Sign of the Unicorn

«Thanks,» I said, and another question occurred to me but I decided against asking it at that moment. For the benefit of the others, I closed off by saying, «So do you think he needs any more blankets? Or anything else?»

Gerard raised his glass to me, then took a drink.

«Very good. Keep up the good work,» I said, and I passed my hand over his card.

«Brother Brand seems to be doing all right,» I said, «and Gerard does not recollect Dad's saying anything that would directly connect Shadow slippage and his departure. I wonder how Brand will recall things, when he comes around?»

«If he comes around,» Julian said.

«I think that he will,» I said. «We have all taken some pretty bad beatings. Our vitality is one of the few things we have come to trust. My guess is that he will be talking by morning.»

«What do you propose doing with the guilty party,» he asked, «if Brand names him?»

«Question him,» I said.

«Then I would like to do the questioning. I am beginning to feel that you may be right this time, Corwin, and that the person who stabbed him may also be responsible for our intermittent state of siege, for Dad's disappearance, and for Caine's killing. So I would enjoy questioning him before we cut his throat, and I would like to volunteer for that last part also.»

«We will keep it in mind,» I said.

«You are not excluded from the reckoning, Corwin.»

«I was aware of that.»

«I have something to say,» said Benedict, smothering a rejoinder from Julian. «I find myself troubled both by the strength and the apparent objective of the opposition. I have encountered them now on several occasions, and they are out for blood. Accepting for the moment your story of the girl Dara, Corwin, her final words do seem to sum up their attitude: 'Amber will be destroyed. ' Not conquered, subjugated, or taught a lesson. Destroyed. Julian, you wouldn't mind ruling here, would you?» Julian smiled.

«Perhaps next year this time,» he said. «Not today, thank you.»

«What I am getting at is that I could see you - or any of us - employing mercenaries or obtaining allies to effect a takeover. I cannot see you employing a force so powerful that it would represent a grave problem itself afterward. Not a force that seems bent on destruction rather than conquest. I cannot see you, me, Corwin, the others as actually trying to destroy Amber, or willing to gamble with forces that would. That is the part I do not like about Corwin's notion that one of us is behind this.»

I had to nod. I was not unaware of the weakness of that link in my chain of speculations. Still, there were so many unknowns… I could offer alternatives, such as Random then did, but guesses prove nothing.

«It may be,» Random said, «that one of us made the deal but underestimated his allies. The guilty party may now be sweating this thing as much as the rest of us. He may not be in a position to turn things off now, even if he wants to.»

«We could offer him the opportunity,» Fiona said, «to betray his allies to us now. If Julian could be persuaded to leave his throat uncut and the rest of us were willing to do the same, he might come around - if Random's guess is correct. He would not claim the throne, but he was obviously not about to have it before. He would have his life and he could save Amber quite a bit of trouble. Is anyone willing to commit himself to a position on this?»

«I am,» I said. «I will give him life if he will come across, with the understanding that it will be spent in exile.»

«I will go along with that,» Benedict said.

«So will I,» said Random.

«On one condition,» Julian said. «If he was not personally responsible for Caine's death, I will go along with it. Otherwise, no. And there would have to be evidence.»

«Life, in exile,» Deirdre said. «All right. I agree.»

«So do I,» said Flora.

«And I,» Llewella followed.

«Gerard will probably agree too,» I said. «But I really wonder whether Brand will feel the same as the rest of us. I've a feeling he may not.»

«Let us check with Gerard,» Benedict said. «If Brand makes it and proves the only holdout, the guilty party will know he has only one enemy to avoid - and they can always work out their own terms on that count.»

«All right,» I said, smothering a few misgivings, and I recontacted Gerard, who agreed also.

So we rose to our feet and swore that much by the Unicorn of Amber - Julian's oath having an extra clause to it - and swore to enforce exile on any of our own number who violated the oath. Frankly, I did not think it would net us anything, but it is always nice to see families doing things together.