The History of Islain, Princess of Rebma

To beguile the time, look like the time, bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue, look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under it. -MacBeth

Childhood

Islain was born and raised in Rebma as the daughter of Queen Moire. She was taught to be the perfect royal princess, raised to be diplomatic, graceful and well versed in most subjects, from the arcane to the political to the warlike.

From an early age, Islain was a lovely child and a born leader, but her self-centered whims and mercurial temperament kept her in a state of almost constant trouble with her mother. She was always leading the group of court girls who nearly worshipped her into some scrape or other, often causing embarrassment for Moire and the court of Rebma as a whole.

Before Islain's birth, there had a been a time when Eric and Moire were good friends (and more), but their relationship cooled long before their daughter was born, to the point where all that Moire would tell her daughter about Eric was that he was a Prince of Amber and that he was no longer welcome under the waves. Islain's curiosity about him was never satisfied by Moire's vague answers and she spent the next twenty years asking anyone she met who had been to Amber.

She was ten years old when her sister Morganthe ran off with Random of Amber, and thirteen when Morganthe returned, pregnant and alone. Moire's time began to be taken up consoling and attempting to protect her elder daughter, which left Islain running rampant through court and using her emerging beauty and impressive powers of observation to great advantage.

After the birth of Martin and Morganthe's suicide, Islain felt her mother growing further and further from her. She had believed before then that all she wanted was to be left alone, but now that she was being left alone, she didn't like it.

Never particularly interested in babies (she was supposed to be the center of attention), Islain finally persuaded Moire to allow her to be an ambassadress to some coastal shadows, although her mother insisted that she not leave Rebma until she was fifteen.

Adolescence

Every court is different and at first Islain found herself rudderless without her mother's watchful eye making certain she could never get into too much trouble. But soon enough she found another person to take care of her - a rich and influential old Admiral who was seeking an extra pair of eyes to keep a watch on the shifting winds of his shadow.

He soon found that not only was Islain a beautiful and glittering adornment to his arm, but she was brilliant and exceptionally good at sniffing out intrigue and taking advantage of it. And in turn, he taught Islain, who was still naive about many things, the shifts and intricacies of court, military life, etc.

There was never anything romantic between the two of them, although they did sleep together. The Admiral had Islain's first lover assassinated, not due to jealousy, but to a sense of self-preservation. Islain took it with remarkable stride. They were a team of two. No room for extras.

When she was eighteen, the Admiral mentioned that he would be visiting Amber, and she begged to come with him, although she never told him why she wished to go.

At first, she was only the Admiral's woman, making no mention of her connection to the royal family or to Rebma.

She was here to observe, to determine what sort of people her relatives were, and especially what sort of man her father was - and, of course, to sink her hooks into the court of Amber. The little shadow courts were beginning to bore her - they were no challenge at all for a woman of her skills.

Amber was a challenge. A challenge she soon realized she could not face with the Admiral. When he went back to his home shadow, she breathed a sigh of relief and began her career climbing the ladder of important Amberite men. Sometimes she really was their lover, other times it merely appeared that way. Regardless, they often found their enemies' dirtiest secrets available in every gossip rag in town. Later, as her skills developed further, Islain would blackmail her enemies to *not* publish these facts.

It was five years after she had arrived in Amber that she revealed herself to Eric.

Adulthood in Amber

During Eric's Regency and ascension to the throne, Islain was always at his side. She handled many of his diplomatic interests, visiting diplomats and ambassadors, setting up parties and galas, scheduling meetings and keeping tabs on the political situation at court.

By this time, she was extremely unpopular among most of the ladies of the court, but still regarded highly (or at least highly respected) by the most powerful members of Amber's nobility and merchantry. For one thing, they knew it was not politic to cross Islain.

If Islain had a good side, she showed it in her unswerving devotion and love for her father and her total loyalty to his allies. She knew of and approved of every decision they made (or at least that was the story she gave out).

Eric sent her back home to Rebma before the Chaosian assault on Amber, to protect his not particularly warlike daughter from any possible collateral damage. Islain was not happy to leave, but did as she was told.

Aftermath

Nothing ever touched Islain like her father's death. In her return to Amber after Patternfall, for Eric's death, she stood like a statue, ignoring everything but the grave, and wept despite rumors she had been crying for weeks.

Her worries that Corwin might remember her presence at Eric's coronation and hold a grudge kept her from staying in Amber during the events preceding the Patternfall War. On Gerard's request, she returned to Amber while he was acting Regent, and was present for the Chaosian overthrow. That day, once the battle seemed truly lost, she returned to her mother in Rebma.

She consolidated her position, found herself again a force in Rebman politics and tried to smooth over a few of the bumps in her relationship with her mother.

At first Moire found Islain to be a great asset and used her daughter's skills and information network to set up various meetings and alliances. She soon found, however, that Islain was holding back information and working on her own, toward shadowy ends of which Moire was uncertain.

Unwilling to have her neutrality with Merlin undermined, Moire searched for an out. When Julian asked her for aid, she sent her only surviving daughter: a backhanded compliment since no one could say she had refused him, yet it was also a way to get Islain out from underfoot.

Islain, however, was more than happy to go to Arden and be reunited with her favorite uncle. Even if she wasn't a fighter, she felt her tactical skills and knowledge of Amber, Rebma and the surrounding shadows could be of use.

She has now been in Arden for a year and a half.