of us would pay such
price for power.
Rather take thought to how we may amend
The havoc Brand has
caused: the blood he spilt
Has caused the vile Black Road, which even now
Leads from
the Courts of Chaos to our land,
And passes through the Shadows till it comes
Even to
Kolvir's foot.
Fiona:
I cannot say.
Though many times now have
I questioned Brand
Within my Shadow where he lies confined,
He merely mocks, pours
scorn upon our plight,
And I have not the strength to pierce his mind
And wrench his
secrets from where they lie hid.
Bleys:
Then we can take no
action.
Fiona:
Even now,
As we two speak, a mighty force
begins
To march towards Amber's eternal land
From the far Courts of Chaos. This I
saw
Through spells that I command: and, be assured,
Those who now reign in Amber
know it too.
Bleys:
And should I take a hand, and show my head,
Eric would
have it from my shoulders straight.
Fiona:
Indeed: better you should conceal
yourself
Until some better chance is manifest.
Now we must place all of our trust and
faith
In hopes that Eric can maintain the power
Which he now holds, and we so lately
strove
To wrest from out his clutch.
Bleys:
As you have
said.
If he can not preserve the land in this,
Then all of Amber soon shall fall with
him.
We must now wish that he may show that skill,
That prowess and that virtue, which
we once
Hoped he did not possess, nor would display.
Fiona:
Perhaps he'd even
smile, if now he knew
How much we pin our hopes upon his strength.
Bleys:
Let
us now go and question Brand again:
If, as you hold, we are to blame in this,
Then we
shall strive to swift amend that fault
By finding means to mend our brother's sin
And
shatter the Black Road, if so we may,
Lest Amber fall, and Chaos rule the
day.
(Exeunt both.)
Scene 3: Library: Eric, Gerard,
Benedict, Julian, Caine present: obvious tactical planning
session.
Benedict:
Brother, I have attended as you asked,
Breaking
my silence and my solitude
Since you have given me to understand
That Amber stands
in peril.
Eric:
That is so:
A Black Road travels to our very
bounds,
Marring all Shadows where it may be traced:
And now dark armies march along
its length.
Benedict:
What nature have these soldiers?
Gerard:
Terrible:
Twisted and strange, distorted to the eye,
The Shadow yet
unknown from whence they hail,
Their progress slow but steady, they advance,
And in
a mere few days, I greatly fear,
They shall arrive at Kolvir.
Benedict:
And your plans?
Eric:
Defeat them by whatever means we may,
And
wipe this evil Road from Amber's soil.
Benedict:
So you have summoned me to aid
you now?
Eric:
I do not ask for sworn allegiance here,
Nor that you should
acknowledge me as king,
But merely that you join us to defend
This land and kingdom,
our eternal home.
Benedict:
And your proposed defence?
Eric:
We take our stand
Upon high Kovir: as their armies march
Through Garnath,
Julian shall attack their hosts,
Thinning their ranks and scattering their men,
And then as
they attempt to scale the heights
Our forces strike them like a mighty wave
And smash
them to the dust from which they rose!
Benedict:
Your plans seem feasible: I stand
with you,
And am your ally to preserve the land.
Eric:
Gladly do I accept your
proffered aid:
And you, my other brothers standing here,
Thankful am I for your
assistance now.
Together I may hope that we may stem
The mounting tide of darkness
that now casts
A hideous shadow over our fair land.
(Exeunt
all.)
Scene 4: Library: Eric enters, shuffles through Trump deck,
selects one, and addresses it.
Eric:
Corwin, I speak now to your
painted Trump
With the sure knowledge that you hear my words
In whatsoever Shadow
you may dwell.
(Corwin enters at the other side of the stage: he addresses a Trump
he
holds in his hand.)
Corwin:
And if I do? What have you then to
say?
Eric:
I offer no apologies to you
For what I did: indeed, my sole
regret
Is that I did not kill you when I should:
Twas vanity, that played me for a
fool.
Though passing time may now have healed your eyes,
I doubt that it will ever
change that hate
In which we hold each other. You once swore
You would return, and
you would take the crown:
I know if I had spoken in such words
Then I would do as
much: now I await
Your coming with a mighty force of arms.
Past vanity is paid of
present pride:
I seek now peace, for the realm's sake, not mine,
For now strong forces
march from out of Shadow,
The most formidable that ever came
Against our land. The
family stands with me
To bar their way: I ask for your support,
Or, failing that, that you
should now forbear
To challenge Amber till this threat is gone.
I ask no homage nor
allegiance here,
Merely that you acknowledge me as leader
Until this war is done. You
have my word
That in these matters I speak only truth,
And act for the protection of the
land.
Corwin:
Why, brother, did you think my parting curse
A thing you could
so lightly brush away?
I thank you for your kindness in this matter,
For thinking of me
in your hour of need:
Believe me now, I do not doubt your word,
For all of us are
honourable men,
But I will meet you at the hour I choose.
I am most mindful of fair
Amber's needs,
Yet I shall deal with them in my own time
And my own fashion, brother.
You have made
The error of considering yourself
A necessary thing: graveyards are
full
Of men who thought they could not be replaced:
And soon we shall discuss this, face
to face.
(Corwin passes his hand across the card, and places it in a pouch, Exit
Corwin.)
Eric:
For the land's sake, I put away my pride
And asked your help:
a bitter taste and sour.
I spoke the truth, but you chose not to hear.
I understand your
passion for the land
That drives you on to seize the power from me,
It is the mirror of
my own desire
Which now impels me to take up my sword,
And to defend our land.
Would you could see,
And would that you were standing with me now,
That we two
might together face the foe
And cast them from the land we both so love.
(Exit
Eric.)
Scene 5: Command tent on battlefield: Eric is seated,
examining the Jewel of Judgement. Julian and Benedict
enter.
Eric:
What news? How fares the battle?
Julian:
They have reached
The foot of Kolvir, and they now assail
Its very
heights. Strange creatures on dark wings
Do fly against us, circling high above,
And cry
dire prophecy of coming doom.
Eric:
Then they have come past
Garnath?
Julian:
All the Vale
Is bloody ruin, fire a gaudy
flag
Wrapped about that Black Road that cuts it now.
We held as best we might: the half
my men
Are dead or wounded, yet they still advance,
Seeming unstoppable and
numberless.
Benedict:
The time is come to strike: if we should now
Assault
them from each side, we may prevail,
Breaking their force in two, then separate
Cutting
each half to shreds.
Eric:
I hear your words,
And I agree:
within a moment's space
I shall rejoin you on the battlefield,
And take my place, as I have
sworn to do.
Benedict:
We wait your coming.
(Exeunt Benedict and
Julian.)
Eric:
Now no word has come
From Corwin, nor did I
expect it would.
Now must we face the forces of our foe
With what resources may to us
remain.
And yet there is one hope...
(He raises the Jewel and considers it.)
With this fair Jewel
I may command the weather, and the wind:
May
call the lightning down from out the clouds
To smite these Shadow creatures to the
earth,
May raise such bitter turmoil in the skies
That they shall be swept down from
Kolvir's heights.
As once I used this Jewel against my kin,
Against proud Corwin then
and reckless Bleys,
Smiting their troops and ships with wind and fire,
So might I use it
now against our foes.
But yet there is a price: it drains my strength,
My life the coin
which buys this mighty aid:
I felt that weakening when I used it then,
And should I use
it now, I greatly fear
I shall not live to long survive that use.
I have no fear of battle:
many times
I placed my sword between the foe and me,
And faced that death with silence
and a smile.
But this is different: here the life slow drains
From out my body, death
approaching soft
But steady in his steps, night reaching out
To touch my eyes: how can
I face this fate?
(He stares into the Jewel again.)
And yet... I risked my life with
it before
To gain the crown and power that I hold:
Should I not choose to pay what price
is asked
To safeguard sure that crown and this fair land?
When first they offered power
as a gift,
I took it gladly, happy on the throne:
Now comes the reckoning, and I must
pay
Whatever price my constant love desires.
If the land should demand my life as
fee
Then, by my nature, I must pay that debt.
It was for love of Amber that I
took
The power and dominion I have held:
It is for love of Amber that I now
Take
up this Jewel, the symbol of my power,
And I shall use that power. Let the winds
wake,
Let lightnings lash the armies where they march,
Let hail and rain now beat them
to the dirt:
Let all the elements tell forth my rage,
The rage of Amber at her marring
here,
And let this rage bring havoc on our foes!
Whatever price is asked, that I shall
pay:
My only wish: that Amber win the day.
(Exit Eric, wearing the
Jewel.)
Scene 6 : The aftermath of the battlefield, a tent entrance
to the right. Corwin, Benedict and Julian stand centre stage. Sky above is
overcast.
Benedict:
Those weapons you have brought have won the
day:
Our foes now flee in havoc, swept away
In turmoil at the firing of your
guns.
Corwin:
But where is Eric? Surely he is here,
Proud now to stand upon
the battlefield
And glory over Amber's enemies?
Julian:
He lies within that tent:
his wounds are grave.
Although Gerard may tend him, yet I fear
That he will not survive
the hour.
Corwin:
You jest!
My brother die like this?
Nay, rather say
That this is yet another trick of his,
Some cunning ploy and trap: he
would not die
In such a manner, or from simple wounds,
Or ere we two have said what
we must say.
(Gerard enters from the tent door.)
Gerard:
Then say it to him
straight: he dwindles fast,
The life runs from his body as does sand
From out a man's
cupped hands: his blood flows swift,
The Jewel he bears now pulses like his heart,
And
like that heart, draws to a silent close.
Corwin:
I would have words with
him.
Gerard:
And he with you.
Come, enter now: he sought
for private speech
With you, while he still has what little breath
Remains within a body
doomed to death.
(Corwin exits into tent door.)
Benedict:
Was he so badly
wounded? I had thought
That though he bore the marks of many wounds,
They were
but light, and easily survived.
Gerard:
So had I thought, as well: but when I
came
To bind those wounds, and to revive him then,
He did not have the strength to rise
and live.
On some concern he has spent all his power,
Poured forth his life like water, and
that gone
He cannot rise, or heal, or hope to live.
(A flash of lightning from
overhead, and a crack of thunder.)
Julian:
The Jewel, you
think?
Benedict:
We know he used it here,
And with the storms
he raised, he broke their ranks
And sent them fleeing desperate and
lost.
Gerard:
I do not know what price it might demand.
Julian:
But
yet we know Eric would pay that price,
If he might thus save all that he has
loved.
(Corwin reenters, bearing the Jewel.)
Corwin:
He died. He died, and
gave as his last gift
This Jewel to me: his parting words a curse
On Amber's enemies
forevermore.
I do not understand.
(Gerard exits into the tent.)
Julian:
Why is it strange?
Corwin:
I was the person who he most
despised,
Who ever gave him cause for further hate,
Who would have shed his blood, and
did so once,
Who gladly would have cast him from the throne
And blinded him, as once
he did to me.
Julian:
He had his reasons.
Benedict:
Now
you hold the Jewel,
What actions do you plan to take?
Corwin:
I feel
We all should now consult as family met
From where this Black Road
comes, and why it came,
And whose these forces are that challenge
us.
Benedict:
I shall meet you anon.
(Exit Benedict. Gerard enters from
tent.)
Gerard:
You spoke the truth:
The King of Amber lies a
silent corpse,
And yet he smiles, as though at certain thoughts
That yet amused him even
when he died.
Corwin:
I see no reason for him now to smile!
He gave the Jewel
to me, whom he so loathed,
Rather than to one of you others here
Who served him well:
what cause has he to smile?
Julian:
Brother, your blindness still remains with
you.
He chose to give the Jewel to you at death
Because he knew how like you two both
were:
Your love for Amber was the match for his,
And as he died in service to the
land
So did he know that you would do as much.
He smiled because he knew that your
concern
Would keep the land as safe as his had done.
Corwin:
I feel I never
knew my brother's heart:
I thought it was the mirror of my own
In hatred, cunning, spite,
and love for power,
And now I find he mirrored me as well
In love for Amber, service
to the land,
Virtues I never dreamed that he possessed.
I'll meet you later, brothers: now
I need
Some time to think, a little space apart,
A moment to consider what has changed,
How I have lost a brother, and, what's more,
How I have never known what I have
lost.
(Exit Corwin. Enter Caine.)
Caine:
The battleground is silent now and
still,
The wounded all despatched to where they may
Yet have a chance of
healing.
Gerard:
All but one:
Eric is dead, and Corwin holds
the Jewel.
Caine:
I feared he would not live: our king is dead,
So who shall rule
us now?
Gerard:
Only that man
Whose care is for the land,
whose sole concern
Not his own power and dominion,
But Amber's preservation and her
peace.
Caine:
And where shall we find such a paragon?
Gerard:
Corwin
shows signs of some maturity,
A little blindness lost and vision gained:
I know not if he
had a part in this,
Yet if he did, I swear that he shall pay:
And if he did not, then perhaps
we might
Consider whether he could come to see
The virtue of concern for Amber's
land.
Julian:
So let us now take action, as we may,
Before this day shall end, to
now have peace
And keep that victory Eric won for us.
The best man we could choose,
in truth: so good
And so ideal in loyalty and honour
That he is dead, by those same
virtues killed.
If we should not now safeguard our fair land,
We should reject all that he
gave to us,
All that he gave, in hopes that this might be:
And that, my friends, would be
true tragedy.
(Exeunt all. Curtain falls on empty
stage.)