PRINCE OF CHAOS by Roger Zelazny Read Free Book Online Page A

somehow in Amber, Father, with Deirdre,” I said.
    “The ghosts play at being ghosts,” he answered.   “I have not much time, for my strength is low.   I can tell you only this: Trust not the Pattern, nor the Logrus either, nor any of their spawn, till this matter be settled.”
    He began to fade.
    “How can I help you?” I asked.
    The words “...   in the Courts” came to me before he vanished.
    I turned again.
    “Fi, what did he mean by that?” I asked her.
    She was frowning.
    “I get the impression that the answer lies somewhere in the Courts,” she replied slowly.
    “Where? Where should I look?”
    She shook her head and began to turn away.
    “Who would know best?” she said.
    Then she, too, was gone.
    Voices were still calling to me, from behind, from ahead.   There was weeping and laughter, and my name being repeated.   I rushed ahead.
    “Whatever happens,” Bill Roth said, “if you need a good lawyer, I’ll handle it-even in Chaos.”
    And then there was Dworkin, squinting at me from out of a tiny mirror with a twisted frame.
    “Nothing to be alarmed about,” he remarked, “but all sorts of imponderables are hovering about you.”
    “What am I to do?” I cried.
    “You must become something greater than yourself.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Escape the cage that is your life.”
    “What cage?”
    He was gone.
    I ran, and their words rang around me.
    Near the end of the hall was a mirror like a piece of yellow silk stretched upon a frame.   The Cheshire Cat grinned at me from within.
    “It’s not worth it.   The hell with them all,” he said.   “Come to the cabaret, old chum.   We’ll tip a few brews and watch the man paint.”
    “No!” I cried.   “No!”
    And then there was only a grin.   This time I faded, too.   Merciful, black oblivion and the sound of the wind, somewhere, passing.
     
     
III
    How long I slept, I do not know.   I was awakened by Suhuy’s repeating my name.
    “Merlin, Merlin,” he said.   “The sky is white.”
    “And I’ve a busy day,” I answered.   “I know.   I’d a busy night, too.”
    “It reached you, then.”
    “What?”
    “A small spell I sent, to open your mind to some enlightenment.   I hoped to lead you to answers from within, rather than burden you with my guesswork and suspicions.”
    “I was back in the Corridor of Mirrors.”
    “I knew not what form it might take.”
    “Was it real?”
    “As such things go, it should have been.”
    “Well, thanks-I guess.   It reminds me that Gryll said something about your wanting to see me before my mother did.”
    “I wanted to see how much you knew before you faced her.   I wanted to protect your freedom of choice.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “I’m sure she wants to see you on the throne.”
    I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
    “I suppose that’s possible,” I said
    “I don’t know how far she’s willing to go to effect this.   I wanted to give you a chance to know your own mind before you’re exposed to her plans.   Would you care for a cup of tea?”
    “Yes, thanks.”
    I accepted a mug he proffered and raised it to my lips.   “What are you saying about her beyond a guess at her wishes?” I asked.
    He shook his head.
    “I don’t know how active her program might be,” he said, “if that is what you mean.   And whether she was connected with it or another, the spell you came wearing has faded now.”
    “Your doing?”
    He nodded.
    I took another swallow.
    “I never realized how close I’d gotten to the head of the line,” I added.   “Jurt is number four or five in the succession, isn’t he?”
    He nodded.
    “I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a very busy day,” I said.
    “Finish your tea,” he told me, “and follow me when you would.”
    He walked away through a dragon tapestry on the far wall.
    As I raised the mug again, the bright bracelet on my left wrist came free and drifted before me, losing its braided outline, becoming a