[Day 3 -- Juri of Amber convincing Drake she's not a Traitor]

***

        A tightening of the throat, a dimming of the senses, and the
noose constricted around my throat once more, plunging me into the
spiralling pain as I hung from Yig.  Twice already I had lived moments
of life from those of my Aunts Juri... whose life would I be living
now?  I had no way to ask, and I would find out the answer soon
enough.  There was a dropping sensation, and a sudden sharp chill, and
the third vision began.  I rapidly blinked my eyes to take stock of my
surroundings as I tried not to stumble, having been caught in
mid-stride.
        My eyesight had returned, but the world was still in darkness.
No, not darkness, but a winter's twilight, pinpricks of light across
the sky and a half-full moon casting an etherial glow across the
snow-covered hills.  The air was cold and sharp against my skin.  I
was barely clothed, a slim gown wrapped around my body, feeble
protection against the harsh winter landscape spread around me.  My
body shivered, not out of hypothermia, but from adrenalin and the
panic that even now occasionally rose within me whenever I encountered
sudden darkness.
        It didn't help matters that I was also barefoot and ankle-deep
in snow.
        I bit back a curse, and glanced around.  The landscape was
unfamiliar at the moment, without more physical references, and snow
was a rarity in Amber these days.  Could it be that I had somehow
ended up in Frostspire?  My hands tightened imperceptably, my right
around the broadsword I was carrying, my left against a person's hand
that was still gripping my own.
        Someone else's hand?
        Yes, and a woman's hand at that.
        What in the Pyricorn's Horn was going on?
        I turned around more fully now, to take in the route we had
apparently taken... and to get a better look at my travelling
companion.