A Fine Day For A Picnic

It's a lovely day in early spring when the servants of Castle Clarissa set up a pavilion near the river for the picnic. Each member of the family receives an [apparently handwritten] note from Clarissa that says:

Dear [name]:

Today is the day for our picnic! We will have brunch by the river. Dress in your finest, because we'll have company.

Your Grandmother,
Clarissa

Reid's is signed, "Your Kinswoman".

[OOC: you may describe your gear, who you want to come down with, the timeliness of your arrival, etc.]

Upon receiving the note, Brita returns to her room briefly to clean up after her morning exercises. She dons her formal red jacket (sans white fur trim, what she wore to the Coronation), black pants and boots. She has a small pad of paper and a few pencils tucked in an inside jacket pocket along with her place trumps.

Once satisfied with her appearance, Brita leaves her room. She attempts to use some of her sorcerous skills to direct her movements through the castle (so it might take a little longer than necessary), but she arrives at Conner's door approximately at 9:30am and with a brisk knock on the door attempts to ascertain if he is in.

Her first question, if he is in and opens the door, would be "So when is 'brunch' anyways?" followed by "Are you ready? Should we go see if Mother is ready?"

Conner is in and currently drssed in a white shirt and green hose. His face is half covered in lather and he has a straight razor in the other hand.

The look gets a raised eyebrow and a slight sisterly smirk.

"Morning sister." Conner smiles gesturing her to take a seat. "Brunch is when it is too early for lunch and too late for breakfast. Shortly before midday whenever Grandmother decides that will be." He chuckles. "I plan to dress up and be ready for whenever it comes."

Brita follows Conner back into the room.

While they talk Conner finishes shaving and then gets dressed in a green vest with elaborate gold stiching through out it. At the right angles you could swear you see symbols or pictures in the golden glints. A gold medallion goes around his neck set with emeralds and garnets around a stylized ship's wheel. A gold circlet to hold back his auburn hair and his captain's saber complete the outfit. "Suitable for Mother and Grandmother both I do hope." Conner muses looking in the mirror. "Let's go find out, shall we?" He says offering his arm.

"We shall." Brita takes the proffered arm and leads the way to Fiona's room.

But Fiona is there in the doorway when her children start to go out.

She is garbed all in green, with golden accents and a golden locket that both her children remember from their childhood. Conner suspects he knows what is in the locket, but his mother has never confirmed his suspicions.

"Are you ready to go down to the river?" she asks.

"Now that I have both my favorite ladies on my arms." Conner smiles offering his free one to Fiona. "Most definitely." Conner chuckles. "I see I got the psychic memo about color choices." He jokes with Mother.

Fiona turns her dazzling smile on Conner. The resemblance is obvious.

Brita comes out of her memories to say with a smile,"You two do look most striking together." Then, as they proceed, "Do you know what to expect out of this picnic, Mother? What company are we dressed for?"

Fiona's smile fades. "Mother didn't enlighten me. We'll know better when we get down to the river. If the seasons have turned, we may be expecting two guests."

Once the trio is out of the castle and en route to the river, but before their arrival at the river, Fiona says quietly to her children, "If there's any excitement, follow your uncle's lead. Conner, you'll know what to do when you get where you're going." She squeezes his arm with her hand.

Conner simply looks at her somewhat coldly compared to their earlier closeness. "I sincerely hope so." He murmurs back.

Nothing further is said on that topic.

Brennan dresses in a variation of his standard: red, black and blades. Given that it is his grandmother's Court, after all, he turns up the jewelery dial a bit higher than normal with silver cufflinks and trim, and the like. The coverings for his blades are slightly more decorated than normal as well. The blades themselves are still plain and functional-- they're the ones that got him through Patternfall, and the artistry there is in the elegance and perfection of craft, not in ephemeral decoration.

By Amber standards, it would still be subdued. By Clarissi standards, it should create the same impression as Brennan is used to. Surely Clarissa knows her grandson well enough by now to expect that.

The only particularly eye-catching or prominent jewel he wears is the ring of the Order of the Ruby.

Brennan has not yet had the chance to speak with his brother yet. And frankly, both Fiona and Bleys are likely to busy with their own children. So it is that, before the appointed hour, Brennan makes his way to Ambrose's door.

"Brother. Shall we?"

Brennan is comfortable with silence, or can keep up inconsequential banter of the sort that promises a more substantial conversation later, per Ambrose's preference.

Ambrose is dressed in a fine linen shirt, dark trouser, and a long, dark jacket. He is wearing a bit more jewelry than in their previous encounter. In particular, there's a single emerald earring that Brennan recalls their father once wearing; it's probably a sorcerous device of some kind. His boots are polished and his gold gleams.

His resemblance to their father is particularly strong.

Brennan does his level best not to hold that against him.

"Yes, let's. Do you have any idea what kind of surprise Grandmother is planning? If I'm going to be brought face-to-face with Merlin, I'd like to know in advance." Ambrose frowns at that idea.

"The mind scarcely has the courage to wonder. I hadn't even thought about Merlin, to be honest. I did manage to prize out a mention of Madoc, which tilts my speculation toward that branch of the family." If Ambrose is frowning, Brennan borders on scowling.

"Knowing Grandmother, the real surprise is that she has two or three surprises, not just one."

"You're probably right about that," Ambrose says, a touch sourly.

"Madoc's presence, if he comes, doesn't bode well. And there's someone else about that Grandmother's not talking about; I caught a glimpse of her yesternight when I went to speak with her. A pale-haired girl that I didn't recognize, and whom she sent away at once on my arrival. Sound like anyone you know?"

Brennan's eyebrows draw down into that suspiciously thoughtful mode he has. "No," he says cautiously. "No one that makes any sense at all in context," he says. The grammar expresses a certain incompleteness of knowledge.

Ambrose's expression mirrors Brennan's.

[Brennan]
"Why don't you think Madoc's presence would bode well? More quarrels on this side of the family that I haven't been exposed to?"

"If Madoc is hewing more closely to Clarissa, it portends a shift in the family alliances. You know Clarissa's hand was involved in much of the recent troubles, if only through her support of our father and Borel. If I understand correctly, Madoc's been playing off his sister and his brother. Now that Borel's dead, he may well be making a closer alliance with Grandmother. I don't think that bodes well for Uxmal--or for Amber."

Brennan constructs a tilted mirror of his brother's statement: "Now that Borel's dead, he may well be forced to make a closer alliance with Grandmother." Then, "Whether it bodes well or ill, I suppose, depends on their intent and just how willing Madoc is to go along."

[Ambrose] glances at his brother. "I need to leave as soon as I can, for Uxmal. I've tarried here too long waiting for Fiona to fetch Brita. The situation can only have deteriorated in my absence."

Brennan nods, "It can't have done anything but. Is it all theo-political, or is the whole place starting to erode without him? Or worse, has one of his projects gone off-kilter?"

Ambrose constructs a tilted mirror of his brother's statement: "The whole place is starting to erode without him because it's all theo-political." Then: "I'm still reviewing his project papers. There are things I don't understand, and not just because I haven't checked with all the code-wheels either. The heart of that task has years around it."

At the mention of papers, Brennan looks sidelong at his brother. "That's becuase you don't have all his papers." And that sentence has no center. Brennan lets it hang long enough for Ambrose to properly infer the meaning, then adds, "They came to me recently. One of our less illustrious kinsman stole them from the wreckage of Brand's dwelling in Amber. It's a situation I've set right, since then."

Brennan sighs. "Brother mine, we need to have a very long talk, you and I. Longer, I think, than the walk to the picnic will take even if Grandmother is feeling generous." The sentence is centered on that very long talk. "Very soon. If there is time enough and privacy at this picnic, so much the better, but I'll be damned if we conduct our business with the rest looking over our shoulders. Preferably before we leave. As a last recourse, I have a Trump of Uxmal."

"I hope we have time and privacy to speak at this picnic, my brother, because I need to return to Uxmal as soon as possible. I have seen Fiona's daughter safely to her mother's arms. My obligation to her is finished. And I don't want our mother to be at home alone when and if Dara and Cleph come slithering to Uxmal for their prize, as they inevitably will." And that sentence is centered on the names of their unpleasant cousins.

It's at this point that they see Reid, Bleys, and Paige coming down toward the pavilion via a different path.

Brennan gives Ambrose a shrewd look. "Dara and Cleph are laboring under the illusion that you were keeping your cousin for them? What were you planning on telling them when they come looking?"

"I did not tell them so, my brother, but I need no sacrifice to divine their intent, nor a code-wheel to decipher their meanings." Ambrose smiles. It's not a nice smile, but the hostility is not personal to Brennan.

"Our family," Brennan observes, "Has a tendency to answer rhetorical questions, rather than questions of substance, given the choice."

"They're easier," Ambrose observes in reply. His sentence has no center.

Paige, Bleys, and Reid are almost upon them now.

And, sighting Paige and her even more evident pregnancy, turns to his brother and mutters one self-contained self-sufficient sentential word: "Surprise."

Paige closes her eyes, afraid to look out the window. She knows that without opening her curtains that the day is brighter, longer... a renewal of life, the birth of...

She throws the sketchbook that had been sitting across her lap across the room, its impact blunted by the curtains that part to allow the not-sunlight of Clarissa to filter through.

"Company?" she sighs.

She goes to the trunk at the foot of the bed, taking long slow movements to drop to her knees. Paige digs beneath her other dresses, a futile effort at best. Her hands run over her bloated, misshapen form, considering how any man could find this... her... attractive. Company be damned, there was little Paige could do to make herself presentable. She has not sorcery to summon an appropriate outfit, nor the conjury to create one from the stuff of Order--sparce as it is here.

Shaking out the dress that Aunt Fiona had helped her make for her arrival, Paige shrugs it over her head. She needs the chest's assistance to make it to her feet. Even as she approaches the mirror, she sees the difference in her walk... Heh, walk. Waddle was more like it. The dress rides high in the front over the growth as Paige tries to smooth it down. "Maybe if I pin the rear hem up to at least keep it even with the front", she thought. "At least then..."

And there it was again, the contraction. No mistaking it. The twins had settled down last night and nary a move or kick from them, but the contractions. Something tells her that it's too soon, that this is just a precursor, but how to know?

Her hands settle lovingly around her stomach again as she waits for the pain to pass. "You two don't have to be in such a hurry. There's alot of time for you, I promise," she explains, tears coming to her eyes as she sits again on the bed. She decides to get off her feet for a moment, to let the false labor subside.

[...]

"Shit!" Paige screams as she wakes, the sun higher. She hadn't lost more than an hour her body told her, but how could she truly judge? She was always hungry and beyond that she had no frame of refernce. As quickly as she could she pins the back of the dress, now slightly wrinkled by her unplanned nap. Sure that it lies as even as possible she decides to be happy with it. No fur as she had arrived with, as she knows she shouldn't need it. Her hair? Not the time to fix it as she should, Paige pulls it from its braids and lets it fall about her as a proclamation of her birthright. Gold combs to catch up the sides and a few quick brush strokes and she is gathering her Trumps and sketchbook, pastels and charcoal in her pockets beneath her skirt. She settles on the golden slippers, as her feet are swollen enough that any other shoes she wouldn't endure longer than a quarter of the hour. As ready as she would ever be, she makes her way downstairs, hoping for a glimpse of her father but capable of finding Grandmother on her own if she needs to.

Reid works on Reid time, whatever that may be. Coincidentally, it seems to be in sync with whatever degree of tardiness that may have overcome Paige. In the hallway downstairs she comes across Reid, well decked out in his shades of rust. "Good morning, cousin. You're looking radiant as ever.

"May I have the pleasure of escorting you to brunch?" he asks, extending his arm.

"Of course," Paige says, sliding her hand into the offered arm. "Although, I must warn you. If we're late, there's no chance of making up time. I don't move as fast as I once did." Her smile takes all the edge off what might've been pity in the tone.

"That's all right, my dear. Fashion may wait on no man, but your grandmother will certainly wait for you." The voice is full of the round tones that Paige has learned over the decades to associate with her father. And indeed it is he, coming around a corner that isn't there in the other direction.

Bleys is garbed in his colors, formally in the old-fashioned dress of Amber, but with a lighter cloak than the one he wore for his arrival at Clarissa. "Good morning, Reid. Daughter, let me look at you."

He surveys the state of her garb with a critical eye. "You'll be ever so much more comfortable if I--even--your--hem--dear." Each word is accompanied by a jerk of the fabric of her skirt. The dress ought to tear, but it somehow doesn't, and at the end, when he smooths the garment over her belly, it does seem to fit better and more comfortably.

Paige wraps herself around her father's neck as well as she can with her current stomach in the way. Her voice is almost bubbling, "Thank you father, so much." She kisses him on the cheek, careful that she doesn't leave lipstick on him.

To Reid, it appears that Bleys is stretching the dress somehow, but without squashing Paige's belly, and it does hang right afterwards, with an even hem.

Reid raises an eyebrow appreciatively. "I think I've seen similar done with a tablecloth, but I don't think there were twins under it... More's the shame, now that I think about it."

"That," says Bleys, "depends on who the twins were."

Paige hooks a hand through each of their arms and turns them toward the stairs. "True," she agrees. "Lord Jewel has those gorgeous boys River and Sage that would be too yummy," she jokes, not giving the men the upperhand.

[Bleys]
"They say pregnancy gives a woman odd cravings. Those two are rather too much like cotton candy for my taste. We should go, children, so that we can arrive almost but not quite too late."

Paige shakes her head at her father, but doesn't disagree with his estimation of the Jewel twins being composed of but sugar and air.

"Yes, can't keep Grandmother waiting, nor her company," Paige agrees. "Neither of you happen to know who might be joining us?"

Bleys shakes his head. "I long ago gave up attempting to guess what Mother had in store. It only encourages her."

"You wouldn't want to explain your opinion on my giving birth here would you?" Paige asks quietly. "Because based on what I'm feeling," her hand rubs across the top of her stomach, "I don't expect to have the time to make a voyage back to Ygg and then Trump home to Amber.

"Grandmother's scrying said they would come in the spring," Paige explains to Reid.

"And when will spring be... first course or desert?" Reid asks, only half-joking.

[Bleys]
"Never tell your Grandmother that patience is a virtue, for she does not think so. However I only consider her the most likely of several suspects in your accelerated gestation. Your Aunt and I have made preparations to extract you if things become unpleasant or in the event of other need, such as childbirth. It's not good for the universe, but we can provide some exits."

Paige looks a bit worried for a scant moment, before squeezing her Father's arm as if reassuring herself that he was still there. Her eyes harden for a moment and she nods.

After travelling down several groups of steps and across a short stretch of something like wooden decking, Paige and her two escorts come on Brennan and Ambrose coming down by a different path. The brothers are speaking in a strange language that sounds harsh and dissonant to Paige but in some ways strangely euphonious to Reid.

"And there were worries about you two meeting," Paige says cheerily.

Ambrose turns to his uncle and gives what to Brennan's trained eye is the proper bow between the child of one God and the God's peer of lesser or equal status.

Bleys waves a jaunty acknowledgement to the formality. "Good morning, nephews! I trust that you're ready for whatever spectacle Mother has prepared for us?" He pauses for a moment, but not long enough for anyone to answer his question. "Was that Uxmali you were speaking? For a moment I thought it might be Mabrahoring. I'm afraid I'm out of practice on both tongues."

"I'm curious as well," Reid chimes in. "I find its cadence intriguing."

Paige stifles a giggle about out-of-practice tongues and smiles for Brand's boys.

Brennan switches back to Thari, and says, "Uxmali, of course. I'll trade you lessons on the way back."

Bleys snorts. "I shall be quite surprised if we have the leisure for an educational return cruise. When Mother arranges family events, they usually end poorly. Sturdy walking boots and an eye for the main chance are the order of the day, lads."

"It was a polite fiction and a conversational gambit, Favored Uncle," Brennan responds smoothly.

"Of course. And I was distressed to have to deflect it into a veiled warning of potential non-specific trouble, but this side of Ygg, one makes one's own opportunities."

At the river, there's a pavilion set up with chairs and tables and rugs. The air is crisp, but warming; Brita can scent the spring winds as they wend their way casually through the furnishings.

Clarissa is talking with a red-haired man, dressed all in black. His most interesting feature is the goat's horns that wiggle a little as he talks.. "Madoc," Fiona identifies him for her children.

When she sees her daughter and grandchildren, the Queen waves them over. "Madoc, of course you know my daughter, and these are her children, Brita and Conner. Conner, Brita, this is my brother Madoc."

"A pleasure to meet you, Great Uncle." Conner gives him a slight bow.

Brita, who has waited until Conner speaks, echos, "Great Uncle Madoc" with a mid-level bow.

Madoc bows to the three of them. "The pleasure is mine."

Clarissa and Fiona excuse themselves and head off into the pavilion.

Madoc smiles at his great-niece and great-nephew. "I didn't see you with your mother at the funeral. Were you in Amber?" His horns move a little forward as he speaks, curling toward his companions.

Brita cocks her head to one side gazing speculatively at Madoc. "Given the time differences, I do not know if I was still travelling with Master Reid or had arrived in Amber at the time of the funeral."

"Similarly, I was either in Rebma or Amber at the time." Conner replies. "I didn't find out about the funeral until after it had occured. I would have liked to pay my respects, but given the difficulties of travel at the time, it just wasn't an option."

His horns curl a little farther forward. "Indeed. Even correspondence between Ygg and Amber is difficult, much less from here. My daughter is in Amber. I have not heard from her since the funeral. Perhaps you have met her? Her name is Aisling."

Conner nods. "A fine daughter skilled at her craft. You must be proud." Conner smiles without a hint of irony.

Madoc bows slightly at the compliment to himself and/or his child.

Brita looks at Conner with a slightly raised eyebrow. She says to Madoc, "Cousin Aisling did seem nice. I did not know her very long, however, as we first met in Amber after the funeral. I have heard from Master Reid that she has gone missing since some point after the Coronation. " [might as well be straightforward. Brita wants to see what those horns do with that news....]

Madoc's horns begin twitching, and the ends start curling backward, away from Brita and Conner. "Really," he says. "I don't think I've met your Master Reid. Perhaps you'll introduce me and he can tell me something of the matter."

Brita gestures towards the approaching group. "Master Reid comes now with Uncle Bleys and my Cousins. I will introduce you."

"Thank you," says Madoc. "I had expected more of you to be present. My sister suggested that Merlin would be here, and that normally entails his watchdog as well. And she said there would be other guests, but she did not elaborate."

As the path comes out from between two trees, there is a pavilion by a river. Fiona and Clarissa are there, standing under the shade of the canopy, protected from the warmth of the noontide. Outside of the tent, Brita and Conner talk to a man Brennan recognizes as Madoc. The air smells of fresh rain and sweet flowers.

"Thank you," says Madoc. "I had expected more of you to be present. My sister suggested that Merlin would be here, and that normally entails his watchdog as well. And she said there would be other guests, but she did not elaborate."

No, sorry. Martin's off shagging my best friend, Uncle, Paige thinks behind emerald eyes, doing her best to not judge the man on his opinon of her ex. She waits for one of the boys to make formal introductions, but does leave their arms and crosses to greet Conner with a kiss on the cheek.

She then looks for a place to sit, unconsciously rubbing at the side of her stomach, that if possible, seems to have dropped further. Decorum be damned, I plan to be comfortable, she thinks, the party smile still on her lips.

Watchdog? Brita thinks, but she has turned and is waving Reid (and whoever else who wishes to come) over the meet Madoc. "Master Reid," Brita pitches her voice to get his attention. "Come and meet Great Uncle Madoc." and as Reid nears she adds, "He is Cousin Aisling's father." Then the obligitory, "Great Uncle Madoc, Master Reid." followed by any other necessary introductions...

Reid approaches and gives a formal bow. "Count Madoc." before acknowledging the others present.

Brennan surveys the scene and sees Madoc, one suspicion confirmed. Then he looks closer, sees Madoc's posture, and stifles a deep, dark scowl. Stifles it, I say. He mutters something venomous under his breath, but puts his stoic neutral-friendly face on, and joins the assembling crowd to greet Madoc, handling the introductions as need be.

"Madoc, a pleasure to see you again. This is cousin Paige, and my brother Ambrose."

"Paige," says Madoc, bowing. "it is good to meet you at last. My sister is positively thrilled that you have chosen to reproduce." Madoc's smile is wide and he seems genuinely pleased to meet Paige.

He turns and nods in the general direction of Bleys, Ambrose and Brennan while waiting on a reply from Paige.

Why does that sound like I'm the damn floor show today? Paige thinks as she smiles and bows to Great Uncle Madoc. By the time she looks up to him, she recognizes the name finally. "Cousin Aisling's father," Paige thinks out loud. "It's wonderful to meet you, Great-Uncle."

Madoc smiles and his horns settle gently against his head. They are plump and round, not flat.

"You'll excuse me if I'm a bit distracted," [Paige] says, her hand protectively around her midsection.

"Of course we will," says Bleys, who is looking a touch disconcerted at something or other. "Let me fetch you a chair." He moves off toward the pavilion where his sister and mother await.

Everyone looking that direction can see that there is now a third figure there. She--definitely she--is pale-haired. To Brennan, there's something oddly familiar about her that he can't quite put his finger on.

Ambrose pulls Brennan to one side, and lays his hand on his brother's arm. He leans in so they can't be easily overheard. "That's her, the one I saw before," he says quietly.

Paige folows her father and sits in the chair he finds, near Aunt Fiona hopefully. She smiles to the pale-haired woman in greeting.

Fiona and Clarissa are standing, talking quietly to the pale-haired girl. Bleys arches an eyebrow, in a Bleysian rather than Julianic manner, at the situation. There's something he doesn't like about the scenario, perhaps something about the look of his sister.

"There you are," Clarissa says to Paige. She gestures to the others to come over to the pavilion. "Bleys, serve your daughter, why don't you?" The Queen turns to the newcomer and smiles. "This," she tells Paige and Bleys, "is Saeth. She's Aisling's daughter. Saeth, this is Bleys and his daughter Paige."

"I remember Paige," says Saeth. "She was kind to my progenitor when Martin was quarrelsome about the letters to my grandfather."

Bleys' sudden tension as the girl is introduced is mostly suppressed, but Paige can see it very well.

"Of course, I should've recognized you, but I didn't know that Aisling had spawned," Paige says instead of the instinctive, /What the f*ck?!?/ that she's thinking. "She never mentioned it."

Paige sits in the chair that her Father finds and smiles at her Grandmother. "This is lovely, Grandmother. Thank you, ever so much for inviting us." She shifts several times trying to get comfortable and finally gives up on sitting in any true ladylike manner. She settles for both ankles back and crossed, her knees far enough appart to allow for her stomach. There's little or no movement and it seems to distract Paige. She was familiar enough with their almost constant movement that the lack almost worried her.

"Oh, you're welcome, my dear." Clarissa beams at her granddaughter. To Saeth she adds, "Paige is going to spawn soon in the orderly fashion."

Brita, Conner, Reid, and Madoc can see Clarissa introduce the pale-haired girl to Bleys and Paige. The Queen smiles and waves to call the rest of the group up.

Madoc's horns are twitching again. "Do any of you know who that is with Clarissa? I don't recall her being here when I arrived. Perhaps she's one of the special guests to whom Clarissa alluded when she contacted me," he says to the trio.

Conner shakes his head no. "I've never seen her before but it seems we are being invited to find out." Conner offers his arm to Brita. "Shall we?"

Brita nods and accepts Conner's arm with a slight squeeze of thanks. She remains quiet, however, as she tunes her senses on a new target...

Madoc follows them up.

[presumably Reid does too ... Chuck?]

[Indeed. Threadward ho!]

To Brita, Saeth smells familiar. Not unlike Madoc himself, and definitely reeking of that background smell that all the creatures of this place have--the smell of Chaos. In the clean-scented forests of Arden or Idayoll, Brita would have known anything with this smell as the enemy.

It's been a long time since Brita was someplace that smells clean.

Brennan follows Ambrose willingly-- he had in fact been about to pull him aside for reasons of his own, which will just have to remain inscrutable for the moment.

As he looks at the newcomer, his eyes narrow until he notices that they narrowed, at which point he puts his game face back on. "Well, that would be the second surprise, wouldn't it? She does look maddeningly familiar, somehow, doesn't she? And at a family reunion, no less. Do you recognize her, this time?"

"No," Ambrose replies. "Other than here at Clarissa, I've never seen her before."

They watch as Bleys and Paige head over in that general direction.

"I hate mysteries," Brennan says, whatever else he was going to say lost for the moment. "I'm going to go chop this one into little pieces."

That's a tacit invitation for Ambrose to come with as Brennan strides over to join what will likely become a dogpile on our new relative.

Ambrose does indeed tag along.

"Look," says Clarissa to Saeth. "There's your grandfather. He'll be so pleased to see you."

Brennan's long stride has him brushing past Madoc and his cousins, Ambrose trailing apologetically in his wake. The remaining redheads are right behind him.

Madoc finally gets a good look at Saeth. She smiles broadly at him and says, "Grandfather!"

He turns to his sister and says, "Clarissa, what have you done to my daughter?"

Ordinarily, Brennan does not mind being in the middle of things.

This is not an ordinary situation. Being between Clarissa and Madoc right now strikes Brennan as being less than optimal.

Fiona and Bleys exchange wide-eyed looks whose meaning Paige needs no cards to divine.

Conner's eyes narrow instead of widen but the shock is the same.

And Brennan flashes a quick trust-me-new-cousin glance at Saeth as he puts a firm but gentle hand at the base of her neck, and takes two or three Brennan-steps back. Ideally, Saeth will read the unsubtle signal and step back with him, leaving Clarissa and Madoc to discuss this all without any human-body-shaped obstructions between them.

Saeth takes the steps back, but not too far.

Whereas Conner slips immediately to Paige's side. When Grandmother said soon, she seemed to mean it.

Brita stands on the outskirts of the group studying this newly revealed addition to the family. A slight furrow in her brow indicates some thought or confusion, but she is otherwise still. [yeah. clean air would be nice and less chaos - no pun intended. She is going to have to go Home soon.]

Ambrose has stopped beside Brita. He whispers, "That's really sort of still Aisling, but she's changed so much from whatever happened that she's a new person."

Clarissa says to Madoc, "Nothing, dear brother, except getting her out of a very sticky situation. She was in a pocket shadow, unable to get out. I helped her. Unfortunately, the locks on the shadow were hard to break. I slipped her out between the bars, as it were. There were some pieces left behind. I'm sorry."

And the Queen really does look regretful.

Madoc's eyes are blazing. "Saeth," he says, "is this true?"

From her place beside Brennan, Saeth says, "Yes. Caine put my mother in his shadow. It was hard to leave. She died. But I came with the Queen to see you, Grandfather!" Saeth looks very agitated.

Madoc's gaze fixes on Clarissa. "Then what happened to the rest of her?" His voice is too loud, and filled with ill-suppressed fury.

While the rest of the group is watching in fascinated horror, Paige realizes that her skirt is damp--just a little, but getting more so every moment.

A deep breath and Paige smoothes the front of her dress. She turns to catch Aunt Fiona's attention. "Showtime," she whispers as she takes Conner's hand. She hopes her aunt can read lips, or divine her intent.

Fiona pushes through the middle of Clarissa and Madoc. "Stop it!" she says, coming to Paige's side. "Paige is going into labor!"

Clarissa says "Paige!" She sound utterly delighted.

Brennan marvels at this piece of fortuitous timing, for Clarissa, anyway. Wait. No, he really doesn't.

Bleys moves to catch Brennan's eye, jerking his head to suggest 'out', then does the same to Reid.

Reid steps away from the fray, but not so far as to become useless in case he's needed.

Ambrose catches Bleys' gesture and takes Brita's hand. He starts to retreat, pulling her with him as he goes.

Brita at first is passive, letting Ambrose drag her away, but her eyes are fixed on her mother and then brother.

Fiona keeps moving towards Conner and takes his place by Paige's side, if he'll let her. Clarissa is right behind her.

Madoc, relinquishing moves toward Brennan, his hand outstretched to his granddaughter. His horns are back and flat.

Brennan's hand is still on Saeth's neck, gently but firmly. He quickly looks her right in the eyes and says, "Remember me, as her friend and advocate. And yours."

With that, assuming Madoc hasn't killed him yet, he takes his hand away...

Madoc takes Saeth's hand, and leads her away from the pavilion. Each step he takes somehow moves them about ten or twenty feet away from Clarissa and her brood.

...and then [Brennan] heads to Ambrose, who shouldn't be all that far away since he was following in Brennan's wake to begin with. Brita and Ambrose may be taking a detour to Uxmal, but Brita's not getting stuck there again-- Brennan's going with.

Brita plants her feet. "No. I remain here with my Family. My Brother may need my assistance." and she frees herself from Ambrose's lead.

Ambrose stops and stays with her.

Paige holds up a hand trying to calm the flocking family. "It's just my water, the contractions aren't..."

A look of concentration crosses her face as her lips curl into a rueful smile. A little breathy, she starts drumming her finger on top her her hardening abdomen, counting to herself, "Heh, might've... spoken too soon."

"This... definitely isn't... going to help... anyone's appetites," Paige says. "I'm sorry... for ruining... your picnic, Grandmother."

"Oh, that's all right," says Clarissa.

Conner reluctanly moves aside to let Fiona near to Paige but he keeps a hold of her hand, squeezing back when does, holding it tenderly when she's calm. "On to Act II already. Looks like the abridged version of the show." Conner babbles. "Let's get her somewhere more conducive to childbirth than the lawn, eh?"

"Yes, yes, you're right." Fiona looks at Bleys and his little flock. To Paige she says, "You need your daddy, don't you? Bleys, come help Conner take her up to the castle."

Bleys says, "Of course," and strides over to Paige's other side. Fiona takes Conner's hand for a moment, and squeezes it. Her gaze meets Conner's for a moment, and she nods once.

Clarissa is tearing a rift in space for Conner and Bleys to bring Paige through. In the distance, Brennan sees Madoc doing the same thing to depart with Saeth.

Conner corrdinates with Bleys perfectly like they've been helping women about to give birth move through magical portals for a living.

"I'm not going to fall over, Conner," Paige chides looking the rift over curiously. Her father gets the, _You're sure this is safe for the twins?_ look, but she doesn't hesitate in stepping through.

Bleys nods, steps through and lets Conner hand Paige through to him.

Fiona relinquishes her place at Paige's side and goes to Brita. She seems troubled and pleased at the same time. "It'll be all right," she says, and takes her daughter's hand.

Outside the pavilion, where Brita and the others are standing, a grey rain has started to fall.

Brennan looks up at the falling rain without tilting his head, and gives a sardonic scowl-- that's just about right.

He sees Madoc taking Saeth back to wherever Madoc lives, and the scowl stays, but doesn't deepen. That's a departure that had something of an air of closure about it. He sees Clarissa, Bleys, Conner and Paige departing, and evidently does not want to get in the way during the delivery.

Rather, he stays with Ambrose, Fiona and Brita, fighting back the urge to conjure up some cigars. The rain helps with that.

Standing in the rain, getting quite wet, Reid turns to Brita and inquires, "And which of your forbearers do we have to thank for THIS?" with just a hint of distaste.

"The rain is cleansing, Master Reid, meant to renew and strengthen...and bring new life." Turning back to her mother, Brita asks, "Do you think it is wise to leave Paige with only men, Mother? My Brother will be of great assistance, but shouldn't you remain with her as well? My paternal uncles only dealt with childbirth by sitting in the great hall sloshing Ale around on the floor and singing loudly to drown out the mother's battle cries."

Fiona smiles at Brita, and reaches up to brush a strand of wet hair out of her daughter's face. "In this situation, that's Bleys' job. But it won't be just men--my mother will be with Paige. You need me now, more than she does. It's time for us all to leave."

She releases Brita, and gathers her concentration. A moment later, she tears a hole in space. On the far side is a tree that's beginning to look far too familiar. She holds the rip open like a curtain and gestures to Brita and her nephews to step through.

Reid pauses briefly before entering the rift and asks Fiona, "Will we be trumping the rest of the way, then? Is there someone I should call?" He fiddles with the card pouch hanging at his hip.

"I was planning to call Corwin and go through to Paris." Fiona looks at her daughter.

"It's time for Brita to walk the Pattern. Mother would have had too easy of a time keeping her without it."

Brennan nods. It's evidently Brennan's opinion that it's about time to get that out of the way. And not just for Brita.

"Will you come with us?" she asks Reid.

Brita has been staring at the Tree, her eyes catching the rain a little. She starts back to reality - or at least the present location - at the mention of the Pattern.

Ambrose is eyeing his brother. He's politely waiting for Brita to step through the rift, but there's no doubt in anyone's mind that he's ready to depart from Clarissa.

"Fi, I'll catch up with you in Paris if possible, or at worst, in Amber." Fiona will know her favorite nephew well enough to understand that he's got multiple issues on his mind that he's been wanting to talk to her about, but was holding back until this current mess was settled properly. And that Paris might be a better venue of discussion than Amber.

"Please give my regards to Corwin and Merlin." Turning to Brita, Brennan says, "Strength and perseverance. I'll be there if I can." Then to crowd at large, "But Ambrose and are due for a long discussion, and that can't be put off, either."

That last is not as unfriendly as the phrasing might indicate.

Ambrose sucks in a breath and looks disconcerted, but pleased.

Brita glances at Ambrose as well and then back at Brennan. "Thank you for the support. Your Brother Ambrose should have the same opportunity." and with that she turns, takes a deep breath, and walks through to the Root of her World.

If Ambrose parts the veil, Brennan will follow him to Uxmal.

"We'll go from Ygg. We have to pass it anyway; let's take the road our aunt has kindly provided." Ambrose steps through, with Brennan behind him

"Good luck, cousin. When you finish that Trump, send me one of yours, and we'll stay in touch," Ambrose says to Brita. Then he tears another rift in space, and he and Brennan are gone through it. It closes behind them.

Fiona walks through the opening, and releases it. Her spell, like the other, closes, and reality seals as if it had never been there.

"I'll speak with Corwin now," she says, and takes her Trump deck from the depths of her skirts. After a moment, she is gazing intently into a card.

"Corwin? It's Fiona. Brita and Reid and I are at Ygg. May we come through?"

After a moment, she extends her hand to Brita to pass her to Corwin. Then, once Brita is in Corwin's hands, Fiona hands Reid through. Finally, she steps through herself.