Signy collects Tomat and Red Fox Claws, and after making sure that gear and traveling supplies are set brings the small group to the path to Rebma. On her back is also a larger sack, well stuffed to prevent damage.
She spends most of this time silent, alternating between picking at the threads and bits of her last conversation with her brother and resolutely deciding to just ignore it.
At the start of the path, she glances back to make sure that Tomat is behind her, and Red Fox Claws is still bringing up the rear, before turning and striding forward.
[Pausing for NPC reactions, plus not sure how far I'll get before getting challenged]
[The path to Rebma from Xanadu runs through Paris. Is she taking a Trump there first? This is fine, just clarifying. Assuming she's leaving from Paris, either after having ridden to Paris or, more likely, taken a Trump. Corwin will let her go without complaint.]
[Trump.]
The path to Rebma from Paris leads through a sewer grate that opens off into the Seine outside the city. It is guarded, and the guards offer Signy some assistance, but none to her men. They advise that it is two days' walk from Paris to Rebma. Most of those who travel between the two cities camp in a mysterious cavern with a throne that seems to be the halfway mark.
Tomat and Red Fox Claws listen to the advice of the guards, and Red Fox Claws queries about likely dangers. Apparently there are none, if you can handle the water as it rises--difficult for air-breathers for the first time--and don't have strange dreams at the halfway mark. Also the guards help them with securing their goods to ensure they're waterproofed properly.
The three travel for a day or so on the stairway, such as it is. The descent into the water begins immediately. Red Fox Claws has a difficult time of it, but Tomat accepts that the water will be breathable with ease. He coaxes his old comrade to join him. The stairs are uneven, stalagmites and stalactites surround the walkway. There's no way this could be used as a direct commercial path for anything but the smallest of goods, Tomat notes.
At the end of what Signy suspects is a day of travel, the path opens out into a cave with a broad and relatively flat floor. There's a stone formation that resembles a throne, if one is very broad in construing resemblances. No guards from either Paris or Rebma are stationed here; the guards told Signy that the Rebmans only guard the far end of the stairway.
Signy catches Tomat's eye, and nods towards the misshapen lump of rock.
"What do you make of that? I presume that's what they were warning us about."
She brings up her Third Eye, looking curiously at it.
"It's been about a day, and a rest might not be a bad idea."
Tomat looks around the room, takes in the odd lighting from the path trail behind, and most especially the giant stone formation that looks as if someone sat on a giant chair and melted slowly into place. "Indeed, descending through a cave when we are tired could lead to accidents. I would recommend we rest and study the room."
Red Fox Claws grunts. "We should keep going for a while. I got no hankering to sleep with unknown magics. Not sure I'd sleep safely."
When Signy looks with her third eye, the room is lit up as if a class one fresnel was pointed at it.
The statue is also well lit, but it looks different, somehow, as if it's made of a different kind of magic.
Signy nods absently at Red Fox Claws' words, the statue absorbing most of her attention.
"The worst that the guards told us about was we may have strange dreams," she murmurs, emphasising the 'may'.
She nods her head towards the statue. "Tomat, what do you make of that?"
She focuses her Third Eye, scrutinising the formation further.
"Strange magic dreams are an invitation for a tower lord to screw with your head," replies Red Fox Claws.
Tomat clears his throat. "I have never met a culture that descended into caves and did not find things that looked like thrones with demons seated on them. From some angles, it looks remarkably realistic. From others it appears as a pile of rocks. It may be an object of some power, but it may be the accretions of stone following natural channels."
Signy continues to study the formation in silence, weighing the merits of more...active probing.
"What do you think about staying next to it for any time, though?" she pushes him a little further.
Tomat frowns. "I think that there is some minor risk in staying, but we are tired, and therefore there is some minor risk in proceeding."
"What of this kingdom at the far end of the trail? Will they be hostile? Will we need to fight? Will we need to resupply?" Red Fox Claws, as always, is concentrating on the practicalities. "Where else will there be to sleep. We'll need to. Just not here."
"This place has a great power in it," Tomat adds after a moment, and Signy suspects he, too, is looking with his Third Eye. "It could be perilous, or it could be profitable."
Signy pulls her attention away from the formation. "We're headed somewhere that should be welcoming," she answers Red Fox Claws. "I don't know much about the rest of the trek, but I think that this may be the only place we can stop along the way."
She thinks for a bit, before giving in to her desires.
"We rest here for a bit, and keep watch in turns."
"I shall take the mid-watch," says Tomat, "It seems most likely to have a sorcerous attack during it."
Red Fox Claws looks as if he will argue, but he doesn't. "Fine with that. I'll take the first. I ain't tired."
Signy nods. "Wake us if something happens," she comments to Tomat. It's not an order. Quite.
Eating underwater seems to have a trick to it, and doesn't go well for Signy's associates, but at least no one is there to watch. After the meal, Red Fox Claws sits down and tells Signy and Tomat to get to sleep.
Signy makes small talk with the other two, attempting to put Red Fox Claws' mind at ease over staying here by distracting him if nothing else.
Shortly, she settles down with her head against her pack, as comfortable as she can make herself. She notes the hard, unyielding surface, and fights back the urge to observe to him that she probably won't be sleeping much if at all, and tries to still her mind to get what rest she can.
Signy falls to sleep almost as soon as she closes he eyes. She doesn't feel unusual at all sleeping in a water-filled cave. She sleeps dreamlessly for what must be hours.
Signy awakens on her own, perhaps a half glass before her watch would start. The light is different. It's as if the giant statue is being intentionally spotlighted.
Tomat and Red Fox Claws are not in this cave. Signy feels like she should find them, soon.
Signy shakes her head to clear the last of the sleep from it, and reflexively reaches out with the Pattern, her awareness drifting throughout the room on the unseen currents of reality.
She grabs a quick drink from the skin near her bed, then stands to look more closely at the physical signs in the room, to see if perhaps the two of them wandered off at some point, starting with Tomat's sleeping area.
There's no evidence that anything untoward happened to either of them. Perhaps they wandered off to the jakes together.
In the light, the rock formation looks significantly more like a person on a throne than before, if that's possible. It's also sparkling.
It definitely wasn't sparkling before.
Signy frowns momentarily, considering where they may have gone, before turning back to the formation.
"Well," she says softly, "you certainly seem to be a bit more active than you were before. Did you scare off Tomat and Red Fox Claws, I wonder."
She cocks her head slightly, though she continues to steadily watch the formation in front of her. "Well, you've certainly got my attention at any rate. Not sure what you plan on doing with it, though."
Either the light is playing tricks in the water, or the statue is breathing. In any case, the chest seems to be moving in and out. The cave is colder than Signy remembers it being when she lay down, and the light seems to be unwilling to focus anywhere except on the statue.
Its hands look primed to hold something, like a spear or a sword.
Signy pauses, remembering when she first met Marius. There was also a creature, of living rock.
"Just what are you hiding," she murmurs. It would be better to have the other two with her, but she doesn't think it wise to turn her back on whatever it is just yet.
In her mind, her father's voice bellows out over the roar of long silenced forges, instructing her on stone, teaching her its bones.
Continuing to keep it under observation, Signy sets her shoulders before making a flicking gesture, almost pulling off some invisible sheet, and tracing the curves of the statue as her hand falls back to her side.
[Spell: Dem Bones - make the hidden structure of the stone formation (its 'bones') show itself. Prowess + Performance (immediate) = Target (stone formation) + Duration (a watch) + Effect]
Signy works the magic of the spell gathering to herself the arcane power needed to cast the spell and the effect is instantaneous. There is a great crack and the stone splits at the top, Signy has to dodge large pieces as the cascade and fall off the throne and for a moment she can see nothing through the cloud of dust raised by her casting.
When the dust settles, she sees the figure of a floating, translucent woman in a long white robe. Her kinky red hair is spread out in a corona around her face and she is looking at the cave entrance, but not moving. She seems utterly unaware that she has been spotted. She has her hand over her eyes, as if shielding them from the rain. She is leaning forward and Signy gets a feeling of anticipation, dread, and immense distance.
Signy is no longer alone in the cave, but it's not clear how not alone she is.
Signy frowns as the dust settles, wondering at how she could have missed so obvious a consequence of her casting. And how it was that such an off-the-cuff casting could have had that much of an impact, especially close to a Pattern.
As the woman comes into focus from the clearing dust, Signy notes that she may well have solved the mystery of where Tomat and Red Fox Claws got to, at any rate. Though what will happen when they try to wake her for her shift is anyone's guess.
She quickly glances around, the reflexes of years of fighting the creatures from the Black Road kicking in instinctively in response to the itching feeling in between her shoulder blades.
Nobody else shows up that she identifies as a threat, or indeed at all.
Almost instinctively she wants to reach out with the Pattern, to attempt to make Reality assert itself, before discarding it as a little more adventurous then she'd like. Right now, if this is the dream then best to keep the dream things here, than to drag them into Reality.
The pattern jumps immediately to her mind, bright and clear and shining and attractive. The very air beats in time with the subtle pulsing of the family gift.
She stills her mind, regathering her energies again. At the very least, it would be interesting to see where this floating woman really is before trying to approach her. Quietly she hisses out a sibilant chant, releasing the energies, to see if they can find whatever thread connects her to here.
[Spell: Fox and Hound -- try and use Space to track back where Floaty Woman actually is. Prowess + Performance (immediate) = Target (Floaty Woman? Whomever stuck her in a stone statue?) + Duration (a watch) + Effect]
The line stretches out far beyond anything Signy can comprehend. No matter how she attempts to look at it, it recedes into the distance. It's impossible for her to tell if the distance is in space or time or both.
Signy feels a tug on the spell, from the far end.
Signy makes a mental note of the direction that the thread stretches back for later. Maybe Celina will know of something interesting in that direction.
She pauses, considering. She can try to wrap onto the thread and give a big tug, and see what comes back in response. Or maybe the recoil will yank this mysterious woman away.
She thinks for a moment more, before making her decision. Dropping the spell, she lets the Pattern fill her, feeling her body and being start to vibrate in time with the Pattern and all of Reality.
She moves to where she is more in the sight of the floating woman, continuing to let the Pattern pour in, feeling as if her hair is about to start floating in response to all the power in her.
Her voice comes out flat and harsh to her ears. "Who are you?"
The only reply Signy gets is an echo; "You? You? You?..." it seems softened and lengthened by the echo and it's somehow related to the pattern she's holding in her, as if it was the echo surface.
Signy frowns.
Apparently that's not enough to draw the attention of this woman. The tugging on the thread is worrying, and she has a feeling that some things that happen in the dream may just translate back to Reality, with potentially unfortunate effects.
She stretches her very being as far as she can, holding the Pattern and Reality until she feels as if she can't take any more.
Reaching out with the Pattern, she folds the floating woman in it, like a blanket. Reality. The statue, hard and immovable, the floating woman falling back into the hard and unyielding embrace of the stone.
Signy summons The Pattern to her and tries to use to reassert reality. Instinctively she starts to move, walking around the statue room, in and out of the shadows. Pattern change involves motion, that's the only way to invoke it. She starts taking quick turns and letting her eyes travel across the room.
Signy sees the stone fragments start to move, and the dust in the chamber begins to rise.
Signy feels the Floating Woman connect to the pattern, somehow. She seems more a part of it, of reality than anything else. The room becomes immaterial and Signy is in a dust cloud, with the woman and no one else.
The room beneath her is real, though, and Signy feels it begin to shake, as if there is an earthquake. The woman reaches out towards Signy, as if from an incredible distance.
Signy pauses trying to reassert reality, but holds the image of the Pattern, visualizing it in front of her, separating her from the the floating woman.
The shaking continues and makes it hard to concentrate on anything. The cloud of dust that's been kicked up is blinding; while Signy knows where the woman was, it's unclear where she is. Her face swims toward Signy from the cloud, or perhaps she sees a pattern in the dust storm. Signy feels hands on her shoulders.
She continues to pace around the floating woman.
"Who are you?"
"It's me, Signy, Wake Up!"
Red Fox Claws is kneeling next to her. He too seems to be at a great distance from Signy.
Signy blinks, trying to orient herself as she sits and tries to rise.
Frustration over being woken before she could wring some information from the floating woman wars with relief over possibly being back in reality.
She glances around the room, looking for Tomat and for any signs of damage or disruption that wasn't present when she went to sleep, before glancing at Red Fox Claws.
"How long was I out for?"
"Hard to say, down here. I think you overshot the start of your watch, but not by much."
There's more dust in the rock statue room than Signy remembers when she last looked at it.
Signy slowly rises, glancing over at Tomat's bed roll to see if he's there.
Tomat is curled up, as if he is very cold. He's sleeping quietly, if perhaps uncomfortably.
"Where'd all the dust come from?"
For the moment, she holds off on mentioning the floating woman or the dream.
Red Fox Claws looks around, as if noticing it for the first time. "Dunno. The water started swirling around and then it was swirling around full of dust. I just assumed it was a natural current."
Signy frowns, before opening her Third Eye to take a scan around for the myste rious thread (or anything else that stands out).
The stone is blindingly white. It's hard to see anything else. The whole cave is somewhat affected. Perhaps it's a reflection, perhaps it's a place where a lot of magic has been used to a long time. Perhaps it's some sort of halfway point between the two kingdoms and there's something magical about that.
Signy shuts the Eye as an exercise in futility.
She waves in the direction of Red Fox Claws' bedroll distractedly.
"I'm sorry I overslept, you should get some rest. It's a weird place."
She pauses, before grudgingly admitting, "I don't think I'll be too sorry to see the last of this place, though."
Red Fox Claws grunts, or perhaps laughs. "Like he's resting? I'd rather press on than sleep. Something's not right here."
After the court and the resultant excitement, one of Celina's secretaries hands Conner a note.
It is from Lamell. He wishes to meet with Conner to discuss the matter he and others have been working on.
Conner smiles. Only a sorcerer sends a written note in Rebma. He sends a runner to tell Lamell he will be there presently and heads there directly from Court.
The words fade soon after Conner reads them.
Lamell ushers Conner in the door. He gets right down to business. "Your Grace. While you were gone, there was a two-day period while none of the mages who tried could scry on Countess Loreena. We believe it is possible that she has aided the former Queen while she was unscryable."
"Promising." Conner nods. "Whether or not she aided the Queen, Loreena not wishing to be seen is notable. What is known about her movements before and after this unscryable period?"
"Before? Nothing in our quarter, or at least that I heard." He looks grim. "When they finally told me of this, I sent a girl to watch her house. I received a note that a sedan-chair was leaving it, but I have not heard from the girl again. That was yesterday, and when the girl did not turn up today and I heard you had returned, I sent word. I apologize for the written materials, but I suspect they the normal couriers might be tampered with."
Conner knows that the last suspicion would be considered by most Rebmans to be outright paranoia. Wizards and Magicians are famously prone to mental illnesses, or so it is said.
Conner finds himself remembering the Marquess Maritime. Paranoiacs have their uses after all.
"Have you attempted to scry for your missing girl?" Conner asks. "Clearly this is a situation that we must move quickly on."
He nods, absently. "We have tried, but scrying is notoriously unsuccessful if the location of the subject is unknown. She is not in any of the places we expected, so we have not found her. I am hoping you can arrange a physical search of the premises for evidence."
Conner nods. "I'll see to it. Give me a description of your agent and a copy of whatever information she gave you before disappearing. We let Loreena swim free precisely to lead us to bigger things. Here's hoping. Any other news on the magical front? Any word from Taw'hiri and his radical notions?"
Lamel makes a quick motion with his left hand and a 2 foot-high full body image of a young Rebman woman appears on the table. She is dressed for traveling and does not look to be wealthy-- working for a magician is not a high-status job. Conner would certainly know her if he saw her.
"Taw'hiri is smarter than his peers. He does not claim that success is imminent, only that he will succeed before anyone else."
Celina returns to her quarters from the ritual of introducing Huon to his extensive ambassadorial suite and staff.
She sends pages to invite Family to her quarters to discuss "security concerns" in casual setting. Strangely or not, Huon is not on the list of those invited. Instead she sends a page to the Archive to let them know that Huon may have a tale to tell (at his pleasure) of the origins and relation between the Paresh cult and Rebma.
She expects that Llewella and Conner will appear. However, Brita and Ambrose may need some catch up time that her extended walk with Huon did not satisfy. She crosses her fingers that they also answer the call.
She changes clothes out of Court attire into something more Seaward and less skimpy. Then she sends for food and lots of strong drink.
Brita arrives on time. She greets Celina with a bow accompanied by a warm smile. "I am First to Arrive?" She asks as she heads towards the food.
"You are," Celina smiles, "and I am a bit relieved. We haven't had any chance to discuss Huon in privacy and this is a good time to do it. I'd like to know what you made of that performance and any advice you have for my dealing with him day to day." Celina pauses, "And feel free to go anywhere with that. Anything said here has the 'she asked for it Pardon' engraved on it."
Celina helps herself to food as well. She stabs this and that and transfers it to her plate in a slow style lacking in gusto. One might think she is not hungry.
"I think You Handled a Typical Uncle Very Well," Brita notes. "I have no Real Advice in Dealing with Him other than to say he Speaks with Loki's Tongue." She pauses and then smiles ruefully at Celina, "That is to say, His Words are not Always Truth but May not Always be True Lies either."
Celina smiles briefly and nods. "Typical Uncle. Yes. I suppose so. How much that cheers me." She moves away from the buffet and continues, "Well, he vexes me with his hand waving regards how unimportant his allies were. He cannot be bothered to care about the people that he's killed in trusting his cronies to deliver what he wanted. It's infuriating and yet, it is consistent. He cannot be bothered to care about his cronies either."
Llewella and Ambrose come in together. Ambrose looks up at Celina's last comment. "Perhaps. Or perhaps he is hiding their involvement still. If they are presented as unimportant, they are protected from our scrutiny."
Llewella laughs. "I find it more convincing that he doesn't care about them. Few of my brothers cared for shadow people, except individuals. Or my sisters, for that matter."
Celina nods in agreement. "Yes and yes. I think he would like to hide their involvement because it makes him look bad. They not only did use him, they actually got away with it. He can leverage us to punish them further if he told half truths. Instead I read that he wants to move on to something that will put the failure behind him. I had not thought of it in exactly Llewella's words, but I see what is happening. Huon is a middle child. He got the motives and manners of his older brothers. He never got the notice or respect. As to plans fouled... the less said the better." Celina looks at the plate in her hands and makes a wry face.
She sets it aside, unwilling to pretend she's hungry. She makes a series of complete deep breaths to free up her TaKhi balance from her dark thoughts. The balance comes back but the darkness stays just in reach. She frowns.
"So I think we've accomplished a good thing. We have Huon as our guest. He will be working to impress. Perhaps he won't care about my people but he'll care about the comments made about him from Family in Rebma. He'll care about Corwin's opinion and the opinion of Corwin's daughter." Celina switches gears only slightly. She moves to Llewella and hugs her fiercely. "You were magnificent. What wonderful balance when you struck him. I could have cheered."
Llewella pauses just a moment longer than she might have. "I assure you that was a natural reaction. He and I have history, as you might imagine. The redheads and their supporters disliked us both."
Celina nods once.
Ambrose glances sideways at Brita, but says nothing.
"It's also worth remembering that I occupied the position of Somewhat Privileged Hostage in your Mother's court for many years, and some would say that it was my actions, through and for my daughter, that overthrew it. So I have a certain sympathy for and wariness of my brother."
Brita moves to sit near Ambrose. She seems to have no reaction to Llewella's redhead comment, but her ears perk up a little at the history lesson.
"Brita, many thanks for helping Conner escort Huon back to Rebma. What was Huon's situation there? Was he really in danger?" Celina wonders. "I'm sure the rest of us would like your assessment."
"In Danger? An Uncle?" Brita sports a wry grin for a second, "Hardly. He Was In Danger of Starting a War amongst the Paresh, the Asirians, and the Bellumites." She frowns, "He May have been Protecting them from some Disaster by Being there. He Said Something that Implied the Island's Inhabitants would Not Survive His Leaving." She looks a little distraught at this thought.
Ambrose also looks upset. "Why would he not resolve the issue before departing?"
Llewella looks puzzled. "Actually, he generally would, unless he couldn't. One of the things that always set him apart was that he hadn't developed the casual attitude to shadow life and death that some of my brothers have." She pauses. "Or used to have, in any case," she adds.
"If an established piece of the old trade routes to Amber is about to fail, we should inform the various realms." Celina says this in a way that suggests she is thinking about several things at once and only the easy thoughts are being shared. "Refugees then. They may find their way to Amber." Celina looks at Brita. "Starting a war amongst them, or could it be he interrupted one already beginning? Just how tense were things there? Did the urban folk shun the streets? Were tradesmen mustering?"
"No. They Seemed to be At Peace with Each Other. The Paresh were Asking for Justice because Uncle Huon Killed Two of the Their Brothers - for not Treating a Prince properly," Brita notes with a roll of her eyes. "The Bellumites did give him Sanctuary in their Embassy, but the Asirians seemed Not Adverse to Meting out Justice for the Paresh."
Celina nods and looks back to Llewella. "Perhaps my Aunt can get more details from Huon over the next few weeks. Moreso because I think it matters to Rebma and Xanadu what state the shadows are in than precisely to measure the changes that long incarceration of my Uncle may have wrought in his regard for shadow lives." Llewella can tell that last is yet important to the Queen of Rebma as well.
Celina goes on, "So we may see some sort of retribution from the Paresh here in Rebma if they think to argue with Huon's justice." Maybe not. He only killed two of them. Would they think that restrained then for a Prince of Amber? Pearls!
"So.... Aunt Llewella, I think that the Court will have higher security concerns with Huon's arrival. I'd like there to be a Speaker appointed that the Tritons would directly report to. The Hierophant and I are at one level of diplomacy for the two groups, but I desire a much closer working relationship with the Sons of the Dragon. There is the stair to guard and the way between Realms is dear. There are those wandering Rebman royals who might return. And we are responsible for Huon's safety and as well to keep the people of the city safe from my Uncle in turn. I thought that ...." Celina looks at Ambrose and Brita... considering them both... she turns to face Ambrose... "someone who might also be fast to learn their draconic language." Celina smiles.
Llewella listens to this, not looking pleased. "As Your Majesty wishes," she says.
Ambrose glances at Brita again, then at the Queen. "Perhaps Lady Brita and I could study it together," he suggests.
Brita smiles at Ambrose, "I am Not As Good with Languages as with Paints, but I can Try. Learning the Draconic Language could be Useful."
"Very useful," Celina nods. She looks at Llewella. "I'd like to hear your objections... even more, I'd like to hear them before they are in any deeper."
"None, your Majesty, " replies Llewella. "I am concerned about another change in human-triton relations so quickly after the last one and I would counsel not to give Huon power by changing things for him. If Huon is truly here voluntarily to re-integrate with the family, then he will at some point need the freedom of choice to betray us or to refrain from doing so. We should not later lapse into laxity, but start from it and make him prove his acceptability to us by not failing the trust we give him."
"That is well said," Celina admits and nods. "I admit that I feel he is bloodthirsty, has a thin sense of honor and... I'm scared to lose any more Family." Celina swallows. "I'm not sure I could stand it. I'd feel responsible and it would break me."
Brita glances at Ambrose with a startled 'should we say something?' type look, but she squares her shoulders and says "You are Not Responsible for Our Lives, Especially if We do Something to Anger an Uncle. We should All Know Better."
Ambrose looks at Brita. "That point has been settled recently, by the matter of my father. It is not acceptable to kill any of us, even the disregarded ones, no matter how angry we make our uncles."
Llewella nods. "Ambrose has the right of it. It counts as progress. Brita is also right, you can't protect us from our own choices. If you would hesitate to send Conner, your General, to battle to defend the ctiy, then you have a serious problem as Queen."
"Yes I would." Celina doesn't intend to explain the difference between what she fears and what she would command while in Need. "A problem that has not hampered me so far. I shall be working on the matter with all my will." Celina knits her fingers together and stretches. "So what I am hoping for is that the Tritons have faster access and better communications with us. Getting to the Heirophant or to me, is not the easiest thing to do. If it causes confusion, we should see it and we'll make corrections. The Speaker position is not traditional and so it should not step on the toes of anyone. If you two are willing, because you will command Tritons, there is a simple oath I would ask. Not the all encompassing fealty to Rebma."
Brita cocks her head slightly as she gives the implicit question some thought. "My Brother has Given You his Oath and Bears Your Blade. Given His Trust in You, I am Willing to Make an Oath."
Llewella thinks for a moment. "What is the oath?"
Celina nods once. "I honor the vows of Triton freedom and blood pledged to the Throne of Rebma, and by this oath Speak for the law of Rebma and carry the Queen's words." Celina cocks her head the side as if listening to an echo. She lifts an eyebrow to her Family to see if this meets their approval.
Brita mulls the oath over and then draws herself into a parade rest stance (as much of one as you can get underwater) and says "I Honor the Vows of Triton Freedom and Blood Pledged to the Throne of Rebma, and by This Oath Speak for the Law of Rebma and Carry Queen Celina's Words."
Llewella listens and nods. "Not bad. You may become a family legal expert yet. By making the the binding clause to the oath itself, it's a bit circular, but that seems answered by Brita's variant. None of us want to bind ourselves in perpetuity; that was the problem with the Tritons.
"Now, we are a practical family, and that I have taken an oath, any oath, makes it as binding as it needs to be, but let me suggest some improvements. Tell me if you like this version, which I have not yet sworn to. 'I Llewella, Princess of Amber and Rebma, swear by Lir to support and uphold the Tritons' status as free citizens of Rebma and subjects of the crown, and their pledged oath to Rebma. I freely accept this commission to speak for and to the Tritons as an true representative of the laws of Rebma and the Queen, Celina.' Would that be acceptable?"
Celina nods at this insight and smiles to compliment Brita on her variant. That her own frame of mind is immortal does not make it a fact. She sees that.
"Yes. It would." Celina does not restrain her smile at all now and it lights her face.
The knocking pattern of "Shave and a Haircut" heralds Conner's arrival at the door to the gathering. He is dressed exactly as they last saw in court. "So sorry I'm late." He says to the assembled once admitted. "I had to see a man about a monarch." He explains.
Brita says "Butterfly or King?" with an unrepentant wide grin at her brother.
"Any news?" asks Llewella.
Celina grins at Conner and carefully explains what has been discussed so far, from her comments about Huon to the current matter of an oath for a new Court Position ....Speaker with Tritons.
"What Butterfly or Queen might you be chasing today?" Celina asks and gestures to the food buffet inviting him to dig in.
Conner crosses over to the buffet table but skips the food in favor of a large glass of salt tea infused spirits. "I just met with Lamell. According to him Loreena has been hidden from scrying attempts for at least the last two days. He sent an agent to watch the house and received word that a sedan chair was seen leaving from it. Then he lost touch with his agent. He presumes all of this has something to do with Moire though he can't be certain of course." Conner explains. "So I was thinking a discreet ransacking of the Duchess's home and working areas was in order."
Ambrose looks confused. "Is it within Lady Loreena's powers to block scrying? Who might she have allied with?"
Conner looks over to Llewella and Celina. "I do not know the extent of Loreena's skills but if she is capable she has not been putting that skill to use until recently."
"It would not be a surprise if she had some basic tutoring, but no, she hasn't shown such ability," Celina agrees. "Though talk of an ally puts a different light on the sedan chair leaving the house. A protected conveyance? Or someone who did not want to be seen or recorded. Or they assumed that such images might give too much away." Celina dredges up the face of the woman who was able to deflect Merlin and she from studying Dara. Celina takes the time to recite a detailed description of the sorceress to everyone present. She shrugs, "I don't know who she is, but she was meeting with Dara and looked to be of the Seaward."
As Celina's description grows more and more detailed, Ambrose's eyes grow narrower and narrower. At the end, he looks at the redheads. "That matches the description of my half-sister, Chantico. If she's involved with our enemies, that would be--bad." He says that like it's the understatement of the week.
"I don't believe I've heard about this branch of the family tree. Does this Chantico have an affinity for flame?" Conner asks. "A conjured jet of flame was how Celina's scrying was disrupted."
"Chantico is a goddess of flame." Ambrose smiles thinly. "She is my father's daughter in all his deeds, and has attacked me in the past in the hopes of mastering his legacy and destiny in Uxmal. Apparently she's moving on to a larger stage."
"Definitely worrisome." Conner agrees. "Though Rebma seems an odd choice for a fire goddess to set her sights." Conner shrugs. "Well I'll be sure to check Loreena's home for scorch marks or Uxmali symbols just in case."
Brita notes to her brother, "She may Not be Aiming at Watery Rebma so much as Routes to Other Realms."
Celina looks concerned and says, "They could certainly do much more damage in Paris or Realms beyond if they were working together. And if the point of that was to gather an army to come back here.... or to Uxmal." Celina looks at Conner. "If that were part of the purposes, then the house would certainly be full of parting 'gifts' against snooping."
Last modified: 27 August 2013