John Betancourt - Chaos and Amber

“Neat trick,” I said. I wished we'd had that salve in Ilerium.

“It is the best way,” she said. “Sewing the wound shut will hurt more. But I have a salve for the pain.”

She began sewing the wound closed. Her stitches were quick and precise.

Aber said, “Ulyanash shouldn't have forced the duel on you. Nobody fights to the death anymore. It's… frowned upon.”

“Why?”

“It's too easy for such fights to escape control.”

I shrugged, winced.

“Sit still,” Freda said. She had almost finished.

I continued, “I didn't want to kill him, but if I hadn't, he would have killed me.”

“Yes.” Aber's gaze was distant. “He had two chances to call the fight over, but he wouldn't. He had second blood, so there wouldn't have been any lost honor. It's clearly his own fault. No one who saw it will blame you.”

“Good.”

“His family, though… You're likely to have a blood feud on your hands. We all are.”

“Done,” Freda, tying up the wound with a length of bandage. “No more fighting tonight, Oberon. Promise me.”

I rose. “I'll try not to,” I said.

Aber said, “That trick aside… honestly, I don't think you should have been able to kill him.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I'm pretty good with a blade, you know.”

“He was a Lord of Chaos. A full-blooded lord . You don't know what that means.”

“We are not as powerful as once we were,” Freda said. “You know that.”

Aber sighed. “Not that again…”

I looked from one to another. “Will someone tell me what you're talking about?”

“There are a lot of important people at this party,” Freda said. “I have been talking and listening. I believe I know what has happened to Father.”

I faced her. “What?”

“It is about the Shadows. King Uthor says they have weakened Chaos and everyone here. He wants them destroyed.”

I looked from one to another. “What does that have to do with Dad?”

She hesitated. “There are forces in the universe that are equal and opposite to Chaos and the Logrus. They work to strengthen themselves and undermine our power. King Uthor's investigation into the cause of the Shadows' appearance has somehow focused on Dad. They think he's responsible.”

“How?” I demanded.

“Nobody quite knows. But if he somehow allied himself with another power, something different from the Logrus, he may have found a way. He was arrested when he reached King Uthor's palace two days ago. Somehow, he… simply vanished from his cell. It should not have been possible. The Logrus sealed him inside, without access to magic.”

Something different from the Logrus… I thought of the Pattern within me and swallowed hard.

Suddenly, it all began to make sense.

“If King Uthor is behind the attacks on our family, we must flee into Shadow!” Aber said. “I'm going now, before we're arrested next!”

Freda gave him a withering stare. “Nothing has been proved about Father,” she said. “He is merely suspected. We are not—because we have done nothing wrong. We may fall under scrutiny, but we have nothing to hide. If you run, they will assume you are guilty and take action accordingly.”

“Someone else knows about Dad,” I said, frowning. Rising, I paced the room. “That's why we have all been targets. Someone other than King Uthor is trying to kill us for what Dad did.”

“Then you're saying it's true—” Aber began.

“Yes! I… feel it.” I swallowed, the image of the Pattern rising in my mind. Whatever deal our father had made with this thing , this power that was not the Logrus, I saw now that it involved me. Somehow, it had to do with the Pattern within me. If anyone else realized what I knew, what I could draw upon, I would be marked for death.

Aber sat heavily. “I… hoped it was all a mistake,” he said. “Someone pursuing a blood feud against Dad. But if he has betrayed us… betrayed King Uthor and the Logrus…”

“Do not talk that way!” Freda said. “We do not know what he has or has not done.”

Aber raised his head. “You know. So does Oberon.” I swallowed. But I could not reply. Neither could Freda. Finally I said, “We will talk more about this later.”

“We cannot leave Aunt Lanara waiting,” Freda said, gathering her skirts and rising. “Say nothing. I will see what else can be discovered.”

The rest of the evening passed relatively uneventfully. We moved from the social hour to a huge dining hall. My uncle sat at the head of the table, with my aunt to his right and me to his left, opposite her. Aber and Freda sat at the middle of the table. A large section sat empty… I assumed Ulyanash and his followers would have been seated there. They had left early, taking his body with them.

Two seats down from me sat my bride-to-be, Braxara.

I had seldom seen a more unappealing woman. From her bald, three-horned head to her fanged mouth, from her pallid skin to her deathlike stare, every element repulsed me. Although I had fully intended to go through with the marriage to keep my word—it could be a marriage in name only, after all—upon catching sight of the bride-to-be I knew I had to find a way out.

Still, a year was a very long time, and many things could happen…

“A toast!” cried my Uncle Leito, standing. He raised his goblet. “To Oberon and Braxara!”

“To Oberon and Braxara!” everyone cried, raising their own goblets.

Glancing at my bride-to-be, I found her coolly studying me. I forced a smile. She did the same. Somehow, I got the feeling she disliked me nearly as much as I disliked her.

It was late by the time the party began to wind down. I had seen little of Freda and Aber all evening—they had been busy gathering news and gossip—and I missed them. Aunt Lanara and Uncle Leito kept close guard on me after the feast, introducing me to such a steady stream of dukes, duchesses, barons, lords, and ladies that I couldn't keep the names straight or tell one from another after the first dozen.

Finally, though, they saw fit to give Braxara and me a few moments together in the gardens just outside the ballroom. Here, strolling through the odd plants and small moving rocks, under the curious glow of three moons, we had a moment to talk.

“You are not what I expected,” she told me.

“Nor you,” I replied.

“Why did you accept this marriage?”

“I needed something from Lanara. This was her price. I'm sorry… it was not for love.”

She laughed, and the moonlight glinted off her horns. “When has love ever had much to do with marriage?”

I shrugged. “I had hoped…”

“You have much to learn.”

We walked together in an uncomfortable silence. We had not said another word by the time we returned to the ballroom. I hadn't known what to say to her; she hadn't offered anything more.

She made her departure not long after that, and the other guests took that as their cue to leave. When we bade farewell to the last of the guests, only my aunt, uncle, Freda, Aber, and a small army of servants remained. The servants busied themselves cleaning up.

“The evening has been a great success,” Aunt Lanara proclaimed, “marred only by that unfortunate incident with Lord Ulyanash.”

“It could not be avoided,” I said. “I take some small consolation from the fact that he won't ruin any future parties.”

She gave me an odd look. “He was well regarded, you know.”

“Despite his family.”

“True…” She sighed. “Still, what is done cannot be undone. We must concentrate on the triumphs of the evening. You and Braxara made a handsome couple.”

Freda said, “I have never seen a finer gathering, Aunt Lanara.”