Grace's mother, Kate, worked in a tavern in a port of Catan. Kate told her daughter that she met a "wealthy rogue" who stopped at the tavern on one night and she took a fancy to him. This rogue never returned to the tavern, and Kate never saw him again. Kate named her daughter Grace because she believed her daughter was destined for better things.
     When Grace was 15, her mother was accidently killed in a tavern brawl. It was accidental because the combatants were aiming at each other and Kate was only trying to calm things down. Instead, she got in the way of a fatal dagger thrust.
 In burying her mother, Grace decided that life in a tavern was not the future that she wanted. She was not sure where she wanted to go so she walked along the docks. Some ships took women in their crew. She found one ship from Amber, captained by a woman, and looking for a few junior crew.
     Grace was young and strong, but had few skills. The captain took her on because Grace was cheap and the captain was short-handed. For a few years, Grace worked on a series of Amber merchant ships. She learned how to rig a sail, repair a rope and how to fight. Amber ships travelled everywhere the shadow paths would take them, and occasionally, with a member of the royal family on board on some special journey, beyond the shadow paths. Whether merchant or navy, any ship could encounter pirates or other unfriendly hazards, and Grace learned quickly how to protect herself and her ship.
    Grace's martial skills improved so rapidly that she was able to transfer to an Amber naval ship. These were the best ships Amber, or any Kingdom in the Golden Circle, had. Amber naval ships were more likely to go on special voyages for (or with) the Amber royal family far beyond the familiar paths to strange and mysterious lands.
    Grace would never forget the feeling of awe she had the first time she saw a Prince of Amber. Grace's ship was taking him to retrace the shadow paths to strengthen and maintain them. Grace found it almost incomprehensible that this young man named Gustav was doing this "maintenance" as easily as she repaired a fraying rope. While it was hard to see exactly what he did, it was always obvious that the paths between kingdoms were smoother after such maintenance. The princes and King Martin took turns with this duty since no one wanted to get stuck with it too often.
     Grace saw the royals a few more times while still a crewman. In addition to shadow path maintenance, they would need transportation somewhere or be lending their strength to fighting Amber's enemies.
     During those first few years as a naval enlisted crewwoman, more than one officer thought Grace showed potential. One second mate even took the time to teach Grace to read and write. While literacy was common in Amber, it was not common on the docks of Catan.Grace began to understand the charts and learn the skills needed to pilot a ship.
     Not long after that, Grace's ship was then assigned to had the task of taking King Martin's youngest son, then about 12, to Memphis for training in the mysterious arts of sorcery. The journey with the young prince had some strange consequences. The ship was set upon by pirates intent on taking the boy for ransom. The Amber ship was able to fight off the pirates, and Grace was lucky enough to be in the right place to save the boyís life. (That was how Grace thought of it). The act got her into the officer ranks.
     The officers inhabited a very different world from the crew. Amberís naval officers were mostly from the old naval families in the city. Amber might recruit crew from ports in the Golden Circle when they needed manpower. It was rare though for an outsider to become an officer unless they came to the attention of the Amber royals. An orphan from the Catan docks stood no chance normally, but with this action, Grace became a 35 year old ensign. Grace though still didnít look any older than the other junior officers.
 Grace rose through the ranks rapidly by (mostly) peacetime Amber standards.  She was a captain 10 years later, a commodore 10 years after that, and an admiral 10 years after that. This was rapid for Amber, because those from Amber tended to be long-lived though ordinary citizens did not compete with the castle staff and, of course, the royals were essentially immortal as far as the populace could tell. Graceís apparent youth was increasingly an anomaly even by Amber standards, but not as big an anomaly for the officers as for the enlisted crew who were drawn from throughout the Golden Circle.
     Grace had been an admiral for more than 10 years through many skirmishes with pirates and a few major naval engagements when she was at a royal dinner honoring recently decorated officers. Grace was seated with a group of other naval officers. They began what Grace thought of as a ritual greeting among naval officers - comparing lineage. They were trying to figure out who was related to who and how. It was a game that always annoyed her.
     One junior captain who didnít know any better asked Grace about her family. She told him "My mother was a tavern wench at the 'Beef and Bottle' on Catanís docks." There was dead silence.
    King Martin himself broke it. "What happened to your mother? Surely you did not leaver her there."
     "She died in a tavern brawl, Your Majesty" The silence deepened as every ear followed this exchange.
     "What was her name?"
     "Kate, Your Majesty"
     "And your father?"
     "I never knew my fatherís name. Iím not sure that my mother did."
     "Thank you' King Martin then proceeded to start the conversation on other matters. Grace didn't know if she was more annoyed with herself for starting little scene or with King Martin for publicly grilling her about her family.
 The following day, Grace was summoned to the castle to deal with some routine matters and accidently overheard part of an exchange between King Martin and Dierdre.
     "Sheís not ready" Dierdre was insisting. "There is potential, but she isn't ready."
     "I think sheís ready."
     "Give it a few more years."
     "How long have you known?"
     "Since I met her 20 years ago"
     They moved away. While Grace was curious, she could hardly follow to eavesdrop on royalty.
     After that incident, Grace found herself on the staff of the Master of the Seas and clearly being promoted to take over that office when the current occupant retired. Grace learned that while Martin had hoped to interest various of his offspring in the position for one reason or another, none had wanted the burden of dealing with all the civil and military responsibilities of the post.
     Finally, the retirement date approached for Master Tristan. Grace was called into a private meeting with King Martin. She had been half expecting the offer of the position but not the rest of the conversation. At the age of 80, Grace was finally meeting her father face to face. She was stunned. In spite of all the little clues, Grace had always assumed her father was some sorcerer from a distant land not an Amber royal and certainly not Amberís king!
     Martin apologized to Grace for leaving her mother in the tavern to die so untimely. Grace had long since made her peace with the past and was not inclined to hold Martinís ignorance against him.  Martin and her mother had met only once.
     Martin then invited Dierdre to join them and explained that Grace's responsibilities would include maintenance of the sea paths. Dierdre was going to start training Grace in a few months. Dierdre had to finish training another first as well as complete some other projects before taking on a new apprentice.
     Grace was to find out after this interview that Dierdre had promised to start training the "Vicar of Dreams", a legitimate Prince of Amber and current Ambassador to Antioch.  The self-styled "Vicar" was the full brother of Gustav, Amber's principal ambassador and son of Queen Cassandra. Dierdre had put off the Vicarís training in order to train her. Martin had apparently insisted because of his concern that shadow path maintenance be combined with the office of Master of the Sea as soon as possible.
     Within the month, Master Tristan retired, and Grace was publicly proclaimed Master of the Seas, and her planned training under Dierdre announced. Martin quietly acknowledged her as his daughter, but made clear that she had no place in the royal succession and would not be addressed as princess. Queen Eleanor reinforced the later point.
     Grace had previously worked with the Lord Defender on Amberís defense. She found her relationship with Caitlin continuing strong but subtly changed. Now Grace was closer to being on an equal level; but she was still junior to Caitlin in ability. Grace hoped to close that gap, but knew that she could not close the social gap between them. Princess Caitlin was a daughter of Queen Eleanor's and Eleanor insisted on reminders of Grace's social inferiority at all times.
     Grace had had quite a bit of contact with Gustav over the years. As Principal Ambassador, he frequently needed an appropriate size and rank military escort for whatever mission he was on. In addition, Gustav's extensive travel made him a logical candidate for shadow path maintenance. Gustav found ways of reminding Grace that she would need to learn to do the maintenance for herself. "After all, other Amber royals are expected to fulfill all the responsibilities of their jobs and not drag others in to do their work." As Grace was waiting for Dierdre to become available to get started, Grace was slightly annoyed by the remarks.