A half watch after dinner, Brita wends her way through the castle to Brennan's door. She knocks twice and contemplates what she needs to talk to Brennan about as she awaits his answer.
The response comes after a beat, and sounds very slightly distracted through the baffling that the door provides: "Come in, Brita!"
Brita opens the door and enters.
When she does so, she finds that the front room of Brennan's suite is on the spacious side, although on reflection, the suite's placement in the castle around a staircase, implies that the other room where Brennan sleeps is going to be very little more than a closet with a bed in it. It's lopsided, but it balances, and it's a good thing Brennan's not claustrophobic.
The room is also abnormally warm, but not quite to a bothersome level-- Brennan either hasn't caught on to the idea of using mirrors to reflect the light and help brighten the room, or he's not willing to use them, and willing to tolerate a little extra heat in exchange.
Brita unbuttons the front of her typical "casual" red jacket (the one trimmed in white fur) to let it hang open slightly. She is wearing a blousey white shirt underneath.
When Brita comes in, Brennan is sitting in one corner of the room that has a drawing board, a small draftsman's table, or similar device set up, which has papers spread across it with dense notation on them. Next to the table there's a pedestal with a bowling ball sized sphere of glass on it. The glass has been sandblasted or beadblasted somehow so that it's still smooth, but also frosted, no longer reflective or glassy. It's got just enough surface roughness to it that Brennan can use a pencil of some sort to mark the surface, and see through dimly to the other side. He's just putting the pencil down as Brita opens the door, and the marks on the glass are large enough and dark enough that she can recognize them as the same style of glyphs that she saw when she visited Uxmal.
Brita shoots the orb a curious glance although she says nothing.
Brennan glances at it, then back up to Brita. "Uxmali poety," he says, with a quirk to his lips. "Brand-style," and he gives the sphere a nudge. The pedestal is tricked out somehow so that the glass can spin freely for a few moments before returning to rest. It's also got a door on the front of it, where the glass probably goes when he's not using it.
He gets up from the stool in front of the drawing table and gestures to the two chairs closer to the center of the room. They're stuffed leather lounging chairs of the type Brennan instinctively gravitates to whenever he sits, and between them is a chess table, set up for a fresh match. The table is inlaid wood, high quality, but not excessively decorated; the pieces look hand carved, but are wearing smooth with age. Brennan loves chess, and his gesture is vague enough that Brita can choose black or white by her seating position.
He takes a mug from the floor near the drafting table, which, considering the aroma in the room, has got to be his staple beverage-- coffee.
"Thanks for coming," he says. "Please, sit. Can I get you something?"
"Just water would be fine," Brita notes as she sits near the black pieces. She adjusts a few of the pieces to better center them in their squares, filling time until Brennan comes to sit down.
Brennan extinguishes a few of the lamps that were providing him with reading and writing light, leaving the room darker, but eventually more comfortable, especially if Brita prefers the cool. He also nods, and reaches into a cabinet next to his bookshelves and withdraws a pitcher, some ice, and a glass, not all at once. Once the glass is full of water and ice (unless Brita declines it) he'll pass it to her, and join her.
The bookshelves are only partially filled, but they're filled with a pretty wide variety of reading material, including a large number of volumes that aren't in Thari or any of the common languages in use in Amber. And Cambina's works are there as well, one with a bookmark in it, toward the end.
She then dives in. "I spoke with my Brother before coming home. He believes that the Murder was instigated by some sorcery of the Captive Chi-Lin. today. My Brother also has reason to believe that Captive Chi-Lin is in danger of a 'single cross', as Uncle Bleys puts it. I went to Captive Chi-Lin's quarters today and he seemed petrified. I am not sure I am skilled enough to get Truth out of him, but I tried."
Brennan blinks. That evidently wasn't on his list of topics, but he's willing to go along. "You'll have to give me more details than that," he says. "And background. Even if you don't want help, I don't think I know enough about Chi-Lin to have an intelligent conversation. I assume you're talking about Harga'rel's murder? Why does Conner think Chi-Lin is involved? And as for interrogations," he shrugs, "It's not much of a discredit that you're unskilled. It's... a cold, distasteful business. But I find a little pain and a lot of fear go a long way. Break his little finger," he suggests, "count the others, and let him think about it for a day under a trusted suicide watch. And ask questions you know the answers to, if you can. Do your job too well, he'll say anything you want to hear. Do it too badly, he'll say what he thinks his masters would want him to."
Brennan makes a conventional pawn move with the white pieces, once he sits down.
Brita immediately counters with the mirrored move in black. "Sorry. He just got on my nerves. Yes, Lord Harga'rel's Murder. My Brother has found evidence pointing to Chi-Lin somehow sorcerously affecting the Murder. He also thinks those that set Chi-Lin up to this are going to kill him off shortly. He spoke with Valeria of Rebma and somehow that confirmed his suspicions."
She sips the water. "As to pain, I don't know if I can inflict that type of pain."
Brennan's eyes narrow. "This Chi-Lin is a Sorcerer? How is he gaurded?"
He makes another move. It's early enough in the game that his moves are rapid. Not automatic, which would be disrespectful, and frankly dangerous when playing another Family member, but rapid. Like most good players, Brennan has a vision of how he would like the board to look a dozen moves into the game.
Brita studies the board and then again mirrors the move as Brennan. "Either a Sorcerer or one who is carrying Sorcery. He has a ring that is larger than it looks. As to gaurds, there are none. He is under 'house arrest'."
[Her next two moves are again mirrors. Her fifth moves brings out a Knight.]
"He might be a flight risk," Brennan says. "More now, than before." Brennan looks set to holler for a page, to be sent with details and instructions.
"It was another Sorcerer that I wanted to talk to you about, though. You know I left Grandmother's court with Ambrose. I spent a few days with him, but between Uxmal and Grandmother's Court..." he gives a facial shrug. "You may still know him better than I do. Certainly better than anyone else in Amber."
"Cousin Ambrose?" Brita sits back and stares into the middle distance. "He's an easy Teacher - free with advice and guidance. Much different than Master Reid," she says with a smile. "What would you want to know of your Brother? I can tell you that I have Forgiven his involvement with Dara and _Cleph_."
For the time being, Brennan contents himself to build his own opening. It's a solid defensive position, almost an obfuscatory one. If Brennan has his opening [GMs?] it's going to end up being a closed-up, liesurely game.
[I think may need to seq away from Chi-Lin, because Brennan's reaction is to ask all sorts of things that you just haven't gotten around to yet in the other thread. You've *definitely* got his interest, though.]
[kay. we'll talk Ambrose till things move along...]
An eyebrow raises when Brita mentions Ambrose as a teacher, but he doesn't say anything about it. "Your impressions, for one. His goals, if you know them. His..." Brennan fishes for a word while moving a bishop out into play, "...trustworthiness, if you have a feel for it. He's Family, but he's put himself close to zugzwang. He's got a strong incentive to make nice, right now, but I don't know if it will last."
Brita takes a white Pawn with a forward move of her Bishop to the edge of the board. "You have said he is Family and I think that is what drives him, Family. He feels he now has the responsiblity for Uxmal, for and to your Mother-Priestess, given that the other Players have been removed from or left the Game." She contemplates the pawn in her hand before gently placing it beside the board. "His committment to his Family is strong and notable. He had strong ties with Grandmother Clarissa - as Mentor, of course, but also as Grandmother. In order to protect his Uxmali Family, he felt he needed the Power of our Lineage in addition to the Sorcery of Chaos. That became his goal. He found and used what he thought was the only means to attain that goal. He had limited Trust for the Unknown Family." She pauses to think.
"As to His Trustworthiness, how much do You trust Me? How much would you trust me if you placed my Family in peril? How far do you think I would go to protect my Family? The choice Cousin Ambrose made, to use Dara as his means to his Goal, may not be palatable, but I understand it. I can relate.
"He will 'make good' unless something occurs which threatens his Family and the only means he can see to protect them is to 'make bad'." She cocks her head slightly to one side. "Of course, You are his Family as well," she notes with a steady gaze. /assuming you don't blow it/ comes through loud and clear.
Brennan takes a black pawn with his knight in return, working for positional advantage around the center of the board. When Brita asks how much he trusts her, there's a momentary flicker of something-- irony, most likely-- in his expression, before he puts it back where it belongs.
"I'm trying to make a good case for him before the King, Brita. I'm a narrow position between making the case too optimistically, and not making it optimistic enough. And so I'm trying to corroborate what I saw with what other people saw. Right now, you're the only other people I've got.
"You're right that he needs to step into his heritage to achieve his goals. Given our sister, he may need to step into his heritage just to survive. And you're right that Brand couldn't have put him in a worse situation if he'd tried, so he used what he had at hand." Brennan pauses to consider his next words carefully. "What did you sense his longer-term goals might be, after he's got security for himself and Tayanna?"
Brita advances another pawn in safe territory. "I do not Know, but I Feel he is open to learning about his Amber Heritage, getting to know his Family. I do not think he will see Security as an end to his Responsibility to your Home Uxmal and your Mother- Priestess. It will give him some freedom to relax, however."
Brennan grunts. "True. It's not as if he doesn't have the motive for a grudge against the Family, though." He anchors the line he's been building with a rook-- it looks like he's setting the board up for a long, drawn-out grinding slugfest. Or trying to, at least. "And it wasn't something I felt confident fishing for. 'Hey, Ambrose, you still mad about the whole dead Brand thing?'" He grimaces. It's obvious he doesn't like fishing in general.
"Of course, there's always Dara and Cleph to hold grudges against, too."
Brita seems determined to end the match more quickly, possibly not in her favor, as she advances another pawn into attack position on a bishop. The pawn is protected by a black knight. "I felt no grudge from him, much as I hold none against him. I do not know how much he knew of your father's plans. Does he know the Danger your father created for Order? Did the Black Road touch Uxmal and your Priestess-Mother? He may feel more anger at your father for abandoning Uxmal in its Time of Need. Perhaps you should speak to him of Order and Chaos to determine his current feelings. Of course, you are his Brother. If you can't ask 'are you still mad about the whole dead Brand thing', who can? Offer him the chance to learn of Order. As Clarissa has taught him Sorcery, perhaps you can teach him how to utilize his Amber Heritage."
"My role in Brand's death made that topic uncomfortable," Brennan says drily. "The topic leads itself to questions that I didn't want to answer and didn't want to lie about." He picks up a knight, and in mid-move something else Brita said hits him, and he pauses and stares through the chessboard for a few moments.
"I never thought about the Black Road, though," he muses. "It would had to have manifested. He's old enough." Still staring through the board, his eyes widen slightly. He looks back up and completes the move. "Therefore, Chantico is old enough. Oh, H*ll, that's another thing we need to worry about-- what did Chantico do during the manifestation, who did she deal with, and what does she know?"
The bishop is taken by the pawn. "if one cannot speak to one's kin about unpleasant things, it leads to dissention and betrayal." She speaks as if she knows about this. "Chantico? Another relative?"
Brennan is not perturbed by the loss of the bishop; he takes a pawn in exchange thereby converting the rest into positional advantage. "Chantico," he says, "is the middle sister I learned about in Uxmal, and one of the reasons Ambrose would really like to take a Walk. Half-sister, I should say. While we were both away in Grandmother's Court, she took advantage of his absence to try to destroy the temple complexes and whatnot that he'd inherited from Brand. Nasty, nasty piece of work, that one. I was hoping she'd be reasonable and at least send an envoy after we chased her army away-- the rational thing to do when your legendary brother shows up out of no where to help rout your forces. No dice."
Brita shores up her defense around the Black King with a quick Castle move. "Does she know you are Legendary? Or her Brother? Sometimes one cannot change one's Nature. My Uncle Loki was that way - Family, but Enemy as well." Brita is eying the board for her next attack.
"Well, she'd almost have to know by now, even if she didn't when we first met," Brennan says. He sees her castling move and nods to himself... and if this is the way he plays when he's working on running the line at the King's Gambit, then it's hard to see how he keeps winning. But then, it's hard to see how the other guy would win, either.
"It'd be nice if I could get through this without needing to put her down, but she's going to be a handful. Not unlike Dara and Cleph, except that she's not as dangerous. Yet. Now there's a pair that someone needs to do something about," Brennan says. He watches Brita for reaction to that.
Brita is looking at the board as she takes another pawn, moving her Black Knight back forward again. Her reaction to the names is simply that her move was relatively quick. The Knight practically clicked in place. "Yes." she says simply. "Put down? like a Sick Dog? I would hope you would try other avenues first. Open her mind to other Options.... Of course, Some cannot be convinced there is a Better Way. You would need to catch her Alone, outside of Battle."
"Like a mad dog, more like," Brennan says, grimacing and remembering an earlier conversation with Hannah along these lines. "But despite my reputation, I'm not looking for an excuse to kill her. I'd rather find a way not to, but," Brennan shakes his head. "It's going to be difficult. Especially since Dara has her hooks into him. What worries both of us, immensely, is that Dara will learn of her and try to do to her what she tried to do to Ambrose... in a better location. And neither of us trust Chantico enough to actually tell her what she is. Not yet."
Brennan eyes the black knight speculatively, and moves a white one out toward the front to meet it.
"I wish the Course was Clearer for you. I can imagine my reaction if my Brother were more like Uncle Loki, but, fortunately, He is not." Brita moves a Bishop to threaten the White Knight, taking a pawn in the process. "Dara may have fewer hooks in Cousin Ambrose than you fear. It is Odd that she has made no Forward Move since the Coronation Masquerade." She eyes the board. "You could Win in the next five moves," she announces, "depending, of course, on your Second Move."
"Dara knows where he lives, so to speak, and neither of us think she's done with him, only that she has no schemes on which he depends right now. Her other hook is that she's already tainted him, in the eyes of some of the Family. If I could find a way to undo that..."
Brennan moves the white knight to safety, but consequently out of the main area of contest. The move does, however, reveal a threat from the rook behind it. He places the knight down with just enough of a snap that he might be counting the moves-- one.
Brita nods contemplatively as Brennan continues:
"...Many problems would be solved. And yes, Dara is a worrying threat, which must be dealt with. Whether she's killed or forcibly constrained," Brennan sounds like he much prefers the first alternative, "her actions demand a punishing response. I'm not sure I can do that alone."
The Black Bishop stays in jeopardy while the Queen moves in behind for a good shot at the Rook if it moves. The Queen also threatens two pawns. "Yes, Dara should be the one who is 'put down' as you say. She does not seem to be one who would Convert or Conform. With _Cleph_ in her Court, We should Act even more swiftly. What would you suggest?"
[To clarify, one of the pawns the Black Queen threatens is now protected by the White Knight, the other is out on its own.]
Brennan nods in agreement, "Her death would even give Ambrose and I some breathing room as we consider an approach to our sister that doesn't end in murder." He looks up at Brita, then, and says, "I'm suggesting that something needs to be done. That almost everyone in the Family has some interest in the situation, but that some have more interest than others. I'm even hinting that I might have given some idle thought as to how such a thing might be accomplished. Just a little. Some preliminaries."
Brennan seems utterly unconcerned with the threatened pawns, at this point, instead moving a bishop to increase the pressure on the black defenses, where Brita has castled. It's possible, but unlikely, that this is the move Brita considered as his optimal second move, but even when he speaks, Brennan is intent on the board and the position of the pieces. He's not playing to lose. Two.
Brita smiles, although Brennan isn't watching at the time. Her smile turns into a serious look as he continues:
"What I'm not suggesting," he says, "Is that this is any time for commitments. It's not. Only for interest. The whole idea may turn out to be infeasible, anyway. Besides, you asked me how much I trust you, but I've always put more stock in actions than declarations. So I trust you enough to bring this up, and I trust you enough to keep it to yourself, even if you have no interest."
"I have Interest," Brita confirms. "I keep no secrets from Family although I will not bring it up to them unless I consider it of Import. I would not want to worry Mother." The Queen slides up to the unprotected White Pawn, but stops next to it. "Check - although you still have a good shot at winning in three. I must admit, Cousin Brennan, I am really enjoying this Battle. My cousins in Asgard are more apt to throw the pieces around than think through a prolonged strategy. Tell me of your thoughts on strategies against Chaotic Players."
Brennan's eyes snap up, away from the board to meet Brita's, with an intensity that might seem out of proportion to anything she just said. "Really," he says. "No secrets? Not military secrets? Not even if a cousin were to trust you with his deepest personal confidence?" A lesser man might have pointed out that Dara and _Cleph_ were, strictly speaking, Family, or emphasized the word 'trust'. Brennan is not a lesser man. But he's still gravely concerned with the answer. Maybe even a little worried, hence the intensity. For just a moment, he looks old.
Brita cocks her head to the side and narrows her eyes slightly at Brennan's response. "Not everyone is Family. _You_ are not even Family. I specifically meant my Mother and Brother and Da. If I counted _everyone_ as Family, I would have to count all of Asgard, Jutenheim, and Hel and I would Never relay Any information to some of my cousins and family on that side."
This is, very evidently, a clarification that matters tremendously to Brennan. Most of the worry ebbs from his eyes, replaced with more relief than he intends to show.
"However, Military Secrets and Deepest Personal Confidences are not shared unless Directly asked for by said Family _and_ I deem it appropriate to concern them. If one were to ask me Directly to keep a Secret, even from Family, I would. You said you Trust me enough to keep Strategies to myself. I have relayed to you my Position on Strategical Secrets. Trusted Family can be useful in Strategizing. If you request Silence Directly, however, I would Comply because I Trust your Judgement as well." Brita's aura is bristling slightly and the Beserker fire snaps in her eyes.
"Then I will ask you to keep a personal confidence with me," Brennan says, formally, "And I will trust you."
"And I will formally agree to a Personal Confidence. I will discuss with you First any advantages I see to relaying information to Others."
"I will not abuse that trust," Brennan says. "Thank you."
Without looking down, Brennan moves a Bishop one space to protect the King. It's a cunning move, threatening the black Queen while protecting the King, and unveiling the white Queen in its own attack posture. It goes a very long way to diffusing any threat of checkmate along those lines. And even if Brita doesn't win, she's succeeding in turning the game from the static opposing lines that Brennan set up, into a dramatic, rapid fire series of exchanges that will simplify things tremendously. Three.
[this is assuming 'attack posture' did not mean check]
[No, not check]
Brita takes the White Bishop with a sideways move of a Black Knight with barely a glance at the board. A small half smile forms on her face as the Fire in her eyes is banked to a soft glow.
Brennan moves a white pawn, securing the defense around the white King. His hand remains tensed-- he believes he knows his next move already.
Four.
Brita laughs with delight. "What fun! You handle the Challenge well, Cousin!" She moves the Black Queen in behind the White Pawn. Brennan can see that one option on his Fifth move will open his White King to Check and not give him the option of Check Mate. But perhaps....
One move left.
It turns out Brennan was right-- he did know his next move. He picks up the Knight that he had previously moved out of the fray, which doesn't seem to lead to any good move at all. But before he places it, he looks up and stops, as though remembering something important.
"What is the universe, Brita? And how do you know it?"
He does not place the Knight. It's still his turn, but Brita's response. Brennan watches and waits.
"The Universe is a Glorious Thing. I started knowing its Fringes through my Da and GrandDa in the Nine Worlds of Asgard. I learned more in Travels with Master Reid. My knowledge expanded Exponentially with my Introduction to the Cousins and Relatives of Amber, Clarissa, Paris, and The Center. The Universe is what Our Ancestors have Made It. The Glories of Each Shadow Echo with Each of Us of the Lineage of Order. The Reverberations Bouncing back from the Lineage of Chaos create the Dissention and Troubles in the Universe." Brita has closed her eyes and is breathing in as if she can smell the Universe. Her eyes open and she looks at Brennan with a small smile as she repeats, "The Universe is a Glorious Thing. The Unvierse is Us and I Know It in My Core." Her closed fist goes to her chest.
"The universe is a game, Brita. I know because I cheat." Brennan places the Knight with a snap. It is blatantly illegal, moving like a Rook except that Rooks don't customarily jump over pieces in their path. "Checkmate. Look at that-- five moves. You were right."
Brennan wears a hard grin. Does she understand what he's telling her?
Brita is obviously trying to contain a fit of guffaws (she doesn't giggle). "Perfect! A surprise Attack using your Control over the Universe..."
"Something like that, yes," Brennan says.
Brita indicates the board in front of them with a wave of her hand. "But one must be warry of the Rest that are In the Game as they could Surprise you as well." She holds Brennan's gaze as she swaps the Black King for the White and holding up her prize asks lightly, "Shall we play again for fun?".
Brennan nods assent, but this time he's not aiming for a particular timing on the checkmate, just playing straight, strong, and to one set of rules.
Brita also his playing straight although her first three moves are very similar to the last game, from there she branches into more daring combinations.
Brennan is very good. If she's interested, he'll give her brief pointers as the game goes along.
Brita is definitely interested. She stores away the pointers and Brennan will note a few times that she puts them in practice through their game.
When she does so, Brennan nods in approval, more to himself than to Brita.
"Is that the answer you gave Grandmother, when she asked that question? And what answer did she give you in return?"
"My answer to Nanna Clarissa was similar, but my view of the Universe was smaller then, as World Tree Yggdrasil of Asgard is to the Forest of Arden. Nanna Clarissa explained the Universe is 'You' and everything that is 'Not You'. Sorcery is an act of willpower on that which is 'Not You'. I had mentioned the in- between place that _cleph_ had dragged me initially and described it as the 'back side' of the Universe, but Nanna Clarissa says there is no back side. So, if everything is Will of Someone, whose Will created that non-Shadow place?" The question is vaguely rhetorical, a question that has been festering since Brita's discussions and lessons with Clarissa.
"'The union of the sets of all things you, and not you,' is how she often puts it," Brennan says. "You wouldn't think the old girl would be such an insufferable pedantic, but there it is. Still, she's not wrong. It's one of the axioms, if that's not too strong a word, for a larger philosophy of Chaos. And I don't know the answer to your question, but it always seemed to me that the ideal Lord of Chaos, expert at Sorcery and Shapeshifting, would have a tremendous degree of control over both those sets, enough so that I don't think naive set theory is perfectly applicable, any more. I think the borders begin to blur. Look how dangerous it is to deal with Grandmother already, even if she loves you. Watch the corner of your mother's eyes, or the back of Bleys' hands when they speak to her. A perfect Lord of Chaos would effectively *be* the universe, following that line of thought. He might be able to answer your question-- but then you wouldn't exist to hear the answer, unless you were part of it.
"And that would be one source of burning resentment toward Amber, if there's merit in that line of thought. Patterns are difficult to control that way," he finishes drily.
"Does the Axiom of Chaos apply to a Lord of Order as well? Would a perfect Lord of Order also be the Universe or do We not have the same Conscious control as a Lord of Chaos? It seems an interesting Paradox that Chaos is easier to Control than Patterns."
Brennan doesn't seem to see the paradox-- quite the opposite, it would seem. But, "Why is that a paradox?"
"The implication that Chaos is easier to control than Order." Brita shrugs. "It seems backwards to me."
Brennan shrugs. "The business of Order always seemed to me to be the imposition of stability. Shouldn't that, by its nature, be more difficult to control? Or, more accurately, shouldn't the imposition of Order create conditions resistant to change?"
"Intersting thoughts," Brita muses.
Also, [Brennan asks] "Which Principle did Grandmother teach you?"
"Principle? Nanna Clarissa and Ambrose used that word in a lot of lessons: principle of sorcery, principle of space, principle of time, of entropy, the thermal principle... Mother even mentioned GreatGrandda's 'Principle of Logic'. What Principle or Principles did Nanna Clarissa teach you?"
"'Principle' is a term of art, in Sorcery. When asked that way, it means what effects did you study, and what changes can you effect. In principle," Brennan is not unaware that he's playing games with language, "one can think about using the principles of Sorcery to effect changes to the Principles of Sorcery... but I haven't figured out any practical way to do that.
"I wouldn't ordinarily ask outright, like that, but sucker-punching our unruly cousin is going to require planning. Also, Fi asked me to continue your training, which I am certainly willing to do since you've already agreed to keep the matter silent-- my chief requirement. I wouldn't have disclosed it, otherwise."
"A new Mentor? I would be honored, Master Brennan. I learned how to Part the Veil, how to Summon a Filmy, how to see with my Third Eye. I used a Spell to modify the normal method of Parting the Veil to search out my Father in Asgard." Brita could probably expound on her knowledge, but her player is somewhat limited as we glossed over parts of the learning....
Brennan's smile turns a bit thin when Brita calls him that. "Honored to teach, Brita. Second rule, though-- not 'Master Brennan,' please. Not even in private. That's the sort of phrase that gets habit forming, and the last thing I need is for people to start re-counting the Amber-allied Sorcerers present at the Patternfall Battle and coming up with three, instead of two."
Brita cocks her head to the side, considering. "Sensei Brennan or perhaps Honorable Cousin Brennan?" Brennan should realize that Brita cannot just call him Cousin if he is also teacher.
"That request was neither arbitrary nor capricious. Mine never are. 'Cousin Brennan,' will continue to do nicely. Do you understand why?"
"Protection. Secrecy. Do you wish me not to relay to anyone, including Family, that you are teaching me?" Brita asks.
Brennan's eyes narrow, and he nods. "Yes, I wish you not to relay to anyone, including Family, that I am teaching you. More to the point, I wish you to not to relay to anyone that I am a Sorcerer, or give them any reason to start asking questions that lead in that direction.
"Your mother already knows, of course. She asked me to train you, after all. And Bleys already knows I'm a Sorcerer, so there's no point there. Your brother doesn't know. My brother doesn't know, at least not from me. And as I said, no one needs to do a recount of active Sorcerers at Patternfall, and come up with a new number. Beyond that, it's a general principle. It's not that I think Conner would intentionally betray, but secrets are hard to keep in a crowd. Imagine," Brennan said, "what the situation would be, if Aisling had known."
Brita thinks for a bit and then nods sharply. "I will accept your condition, Ma.. Cousin Brennan," a rueful smile, "and I will practice to make sure. When and where shall we begin?"
Brennan nods. He thought she'd see the point.
"We already have, in a philosophic sense. 'The universe is a game, and I know it because I cheat,'" Brennan quotes himself. "Grandmother loves her aphorisms and her pedantry, but she has a point. Sorcery is a path to power, but it's also a philosophy, a perspective, and a lens through which to view the universe before forcing the universe into compliance. Every Sorcerer has at least one little sutra along those lines, and I think most have several-- both to suit the circumstances and to stimulate alternate viewpoints. I could take a good guess at at least one of Bleys'. Fi is a lot harder to read.
"So, the universe is a game, and you know because you can cheat. If you can Part the Veil, that implies to me that you know something about the Principle of Space. So... how can you use that Principle to cheat at Chess?"
Brita stares at the board with a curious look. /Cheat at Chess. what a novelty./ "I could bend the space to hide the position of a particular piece from view, making it seem like a nearby piece, such that my opponent did not see the coming attack. What Principles do you know,... Cousin Brennan?"
Brennan nods slightly, in acknowledgement of the un-title, and her answer. "All right, let's see how you do that," he says. Brennan uses the chess board as a talking point, a pedagogical tool, and a laboratory all at once. For all his talk about philosophy, Brennan seems extremely pragmatic about the whole business, preferring to tie his more abstract points into demonstrations. And not only demonstrations, but applications.
If she demonstrates, Brennan will be watching with his third eye.
Brita does demonstrate, making a simple couple of moves which looks like a simple castling and a pawn moving one space along the side of the board but which masks a move of the rook forward to an open cross the board attack.
Brennan watches, and nods approval. He gives commentary and advice less on the means to manipulate Space itself, than on the means by which she looks at what she's doing before she does it, while she does it, and after she does it. If Brita is perceptive, she'll probably sense that she's getting a drill in at least one topic that Brennan thinks is fundamental-- attention to detail, observation, and intentional change.
He tries to keep it interesting, though, and if he tends to harp on the problems that can stem from losing concentration, or failing to think everything through... well, that might be the voice of scarred experience.
"And me? I've figured out a few things, here and there. Surprising what you can do with entropy, when you put some thought to it."
Brita's half smile and roll of the eyes reveals her inward laughter at the vagueness of the answer. "You will likely be as interesting as Nana Clarissa, Cousin! When would you like to continue our... Chess Lessons, Cousin?"
"Probably after I come back from Xanadu," he replies. "Doesn't need to be Chess, either. Actually, it shouldn't always be Chess, otherwise, we'd all be looking at the universe like a Chess game, which it isn't. Anything with a rich set of rules that depends more on thought than on chance will do."
Brennan also suggests some exercises for self study. None of them are flashy or dangerous in themselves, but they all focus on precision and control, so they're not easy: bending the space of the Chess board, so that a marble rolled across its flat surface curves into a circle; making six squares adjacent to a center one instead of the normal four. Bonus points for not turning the squares into hexagons at the same time. ("Use your own board, not mine! Sentimental value in this one....") Bending space so that a straight thread is tied into a knot. Brita should be figuring out how to square the circle, too. No straight edge or compass, either. As a Topomancer, Brita shouldn't need those crutches....
After Brita's first lesson, and after he's shown her out, Brennan closes his door softly. He stands for a moment, scratching his chin, before going to his writing desk. He takes out a single sheet and thinks for a moment, of language and puzzles. He decides against his first thought, and decides to write plainly, if briefly, in Thari.
Aunt,
We've begun.
--Your Favorite Nephew
He stands, summons a page, and has him deliver the message to Fiona. Even if she's returned, he does not expect a reply tonight. After he sends the letter on its way, he closes the door again, moves over to the chess board and, smiling to himself, tips over the Black Queen. Then he returns it to its original configuration.
Finally, he returns to the writing desk, and takes up the work of deciphering Brand's papers again. Thoughts of Space, and the relationship of the glyphs to the spaces they are written on, play at the back of his mind. So is the deep connection of Entropy to information.
Last modified: 15 February 2005