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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.
