“In a place in this building,” she said, “there is a room where few would go. In that room,” she continued, “upon the floor, traced in fiery outline, there lies a duplicate of the thing we call the Pattern. Only a son or daughter of Amber's late liege may walk this Pattern and live; and it gives to such a person a power over Shadow.” Here Moire blinked several times, and I speculated as to the number of her subjects she had sent upon that path, to gain some control of this power for Rebma. Of course, she had failed.

We spent two evenings making our way to the pink and sable sands of the great sea. It was on the morning of the third day that we arrived at the beach, having successfully avoided a small party the sundown before. We were loath to step out into the open until we had located the precise spot, Faiella-bionin, the Stairway to Rebma, and could cross quickly to it.

The rising sun cast billions of bright shards into the foaming swell of the waters, and our eyes were dazzled by their dance so that we could not see beneath the surface. We had lived on fruit and water for two days and I was ravenously hungry, but I forgot this as I regarded the wide, sloping tiger beach with its sudden twists and rises of coral, orange, pink, and red, and its abrupt caches of shells, driftwood, and small polished stones; and the sea beyond: rising and falling, splashing softly, all gold and blue and royal purple, and casting forth its lifesong breezes like benedictions beneath dawn's violet skies.

The mountain that faces the dawn, Kolvir, which has held Amber like a mother her child for all of time, stood perhaps twenty miles to our left, the north, and the sun covered her with gold and made rainbow the veil above the city. Random looked upon it and gnashed his teeth, then looked away. Maybe I did, too.

“Do you think we can make it into the Shadows,” said Deirdre, and she was not speaking to me.
“Yes,” said Random, “but I'm not for it. I'd like to see Corwin in Amber, and I'd like to see Eric's head on a pole. I'm willing to take a few chances to see these things, so I'm not turning back to the Shadows. You can if you want. You all think I'm a weakling and a bluff. Now you're going to find out. I'm going to see this through.”
“Thanks, brother,” I said.
“Ill met by moonlighht.” said Deirdre.
“You could still be tied to a stake,” said Random, and she did not reply.

“Beloved relatives,” I told them, “I've a confession to make,” and Random's hand was already on the hilt of his blade. That's how far we could trust one another. I could already hear his mind clicking: Corwin brought me here to betray me, he was saying to himself.
“If you brought me here to betray me,” be said, “you won't take me back alive.”
“Are you kidding?” I asked. “I want your help, not your head. What I have to say is just this: I don't know what the hell's going on. I've made some guesses, but I don't really know where the devil we are, what Amber is, or why we're crouched here in the bushes hiding from his troops,” I told him, “or for that matter, who I am, really.”

“What a surprise!” said Julian, in his slow, almost impeded way of speaking and a great hawk that was black and green circled and settled upon his left shoulder.
“Yes. isn't it,” I replied. “How have you been?”
“Oh, capital,” he decided, “as always. What of yourself and brother Random?”
“I'm in good shape,” I said, and Random nodded and remarked, “I thought you'd be indulging in other sports at a time like this.”
Julian tipped his head and regarded him crookedly, through the windshield.
“I enjoy slaughtering beasts,” he said, “and I think of my relatives constantly.”

“You know,” I began, “when you called the other day and I answered the phone because Flora was out, I've a strong feeling she was trying to make it to Amber, and that she found the way blocked.”
At this, he laughed.
“The woman has very little imagination,” he replied. “Of course it would be blocked at a time like this. Ultimately, we'll be reduced to walking, I'm sure, and it will doubtless take all of our strength and ingenuity to make it, if we make it at all. Did she think she could walk back like a princess in state, treading on flowers the whole way? She's a dumb bitch. She doesn't really deserve to live, but that's not for me to say, yet.”

В голове звенело; сердце, казалось, вот-вот разорвется.

Амбер!

Идти стало гораздо легче, лишь только я вспомнил Амбер.

Амбер, самый величественный город, который когда-либо был или будет. Амбер был всегда и пребудет вовеки; любой другой город в любой точке времени и пространства — лишь отражение, бледная тень одного из мгновений жизни Амбера. Амбер, Амбер, Амбер… Я помню тебя. И никогда не забуду. Видимо, где-то в самой глубине моей души всегда жила память о тебе; в течение долгих столетий, проведенных мной в Тени Земля, сновидения мои были полны твоими золотисто-зелеными шпилями и круто поднимающимися ввысь террасами садов и полей. Я помню твои широкие площади, украшенные клумбами с красными и золотистыми цветами. Я помню, сколь сладостен твой воздух, помню твои бесчисленные храмы и дворцы, ту радость и наслаждение, что таил ты в себе и вечно будешь дарить людям. Амбер, бессмертный город, чью форму повторяют все прочие города, я никогда не смогу забыть тебя, как не смогу забыть и тот счастливый миг, когда в Образе Ребмы я наконец вспомнил тебя в сверкании стен и шпилей: когда после мучительного голода я наконец вкусил пищу и после долгих дней воздержания познал любовь Мойры. Именно тогда я понял, что никто не может сравниться с моей любовью к тебе, ибо само воспоминание о твоей красоте уже было для меня наслаждением. И даже сейчас, когда я стою у Двора Хаоса и рассказываю эту историю своему единственному слушателю, который, может быть, впоследствии перескажет ее другим, чтобы она не умерла вместе со мной, даже сейчас я люблю тебя, о мой город, править которым я был рожден…