A page arrives in the courtyard where Celina is walking. The girl speaks with a heavy, familiar seaward accent "Pardon, Princess Celina, but the two airbreather generals have returned, and we cannot find the Queen to notify her of it."
Technically, "Princess" isn't Celina's title.
Once she asks a few questions of the page, she understands the generals involved. Celina knows so little of Brennan and his preferences. Conner will be a hero to the city and well known. For both reasons, Celina elects to give them the most coverage possible from rumor and assessment. She goes to see them.
The page delivers her to the same secure area that Loreena has recently quit.
Celina takes the small brass trident from the holder on the frame and rasps the door twice. She sends the page for liquor and food for six. If the journey here was easy, she'll be surprised as the two men were supposed to be here weeks ago.
[when Brennan opens the door, she will be smiling]
"Welcome," and she gestures to his suite beyond. "I sent for food. How was your travel?"
Whatever Brennan was expecting when he heard the tap on the door, Celina wasn't it. Which is not to say he is displeased, merely caught a little off-guard. He recovers almost instantly, though, smiles back and invites Celina in.
His smile is conspiratorial: "We took a shortcut, but one with some interesting scenery. When was the last time you walked the Faiella-Bionin from here to Paris, or vice-versa?" He doesn't say it out loud, but mention of food has captured at least some part of his attention. Perhaps Rebma's waters do better at concealing the sounds of a hungry stomach than Xanadu's atmosphere.
The room gets a quick survey, as hostess, she seems to be checking to see if proper protocols have been followed for a visiting Lord of Amber. Which may signal that things in Rebma are not quite proper yet, or that Celina is measuring how 'special' the staff thinks one of the heroes of the Battle for Rebma might be.
If there are any defects in the living arrangements, Brennan does not see fit to acknowledge them, much less point them out. Once Celina is done with her quick survey, Brennan invites her in to sit down and make herself comfortable.
"I walked it very recently. The trip troubled me more than a bit. When I was younger I used to dream a lot of strange things." Celina finishes her visual scan of the room. "The trip brought my dreaming tendency back full force. I think the route was the cause." She raises an eyebrow of invitation for Brennan to explain his question.
Brennan gives one of his frowns, characteristic of information that fits an established but troublesome pattern.
"I would have doubted that, before I came here this most recent time," he says. "There is a chamber along the way, one with a natural-seeming cavern, in which is a natural-seeming formation of stone which, when viewed from just the right angle, resembles a throne. You know the place?" Brennan waits for the assent, but whether he gets it or not, he adds, "It looks uncannily like a throne I've dreamed myself, which I believe to be in Tir-na Nog'th of old."
There is a servile scratch at the door followed by a traditional surface knock. Once opened the door reveals Conner directing the palace servants to bring in the meal for six Celina ordered. "When I saw the amount of food on its way here, I assumed I was either going to be sent for or that Corwin had made a surprise state visit." Conner grins. "Have I missed anything of import on the walk over? Things seem to move so quickly these days."
Celina uncoils and slides to her feet, grinning. "Conner, just in time." She motions the food be delivered to a spot nearly in reach of the seating group. Once the staff has left, she answers Conner's question as she takes up a dominant position with the food cart, picking up a plate and starting to claim squid chunks with a three-tined tiny dagger. "Brennan was telling me you had an interesting walk here. I was worried when you did not arrive. I'm glad you are both here. And on my trip in, I was gifted with some disturbing dreams at the not-throne chamber of the Bionin."
She does not bother to say that Khela will be along or not when she will.
Brennan does not ask about Khela, but he does ask Celina: "Was there a mirror there?"
"All mirrors lead to Rebma," Celina responds. They may not have ever heard this said, but Celina says it with a weight that means she knows it personally. "There was a small mirror in my dream. It was a catalyst. I saw no mirror in the cavern when I woke from the dream. I found that sleep was a mirror. Somehow, I think I was the mirror as well. When I decided to interact with the mirror in the dream, things became more disturbing." She feels again the sharp pain of holding the jewel in her hand but her expression is entirely welcoming of having someone to talk to about this.
At the mention of dreams, mirrors, and the not-throne chamber all at once, Brennan's eyes slide from the arriving meal to Conner... but only for a moment.
"Maybe we should all sit down and compare notes," he says, rather conveniently-- even transparently-- giving the servants time to finish and leave. Once that happens: "No dreams of the chamber itself, for us. Not directly. But I've dreampt that throne, or something very like it. Occupied. By what I believe was the Queen of Air and Darkness." He makes the sublest of air-quotes gestures as he says it, perhaps humoring Celina's absent father, perhaps for lack of a better name.
"But there was a mirror there," Brennan adds, "bathing the statue in light. We thought perhaps you or Khela or Llewella had placed it there."
Celina nods, since the family gathering included no details of her travels before the Battle for Rebma. Conner knows her movements of late but Brennan would not. She pauses a moment to consider how far she can speak for her love. "Well, it is unlikely that Khela put it there. It seems that Khela and I would have passed through before you two, we left directly from Paris and moved quickly. We left no mirror behind that I saw. All you have said indicates it was not hidden. In my dream, I thought the mirror might have been an alarm device left there by my mother when she fled Rebma." She shrugs to gloss over the point. "I have to ask for clarity. When you say, 'bathing the statue in light', are you talking of the rough-throne shape or has some figure been added to the cavern?" Please don't tell me there is a figure now sitting the throne. Celina is seriously attentive now, the squid in her fingers is forgotten.
"The rough throne shape has a rough ruler shape sitting on it." Conner replies slowly. "You imply that there was no such figure when you passed though the cavern." Conner starts drumming his fingers against his leg. "My turn to clarify a detail. Did you walk or swim through the chamber?"
Celina smiles as she recalls dancing with Khela down through the cavern path. "Walked into the lit chamber where the throne was. Khela sat upon the throne. And I sat her lap. So I think I would have noticed a figure planted on the bench."
"Meaning," Brennan says, possibly completing Conner's line of thought, "that they not only walked through the area we saw illuminated by the mirror, they sat and posed for a picture. And we know you didn't leave it there, and suspect that Khela did not. Of my less exotic and more benign speculations, that leaves perhaps Llewella. We considered Moire, also, and some even more malicious possibilities, which is why we took some pains to avoid standing in its direct light and a few other precautions before investigating it.
"That damned thing is a navigational hazard," he continues. "Where is Khela, anyway?"
"Something unscheduled pulled her away and she deemed the palace not know where she trod," Celina responds as a courtesy. She reveals additional clarity by way of illuminating the new Queen, or Celina's dream Khela. "A hazard, yes. The mirror we found was off kilter to the throne and Khela avoided it while I explored it's setting and purpose. I did not know it was a dream when this was happening." She makes a thoughtful face and speaks a bit more quietly. "I confess I'm excited in exploring this range between dream and vision.....where mirrors alter and compress vision, space and necessity. The tempest of current events does not give much time for mystery. Yet Huon and Moire are ready to storm again I am sure."
Brennan raises an eyebrow by a very fractional amount, hearing that Khela's location is unknown. "Unfortunate," he says, after a moment. "We bear a gift from Xanadu to Rebma. As for the intersection of mirror and dream... I run the risk of sounding like Benedict or Corwin in this matter, but I would urge some caution in your investigations. Less for the mirror aspect, where I assume you have some expertise, as for the dream: much of what I hear about dreams, visions and the like seem to bear on the Queen of Air and Darkness." Another pause and then the inevitable Redhead admission: "But I'll admit, I share your curiosity."
Clearly he does not intend to lecture or harrangue about the dangers of dreams and visions-- sentiments delivered, he makes a five degree conversational course correction, "You're doubtless right about Huon and Moire, together or separately. Here's a question, though. It's relatively easy for Sorcerers of the Redhead College to move around space, even the space through and between Shadows. What's not clear to me, though, is how easy it is to do that with mirror. I've been assuming Moire's motion through Shadow is fairly limited, since she can't Walk. But can she use mirrors in the way Conner and I can Part the Veil?"
Brennan thinks the implications of that line of thought are obvious.
Celina looks thoughtful. "Now that I know about shadows....I'm not certain what is possible where the conditions of a shadow might actually be like a mirror." She shrugs. "However, for the most part, you can enter mirrors but it isn't that mirrors are connected. So you can't exit in a different place. Moire would have collected a free passage to Paris if she could walk from Rebma to Paris by mirror." She looks at Conner, who after all has been in Rebma longer than she.
[best of my recollection....will redact if more research arrives]
"Now if you could take the same mirror and keep it whole while making it exist in multiple places....." Celina just lets the idea shape its own result.
Brennan looks somewhat skeptical. "The reason I ask is that I don't believe descent from Oberon is the requirement for moving through Shadow. Descent from Oberon, as I understand it, is the requirement for walking the Pattern, which in turn grants us the free, willful motion through undiscovered Shadow that we enjoy. But there are other methods: There are Trumps, once drawn. One can follow an Amberite, or a trade route lain down, or the Black Road while it existed. The Moonriders obviously have some ability, since they showed up at Oberon's funeral and again on the trip home. Sufficiently trained Sorcerers can get back to where they've been, unless blocked by some force. I've often had the suspicion that Mirrorwork might provide a similar-- if also limited-- ability.
"Besides," he says, "Light and information can pass from one mirror to another. It's natural to ask if material objects could do the same." He thinks for a moment, then adds, "I could probably create a Working whereby a single object existed in two places at the same time. Come to think of it, I've briefly existed in two places at the same time, but it was a titanic effort for Conner and myself, and not terriby long-lived. Probably easier to scrap the requirement that the mirror remain whole. Just break it purposefully and exploit the lingering sympathetic connection."
Celina nods slowly. "Well, mirror work is an ordered process. While mortal sorcerers might strive to create linked mirrors, or craft paired ones, and I have read of this being done....I'd not easily trust that kind of a Working unless it came from Family level expertise. Because mirrors also hold conditions that trap the will and ego." Celina smiles. "You have expanded my sense of the possible which is never a bad thing at all. Yes, there are other methods. My worry is that Moire did not have one she could use, but she was more than able to work with allies she could outwit. Conner and I have briefly discussed this once." She makes a small gesture that encourages Brennan to share all his concerns.
"When Vere reported that Moire came to the camp of his Children of Lyr, he used the word appeared." Conner comments. "Vere is a man precise with his words. So I think we can presume some method of travel beyond walking though an inherent power or one from an ally is anyone's guess. However, I feel that the method of legal disputes among the nobility being a trial by magic indicates a sorcerous tradition somewhere in the Rebman line. You only codify a strong point for your side into your laws after all."
If Brennan knew about Moire appearing to Vere's camp, it had escaped his mind. That, in turn, shows in his expression.
"I'd split the difference with you both-- there may be some Sorcerous aspect or possible combinations with Mirrorwork, but I myself would be hesitant to try to combine the two on the fly. I'd want someone expert in Mirrorwork opposite me, preferably someone who knew how the combination was to be done. I've been on the wrong end of getting Sorcery near Trump and Pattern, and even having some small expertise in Pattern it's never been a positive experience," Brennan says.
"But I wanted to get that possibility out there. Our advantages of mobility in Shadow are profound, but they can be countered if we're so smug as to assume that everyone else is stationary. They're not. I don't know what that mirror is doing there, even on the assumption that Moire put it there in the first place. It's not hidden. It could simply have been the best place to exit to somewhere in Shadow unobserved by Paris or Rebma. It could be nothing more than an observation point. Or," he sounds somewhat skeptical of this, "it could be a means to return, although it's certainly not where I'd have put it, right out in the open.
"It bears some watching, anyway. What would have happened had your Triton intercepted Moire, exactly?" Brennan asks.
Celina frowns and leans forward towards both men. "That is a considerable worry to me in the immediate. I am prepared to free the Tritons and suffer Rebma's wrath for that break with tradition. What I am less prepared for is Family ordering the Sons of the Dragon at each others throats. As far as I know, the Tritons will still obey Moire or Rilsa, certainly."
Brennan gives a sober nod-- that was the shape of the answer he expected, if not the exact words. "A reasonable concern, even if it puts you in an unenviable situation. But at least you know what to be vigilant for," he says. "And how does Rebma fare after recent events? And you and Khela?"
"Everyone is being extremely nice," Celina grins. "We have a lovely city and enthusiastic supporters for the Court. According to some reports, I will not live long enough to enjoy Rebma's new policies. But other than that small detail, things are looking up now that you two are here." Celina pops a nice hunk of squid in her mouth.
"Conner, I suspect we are about to be put to work...."
"Put to work?" Conner chuckles. "We've been on the job from the time we hit water." He turns to Celina. "Who has predicted your failure and how seriously will they work to fulfill their own prophecy?"
"Do you believe in oracle? Future casting?" Celina asks her handsome visitors.
"Yes," Brennan says, "but oracles and future casting had better believe in me, too. No more cousins die when I'm around." That starts out as almost a bantering tone, but ends perhaps colder than Brennan intended.
More seriously, and with more control, he says, "Yes. There are Trumps, of course. And there are any number of strange effects concerning Time that can be tapped into. I've dabbled in some of them, and I think some of them have dabbled with me. Why?"
"It's hard not to believe in Oracular Pronunciations, but I've always thought that if there was fate, then it had to be inevitable and inescapable. If it wasn't then it wasn't fate. No use worrying about it, Little Starfish, since there's nothing you can do about it. Even if the predictions are true, it's wise to ask yourself what the motives of the Oracle are. People who tell the future don't do so without a reason." Khela floats in the doorway, perhaps 2 inches above the floor.
She always did prefer swimming to standing.
Conner bows from the neck at the entrance of his soon to be sovereign.
Celina smiles at Khela and gestures to her visitors as if to say, 'we were just getting to the good parts.'
"Loreena shared this: Moire saw the future," Celina explains. "Loreena explained that my doom would be overtaking me...quickly. Loreena has asked for privileged seats to that. I did not get the impression Loreena feels she has to make the prophecy come true herself. She is confident I'm chum."
"Loreena is hardly an unbiased source." Conner points out. "Sometimes all that is necessary to bring about doom is to convince the target." Conner smiles thinly. "As the subject has been brought up, I was contacted by a oracle of the Tritons prior to the battle counseling that I not claim the Paxblade lest I find myself dying in flames. For the times that I dwell on it I have mostly convinced myself that this is metaphysical allegory. For the rest of the time, I practice energy conversion matrices."
Brennan rises smoothly to greet Khela, and the greeting is warm enough to prove Celina's suspicions that they've met.
"Moire is hardly an unbiased source," Brennan says. "And if I understood that correctly, all she did was tell this Loreena person something she already wanted to believe and sealed up in a black box labelled 'unverifiable prophecy.' I've seen Trump castings done by people who were good at it, I've seen Cambina making her statements, I've been to Tir-na Nog'th," Brennan grimaces. "I don't think I'm impressed by Loreena's wishful thinking."
"Loreena's wishes are more than clear to me. If wishes were granted Loreena, I'd be a ghost already," Celina nods to Brennan's last. "But I find Moire practicing future casting intriguing, since she doesn't spend much time on things that do not work for her. There was something to her leaving the city that tickles my memory regards this same subject. I cannot place it now."
Khela nods at each report. "I have heard a dozen theories or more, usually ascribed to a woman's enemies if she thinks the theory is not flattering to me. The most popular is that I am Eric to Moire's Oberon, and I may have my moment in the current, but I will be tossed and soon forgotten. Those who believe that aren't thinking of what happened next. I don't think Moire is signing up to die for the salvation of the realm."
"But if I am Corwin to her extended Eric, then we should look for Grandmother to return soon. She may not love my choices if she returns." Khela shrugs, dismissing the hypothetical opinons of the grandmother she never met.
She glides into the room, her feet gracefully touching the floor every third "step" or so. "Is there news from the surface?"
Celina's heart speeds a bit at the notion of Moins return, but she holds herself poised about her own center. Too many ways that return would be another dagger in the heart. She looks to Conner and Brennan for their news.
Conner pauses for a moment trying to remember what has happened since they last spoke. "The biggest news involves the arrival of an envoy from Huon." Conner replies. "A woman named Silhouette who claims family blood through Florimel and alliance with Huon as a weapon designer. Her stated goal was to negotiate terms under which Huon could return. Brennan has made an admirable effort to turn said envoy against her employer through judicious application of facts and philosophy."
Something in the byplay between Khela and Celina piques Brennan's curiosity, but whatever it is, he chooses not to follow up on it at this time.
Out loud, he agrees with Conner: "That's the only important news I can think of. Huon remains at large, but his creature was-- last I knew-- enjoying the hospitality of Xanadu. I did make some effort to cause her to understand the error of her ways, but there are limits to what I could say without making either her or her master more dangerous than they already are. I expect that I accomplished nothing in the short term, but perhaps I hastened her education and rehabilitation.
"At large," Brennan continues, "the same strategic concerns remain: the Dragon of Arcadia. The Moonriders." He hesitates, then adds, "Some tales of strange ocurrences regarding Rebma and its Pattern have been accumulating."
Celina frowns. "This Silhouette created the blood device that would destroy all life in Rebma?"
"That is still unclear." Conner replies. "She admitted to creating the rifles that Huon's army bore but nothing about more metaphysical weaponry. We in fact took some pains to not bring up the specifics of the blood weapon so as not to give her ideas if she did not already have them."
Khela frowns as well. "The idea once thought cannot be unthought, but it must be made clear that such an act is such that only a madman would undertake it. If our relatives do not fear the consequence of destroying the shadows we walk in, then they will not be scrupled to avoid smaller mass murders, such as the one Huon planned.
"The only surety is if it is clear to all that such a thing will be opposed by all and that no one of us will ally with such a creature.
"If our uncle does negotiate with Huon, he offers others the right to negotiate after similar atrocities. Rebma is opposed to his rehabilitation. We can afford no more Brands at the present."
Khela swims slightly upwards as she speaks, perhaps unconsciously expressing her agitation at the topic.
Celina muses aloud, "Daughter of Florimel, then I expect welcome in Paris?" She tries to imagine her father with his own Pattern to protect welcoming a Pattern-breaker. Corwin is a mystery, but she knows he must have a temper so like her own. "I don't know the old ways, but it seems to me based on my small conversations with Huon, that in this Family you do not threaten a thing you are not prepared to do. Everyone will remember how many times you have bluffed and tally it into your personality. So Huon is someone who tried to break a Pattern. That this act could have destroyed the sword he wanted so badly is unproven and regardless he planned extensively on this extremis strategy, even going so far as to disadvantage Marius near death." She pauses looking at Khela. "I think Random would agree we can afford no more Brands. So then the question for Rebma is, do we need to coordinate immediately with Random over this matter?" She has just gotten back to the city and her face says she does not want to leave again. But she will for this.
"No succor for Silhouette in Paris." Conner reminds Celina. "Florimel denies that Silhouette is her daughter and insists that the daughter she claims to be is known dead. I cannot imagine mourning the loss of one child and then having to deal with a claim of another child risen from the grave." Conner murmurs that last and falls silent as he contemplates it.
Brennan remains planted firmly on the ground, even as the conversation swirls around him.
"I wouldn't presume to speak for either King Random or King Corwin," he says, when there's a break, "but I have some observations. First, it could be an elaborate ruse, but Silhouette's private metaphysics are untouched by any sort of experience or insight. It's extremely unlikely that she had anything to do with making the blood golem. She's more a danger to herself than others, right now, and unless things have changed, she's on a shorter leash than she understands.
"But Huon," he says, "Huon is a different matter. He does have some understanding, but just as critical as his apprehension is figuring out where he got it. We've been living with the knowledge for some time, but Huon has been out of circulation since before any of our births, and one does not just daydream up ways to destroy a Pattern. My understanding is that it took Brand some time to figure it out, and everyone else's ignorance helped him carry his plans forward. I speculate," he says, "that King Random wants that information, too. Coordination seems wise.
"In the mean time, maybe we should take a look and see if the Pattern here has sustained any damage," he says.
Celina does not find the word 'coordination' clear in context with Huon and she raises an eyebrow in interest. She chooses to accept the direction of the new question. "For the last few weeks I have measured and explored access to the Pattern. For artistic and historical reasons, I have excluded destroying the door to get in there. In the caves around the Pattern Room, there are ...routes that are dark and promise adventure and frustration but no direct access. I think we could tunnel into the chamber in a month's work." She looks at Conner to see if he has made progress on the plans they spoke of in Paris.
"It is good to have a backup plan." Conner grins widely. "First though, I think we should try the key Brennan found."
Celina blinks and stares at Brennan.
Khela sinks to the ground, as if stopped dead in the water. She turns to look at Brennan, the smile on her face difficult to read. "Oh, I agree completely, General. Where, pray, did you find such a thing?"
Conner smiles wide as his pronouncement has the desired effect.
Brennan watches Khela's motion, with the smallest ghost of an enigmatic smile of his own. "You would deprive a Redhead of his secrets?" he asks. "On a statue-like formation in a cavern between here and Paris."
At length, Brennan adds, "Conner makes it sound easier than it was," with the subtle finger-waggle signifying applied arcana of some sort.
"Brennan makes things look easier than they are." Conner rejoins with a chuckle. "The important thing is that the method employed should satisfy the metaphysics of the situation." Conner clasps his hands together. "Shall we adjourn to the lower levels? I feel I am not alone in being unsatisfied until the key is in the lock and door opened."
A smile of amazement slowly smooths away Celina's dumbfounded look. She nods eagerly to Khela and raises eyebrows in question. She is obviously pleased and eager to make the trip.
"By all means," says Khela. "Lead on."
The trip is rapid and uneventful. Khela, who has never had a serious relationship with the ground, begins swimming as soon as they reach the long stairs.
Soon, the four of them stand before the large, oaken door with the bolts set in the living stone. It looks ancient. It looks immortal. It looks as if it plans to sit here long after their bodies turn to sand on a distant beach.
"Well," says Khela. "Let's see if the key from that cavern works."
"Going to look really stupid if it doesn't," Brennan mutters, although it's so low a muttering that the waters might muffle it.
He moves his cloak to one side, plays out the key on the long thin chain he's fixed it to, and puts it in the lock. And turns, with all the strength of conviction and muscle that a Lord of Amber can summon.
Celina entertains certain thoughts about a monarch seeing to a door being locked and then fleeing her realm before an invading prince of amber can demand things not in her power.
She readies her dagger and the dazzle mirror beads. Beyond the door may be trapped with some sort of mirror bane or a simple exploding glass.
Conner stills his mind with a meditative technique and simply watches Brennan without thinking. He doesn't want any stray doubts disturbing his cousin's needed certainty.
Brennan inserts the key and turns it as if he wishes to break the lock, the key, or the universe. It takes a long moment, but eventually it turns.
Brennan has succeeded--the door is unlocked. What Brennan cannot do, is turn the key back, or further around to allow it to be removed.
Khela nods. "Well, clearly whoever put the key where you could find it meant for us to open the chamber. Perhaps there's a catch. Or perhaps this is a trap."
She pulls the door open and gasps. The pattern, glowing lightly green, illuminates the vast chamber. It certainly didn't look like this when Brennan was last here.
"Yes," Brennan agrees. "I caused the key to be in that location so that we could open the door." When Khela pulls the door open, Brennan shoots Celina a look.
When he enters the room and takes a first look around, he announces, "It's changed. The luminosity is different than it was before. Brighter." After a moment for that to sink in, he adds, "The events in the room may have left debris-- a red resin-like material, or perhaps a purplish gem, both of which would be evidence of exactly what Huon did, and perhaps dangerous. The thing once called Eater was also in this chamber when I was, and it may still be near." He doesn't bother to tell them to be careful.
He does, however, move into the room, closer to the Pattern, and looks around: first mundanely, then-- very carefully-- with the Third Eye. (But not Astral vision. No Sorcery.)
Conner follows carefully in his cousins' wake. "Majesty, be so good as to draw the Paxblade." Conner requests. "If the Pattern before us has changed, the comparison with its enhancing harmonic may prove useful." Conner also looks about the chamber with his Third Eye but with no active Sorcery. As best he can, Conner attempts to compare the Pattern before him with the energies of the Pattern blade.
Celina starts and shivers at Khela's gasp. Time and again, that lady is not one easily surprised. But Celina is more than surprised at Khela's reaction because on top of it, Celina is shocked at the emerald fire burning in the floor. That color. She knows that color like she knows her own.....eyes.
And did Moins have blue-white eyes? And what more has changed? Is the sapphire now an emerald? Celina mutters, "Not. My. Fault." But she has touched the dream sapphire and it stabs away inside her hand like caressing razors. The pain increases as she steps into the chamber looking for mirrors hidden on the door head and jambs. Her hand twitches. Eyeballing the shadows of a cavern too big to be anything less than majestic, she feels too warm. The green fire there is hot. Does the cavern contain the Pattern? No. It is only a curtain lightly drawn over mystery.
Celina swallows and redoubles her examination of the room, moving to get more and different views of the emerald lines blazing as she checks mundane threats in the face of the dominant mystery there in the floor. She does not use Sorcery here. "I feel a ..." She looks at Conner first, not Khela or Brennan. He always seems to understand. How he does that she doesn't know. She looks away from Conner not knowing how to finish her question.
The Pattern dares her to get on with business.
Walk.
Find the jewel.
Do it.
This is not what she expected at all. Celina shakes her head 'no' strongly. Moire locked it up because she was afraid. "Could the Eater stay in here with the Pattern like that?" Brennan is right. It is much brighter and more powerful than before. It could kill them all.
Khela draws the sword, and the carvings on the blade reflect the carvings in the floor. It gleams and looks at home here.
Khela rises up. "Cousins, I wish to speak. Brennan, Conner, you were amongst my first allies and I do not know if we would even be here if you had not helped me. Brennan, I have asked you to consider what reward you think appropriate.
"You have a few more moments to consider." In the green light with the green sword in her green hand, she seems to belong to this place.
"Conner, kneel."
Celina goes directly from apprehension to ritual calm. This is a once a thousand year event. She nods at Conner.
Conner immediately drops to one knee and bends his head. In this time and in this place, Khela is magnificent. 'I really would follow her.' Conner realizes and smiles softly. Out loud, all he says is, "Majesty."
Brennan is silent but attentive.
"By the power of the throne and the pattern, by the tokens of the sword and the scepter, I appoint you protector of the Rebma pattern and bearer of the sword. You be bound by it to the protection of the pattern and through it the throne, the queen, and the realm.
"Rise", she says, followed by "your hand."
Khela places the green hit in Conner's sword-hand. It is an amazing blade, and in the pattern chamber looks more like a beacon than a sword. It reflects the pattern and holds the pattern and almost seems a part of the room itself.
"Now grasp the blade, lightly, but enough to allow a small amount of blood to flow along your palm. Enough that it knows its master."
Conner does not move for a long moment as he drinks in the feel of the blade in his hands and follows the traceries of the Pattern in the metal of the Paxblade. Her instructions made sense intellectually. The Family has always mastered the universe by virtue of their blood and will and the blood oath over a blade is a trope echoed throughout shadow. However, all of that fights with a cry of alarm straight from his gut.
'Spill family blood in a Pattern chamber? Is she mad? Am I?' Conner lets the moment stretch and then moves the blade towards the palm of his left hand.
"Bear witness, Cousins." Conner intones. "By my blood, I accept the binding and the duties of the Knight of Rebma." Conner draws the blade gently across his palm and closes his hand around it.
Celina holds her breath. It is a solemn wedding and complete silence is the right response.
At the mention of blood, Brennan manages to raise an eyebrow and narrow his eyes at the same time. [*It's a redhead trick. Don't try it at home.] But he says nothing.
However, he'd be a fool not to watch this activity as closely as possible. Since he is not a fool, he watches intently, even cracking the third eye open very slightly to try to understand the interplay of forces at work in this place, at this time, between Pattern, Pattern Blade, Khela and Conner. And to make sure nothing goes wrong with the blood.
He knows what request he will make.
Celina makes her silent wish for the happy couple's future.
Conner feels it cut his palm and the the fingers wrapped around the blade. It's not painless, but it's not wrong, somehow. He sees, by the bright, bright glow of the pattern, the blood running up and down the blade, following the delicate tracery in swirls and arcs, but never leaving the metal. The blade, which was light when he took it, seems weightless now. It seems totally natural, as if it's an extension of his arm or he is an extension of its hilt.
Khela looks at Conner and the blade, satisfied. "I think traditionally, you give it a name, or it gives you a name for it."
An unusual expression comes over Conner's face. It is a smile, a true smile that is neither a mask nor a calculation. It is not even a genuine smile born of humor or warmth. It is a smile of one that finds that all is right with the cosmos.
"Her name is Halosydne." Conner announces.
Celina nods briefly to Conner's wife upon his introduction.
Khela turns to Brennan, "Do you have an answer for me?"
Brennan is aware that he could rise in the water to meet Khela face to face, but he stays where he is, solid, like a man whose bones are made out of heavy, dense old iron savoring the feeling of a solid stone floor beneath him while he has it. He shifts his gaze to Celina and Conner as well, waiting for eye contact, consciously including them in his statement, his green eyes reflecting brightly the green light of the Pattern.
"I do," he says. "I am glad that Rebma stands more secure against its problems now than when first I visited. I did what I did for Family, and for a principle larger than myself that I believe in with all my essence. But I do not believe that Rebma should stand alone. I do not believe that Rebma can stand alone for long. So I ask not for a reward for myself, but to further that greater principle in which I believe. I ask for what assistance Rebma and Family can give, and tolerance where aid is impossible.
Brennan raises his chin to regard Khela directly. His hair is dull in the light of the Pattern, but his green eyes are blazing and from the angle they cannot be reflecting anything but his own inner fire.
"I intend to remake the Pattern of Amber."
Celina finds this declaration a bit unnerving, but then this is Brennan. He's always been a bit disconcerting. It seems that there are all sorts of death defying plans afoot in the Family. Celina meets Brennan's eye, waiting for Khela's reaction.
Khela laughs. "I love being part of this family. We set such a fast pace for each other." She nods. "Very well. As long as it does not threaten Rebma herself, you can count on our support. You will make a fine King."
Brennan nods. It's enough for now. But: "Not why I'm doing it," he says. It's not meant to be the opening of a discussion, just a statement of fact.
Celina nods. No. That would have been too small a reason.
She settles to the ground. "Now, I am told the last task I have in this room is one I must perform alone."
"Unaided perhaps but with your permission Majesty, I will stand vigil here for you." Conner offers. With reluctance, Conner releases his grip on Halosydne and takes out a cloth to bandage the cut on his hand. "I suspect this will already be known to you, but I would not be a Redhead if I did not offer advice." Conner grins at Khela. "Once you start, you cannot stop. Beware the Veils. Moving through them will be the hardest thing you've ever done, each time, but move through them you must. There will either be three or four of them and do be sure to tell me afterwards because I have a bet with Bleys. When you come to the center, the Pattern will send you where you wish to go. The best place would be somewhere safe for a nap but no one ever chooses that. Good fortune, Majesty."
Celina smiles at Conner.
Brennan shifts a glance over to Conner as he mentions the number of veils, but doesn't comment at this moment.
Celina says nothing but changes position. She strolls to the entrance of the Grand Design. She removes her footgear and tosses the sandals aside some distance.
To Khela, he adds, "The advice is part of ancient tradition. As Conner says, do not stop moving. Beyond the physical sensations-- resistance, electricity or something like it-- there will be mental effects. It can be," he hesitates slightly, looking for the right word, "an anguish. So at the bottom of all else, know who you are. That will ground you."
Brennan does not add that the advice often comes from a parent or a parent figure.
Celina beckons to Khela. "Come. This will be the most demanding dance ever unless we do it again, which I do not recommend." She now blocks the entry path, her foot a mere palm distance from touching the emerald fire. "In Rebma, you shall never have to do anything fully alone, my dear. That is the old way."
When it dawns on Brennan what exactly Celina is proposing, his eyes narrow. Apparently, some internal threshold of hijinx and dangerous ideas has been tripped. He can't exactly command either of them not to walk, but he does say with some force, "Wait. Part of the reason Conner and I are here in the first place is to assess the Pattern for damage. Let me remind everyone that a thing made of Sir Marius' blood and I were fighting just yards above it. While it bled from actions taken on the field. While a creature of Chaos-- itself once a consumer of Sir Daeon's blood-- watched. And that the Pattern's appearance is changed from when I saw it last."
There are some concept Brennan cannot stress enough, although he tries with voice and eyes. Tries very hard. "And now you're planning on both walking at the same time? One day. I ask one day for Conner and I to continue the examinations I've already started."
Khela is one obvious target of that-- Celina, in the blocking position-- is the other. Brennan looks at her not just for assent but for support.
Celina hazards a guess as to Khela's response to all that. So she voices her true concerns to share this moment freely with her kin. It might matter later how they think of her efforts. She does not know that anything can be slow this event. "It is changed. But if you discover it is damaged, can you fix it? I think not. Does it heal? Is it a living work that gets better over time? I wager you do not know. So agreeing to wait means there will be more days. Or weeks while older and less talkative Family minds are consulted." Celina pauses looking at the three. They are perhaps as close as any Family, and in this extreme, will see more of her self than perhaps is wise. In the emerald light, she looks deeper into their expressions. She smiles wide, including all three. "If I gave you a day, you'd feel better because you had done what you could to better the outcome. Yes? That's heart-warmingly arrogant."
"No more so than putting your own life at risk in the belief that it will aid your lover in her time of greatest trial." Conner smiles on Celina kindly. "You forget your new role, Heir Apparent. To risk you both at once is not wise. But as love was never known for its rationality, I doubt that fact will dissuade you either."
While he speaks, Conner finishes binding his hand and then to Brennan. "If I thought the Pattern unsafe to walk, I would have never given the traditional advice. It feels right to me." Conner reaches out and places his hand on Halosydne's hilt. "I can't explain it more than that."
Khela rises slightly. "Conner, I thank you. Your protection is a sign to me that this is right. Brennan, I thank you for your wise counsel. Do not let my choice now dissaude you from offering such in the future.
"Celina," she says, swimming in close, "Starfish. You are amazing." She kisses the seaward lass, once. "No more talking. Doing."
With a hand on Celina's hip, Khela, master of the TaKhi patterns, pushes slightly, and Celina's foot comes down. Celina can either land on the Pattern or step aside to allow Khela on. "As the boys said, don't slow me down."
Celina steps into the Pattern. The snap of power is fierce under her bare foot. There is no anxiety to this, it must be done right. She steps again, feeling the sizzle slide up her leg bones. Celina has several advantages she did not have the first time she did this. Brennan's watchful eye. Conner's courageous insight. Khela's blessing. Family. That kiss strengthens her will. She moves forward lowering her TaKhi stance just a bit. The Pattern is stronger than before.
Celina likes these omens.
Last modified: 12 June 2011