Alexander's Chronicle: Chapter 2

Three years after my first meeting with Marcel and Morgan, my father came to you in - for him, at least - a bad mood. "I've been asked to arrange a hunting trip for the Princess of Rebma. Unfortunately, I was called away and left the arrangements in the hands of one of the stewards. The fool then proceeded to get drunk and just made up an invitation rather than sticking to the proper protocols. Have a look, you'll see what I mean."

He thrust a copy of the invitation under my nose:

"To Her Most Beauteous Majesty, the Princess Nimue

His highness, Prince Julian of Amber, Warden of Arden, begs
the pleasure of her company at a Hunt to be followed by
Feasting and much Merriment.
The Hunt to be held from dawn in two days time. Assemble
at the top of Faiella-bionin."

"And, worse still, the King has just ordered me to travel to a Golden Circle Shadow - Shadow Rochelle - as his representative. So I'm not going to be able to attend the hunt myself. I'm leaving all the arrangements in your hands. Arrange the hunt and the feast and entertainments afterwards. Do whatever you think best. Maybe you could sort out the hunt part and ask Marcel and Morgan to do the rest. Why don't you contact them? I've no idea how many retainers the Princess will bring. The standard would be a dozen or so. They're coming up the stairway so you'll have to provide horses.

"The Princess is called Nimue. She's Moire's daughter. Officially, her father is never named. Unofficially, it's rumoured to be Eric. So be on your best behaviour, and don't forget to apologise for my absence." He strode away before I could say anything, which is not atypical behavior, especially when he wants me to get to work. It was the first time I had ever been asked to deal with guests, though, and the only people I had ever met were my brothers and Father's subjects. Oh, and Aunt Fiona, but the only words I had ever said to her were, "Yes, ma'am", "No, ma'am" and "Thank you, ma'am". This was not a task I was well-suited to.

"Bother," was the first thing I said as soon as I thought Father was out of earshot. The obvious question was what to hunt for; probably nothing dangerous; wild boars and manticores were definitely out of the question. The sensible thing would probably be to ask the princess herself, so I started on a letter. I never had time to send it though, because the next day, I received her response, she would be here in a couple of days.

One thing I could do, call in experts. Feasting and merriment: that would be my eldest brother, Marcel. I drew five cards from my inner tunic pocket. Aunt Fiona's and Father's portraits I put back, along with my own. I touched the cold surface of the card that depicted Marcel in his blue-and-gold finery, all velvet and ruffles. Father assures me that Marcel is not even all that foppish for a young gentleman of Brynnton, but by the standards of the Forest People, he's something else altogether. I "heard" him almost immediately, "Little brother, have you finally tired of the backwoods? Is this a request to visit me?"

"Um, hello, Marcel. No, it's the other way around and I'm...asking for help. Dad was asked to arrange a hunt for Princess Nimue of Rebma and then was called away by the King. There's supposed to be a banquet-type thing, 'feasting and entertainment' and so on for afterwards. You seem to know a lot about that kind of thing. Would you...be willing to arrange that, please? There will be about twelve retainers along with the Princess, I think. We'd have to have it in Arden near the shore, obviously, but I know a reasonable-sized lodge there we could use if you don't want to do this outside. D'you mind?" Marcel has an amazing power to make me feel like an idiot in almost any circumstance, but he is so very amiable and good-natured that I always feel guilty when I resent this. It's not his fault, it's mine.

In any case, Marcel said he would be delighted to help me and so I gave him time to pack up and set this straight at home and then I brought him "through" the Trump (I don't know how to explain it, but when Trumps are involved, there seems to be no such think as distance between the one who is "calling" and the subject of the Trump). In any case, Marcel was back in Arden and the stewards could live in fear while he prepared the banquet.

As soon as he left the room, I picked up the other trump, that of Morgan, who looks like a very tall version of our father (and he cuts his hair short). He is well-versed in matters of protocol and security. "Hi, Morgan, sorry to bother you, but...Dad was asked to arrange a hunt for Princess Nimue of Rebma and then was called away by the King. I've asked Marcel to handle festivities. Would you be willing to join us and help out? I'll take care of horses and stuff. We're going to chase foxes or deer or something equally harmless, but more exciting than hawking." Morgan is far easier for me to deal with than Marcel, but just as amiable and he too was ready to come and help.

I picked out and briefed a dozen of the most, um, civilized rangers to help with the hunt. Believe me, when the Forest People are involved, civilization can be a hard trait to find. I selected fourteen horses for the Rebma-ites, relatively gentle ones, and go over them myself the day before to make sure they were healthy and that their feet were in good shape. One of them, "Primrose", I reserved for the Princess. I didn't pick that name, nor did Father, that was the doing of Father's wife, Carmel, who'd left him before I was even born... That was something I didn't even want to think about, but Primrose was the horse Father had created for her and she was the smartest stablest and fleetest animal in Father's stables, Morganstern excepted, as usual. Finally, most importantly, I scouted our area first. As I'd hoped, the stretch of forest I had chosen was well-stocked with deer, a good quarry this time of year and seemed free of more dangerous animals.

I got to see Morgan's new device as we rode towards Faiella- bionen. The shield slung from his saddle had a dark grey field, with green trim, in the midst of which flew a bright red hunting falcon, stooping for the kill. Marcel, of course, had actually remembered to call him via Trump to congratulate him when he was knighted...

We got to the beach beside Forest Arden and waited near the two cairns that mark the top of Faiella-bionin, and at the appointed time, three people walked up the stairs out of the sea instead of the dozen I was expecting. The Princess was pretty unmistakeable and looked as beautiful Princesses ought to. She was a tall and slender girl with long, curly blue-black hair and big dark blue eyes. She seemed very graceful and relaxed. I was relieved that she was dressed appropriately for hunting in trousers and tunic. Her cloak was ornamented and of rich fabric, but sensible and practical, which just about describes Nimue all over. Behind her was a big woman, heavily armed, who was obviously her bodyguard, and a skinny young guy with a big smile, dark skin, green eyes and long white hair, also fancily but appropriately dressed.

The Princess just stood there and smiled at us, and the young man said "Greetings, Rangers! You are here to escort us to Prince Julian?" and stood there and grinned at us like an idiot.

I gritted my teeth and did the only thing I could, I walked right past him and extended my hand (I'm sorry, but I was not bowing to *anyone* in front of the young fellow who had thought we were rangers). "Greetings, Princess Nimue, ...I-I'm Alex, Julian's son. He sends his apologies that he can't be here personally. The King sent him away on urgent business. Th-these are my elder brothers: Marcel and Morgan." I gritted my teeth again, my stammer never comes out anymore unless I'm nervous, which I almost hadn't been before the white-haired guy had opened his mouth.

The corners of Nimue's mouth twitched slightly when her companion had, ah, "greeted" us, but she recovered her smile and shook hands. "What a lovely surprise - how thoughtful of your father to send you all to meet us. May I introduce you all to Lord Alistair?" she gestured to the young man, who kept grinning, apparently utterly unoffended and unabashed. "He is a cousin of yours, the son of Princess Llewella. I am sure he is as delighted to meet you as I am."

Marcel wasted no time getting acquainted with Nimue. "Princess Nimue, I am so very glad to meet you. One does not get to meet a princess every day. If there is anything you need during your stay, please feel free to ask me. But come, you and your party must be weary from your trip. " He then waves to the porters and says, " Please take any luggage or items for the Princess' entourage." She offered her hand, which he much preferred to kiss than to shake. Her bodyguard handed over a couple of bags to the rangers and seemd happy to be rid of them.

Nimue left Marcel with Alistair and turned back to me. "My thanks for the invitation, and for your hospitality. Perhaps you could recommend a not *too* excitable horse? I'm afraid that riding is not one of my major accomplishments." She smiles at me rather shyly, but more warmly, I thought, than she had at Marcel. But then she turned to Morgan and said how pleased she was to meet him and so forth.

At this, Morgan dismounted, bowed deeply, and said, "Your Highness. It is indeed a pleasure. I hope that you will enjoy this visit as much as we will assuredly enjoy your company, and that of your companions." Court matters, Morgan is good at those. Much to my relief, he left it at that and went forward to shake hands with Alistair.

I turned back to the Princess, and overheard Marcel introducing Morgan to Alistair, "...And this is my brother Morgan. He is going to be leading the hunt today in Julian's place. I hope that is fine with you."

I just gritted my teeth and turned around very slowly. Alistaire smiled and babbled back at Marcel, "And I thank you for your warm wishes regarding my hunting success, and my time here... I'm certain that with Lord Morgan in the lead, if even half of his formidable reputation is truth, there will be no end to the delicious animals leaping out of the forest in order to die happily as our dinner."

I took a deep breath before I spoke: my temper is an even bigger social flaw than my stammer. "Marcel, I asked Morgan here to assist with the hunt, especially if we do encounter something dangerous. I have lived in this forest for most of my life and am perfectly capable of leading the hunt."

"Lord Alistair, we are hunting deer, which we will be able to eat at the banquet tonight. Dangerous animals are not worth the trouble of hunting when one is merely seeking supper. In any case, we will be hunting an area which I scouted thoroughly yesterday. Should something come hunting us, please let Morgan, the rangers and myself handle it."

I turned back to Princess Nimue; my cheeks were burning. She looked like she felt rather sorry for me and I wished myself a mile underground. I took another breath, "I'm sorry if we appear a little disorganized. I found the local deer herds and got the gear together. I kind of forgot the human factor. Have you ever hunted from horseback before?"

She smiled, put her hand on my arm and said in a low voice "I'm sure whatever you have in store for us will be wonderful - believe me , your welcome left nothing to be desired". I said nothing, I'm quite sure I couldn't have said anything, so I just nodded, my cheeks feeling hotter than ever.

Then, as if nothing had even begun to go wrong, Nimue answered my question. "Hunted from horseback? I'm afraid not. The kind of hunting I'm used to involves only a net and knife - maybe a spear. I'm looking forward to learning from you and your brothers today. I have a bow and daggers - is that sufficient?" She smiled up at me, her brow slightly furrowed.

I went over to one of the horses and returned with spears, which I gave to three Rebmans, then launched into the speech I had prepared, memorized and rehearsed prior to their arrival. "We could hunt with bows if you wish, but unless you have been trained to shoot from horseback, you would need to dismount first and deer are not likely to wait around. It's a great way to get certain birds, though, in the right terrain. These dogs," I gestures towards the pack, "are going to be an essential part of the hunt. These little ones here scent the deer and we'll follow them. The deer will hear us coming and bolt. Deer can and will outrun horses in the forest but can't outrun these big dogs. The big dogs' job is to harry the deer and slow them long enough for us to get there on horseback with our spears. Dad trained these dogs, so they aren't going to kill the deer before we get there." Not one stammer. I sent all but four of horses I had prepared for the Rebmans back with a couple of the rangers and helped Nimue on to Primrose.

Marcel flirted with Nimue's bodyguard, Reia, and Marcel and Morgan teased Alistaire about all the horribly dangerous animals we were stalking. Marcel apologized for being a jerk, though I knew perfectly well it would happen again in an instant. Alistair seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Marcel, utterly amiable and obnoxious, but Morgan seemed to be keeping him entertained, which kept him far away from me. Nimue asked me the names of the dogs, seemed to have a great liking for Primrose and described the Forest as "beautiful". As unconfident as she said she was about riding and hunting, she seemed to be taking to it very readily. There seemed to be no sign of many the deer I had seen here yesterday, but I wasn't terribly unhappy.

As soon as Nimue broke off from me to talk to the others, Morgan spurred Asterion, (his horse, a very impressive creature) over towards me, his expression very serious.Once he was next to me, he said quietly, "Alex, perhaps none of the others picked up on this, or perhaps they are already knowledgeable in this matter, but something that you said earlier today alarms me - and this has been the first opportunity to speak with you in the presence of enough background noise not to be overheard... Where is father? On what kind of business did the King send him? Is it something we need be concerned about today? Are you even permitted to speak of it? Or did you receive no particulars at all? The others seem to have paid this no attention - or I'm just not very observant - but it must be important if King Random cannot afford to send a Prince of Amber to meet a Princess of Rebma, and must entrust her to us. We haven't even walked the Pattern yet!"

I was taken a little off-guard. Father's absence had seemed more inconvenient than anything up until that point. "I-I'm not sure, Morgan. He came up and told me to take care of this hunt and I haven't been able to contact him, not even by Trump, since then. I don't know if King Random had anything to do with the hunt. I can't really do anything about it, so I'm just trying not to worry about it." I managed to smile faintly to him and went on, "Two of the rangers with us are really good shots as well. I figured I'd be busy enough nursemaiding courtiers that I probably shouldn't even bother with bringing a spear! Hopefully, you'll have nothing more to do than pick off a few birds to go with supper." At this I looked at his bow, which was strung. I suspected he was a very good shot from horseback.

He nodded and returned to the others as Nimue came riding up. We returned to an earlier conversation about dogs, which led right back to the same topic which had just begun to unnerve me. She said "I'm sorry if I seem to be asking questions all the time. I don't mean to distract you. It's just that I've never really been anywhere like this before. And you and your brothers are the first of - that is, the first children of Amber I have met, apart from Alistair. It's very kind of you to go to such trouble at short notice. I only wish I knew who I *really* have to thank for the invitation ..."

I shrugged, feeling more uncomfortable, "My father gave me the impression he sets up such hunts all the time. But he has only brought one of his family to meet us, so we haven't met anyone. Well, I haven't, anyway. He is always off at court in Amber. Does he often go to Rebma, as well?"

"As far as I know, Prince Julian has never visited Rebma during my lifetime." Nimue raised a quizzical eyebrow at me and continued coolly "It's not that I'm ungrateful for the chance to meet you all and to see all this, you understand. It's just that the invitation was hardly phrased in what I would expect to be your father's style. I almost took it for a jest - or an insult. And - no offence - but I'll eat this horse and the hounds too if it was yours. You seem to have more sense." Ah, that was a problem I did understand, but it was no less of an embarassment, especially given the muddle that had occurred when she arrived. Father would not be amused if he heard about that part. I just hung my head.

"I'm sorry it's been so much of a mess. The invitation was written by one of Father's stewards and Father wasn't awfully happy about the way he did it. Father didn't know he had to go away until after the hunt was planned and the invitation sent. That was when he told me to take care of it. He was quite upset that everything was so muddled."

Nimue had an odd look on her face, which just got worse until she broke down laughing. She suppressed it quickly and grinned back at me. "Poor Alex. So you got stuck with a strange Princess - actually, this is much more fun than I thought it might be. I admit the prospect of meeting your father was a little intimidating, and I would have had to play the Princess all day. You have no idea the fight I had not to turn up with about twenty servants ..." she giggled again, "They actually wanted me to bring a *hairdresser* for Lir's sake!" She fell quiet again, stroking Primrose and glancing around. After a few minutes, she suggested, "Perhaps you might care to visit with me in Rebma one day? And I could show you how *we* hunt?" Why, oh why did my family have Marcel as our savoir-faire "expert" when there were people like this out there?

I had to smile back. "That sounds like fun. I've never been anyplace as...different as Rebma."

Nimue dropped back to speak with Morgan and I sort of wondered where all the deer had gone. I heard the beagles start to growl and whine then, at a patch of forest ahead. Even before the larger dogs could get in there and flush it, a huge golden stag leapt out and raced away. The dogs tore after it, but only the deerhounds seemed able to pace it.

I could feel my face break into a grins as I pulled ahead to make sure that the dogs did their job without attacking the deer themselves. I was pretty confident that they would behave. I had briefed the rangers beforehand to help the guests keep up and to make sure they got their shot at the prey. The deer's appearance seemed well-timed to take people's minds off of the political problems surrounding this little jaunt.

Off to the side, I heard Marcel crack his reins and shout and Morgan laughing at his enthusiasm. But, almost impossibly, Marcel's mare began to close on the stag. That had to be one hell of an animal. Marcel made no move to drive the beast back towards us or to bring it down, but seemed content to simply chase it. I suppose I could say he was along for the ride, which shouldn't have surprised me given how sorry he is for prey animals. Marcel doesn't have to make sense, it seems. Nimue almost got left behind at this time, she told me later that she'd been so distracted admiring the stag, she had almost forgotten to keep up. Morgan stayed back with her.

I heard Alistair whispering at the top of his lungs to Nimue, "I think that is a deer. Judging from the antlers, a male one. Would you like me to kill the beast for you?" I supressed a groan.

Ever so slowly, the deerhounds began to close on the stag. One leapt up to grab a hind leg, and had its head kicked in for its efforts. At that point, it was obviously acting pretty strangely, running in a straight line. Behind me, Morgan muttered, "All is not what it seems here..."

I didn't know what was wrong with the deer, disease or fear of some other predator we didn't know about, but I decided to get out of there before anything went really wrong. I suspected Marcel could easily find another entree for the "feasting and merriment". I called out to the others, "Something's wrong here. Marcel, pull away to your right. Morgan, shoot the damned thing. I don't think we want to try and corner this one. Sorry, princess." Damn! Why did this have to happen today of all days?

"Right", said Morgan, even as he fit an arrow to the string and fired. Marcel, had, surprisingly, listened to me and pulled away from the deer, but kept up with it. His first arrow hit the stag high in the right rear leg. It stumbled, allowing Marcel and the hounds to close the gap slightly, and then picked up its pace, the arrow still protruding from it. The second arrow cut along its flank, leaving a deep red gouge in its side. However, the damned thing didn't slow. I thought it actually sped up a bit. However, it did start zig-zagging between the trees, belatedly remembering that aspect of normal hunted-deer- behavior.

"Perhaps we should be following it instead of shooting at it" Nimue muttered loudly enough for me to hear. I wished that she had not chosen this moment for such odd ideas, but then she cried out, "Alex, we *must* stop. Something is terribly wrong. All of you - let it go. Come back..." This *was what we'd been trying to tell her...

Marcel, leading the pursuit of the deer, if that was what it was, was, as usual, the last to listen. He reached for the clasps on his cape and shouted back at us, "I think I can stop the poor beast!" He was going to be a "poor beast", when we were done with this, assuming he didn't get himself hurt first...

"Forget it, Marcel" I shouted back. I spurred Tam, my horse, forward, leaving Marcel's shot open.

Marcel pulled up alongside the stag and tried to cover its eyes with his cloak. What did he want to do with the damned beast? Take it home as a pet? In any case, it stepped nimbly aside and sped up again, pulling ahead of him. Of course, Marcel had to give chase.

Meanwhile, the forest got thicker and the stag led us into an area of thick undergrowth. I had not intended us to hunt this area, as it wasn't all that well known and poor ground for horses. The horses had to jump at several points, but the Rebmans seemed easily able to keep their seats. The dogs began to drop back, long before they should have been exhausted and they seemed to have picked up a new scent. They seemed alert but confused, as if the prey is nearby but unknown to them... I had a terrible feeling of what was coming. We were riding into an ambush.

I shouted ahead once more "Marcel, turn back! Go no further, the dogs smell something else and I would not care to wager that it is prey any more than that crazy stag is." I signalled for the rest of the party to halt and called the dogs back. As Nimue reined in beside me, I told her "I think you're right, Princess. We should go back." I kept an eye on the dogs as the others pulled up to me.

As he rode up, Morgan shouted, "Marcel! I agree with them. We're straying right into an ambush situation! This layout is perfect for one, and the dogs are acting anxious" He took one more shot from where we stood, just as it was about to vanish into a thicket ahead. The arrow went into its skull and the wretched brute tumbled to the ground.

Marcel finally reined in his horse, then leapt from the saddle, tying the reigns to a nearby tree branch. He dove into the thicket that the stag had been heading for. I stared, dumbfounded, at this new lunacy of Marcel's. Morgan groaned and rolled his eyes. He remarked, "My brother Marcel hasn't realized yet that you can't study rocket science using a catapult as a model..." I remembered one of the people Father had brought out of Shadow to the Forest mentioning rockets and decided to ask him what they were.

Alistair lifted his bow and fired into a tree directly above Marcel as the latter disappeared into the thicket. A tiny, misshapen humanoid fell from it, skewered through the throat by Alistair's arrow along with a loaded crossbow.

"Princess," Alistair suggested, "Perhaps we should repair to safer terrain?". Another bolt came flying out from a tree slightly behind us and whizzed just over Nimue's head. The creature that fired it,which looked just like the one that Alistair shot, utters a screeching cry and starts to reload. It was greyish brown, with long, knotted limbs that looked almost like branches themselves. Alistair, Nimue, Morgan and some of the rangers readied their bows for others, but I could see movement ahead. Human-sized ambushers had quit their positions and were heading towards us.

I told Morgan and the rangers, "Get the Princess out of here. I'm going in after Marcel and we'll meet you at the lodge. Please try and Trump Father as soon as you get out of here."

Morgan begans muttering obscenities under his breath, much to my dismay, right in front of Nimue and concluded, "Right. Alex, Marcel's either on his own or I'm going with you! Any one of you recognize our erstwhile archer? See any others? Or are we assuming a single-arrow theory?" He looked at the trees and came to the same conclusion I had, more trouble was on the way, possibly real trouble. "Well, Alex, you're master of the hunt today, do we let Marcel get out of the trouble he's gotten himself into, or do we go in there and get him out?"

I took a deep breath: "I can only go after Marcel alone. I can move swiftly and quietly in these woods. If I go with you, I will not catch up to him and we will probably be ambushed, so I go after him alone or not at all. Will you agree to bring the Princess and the others back safely while I find Marcel or shall we both leave Marcel to his fate? Decide quickly." I ordered the rangers and the hounds to start heading back to the lodge, being wary for more archers. "Please follow them, Princess, Alistair, Reia. One or both of us will be guarding the rear." What I had told Morgan was quite true. Once I shapeshifted, I could track Marcel and move much faster than he. Of course, I had no desire to tell this to Morgan, who I had good reason to believe would denounce me as a witch, or worse, and agent of the Courts of Chaos, and fly into hysterics as soon as he found out I could do this.

Unhelpfully, Alistair offered calmly, "I will accompany and safeguard Princess Nimue and Reia. This will free you to decide as you wish. Princess?" Of course, he didn't know where the rendezvous point was and was quite capable of getting lost while the ambushers hunted him...

Nimue looked back at him, pale. "Very well" she said quietly, but with some reluctance and looked back at Morgan and me, looking concerned, but suspicious. I couldn't blame her, given what a set-up this whole hunt appeared to be.

Morgan turned back to me "It's your call, brother. I don't know how Marcel gets himself into these things, but he's my only full brother. If you say :that I'll only be in the way, or slow you down, then go and :be quick about it. I will stay with the Princess, Alistair, and Reia. Just know that I'll be worrying about *you* too, if you go alone." I didn't know whether to be surprised or grateful.

Morgan turned back to Nimue and asked, "Just what is your appraisal of this situation, your highness?"

She gave him a shaky grin. "We're all in trouble? Perhaps we should all stick together. We can discuss theories later - I hope."

At that moment, a shower of crossbow bolts come flying out of the area ahead of us. Fortunately, our attackers were barely in range but two rangers were wounded, one in the arm, the other with a bolt through his back. He dropped from his horse, screaming in agony. The other eight rangers took up positions around Nimue and Alistair, two of them dismounting to collect their wounded comrades.

"Go! Now!" I shouted and cantered Tam up to the brush where Marcel had disappeared. I jumped off Tam and yelled at him to join the others, which, being a good horse, he promptly did. I ran into the thicket. I had intended to change into a Stormhound there, but I heard voices ahead and realized I didn't have time.

(to be continued)

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