Lords of Earth and Lords of Fire

The Princes of Amber


Eric

Son of Oberon and Faiella

Deceased

Handsome by anyone's standards, his hair was so dark as to be almost blue. His beard curled around the mouth that always smiled, and he was dressed simply in a leather jacket and leggings, a plain cloak, high black boots, and he wore a red sword belt bearing a long silvery saber and clasped with a ruby, and his high cloak collar round his head was lined with red and the trimmings of his sleeves matched it. His hands, thumbs hooked behind his belt, were terribly strong and prominent. A pair of black gloves jutted from the belt near his right hip.

 

Eric was the eldest child of Oberon and Faiella - born out of wedlock, and never officially recognized, a point that led to near-endless strife in the years and decades and centuries that followed. His rivalry and enmity with Corwin was legendary, overshadowing his skills as a diplomat and strategist. He won the allegiance of many nations for Amber, opened half a hundred trade routes for commodities ranging from exotic jewels to prosaic lumber, single-handedly overcame the champion of the Weir and turned them in a single stroke from Amber's enemies to her servants; and he betrayed and lied with the facility of any of his siblings at need, and the stain of suspicion of fratricide never was fully lifted from him.

His crowning achievement was the Throne of Amber; for a brief few years, he wore the silver crown, and defended the eternal city against the Black Road and the twisted things that walked it. And that, too, was not entirely noble, for he gained the throne by taking Corwin's eyes, Deirdre's freedom, and nearly Bleys' life. Still, there are even now more than a few who murmur that, had Eric survived, it would not have been Random whom the Unicorn chose to rule.

Eric died during the Black Road War, struck down while using the Jewel of Judgment to call lightning down upon the armies of Chaos. In the mythology surrounding the royals' Trumps and the Tarot in Amber, Eric is frequently depicted as the Hierophant: the black-and-red cloak of his colors wrapped over the pure-white garments of a priest of the Unicorn, dispensing blessings and wisdom within a temple (or, within a few more recent decks, from Amber's Throne).

 


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The quote above is from Nine Princes in Amber, by Roger Zelazny.