After the 50 of us had finished our formal dining experience we were invited to partake of brandy and coffee in the nearby parlor. We broke into various groups and the overall volume of conversation increased. I don’t recall what I had to drink, if anything. Shado and I spoke with Damien and Lisa for a bit. I was amused at Damien’s obvious crush on Lisa. For all I could tell he seemed a gentleman about it. I wished him well and it was with reluctance I pried him away from Lisa to speak privately with him about our upcoming mission. Shado appeared tired and she begged off the continuation of the family reunion. Couldn’t say as I could blame her. She’d been through a lot recently. What with getting her shapeshifting fixed and going through the ups and downs of Amber romance.
Out on the balcony that overlooked the gardens I briefed Damien on the upcoming mission with the Roman legions. His mind was quick when it came to military organization and issues of security. He had some good pointers on the sort of shadow we needed to find as well. After that topic was exhausted I briefly discussed Lisa’s abusive childhood with him. He grimaced and winced at the appropriate places and I felt assured he would not spread any tales. Lisa could do worse then someone like Damien, though this would be a delicate courtship if I was any judge of characters.
After the dinner party broke up I made my way to the Amber kitchens. Something that Anthony had mentioned had been preying on my mind. He had described that I was supposed to welcome Shado to her new home according to tradition. This seemed to revolve around making my wife breakfast. Trouble is, I’ve never learned the culinary arts. Yes, as bizarre as it sounds in the dozen decades I’d been around I’ve never worked in a kitchen. Not that I ever avoided these rooms, its just that my patrician upbringing had me more use to having servants around then I’d like to admit. I’ve eaten field rations, and dined at 5 star restaurants, but cooking wasn’t an area that held any interest to me. Up until now that is.
It’s a good thing I’ve always respected servants and never abused them as the head cook, a fellow named Michael, was most helpful. Even went so far as to briefly outline the cooking operations in Castle Amber. Can you imagine Leonardo da Vinci teaching you to paint? That was Michael instructing me on how to bake bread. Took a couple hours. As he went on showing how ingredients were combined, rolled, pounded, left to rise, and finally bake. Considering he had just overseen a formal dinner, and was probably somewhat tired, but he helped me without complaint. I’d have to think of some way to repay him some day.
Given everything servants do for us I have been toying with the idea of one day doing a little shapeshifting and seeing if I could take on the position of one of the servants, just to see how the other half lives. Might be a century or two down the road before I’m in a position to afford that kind of time.
Anyways, it was around midnight when we were finished in the kitchen. Michael set my loaf of bread aside so I might acquire it via a Logrus tentacle from Garnath come the morning. One task accomplished I had yet another detail to take care of. Funny how the live’s of Amber’s nobility seem to run nearly twenty-four hours a day. Or at least mine does. There are times when I’ll be up and working non-stop for three days at a time only to crash from exhaustion. This looked to be one of those times.
So still bespeckled with flour, I trumped to a golden circle kingdom that was famous for its art. Namely a place called Atlantis. It was night-time over their as well. The stars burned all different colors and the tropical night air was warm and comfortable. I was in a city, but I hadn’t been to this shadow in so long the name escaped me. Atlanteans are a short people. They tended towards shades of brown and tan and had a hint of Egypt about them. There were still many about even though the night was hardly young. I hoped at least some of the shops were open. I was looking for a wedding ring for my bride. That’s the trouble with staging a wedding on a day’s notice. Everything goes at a blinding speed.
I was in luck. A jewelry shop, of sorts, was open and I stepped inside. I say of sorts, as the place looked like somebody had raided the best of a dozen shadows and stored everything inside. The jeweler was a friendly sort, and he steered me towards a ruby mithril ring that was filigreed with tiny moonstone pearls. Of course I had forgotten to bring local Atlantean currency with me but a quick jaunt to the docks had me pearl diving in the nearby bay. One of the perks of being a scion of Amber was always being able to find wealth on short noticed. When I surfaced I was rid of the flour and I found myself possessing a couple dozen large pearls in my hands. They seemed all different colors and many of them glittered, shined, and/or glowed. The jeweler was pleased enough with the transaction that he threw in a matched set of mithril wedding rings. I have to wonder if he knew who I was. A few thanks and praises later and I had trumped back to the Amber courtyards.
I wasn’t sure where Shado was. Probably Arden. I didn’t wish to wake her as tomorrow would be busy enough so I retired to my quarters in the Amber Castle where I cleaned myself up and dusted off my one Roman ceremonial outfit. It had been in my closet for well over a century. My guess was the servants replace such garments when they appear to have hung so long that they feel brittle. Who knows?
It was approaching the hour known in some circles as “the midnight of the soul” so I emptied the water out of my shoulder bag and cleaned my equipment. It was about this time that I discovered that my short sword had undergone some sort of modification. It was devoid of any of the ravages of time I normally associated with my rusty blade. Instead the gladius gleamed wetly in hues of emerald green glints. There was a feeling of power and instability to the blade and its edge looked wickedly sharp. I sheathed it hastily and finished drying the rest of my articles. The sword needed to be looked into but it wasn’t on my timetable. Some of my equipment, mostly bandages, I had to replaced. Perhaps Ryoden could fashion me a waterproof bag? It would come in handy, given the amount of times I’ve found myself underwater.
With my equipment cared for I went through an hours series of Martial art drills. Mostly the reinforcement of muscle memory and reflex. Plus it felt good to get the kinks out. I’d noticed lately that my movements were faster and more controlled. Not much, but enough to think that I might be improving.
A shower and elaborate attention to my grooming took another hour of my time. Hey, its my wedding day. It wouldn’t do to look like I’d been running around all night. Lastly there was of course my scrivenings in my journal. To which this entry is drawing to an end.
It does seem that my life recently has been going through a series of transformations. Discoveries of love, new powers, my lose of photographic memory, while gaining back my full emotional spectrum, and now I sit writing as the dawn of my wedding day fast approaches. I hope it will be a day people will remember for some time to come. I’m certain I will remember it, with or without eidetic memory. Hopefully Shado will like her wedding ring. Hopfully the bread I made will taste half-way decent. Lots of things to hope for. Nothing to despair. Knock on wood.
End Journal entry.