Read Online To Rule in Amber by Roger Zelazny, John Gregory Betancourt - Free Book Online Page B

just crawled through a rock garden… which, for all I knew, might have been trying to eat him. Rocks had strange properties in Chaos.
    "What's wrong with Dad?" he asked, staring at our father. "Did someone attack him? Is he all right?"
    "He's sick," I said.
    "Great," Aber muttered, putting his head down in his hands. He took a deep shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "I figured he'd be able to fix everything."
    "Let me guess," I said. "You want him to destroy the Pattern."
    He glanced up. "No! But… maybe if he gave himself up, Uthor would spare the rest of us."
    "Self-sacrifice? That doesn't sound like Dad."
    "No, I guess not," he said, a note of bitterness creeping into his voice. "Though, of course, we could always sacrifice him ourselves. Maybe the king would make a deal…"
    "No," I said flatly. "We're family, and we're going to stick together."
    "You and your idealism! Dad would sell you out in a heartbeat if he thought it would save his own skin."
    "You aren't doing him justice," I said. Dad had gone to great lengths to protect me during my childhood. "Take a minute to catch your breath. Then you can tell me all about what happened in the Courts. Maybe I can help some other way."
    "I don't think anyone can help now." He studied the floorboards. "They're after us all. I think Uthor's caught everyone but you and me and Dad."
    "And Blaise, of course," I said. "She's free."
    "Blaise? That's just great!" he said sarcastically. I remembered there was no love lost between them. "Of course she would be the one to get away."
    "Thanks for caring, Aber," Blaise said coolly from behind me.
    He glanced up in surprise.
    "I thought you were dead," he said to her.
    "Sorry to disappoint you."
    "Why didn't you answer my calls?"
    "I must have been busy."
    Aber opened his mouth for an angry retort, but I waved him to silence.
    "Go downstairs," I told Blaise. "We'll join you at the bar in a few minutes. I need to talk to Aber alone."
    "Oh, very well. I need that drink anyway. Especially now that he's here." She stomped off into the hall without another word.
    "Bitch," Aber muttered under his breath. To me, he said, "I tried to reach her five or six times over the last few weeks, when I really needed help. She didn't answer. I assumed she had been captured. It figures she wouldn't bother to answer me ."
    "She had her own problems," I said. "I got her out of the Courts of Chaos just in time -
    hell-creatures were breaking down the doors to her room."
    "You should have left her there." He folded his arms stubbornly. "Some people aren't worth rescuing."
    "She's still family," I said. I tried to look stern. We couldn't let arguments divide us, not with so
    many enemies after our blood. "If what you say is true, there are few enough of us left now. And I'm sure Blaise will prove useful once we're settled in again."
    He gave me an odd look. "She wouldn't help in the Courts when I needed her. I'm not going to forget that!"
    "I didn't say you should. Be aware of her limitations and know you can't count on her. She may be difficult, and you may not enjoy her company, but we have to stick together whether you like to or not."
    "That's a good way to get us all killed," he grumbled. "I keep telling you not to trust anyone!"
    "Except you."
    "Of course!" He laughed, a bit of his old spirit returning. "And Freda, of course. But Blaise?
    Certainly not! I wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be the traitor who almost got us all killed in Juniper."
    "Don't worry." I shook my head. "I don't trust anyone right now. She wants me to destroy the Pattern, after all."
    "What!" He gaped. "And destroy the Shadows?"
    "Don't worry, I won't do anything so drastic." I chuckled. "Even if I knew how to destroy it.
    Which I don't."
    He sank back. "Good."
    "You said Uthor has everyone else?"
    "I think so. As soon as those storms came, he issued orders to arrest everyone in our family."
    "I'm not surprised." I would have done the same thing, in his place.
    "How