Seeing Brita in conversation with Corwin, Brennan leaves the great Family Gathering with much to consider, and many conflicting goals competing for his attention. Questions remain, as ever, but many of Brennan's nagging questions have been answered, and suspicions confirmed.
In the morning, his first priority is to find Brita: "Cousin," he says, when he finds her. "Have you had breakfast, yet?"
Brita is sitting on a short wall fronting the path leading to the gardens in front of the Palace. She has a sketchbook in hand and Brennan notes several sketches of what appears to be dragons and what appears to be Lucas with wings before she closes the book and turns with a smile. "Master Brennan! I Can Eat," she notes, not quite answering the question.
Brennan waves away the title with some minor irritation, but doesn't actually reprimand her. This is no doubt one of the many small prices he'll have to pay for being an overt Sorcerer.
"All right, then, you can eat, if you want to. But I am going to eat. Join me?" he asks. On the assumption that she will, Brennan makes his way around until he finds a breakfast nook suitable for himself and Brita... and one or two more.
"Hopefully Edan will join us in a bit," Brennan says, "but, I did want to thank you for volunteering to help Ambrose in his trials against my sister. I wanted to go," and by his expression, there may have been three or four things Brennan wanted to do, "but I have to go where I think I'll be most effective."
"I am not Sure Where I would be Most Effective, but if Cousin Ambrose Needs Finding, I will Find Him. And Help him, as Needed," Brita adds as she happily noshes on whatever is available. "What can you Tell me of your Sister?"
It is unlikely that Brennan will find the makings of an Uxmali breakfast in Paris-- although it would be useful to help Brita acclimate-- so unfortunately they'll have to subsist on Parisian fare: crepes, croissants, and coffee. "Not as much as I'd like, unfortunately. The one and only time I met her, I'm not even sure she bothered to figure out who I was before she tried to kill me. Ambrose and I are full brothers, through Tayanna, Brand's high priestess. Last we spoke of it, Ambrose and I weren't sure of Chantico's mother, except that it was one of Uxmal's various gods. Which makes Chantico a fire-goddess, in the Uxmali style. So you can see why I think you'll be effective, there."
"Hm." Brita comments as she finishes a bite of fruit-filled crepe. "Do you have a Feel for her Age? How did she Attack You? What do you Know of her Skill and Fighting Technique?"
"Older than Ambrose, younger than me," Brennan says. "Beyond that, it's hard to be precise. Two, three centuries, I think. And she attacked us because when Ambrose and I returned to Uxmal together, Chantico had taken advantage of his absence to launch a full scale attack on the temple complex that Ambrose had inherited from Brand.
"She is... at least something like a Sorceress, although that might be the truth of her Amber heritage manifesting through the accidents of her other, Uxmali-goddess heritage. At the time, I was still keeping my own secrets, so I let Ambrose do what he does best, while I do what I did best, and mopped up the military side of the battle. I don't know that she's ever been trained. For that matter, I don't know that anyone has ever explained to her what Amber was, or what a Pattern is. I know neither Ambrose nor I ever have, and we'd really like to keep it that way." Brennan says.
Edan can be heard coming down the hallway at this point, giving directions to one of the castle staff; it sounds like he's organizing another meal to be set up at another location. When he sees Brita and Brennan, he smiles, sends the page away with a final word or two, and approaches them. His affine isn't present. "Cousins," he says. "Thank you for inviting me. I hope I do not interrupt."
Brita smiles at Edan and waves him towards a seat. She says "We've been Discussing the Sister Fire Goddess of Cousin Ambrose and Cousin Brennan." She turns back to Brennan, "Why did She Attack the Temple? Was she Aiming to Destroy it or Take Over?"
"She wanted it for her own," Brennan says, "judging by the methods of her attack. What this means is probably that she wants to assume control of the whole wretched place and pantheon. Which I wouldn't care about too much, except that it implies she would also take possession of all of Brand's various notes, records, speculations, and experiments in progress. Which is dangerous, because even though she might not know exactly what she is right now, she would if she ever took possession of those papers and managed to understand them." As Edan sits, Brennan includes him in the conversation.
"My understanding is that Ambrose was originally recruited into alliance with Dara and Cleph in order to keep Chantico at arm's length. Having walked the Pattern, he's now in a stronger position... but now our fear is that Dara will offer an alliance with Chantico, which might be even worse." After Edan settles himself, Brennan says, "No, Edan, no interruption at all. As you can see, we were discussing someone you've recently met."
"Ah, yes, a charming, fascinating woman whose interests include burning things, fraternicide, and human sacrifice," Edan says, deadpan. "I think Dara already knows Chantico. Ambrose left a note to Chantico mentioning that her 'foreign allies' would destroy Uxmal, rather than aid her. This was after he took all his people and left. Dara and Cleph seemed the most likely suspects. Clarissa thought that Lord Borel would either leave Chantico to her fate in Uxmal, or come Eat her. No one expected Chantico to be able to follow Ambrose's trail." Edan suddenly looks sheepish. "I do not think that we will have to worry about Brand's notes."
"Why is That?" Brita asks.
Brennan would like to hear the answer to that, too. He indicates this by staring at Edan while bracing for bad news.
"Clarissa and I went into the Pyramid for clues as to where Ambrose went," Edan says. "Almost everything of import or value had been cleared out already. Ambrose is a master of the Principle of Space, it seems; he had left a number of traps in order to ensnare his sister. Chantico avoided the Pyramid entirely, another indication that she had outside help or advice. Clarissa and I encountered several of these traps; they slowed our progress to a crawl. Neatly caught between my desire to move ahead, my wish to find Ambrose, and my care not to disturb the main trap, I quite lost my temper. The resulting eruption destroyed a significant fraction of the Pyramid, buried the town in lava, and vaporized a few square miles of jungle." Edan falls silent.
Brita gives Edan an appraising look, before she asks both of them "You Indicated the Pyramid Temple had been Cleared. Do you Think Sorceress Chantico Cleared it or Others? Were there any Indications Before You...." Brita blinks before finding a word that fits, "Expunged It?"
"I'm assuming it was Ambrose that took everything that wasn't nailed down. Unskilled labor is cheap for gods in Uxmal, even if Sorcery fails," Brennan says.
Then, looking at Edan, "You destroyed the temple complex, buried the town in lava, and smoked several square miles of jungle," he repeats. "Because you lost your temper." He lets that hang in the air long enough to consider which of several questions he wants to ask. "Was this where Lilly got her burns?"
Edan shakes his head for Brennan's benefit, but answers Brita first. "I think it is as Brennan said. I could see many traces of Ambrose, but none of Chantico. I think he cleared the place out and left it as a trap. A very complex, very subtle trap, meant for sorcerors who use fire."
He faces Brennan. "Not there. Lilly came, yes, sent to Uxmal by Madoc. But she was far from the Pyramid. She brought me my horse. We all tracked Ambrose to see what happened, and Clarissa was caught in another of his traps. It was Lilly and myself who happened upon Ambrose and his army, cornered by Chantico and her army and seven of the gods of Uxmal. Chantico broke Lilly's hip during their contest. The burns... were actually the least problem. Chantico and her retinue weren't entirely there, you see. That was the advantage she had in an otherwise one-sided contest with Lilly. Ambrose and I worked together; he defined their advantage and gave us protection. I yanked their spirit-selves into the Shadow and immolated them with a sodium explosion. That's the short version. Paige explained to me that details were... somewhat lacking... at dinner."
Brita seems surprised. "Nanna Clarissa was Caught?" She shakes her head at that thought but continues, "Do you Think you Destroyed the Uxmali Gods? How did you Bring their Spirit Selves to you?" She glances at Brennan, knowing she is monopolizing Edan with questions where Brennan may have many of his own.
Brennan wants to hear the answers to those, too, so all he says is, "How would you corporate their spirits if you had to, Brita?"
Not having heard this teacher-student vibe between Brennan and Brita before, Edan raises an eyebrow and merely smiles towards Brita.
Brita suppresses the urge to stick out her tongue at Edan for putting her on the spot. "I Do Not Truly Know," she says to Brennan and withholds the 'that's why I asked' comment. She continues, "Spirits are Not Something I have Encountered Much. Each Time I Have encountered what Should Be Spirits, they have been Corporeal." She cocks her head, "There Must be Some Link to the Incorporeal Portion. I Suppose I would Look for That First, then Perhaps Freeze the Link or Shrink it in Some Way." She blinks at Brennan, "What Is the Link or are there Differences?"
Brennan is as impervious as a stone to Brita's unvoiced comments. He smiles, not unkindly, and says, "Of course there are differences. Nothing is ever easy. Most of the time, astral essence stays contiguous with the physical, even if there's not enough cohesion to really call it a spirit. When separate, there's often a sort of a cord connecting them. But Chaosi? Rip the astral essence out of the body, and you've got--" he pauses just a beat, long enough for Brita and Edan to realize what the result must be, "-- two separate Chaosi, one physical, one Astral.
"I don't think there's any requirement that an Astral entity-- call it a spirit-- must have a corresponding physical body, though. I'm not sure the gods of Uxmal do, the nasty little things. Hence the question." Brennan turns to Edan. "So?"
"So." Edan smiles with very little humor, and uses his hands to help describe what follows. "Whatever issues the other Uxmali gods had, Chantico was using a huge amount of energy to transmit part of her essence to that battlefield, and to stay... cohesive. Yes. A good word. Her focus was a suit of armor made of gold and stone, which she filled and animated. The other gods did not have or need a focus.
"I saw the opening, the link they maintained, once Ambrose mentioned that such a thing was possible. And all the energy being spent, holding together their... spirits... against the natural tendency to disperse. I played upon that tendency with... Astrality, for lack of a better word... increased the forces trying to pull the spirits apart, pull them into the Shadow. I concentrated these forces into the ground, 'anchoring' their spirits for all practical purposes, pulling them farther into the Shadow so that I could affect them.
"The rest was simple, if a bit dangerous. I trusted Ambrose to shield us. Kyauta, my affine, made it rain. I used Multiplicity and a handful of salt to turn the rain into saline, then Similarity to change the salt into elemental sodium, which reacted explosively with the water. Chantico took the brunt of the blast. Blasts. She vanished. The other gods were knocked out, except Coyote, and he took them away. I doubt Chantico was killed, but hopefully I've put some fear into her. Had I more time, I would have made it more destructive; but I judged that Chantico was readying a death blow, and if I were in Lilly's position I do not think I could have deflected it. So... I had to hurry."
"So you Increased the Forces to Draw the Spirits to the Shadow and then Anchored Them," Brita repeats. "So, I Could Potentially Solidify the Link as Noted and Either Send Damage Along the Fixed Link. Are Fire Gods Susceptible to Electrical Damage? It Appears that Explosions are Effective."
Brennan listens to Edan's story quietly, forming but not sharing his opinion. "Explosions are probably not the best tool against a fire goddess," he says. "Never play to your enemy's strength."
Then, to Edan, "Coyote was there? That's... well, that's to be expected, I suppose. The little klepto troublemaker. It wouldn't surprise me if he was the one who set Chantico off in the first place, just for fun." Despite the wretched description of the god, Brennan's tone is less harsh when talking about the Coyote than about Chantico or the rest of the Uxmali gods. A bit less harsh, anyway.
"He is exactly that," Edan says, eyeing the coffee. "Coyote took men and gods off the battlefield, and stole the power of the rain god from Kyauta. As I see it now, he will be serving as both the rain god and the trickster god. The Uxmali gods and Chantico's armies should be back in Uxmal. Ambrose should be catching up with his people or leading them already. Lilly is back here, and recovering. Not the most decisive of endings, but one I could accept." Edan pauses.
"After the explosion, after the rain stopped, I feared that another Hob was in the making. I contemplated hunting Coyote down with a pride of fire-lions. He came to me instead, asked what it would take to keep me... us... out of Uxmal. I said I personally had no reason to be there, if Coyote were to protect and assist those in Uxmal who had allegience to Amber and Xanadu. We left it at that."
"Kyauta?" Brennan asks.
"My affine," Edan says. "I left him back in my room."
Not knowing which path the next question or two might follow, he stops there.
"God Coyote sounds very like my Uncle Loki. Will he Oppose my Arrival to Assist Cousin Ambrose?"
Brita asks her question, but Brennan keeps his to himself for the moment. His focus does not leave Edan, and the slight tilt to his head and the unblinking aspect of the gaze has Brennan resembling Fiona much more than Bleys for the moment. Questions are storing up and compounding interest, but for the moment Brennan doesn't push them back into the conversation.
"Coyote won't oppose anything that amuses him," Brennan says, "but his attention span is short. I can see some potential friction between a new god of rain and a water goddess, but with a common fire goddess enemy..." Brennan shrugs, expecting Edan to offer an opinion, too. But he adds the question, "How was Ambrose about his new ally?"
"If I read Coyote right, Brita, he won't exactly be thrilled to see you," Edan says. "But then will be the test to see if he keeps our bargain. My guess is that he'll be inclined to help you to get you out as soon as possible. That is, if Ambrose is anywhere near Uxmal or Coyote right now. Brennan... Ambrose didn't know, at least not then. Maybe he knows now, I've kept my nose out of it. When I was about to pursue Coyote, and Coyote came to me, that was the same time they were using Ossian's Trump to get out and get help. I thought Ambrose was looking in my direction at one point, I assume he knew what I was about. I believe he was gone before the conversation started."
Brita turns to Brennan, "Where might Cousin Ambrose be Besides Shadow Uxmal?"
"Leading his people toward Xanadu, is my guess," Brennan says. "With the bridge burned behind him, he's not likely to turn back even if he wants to."
Brennan frowns. "Which means that in following them, Chantico is also heading toward Xanadu. Wonderful. I wish I'd figured that out last night and told the King about it."
Brita notes, "So she is Tenacious, then. She would Not Return Triumphant to Shadow Uxmal?"
"If she returns to Uxmal, she would not be triumphant," Edan says. "Uxmali gods have politics too, it seems. She will have lost face, whether she was actually injured or not. I will assume that she experienced pain, and probably was injured. Most likely survived."
Brennan nods agreement. "There's no triumph here for Chantico. She wanted control of the Temple Complex and whatever was in it. That's clearly not an option now," he says, with a look at Edan. "She can't credibly claim that she chased Ambrose off, because he was running toward something, not away from her. When she chased after him, she was bloodied in the attempt. She'll be pissed off and embarassed.
"No, she'll regroup and re-engage, according to two things: First, according to her nature and temperament, which implies to me more sound and fury than long-range planning. Second, according to her ability to follow him... and without any mastery of the Pattern, that narrows the timeframe, too," Brennan says.
"Do you Feel Cousin Ambrose will Try a Direct Route Back or will he Need to be more Circuitous to Avoid your Sister?" Brita asks Brennan.
Edan tilts his head in a kind of half-shrug and looks at Brennan.
"My understanding was that he's leading his people through Shadow from Uxmal to Xanadu. I didn't get the impression that he was leading a small band, either. How fancy do you think he can be? If I were him, my instinct would be to make all possible direct speed, but with a large band of followers he's a bit hampered even in that. Edan, were his people with him when you saw him? How many was he leading?" Brennan asks.
Edan's eyes grow vague, remembering. "We saw them at distance, and from a height. There were people, but they all seemed to be armed. Yes. At the time, it seemed that he had split his group and engaged Chantico's army with those who were capable of fighting. She had him cornered against a cliff." Edan quotes an estimate of the army he saw around Ambrose.
Brita asks Edan, "What Weapons were they Wielding? Could the Fighters have been Hired?" She then turns to Brennan and fires off, "How would You Track a Large Group of Shadow Uxmali?"
Brennan cants his head slightly, giving Brita a curious look. "Why?" is all he asks.
"Because I Wish to Find Cousin Ambrose with Due Haste," Brita responds. "I have Travelled Shadow, but only Performed a Modicum of Shadow Shifting Myself."
For his part, Edan describes what he saw with Lilly when they observed the battle down below, and what they saw of the Uxmali when they were in the thick of things.
Brita accepts the information with thanks.
Brennan's eyebrow raises at Brita's answer, even though that's about what he expected her to say. "Even unpracticed, you'll still very likely be moving faster than Ambrose, weighed down with all those numbers. But, it probably leaves Chantico and her band of petty godlings between you and Ambrose, without any way for you two to coordinate and use that to your advantage. You'd have to go through her to get to him. It's probably not the fastest way to find him, either."
"What would You Consider the Fastest Way?" Brita asks. "Can one Part the Veil to a Person?"
Edan merely smiles. "Paradox," he says. "Anything is possible. But I have not yet tried that."
"My brother has, and he made it work," Brennan says. "He reached me in Weyland's Tower, at a most unfortunate moment. But why not just make a Trump sketch?"
"I had Thought to Do That and will Try, but I was with Cousin Ambrose for a Brief Time and he is Not Here to Sit for Me. We shall See if it Works."
"Would that be considered, er, permission?" Edan asks.
Brennan grunts, because Edan's point is a good one that he should have considered. "That would be... a gamble against Family etiquette," he concedes at length, "and not one I have anything useful to say about, now that I think about it in that light. If I had one, I'd give it to you, and if you need it, you can borrow mine of Uxmal."
He thinks a little bit. "Here's how I would go about it, if we all had the time and inclination," which is an admission that they might not. Brennan might not, even. "I'd work Time and Space to get a good solid image of Ambrose in the last place he's been seen-- the site of the battle that wounded Lilly. Then, try to follow the image until it reaches his present. That's... not going to be easy. Looking for a specific time and place in the past is always like looking for a needle in a haystack, and only Edan's help makes it conceivable. And then following Ambrose with Sorcery while he's using Pattern to move..." He spreads his hands. "Difficult. Time consuming. Splitting the difference, maybe we can put you at the site of the battle, which is at least closer. But you're the one going. Your opinion's the most important."
"I was Hoping to Approach from This Side versus the Shadow Uxmal or the Battle Shadow as Those Locals would Potentially Place me Behind Cousin Chantico as well," Brita notes, "but That may Not be Possible."
"Adding in Similarity would help," Edan says. "Do either of you have something of Ambrose's?"
"I--" it looks as though Brennan is going to say no, then he realizes something. "Yes, actually."
But he wants to address Brita's plan, first: "You mean, with Pattern? Brita, I don't even know if that's possible. I know I don't know how to go about it, if it is." He frowns to himself, then adds, "That would be a really useful talent, though. It equates to being able to find a particular person in Shadow, I think."
Then, back to Edan, "Yes, actually. I have a fragment Brand's papers, Ambrose's translation. The ones that proved Ossian is my son."
Brita muses over her past experiences. "I was Able to Perform a Spell to Glimpse Some of Uncle Huon's Path through Shadow, but it was Difficult. We Used Ship Skidbladnir as well to Track a Path, but the Focus must be Near Water for That to Work and We Still had to use Pattern to Shift Shadows. If You Two can Assist in Devising a Suitable Spell that will Somehow Aim me At Cousin Ambrose, I would be Appreciate the Assistance. If, for Expediency, We can only place me Behind his Path, I will Accept That as well."
"Brita, I'll even help you cast the spell, if time and schedule permit. It probably shouldn't be done here or in Xanadu, for obvious reasons. Even in Amber, I tend to ride or sail somewhere up the coast so I don't disturb anyone. But the closest I've ever come to something like that was a spell designed to show me the sky of a target in shadow that hadn't moved in generations... and even that took a day of hard labor," Brennan says.
Then, thinking about scheduling, he asks her: "You don't happen to have a Trump of King Random, do you? Or of Xanadu?"
"If I'm still here, I can help," Edan says. "I'm about to go talk to Garrett and Signy about that very thing. Where I come from, magic was often created as a group effort. I don't see why Sorcery wouldn't work the same way... that is, if our methods and the Principles used don't cancel each other out."
Brita smiles and nods in acceptance of the assistance offered from both her cousins. "I Must Return to Reality Xanadu to Assist as Shield Bearer for Cousin Robin in Her Honor Duel. Perhaps We can Convene After to Set Up the Spell? I do Have a Trump of the Path up to the Palace at Just Rise." She turns to Edan with a slight furrowing of her brow. "Our Principles are Opposite, but Perhaps That can Work to our Advantage - Your Fire could be Used to Help Focus Us Away from Cousin Chantico."
Brennan grunts, saying, "That's... a little longer than I wanted to delay, actually." He takes the Trump of Uxmal out of his case, and slides it to Brita, face down as Trump etiquette requires. "At the very least, here is Uxmal. And I will drop off the copy of Ambrose's translations as use for Similarity, and some of my own notes on how this might work, tonight. But I do really need to talk to King Random and clarify Ambrose's status and intent." Brennan doesn't look as though he's going to enjoy that conversation. "Maybe that timing still works out, though. When I drop off those pages, can I use that Trump?"
Brita accepts the Trump with due respect and places it in her with her collection. "I Assumed the Spell would Take Effect Immediately upon casting. If Not, We could Attempt to set it up Prior to the Honor Duel. You are Welcome to Pass Through the Trump to Just Rise, although I Would Wish to Keep it With me. Would you Return Here or Remain in Reality Xanadu for Consultation? I could Potentially Return There tomorrow." Brita cocks her head as she calculates what she still needs to do in Paris.
Edan simply looks back and forth between the two to see when or where the main event is happening. In the back of his mind, he's hoping he can make it.
Brennan nods to Brita, "Yes, that's the problem. I hadn't realized you were involved in Robin's duel. Is that tomorrow? My issue is that I need to talk to King Random-- about Ambrose and about Rebma-- and I also need to get myself in motion with regards to Rebma, the sooner the better."
"I've got to get a pack of Trumps," Edan says, slightly morose. "Brita, if you ever want to sketch me, I would be amenable. Paige is the only one with a Trump of me so far. I guess until then, you'll have to Trump someone in my general area."
"There was No Set Day for the Honor Duel, only 'Post Funerals' was specified," Brita notes to Brennan. "I have a Lunch Meeting with Cousin Martin, and I must Speak with my Mother before Returning to Reality Xanadu, but if I can Complete those tasks, I could Perhaps Return to Reality Xanadu with you Tonight. I will have to leave Notes for Mister Roth on the Fountain."
She turns to Edan, "I have Very Limited Trumps as well, but am Working on Others. I Could do a Quick Trump Sketch of myself for You. What Full Trumps Might you Wish to Have? I can Add Them to what I am Attempting - Perhaps a Replica of my Reality Xanadu Trump?"
Brennan nods agreement with Edan-- one day, he's got to put his hands on a set of Trumps. To Brita he says, "It's not any kind of priority, but should you have the need, you have permission to make a Trump of me. As does Ossian already, as will others as I speak to them. One of me already exists in the larger collection in Xanadu.
"As for Xanadu, I'll stop by later tonight. From there, we can play it by ear. If we miss each other, we can use the Trumps in Xanadu to get in touch with each other. I'll leave the notes with you tonight just in case something goes wrong," Brennan says.
Edan is nodding at Brita's offer. "A Xanadu Trump would make a world of difference, if you have the time. Thank you."
Brita smiles at Edan. "You are Welcome. It May take a While to Complete, but I will Work on It and on One of Each of You," Brita turns from Edan to include Brennan. "I will Need to do sketches to Start. If you do Not Mind, I will Start Some Now." She pulls a small pad and pencil out of a jacket pocket. "I'll just Move over There," Brita indicates a stool set under the small window in the corner of the breakfast nook. "I Should only Need ten or twenty minutes for Now. I will Need More time Later."
Brennan doesn't mind.
Edan nods his agreement as well.
Brita rises and moves to the window. She settles on the stool and flips open the sketch pad. Her pencil moves quickly over the sheet as she glances up to Edan and asks, "What will You be off to Do Now, Cousin Edan? Will you Remain Here or Return to Reality Xanadu?"
"I'll be talking later to Signy and Garrett about just that," Edan says. "My hope is that I'll be able to stay more around Xanadu and Amber. Investigating the movements of the Moonriders is easier, now; they'll be coming to us. We won't have to go haring off all over the universe to pick up scant clues. The trick is to figure out their plans before said plans are put into effect."
"Good luck," Brennan says. You're going to need it. "I'd like to hear more about this affine of yours, which briefly had the power of a rain god, if I may."
Brita hums agreement as she flips to a second sheet in the sketchpad.
Edan starts to speak, stops, and then smiles. "Where should I start, Cousin? From the beginning, where I obtained it? Or later, in Uxmal, where the rain god became involved?"
Brennan half-raises an eye, and half-tilts his head. "Given a choice? A whole story is always better than a half story." Brennan settles back to hear a whole story.
Brita agrees, 'From the Beginning, Definitely."
Edan settles back. "It started when I left Amber, towards Clarissa," he says. "You remember, Brennan. Clarissa had learned of my existence through my Sending, and I was heading to her realm. I happened across a race about to start, the Race to Madness, a race to Ygg and back. Thinking that this would be the fastest way to the Tree and beyond, I entered the race. Later, I was curious as to the 'great prize' that was offered, and decided to see the race through, but that is another story. After many challenges, both to horsemanship and sorcery, I reached Ygg and was about to search for an item of Chaos to bring back to the finish line, when I encountered the daughter of the High Marshall. She had entered a similar race on the other side, you see, sponsored by Count Madoc. We traded items, there under the branches of Ygg; I gave her a pear from Xanadu. She gave me an... unaffinated... affine, which I named Kyauta. We talked, mostly of the Moonriders' resolve to return to Amber, then parted ways. Kyauta has remained with me since... well, he's in our rooms now."
Brita has turned to another page in the sketch book and appears to be mainly focused on Brennan at the moment, but she asks "How do you Know It was Unaffinated? Is it Something you can Sense?"
Brennan doesn't interrupt.
"She told me, initially," Edan says. "But that was easy enough to verify. The offer was made, once I talked to it. It would be extremely difficult for Kyauta to cover up the fact that it was affinated to another Lord, especially over time."
"That is Good to Know," Brita says without looking up. Her brow is furrowed as she sketches. "I was Not Sure if that was a State that was Obvious or Not. What is Your Affine?"
"If it has a lord it doesn't want to leave, or whose wrath it fears, I expect it will make the situation plain," Brennan says. He is waiting to hear about the rain god aspect of all this.
"Kyauta is whatever form I tell it to be," Edan says to Brita. "Initially it was a tiny horse. Later, something like a jellyfish. Now, usually, a white dragonet. It's size is still somewhat limited."
He pauses. "I won the Race to Madness, but left before I could find out the prize- Martin and Lilly had passed through at that time, the political situation was... complicated... and I had bad portents. I went on to Clarissa, spent a short time there, if time could really count in such a place, then she offered to take me to Uxmal for a little advanced sorcerous training with Ambrose. I accepted. When we went there, as I said in the meeting, Ambrose and his people had already left. We looked for clues as to his whereabouts inside the Pyramid of the Magician, encountered a few traps along the way, and met the rain god inside the apex; it had been left there, bound to the Pyramid.
"The raid god pledged itself to my service in exchange for its eventual freedom. I accepted. Then we found out we were trapped, I quite lost my temper, performed a large Working to get us out, and unintentionally blew apart a large portion of the Pyramid. To be honest, at that point I didn't care whether I broke the Pyramid or not. The rain god deserted me immediately; Clarissa fetched him back, and I fed him to Kyauta as punishment." Edan tilts his head. "After I ripped apart his psyche, of course, so as not to be too large of a meal."
Brennan has been mostly quiet through the story, watching Edan with a slight tilt to his head, but this is the part he's been waiting for. "I see," he says. "This is the pique that vaporized several square miles of jungle, not the pique that nearly killed Lilly, yes? And this punishment-- also temper? Or calculated?"
Brita's pencil stopped moving some time during the recitation and she is staring at Edan with a curious look on her face, her head also cocked to the side. Without looking down at her sketch pad, she flips the page and begins sketching again, her eyes focused on Edan now.
Edan raises an eyebrow. "Almost. The explosion at the battlefield was more planned than pique- I trusted Ambrose to provide us protection. If things were rough-edged, it was because I was in a hurry. Lilly was injured, and in my judgement, about to die, whether or not she was able to destroy Chantico's avatar in doing so. That plan worked. The explosion at the Pyramid, not so much planned, no. And the rain god, that was intentional. As I said to it, I didn't have the time or the inclination to exile it in some salt desert or impale it or trap it in a bottle for ten thousand years. It took service with me, and was false. I punished it, as I might punish any man or creature or djinn that did the same." He pauses. "I feel that I owe you and Ambrose an apology. Clarissa and I intruded in your sphere of influence, and I did significant damage to your temple. Please remember that there were extinuating circumstances- I would not have done so were I not ensnared in Ambrose's traps, and he might have thought about the possiblity of an ally looking for him and for his welfare, instead of just Chantico barging into his living space. The rest that I have recounted, my actions were just and proper."
"You owe me no apology for your actions in Uxmal," Brennan says. "With the exception of my brother and certain projects we've discussed before, I don't give half a damn for the place or its inhabitants, mortal or divine. I scraped the mud of those jungles off my boots centuries ago, and claim no special influence or interest there. My concern is not there. My concern is for you."
Brita continues to sketch.
It's probably the last thing Edan was expecting, from his expression. "M-me?" he asks, pointing to his chest.
"Edan, in the space of a day or so-- a few days at most, it seems-- you destroyed the temple complex and half the jungle around it, ripped a god in half and fed it to an affine, and blew up several cousins," Brennan says, matter-of-factly. "I don't deny your right to have a temper, or to execute summary justice in Shadow; I claim those same rights, as do we all. But there is a pattern, there."
Brennan lets that hang in the air, but not long enough to be awkward. "If you say there's no concern, then there's no concern." He seems willing to let the discussion move on.
Brita cocks her head to the side. "All that Anger. Is that a Product of your Fire?" she asks as she begins to pack up her pencil and sketch pad.
"Temper is temper. I was hot-headed before I ever met the afriti," Edan says to Brita, then pauses. "No," he says finally to Brennan. "There were moments of temper, yes, but I am not different than I have ever been. I may show a genteel demeanor, and prize intellectual discourse; this may have masked the fact that my homeland is sometimes as brutal and violent and bloody as any of our cousins', and afriti themselves are well known for their temper and pride and cruelty. I may try not to lose my temper, but it is there. It has always been there."
"Brutal and Violent, Temper and Pride...". Brita gets an almost wistful look in her eyes. "Sounds like Home Asgard."
"Sounds like Uxmal," Brennan says, flatly. "If you say there is no issue, then there is no issue," he repeats. "But be careful that temper isn't exploited. Say, into using explosive fire against another fire god."
Edan smiles and spreads his hands. "Point taken," he says. "The thought did cross my mind at the time, though I decided to go through with it. I was fully prepared for an attack with water, so the bullet was loaded into the gun, so to speak. And once the rules of engagement had been thrown out, it was the fastest way I had to clear the field of other opponents so that we could follow up on Chantico."
Brennan may or may not be convinced, but he's made his observation and is willing to let it drop rather than picking at it. Edan is not a child.
"Why were you Expecting the Attack to be Just Water?" Brita asks. "You Had said there were Other Gods there as well, Correct?"
"Exactly," Edan says. "I was thinking ahead two moves in the game. The enemy had to have analyzed me when I made myself manifest on the field of battle, despite the suppression charm I had placed on one of my swords. They should have known who I was and what I could do when we rode in under my fire charm. I was waiting for Chantico to direct one of them to take the appropriate countermeasures so that I could craft their ruin. No plan survives contact with the enemy; I had to trigger the rain myself. Had I more time, the explosion would have more precise, stronger, more effective, and probably prettier."
"But it Was Effective in Ending the Encounter," Brita notes. "And Cousin Lilly was Hardy Enough to Survive the Imprecision." She rises, dusting crumbs off of her pants, and is obviously preparing to leave.
"Brita," Brennan says. "One last thought, before you leave: It may be that King Random has the authority to cut through normal etiquette and give permission to draw a Trump of Ambrose."
Edan smiles at Brita. "If I am still in the area and can be of help, please call upon me," he says.
Brita smiles warmly at Edan and then turns the smile on Brennan. "I am having Lunch with Cousin Martin and must Speak with Cousin Vere Before I Leave. Then I must Write Instructions for the Memorial...." Brita trails of as she calculates in her head. Finally, she nods and says decisively, "We can Plan on Leaving for Reality Xanadu at the one hour past Third Watch." (Brita is using the Naval watches here, I think.). She smiles and nods again at both men before departing.
Last modified: 16 August 2010