Merlin returns to his birthplace in the Courts of Chaos in order to solve the existential riddle in which he is involved – to find that he is suddenly a lot closer to the throne of Chaos itself than he thought, King Swayvill having finally died of a long-standing illness (aggravated, it is said, by the death curse of Eric of Amber), and many other candidates having either been assassinated or dropped out, which pushes his own house of Sawall unexpectedly to the forefront. Of course, besides there being two other candidates from rival houses, this pushes Jurt very close to the succession too. In a conversation with his mother Dara – mistress of Corwin once, and a descendant of Benedict, also from the royal house of Chaos – he finds that she was the one who sent the ty'iga demon which is now Coral's sister Nayda (and appears to be developing something of an affection for Luke). Merlin realizes he is but a pawn in the hands of the powerful and cynical superpowers that rule the universe, that neither the Pattern nor the Logrus (or their manifestations as Unicorn and Serpent) care much about their "minions", and that someone or something wants him to rule Chaos – and that others will try to manipulate him when he is.