Baebe In The Woods

The day goes like this:

Martin goes off to get dressed, telling Garrett to get ready for Court. They meet again in a small dining room, and Ash, Soren, and Gilt Winter are waiting for him, along with a large breakfast. As they eat, Martin asks for a list of his father's appointments for the day from Gilt.

As Gilt tells him about each appointment, he asks about the details of the meeting, soliciting opinions from Ash and Soren as he goes. Mostly, he lets the other men talk, occasionally asking a question or two that proves he's been listening and has a sharp, if untrusting, insight into the motives of the petitioner.

Garrett, now in court garb, observes the interaction intently. If he had pen and paper and knew shorthand, he would probably be taking notes. As it is, those in the room get the impression that he's taking notes mentally.

After that, they move on to the appointments themselves. Martin explains to each petitioner that he's standing in for his father, who has been called away on a sudden emergency. He makes each petitioner explain what he or she wants all over again, but he doesn't seem to be doing it to put people off, because in some cases he simply makes a decision and has done with it.

Garrett watches the procedings, keeping track of names and faces. He wants to keep tabs on whether there are particular people who will be making a habit of bringing their problems before the King and what types of problems they're bringing. Serious issues, fine, but the petty ones, the ones that might have been solved with discussion amongst the petitioners, they'll receive a mental black mark to beware of in the future.

Lunch is with Vialle. The word "awkward" doesn't even begin to cover it. Conversation is stilted, and the subject of the upcoming nuptials, which ought to be topic one, isn't even allowed to come up. If Garrett hadn't known before that Martin and Vialle could barely stand each other, he couldn't miss it after this.

Interesting. Garrett was not aware of the deep level of animosity between his brother and his step-mother. He simply hadn't been in the same room with them together for any length of time before. At first, he tries to be the peacemaker, starting various subjects of smalltalk over the soup, but after meeting with monosyllabic responses or even stony silence, he gives up, eating the rest of his meal in a pensive silence of his own.

Vialle is always happy to speak with Garrett. She'd talk to Martin if he'd let her, but he really doesn't seem to have anything to say to her.

Afternoon is another round of appointments, and dinner is another working meal with Gilt, Ash, and Soren. After that, it's off to the studio with the same company for a jam session. They're smoking, too, all of them, some sweet-smelling herbal cigarette that seems to put them all in a better mood.

To be polite, Garrett tries the cigarette as it's offered, prompting amused chuckles from his companions as he tries to recover from the ensuing coughing fit by downing his beer in several desperate gulps. It takes him a while to get used to the herb, mainly by taking smaller puffs, but soon, he too is feeling more relaxed.

It's in the studio, after Gilt and Ash and Soren have retired, that Martin asks him, "So, Garrett, what do you think of being a prince now?"

"It's about what I expected," Garrett replies, taking a sip from his latest beer. "It's interesting, though, to see the differences between your style and Father's. It makes me wonder what Grandfather's style must've been like. From the inside, I mean," he muses.

"I don't know his court style. I never saw that," Martin replies. "Just his work in the field, and as a teacher."

That piques Garrett's interest. "You worked with him that closely?" he exclaims eagerly. "What was he like?"

"I worked with Grandfather during the war," Martin replies. He seems lost in thought for a few moments, perhaps remembering. "He was--smart, and he had a sense of humor, but he could be stern. He knew what to do, and he wasn't worried about doing it. He knew he was going to die, but he did it anyway."

Garrett reflects on that for a moment. "I wish I had had a chance to get to know him," he says, taking a sip of his beer. "I met him once, but he was the King of Amber. He wasn't my grandfather. How did he die?"

"Rewriting the Pattern. Not the one in the basement, the one on True Kolvir." Martin's expression is very distant now.

Garrett's eyes widen. "True Kolvir?"

Martin nods, once. "Supposedly Kolvir in Amber is a shadow of that one. It's sheared off at the level of the Pattern chamber in Amber, though."

"Aaand... what level is that?" Garrett asks, feeling somewhat self-conscious, but thinking that's better than remaining ignorant.

Martin gestures with his hand. "If the floor is sea level and this--" he gestures with one hand "--is the castle, the Amber Pattern was about here--" he gestures partway up. "I've been told that's where it's sheared off, anyway, and the Pattern is there. I only saw it once and I was too busy to take in the scenery at the time."

He falls suddenly silent at that.

Garrett leans forward in his beanbag, resting his elbows on his knees and dangling his beer idly in his hand. He looks at Martin with furrowed brow, trying to determine whether he's understanding this revelation correctly or if it's merely a side effect of the herbal cigarette. "So what you're saying then..." There's a long pause as he tries to comprehend the incomprehensible. "...is that there's another Pattern at True Kolvir that was there before Amber's pattern? And Amber is a... a shadow of that first place?"

"That's the story," Martin agrees. He's sprawled back in his beanbag, reefer hanging from the fingers of one hand and a beer bottle loosely held in the fingers of the other. "I'm not really a theory guy, though."

He puts his beer down on the floor. "See this?" He pulls his short-cropped hair away from his head a bit to show it off in the light. "Blond, not red."

Garrett smirks good-naturedly. "Yes, but any--" he begins, but hears...

"And I suppose that puts me in my place," says a familiar, sharp voice from behind Garrett.

"Cambina. Good to see you," Martin says, mellow mood gone, in a tone that means something like the opposite.

If Garrett turns to look, his cousin is standing halfway inside the door. "Your father is back. He wants you in the throne room five minutes ago. I have to get to the infirmary and see what that idiot Jovian's done to himself." She rolls her eyes a little and makes an exhale that might be a sigh before heading out.

Garrett had turned to look over his shoulder upon Cambina's entrance. At her announcement, he downs one last swig of beer and prepares to rise.

Martin stubs out his cigarette into an ashtray before standing up. "We're on duty. Let's go."

Garrett stands up, momentarily feeling like he's back on the deck of a ship before shaking off the effects of the unfamiliar cigarette. He tosses the near-empty bottle into a trash can and follows Martin to the Throne Room. Once there, he is in court mode - attentive and serious, following Martin's lead.

Random and Vialle are in the private audience chamber. Random is sitting on his chair with his legs over the arm. "Oh, good. Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"No," Martin replies curtly.

"Good," says Random. "Now Jovian's in the infirmary. I'm gonna have to rename this place Saint Random's Rest Home for Damaged Princes. OK, here's the scoop from the field. Robin and Vere went to fight Gerard's wife's enemies, but they're just running away from Huon, who is just passing through with an Army or two. Robin and Vere were gonna wax Huon, which I don't think they're up to, when Canareth got shot. Jovian tried to stop him from dying with Pattern, but because they'd broken the shadow before while fighting, it not only didn't work, but did more damage. And now J-"

Garrett's eyes narrow as he listens intently. He has come to learn in the past several weeks that understanding his father's rapid-fire ramblings requires careful attention.

At that moment, a young woman rushes in. "Syd. That guy you brought in slugged someone and jumped out a window. He's gone."

Random "Ah, shit. It never rains." The king is on his feet. So is Martin.

Garrett glances at Vialle, unsure whether he should stay to watch her or help his father and brother. He quickly decides that his strength and speed would be better used to run herd on his runaway cousin and moves to join them.

Tjaden (the young woman who rushed in) gets out of the doorway and points up the stairs. "Second right," she says. As everyone rushes past, she says "Uh, I'll stay here, then."

The second room on the right is bright, airy, and has a bed. The windows are open and the drapes billow in from the balcony. Lying on the bed is Cambina, sporting a really ugly looking black eye, with a cut beneath it.

"Your Majesty," she says, from the bed.

Ash is standing on the balcony, looking out. "Syd. He's just reached the top." He flattened Cambina and hit one of Thorn's men, too. Thorn is about a third of the way up. He'll never catch him." Ash turns. "He jumped off this balcony like he could fly. He hit the ground and looked surprised, then started up the path. That's when the guard reached him from the gate. He'll be fine, after he recovers."

"Well that wasn't what I expected. OK, let's get a plan. First step, trumps. I'll call Julian. Then I'll lick my wounds. Mar-Garrett! Garrett, you trump Paige. She's up there somewhere, 'sploring the forest. Martin, go see if Folly has a trump of Jovian. And you use it. If he'd slug Cambina, no telling what he'd do if you trumped him. Cambina, you..."

"Lie there," inserts Cambina.

"Lie there," agrees Random. "Ash, downstairs and get Tjay a drink. She seemed rattled."

Ash nods and is quickly out the door.

"Ok, that's not a great plan, but it's a plan. Any brilliant improvements? Is there any more family in residence?"

Martin is already gone.

Garrett shakes his head. "Do you have a trump of Paige, sir?" he asks quickly before Random starts a connection himself.

Random reaches for his belt, then stops. "I'm pretty sure I gave hers back to her. Check with Folly, or the trumps we moved here. Soren will know where they are." Random slowly pulls out the trump deck. "Cambina, if I end up lying next to you, promise not to tell my wife."

Random pulls out a trump and begins looking at it.

Garrett looks at his father dubiously, then decides no, he'd better follow orders. He can come back to pick up the Julian-splintered pieces of his father later. "Good luck, sir," he says as he departs.

Folly or Soren, Garrett wonders as he trots down the hallway. Folly's rooms would be closer and Soren could be wandering, staying on top of things as he always does. So, Folly then Soren. He turns a corner and jogs in the proper direction, shoving down his apprehension about how this interruption will once again irritate his brother. "I have my orders," he mutters to himself.

Outside the door to Folly and Martin's rooms, he knocks crisply, before he has a chance to think too long about it.

Folly has difficulty with the sketch she's working on, and the next thing she knows, it's dark outside and Martin has come into the room.

He says, "Dad's back. He brought Jovian with--his dragon's dead. Looks like he's lost it, too; he gave Cambina a black eye and jumped out the window of the castle like he could fly. Dad needs to know if you've got a trump of him."

Folly makes a worried sound in the back of her throat and shakes her head. "Sorry, no," she says in a small voice. "He--- Do we know if he survived?"

"He ran away. They think he headed up and out into the forest."

Folly nods, and breathes out.

Then he takes a look at what she's doing. "How long has it been since you've eaten?"

"Did you get my note? I haven't eaten since then -- and not for a few hours before that, either." She sets her pencil aside and rubs her hands over her face. "Maybe that's why the sketch wasn't working so well...."

She sighs and reaches for Martin.

Martin comes over and puts his arms around her, drawing her into a close embrace, careful of her midsection.

"I think we ought to get you something to eat," he says after a little bit.

Folly nods against his shoulder. "And you should probably call Gerard while I eat. I promised him we'd update if there was news." She releases Martin, reluctantly, and fishes a card from her case. She offers it to him face-down.

"Raid the kitchen or send for food?" Folly asks.

"Raid the kitchen," says Martin. Then there's a knock on the door, and he says, "Or maybe send for food," as he moves to open it.

When Martin does, Garrett is standing there. "Hey," he says to Garrett, then over his shoulder to Folly, "It's Garrett." He stands aside so his brother can come in.

"Hey," Garrett answers amiably as he steps inside.

"Hullo, love," Folly says, and beckons Garrett in. She smiles, warmly; but she looks tired. "Martin and I were just talking about raiding the kitchen. Are you hungry?"

Garrett grins and nods. "I'll have to join you later, though," he says. "Father said to check with you for a trump of Paige. He doesn't have one. Apparently she's up on the mountain in the same direction Jovian was headed."

"I have one," says Martin. He pulls out his deck and shuffles out a card, which he hands to Garrett, face down. "I'll trust you to get it to Dad and back."

Garrett takes the card and thanks his brother. "He's trumping Uncle Julian now," he clarifies. "He wants me to trump Paige." He examines the card in preparation for making contact, then stops and looks up at Martin, then Folly, blushing just a little. "Um, would you rather I do this somewhere else? I don't want to interrupt if you're on your way out."

Folly smiles and gestures toward the couch. "Sit, make yourself comfortable. We'll send for food." She looks at Martin to make sure this plan is okay with him.

Martin nods once, decisively. "I'll handle it," he offers and goes to the door to fetch a servant.

Folly smiles after him as he goes, and then turns back to Garrett. "How're you holding up?" she asks. "I promise, court doesn't usually end with someone jumping out a window...."

"Oh, I know. I've been to a few sessions now. I'm getting used to them," Garrett answers, though it's hard to tell whether he thinks that's a good thing. He glances back at the trump in his hand and Folly can see the indecision on his face; the choice between wanting to chat with a long-missed friend or needing to chase a runaway cousin.

Finally, he rationalizes that perhaps Martin should be present for the trump connection (y'know, in case anything goes wrong), lowers the card and grins warmly at his soon-to-be sister. "And what about you?" He looks her up and down critically. "You look good. Tired, though. Are you sleeping enough? Have you seen a midwife?" The questions spill out until he realizes how much he sounds like his mother. That thought stops him cold. His grin turns sheepish.

Folly laughs. "I'm told I'm in excellent health, but I'm sure it'd help if I remembered to eat. Luckily, I've got your brother looking out for me."

She pulls her bare feet up under her, making herself comfortable. "There's just so much going on, you know? My plan for today was to work on some sketches, inform Gerard about my... ah... condition and intentions, and then maybe hide under the desk and think about how to break all this to my mother. I wasn't expecting all this Huon stuff, or Jovian---"

She breaks off, and nods at the trump in Garrett's hand. "Maybe you should go ahead and make the call. Give 'er as much advance warning as possible...."

He nods ruefully. "I wasn't expecting it, either. I was supposed to have been in Amber by now - getting my own deck," he says, waving the card as he speaks, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Soon, I hope," he concludes, then begins to focus his attention on Paige's trump.

Martin returns from the door. "Food'll be here in a few minutes." He looks at Garrett, engrossed in the beginnings of a Trump call. "What a day. I'll hold off on talking to Gerard until we've got some word back from Garrett, and maybe even until I hear how it went for Dad and Julian. We might need to contact whoever's holding the fort in Amber. Caine, I think."

He looks at Folly for her opinion.

Folly wrinkles her nose as she considers their options. "Well," she says quietly so as not to interrupt Garrett's concentration, "as much as I hate to leave Gerard worrying about whether your father will make it back safe, it would be perhaps an even greater cruelty to give him the news about Jovian, knowing only what little we know now." She scoots toward Garrett, making enough space for Martin beside her if he's willing to get cozy. "We'll see how the call to Paige goes, we'll check back in with your father, and then one of us can call Gerard."

Martin does indeed get cozy as he waits to see what happens with the trump call.

Garrett concentrates hard and long as the expression on his face attests, but receives no response from Paige. Finally, he gives up and looks back up at his brother and Folly. "Nothing," he says, looking concerned. "Is there any way to tell if someone is blocking or if they're... hurt? Or something?"

"There are ways, but they probably take a more advanced trump user than anyone in this room. We should wait a few minutes before we try again, though. It's a pain in the ass when someone keeps trying to trump you while you're busy," Martin says dryly, and drops a kiss on Folly's head.

Folly grins up at him. "Yes, well, at least I'm your pain in the ass," she says.

She leans comfortably against him and looks at Garrett. "So you were trying to get back to Amber, you said? You gonna help folks get ready for the Great Migration?"

"Among other things. Do whatever needs doing," Garrett answers. "Father has two kingdoms to run, so he might as well spread us around.

"And what about you two?" he grins slyly. "Busy with wedding plans?"

Martin says drily, "That's her department. I only have to say 'yes, dear'."

"Careful, love," Folly says with a mischievous twinkle. "You know if you leave it all to me, you may end up dressed in a suit made entirely of fresh-cut flowers and live salmon. Well, and one cod-piece."

Garrett snorts with amusement. "Royal or not, that seems to be the way it works," he grins. "Well, let me know if I can do anything to help. Drive the royal chariot, distract the in-laws, whatever."

"Thanks, Garrett," Folly says warmly. "I promise not to inflict my mother on you, if I can help it."

"I'll need you to stand as a groomsman, of course," Martin says.

Garrett's grin grows wider, and is touched with a hint of relief. This issue had apparently been on his mind, but he had felt uncomfortable asking about it. "Of course. I'd be happy to. Who else will be standing for you?"

"Jerod and Merle for sure. Lucas. Maybe Vere and Conner, depending on the size of the wedding." Martin shrugs. "Dad wants to go all out. I may need a squadron."

"And I want Soren to stand for me," Folly says. "And possibly also everyone else I know." She grins. "I still need to ask them all, though."

"Whoa," Garrett gasps, gazing between Martin and Folly with something like sympathy. "That could mean something approaching the size of the Coronation. He's not going to call in the dragons again, I hope."

Folly's expression grows much more serious. "It probably will be rather like the Coronation, in that the buzz will make it out to be the social event of the century -- all the better to lure people here from Amber."

Martin nods. "That's the point. I'd be just as happy to do it in front of an Elvis impersonator in New Hong Vegas, but Dad won't hear of it. Must reflect the pomp and circumstance of Dad's kingdom--although I think an Elvis impersonator in New Hong Vegas would do just that."

"Well, but I think the point is really to reflect the pomp and circumstance that he thinks people will expect of his kingdom -- and more importantly, will respond to," Folly says. "So instead of an Elvis impersonator -- that's, er, a singer with a reputation for being kind of flamboyantly tacky," she adds for Garrett's benefit, "-- we'll get, I dunno, me in a dress like a parade float. Which is just as well: by the time we get this show on the road, I'll probably be as big as a parade float."

Garrett laughs. "Well, I suppose that is a strategic way of doing things. If you can't get those stodgy hold-outs out of Amber with threats, tell 'em they're missing the biggest event since the Coronation. And the biggest float since the last Festival." He winks at Folly playfully. "That'll light a fire under 'em."

Folly grins.

"Speaking of which..." Garrett says more seriously, turning to Martin as he resumes the role of responsible young prince, "do you think I ought to try Paige again or just go see if Father had better luck?"

"Try her one more time, then go back to Dad," Martin suggests.

"All right," Garrett agrees. He regards the trump again and searches for Paige.

When she answers, he releases the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Paige. It's Garrett," he says hastily. "Jovian just tore out of the infirmary. He jumped off the..." His eyes narrow as he notices her muddy clothes and bloody lip. "What the... What happened to you?" he exclaims.

Folly leans forward in concern, ready to offer aid if she's needed.

Martin stands up and moves to get his blade, as if he expects to be needed to go through.

Garrett quickly holds out his hand, but not to Martin. He reaches for Paige.

The next morning after kissing the twins, always up with the dawn, in parting, Paige and her Ranger escort set off up the mountain.

Couth has two horses ready, both small and light, chosen for speed and litheness rather than strength or endurance. They do a good job up the cliff face to the top, where the familiar grass sward and river bank provide the few small distractions from the sea, sun, and forest that otherwise dominate the scene. The river roars over the falls here, and it's hard to hear. Where does Paige go and what is she looking for in the forest?

Where the problems are, of course. But since they seem to like their anonymity, one supposes she'll have to go looking for it. Not knowing how deep the forest truly is, her plan is to head for the grove that she knows is there and then circle out from there. Anything obvious along the way will be given it's due attention.

Couth is at first reasonably tense, but the forest seems very familiar and he relaxes to happy alertness. It reminds Paige of Arden, of course, and the children. It seems to be the kind of place they'd be comfortable. The Ranger pulls out a notepad and begins making marks. It's not writing so much as shorthand.

Paige nods. "Wilderness rutter. Good idea. Most of my trading trips during the Interregum are in sketchbooks someplace." She pats the satchel at her side.

"Gotta have something for Sticks to lose." Couth replies. Looking up at the great trees towering above, the ranger makes a few more markings. It looks to Paige as if it's a well-established shorthand. "Do you think the King will let us name things here?," he asks.

"It's been said that he's a king of very little brain, so unless he's struck by inspiration or perhaps his wife, I think you'll have a fairly open hand," she chuckles.

Couth smiles.

After some time, they arrive at the clearing that Paige recalls, with the basin and the overhanging rock. There are two key features here that strike Paige. The first is a perfectly ordinary picnic basket lying on a red and white checked cloth.

Paige smiles, thinking of her cousin Hannah's story and then blanches...

The second is a very large griffon. The beast roars and it's all that Couth and Paige can do to contain their horses. If they aren't mastered, the horses would bolt. If the griffon is hungry, that may be a good idea.

Paige's legs clamp down on her steed's sides, her hand wrapping the reins tighter in her left hand. Once it's still, she hands the reins to Couth and slides off the side of the horse.

"Couth, draw back a little, someplace that the horses are quiet," she suggests.

Couth takes the horses and backs out of the clearing. "Don't do anything that'll get you kilt while I'm supposed to be protecting you. I'll be right back."

"Worried for me or my uncle's displeasure?" she chuckles softly, an odd moment for a smile.

"Calm down boy, we're friends," she greets the griffon in a calming tone. "I'm a friend of Hannah's and Fiona is my aunt." As Paige steps forward, her left hand is outstretched, her voice even. "Fiona with the red hair, like mine?"

The Griffon's leg is braced, and expertly bandaged. The beast still favors that leg, though, and seems thinner than she would expect. As she moves forward she notes that the pool seems to have fish in it now, unlike the previous time when she was the only life in it.

The Griffon spreads his wings and squawks at her approach. It doesn't seem to be angry, but perhaps afraid. Or else it doesn't want her coming around the boulder.

"OK, hungry? Is that it?" she asks. "I suppose we'll have to hunt you something before we're going to be friends, eh?" Paige stops her advance and waits a moment to see how the Griffon reacts to her just standing there.

When she stops advancing, the Griffon stops squawking, but he still has his wings spread.

She then backs up, returning from where she came. "Couth, we need an offering so I can get around that boulder and figure out what the bird's protecting. You catch any game options along the way?"

Couth is coming out of the woods, and Paige sees the horses tied to a low branch a good distance away. "I didn't see anything that would feed one of those. You know what the traditional food of Griffons is? Horses. Are you game to walk back?"

"It's not the walk back I'm worried about, it's the rest of our little reconnoiter that would suck on foot, but you have to admit, this is the most interesting thing we've found so far," she explains.

"What about something to just munch on? Capon, venison? Something more tasty than me," she chuckles. "Else, I suppose I can test the borders of the kingdom, but in this grove, I think I'm way too close to the center to fray the edges and find some wild horses."

Paige turns back toward the griffon and takes a few steps closer. "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello the grove!"

Paige takes a few steps and sees further around the high rock that overhangs the basin. It's clear that Wixer doesn't need to be fed. He's got some food. A body. Armed, and looking like he might be a soldier, but not of Amber. He's quite dead.

"Damn," she curses, again stepping closer, still watching her distance to Wixer. Can she identify any markings, clothing style, etc.? Armed? What sort of arms. Are we speaking of a sword and shield, a halberd, a bow? Or is he carrying long arms and a holstered pistol? Does anything suggest to her how he died?

Paige's Earth education would say he's from some sort of ancient culture. He has a spear, a helmet, and a shield. He's got some sort of plates of armor hanging at his waist and is wearing a breastplate. He's got dark, curly hair.

"Couth, look at this," she suggests. "Recognize him?"

"Ayup. He's 'a dead guy'. I seen lots of 'em. This one looks like some of the one's we've been fighting in Arden." He loosens his sword in its sheath and looks more alert. Paige thinks that he's worried that someone else may be watching them.

"Too much armor to be a hoplite if I remember, but maybe a veteran legionaire." Paige elaborates, "They were the guys in the rear rank that the younger skirmishers would rally around when pushed back. I'd love to get a closer look, but you're probably right, he shouldn't be here alone unless...

"Unless he got here like everyone else, he was drawn from Arden's screwed shadowpaths. I'd think that we'd see more spears about our winged friend over there if he had friends. We'll search the area anyway, I suppose.

"Back to the horses and we'll circle out from here, agreed?" she asks. "My uncle sent us to investigate, not solve all the mysteries right away, right?"

Couth looks likely to argue, and after a moment, he does. "Let's see if we can pick up his track. You have the Warden's gift for tracking people through your funny places?"

"I don't know if I have his gift, but yes, I could get us back to Arden from here if I needed to," she admits. "If you can find the spoor, I'll see what I can do."

The trail is reasonably obvious to both Paige and Couth and after about 20 minutes of careful riding, they arrive at the edge of a clearing. There is no fire, but Paige can see where one was. Three men is on blankets, and two blanket rolls are empty. The men are eating and speaking in low voices. They all look like the body that was back at the grove.

"Bedrolls for five, three eating, two unseen. I'd expect guard duty of some kind," she whispers, caution even if they're a veil away, because if the paths are moving, perhaps the other two aren't.

She loosens Jade Dawn in its sheath and tucks her split skirt bottoms into her boot tops. "They've a fire that we can't see from here, but it's there..." Paige points out the location in this clearing. "Men there, there and there, quiet conversation."

"We move into their view, give diplomacy a chance and if we hear a bowstring from their sentries or one of them draws, we end it quickly as possible," Paige directs. "I'd like a prisoner for questioning if we have that luxury, but it's not worth either of our lives.

"I know I'm not a field commander, but unless you have better suggestions I'll watch the seated men and you keep an eye out for the sentries?"

"Unless they got better woodsmen than I see, that won't be a problem, but it's good strategy, so we'll do it that way."

Paige steps through, letting Couth follow. She's lined it up so the three men are between her and the fire at about 10 yards. Her dao is in hand and at the ready.

"Hold your places in the name of King Random of Xanadu and state your purpose in the Royal Wood," she states in Thari, definitely loud enough for the three to hear and probably loud enough should there be sentries.

They shout at each other in strange, foreign tongues and reach for their weapons. They are stronger than she expects, but not so strong as to pose a serious challenge to Paige and Couth. In the end, only one is killed, and two are unconscious at Paige's feet.

"Well, not perfect," says Couth, "what do we do with 'em?"

"We tie them and figure out a way to talk, to better evaluate if there are more, if these are just scouts, or they're like everyone else here that just got caught in the pull of Xanadu's new gravity," she decides, even as she begins rummaging in her pack for rope to do said things.

"Strip them down and we'll go through their belongings after we know they're secure," she decides, beginning with one of the unconscious men. "We'll strip the other and use him in interrogations if we need to. Tie each one to a seperate tree facing away from the others once you've secured his ankles and wrists."

Couth nods and begins trussing the two living ones.

She strips and trusses the dead one, too, ensuring that the others won't have too good a view of him, leaving his vitality in question.

Once they're all wrapped up, she'll go through belongings to get a beginning. Anything in writing? Maps, pay chits, coins with writing? Does it lead her toward Thari or any number of Shadow Earth languages she might've aquired over a couple centuries? Her instinct is to look for the Romance languages, but she doesn't limit herself.

No written items, but coins with numbers and a face on them. Adonis' face.

Paige's cursing is Creole and probably as unintelligible to Couth as it is long. She washes her face with some water from a skin and them splashes one of the men with more of the same, trying to wake him.

She holds the coin in his face, asking "Adonis? Arcadia? Yes?"

"Adonis Adonai" he agrees, lapsing into a greek-like language that seems to also have quite a bit of Thari in it as well. As near as she or Couth can tell, Adonis is the father of his country.

"Damn might be literal for all I know," Paige spits. "Damn, I might've just killed family."

She tries to make herself understood in asking why they are here, she definitely doesn't mention that she's one of Adonis's consorts or cousins or that Adonis is... well... dead. They've come to the wrong source to pay respects... damnit.

"Why do you travel in these woods? How many men?" The interrogation continues until she gets satisfactory answers, including to the question of the man's own parentage. Paige goes slowly, doesn't try force or torture, but tries to work him emotionally as best she can read him.

The language barrier is difficult, but it's clear that they're lost. There are five of them. He doesn't know who his father is. They've fought monsters in the woods, just like at home.

"One with the griffon, three here, that leaves one missing," she mentions to Couth. Her focus with the prisoners is the nature of the beasts and why they attacked her.

They are really sorry they attacked her and want to know if she is a Goddess of these woods. They beg her forgiveness but claim to have been attacked by monsters with horns and teeth, like Gazellicorns, but much worse and feared that they were being attacked again. Two of their number are missing. Can she send them back to Arcadia? Or barring that, Safety?

She hedges, explaining that the paths to Arcadia are, as they've seen, unstable, but that she may find them Safety. She begins to admit to being the mother of Adonis's children and then catches herself, and brings the Pattern to her mind, looking for the Green's influence upon these men just as she saw it on Winter and the children, before continuing.

Nothing so blatant, but Paige never convinces herself that there's not some low level at which they are attached to the Green Influence.

For a woman that regularly wears her heart on her sleeve, the mask she presents is out of the ordinary. The face of disinterest she shows had been learned years ago for Cavalli's shows in Florence.

"What news of Arcadia?" she asks to cover her concentration.

"War, Oh Goddess of the Woods. The five cities fight and many adjudge those who fall into far realms the lucky ones, but new men and women come in still and join the fight. The very land convulses and some fear it is the final days."

Paige hears a branch snap in the woods and her prisoner looks up. Across the clearing, so does Couth.

A moment later a man wearing tattered leather bursts into the clearing, and barrels into Couth, knocking the older man down. He stands for a second over the ranger and looks hurt, confused, and in pain. It is, to Paige's experienced eyes, below the level of rationality.

But none of that disguises from Paige who the man is. Couth also looks up in shocked recognition.

Before a heartbeat, before she can react, he turns.

Sir Jovian, Knight Commander of the Order of the Ruby runs back into the forest. Paige is at the far side of the clearing but she could see it in his eyes.

Jovian has been driven insane.

Paige runs to her mount, leaping into the saddle and turning him toward Couth and pursuit of Jovian. She slows enough to speak to the Ranger as she passes. "Nothing tied to the Deep Green lives in these woods, understood? Finish those two, head from shoulders, and the same for the dead one. Deny the Dragon use of their bodies and then follow me."

And without a second thought, she's off after Jovian, hoping the horse will overcome him quickly enough.

Couth's words chase over her shoulder as she leaves the clearing. "My Lady, they've got to be burned! It what you do to the Bad Green." Paige suspects that he will take care of this gruesome task in her absence, but if she does not catch Jovian quickly, he will never be able to catch her.

"Do it!" she calls over her shoulder, sparing no moment to see if he hears or acknowledges her.

Over very short distances, humans are faster than horses. It takes a horse a number of steps to work up the speed to outpace a sprinter. Young scions of Amberites are faster than other people.

Paige rides into the unknown woods and presses inward, first hearing, then sighting the fleeing Jovian. He seems to take no notice of her, but moves almost like an animal, and one that does not care if it is tracked. Paige's horse is slowed by the woods, but not stopped. She is convinced that she will eventually catch up to Jovian, and he will be exhausted and she will not.

As she determines that, she senses that he is leaving the shadow, manipulating the stuff to go elsewhere. She can follow or stay in this place.

Paige follows without thought, spurring the horse on.

Jovian runs through the woods, changing things with no apparent goal. Paige can follow, but the lack of predictability slows her. Some of his changes seem to be changing things that she cannot see; she knows the power has been used, but she doesn't note what her cousin has changed.

Eventually, she notices that he seems to be moving deeper into the woods. Bleys has explained sinks to her, things that, if you do not try to avoid you will move towards. This may be one of those.

After a few more minutes, Jovian comes to the shore of a kidney shaped lake. He turns and runs back towards Paige, and back towards the deeper forest behind them.

Paige hates cornering him near a sink, as it'll attract others than just them, but it's the best opportunity he's given her. She turns her steed to cut across his path, having a good judge of his speed over the last few miles. When she's close enough, she launches herself from the saddle, calling his name, trying to force a moment of hesitation as she wraps him up.

Paige leaps from the horse and hits Jovian square in the gut with her shoulder. For all that it is the softest place on the man, there's nowhere he's soft at all. Jovian's years of physical activity in the Weyrs of Calusa have made him very solid.

Still sheer mass and the momentum from the leaping dismount overbalance him and the two end up in a heap in the mud, with Paige on top of Jovian.

Jovian blinks and there is no recognition in his eyes. He reminds her of the feral children she sometimes heard about on Shadow Earth. Or madmen. Jovian moves to get up, wordlessly.

A cool breeze rises off the lake and her horse whinnies nervously.

Paige places her hands on his shoulders and uses her leverage to pin him back to the ground. "Jovian," she says calmly. "Jovian, it's Paige. Let me help you.

"Where's Canareth? What's happening?" Her cadence is slowing as she speaks, trying to slow his heart rate. "I want to help."

When Paige mentions Canareth, Jovian roars. His body spasms and his head comes up into her chin. He is enormously strong and wild. Paige has seen drug overdose cases where people were like this.

Paige is thrown off her cousin and onto her back. She tastes coppery blood in her mouth, and feels loosened teeth. Jovian scrambles to his feet and takes off running, back into the woods. Right past the familiar-looking woman in the long white dress who is standing next to Paige's horse.

"Fuck this." Paige spits blood as she takes off after him. "You need to be knocked the fuck out, asshole." She pursues as quickly as she can, sparing as little attention as possible for the Lady of the Sink, but hoping that she's not presenting her back to an enemy. Screw it, if she is, she'll have to keep up.

When she's close enough to corner him again, she's looking to debilitate him. Unconscious would be good, but she's not going to clear steel on family, at least not this one. Somewhere she thinks that being involved in the death of two of Julian's sons isn't something she'll be able to write off. So, take his legs out, probably at the knee...

Paige runs past the Lady, reaching the forest's edge and plunging in after Jovian. Seconds after she enters she finds herself falling. An exposed tree root, one Paige knows she stepped over, has tripped her. She protects her injured face with her hands and starts to roll to her feet. From behind, a voice says "No. It's not safe for you."

"And deterring me isn't necessarily safe for you, Artemis," Paige replies, venom in her tone and fire in her eyes as she gains her feet, turning to face her children's grandmother.

"Tell me why."

Artemis strokes the horse's snout. "Why? Because the dragon lies in this woods, and you are near to gaining her attention. She would use you, if she took you, to get at your children."

Paige feels the mental push of a trump contact. Someone is trying to reach her, but she can't tell who.

Paige pushes back as best she can without looking like anything is distracting her. "Sorry, no one home," she projects. "Call later." She knows the messages won't go through without opening the contact, but it doesn't change the terms in which she's thinking.

"Of course, the grass is always browner," Paige sighs. "And what of you? I can't bring myself to believe your motivations to be all that altruistic. You don't care for me, just for keeping a tool out of your mother's hands.

"I suppose, as family, we'll never truly close Xanadu's forests to you, but I can promise that you won't be welcomed if I have any say in the matter. Unless something's changed," Paige says.

"Would you plead your own case, with lips that aren't my children's?"

She shrugs. "Isn't it enough to keep a tool out of her hands? I allied with the Warden, and we created a jail for my mother. My son thought highly of you, and now he is dead. If we have the same foe, would it not be wise to help each other?"

"Your son was flawed, weak. He chose to die for his children instead of live. He sought to pass his burdens on to me, not only for my children, but for all of his," she says with a even tone.

"But, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" The redhead's eyes meet Artemis's, looking for something in the woman's demeanor that would offer insight, plumbing the depths behind those windows."Seems a little naive for a goddess.

"One supposes I'd be remiss if I didn't listen to your proposal, so..."

"I had no more ambition than to prevent you from doing something foolish, oh semi-mortal. However I shall take the opportunity to offer a proposition. Let my grandchildren become the god and goddess they were born to be, have the forest men of Prince Julian join with my followers in war and we can suppress my sister's rebellion and return my mother to dormancy. Brook and Leaf will be as free as only Gods are, as free as Daeon and Dione. Free to be a part of the city of order if they choose it."

Paige openly bites back comments on how much freedom Artemis allowed Adonis... Daeon... whatever Julian's son was to call himself. A 'J' name he had suggested, to embody the Everyman. Jackass, perhaps.

She pauses and takes a deep breath. "If you cannot accept, at least agree to carry my offer to Julian, my onetime husband. We can renew the old bargain." She seems quite interested in this.

"With that freedom, what do they gain to help resist your mother? To ensure they keep that freedom?"

Artemis says, "An she is returned to dormancy, they need not worry about her. It you do not shift the universe again, she will stay dormant. This I need my one-time husband's help for."

"I can speak to him, but not for him," Paige reminds the goddess. "As to universal shifts, they're not part of my portfolio, so I offer no promises. I worry that things aren't settled enough yet to ensure imprisonment.

"What are the drawbacks of a permanent solution?"

"They are far outweighed by the advantages, which start with no more war and no mother trying to free herself. You mentioned Adonis' children. If there's no compromise, they all die. They'll either die because of something Julian does that unmakes my home or they'll die because my mother does."

"All?"

"They have been drawn home, and if our home dies, so do they." She purses her lips and continues.

"I don't know if my sisters and I would survive, but that's not as important as preventing the death of everyone."

She looks at Paige, pleading with her eyes. "Prince Julian saw that once, and agreed to help me stop that ending. I need you to remind him and convince him to do so again."

"I..." Paige seems uncertain and again is trying to read the godess's body language, the tone in her voice, anything that might support her plea, something that will let the rehead believe her.

"I can try to reach him," she offers.

"Thank you," she says simply. "He may speak to me in any woods and I will come to him."

Paige nods. "I still... you claim all of Adonis's children will suffer if your mother dies. What of my children?"

Artemis looks grim. "Their harm is less, both because they are more and because they will not be in my home when it is destroyed. They will live, with a hole in their souls where the role they were born to fill calls to them and they cannot answer. The children who live here will die or become unmade."

Paige notices again the telltale signs of a trump contact.

Paige nods her understanding. "My kin call to me," she explains. "I must answer their magics. Perhaps they might help me find your one-time husband."

Not turning her back to Artemis, she accepts the call, all senses that aren't focussed on the Trump as alert as possible. "Who calls?" she asks.

"Paige. It's Garrett," he says hastily. "Jovian just tore out of the infirmary. He jumped off the..." His eyes narrow as he notices her muddy clothes and bloody lip. "What the... What happened to you?" he exclaims.

"I chased Jovian through Shadow into Arcadia where he's running to the Dragon in his madness," she explains a little curtly. "I'm currently speaking with the Artemis, Adonis's mother.

"If you'd see the horse back to Xanadu, I'd appreciate it," Paige says to the goddess. "I go to carry your request."

She extends a hand to Garrett, the look in her eyes suggesting sooner is better than later.

Garrett quickly holds out his hand.

Paige takes his hand and gets the heck out of Arcadia.

Paige materializes in Folly's sitting-room. "Oh, sweetie, are you okay?" Folly asks when she sees the bruising and the traces of blood around Paige's chin and mouth. "Here, let me get you a compress...." She bustles off to the bathroom and returns a moment later with a cool, damp cloth.

Paige takes the cloth and fairly certain that the bleeding has stopped, uses it more to clean herself off than as a compress. She smiles thanks to Folly and the smile broadens after a quick glance to the singer's mid-section.

Turning back to the Princes, the smile evaporates. "The wood above is still tied closely enough to Arcadia that we can't have people settling there. Couth and I encountered three live men, hoplites, with ties to Arcadia, perhaps cousins even to the twins. A fourth we had already found dead in the Grove along with Hannah's picnic blanket and a griffon. He'll have to be burned as well to cleanse the taint of Deep Green," she notes. "The fourth, not the griffin. We'll need some meat for the griffon, maybe a horse or two that have seen their last days." There's a momentary flicker in her eye, perhaps sorrow for Garrett's sensibilities, but it's gone as soon as she continues. "On interrogation the Arcadians claim they lost another man, we'll want to find him before The Dragon attempts another foray, this time into Xanadu.

"Jovian ran through the clearing where I was interrogating the Arcadians and while Couth eliminated the taint I gave chase. We fought as he was drawn to a kidney shaped lake, a sink of Arcadia where he gave me this. When I tried to follow Artemis tripped me up, claiming that Jovian was being drawn to The Dragon and I would be foolish to follow. Some discussion followed on the consequneces of slaying the Dragon as opposed to imprisoning it and then you," she nods to Garrett, "interrupted and got me the hell out of there.

"So someone assure me that the twins are alright. Artemis claims all of Adonis's other children have been called home," Paige looks worried. "After that, I need to get back to Couth. Can I hope that one of you can carry most of this to the King?"

Martin nods. "Garrett, check on the twins. Folly, grab some food when it arrives and run this to Dad. You're picking up Couth?" His blade is already in his hand. "I'll come with you. If there's Deep Green running around, I don't want you going up there alone."

There's a knock on the door just then.

Paige opens her mouth to protest and closes it just as quickly, knowing that he's right.

Garrett opens the door and waves the servant in, indicating a table to place the food on. He returns to Folly's side, concerned about what must be going through her mind considering everything he's heard about the Deep Green.

He turns to Paige. "I'm sure they're fine. Jovian was the only strange thing that flew through here, far as I know," Garrett assures her, placing her trump in his shirt pocket for later use.

Paige nods and offers a tentative smile. She's fairly certain that the children are fine, too. Artemis had been under the impression that they weren't in Arcadia.

As he prepares to leave, he grips Folly's shoulder supportively. "Do you want to wait with me in the studio after you talk to Father?" he asks helpfully.

Folly lays her hand over his in gratitude. "I'll head down there when I'm done, yeah. Now, where did you leave your father?"

[Response from Garrett or Martin]

Folly turns to Martin and Paige. "You two be careful, okay?"

"Going to retrieve a Ranger whose only duty was cremating bound captives should be nothing compared to deciding what we're going to do about Jovian," Paige answers reassuringly.

Looking at Martin as she heads for the door, "I suppose someone can fill me in on how he lost his mind and where his lizardy friend is?"

As Martin holds the door, scanning the hallway, he replies. "The dragon's dead. That's probably why he went mad."

[Exuent Paige, followed by a Martin. See the new thread for that...]