Just Dessert

Hannah decides, since she has a confirmation and she'd rather wait a bit and see if Edan comes back rather than try to talk over trump, that work is the best cure for anxiety.

Vialle has been high up that list for some time, and it is at her door Hannah knocks. She's even brought along her kit, though she doesn't expect to need it.

Ember, Vialle's secretary, opens the door. "Yes?" It takes her a moment to recognize Hannah, "Ah, Lady Hannah. I didn't know you were coming to see the Queen." She smiles broadly. "Come in, come in." And she turns into the room, which has a balcony overlooking the sea, calling loudly to Vialle as she ushers Hannah inside. "My lady, your niece, the Lady Hannah, has come. Shall I send for salt tea?"

Vialle is out on the balcony, enjoying the sea air.

Hannah leaves the question for Vialle to answer but comes through to the threshold of the balcony. "I'm sorry to drop in, but I hoped to see you, and I owe you an apology for my past negligence in attendance, your Majesty. I am sorry."

Vialle gestures to Hannah, having located her by the sound of her voice. "It is of no moment. You're here now. How are you? Please, join me." She raises her voice so that Ember can hear her clearly. "Please send for the salt tea, and anything that Hannah wishes."

"Salt tea would be just the thing right now, thank you," Hannah adds. She moves and sits next to Vialle. "I'm well, most days. I feel like I've had adventures enough for now, but Edan has me half convinced there will be Moonriders to deal too soon for my liking. Events move in cycles, don't they? I don't really understand their time-traveling abilities at all. I mislike it all, to say the least." She sighs. "I've been worried about you."

Vialle cocks her head toward Hannah in a gesture that Hannah feels is sort of an "I'm listening" nod. "It's kind of you to be concerned, but I am well enough. My bad dreams have subsided somewhat. I know that there are many other concerns confronting us all.

"I had not heard that there were Moonriders in the offing. I should mislike that as well, if I were you," Vialle adds, in a clear invitation to continue in that vein. Behind Hannah, Ember has stepped out to fetch a page to send for the salt tea.

Paige raises the Trump of her uncle to eye level. The blue-black hair, the piercing green eyes. He has that stoic, almost iconic presence. And why shouldn't he, a scion of Amber and a master of a new Pattern. She wonders if he's continued the monochromatic color scheme in Paris, someplace that might be attractive in the old talkies, but always screamed of more life in her Shadow home.

"Your Majesty?" she probes.

There is a fairly quick response. Corwin appears to be somewhere on the grounds of the Louvre, strolling either by himself or with someone he's not touching. "Who calls?" he asks.

"Tis Paige, Uncle," she answers. She's seated indoors, a yellowing tint of light suggesting electricity filling the room. Her red hair is short, still reluctant to grow since her impulsive acts in the spirit realm. She's dressed comfortably in a hunter green riding jacket with gold accents. A cream colored blouse beneath shows its ruffles and almost matches the cream color of her split skirts.

"What news is there?" he asks.

"Of which Kingdom would you hear? Brociliande is as quiet as could be expected with the influx of refugees from Arcadia. Xanadu has her own growing pains, but as to family? I've been out of touch with my duties and my children. Save a pub crawl which uncovered only half the prey, sadly not family, we hunted, life has been almost quiet in Xanadu." Her smile is mischevious.

"What I've been hoping for is a good tobacconist, and one supposes that you've one hidden someplace in that new anchor of reality you call Paris. Something that will taste better than menthols in a dungeon, perhaps?"

"Your cousin Lucas had a man he used; he supplies the Louvre on occasion." Corwin moves to offer Paige his hand. "Do you mean to come through?"

"If it is allowable. I've yet to see your new world," she says, extending a hand, nails neatly trimmed short with a clear varnish. Her hands are beginning to build callouses that suggest more riding and more swordplay.

"One supposes that anyplace called Paris would have some of the finest boutiques," she adds. "Perhaps I'll do some shopping."

Corwin takes the hand and draws her through. "Welcome to Paris. There's quite a bit of shopping to be done, though I believe the couturier will want to take your measurements and design to measure based on the season's fashions. That's what Felicity and Flora tell me, anyhow."

"I look forward to it," she answers genuinely.

They're standing on the lawn and Corwin is in fact in company. He has two men that Paige doesn't immediately recognize walking with him. "Paige, this is Lance, my Captain of the Guard and Bill Roth, my attorney. Gentlemen, this is my niece, the Lady Paige of Amber."

Paige's smile thins ever so much as she unconsciously slips from the face she reserves for family into that of a courtier. Still holding her uncle's hand, she dips a modest curtsy, her appraising quietly. "Gentlemen, a pleasure to meet you."

Lance bows deeply to her; Bill Roth nods politely and says, "A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He has the accent of Shadow Earth.

Corwin relinquishes Paige's hand and claps. A young lad comes sprinting out of the hedges to tend on the King. "The Lady my niece will be staying with us. Ask Lady Alice to arrange a room for her and have clothes for dinner brought for her."

"I'll do that, Corwin," Bill says. "Alice is my wife," he adds for Paige's benefit. He catches Lance's eyes and gives a quick tilt of his head that Paige has no trouble interpreting as let's get out of here to the Captain.

Requisitioning horses. Supplies. Equipment. Some time at the forge.

Signy sighs quietly, before squaring her shoulders and accepting that everything is ready, and was probably ready a while ago, and this is just delaying the inevitable conversation that needs to take place for this journey to properly begin.

She makes her way over to the Navy's offices in Xanadu, to one office in particular. She doesn't hesitate as she raises her hand and swiftly raps twice on the door.

Idly, she wonders if this office resembles the one in Amber that Caine almost killed her in.

It does, although mostly in contents. Caine was in Amber, which had offices for the Navy both in the Castle and in the Port. Random's Navy doesn't have quite the collection of ancient buildings that Amber does.

"Enter" says a voice from within. The room is pooly lit, which seems to be purposeful rather than accidental.

Signy steps in, and as her eyes attempt to adjust to the darkness she squints in the general direction of whomever seems to be closest to her in the room.

"Uncle?"

"Not unless Mother was very confused.", replies her brother. He leans forward into the light and she sees Marius, looking better than he has in recent weeks. "I'm helping the King down here these days." His smile seems tired, but genuine.

The tension that Signy had in her shoulders releases, and she offers her brother an impish grin.

"You look a lot better then the last time I saw you," she notes.

He smiles. "I am better. Tropical climates suit me."

"I was looking for Uncle Caine because I want to head out and take Brother Tomat with me, and need to clear it with him first."

His smile disappears. "Isn't he an agent of those weird monk people?"

Signy shakes her head stubbornly.

"No. He broke with them when the two of you fled."

She avoids looking at him for a moment.

"Or did he say or do something to make you think otherwise when you were coming to the Tower?"

His lips tighten. "You weren't raised around Amber people. Monks ... well they've all got divided loyalties. Oaths to non-existant higher powers and secrets, and they can always convince themselves that whatever betrayal or injustice they're committing is for the greater good, and probably good for you, too. There's some of 'em that aren't like that, probably most, really. But they get together in groups and they're nothing but trouble. I've seen shadows all over the double dozen seas and the ones that were the most miserable had religions at the top.

"And monks who seek out Amber, and specifically us?" he asks. "Bad news," he says, slowly.

Signy's shoulders tense slightly, resisting her brother's words.

"So you think he's still loyal to his order?"

"I think he's--something--with you, but that doesn't mean he's loyal. To you or to them," Marius clarifies.

Signy looks at Marius, doubt clear on her face. "So if he's not loyal to either, then who is he loyal to?"

For the moment, she doesn't pick up the gauntlet in the first sentence.

"That's easy," Marius says. "Himself." And apparently he doesn't want to have that discussion either, because he moves on to the next topic, which is, "I can lend you a trump of Uncle Caine, but I would think if you're here in Xanadu, and particularly if he is too, you could just ask Uncle Random. His writ overrunneth, as it were. And he's a bit less inclined toward suspicion than Uncle Caine." Or, apparently, Marius himself.

"You said you wanted to head out," Marius continues, changing the subject further away. "Where are you going? Have you decided?"

Signy tries to picture Brother Tomat as being such a mercenary. "To trade his position in the Order to one where he had no home, and go to a place where he knew he would be regarded with suspicion doesn't seem to be the smart move, by that reasoning."

She shrugs at the second half of his question. "I had wanted to spend more time at the Tree then I got to previously, so I was thinking to go there by way of Rebma. I met Celina briefly, and she was a friendly face when I was still trying to get my feet on solid ground. It would be nice to see her again."

"Rebma's not the best place to go to get your feet on solid ground," Marius tells her with a sharp-toothed grin and waggling eyebrows. "The women there are treacherous and lovely. I'm sure the new Queen is an exception," he adds out of deference to Signy's praise of her. "And a trip below the waters is certain to be educational, as far as the family game goes. You'll be taking your men-at-arms, then? You'll fit right in."

Signy gives him an arch glance.

"What's so significant about bringing some companions?" She pauses briefly, before adding "and are there a lot of other family members in Rebma, that has everyone playing 'the game' down there?"

"Rebma is ruled by women, so they'll like that you bring a train of men in your service." Marius ponders who is there, and comes up with, "Celina is queen there now, of course, but Aunt Llewella is a power, always." He draws out his trump deck and shuffles out a card showing Aunt Llewella with her green hair and green-tinged skin. "I don't know who else is there presently, but there are always one or two hangers-on from our generation, much as you and I are here at the moment.

"I imagine Moire is elsewhere and so is her elder daughter. I believe her younger is still here in Xanadu, and has not been offered a chance to return home."

Signy nods along with her brother's crash course in Rebman politics.

"I guess that my relationship with our Father is not so unusual for this Family," she notes.

"Not at all," Marius agrees. "Nor is your relationship with our mother, nor the lack thereof." He says this with a sharp smile. "Parenting arrangements in our mother's generation were frequently difficult." There is no further elaboration on that.

[OK to summarise the talk with Random and just assume he lets her take Tomat with her?]

[Yes. As long as she's willing to accept responsibility for what Tomat does, Random is willing to allow her to take him with. Just don't let him blow up the universe or anything. Random says "Sure, on a 'you're responsible for cleaning up his messes' basis, and if he really messes up, I won't stop Caine from dealing with him 'for the Good of Amber', so impress on him the advantages of being like Caesar's wife."]

An invitation arrives via page, summoning Robin and Vere to the terrace outside Xanadu for dessert with Random and Vialle.

The page waits for a reply, or to lead the two to the King.

"I see no cause for delay, beloved," Vere says to Robin. "Shall we go?"

"Yep." Worry makes for a laconic and brisk Robin. She rises, flashes a brief smile at Vere, flutters her hands for a moment, then heads for the hallway. Then spins on her heel for a kiss and a hug. Then off again - together.

The page leads them to the terrace outside the castle, overlooking the pool between the two waterfalls. The water is always moving in it, and there are whitecaps at both ends.

Random gestures them to join him at a table, where Vialle is sitting.

"Welcome back!," he says to Vere. "Try the chocolate dipped tangerines. The cooks are very pleased with themselves over them."

Vialle is turning her head slightly to and fro, perhaps trying to figure out who her husband has greeted.

"Thank you, Uncle," Vere replies. "It is very good to be back ... home." His head tilts a little as he says that last word, and his eyes meet Robin's.

Robin’s head bobs as she meets Vere’s gaze with a smile. Yep, Xanadu it is – for better or worse. Eeeek!

“Your Majesties.” Robin nods to the monarchs. There’s a brief pause while she figures it out and then she seats herself. She accepts Vere’s assistance if it is offered but if it’s not, she’s fully capable of wrangling a chair on her own.

"That's us," agrees Random. "I got your request for an audience. Did you mean "an audience" or "An Audience"?

Vialle appears to have been about to say something, perhaps a pleasantry, but Random overrides her with his question, and she falls silent.

"Perhaps," Vere says carefully, "It would best be described as a request for a private meeting with our dear aunt and uncle, to discuss matters that might be of concern to The King?"

He ends that as a question, and his eyes seek Robin again.

Wow! Robin’s eyebrow go up. What a good answer! Her man can certainly talk.

She squirms a little in her seat as she realizes she is delaying.

“Yes. I realize that I have screwed up the communication thing again, but Vere and I think we may have come up with a solution.”

"Screwing up is the second best way of learning something," replies the King. "I learn lots that way, all the time." His chair swivels, and he turns it so he can see both the young couple and the waterfall. "So, what's up, neice and nephew?"

Vere sits then, and tries one of the chocolate dipped tangerines. He makes an appreciative sound at the taste, but his eyes are on Robin.

"Okay." Robin takes a deep breath. "I practiced this so I should be able to get it right...

"My uncle and sovereign, I was... injured in the last war. And the results of that injury occasionally distort my sense of passing time. This makes me -- much to my regret -- somewhat unreliable for long term missions or timely communications. Like the Gateway thing. Or the Paris thing." She frowns sadly.

"So far, it hasn't interfered with either my desire to serve the Crown. Or for short-term missions.

"Since I still very much want to serve Xanadu and her monarchy, I've asked Vere if he can help me compensate. When we've worked together in the past, he's proven facile at recognizing emergent symptoms and applying effective counter-measures.

"I know that it's a lot to ask to take Vere off of rotation and assign him to accompanying me. But he's said that he's currently off-duty and willing to help..."

There's a pause. Then Robin mutters under her breath, "Closure. Closure.

"Therefore," she picks back up again, "I respectfully ask that we be allowed to work together on any future tasks the Crown may need of us."

Random listens, his face contorting through several expressions. Eventually he says "Do either of you have a musical instrument on you?"

[OOC: If the response is affirmative, the king continues...]

"Play for me."

Vere grins at that, and says, "I am an instrument, Uncle." He throws his head back and cries out, with the scream of a hunting hawk, then launches into a wordless song, his voice ringing out in the sounds of pride and joy, primal notes of an almost animalistic delight in the here and now, but somehow incomplete. His eyes meet Robin's and his smile grows wider.

At Vere's opening sally, Robin's brows rise in delight and surprise. For a few beats, she listens with glowing eyes. With a grin of her own, she nods and raises the ocarina to her lips.

The notes that follow are perhaps some of the most intricate and measured that have ever emerged from Robin. Weaving under the wildness of Vere's voice, Robin's music is that of beautiful and intricate connectedness; everything touches, everything interacts, everything dances together. And yet, and yet -- so detailed it slips away. So majestic, it overwhelms. So... much. That's when her eyes meet Vere's.

Vialle smiles at the music Vere and Robin have created together, clapping her hands in pleasure.

Random listens for a moment. "Good. Now Robin alone."

Vere swirls a final few notes around Robin's ordered music, then lets it fade away. He smiles again as he watches her.

Robin's heart thumps hard in her chest; playing for the King, playing for Random. For a moment darkness swirls behind her eyes, but the girl forces it away. She is not going to let phantom fears lose the opportunities her Father and Vere have gained for her.

Instead, Robin blends that darkness into her melody. Intricate fugues and complex fantasias grow strange and odd. Robin's music begins to shudder and jerk. The very intricacy of the piece seems to become too much for the musician. It's rushing either beyond her ability or to the just plain impossible. The measures quicken too; becoming frenetic, panicked. Eventually the strain becomes too much. Robin's aire shatters with screech.

Robin breathes the next few phrases, continuing on despite the silence with a caught breath, a quiet mew of confusion and slow searching pants.

After a while, she plays a long, quiet note from the ocarina; hushed, hiding, fearful and hurt. Slowly, the music struggles to rebuild as Robin blends in anthems of Amber & Arden. (Not actual songs per se, but what she Heard when she was in those Places at their height.) But the tune is faltering and failing.

A single clarion tone emerges from Robin's ocarina; cold and clear - Julian's hunting horn. Robin's melody struggles toward it. As the horn tone grows stronger, so too does Robin's song; until it is, at least, limping along under its own power. Still tentative, still fearful, but growing.

Then another harmony drifts in; surprising and new. Robin's melody takes on a component of the sea. In her music, waves move back and forth in blending, intricate patterns; measured, calm, sparkling with light, repeating, changing and endlessly beautiful. Robin's aire gains more strength until her music is no longer limping. It's still hurting, still fractured but shape is forming in her tune. And structure.

A third melody blends in; the 'anthems' of Xanadu (what Robin Hears when she Listens to the vibrant and developing Realm.) This tune is very new -- and very different -- from the measures that the melody was reaching for before. And... soooo difficult.

Random hears this melody and immediately joins in, tapping out a rhythm on the table in front of him. It supports and reinforces the Xanadu melody, giving her a foundation to play against. It both emphasizes the Xanadu melody and gives her more freedom to improvise in the other strands.

The three new cadences -- horn, sea and Xanadu -- swirl around the original melody: sometimes clashing, sometimes supporting. It's a weird, wild mix: growing toward something better. But it will take time. And effort. However, the notes of hope and growing strength beginning to appear within the melody hint that it's worth it.

While her song is still incomplete, Robin simply stops. And lowers the ocarina.

She smiles to Vere.

He nods, eyes shining.

Then meets Random's eyes with a one shoulder shrug. Yeah. That's the way it is.

Random grins back, seeming genuinely pleased. "Good. So, what did we learn? First your immediate sense of timing is strong, you can't do music without time working for you. Otherwise, it'd all just be pink noise. Second, I really need to get Soren to invent a pink noise generator."

Robin's eyes spark briefly. A pink noise generator -- now that's a project!

"Third, given that after you managed to get started you did fine, I'm wondering if you have a confidence problem more than anything else. If so, Doctor Random's advice is to find somewhere you can get laid repeatedly, and wear yourself out."

Vere blinks, then regains his control.

Robin nods to both the diagnosis and the prognosis, but shrugs one-shoulder again. Doing what she can.

Vialle starts to say something but Random continues, overriding her.

"And speaking of which, I have a question for Vere." He turns to the younger man. "Some people don't put much faith in oaths, but for people from a background where they are binding, they can be really powerful. Magic is powerful stuff and sometimes it works on the letter of the word and sometimes the spirit of it. Aren't you worried that you're going to de facto violate your oath to your father with Robin, even if you don't say the words?"

Vere nods. "An excellent question, Uncle, and one that I have thought about." He shrugs. "The fact is, I love Robin, and that is that. If the oath interprets 'lover' to mean 'one I love,' then there is nothing I can do about that. But it is not what I meant when I made the oath, and I must believe that counts for something. Robin and I are ... limited ... in expressing our love. It seems to me that is a sufficient payment and sacrifice, until I can fulfil the terms of the oath. Separation would serve no additional purpose, save to add misery to what was intended to be a noble sacrifice." He laughs, slightly. "I was so much younger then, you see."

Robin keeps quiet. Yes, she's worried. But yes, she also trusts Vere on this issue.

"I'm an anti-misery kind of King, so you two have that in your favor. But I'm also King, which means I've got a lot of responsibility to do the right thing, even when it's not the fun thing. Take my advice, and skip the King job."

"So here's the thing. I'm not going to say 'no', but I'm not going to say 'yes', either. I can't tell you that sometime down the road, in the infinite future, I won't suddenly need someone who talks to flying lizards in one place and someone who talks to Gerard in another at the same time. My son got himself married and I won't promise him that he gets to spend all his time holed up in love nests. I reserve the right to need you both."

He takes a deep breath. "For now, it's fine. In the future, you can ask. But we're only a few months into this. Most things are ad hoc. A lot of what happens starts with 'hey we need to do something, who can do it?' The down side of that is that once we figure out what works, the window of opportunity to set your own role as broadly as you might if you could fire on all jets now. You do know what jets are? Nevermind, not important.

Random turns to Vere. "Now this is important. As your Uncle, I want you to think deeply on this. We both want Robin to recover from the trauma she described and played for us, right? So you have to make sure that your presence isn't a crutch that she leans on that keeps her from getting better. Can you do that?"

Vere takes Robin's hand as he answers Random. "I have thought about that, Uncle. I hope that I can, but I know that I might be too close to the situation to..." he glances at the Queen and changes what he was about to say, "perceive things clearly. I hope that you will tell me if you think I am impeding her recovery. Both of you. Aunt, you have always had a sensitivity to relationships that I admire."

Random looks over at Vialle as if he'd forgotten she was there. After a second, he smiles.

Vialle cannot see this gesture, of course, and smiles at Vere's kind words. But she does reach out with one hand toward Random, who takes hers and pats it absentmindedly.

Robin nods her agreement and struggles back to the word-place. "I'm watching out for that too. Have some guards in place already. Will probably figure out other stuff as we go along."

Random nods, apparently happy with the responses. "Great! Anything else you cats need? While we're talking uncle to nephew and niece? I don't know why there isn't a word in Thari for both of you together. Do you think 'Nibling' would work? Sort of a riff on sibling, but for the nth generation."

"We did want to ask permission to build a home. Perhaps on the other side of the mountain, if that is acceptable." Vere tilts his head to one side. "Does the mountain have a name, by the way? No one has been able to tell me."

Robin finds herself giggling at 'Nibling' and struggles to maintain her tough but damaged Ranger face as she waits on her uncle's thoughts.

Random shrugs. "It does. Mount Abora. It means 'Dulcimer' in Old Texoran. Back of the mountain is off-limits, but you can be on the side, as long as you can see the sea. Xanadu is a sea-port and will, as long as I am King, be focused on the sea."

Vere smiles at Robin. "I certainly have no objections to our home having a view of the sea," he says. "I am a child of ocean and forest equally."

Robin nods in agreement. "A slip for the Psyche would be nice."

Random shrugs. "A deep water wet slip requires a bunch of infrastructure we don't have, like significant docks. We're still using longboats to ferry goods to the larger deepwater ships. If you want to build the docks, I'm sure you'd get takers for slips and such. There would be royal patronage for such a project."

Vere nods. "Definitely a consideration for the future," he says. "But let us not get too far ahead of ourselves. We still have some matters to take care of in the immediate future, before we can devote ourselves to a large scale project such as this. Thank you for the permission to build, Uncle. It is greatly appreciated."

Random waves at him. "You have permission to submit plans, which I am likely to approve if they don't do anything I don't want. I mean, what if you were to put up 30 foot tall white letters that spelled out 'The King Is A Fink" and you spelled my name wrong? There are obvious things to avoid. No large-scale clearing, no farming, no setting up a combination monastery/nunnery. Think 'Charming house on the outskirts of town, rather than grim mountain redoubt from which to immanentize the eschaton."

Vere smiles. "We shall keep that in mind," he assures his uncle with a smile. He turns to Robin and says sadly, "Alas, the training camp for a legion of manticore-riding trolls wielding lightning rods is right out."

Robin fluffs 'grumpily' and wrinkles her nose. "Not a legion, just a detachment..," she mutters to herself. Then she grins to her love and to her King.

"Thank you, Majesty. I... well, just thank you." The girl bobs her head.

Randoms waves his hand. "Raise your troops in shadow, it's the traditional way. Good practice for me asking you to go raise troops in shadow. Manticore riding trolls, eh? Trolls regenerate, but manticores sting riders to death. Sounds like a perpetual motion machine."

Vere laughs. "I do like the idea of working on building the docks, eventually. It ties in well with what I did during the Regency, and I have ties with the Navy that would prove useful." He looks at Robin, then back at his Uncle. "I take it, though, that you are saying that you do not have anything pressing that you need us to handle, and that we are free to pursue our own matter for the time being?" He looks back at Robin, and raises an eyebrow.

Robin nods her agreement. She's not going to add anything else to the pile right now.

Random moves his head back and forth, as if he can rearrange the words in it that way to find the ones he wants. "We had a whole meeting on this. People volunteered and stuff. There's things to do, and it's sort of a question of are you a do-er or not?"

The king stands up. "I'm not going to give you indefinite leave from keeping us from lurching into a disaster, but if you need to absent yourselves from felicity for a short while, I require that you be reachable in case of urgent matters. You may go."

It's not completely clear if that's a dismissal from dessert or Xanadu.

Vere stands as well. "Thank you, Your Majesty," he says, with a small bow. "I understand."

Robin bounces up. "Won't disappear. Won't leave you in a lurch. Will go." She nods. "Thank you, again."

And with that, she turns and strides out.

Vere bows to the king, once more, turns to his aunt and says, "Thank you, Aunt. I look forward to having a longer conversation with you in the near future," and follows Robin.