Peter’s Story: The Knight-Shaper of Dreams

In The Doom that Came to Amber

Once, in a world far away, a child sat at the top of a tower crafted of ivory and silk. Surrounded by musical instruments, he watched the skies night and day, day and night.

Hideous creatures would come to the child in the room at the top of the tower, and they would pick up the instruments one by one, and present them to the child. “Play this one, lordling, and today you eat”. Another “Just a few notes from this, child, and you will never be hungry again”.

But each time the child refused and returned to looking at the sky. Eventually, each day, the creatures would give up and depart, leaving only scraps of food that dogs had rejected and water that had never been clean.

For many weeks this continued, with the child getting thinner and thinner, until one day he noticed that the bars on the windows of the tower of ivory and silk were far enough apart for his shrunken body to fit through. So carefully, carefully, carefully, he crawled through the bars and made his way down the outside of the tower.

And what a world awaited him! The town around the tower of ivory and silk stretched for miles and miles, and contained such wonders that have only been seen in three places in all the worlds. Colours were brighter in that town, and tastes more vibrant. Sounds had depth and meanings beyond measure and textures teased the fingertips.

Even the dirt was worthy of study.

But the child looked around at the sights of the town, and wept. For nothing here sustained him as much as the scraps and leavings in the tower of ivory and silk had.

And nothing caught his attention as much as the sky above.

So with a light heart, he returned to the tower of ivory and silk, and when the creatures came to taunt him once more, he lifted up a flute, and began to play.