OOM: He just wants to hunt
Julian has lived more years in this forest than most families have history. Generations pass in other Shadows, times change, places move on and progress. People develop and adapt, species die and burst into existence, mountains explode and deserts eat the fields. But not here. Not in Arden, where the trees stand tall and proud and unchanging through all the millenia since they first started growing. Does anyone remember when that was? Dworkin might, if you catch him on a day when he can remember more than his name. But he'll never tell and Julian wont ask. It doesn't matter. It's just Arden, on the path to Amber and home, maybe in more ways than even the castle itself.
But he knows that things will not always be this way. War is coming and there are less days for hunting free and more time spent on rigid patrols. The Stormhounds are fighting fit, his hawks fly until their wings tire and endless weeks are spent on the back of Morgernstern. The forest knows what's coming; the air is still and hangs as if on the edge of a blade. It won't be long before the sword falls and things start to move in earnest.
So there are few days like this left. Julian plans to hunt today, for no other reason than he wants to. Of course, if he happens across a wandering sibling then the day may become immeasurably more entertaining. If not, the freedom of the hunt will be enough. It may be the last time before Chaos takes over. Even Amber may not withstand that and if Amber can't, then Arden will be lost.
It's not something he wants to face. And so today, he won't. He walks from his fort and stops by the armoury but as he goes to release the hounds, he seems to take a wrong turning.