We considered our options. Walking Corwin's Pattern was out of the question, since none of us had the Amber blood needed to survive the experience. We considered going to the Courts, or trying to return home through the Courts, but that journey was a long one with little certainty of success. Our best option seemed to be to go to Amber, and enlist someone's aid there. Corwin's Pattern preferred that option, since it knew Corwin had allies there. We thought it unlikely that Amber knew of the threat the Lloigor presented to the Primal Pattern.
So it was decided that we would head for Amber. Corwin's Pattern gave directions to Michele, enabling her to lead us from our location just outside of shadow Arden into Amber itself. Before we started, Handel changed into his Zondo persona, for some unexplored reason.
Not long after our journey began, we encountered a large Irish wolfhound with a studded collar. It howled a few times, and was soon joined by three others. The four dogs kept us surrounded until a group of forest guards arrived. There were three of them, wearing ring mail armor, and armed with short swords and long bows. One of them addressed us as the others tended to the dogs. He said that he would have to detain us, as he would detain anyone taking this route. Julian would want to talk to us.
So we went with him, seemingly followed by the dogs, or ones like them, the entire way. After about an hour or so, we arrived at an encampment. It had one large tent off to the side, with several other smaller tents in the area. We also noted a flag pole flying a green flag with a white unicorn on it. We were led to the large tent. There we were introduced to a large man in white plate mail armor, who we learned was Prince Julian of Amber. Nearly 6 feet tall with long black hair, he was accompanied by several of his military men.
Since our group didn't seem to have a leader, Julian questioned each of us in turn. But he didn't seem to completely believe our story. So he said he would have several of his men take us to Amber so we might talk to someone more versed with our situation. He cautioned us to follow his guards carefully and not stray from the path. Ben stayed with Julian, as he had no interest in getting further involved.
We were given horses, and were escorted to Amber by a lieutenant and eight of his guards. We engaged the lieutenant in conversation, but he did not know who we would be seeing, and could not provide us with any information of value. After a couple of hours ride, we emerged from forest Arden on a long trail that turned into a road. There was a sea off to the side, and we could see the city at the base of the hill. We continued to follow the path up to Castle Amber. It was a massive castle at the crest of the hill. It was surrounded by walls three to four stories tall with very impressive ornate battlements. On the other hand, we noticed quite a number of windows in the walls, making the walls more suited for display than utility.
We approached from the south and entered on the west. We saw many more of the unicorn flags flying in the area. The lieutenant rode ahead to announce our arrival. As we rode through the city, we noticed that while dress varied from plain to rather fine, no one was particularly poor. The lieutenant returned shortly, and hurried us along--we had been granted an audience. We were ushered through a large door, which was nonetheless dwarfed by the huge wall.
As we entered, a steward took over and abruptly told us to follow. We were led up a couple of flights of stairs to the third level. After a few minutes, we were led into a large library with no windows. Sitting at a desk was a man in rather plain clothing, a white shirt and blue pants. His sword was sitting on the table.
He had us sit, and introduced himself as Random. We in turn introduced ourselves, and began telling our story. When we got to the part about Corwin's Pattern, he got noticeably more interested.
At one point, he asked, "What do you think?"
A small, hunchbacked man in the corner replied, "I suspect that they're all lying, but it might be best to believe them." The man was named Dworkin.
Dworkin indicated that Jyfféer should follow him, so Jyfféer left with him.
Meanwhile, Random told the rest of the party that he would believe us, for the moment. There wasn't any room in the castle, but he had his steward secure us lodging. Random told us that we were free to wander around as much as we wanted. If a door wouldn't open, it meant that we couldn't go in.
The party went to the Inn. After a time, Jyfféer showed up. He indicated that he had been at the library, and wanted to get some sleep so he could get back to the library, and he retired to his room.
Handel changed back into his normal clothing and went out again as himself, looking for a night's work as a bard. Apparently, he somehow managed to get himself into trouble, and barely made it back to the Inn in one piece. He lamented that his ostensibly roguish alter ego, Zondo, was now known by Amber royalty as a respected member of the party, while he was now, as himself, a hunted man.