Apologies and Queries

The afternoon of the day of the Rebman embassy's arrival, Aisling writes a note to Jerod. Then she sets it aside, to return to later with what added wisdom an hour or so may bring.

When she returns, it is with a hand quick to strike out chunks, those not written quite with nobility. She reforms the remaining bits, writes them down fresh, and while the ink dries, she orders a pot of tea to her room.

The draft letter, she burns into ash. She mixes the ash into the teapot, and drinks the resulting tea whilst working on her other correspondence.

She swirls the small amount of tea remaining in her cup thrice, sunwise, with her hand (and is once more momentarily amused; how appropriate that her only hand is her left), and deftly flips it over on the saucer. After letting it drain, she reads the leaves and ashes...

The letter she sends reads:

To Prince Jerod, from Dame Aisling,

Greetings.

I apologize for losing my temper during the course of our talk these few days past.

I have today spoken with your sister Lady Cambina on the matter. I feel I should clarify to you my part in Amber's troubles: to the very best of my analysis, I did not see that the information I gathered affected the course of the war between Chaos and Amber at all.

I am pleased that you have been reunited with your sister Lady Valeria, and hope the reunion brings you joy.

Aisling

Jerod reads the message after returning from his visit with his sister. He frowns momentarily as he reads the contents, puzzling as to their meaning and why she was mentioning her role as a spy.

However, in the end he shrugs, makes a mental note of the contents to obtain clarification in the future and then, like all his mail, consigns it to a flame.

[assuming [Ossian's note about needing another Trump sketch of Conner] arrived sometime on day 11 after the return, before Brita returns from the Rebman Embassy fiasco.]

Brita practically storms back into the Post 8 command building. She rips off her formal jacket and slings it across the room. That felt better. She goes a little more calmly to sift through the paperwork that has been piled on her desk. She smiles a little on receiving the note. She already has two sketches of Conner, but more cannot hurt. She goes to her quarters and pulls out her paints. She sits for a while on the cot, staring at the wall and envisioning her brother in his formal dress as she saw him today. Regal. Honorable. Loyal. She dips the brush in a deep blue and begins...

Aisling writes out a letter to Conner in the afternoon, following the splash made by the Rebman embassy, and has it sent down to his quarters in the Naval.

From Aisling, to Conner,

Greetings.

The clashing, this morning, of sparkling icebergs of state was breathtaking to see; and yet, I find it somewhat out of keeping with the current season. I admit I am also concerned with what ships may be caught in the area. Plainly, Conner, I was much impressed by your organization of the medical area at Heather Vale, and would regret seeing you inconvenienced. If there is some small thing I can do to aid you or yours, I should be honored if you would alert me to it.

Aisling

A return note is sent later that day.

Dear A,

For moment I am moored in a safe harbor and have to wait out the storm or plan how to ride it out. Skilled navigators are always welcome on such a journey. Call on me this evening for dinner or drinks and we shall discuss it.

C

Aisling is surprised at this, but determines she has enough time to get there if she hurries; whereupon she changes into something appropriate, with a heavy cloak to keep out the chill air of the spring evening, and flits down to Amber City with the speed of the falcon.

She presents herself at the Naval in her most familiar form and asks after Conner.

A midshipman nods to her and conducts her up to Conner's office. He smiles as she enters. "Greetings Aisling. Glad you could join me."

"I'm honored to be invited," she replies with a smile.

"Yours were the first words of support I have recieved that didn't come from my immediate family." Conner smiles. "They were appreciated. Drink?" He asks walking towards his bar.

"White wine, please. I suspect your immediate family has enough skill to handle anything short of open war with Rebma... And even that..." she grins.

"I get the feeling if Mother put her mind to it, Rebma could sink farther beneath the sea than it is." He chuckles pouring two glasses of white wine and handing her one.

She smiles in thanks.

"Still I'd rather have my name cleared than the matter dropped for fear of retribution."

Aisling nods thoughtfully. "What happened as you left Rebma?" she asks. "I've heard little more than that you appeared by some non-stair method."

"Well here's the short version." Conner smiles. "I was given the task of investigating a break-in at Llewella's townhouse. The Rebman investigation was headed by Sir Montage and Bend, two royal troubleshooters who incidently were part of Valeria's entourage. During the course of the investigation, I was assaulted by two Tritons." Conner chuckles. "Walked right into a trap really. Tritons, if you don't know, are very large half man, half fish creatures, rather strong and in theory all slaves or servants of the Rebman royal family. It was clear my investigation was pissing off some important people. So they beat me to a bruised mass and I am saved from worse by the arrival of the guard under Sir Montage. I spend the next day resting and planning and end that day by having dinner with Thalia, Rebman Ambassador from Gateway, and someone I see socially." Conner's face softens a bit thinking of her. "She told me of rumors going around that I was involved in some sort of smuggling ring and we agreed it would be best if I stayed somewhere the authorities wouldn't find me. She also said that an ally of hers, Harga'rel, knew a way out of the city and agreed to arrange a meeting for me with him. She took me to a safe house and then went to Embassy to meet Harga'rel. Well she was gone for too long and I started to worry so I went to the embassy and found Harga'rel just coming awake after being knocked out. Two Tritons had kidnapped Thalia. He summoned two guard from the Embassy and we gave chase. We killed, or mortally wounded, the two Tritons that had taken her and then the guards fled one way while we fled towards this secret entrance of Hargarel's. Turns out there is a tunnel leading to an air filled cavern that leads to a Shadow somewhat close to Amber. From there I shadow shifted the three of us back to Amber." Conner replies. "So the claims Rebma makes upon me have some basis in fact but are hardly the whole story."

I don't know how watery Conner is, but this recitation has made Aisling terribly happy with him. She's just kinda brighter. In fact, enough so that she actually says with a smile that's nearly a beam, "That was an excellent telling. I only have a few questions. Where were Montage and Bend when you were investigating Llewella's house--in another room, so they didn't immediately see the Tritons attack you the first time?"

"Ah a little clarification needed." COnner smiles. "The actual investigation of the townhouse itself was performed by Sir Montage and myself together. Bend was either handling things from another end or was just in the background guiding Montage. The Triton attack happened later that night in a dark alley after I made the rounds of some political taverns trying to find out anything and in truth make myself a target." Conner smirks. "It worked but they hit harder than expected."

"Hm." Aisling says, nodding thoughtfully. "Have you any reason to suspect the auspicious timing of Sir Montage's rescue? And did he see the tritons beating you?"

"You mean do I think he ran off his own Triton's?" Conner replies. "I don't think so. The Trions's ran off at the sound of the guards whistles so he never saw them, only the mask I tore off one of them."

"Could you tell if the Tritons who captured Thalia were the same who had beaten you? And also... Smuggling-- Rebma still has her shadowpaths?"

"The Tritons that kidnapped Thalia were strangers but there was a Triton that was guarding the passage we used. He was one of the ones that jumped me I think." Conner suddenly looks thoughtful. "Hmm. There was a witness to us escaping yet Valeria said we three we're presumed dead. Someone isn't passing along the news." He muses again. "Anyway, Rebma lost her shadowpaths just like Amber did. Presumably I was smuggling things from the surface before the Sundering and afterwards tried to switch endeavors to smuggling from the waters outside Rebma."

"So... Is it fair to suppose that your heritage was not known?"

"Correct." Conner nods.

Following Conner's comment, verbal or non, Aisling continues weaving this into a story, "So we have a break-in at the house of one of the royals of Rebma (and of Amber), who has been missing since a cataclysm four years back. The crown is, of course, interested, and grants the embassy of Amber a part in the investigation out of kindness... Or did Ambassador Droit push to be included? And what was your official position in the Embassy? Were you at all surprised to be the one tapped for this?"

"I think it more that the Amber embassy had to be involved as a matter of protocol. I was First Secratary of the embassy and the most likely choice for the task."

Aisling nods. "You investigated, along with Sir Montage, and neither of you found anything of interest?" she makes this a question. "And did Sir Montage give every indication of investigating with all the interest you did? His lord is the Queen alone, right?"

"Well the townhouse itself was interesting in that every piece of glass in the place had been destroyed." Conner replies. "As for any clue who did it, I found nothing and if Montage found anything he did not see fit to tell me. So far as I know, he answers mainly to the Queen and perhaps to his sister Bend."

"Hm," Aisling says, indicating that she may come back to that. "Then you went out to the political taverns while Montage returned to the castle, and you were learning nothing of interest...? Did you tell Montage where you were headed?"

"No I didn't." Conner replies. "But my people told me where he was going so I made similar rounds."

Aisling nods. "And then things get really interesting. You're ambushed, and yet not killed, by servants of the royal family." She grins. "My mind immediately leaps to the feeling that someone in the royal family felt that this investigation was going to get attenuated off into nothing and then quietly killed; and that they wished to make sure this would not happen. This person would be one who did not have strong hold over Montage and Bend. As First Secretary of the Amber embassy, what do you think of the politics of the Rebman Royal Family at the time?"

"Like Amber's used to be with everyone wondering who would we be the next queen. Hard to say what the obvious rivalries were though." Conner replies.

Aisling nods, "Yes, I did get the impression that they are very, very good at keeping things under the surface." She smirks, clearly unabashed by the inadvertent pun. "How many years were you the First Secretary?"

"Let's see. I was stationed there a little before the Bleys/Corwin assault. Almost 7 years." Conner replies.

Aisling smiles. "Oh, dear. You're almost like the reflection of me." There's a twinkle in her eyes. In general, though her motions are the same, she seems much more alive and engaged than you've seen her so far, and maybe sometime you'll figure out that this is how she gets when up to her elbows in information and supposition. "That makes this even more intriguing. So; the day after the assault, rumors begin to spread in an attempt to discredit you. I'd suggest that this was the countermove on the part of the person with the hold over Montage and Bend... The investigation could no longer be quietly smothered, but a rousing scandal provides a lot of shade." She pauses, tilts her head slightly, "Are my thoughts aligning with yours?"

"Precisely. Thalia and I became convenient scapegoats." Conner nods.

"Hm. You think that someone was moving towards pinning the burglary on one of you?" Aisling muses. "I suppose it's possible... Were it me, I'd frame--" she bites that off and swings right on along, "I can't see enough of the picture of the scandal that someone was manufacturing to guess at its final shape. However, I'd suspect that the kidnapping of Thalia by Tritons was arranged as a part of it. It smacks of a 'fire with fire' personality." Aisling grins. It may be a long time before she tires of the wordplay made possible by Rebma.

"In Rebma they fight waves with waves." Conner grins back. "The little I have been able to figure out is that someone in the Royals of Rebma were stirring up the Tritons for some purpose. Considering how dangerous that could be I can see not wanting that story to leak out. One of the things about Thalia's adbuction that puzzled me is that they had changed her clothes. They dressed her in a simple white robe. Struck me as almost a ritualistic gesture though I can't imagine why."

Aisling looks surprised, and frowns in distant thought, lightly tracing her lips with her index finger. "Robes, hm? That's odd... Are you sure she wasn't doing something in robes when she was captured? Who wears robes in Rebma?" Her questions come thoughtfully, "And Llewella's house--was it just the glass and the mirrors, or was it everything reflective that was damaged: spoons and silver beaten out of shape, that sort of thing? And why is it you think the Tritons were being 'stirred up'?"

"Her clothes had definitely been changed." Conner replies. "As a matter of fact there were silver trays beaten and dented. And I think the Tritons were being stirred up, because that is what my spies said Montage said."

Aisling nods. "...I think it's a fair assupmtion to make that magic is involved in this. What does your mother say about it?"

"Very little." Conner replies.

"Mm," says Aisling. "...There were Rebmans at Oberon's funeral, you know. In the heart of Chaos, when none came with our army... Perhaps they were part of the funeral procession through the storm, cloaked so they were not apparent." Aisling shrugs, unconvinced.

"That is intriguing," Conner muses. "Rebmans certainly do get around."

"Still, back to the petty posited coverup, if you're not tired of the subject...?"

"The subject of my life and well being is always of interest to me." Conner smiles.

Presuming Conner does not look tired of the subject, "So, you have just been beaten to keep your investigation in the spotlight of powerful interest, and your name besmirched to deflect that interest into a mire. Things suddenly get a step trickier. You come to the Gatewegian embassy and find Demond Hargarel, husband and father to Rebman royalty, wandering around as if in a daze...? And why was he there, anyway?"

"Not wandering. Waking up from having been knocked unconscious." Conner corrects. "Har'garel has some connection to the Gatwegians. The guards at the Embassy obeyed his instructions. He was the one that knew of the back door out of Rebma and Thalia was meeting with him to discuss sneaking me out of it. They were ambushed by Tritons as they left the Embassy."

Aisling tilts her head, asks investigatorially (that is, not prosecutorially) "Why did you believe that Demond Har'garel would stick his neck out for a diplomat from Amber?"

"Thalia made it sound like he offered." Conner replies. "I presume he had a price or trade in mind."

"It seems odd that he would let knowledge of such value slip just for the sake of helping a Gatewegian diplomat," Aisling muses, and then pauses, thinking.

"Thalia can be most persausive." Conner replies.

"I would like to meet her, sometime, if you feel it to be safe," Aisling says with a smile.

"Let me propose, then, an ending to the story we are weaving," Aisling suggests, having thought. "There are, to my mind, more interpretations to the end than to any other section of this tale, yet... To be tidy: The royal without the strong hold on the Rebman investigators decided that you were going to lay low, or perhaps leave entirely. That royal decided that 'twould be best were you to leave in a known direction at a known time, the better to trap the other. She, to suggest for the sake of linguistic simplicity a gender, sent Har'garel to win from Gateway a favor by sending you away to the land beyond Rebma; thinking, perhaps, to easily retrieve you to dramatically belie the scandal the other was developing.

"However, the other was also moving. Perhaps she (to once more simplify the tale, let it be hoped not to the point of obscuring truth) heard of the first's plans; perhaps she was merely lucky that her own happened to interfere with them. Her tritons kidnapped Thalia and moved towards at least the appearance of another bout of magic.

"By luck, you, in turn, interfered with her plans. And then... ...What reason did Har'garel give you for leaving Rebma with you? Why did he not just set you on the path out and then return to his life? And how long did you halt at the end-place of the path, before revealing your heritage and setting out through Shadow?"

"The only part of your story that does not fit." Conner replies. "Is that Hargarel has been at odds with the Rebman royalty since his divorce from Rilsa and was anAmber citizen before coming to Rebma. I really don't see them being trusted enough to be used as a go-between like that. Har'garel did not so much come to Amber with me as he did flee the Triton guard who no doubt would have killed us and the back door from Rebma happened to be in the Triton controlled area of the city where Thalia was taken. It was the cloest safest exit and we all took it. We stayed a few days in the end point, but I never revealed my heritage to them until we reached Amber. As far as they were concerned, we were lucky enough to find a boat and were simply sailing normally."

"Hm," Aisling says. "I find Har'garel's actions puzzling. Was he without ties in Rebma? Did he not care much for his daughters? Also, why did you fear attack from the Triton watching the exit if it did not attack you?"

"For that you would have to ask Har'garel." Conner replies. "As for the Triton, it did attack us. Har'garel held it off while I took Thalia to safety."

"Ah! Pardon me, I did not understand," Aisling says. "As for Har'garel, the only real question is whether we choose to get more information out of him by suggesting guilt." Aisling shrugs, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth, maybe even off in the wings entirely and just extrapolated. "I'm afraid I don't have the knowledge and position to 'put the squeeze' on him properly; but there is assuredly enough obscurity about his situation that one who worked with shadow would have plenty to grasp." Her eyes twinkle. It's been a long, long time since she's gotten to have so much fun with words. "For, indeed, this hidden entrance to Rebma was undoubtedly a state secret."

"I am not so sure actually." Conner replies. "Benedict knows of it and it seems the Rebman's do not as there is no evidence the people at the other end has ever seen their presence. As for Har'geral, I know Jerod has already pumped him for information but if he got anything out of him, I was not informed."

Aisling's purple brows arch at the end of both sentences.

"Now, shall we retread our steps in preparation for a conclusion? Why do you think you were beaten, the first time?"

"It had the feel of a warning." Conner replies. "I was being told to back off."

"Would that have halted the Amber inquiry into the breakin?"

"Droit put no one else onto it while I recovered so most likely." Conner replies. "Assuming I had actually decided to stop of course." He grins.

"And yet, were you not planning to leave Rebma?" Aisling asks, a little baffled.

"Not until the rumors started." Conner replies. "Until then I was going to rest, recover and start again. But the rumors at court attaching me to criminal ventures, that could only have been the preface to getting rid of me. That is when I sought escape."

Aisling pauses, thoughtuflly, for a few minutes. "And yet, it's so obvious..." she muses. "Droit and other canny observers could not help but realize a royal wished to stymie investigation into the breakin, which draws further attention to it." She's looking thoughtfully off towards the far meeting of the ceiling with the wall. "Unless it truly was a frame of the Remban royalty by someone who had gained a measure of control over the Tritons. And then, why demonstrate this coup on you?" Suddenly, she chuckles lightly, "I suppose the whole thing, investigation and all, could be a ploy to alienate the royalty of Rebma from their connections to both Amber and their creatures. How is it that the Tritons are held, anyway?"

Conner shrugs. "Bonds of tradition as near as I can tell. No one seemed to know or would tell me."

Aisling shrugs, tending towards a summation, "I do not feel that it is likely that a Rebman royal would attempt to discourage investigation into this matter by sending Tritons to assault you. It is a dramatic action bound to summon attention... Whereas the royalty of Rebma is considered, in popular opinion, to be cold and subtle.

"For the theory that it is someone other than the royals who is applying recalcitrant Tritons, there is no evidence I would count as either strongly for or against; yet it seems that if the war for Tritonic loyalty was in its infancy then, it should be rather more heated now, and chats with the Rebman embassy should glean intimations of it.

"For the theory that these are the effects of infighting in the Rebman royal family over whether one of their parts in a plot involving Llewella's house was revealed, there is the question: revealed to whom? It seems odd to think that the Queen could be kept in the dark of a matter relating to her sister."

Aisling shrugs. "What think you of that, Lord Conner?"

"I think those are all excellent points." Conner replies.

"I am known for my acute analytical skills," Aisling says with a suppressed smile, clearly poking fun at herself, as if she were in fact known for something entirely different.

"In the first theory I can see little more to examine at the moment, but for the second, I feel it would aid us to tentatively shade these actors with names. So: is it true that the only people known to be able to command Tritons to attack those from a foreign embassy are the royalty of Rebma? And does each Triton only take direct, in-person commands, or can commands be delivered through notes or subordinates?"

"To the first, I am told that only the royalty can command them, but I am unsure if those orders must be direct or not." Conner replies.

"We must find answers to this," Aisling muses. "...But that stage of the evening is yet approaching. For the present concluding arc, we have, barring subordinates, tricksters, and standing orders, only seven people known to have the power to set Tritons on you: Moire, Llewella, Rilsa, Martin, Valeria, Loreena, and Jerod. I think the timing makes it quite unlikely that Llewella would have been able to keep a hand in Rebman politics to such a degree." She halts, smiling, to let him speak on the others.

"By the same logic we eliminate Jerod and Martin." Conner replies. "I discount Moire only because her investigators seemed to trying to get to the bootom of things not cover up her other orders. If it was Valeria she is acting quite well up here. As to the others I am uncertain. They are certainly capable. It is motive that I cannot see clearly."

"Ah," Aisling suggests, "but were not both Jerod and Martin missing from Amber at one point or another? I am afraid I'm not quite sure when these journeys were..." she trails off, looking to him to fill her in.

"They were during the time Rebma was unavailable." Conner replies. "Jerod's movements were pretty well traced as he was with others most of the time. Besides he has spent too much time trying to trace my route back into Rebma for be to believe that he managed it without it. And Martin went to a great deal of trouble to escape Rebma. I don't see him going back. Rebma would like nothing more than to reclaim Jerod and Martin under their own banner once more. Leaving again once they have returned would likely be difficult. I still cross them off my list."

Aisling nods thoughtfully, accepting his judgement. She stifles the urge to ask anything further about Martin, saving for a rainy day the prospect of seeing Conner launching himself across the dinner table, forks and pickles flying, to strangle her for her interest in the crown prince...

"I agree with your estimation of Moire. It seems unlikely that she would use such a tactic to draw attention to the investigation. As for the other three, I am afraid I do not know enough to suggest who might have enough influence on Montage and Bend to keep them away from the truth; and who might not have such sway, and yet have the desire to see the first shamed... Really, it seems like the whole theory breaks down in the face of a strong Queen. I wonder..." Aisling trails off, and shrugs.

"Could it be personal or alternately political, an attack against Thalia or Gateway through you?"

"Possible but unlikely I would think." Conner replies. "I dislike any theory that makes the timing of this with the break in a conincidence."

"This is a theory that suggests the breakin was part of a plot against the Gatewegians. You say you were the first choice for investigation, and thus the link between you and them could be relied on to come into play. And the circumstances of the invasion smacked of sorcery, which would be a clever knife-twist were the Gatewegians a major target." Aisling regards him, curious to see his reaction to this idea.

"A little too convoluted for me to see that as likely." Conner decides after a moments thought.

Aisling spreads her hands equably, and then steeples them before her lap, looking more like her father than she knows as she mentally arranges the conclusion, "So the questions that will enlighten our choice of theories are these: Can Thalia think of anyone who plots intricately who might have been out to get her? How has the Gatewegian embassy fared in Rebma since you left? Has there been trouble between the Tritons and others? What scandals have come to light, or nearly so?

"The first, you perceive, is quite simple. For the rest, we have the observations of seven Rebmans currently in Amber [[Or whatever the number. Aisling would know it, but it's nearly been months to hours for me. --MF]], which I suspect will have to be collected from at least one remove. The Gatewegian question is natural to a Gatewegian, other than Thalia. Obvious scandals and Tritonic rebellions will be easily enough learned by a friendly Amber gossip, sharing information. Squashed scandals and Triton troubles are going to be tricky to unearth delicately, at such a remove." Aisling pauses, looking to Conner for his thoughts on questions and answers.

Assuming that by a couple of days before the coronation the army and navy men have been transported back to the city, what is Brita planning to leave at Heather Vale?

I know Brita was talking about leaving a Ranger post in place. Will she do that?

Yes, Brita will have a post left in place at Heather Vale and a small contingent of Rangers (15 or so) to provide "clean-up/restoration" duty.

[Brennan and Marius are getting pinged on this so they can make any comments about army and navy presence. I assume the navy moved out first and the army moved out second.]

[Marius]
That seems like a safe enough assumption, that I'd like to go with that.

[Brennan]
Works for me, too.

[Marius]
[grin] Now, does this imply that the navy has more "clout" or is it just because we were all being too rowdy?

[Brennan]
Likely the latter....