color -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9- THE AMBER CITADEL Book One of The Jewelfire Trilogy FREDA WARRINGTON EARTHLIGHT LONDON SYDNEY . NEW YORK TOKYO . SINGAPORE TORONTO www.earthlight.co.uk First published in Great Britain by Earthlight, 1999 An imprint of Simon & Schuster UK Ltd A Viacom Company Copyright © Freda Warrington, 1999 The right of Freda Warrington to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 This book is copyright under the Berne Convention No reproduction without permission ® and © 1998 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. Earthlight & Design is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster Inc. Simon & Schuster UK Ltd Africa House 64-78 Kingsway London WC2B 6AH Simon & Schuster Australia Sydney A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0-671-02190-7 13579 10 8642 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental Typeset in 9 1/2 on 11 1/2 Meridien by SX Composing DTP, Rayleigh, Essex Printed and bound in Great Britain by Caledonian International Book Manufacturing, Glasgow Contents Prelude I: The Hidden Beast 1 Prelude II: The Dark Seed 10 One: The Lost Mirror 13 Two: Beyne 37 Three: A Game of Amber 63 Four: Flame and Flight 91 Five: The Aelyr’s Gift 112 Six: Sunstone and Shadow 137 Seven: Ardharkria 156 Eight: The Blue Stallion 175 Nine: Luin Sepher 192 Ten: The Jewels of the Earth 213 Eleven: Lady Amitriya 230 Twelve: Serpent and Seer 254 Thirteen: Moonstone Fire 274 Fourteen: The Heliodor Tower 300 Fifteen: Silverholm 318 Sixteen: The Shadow of the King 356 Seventeen: Eldareth the Wanderer 380 Eighteen: The Azure Zampherai 412 Nineteen: Dream and Discovery 441 Twenty: Enhavaneya 467 Twenty-one: Laphaeome’s Web 501 Twenty-two: The Battle of Hethlas Rim 525 Twenty-three: Rubies in Amber 551 Twenty-four: Auriel 579 Prelude I: The Hidden Beast They wore the colours of twilight, the two who came to buy the Seer’s knowledge. Long gossamer robes of violet, and over their faces grey veils, like mist. But he knew what they were: Aelyr. A male and a female, whom he’d never seen before and doubtless would never see again. They would come to him now and then, the other-race, travelling from their own realm to seek his hut in the high, green mountains. They always sought the same thing. Knowledge of human affairs in Aventuria. And they paid well, so he gave them what they wanted. Such commerce between human and Aelyr was strictly unlawful. But no one would ever know. ‘Sit,’ he told them. ‘Some become dizzy and fall, you see. And the crystal is very thin, and the drop very deep.’ The hut was a basic, round construction of wattle and thatch with a floor of dark peat. Although the Seer had shooed out the goats and chickens that wandered through his ill-lit dwelling, the smell lingered. His guests were clearing their throats in quiet distaste. He smiled. In the centre of the floor there was a well. It was deep and dark, bounded by a low wall, with a glint of water far below. The wall was capped by a disc of crystal, striped with clear and milky lines. The Seer took up his position in his tall chair while the Aelyr, slender and soft-moving as air, seated themselves on the low stools he indicated, facing him across the well. Although he could not see their faces he sensed their natures; the man taut and impervious, the woman pliable and persistent, like ivy. The Seer had the appearance of a man in his thirties, with skin as brown as a nut, long hair that was fox-coloured but for a white streak at the front. He had a way of holding his head slightly to one side so that his hair fell forwards over his left shoulder. His skill was a demanding one, so exhausting that he had grown almost to hate it. He practised it only for others, never for himself. ‘While I am in a trance you will see my visions, and I may answer your questions. But afterwards I will remember nothing. So note my answers well, for I cannot tell you a second time. And understand that I cannot see into the future. I can only see what is.’ He was aware of their hidden, alien eyes, fixed upon him through the veils. ‘We hear rumours,’ said the man, ‘of disturbances in Aventuria. Some conflict, perhaps. What can you show us of it?’ ‘Conflict? When we have been at peace for nigh on two hundred years? Still. There will be a vision for each of you. Let us begin the chant I taught you. They helped to coax him into the trance. Their own input was vital, for the Seer could help no-one who had no energies of their own. But with Aelyr, it was always easy. His breathing became loud and shallow. His hands floated pale above the well, as if in water … ‘The Bhahdradomen are rising.’ The words rattled from the Seer’s tongue. His mouth was slack with trance, saliva pearling in its corners, his eyes opaque. Glamour lay silver upon his hair and skin, making him as radiant as the Aelyr who listened intently to him. The man said, ‘No.’ ‘Hush,’ the woman said. ‘Let him show us.’ The Seer’s hands made shapes in the air. His breath stuttered in his throat.