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Fiona - five-two, perhaps, in height - green eyes fixed on Flora's own blue as they spoke, there beside the fireplace, hair more than compensating for the vacant hearth, smouldering, reminded me, as always, of something from which the artist had just drawn back, setting aside his tools, questions slowly forming behind his smile.
The place at the base of her throat where his thumb had notched the collarbone always drew my eyes as the mark of a master craftsman, especially when she raised her head, quizzical or imperious, to regard we taller others. She smiled faintly, just then, doubtless aware of my gaze, an almost clairvoyant faculty the acceptance of which has never deprived of its ability to disconcert. Sign of the Unicorn |
Corwin calls her a sorceress. But then, she always seemed to be one step ahead of Corwin.
A bit of secret lore, an edge of perspective, and a spell or conjuring that puts her ahead of the pack. Fiona has the knack of making her larger brothers and sisters seem clumsy and oafish.
Perhaps they are.
At the climax of the great battle of PatternFall, where the family's worst enemy held the Jewel of Judgement and mocked them all, it was Fiona's power that saved the day.
Any Amberite can engage in mind to mind combat under special circumstances. A Trump contact, where the minds actually connect, allows for the battle of wills, to impose paralysis, even injury, on an opponent. Fiona's special trick allows her to reach minds without the restriction of Trump, using her magic, and imposing her will even through the defences of other Amberites.
Fiona knows all too well that any power, including that of Pattern, is limited in its range, force and subtlety, by the mind of the initiate. Her other powers, Trump and Magic, are likewise powered by her psychic will. She knows this, she keeps her mind sharp, and none of her relatives are eager to contest her in the mystic arts.
In moving through Shadow, especially those hard-to-forge pathways through Amber, movement usually involves the subtle manipulation of Pattern for hours, even days. But when there was an emergency, and Corwin needed to get to a place days away, Fiona found a short-cut, a way of mere minutes. It is proof of her ability to manipulate the stuff of Shadow without contest, and also, as Corwin put it, an endorsement for higher education, the advantage of a lifetime of study.
One other thing. Don't irritate Fiona. Her temper is considerable. And, on the sly, she has slipped a dagger between the ribs of a helpless relative.
Fiona is the third and last child of Clarissa, Oberon's fourth wife. Bleys and Brand were the first two children.
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Tuesday, August 19, 1997 Suhuy |
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Adapted from Erick Wujcik |
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