Sign of the Unicorn, chapter 4

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend reading the book first. It's short, I promise.

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Corwin discovered that his brother Caine had been murdered by an almost-human Shadow creature, of the same kind that had attacked him, his brother Random, and his sister Flora in her mansion in New York. He learned from Random that it was one of the guardians of a tower in the outskirts of Shadow, where he believed their missing brother Brand was being held prisoner. They chased him through Shadow to New York. Corwin and Random agreed that there was a conspiracy brewing in Amber, masterminded by someone with advanced knowledge of Shadow, but did not know who was responsible. Later, Corwin took the Jewel of Judgment, the weather-changing amulet he acquired from Eric, and used the Pattern to unlock its powers.

Now, Corwin continues his fact-finding by interviewing Flora. She does indeed recognize the Shadow thing from the attack on her house, but knows nothing more. She tells Corwin how she came to be his guardian in New York while he was hospitalized. She dwelt on Earth, as Corwin had once dwelt on Avalon. Although she had presumed Corwin dead by Eric's hand in the duel, she was surprised to have met him by chance at a party in Paris, shortly before the Reign of Terror, though he was still suffering from amnesia and didn't recognize her. Eric, who had also assumed he was dead, asked her to keep him under surveillance. After Corwin's car "accident," he instructed her to keep him under sedation.

Corwin has his own mausoleum, built when he was presumed dead. In the evening, Corwin meets Ganelon there, and they share a late meal. They discuss the reactions of Corwin's siblings when Corwin breaks the news about Caine. He will also gather them together and tell them about Brand in the future. Meanwhile, Corwin also instructs Ganelon to move their Shadow army into the forest of Arden, closer to the black road. Ostensibly this is to keep an eye on its inhabitants, but really it's to get them away from the palace, where the regular troops resent the presence of the primitive Shadow men.

Corwin's car crash was indeed no accident. Eric hired a thug to murder him by shooting out his tire. Keeping him a prisoner in the hospital was a contingency plan. Flora denied any responsibility. With Eric out of the picture, it seems to me she is less hostile toward Corwin.

When they heard the news of Caine's death, Flora seemed indifferent, Benedict kept his opinion to himself, Julian and Gérard were mistrustful, Deirdre was happy, and sisters Fiona and Llewella (both previously unheard from) were also indifferent. It doesn't seem like the family is taking sides any differently than they had when Eric was alive and in command.

Ganelon raises the possibility of the Trumps being "wiretapped." At the time, it seems the question is apropos of nothing apart from his own curiosity about how things work. After all, he's just been to Earth where he learned technology like the telephone exists—and as he rightly points out, you can learn a lot by listening in. Corwin initially laughs, but then considers it. There are a lot of stray decks out there. Corwin lists Oberon's, Brand's, his own, and Random's. Additionally, the pack Corwin threw to Bleys as he fell of the mountain is still unaccounted for. And Dara said Benedict may have had several decks in Avalon. Since she was not who she seemed, maybe she stole some. The Trumps are intended for two-way communication, but who's to say that someone with advanced knowledge of Shadow couldn't listen in? Does a Trump give off a busy signal if its namesake is already on the line? Doubtful. Perhaps, the conspiracy against the Amberites is being carried out by someone who knows something about how the Trumps work that the rest are oblivious to?

This was another chatty chapter, but it seems to be building up to some action, anyway. Until next Thursday.

Postscript: Today's illustration took forever to produce. Try as I might, and I tried for about two hours, I could get the AI to get everything right, except that it consistently would not show the two men with food. It seems DALL-E might have a limit on the number of details you can put in a single prompt. It's still not perfect, but at least it's less imperfect than the other hundred attempts.