After her meeting with Random, Hannah sends to see whether Gerard is up and agreeable to meeting with her. She learns that he is in his suite, that his lady wife is with him, and that he is not busy and can meet with her if she wishes.
Hannah washes up and pulls her hair back. She gathers together her notes and skims over them. She tosses them aside with a sigh.
"Grandfather Bear was right. That's just embarrassing." Frustrated with herself, she takes the tie back out of her hair and brushes it out again before heading down the hall to knock on Gerard's door.
She grins, expecting the sound of Scamp's feet running across the floor.
There are running feet, then a moment of hesitation, and it is Corvis that opens the door. She smiles warmly at Hannah. "Lady Hannah, come in. Gerard said you were coming; I have sent for food and drink to greet you." She gestures to Hannah to enter.
Scamp is standing with Corvis and winks at Hannah. Gerard is not immediately evident in the room; perhaps he's in a back area of the suite.
"My lady, thank you. It is good to see you again." Hannah comes in. "Hello Scamp. How have you all been?"
Hannah will settle herself into a chair to try to get Corvis to sit as well.
Corvis moves slowly, and Hannah can see that Scamp is watching her, ready to help. But she doesn't ask for assistance and he renders none as she seats herself carefully. "Well enough, thank you, although I know you'll need to see Gerard and speak to him yourself to measure his progress. How was your trip to Rebma?"
"I wish I could have been going under better circumstances. It is such a wonder to me. Learning to eat underwater was a marvelous challenge. I spent most of my time with the tribesmen, but when I was at court it was all one might expect, and more. It was a successful trip, which is the best thing that might be said about any adventure. Sad though, for my people and then, I hear, for Rebma. Had you heard Queen Khela died?" Hannah asks.
"We have heard. A terrible thing, and a great loss to Rebma. May the Goddess protect her soul," Corvis says, making a gesture that Hannah doesn't immediately recognize but that is clearly a blessing of some sort to Hannah's eyes. "How do you find her successor? Is she strong enough for the task? In Amber I found that so many did not respect a woman's strength, but it is less so here in Xanadu, and I am told that in Rebma women are respected as leaders. I hope the new Queen's father is wiser in his treatment of women than my husband's late father was."
Scamp has dashed off to fetch Gerard, or perhaps to bring food to offer the guest.
"Celina is young," Hannah begins, measuring her response. "Yet I do believe her life experience has taught her some temperance already. I've known her to hold her hand against anger and temptation. As for her father," she grins a bit, "he has his own kingdom to worry about and that's likely just as well. Change comes slowly, but change comes."
Her eyes look toward the other room and she bites her lip, but returns to the topic at hand. "I do believe Corwin more open-minded than Oberon, at any rate, though all I have are stories to judge by. Rebma is definitely a place that values women, it is true, what you have heard. I think it was a little too foreign for my tribal cousins." That makes Hannah grin again. "I did not find the time to seek out your daughter. Have you any word from her?"
"Avis has sent word from Paris that our people have settled there. I think some of the priestesses might wish to go on to Rebma in due time; Paris is not ruled by a spirit entirely congenial to their way of thinking. As you say, a little too foreign." Corvis' tone is knowing. "But need does as needs must when one removes from an old place to a new. Are your cousins to settle nearby?"
The door to the other room opens, with Scamp holding it so, and Gerard rolls out. He's looking drawn and unhappy, which could be any number of things not immediately obvious to Hannah.
Hannah is naturally distracted for a moment by Gerard, but she smiles at him, and turns back to answer his wife. "Indeed, down in the city. No doubt a number of them have developed some skills Paige may find useful in the wood, but I'm hoping to get my father to sort all that out."
"Well enow, I reckon." Gerard's accent is thick in a way that suggests to Hannah that's not true, unless it's just the influence of his wife that brings it out in him. He makes an effort to smile at Hannah. "I'm glad you've come home to Xanadu, such as it is, and brought your people and your father with. You'll be wantin' to take a look at my legs, o' course." He gives Corvis a look, as if this is some discussion they've already had. Scamp is looking at Hannah in mute appeal, as if he doesn't care for it when Mommy and Daddy fight.
"Scamp, can I send you on an errand? I hope you don't mind," she adds to Corvis, "it won't take long." She proceeds to send him searching around and possibly outside of the palace for a list of ingredients she wants, and it will indeed take some time.
Scamp looks to Corvis for permission before accepting the job, but she permits it and Gerard offers no objection.
Once she has Scamp out of the way she sits back and looks between Corvis and Gerard. "Why don't the two of you just tell me what's been happening and what your own thoughts are?"
"Things are difficult here. It distracts Gerard from his recovery," Corvis says simply.
Gerard looks at his wife, his eyes flashing, and shakes his head. "I'm needed here, and that helps. Makes it easier for me to keep from using the morphine."
"You are needed," Corvis agrees. "But the King can give your work to others for a time, and will if you ask it. And in any case, that is not what troubles you most, nor what troubles me." She turns her clear gaze on Hannah. "Gerard is a confidant of the Queen, and things are ill between her and the King."
Hannah nods, very serious now. "Are we in agreement that no one can fix that but them? Or do either of you think there is something you can do about that?"
"I reckon," says Gerard, with the air of a man who has had this conversation a time or two, "that it should be brought to Random's attention that his wife is still ailing and that he should pay a bit less attention to his city and a bit more to her."
Corvis presses her lips together as Gerard speaks. "The King is chosen by the Goddess and it is his to do as he wills, as little as I like it. The Queen is not a goddess incarnate, which is undoubtedly better for her as a woman; if they are not well-suited, she is not bound to him." It's not a conclusion she seems to like much either.
"The problem's not his being bound to her again his will. Ye ken perfectly well what the problem is," Gerard snaps.
Hannah shakes her head, seeing there is another frank discussion to be had after this one. "If a man doesn't know his wife's mind and state, she's hiding it from him, or he doesn't count her worth seeing. Is she not strong enough to confront him herself, or has she decided the consequences of that aren't worth it for her?"
Corvis answers before Gerard can speak up. "As an outside observer, I believe it is some combination of the two. The King knows she is ill and has assigned his sister, the sorceress Fiona, to aid her. Fiona has left Xanadu to research the Queen's illness, and now other than a few close companions--" here, Corvis looks at her husband "--she is alone. I have attempted to befriend her, but I believe she fears for her place and does not wish to bring me closer, despite the fact of my marriage to Gerard. My sense is that she sees me as dependent, not unlike her, and therefore a competitor--although I have no wish to compete for the attentions of her husband or my own." Corvis says this with the sort of assurance that reminds Hannah of elderly women of her own tribe with powerful medicine in their own right.
Her answer doesn't sit well with Gerard. "And all that's true, but it's not all there is to it." His tone drops toward something more conciliatory. "It's not you she's afraid of, love."
Hannah waves her hand. "Is all there is to it that his affections are elsewhere?" she asks dryly. "Or is there more?"
"Vialle is not the King's equal, or would not be if he were still a prince. I am not a God as Gerard is, but I have my own power, or had in the days of my youth." Corvis smiles and pats Gerard's arms. "I have no regrets--or none of that sort, anyway--and no fears. Vialle has never been strong, and her rival is one she sees as stronger than herself.
"And," she says, looking at Gerard, "it is terrible for Gerard, because he is loyal to her as Queen, as he should be, and as a friend, but her rival is his ward."
"Ah, Gerard, if it wasn't her it'd be someone else. The truth is he doesn't love Vialle enough not to allow anyone else past it." Hannah sighs. She turns to smile at Corvis, a smile of appreciation for the truth, and for her having the strength to say it. Admiration.
She looks back to Gerard with a sympathy. "Now, seriously uncle, this is my point. I know this hurts you, and you will continue to struggle with it. What I want for you is a moment of clarity about what you can and cannot do here, because you have enough to battle against without this. You can have sympathy but if it's hurting you, and it is, you step away. That doesn't mean you have to leave.
"Now, I don't believe you can make your little brother behave. I've tried to scare, threaten, talk sense to and blackmail my little brother when he wouldn't act right, and it never worked. If you feel like you need to go do that with Random, even though I think it won't work, I'll go help you. Right now."
"It doesna matter matter if he loves her so much or no. He could at least do her the courtesy of honoring her in public." Gerard doesn't answer Hannah's question directly, but his failure to do so is an answer of its own. "She's ill as well, and she needs treatment. She vanished for a time and she's been worse since she came back. And he's got two sons, to be sure, and both of them fine lads, but it's not the same as a son of his rightful queen, to secure the throne."
Corvis starts to interrupt, but Gerard won't let her. "Neither of you remember what it was like when Dad was king and there was all the jostling and striving for Dad's affection and respect. All the trouble with the redheads, and Corwin and Eric, and Ben choosing to leave for decades. If Random can't put his house in order, or won't, it'll be more of the same." He looks to Hannah. "I reckon ye know what I mean."
"No, I don't," Hannah says shortly, a touch of frustration slipping through. "You're not listening to me. You are not Random's keeper, nor Vialle's either. Until you heal yourself, you can't be the help they need. The best thing you can do for this kingdom right now is focus on yourself. I'm beginning to get the feeling you're afraid to do that."
Gerard scowls and flushes, but from the set of his jaw it's less fear than anger. "My duty is still to Amber, and to Xanadu by those same oaths, and sitting in this chair can't keep me from fulfilling it. It's one thing to work my way off the morphine, but the truth is we'd all be a sight better off if we quit pretending there's some magic miracle that'll make me hale and whole again."
Hannah gets up to pace. She takes a breath. "I'm not counting on a magic miracle. I'm counting on hard work and persistence. Your hard work and persistence, along with many others. And really, I have no problem with you doing your duty, but it sounds like we're going to disagree about what that is."
She crosses her arms. "I know for damn sure your health comes before Random's marriage. He's perfectly capable of marital rapprochement, if he cared to do it."
Almost reflexively, Gerard crosses his own arms in response. "It's not fixing his marriage. No one but he and his wife can do that. But--Corvis, you understand what I mean. In the Isles, we said the King and the land were one. They thought that if the king, the god, were a cripple, that the land would fail. And mebbe they were right, because they made me a god and I was crippled and it fell."
Corvis pales a little and her hands move, but the slight dip of her head does not end with her face buried in them.
"And I never went back there because they'd've laid me on the stone and given my blood to the land for being less a man than I was. And expected my wife to do it, or join me in giving her life to the land."
Here Corvis nods her agreement, stoic.
"Now I don't hold with that old shadow magic, even if seemed to come true. But I was in Amber when this place was made. And it was made, Hannah. They came here and there was nothing and we came here later and there was a castle and what lies beneath. And the same in Paris.
"And there's a thing I didn't understand until I ruled over an Amber that was dead: Amber was Dad's place and it was like him, until he was gone and it wasn't like anything at all, just falling apart. Now this place will be like Amber was, but Random's. He's my little brother, and if I can keep him from going wrong her e, I can make this place better. Better not just for you and me, but for our children and the children that come after them. Princes come and princes go--Eric wasna the first I've seen die, nor will Lucas be the last--but Xanadu will be eternal, or near enough as Amber was. You say I'm afraid, like that's meant to stop me. Only a fool knows no fear, and I'm not that kind of fool. I'm more afraid of seeing all Dad's mistakes repeated by Random and Corwin than I am of dying, or of living."
Hannah purses her lips, then sits back down. She uncrosses her arms and grips the seat instead. Gerard gets a narrow-eyed look. "There are so many things to argue with you about in those statements, I don't even know where to start. Let us say you're right about all that, though, so we can move on. Tell me your top three goals, and how you plan to achieve them."
It takes Gerard a few moments to respond.
"First, to have time worth spending wi' my wife." He says this in a tone that brooks no argument. Now it's Corvis who crosses her arms and presses her lips together. "I hae been parted from her these last few years and for long before that, and I mean not to repeat that mistake, especially now that there's no need to hide my marriage from my father.
"Second, to break my dependence on morphine, as we hae discussed, by means we hae discussed, of substituting other drugs that reduce dependence.
"Third--" and here Gerard pauses, thinking "--to do some useful work in the kingdom, and to advise the king. In what manner I don't know just yet."
Corvis interrupts before Hannah can respond to that. "And what about our son?"
"Our son is immortal. If he has to wait a decade or two before wedding and bedding his woman, it's no more than I had to do in my day. He has my good will and good wishes. All that keeps him from Robin is his own oath, and his own pride!"
Hannah nods unhappily, giving Corvis her attention. "I have to agree with Gerard about Vere. Robin's immortal too. He should have never made that oath. Though I know he did it with love in his heart, it puts unfair pressure on his father. Now he has to live with it, but what is between he and Robin seems true enough to me to survive the waiting."
She looks back to Gerard. "I don't have it in me to argue with any of that, but I'm wondering if we can agree, all of us, that once you've gotten off the morphine we continue to try to find a solution that gets you on your feet again? Even knowing that will take some experimentation, some reaching out into the family for knowledge we just don't have, and that it will sometimes interfere with the other two main goals?"
"Aye, we can agree to that--but you asked what my three most important goals are, and the morphine comes first. Things may change between now and when I'm free of it; no one thought ten years ago that we'd be where we are now. But assuming everything remains roughly the same, that's the next step."
Corvis seems about to argue, but Gerard's last sentence deflates her.
"My lady, will you tell us your thoughts?" Hannah asks.
Corvis looks fixedly at Gerard. "And what if things do not remain the same?"
"Then," Gerard says, sounding tired, "we reconsider as things change. We canna plan for a future we dinna know."
Hannah nods slowly, watching Corvis. "I've stepped into a discussion you've already had. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"If you can free Gerard from the grip of the morphine, you will have already done a great deal." Corvis' smile is kind, and she reaches to lay a hand on Hannah's arm.
"Aye," Gerard agrees. "Ye might look in on Vialle, and perhaps I might retire for a bit while you speak of women's complaints, but other than that I reckon there's naught you can do. Not for lack of trying, but because there's naught to be done."
Hannah pats Corvis' hand. "I will look in on Vialle. I've neglected her too long myself, as it is. Do I get to play family doctor today? My lady, should we send him away and talk about our own womanly complaints?"
Corvis gives Gerard a bit of a sharp look, to which he responds with a wide-eyed look of innocence that fools absolutely nobody, not that Hannah thinks it was intended to fool anybody. She concedes with the best grace she can muster--apparently quite a bit--and gives them both her best pleasant smile. "Very well, we can do that."
In a gesture of mock surrender, Gerard raises his hands. "I'll be in the library if ye need me." He rolls out of the door, with a bit of difficulty in opening it without the hands of his pages to help.
Hannah smiles after him. "We need to get some kind of inventor in here, someone who can find ways to make all this easier to navigate. Surely there's someone in the family who'd be good at that," she tells Corvis, with a shrug. "But if you'll tell me your complaints, I'll do what I can to make you more comfortable."
"I would say some pain medications, but in sooth I find myself wary of them given Gerard's condition," Corvis admits. "There is little you can do for me. My maladies are magical and beyond anyone's ability to heal. When you are bound to a land and a place, and that place no longer exists, there is no cure for what ails you."
Hannah doesn't try to hide how sad that makes her. "I'm so sorry, Corvis."
She takes a breath and slowly lets it back out. "It is true that every pain medication carries a set of problems with it, but there are many we can try that aren't addictive like morphine is. And then there are the non-medicinal ways of reliving pain, most of which I'm sure life has taught you by now. All you have to do is say the word, and I'm certain we can arrange anything you'd like.
"I haven't the least idea how we'd go about it, but my scientist's curiosity forces me to ask if you'd want to be bound to a different place if it would save your life and you could stand the cost?"
Now it's Corvis' turn to take a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not sure I could do that, or survive it. Legend has it that this blessing, or curse, if you will, is what destroyed Gerard's mother in the bearing of her children: that she was too far gone from home. They say it is also what killed his sister. So I tell you this not just as a healer, my niece, but as wisdom for you to consider." She looks at Hannah with the penetrating gaze of an elder. In this place it's unlikely that she's using any power or medicine, but Hannah doesn't doubt that Corvis could.
That makes Hannah smile slowly. "Well, now... hm. I may need to have that sort of wisdom shortly here, as your niece and not a healer." She becomes more serious again quickly, though. "I'll admit, I don't understand that link. I don't know if I inherited that, or where my link would be to. I mean, if the Isles are really gone, and it was to there, then I'd be cursed either way - spend my days childless or risk my life to have one. As it stands, maybe I can answer these questions for my sisters and I. That's not what I set out to do... not that I set out to do anything, but there are a lot of questions to be answered, by process of elimination if nothing else."
That clear gaze rests on Hannah still. "It's not clear to me how it would work for you, either, for you were neither born nor bound to the Isles. Perhaps this curse will pass you by. But have you need of woman's wisdom? I am qualified in many of the old ways, even if I haven't the strength or gift for magic any longer."
"I always need woman's wisdom. I'll tell you, I couldn't be sure when I was in Rebma, but now I'm queasy and the timing is right. It's early yet, and I've seen too much... I'd rather wait on telling anyone until I've gotten to talk to the father. It just doesn't seem right." Hannah winces, like she knows that was all a bit disjointed. Some thought lights up her eyes though.
"I was born in the Spirit World, it turns out. It's a sort of in-between place where people's spirits and animal's spirits can mingle with the higher spirits. And where beings with a certain amount of power, like my parents, can live. She made my father promise he wouldn't tell me of her or her family. Perhaps this was her way of trying to protect me. Do you know if Robin or Solange were born in the Isles?"
"It's possible, even likely that Solange was. I don't know that Ysabeau told Gerard where she gave birth. Robin was born during the years of her exile; while she might have returned in secret, it's much less likely. I don't know your spirit world, but I know there are many in-between places. A worldwalker, a goddess, like your mother would have been able to reach it easily."
Hannah nods. "Well, here's hoping we figure it all out eventually. Do you have any other 'complaints', my lady? I'm better at being a helper than being helped."
"None other than those related to Gerard, and I know well enough that I should not interfere between a Healer and her patients." Corvis smiles ruefully. "I will content myself with knowing that you have his best interests at heart."
"I'm trusting you to tell me when I'm wrong, Aunt Corvis. Doctors are not infallible and least of all me. I'm well aware I can get stubborn and not want to hear. It's a family trait, I suppose," Hannah grins. She gets up and offers Corvis a hug.
Corvis returns the embrace, refraining from offering the obvious rejoinders about family stubbornness. "You will have all the wisdom I can offer. Let us hope I speak it well and that you hear it in the spirit in which I mean to give it."
Ash looks tired. Everyone in his living room looks tired. Some of them are drinking the wine, some look like they haven't slept in a day and don't plan to sleep soon.
Paige is almost dressed in riding wear, jodhpurs of a soft brown, a linen tunic of white unlaced, her hunt jacked tossed artfully over the arm of the chair in which she's sprawled. Well worn boots sit by the side as she massages her instep.
"So, you're telling me that Sir Archer has found that half his clerks were taking bribes to let people come to Xanadu under false names? I get why we should sorta care about criminals and debtors, but why does he want me to care about religious cults?"
Ash's long, curly ponytail is undone and his hair needs washing. The two women who seem to be his more-or-less wives are sitting on either side of him on the couch.
"I know that one," says the younger woman, Tjaden. "If they still believe in God after coming here, they're nuts."
Ash laughs and Haven smiles. The two lieutenants smile as well, but only after Ash does.
"OK, so there's no putting the toothpaste back in the tube," says Ash. "What else? Anyone in particular we need to be looking out for? Rogue spelunkers?"
The redhead rolls her neck, smiling and picks up the glass of red she was drinking. "Syd's father was keen to avoid other power bases built upon mysteries of the universe, even ficticious ones, that might compete with those mysteries that currently prop up our King," she offers.
"As to what else? The Children of the Moon, while keen to keep out of your city, seem to be less than pleased that their former sovereign and his warriors are integrating so seemlessly with your wretched hive of scum and villany." She shrugs as if to suggest that she doesn't see the issue, but isn't overlooking the man causing it, namely Herodion.
Ash rolls his head around his neck and there is a distinct pop. Haven reaches back and absently starts rubbing his neck. "If they that disappointment turns to regicide, it will go poorly for them. As for whatshisname,"
"Herodion", says Tjaden.
"As for Herodion", continues Ash, "if he wants to work and his warriors want to work, Xanadu doesn't care if he doesn't want to be King of hicksville any more. If he does a good job, King Random can make him a noble."
Haven smiles. "In our old home, religions were powerful, mostly because they had lots of money and land. They were great patrons of art and music, but there had also been inquisitions and holy wars that came out of the same institutions. I performed in churches, because that's where you performed. But very few people actually believed."
Tjaden nods. "It was just sort of... fading away. Sorta vestigial and quaint, like the Monarchy."
Ash frowns. "Hey, nothing wrong with monarchy. Anyway, I get the feeling that with all the Amberites around who have the old Amber anti-religious sentiment, it would be hard for anything like that to take root in Xanadu."
"Easier than you would think when any number of the Royals have places that they're accorded the title of God." She sips at her wine and shakes her head. "I've got to worry about a cult developing around my own twins if Arcadian migration continues or increases."
Haven laughs. "Sorry, wasn't thinking of yours. Just... Has anyone told Brij?"
Paige accepts the unnecessary apology with a gracious nod of her head. "Religious cult," she appends. "Not cults of personality, as she's already that in spades."
Tjaden makes a sort of chirping noise. "Ash, did I tell you that she was chatting up Herodion at the last salon we held? That could lead to bad things..."
Ash shrugs. "Yep, but if we tried to keep her apart from him and his worshippers, we'd be up to our knees in little hemidemigods in no time. I'm starting to see why Archer thinks cults are a headache."
Paige smiles wryly. "Well, better Herodion than my father, who appeared to be one of her early targets after she had just enough information about the family to be dangerous.
"It amazes me how unlike she and Folly are at times."
Haven shakes her head. "Brij is exactly how Folly would be if Folly hadn't had Brij for a mother."
"Mostly like, I'd say," replies Ash.
"The exception proves the rule," Haven says back.
"Whatever that means," Tjaden says.
Paige chuckles and raises her quickly emptying glass, "Well, then here's to Brij for keep Folly from being... well, Brij." She finishes the drink in one deep quaff.
"And people say that miracles don't happen." Jerod says as he enters the room, Ash's slightly more "guard than butler" retainer somewhere in the wake of the royal menagerie that has descended upon the Lord Mayor's home. He makes sure not to block anyone coming into the room behind him.
"Paige, long time no see." he says to Paige, nodding a friendly greeting to her and letting people sort themselves into the room before looking at Ash.
The redhead blows him a kiss in greeting.
"Lord Mayor, just the man we were looking for."
"Hi, Ash." Robin pipes up cheerfully as she strides in after Jerod. Though as rumpled and festooned as ever, Robin is at least clean. And armed. With two bronze firelizards on her shoulders.
"We brought peaches." Robin gestures with the large woven basket of beautifully ripened fruit in her arms. "And trouble." She adds ruefully.
"Hi, Paige." She chirps to her cousin.
"Oooh, Peaches!" Tjaden hops up off the couch and takes the basket from Robin. "I'll go get some knives. Thank you."
Ash's men straighten at the mention of trouble. Viper, who looked ten kinds of tired when the group walked in, pulls himself together admirably.
"Bringing trouble, suggests that it is your turn to pour the drinks," Paige teases, meeting Jerod's eye. "I'm drinking the red, and I'm sure there's some sort of single malt over there that won't satisfy your sensibilities, and," she tilts her head for a moment, "I'll be honest in admitting, I have no idea what, or even if, Robin drinks."
She extends her glass toward the Rebman cousin and smiles, "Either way, you have our thanks."
Jerod looks over at the Lord Mayor's bar curiously, and after deciding it would be a good time for a drink heads over there to inspect its contents.
Raven brings up the rear of the Royal part of the menagerie, with a polite expression and a general nod to the room. She finds herself a place to stand that's out of the way, sticks her hands in the pockets of her coat, and settles in to wait.
Ash bows, briefly to Jerod and the new entrants. "Prince Jerod, Captain Raven, Lady Robin. We were just hearing from Lady Paige about Sir Archer's efforts to keep the migration clean and orderly from Amber's side. What can Xanadu do for you?"
"One of Lord Lucas' children has been found." Jerod says, getting Paige's red out of the way before checking to see what spirits Ash has that may be of interest to him.
"His mother is Scarlett, and she has been having some problems, threats in regards to speaking up concerning the boy's identity. Prince Martin wants it taken care of, as do I. There are some people involved that we need to know about, where they are and who they may associated with. The main suspects are Silken, Heap and a big nasty fellow named Grimey. Robin can tell you about him if you haven't heard already."
After being relieved of the peaches, Robin nods to the admirable Viper in recognition: knowing full well that Jerod will deduce the nature of their acquaintence. Robin then drifts into thinking about the drink quandary.
"I drink, Paige." She says with a smile, "Gin is the closest thing most liquor cabinets have. And if Jerod wishes to pour me one, I'd be thankful." There, that seemed to work.
Jerod is sniffing at a bottle of something amber in colour that vaguely meets his standards of scotch excellence as he listens to Robin's comments on gin. He smiles just slightly as he pours himself a drink, then roots through Mayor's bar stash for items appropriate to an exceptional drink he remembers learning about from an old friend met during his earlier shadow travels. After collecting and mixing the gin, coffee liqueur and rich cream, he also takes a moment to scribble down the recipe on a piece of paper.
Then [Robin] turns her green eyes to Viper. "Grimey was the guy who beat on Silhouette and who I thought I killed last time. I'm looking for another try, if that's okay with your investigations."
Paige graciously accepts the wine from Jerod with a smile of thanks. "Don't let me interrupt the narrative, but I'm not sure I heard of Silhouette's beating, so eventually someone should bring me up to speed." Her eyes make a quick appraisal of Captain Raven from behind her glass, before looking back over the newcomers as a group.
Raven is just listening at this point. Well, mostly listening - she's heard this bit before.
"Silhouette didn't receive a beating." Robin's very clear on that point, given her cousin's slave background. "She got beat on. And she gave as good as she got. But you know," Robin shrugs one shoulder off-handedly, "for rough fun on the docks, Silhouette's in the fainting flower Family weight class. I, on the other hand, am not." She finishes with a toothy grin.
Ash drinks most of his glass. "OK, so here's what I know. About Silken, nada. Heap I have been warned about extensively by Sir Archer. How he manages to write twice as much as any man with a whole hand, I've no idea. Grimey is one of Flannel's men, but Flannel has joined the navy rather than be exiled. Grimey was supposed to, as well..." He looks at Viper.
Raven issues a barely-audible snort at that.
Viper nods. "Went missing the first watch he stood. Not that any sailor was going to stop him. He's not strictly human, but there are a few like 'em in Amber. Not even really sure where they're from, except Grimey is an embarrassment to the rest of 'em. We've heard that Heap is around, but not that he'd hooked up with Flannel's crowd. That's not good news."
Ash listens to Viper's report. "Lady Robin, Grimey has betrayed the King's Hospitality and rejected his mercy. He can hope for no more than exile if he is recaptured, or hanging if he's done mischief. He has forfeited the protection of Xanadu."
"Sweet!" Robin's excitement is palpable.
"Do you have a location on the two of them? I'd also like to know about their associates and who they may call upon for support when we decide to collect on their forfeiture." Jerod asks as he wanders back from the bar, handing the gin concoction to Robin as he passes after dropping of Paige's.
"And maybe a little more information on what the 'them' hanging around Amber. I want to make sure of him this time."
Robin accepts the drink from Jerod with a proper 'Thank you.' Then her head cocks as the sweet odor lifts from the glass. A look of puzzlement, a quick sniff, a cautious sip and Robin's eyebrows go up in delight.
"Nice!" she says to her cousin. And "Thank you!" like she means it this time. Then she kicks the rest of the cocktail back in one happy swallow.
Raven has a few questions of her own, but considering the dog-pile on the officials already in progress might cover a few of the answers, she keeps her mouth shut.
"I haven't heard of Heap since the whole mess with Solange's book," Paige adds with a shrug.
"I can keep my ears open the next passage there, but I had thought to check in with the Rangers before returning," she adds. "Not that it's strictly necessary, as they're capable without me."
Ash looks to Viper, who speaks. "No, we do not have a precise location on them. They may be in the mass of new arrivals, or they may be among the people being crowded out by the new'uns. You should start at The Brewery Tap; the proprietor there was close to them when they were Flannel's gang."
"A start." Jerod says, scaling the drink recipe, with the name written at the top, over to Victor before returning his attention to Ash.
"While we're out and about, please make sure that Sir Archer and his guards are aware of the ones we seek and their associates. They're to be brought in for holding. The Family will have some questions for them. If they resist arrest, kill them. Not all of them mind you."
Robin notes the pass to Victor with a raised eyebrow, but otherwise holds her peace.
Ash nods. "Of course, your highness. Transport that way is not rapid, but I can find someone to pass the message back." His face is nearly blank. "Sir Archer has been known to be... enthusiastic in his duties. A writ would be most effective, if you wish to actually interrogate prisoners without needing to summon their ghosts."
Tjaden snorts.
Raven clears her throat politely. "You don't happen to know which ships they was assigned to, do you?"
Paige looks back to the Lord Mayor.
Ash looks to Viper's opposite number, who is some sort of port official. "The Countess of Bivar, Captain. Shadow flag that was impressed after The Sundering. Outbound to Bellum on tonight's tide. We follow the Amber tradition and send newly impressed sailors on long tours, so they can either desert far from home or at least stay out of trouble longer."
Raven nods at that. "Don't happen to know where the main of the crew likes to spend their pay, do you?"
Robin strolls over to stand near Victor. Her eyes are holding questions for Viper that'll keep.
The port official thinks for a moment. "It's a new crew, the ship wasn't Amber's when she came into Amber's harbor, but she has a core set of officers who stayed with her. Given all the people pouring in to Xanadu from Amber right now, I'd be surprised if they got far off the docks. Someplace like the Beak or Bloody Bob's, at least for the seamen."
"We could round up seaman Flannel, sir."
Ash looks at the royals to let them answer, if the wish. There's no telling how quickly the portmaster could accomplish such a task.
"Keep an eye out for him and pick him up if you see him." Jerod says. "Unless we get to him first."
Raven nods at that. "No point in riling the whole lot of them up by searching him out."
"Yes, My Lords," replies the portmaster. "If he isn't on the Countess when she sails tonight, we'll be looking for him anyway."
"The Brewery Tap, the Beak, Bloody Bob's." Robin nods as she commits the names to her jackdaw's nest of a memory.
Then she follows up on a bad notion that's been swirling up in her thoughts. "Grimey's people back in Amber, they aren't Arcadian by any chance, are they?" she asks, almost afraid of the answer.
Ash shrugs. "I'm not from these parts originally."
Viper looks up. "The curly headed people who live in the woods, Lady Robin? No connection I know of, but I never had to pay much attention to them in Amber."
"The Brewery Tap awaits." Jerod says, finishing his drink. "Time to put this to bed. Got other things to do."
Robin nods and after looking around confusedly for a moment puts her glass... somewhere. Checking in with her lizards and her ex, she nods in farewell to Ash and Viper, and heads for the door.
Raven issues a general farewell nod of her own and trails after Robin.
Paige adds an afterthought for Jerod, "There are a good number more Arcadians since their King was drawn here, mostly the men, but that's a recent development. I'm sure Robin clued you in on that.
"Want company?" she asks.
"I think that slipped her mind." Jerod says with a smile. "And sure. I'd have been disappointed if you weren't coming along."
If anyone seems inadequately armed, Ash will offer them the use of assorted blades.
Last modified: 31 March 2012