A Knight at the Opera pt 2

The ongoing tale of William, Son of Ophelia of House Rebma, and of the Line of Barimen in the Courts of Chaos.

Act 1: Scene 1: To Dream, Perchance to Dream

It is a rare morning recently where I awake with dagger in hand – ever since leaving Diptera and rejoining Grandmother at Ascaris I have slept … if not well, at least fatalistically.

But my brush with the mater horriblis in the Temple of Isis had obviously unsettled me, and I woke and went to breakfast in a worse mood than I had for a while. A mood matched and trumped by that of Grandmother, whose irritation on finding out that we were to play ourselves in the Opera in our ‘honour’ did not bode well for … well, anyone nearby, really. I gave thanks that I was her favourite grandson.

Grandmother confirmed that Rachel of Seraph had agreed to let me escort her to the Opera; given that the part I was playing (the Matricide himself?) was expected to be an active one, I began thinking which of my cousins I could best approach to ask to keep an eye on her should it come to a fight. If it were Maria I was escorting I would have no concerns, but I did not know if those of Seraph fought, or if they did, if it was something they enjoyed.

Darig appeared and Grandmother took us to the Demons that she had summoned as payment for her wagers after the Races. They had to be delivered to Melvin and command of them given to him at Brú na Bóinne, she instructed us as she released them from their pentagrams and commanding them to obey us. I named mine Scree; the sound of rocks sliding over each other in an avalanche fits the creature well; sheet steel skin and an aspect like unto a preying mantis mark him as a heavy fighting demon; not too bright but able to follow instructions and absorb a lot of damage. Darig’s demon he called Snodgrass and that creature is lighter on its feet, with no obvious face and several obvious tentacles.

The appearance of the demons reminded me to ask Grandmother a question; whose demon is DeLambre and can I rely on his loyalty? In truth, I do not know really why I am asking; if DeLambre wished me ill, there were a thousand occurrences in Diptera where he could have done me harm; many of them simply by choosing not to pay as much attention to my safety as he obviously was. If his presence at my side were a trap, it was a long game indeed that his secret masters were playing. Grandmother considered for a second; then nodded. “I have always assumed that he was a creature summoned by Diptera, but then bound to you. His loyalty you can trust.”

Reassured, we left for Brú na Bóinne; DeLambre leading the way. Darig and I chatted inconsequentially as we travelled; both keeping a watch on our path, guarding each other’s side as we moved through Chaos. As we broke through into the place that is the home of Barimen we both stopped; similar instincts warning us of trouble ahead.

Brú Na Bóinne was besieged.

Quickly we formulated a plan; Snodgrass was sent to Ascaris to carry word of the attack. Scree, Coprolith, DeLambre, Darig and myself charged into the forces that pressed the gate, driving the doorkeeper into the hall. Our foes were strong and tough, but not clever, and we hoped to press them hard enough that we could signal to those inside to sally forth.

Our plan succeeded, to an extent.

A dozen fell, mainly to my blade and Darig’s, before they were even aware we were on them. Their numbers were great, unfortunately, and a good portion of the force continued the press on the gate while the majority turned to face us.

It was that point that I made my first mistake.

I shouted to our small force to form a circle; the legendary obtuseness of combat demons tripped me as Scree attempted to shapechange into a ring. I can only thank whoever preserves the stupid that such a metamorphosis did not seem to impede his fighting ability.

As I swore at Scree, I noticed that DeLambre was not with us; had he fallen in the press or was this the point at which the long game unfolded? As the demons started to cut off any hope we had of retreat, my fears were proven unfounded. Stepping from cover behind a group intent on caving our heads in, DeLambre took 3 of them to the ground, not to rise again.

A shout from the door announced Melvin’s sally with what force he had; the gatekeeper Maugrim, fox headed Loeg and Macha the raven woman. She began casting magics against our common foe and with 3 swords and 5 demons to our side, they were soon forced to rout.

We could not press our advantage; our force to small to harry without leaving the dun undefended. So we regrouped, bound each others wounds and bade Melvin ‘Well met’.

Melvin’s sword was bloody and there were rents in his clothing; it was obvious to both Darig and myself that he had not shirked the fight. I commanded Scree to his service as quickly as is polite and Melvin thanked us for our service to him, with grace. Darig looked him up and down. “You should take your power;” he stated, “Your kingdom may depend on it.”

“And you should wed a Chaos princess with a dowry of an army”, I added. I see no reason why I should be the only Barimen being married off.

Melvin smiled at that. At least, I think it was a smile.

He claimed that the Power, their equivalent of the Pattern, once was kept by Barimen when Dworkin was the Prince of the House. But at his departure, Suhuy of House Winter took the role.

As we spoke, Macha was intoning some incantation; trying to ascertain who had summoned and bound our foe, I was later informed. Her attempts were foiled however; the demon she cast at dissolved into nothingness as she spoke.

A crash of thunder and lightening heralded the forces of House Ascaris; led by a force of nature magnificent in her fury; Cymnea!

The sound of Ascaris in full charge is that of carapaces rubbing against teeth scratching at scales whispering of limbs knotting and a high pitched screaming that could cause you to loose whatever sanity the manxome skitter had not taken.

Cymnea’s face showed both anger and regard; for me, and for Darig, I believe. She dismissed her army to patrol the borders of the Dun once she was certain that we were unharmed.

Quickly we told her of what had occurred; she spoke to Macha to ascertain what had been learned of the enchantments and promised to look to Melvin while I went to see Benedict at Hendrake. As it was in my mind to wonder if Benedict was about to order me to kill Swayvil, I grinned and invited Darig to come with me – I knew the regard that Benedict held him in and wondered if he would still order me so if Darig were there.

As we left, I heard Cymnea gently suggesting that Melvin should take his Power too.

We travelled to Hendrake; DeLambre was worried that I might think he had deserted me in the fight and I wondered to myself what had caused me to doubt his good intentions towards me. I reassured him that he had made the best tactical choice available in the fight.

We arrived at Dragonhall, the jaws of the great beast the entrance hall, and made our way through the depleted forces of Valkyries to where Benedict was staying. Benedict masked his surprise at our arriving together as best he could and invited us both to spar with him. I volunteered to go first and he asked me about the bandage on my forearm. I told him of the attack on Brú Na Bóine and we began to spar.

We sparred.

I am unsure of how the fight went; I can remember flashes – I pressed to get his measure then laid back into defence. He pushed against my blade to gauge my strength and I underplayed to see if he would fall for that feint. He dropped back, then pressed again, trying to go corps-a-corps and with that I struck with the hilt of Claideb towards his head.

He caught the pommel with his elbow as he attempted to get away from my sword but I am not fooled into claiming any victory. Had he had both arms, his main gauche would have been buried deep in my guts at that point.

He disengaged, carefully. Respectfully.

“You have Finndo’s style there. Strength and skill combined. If you apply yourself, you have the potential to be the most dangerous warrior in the family.” He looks me in the eye. “Not of your generation. Of all the family.”

He sparred with Darig then. It was obvious from watching that they have fought many times before. Their duel was more formal than ours and, if truth be told, they were more evenly matched than I was. Benedict tried several different combinations but Darig’s buckler seemed to be causing him more problems than it probably should.

A short break, then Benedict asked me if I will allow him a drill. He seated me on a stool and knelt in front of me, his sword sheathed. “Defend yourself; deflect if you can” he instructed me, and then we play the “Can Benedict kill Swayvil?” game.

I either deflected the attack or held him off for a half dozen attempts at which point it became clear.

No. He cannot. Not with only one arm.

I do not doubt my Uncle’s ability to overcome his disability in time.

But time we do not have.

I left Benedict and Darig and we returned to Ascaris to dress for Lady Zae’s inauguration, once I have attended my initiation into the New and Innovative Order of the Lugubrious Vendetta. DeLambre led me to something very similar to House Karm; a metal cylinder tapered at each end. It was obvious from the demons outside that this is a martial Order; DeLambre points out the tactical situation with his usual delicacy. I believe his actual words are “We’re massively outnumbered. Don’t say anything … unstrategic”.

I was led into the hall by Rikard of House Karm to face a dozen or so warriors from all the Houses. They all went for their weapons and I reached for Claideb before realizing they were saluting me. I am glad that DeLambre was outside; nine and a half seconds to a diplomatic faux pas would have been a record, even for me.

Rikard led me before an empty throne and then stepped aside. From behind me, a voice said. “Formed to stop the Lugubrious Vendetta between Amber and Chaos; a vendetta that can only end in the destruction of us all. William of Amber; will you be our Grand Master and teach us to fight as Amberites fight; so that by learning the discipline and order of Amber, we become both more and less that Chaos?”

Putting on my best Sergeant Major’s tones, I accepted. “If you can maintain the discipline I demand of you”.

As we left, Rikard mentioned that in the opera, he is to play Tybalt; he who tricked me into a duel in House Diptera and then attacked me with a summoned creature. Tybalt, who knew even less of Amber than I did of Chaos, save that we were the enemy. Tybalt, whose summoned creature caused me to summon something of my own.

Tybalt, whose first sight of the Pattern was his last.

I shook my head and something of my heart must have been on my face, for Rikard looked grim. “There is more I should tell you as we are now brothers in arms,” he says. “Your uncle Julian is being held in House Karm under close arrest. He is being held by Corporate Security and it is changing him. Even those of us in Karm may not see him.”

I thanked him for his news, and promised to pass it on to my cousins.

Back to Ascaris and my third outfit of the day; the cut on my arm mostly healed. After dressing in my colours we headed to the Keeper’s residence to see Zae’s inauguration as a Chaos Lady.

As soon as I arrived I headed for Constance to tell her of the news I had of Julian. She was not surprised as she had dreamt of him and knew that Morgenstern had been freed.

We shared the news with Caine and Bleys; they thought that Julian has been asleep since the fight in the Duomo and quizzed Constance on her dream. We theorised whether the Julian we have seen recently is actually him, or if it is some shapeshifted creature of Karm?

A suggestion is made of an assault on the House and Constance mentions that I might have allies inside. Caine and Bleys look interested, but suggest that we talk of this when we have more privacy.

We sat for dinner. I was between Sand and a vacant seat at one end of the table. Suhuy, Sorashi and Dirk were within easy conversational distance and Suhuy quizzed me about the attack on Brü Na Bóinne. I resigned myself to an excruciating dinner. Luckily it is at that point that the ghosts arrived.

To my left was a figure that Sand identified as Delwin, the recently deceased. Sand was obviously distressed so I swapped seats with her so she could speak with him. Whatever he says goes some way to easing her distress but he is only here temporarily; once his body is laid to rest, he will leave. I regret not speaking to Delwin when he was alive; he is very approachable and easy to talk to. He expressed regret that he cannot come back to Amber with us but wishes me well on the journey. Of all my relatives, the easiest to talk to is dead.

I’m not sure I’m ever going to understand this family.

Finally, Zae stood in the middle of the table. She asked Aunt Flora for her blessing before attempting the task; a kiss on the forehead was given. We then went into the Chapel of the Incumbents; a room full of corpses who have all died in interesting ways. We found seating amongst them, Delwin close to me. Above us, Dworkin played a mad air on a wheezing organ and power started to build.

As a crescendo was reached; two women screamed and a huge reptilian face engulfed Zae, devouring her.

No one was quite sure what to do until Suhuy bade us all depart. The ghosts faded and I made my farewell to Delwin.