“How about Fredania?” Aber suggested with a knowing smirk.

She glared. “No! This world will be called Amber. That is the end of the discussion.”

“I like Amber,” Conner said.

“So do I,” said Blaise.

“Then it's settled,” I said. “We'll call it Amber. The name fits, and I like it.”

“No sense of fun…” Aber muttered.

“It is settled.” Freda sighed and looked to the distance. “Now comes the hard part.”

“We all know an attack will come,” I said. “The only question is—when?”

“Maybe building here isn't such a great idea,” Aber said. “Dad had a hundred years to prepare Juniper, and he still couldn't hold it.”

“We must build Amber to withstand greater forces,” Freda said. “We know what we will face. This time, we will be ready.”

Aber shook his head. “Easier said than done!”

“Higher ramparts and stronger walls will only do so much,” I said. “I've seen what primal chaos can do. If Uthor unleashes it here, nothing will save this Shadow.”

“We cannot hide like animals,” Freda said.

“I didn't say we should.” I swallowed, eyes turning to the distance. “We need a home. A place to plan and gather our forces. If war is inevitable, I'm not going to wait for it to come to me. We'll attack first.”

Aber gasped. “Attack the Courts of Chaos? Are you mad?”

I looked at him levelly. “I've never been more serious. If I have to fight, it's going to be on my terms. If Uthor has spies in Amber, we'll have spies in Chaos. If he gathers an army to attack us here, we will attack him first. I'm not like our father—I'm going to fight, and I'm going to win. No matter what it takes.”

Freda looked at me strangely. “I see our father in you,” she said. “But there is something else, something more.”

“I have a mother, too,” I reminded her, thinking to the unicorn I had seen three times now. I half believed my father's claim that she had birthed me. “If any of what I suspect is true, she is quite remarkable.”

“Your mother, yes, that must be it,” she murmured. “For the first time… I believe you will succeed.”

I chuckled. “Let's not get maudlin. We have work ahead of us. Hard work, and a lot of it.”

“I don't like the sound of that!” Aber said with mock alarm.

“Think bigger, beyond yourself.” I gestured grandly, taking in the mountain before us. “Look at this world as a blank slate. We have architects—stonemasons—carpenters, all at our call. We can buy food in great supply. We will hire all the help we need from Selonika and other nearby Shadows. Amber itself will provide the rest. A quarry for granite and marble. Lumber by the ton. Enough land for farming, fish from the sea and meat from the forests…”

“Whoa!” Aber said. “We haven't even had lunch yet!”

“Can Amber really be built so quickly?” Freda asked.

“Yes. We'll do it the old-fashioned way… with greed.” I grinned. “And, for anyone who doesn't want gold, there's plenty of land available. We need farms and wineries. For anyone really valuable to us, we can hand out minor titles—”

“You would set up a peerage among the Shadow-people?” Blaise asked, looking aghast.

“Why not?” I grinned at her. “I've lived in Shadows my whole life. There were more people of honor and integrity in Ilerium than I found in all of Chaos.”

“But none of them can control Shadow or Chaos,” Conner said. “They have no real power.”

“Oh, a few generations of interbreeding with the likes of us, and I think they'll share our powers, too. I certainly intend to take a wife. Every king needs his queen.”

“Then you will be king?” Aber asked, sounding hopeful. “Not Dad?”

“Oberon must be King,” Freda said. “The Pattern has chosen him.”

“Great!” Aber grinned. “It was my idea, you know. As a reward, I expect a few extra titles, at the very least.”

“As the king's brother, you will be a prince,” Freda said. “That is sufficient.”

“How about Arch-Duke of Aberton?” I asked. “And—uh—Lord of All the Marshlands?”

“Much better!” He laughed. “Do we have marshlands?”

Freda frowned. “You are both being frivolous.”

“We also have to figure out where Aberton is,” I said, ignoring her.

Aber turned and looked to the south. “Isn't it over there? I want to see it from my rooms in the castle.”

“Could be.” I shaded my eyes. “I bet it's just beyond that forest.”

“Insane, both of you!” Freda threw up her hands and stomped off.

Aber and I both broke up laughing.

Chapter 17

“No, no, no!” I shouted. I pounded my fist on the table inside the tent, where dozens of sketches and blueprints lay in disarray. “I don't care whether the mules are sick, only half the workmen are here, or it's raining flaming toads! Work begins today!”

The two construction supervisors cringed before my wrath. “Yes, King Oberon!” one of them squeaked. They bowed their way out of my tent.

Three weeks had passed since our picnic atop Mount Amber, as we now called the mountain where the castle was to be built. Nothing but delays, delays, and more delays had plagued the beginning of construction. Like a rusted wheel, the machine of our builders needed to be unstuck to turn… my anger provided the solvent.

I rose and paced. Aber, with his feet up on the table, just chuckled.

“It's not funny!” I roared. I'd had it with the lot of them.

“Did I say it was?” Aber asked. “The sooner I have a real roof over my head, the happier I'll be. I hate rain, I hate sun, and I hate living in a tent. If you didn't need my help with the blueprints, I'd be back in Selonika right now, living the good life.” He sighed.

“Oh, go ahead back,” I said. I waved him away. “There's not much more to do today, anyway. Tomorrow, after you've slept off your hangover, come on back and we'll see what more needs to be done.”

“You don't have to tell me twice!” He leaped up and ran out through the tent's open flaps.

Sighing, I sprawled back in my chair and began looking through the architect's sketches again. Something about the west wing bothered me, but I just couldn't figure out what, exactly.

“Oberon?” I heard Freda say as she swept in. “I wish a word with you.”

“Of course. Join me.” I indicated the seat Aber had just vacated. “Wine?”

“Thank you.”

I poured a cup of red wine for her.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“The problem,” she said, “is a lack of supervision. Conner and you make sure work gets done well and quickly, but you cannot be everywhere at once. As soon as you leave, the workmen grow slack. I have seen it time and again at the sawmill, the quarry, or here as they dig the foundation… these men move at their own pace.”

“I know.” I let out a long sign. “Everything is behind schedule. And yet… we have all the available men working in shifts night and day. What more can we do?”

“We need more help,” she said.

“All right. Hire more workers. As many as it takes, from Selokina or any other Shadow.”

“No… I mean more help from our family.”

That puzzled me. “I know Aber doesn't work as hard as he might, but—”

“No, you do not understand. I am not asking Aber to do more. He has done a wonderful job so far. I need more family members. I want to invite several of my aunts and uncles to join us. And I want permission to search for the rest of our missing brothers and sisters.”

“Will your relatives come?” I asked. “They must know how difficult life here will be, at least in the beginning. We can only offer tents… and a lot of hard work.”

“It is still preferable to their present lives in the Courts.”

I paused. “You already spoke to them about it, didn't you?”

She raised her head. “Yes. They are being persecuted by Lord Uthor for daring to help me. He has made it… unpleasant for them. They seek asylum. I know they will work hard—”