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Mapping the Palace: Part V

"It's real..."
-- Bill Roth

<< Go back to: Mapping the Palace: Part IV

The 3rd Floor

The Royal Suite

The most significant of royal residences in the palace would, of course, be the Royal Suite. This would be the suite long occupied by Oberon, then taken by Eric during Oberon's absence, and then by Random and Vialle following the Patternfall War (in TCOC). We get just one mention of the royal suite in the Corwin chronicles:

[NPIA, Ch. 5]. If Eric had taken the royal suite, then I might find him there. Or perhaps in the throne room. ...

This is followed up with further detail in the Merlin books:

[KOS, Ch. 8] "Right now I want you to go upstairs [from Merlin's rooms] and look in on the royal suite. ... to check the fireplace in the bedroom" ...
"The Queen, Vialle, is present," he [Ghostwheel] said, "in her studio, the loose stone has been replaced, and there is a dwarf in the hall knocking on doors."

[KOS, Ch. 9] I was planning on walking up the east corridor to the point where it intersected with the north one in the vicinity of my apartment, turning left there, and taking the stairs up to the royal suite ...

With these excerpts, we get confirmation that the Royal Suite is 3rd floor, and further validation that Corwin's rooms are on the 2nd floor along with Merlin's.

And how big would the Royal Suite be? One of the largest hotel penthouse suites in the U.S. is at the Mark Hotel in New York City. It is 10,000 square feet. Here is a floor plan:

It boasts 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. This feels excessive for the Royal Suite in Amber, considering that the suites for the princes and princesses are likely 2 room suites (maybe 3 or 4, at most).

This 5000 square foot penthouse suite from the Four Seasons in Dubai might be a more realistic reference point:

Lastly, did Corwin take the Royal Suite briefly in THOO? We discuss the location of Corwin's apartment in the section above, and the seeming inconsistency presented in the fourth Amber book. But what if Corwin did, in fact, take the Royal Suite some time after his stabbing by Caine in SOTU, but before his visit to Vialle in THOO? He would have almost no time in which to do this, for starters. These events happen on back-to-back days. But it might explain why he leaves his rooms heading downstairs, and passes Random's rooms rather than the other way around. We can imagine a split level Royal Suite, with both 4th and 3rd floor entrances, such that leaving the 4th floor, Corwin still manages to pass Random's 3rd floor chambers on his way down to the ground floor.

The Lab

In SOTU, Random makes a brief reference to the Laboratory:

[SOTU, Ch. 6] But the only IV stuff is in the lab on the third floor.

And with these descriptions -- together with the information about Random's original apartment and the nearby Sitting Room -- we are able to create a loose layout of the 3rd floor (see above).

The 4th Floor

We move now to what is likely the upper-most floor of the palace (except the towers). In Knight of Shadows, the ninth book of the series, Zelazny introduces a significant new location.

The Corridor of Mirrors

The Corridor of Mirrors is part location, part phenomenon. Merlin describes it like this:

[KOS, Ch. 11] I'd been in that hallway before, in one of its commoner locations up on the fourth floor, running east-west between a couple of storerooms. One of Castle Amber's intriguing anomalies, the Corridor of Mirrors ... generally around the solstices and equinoxes -- though it could occur at any season -- the corridor moved itself to a new location, sometimes simply departing altogether for a time.

And sometimes, I was told, it was almost as if it came looking for a particular person, bearing its ambiguous gifts. On such occasions it was said to be more dangerous to turn it down than to accept its invitation.

Why does Corwin never tell us about this place? Corwin's idea of secret locations in the palace is a panel in the wall of the library that reveals a "hiding place". With Merlin, we are left to wonder at the depth of Castle Amber's mysteries. The Corridor of Mirrors is tricky to add to a map of the palace, since it -- almost sentient -- presents itself to palace inhabitants in unpredictable ways, at unpredictable locations.

The Storerooms

It is worth briefly mentioning the Storerooms noted above. If we imagine the Corridor of Mirrors running east-west along one of the 4th floor corridors, that helps us place them on a theoretical map. And we can imagine, as does Visual Guide, that the 4th floor is largely storage.

The Round Room

Though not exactly on the 4th floor, we do know of one other room in the palace: the Round Room. Corwin teleports himself to it in SOTU. This room sits atop the "highest tower in Amber"; we have no way of knowing how many "floors up" this might be, but Zelazny makes it sound quite high.

[SOTU, Ch. 3] I stood then in the round room, atop the highest tower in Amber. Crossing it, I passed outside, onto a very small balcony ... The sea was a study in textures ... Dark birds dotted the air, swinging and hovering at a great distance out over the water. Below me, the palace yards and the terraces of the city lay spread in enduring elegance out to Kolvir's rim. People were tiny on the thoroughfares, their movements discountable.

Palace Front Elevation

Given all of the maps above, we can also imagine this "front elevation" for the palace:

Blowing up the Castle (Palace)

Lastly, before concluding, let's wrap up with the segments in Knight of Shadows in which a large section of the palace is destroyed in an explosion. This is a result of the Pattern and the Logrus clashing, following a dramatic scene with Merlin, the ty'iga demon, Coral, Mandor, and Dworkin.

[KOS, Ch. 10] I was the next thing out into the hallway. I turned left and started running.

Then, as she [Coral] neared the stairway, the Sign of the Logrus appeared before her, larger than any I'd ever summoned, filling the corridor from wall to wall ... Ghost had fitted himself within the orbits of Mandor's spheres ... they slowed, wobbled, and finally dropped to the floor, two striking the wall ahead of me and one rolling down the stairway ahead and to the right ... From around the corner to the left, up ahead, I heard Droppa's drunken voice ...

The Logrus wailed, the Pattern growled, and the Signs of both Powers rushed to meet, somewhere near Bleys's nearer room.

[EXPLOSION]

[KOS, Ch. 10] That long section of hallway where the encounter had occurred had been destroyed, along with the stairs, Benedict's apartment, and possibly Gerard's as well. Also, Bleys's rooms, portions of my own, the sitting room I had been occupying but a short time before, and the northeast corner of the library were missing, as were the floor and ceiling. Below, I could see that sections of the kitchen and armory had been hit, and possibly more across the way Looking upward-magic globes being wondrous accommodating-I could see sky, which meant that the blast had gone through the third and fourth floors, possibly damaging the royal suite along with the upper stairways and maybe the laboratory-and who knew what all else.

Standing on the edge of the abyss near what had been a section of Bleys's or Gerard's quarters was Mandor ... Diagonally across the abyss, Random stood on a heavy crossbeam near the opening to the library. I believe Martin was standing atop a short stack, below and to the rear. ...

(Note: given the above, we can now also place the apartments of Bleys.)

[KOS, Ch. 10] ... He [Dworkin] turned me and led me toward the room's [Dworkin's rooms] darkest corner ... I stumbled and regained my footing, coming to myself in the good half of the blasted royal suite in front of a decorative mirror ... I saw that the bed had been moved eastward, away from the broken corner and a large opening formerly occupied by a section of flooring....

He [Random] approached, took me by the elbow, and turned me away from the bed, leading me off toward the doorway to the next room.

"Vialle, I'm borrowing your studio for a few moments," he said. ...

...

"Your room is just around the abyss. You can leave through the hole in the wall and shinny down a beam I noticed was intact."

... I hung from the beam, swung, and let go. I landed almost gracefully in the middle of the hallway in an area that would have been located approximately midway between my two doors, save that the first door was missing, also the section of wall through which it had provided entrance (or exit, depending on which side you happened to be) ...

Conclusion

Chapter 11 of KOS ends with Merlin trumping off to Kashfa, and the book concludes with Merlin there. The final book, Prince of Chaos, takes place entirely in Kashfa and the Courts of Chaos, with no one returning to the palace.

In the end, despite how much I've tried to root this article in the relevant quotes from the Amber series, I aknowledge there is still a fair amount of guesswork here. I hope you have enjoyed this virtual stroll through the palace. If I've missed anything, or if you have feedback to share, don't hesitate to reach out!

Thanks,
Jonathan

End of Mapping the Palace (Parts I - V)

Return to Part I

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Please follow me on Twitter @RZAmberFan, or email me at jkisherenow@gmail.com.

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