FionaIndex | Time Under Chaos | Non-Player Characters | Fiona  Fiona Then there was Fiona, with hair like Bleys or Brand, my eyes, and a complexion like mother of pearl. I hated her the second I turned over the card. --Nine Princes in Amber 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, smoldering, reminding me, as always, of something from which the artists 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 us 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. -- The Sign of the Unicorn Fiona wasn’t the eldest daughter in the family, nor the prettiest, nor the youngest. Being counted the ‘clever one’ was a consolation prize, or left handed compliment, at best. While Llewella could claim that Oberon paid even less attention to her, she had a series of Remban acquaintances if she wished them. Fiona had no interest in, or great skill at, generalship or fencing. Masculine pursuits were for her brothers, and Deirdre. Some might suggest that Dworkin was a positive influence, but his madness restricted the degree to which she could rely on him. She did have her brothers, but Bleys had almost entirely divergent interests and Brand was as often her rival in arcane matters as her collaborator. None would dispute that she was a precocious, prodigal and pretty girl, but she was also swiftly becoming irritated to the point of screaming. She did not suffer from Brand’s innate instability, but she swiftly began to alienate family members who would once have treated her with only indifference. Corwin and Eric, for instance, recognized Fiona for her looks but had no interest in her arcane prowess. Both infuriated her with their patronizing attitude. Julian admired her, and Fiona was willing to make use of this, but for the most part he simply bored her. When she first journeyed to Chaos, the difference was night and day. Fiona traveled to Chaos incognito, and she saw that she could become a star in that nominally meritocratic and magocratic/ magophilic crowd. She desired companionship, and success and recognition from her peers as she rose to become first amongst equals. It was on this early trip to Chaos that Mandor and Fiona first met, and their meetings became increasingly frequent as she returned. Thanks in large part to Mandor, Fiona was able to insinuate herself into the more liberal Chaosian political circles. Secretly, she maintained contact with Dworkin and Oberon to advance their plans to perfect the Pattern. Fiona advocated co-existence between Chaos and Amber, and there were voices in Chaos who were, at that time, receptive to such ideas. Brand came to her while she was in Chaos, and proposed a plan to bring about the balance that the moderate Chaosians advocated while, at the same time, placing the three Clarissans in a ruling triumvirate over Amber. Bleys would be the nominal king, but Fiona and Brand would exert considerable influence. It was Bleys, however, who convinced the other two of the proper timing for the coup. Fiona arranged for Oberon to be ‘detained’ in Chaos, which necessitated remaining in a close proximity to the Courts to handle the arrangements and prevent a shift in politics from leading to Oberon’s escape before the Eternal Throne could be secured. While there, Fiona learned that Brand had made other arrangements with more radical factions in the Courts. His true designs then became all too clear, and she contacted Bleys immediately by trump. Bleys and Fiona caught up with Brand shortly after he had performed electroshock therapy on Corwin, although they wouldn’t learn that this was what he had been up to for some time. The two were able to subdue him in short order, and Fiona brought him to a specially prepared prison shadow after Bleys insisted they spare him. Brand contacted Random, who tried to rescue him, but Fiona learned of this almost as soon as Random arrived. She sent several agents after him, but so long as he kept out of their hair until the throne was won, she thought the matter completed. Unfortunately, dealing with Brand gave Eric too much time to cement his position, and Bleys’ idiotic desire to team up with Corwin upset matters even further, as far as Fiona was concerned. Even if Corwin had aided Bleys in reaching the throne room, Bleys would still have to eliminate him. Such would be a chancy thing at the best of times, but war would give Corwin far too many opportunities to betray her brother. Bleys was all too likely to hold off on stabbing Corwin in the back for the sport of it all… he took chances Fiona couldn’t tolerate, so she made sure she had alternative opportunities if events developed poorly. Fiona showed up at Corwin’s invitation to a family meeting to try to salvage the plan, and see the Pattern perfected. She had heard Bleys might have escaped by trump, and hoped he would be at the meeting, but instead she was forced to play on Julian’s affections to secure her aims. As it was, all she could manage to do was stab Brand when Corwin insisted they ‘rescue’ him through a collective trump attempt. Her younger brother couldn’t even die properly. When called upon to fight in the last battle, she fought long and hard for Amber. She would have preferred to see Bleys on the throne, but when push came to shove she would not allow those forces who were hostile to her homeland to triumph. After the battle at the Courts of Chaos was won, she remained behind with Random to negotiate, presuming on her knowledge of Chaos. When Amber fell, she was deep in enemy territory, and when Random was imprisoned, she agreed to marriage with a Chaosian lord as a way of escaping imprisonment herself. This allowed her a wider sphere of influence, but antagonized the Chaosian who had been her closest friend and supporter (and, some whispered, lover), Mandor. |
