Chaos. Normally, too, he would never have abandoned me like this, inthe blasted apartments of Brand, late Prince of Amber and would-be Lordof the Universe. But he was under a mild spell Brand had actually leftabout for his son Rinaldo. However, Merlin has such a strong affinitywith Rinaldo--also known as Luke--by virtue of their long association,that the spell latched onto him. He must have shaken it by now, butthat still left me in an awkward position, with him doubtless back inthe Courts.

I did not feel like waiting around with all the rebuilding andredecorating going on. They could decide to chuck the bed, with meattached, and go for all new stuff.

I finished unknotting myself. At least Merlin had used no magicwhen he'd tied me there. On the other hand, it was a tight knot, and Isquirmed for a long while to get myself unlooped. Finally, the thingwas loosened and I was able to undo it. Once I had freed myself fromits subtle geometries, I slithered down the bedpost to the ground. Thisleft me in a position to slip away, should a gang of furniture moverssuddenly appear. In fact, it suddenly seemed a good idea to get out ofthe fast traffic lane now.

I moved away from the bed--out of Brand's room and intoMerlin's--wondering what had been the secret of that ring he'd found andput on--the spikard thing.

That it was extremely powerful and drew its energies from manysources was obvious to a being such as myself. That it seemed a thingof the same order as the sword Werewindle was also readily apparent,despite their varied forms to the eye of a human. Suddenly, it occurredto me that Merlin might not notice this, and I began to think that itmight be necessary he should.

I crossed his room. I can move like a snake when I would. I haveno ability to transport myself magically like almost everyone else Iknow, so I figured it were best to find someone who did. My only