The scene was set for disaster. Rasadriel trumped Sean, Duncan, and Dmitri/Paris out of the Trump abyss at about the same time as Alastair and Deirdre arrived from the Primal Pattern. Things deteriorated rapidly:
Sean and Dmitri/Paris began trying to convince Rasa to join them in their murderous quest, "Just think! Every time we kill one of the elders, Amber's problems get closer to being solved. We got Caine, we're going after your dad next, wanna help?"
Lillith and Deirdre squared off against each other, glaring and shrieking over who should get the Jewel of Judgement and be allowed to repair the Pattern.
Gabriel watched everyone warily, waiting for his opportunity to kill Lillith, Dworkin, Farad, and anyone else who looked at him funny.
Farad, in a distant shadow, listened to Dworkin drone on about his plans and decided that he'd been on Dworkin's side long enough, it was time to switch again.
Alastair tried without effect to get everyone's attention, mentioning that since most of them had agreed at one time or another that he should be Regent, they might want to hear his suggestion.
Duncan glanced around at the tableau and sighed heavily. "What a bunch of fools," he muttered, and strode toward the cat-fight. Drawing near to Deirdre and Lillith, his voice took on a dangerous tone, "Give me the Jewel."
The women turned together with matching looks of disdain, followed quickly by surprise. The Jewel flared once brightly.
It was the silence that caught everyone's attention. That shrill, nails-on-chalkboard sound had suddenly stopped. The group turned just in time to see Duncan placing the glowing Jewel around his own neck, Deirdre and Lillith standing motionless behind him.
The silence lengthened, finally broken by Dmitri's mumbled, "Greffet. I did kill the wrong one!"
The air was split with sudden violence. Gabriel and Dmitri sprang toward Duncan with bared blades, Sean threw bursts of Trump energy to disorient him and prevent him from fleeing, Alastair and Rasadriel began a joint mental assault. Farad arrived in the middle and making a snap decision to join the larger side, launched a magical attack at Duncan.
They all failed. Gabriel and Dmitri slammed into an unseen barrier and fell to the ground stunned and the others all stumbled back, having met equally impassable barriers. Even Farad failed to summon a single marshmallow bunny.
Then, to everyone's horror, Duncan's form began to melt and change. But the final result was worse than anyone had feared - it was Oberon.
"The lot of you are almost enough to make me believe in chastity," the Master of Amber's voice rumbled across the clearing. "Now what am I to do?" His glare silenced Lillith's suggestion, before her mouth even opened.
He turned to Gabriel first. "You, young man, are in for a nasty shock. Despite your belief, you and a couple hundred men are not sufficient to defend my kingdom. There are any number of men and beasts in Shadow that could easily defeat you in combat, even while you hold my sword.
"The enemies of Amber are legion and her defence requires constant vigilance. So, to give you time to ponder that I've reset the timer on the sword. You've got a full ten years to prove you're up to the task. If I'm satisfied you've done an adequate job, I'll let you pass it on. If not, I'll reset it for twenty.
"Now put it away before you cut yourself."
His gaze then travelled over to Rasadriel, who was visibly trembling. "You, my child, need a little discipline. There's an excellent Catholic school in upstate New York. You start there in the morning. If your grades are good enough, I'll let you come back to Amber during the holidays. If not, you'll stay in Earth until I'm satisfied with your progress. Oh, and none of those Chaos tricks." The Jewel glowed briefly. "You may have them back when you've become mature enough to use them responsibly."
Then turning to Dmitri he stared at him intently for a moment while Dmitri shuffled his feet and tried unsuccessfully to hide his bloody sword behind his back. "I thought I told you to mind your brother! Get out of there and stop playing games," Oberon barked. Dmitri was looking for a hole to crawl into when the rainbow splash of a Trump connection appeared in front of him and Paris materialised, smiling sheepishly.
"Uh, hi Dad. I was just playing around, you know..."
"Don't 'hi Dad me', and get out of that stupid-looking body.
Where's Delwin? I told him to keep you out of trouble and away from Amber." Paris' body shifted and flowed, stabilising once more into the form of Sand.
"Well, uh, you see, he had a little trouble with his Trump..."
"Oh, for Pattern's sake. He let you trap him in his own Trump
again, didn't he?" Sand smiled sheepishly, not sure if she was being praised or scolded. "The boy's absolutely useless. I should have drowned the both of you when you were new-born. Deirdre!"
Deirdre, who had been edging toward the side of the clearing, hoping to make a break for it, jumped two feet into the air, "Yes, sir?"
"Take your idiot sister and find her equally stupid twin and release him from whatever Trump trick she used to escape from him. Then tell Delwin to increase her medication and keep her out of my sight. After you've finished, return to Amber where we will discuss your culpability in recent events."
While Deirdre and Sand Trumped away, Oberon turned back to Dmitri. "Well, boy, normally I disapprove of fratricide but I suppose I can't blame you entirely for things you didn't know. At least you accomplished something," he gave the rest of the group a sideways glance. "But you weren't intended to find your way to Amber yet. There's much you need to learn. A portion of Benedict and Fiona's penances will be to teach you what a Prince of Amber needsto know to survive. And for your part, you will obey them without question. Now go find Benedict and tell him to gather the others in my City."
"Don't just stand there, go!"
Oberon was just turning toward Sean when a screech came from the other side of the clearing. An unmistakable voice cackled, "Now you die, Lillith!" Everyone turned to see Dworkin standing across from the group, spewing balls of energy indiscriminately at everyone in sight.
The magic reached about half-way across the grove and then, fading in power, finally dropped gently to the ground, hissing slightly. Dworkin looked down at his outstretched arms in puzzlement and then across at the group. His eyes met Oberon's. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" He spun about and started to sprint away, but instead turned unsteadily back and began to walk, in fits and jerks, toward Oberon. With each step the Jewel began to glow more brightly.
"Father. Didn't I tell you to leave the children alone?"
"But look at what they did to my Pattern!" Dworkin wailed. "I have to kill her or I can never again be whole!"
"You know that's not true."
"It is! You're just trying to kill me again! Farad, get him! This is our chance, we can defeat him together! Gabriel! Sean! Attack!"
Those present studied their feet carefully, trying very hard to turn invisible.
"It is not true. You were just too lazy to do it properly. But I'm not going to argue with you in front of the youngsters. Now go to Primal Pattern and wait for me. I'll be there shortly." The Jewel flashed and when everyone could see again, Dworkin had vanished.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Oberon turned again to Sean and loomed. "A blender? If you're going to kill a relative, at least try to be original."
"Well Sean, I'm letting you off lightly. I'm only taking away most of your Trump powers. For the rest, I think it's past time we had a new deck done; that's your task. I want a full deck of the family with all new formal portraits. I'll give you a list of who to include, there are a few you don't know about.
"Of course, you'll need to do a deck for each person, and none of these Trump duplicating tricks - each deck will be hand-painted by you. It shouldn't take more than four or five years to do it properly. If I like it when you're done, I'll teach you a few tricks."
While Sean stood, trying to decide whether or not to be relieved, Oberon moved on.
"Look, I tried my best - no one ever listened to me. I don't think..."
"Be quiet, Lillith, I don't want to hear it."
"You know, you're being to soft on them. I think you should..."
"Be silent, Lillith!"
"It wasn't my fault. The real problem was..."
"SHUT UP!"
Like a thunderclap, it rolled through the clearing, silencing even Lillith who instead folded her arms and began to tap a foot impatiently. Oberon seemed to be surrounded by shadows; the Jewel throbbed dangerously.
"One - You are confined to Amber indefinitely.
"Two - You will be Florimel's apprentice, obeying her in every way, until she determines that you are fit to be seen in adult company.
"Three - You will not speak in my presence until that time comes.
"Four - I'm taking your powers. When Florimel is finished with
your training, I might let you rewalk the Pattern. Not before, so don't bother asking."
Oberon stepped past her, Lillith's mouth opened, the Jewel flared, and Lillith disappeared. Alastair muttered, "Does Flora deserve that?" Oberon actually smiled.
But then he reached Farad, looked him up and down with a frown, "Wasted talent. I'm of half a mind to ship you off with Sand and keep you both under sedation indefinitely. But no, you're the other half of Fiona and Benedict's tasks, I dare say the more difficult half. You're going back to the basics and learning self-control and good judgement. Shouldn't take more than a hundred years if you're lucky, then you can start practising magic again.
"Oh, and no more damn rabbits, ever."
One figure was still standing alone in the centre of the clearing. Alastair clutched his cloak about him trying to avoid the temptation to use it. Knowing, from having already tried, that it wasn't working anyway. "Alastair, I'm very disappointed," the Sovereign of Amber spoke sadly. Alastair paled.
"You were my best hope. The only one in the generation with the good sense to know what to do and the power to make it happen. But instead of seizing power when things began to fall apart, you just stood there and watched.
"Well, I'm giving you a second chance. I don't intend to stay in Amber much so I'm formally making you Regent. You are responsible for my Kingdom. Don't let me down.
"Your first task will be to discipline the remaining family members for their roles in this fiasco. In this matter only, I will enforce your judgement, but take care: If you are too lenient they won't respect you, too harsh and they'll resent you forever.
"Good luck, you'll need it."