All of the arrangements having been made, including a note to Random to tell him where they're going, Merlin uses the sketch and the three of them arrive in the Pearl Islands. The sketch, he reports regretfully afterwards, did not survive.
The first impression Merlin and Celina might have is heat. A niche within three boulders holds all three of them with ease, and hides them from the fierce sun. But even in this sheltered place, the heat is fierce and humid, with a salt-tinged breeze providing scant relief. Delta would have prepared linen clothing sets for them -- baggy trousers and tunics, plus jerkins made of leather (in her case) or quilted fabric. Everything is colored white or beige, the better to endure the searing sun. If Shadow truly does provide, the coins Merlin and Celina suddenly carry are octagonal, with holes stamped in the center so they can be strung along a braided raffia cord.
"Hats on," Delta says, with glee in her voice. The hats are felt, broad-brimmed, tan-colored. Merlin's has a feather, if she was able to procure one of sufficient size and splendor in Xanadu. Her head covering is a deep hood that ends in long lengths of fabric like a scarf. Wrapped well, her face is not easily seen.
Before she shoos them from the rocks' shade, she runs her thumb over several long scratches marked on the nearest boulder. If it's a tally of sorts, she isn't telling, but some thought certainly inspires a wolfish grin.
She then slips between two of the rocks and into a sandy, sun-drenched tangle of scrub grass and short palms. In the distance on three sides, smoke trails up into the air. The humid air is redolent with the scents of ripe fruit and burnt sugar. About fifty metres away, beyond the brush, is a compound of low-slung buildings, no more than three stories in height. They look to be made from stone and mud or cob, some material other than wood. Beyond the buildings, high masts can be seen. The water is near, as is always true in the Pearl, and trading ships are in harbor. Sea-birds wheel and dive in the cloudless sky. Closer to our Amber trio, vivid parakeets hop from palm to palm while chattering away.
Celina's eyes are large emerald pools leaping from stone, to bird, to dancing waterlight.
Delta keeps her voice low and crouches as she briefs her companions. "Warlord Zarrax rules here. He's tall to the sky, fat as a cow. Slow to temper, but once it's lost, there's no getting it back until something bleeds." Her tone of voice is ...fond, somehow? "He carries the greatsword Wrath, won after seven sea battles with his own brother. In all the islands, perhaps three, maybe four warlords are greater? If we are brought to him, show respect, but not deference. Stand your ground." That part is insistent. "Especially you, Merlin. He's more partial to the curvier sex."
Celina nods.
"Choices, now. We can seek out my grandmother immediately in her usual rooms, which means running into others here who might know me. I'm in no trouble here, but word travels fast between households. It'd be risky. We can get to the docks and see what's coming in trade-wise, if you want a slower introduction to the island. Celina, you'd have to tell us more about what you search for, your regalia. Unless you have another idea?"
Celina seems to not hear. She is smiling at the water.
She glances at Merlin. "And are you here to watch over us, to see somewhere new, because you're the transportation? Or do you have other objectives?"
Celina looks at Merlin. She grins.
Celina runs a finger around the brim of her already heating hat and slowly licks her lips of the salted breeze.
A whisper falls on the shade of her neck. She holds herself from turning to see the ghost that should not be there. Her hand flicks backward in a 'yes yes not now' gesture. Celina turns to Delta, her eyes look wider and dangerous. She says something very at odds with the sudden bedroom timbre of her voice, "Rebma is slowly strangling in neglect. The Queen must go down with her city. Til death do us part. The regalia is the half of the founding pledge and it is my promise to do everything I can to restore what is done wrong."
Celina laughs softly, "I love this place and don't want to leave already."
"This place," Merlin says, "is very strong in Order." He focuses his attention on Delta, and adds, "In answer to your questions, I am the transportation, I am guarding my sister and helping her find the Sapphire, and I am exploring." He puts the hat on. Delta thinks he may never have worn a hat of this sort before; he doesn't have the knack of putting it on correctly. It needs adjustment to pass muster.
He looks back at Celina as if he doesn’t like what she’s saying.
Celina's strange words and tone get an odd look from Delta as well. She doesn't respond immediately, though. Instead, she listens to Merlin, then reaches out with both hands to crumple and then re-place his hat, so it looks jaunty and well-worn, instead of a pie perched on a man's head. "Good enough," she says. "Though the Order bit begs questions, later. As for now..." She leans in a little closer, not that it'll keep Celina from hearing. "Does your sister carry a demon? It'd be good to know now, instead of when it gets all our heads on spikes through idle demony talk." If one can be said to refer to heads on spikes casually, Delta does.
Dogs bark in the distance, and men shout back and forth to each other with commands and bawdy conversation. They can't stay here long without being noticed.
Celina chews her lip. "I'll be fine. This place just makes me feel warm and wanted as no shadow has. I'll follow your lead, Delta. This is your special place. I really look forward to the experience."
"Warm, aye. That we can offer. Wanted?" Delta's expressions softens. "Mind yourself, Celina. Unguarded is no way to be, not here. But maybe the gods below know your Rebman ways. Maybe you're always welcome when the sea is near. How glorious that would be." Celina gets a pat on the knee before Merlin receives a very intent 'you better watch her' stare.
Merlin nods to Delta and moves to take Celina's hand, or perhaps her arm, for the walk to wherever they're going. "Why are the gods below here?" he asks Delta.
Celina allows Merlin to guide even as a whisper reminds her Merlin doesn't like to touch. Why are the gods below here?
Ah, everything here is interesting. Celina watches Delta's movement and rhythm with much care. She nods.
Delta looks them both over and says, "Let's go to her first. My grandmother. I don't know if she'll know anything about anything, but ...we're helping her, aye?" She says the words quietly, almost pleading. It'll be the first time anyone's heard this tone from her, for certain. "Gods explanation in a moment, but first, this -- if we are found by others who know me, we're all crew recently released from work aboard the..." She casts about for a name. "...Destiny. And now just bobbing from island to island, spending our pay and looking for coin to replace what's spent. Aye?"
Celina nods and impulsively takes Delta's hand for a quick kiss. "Aye."
She gestures for them to move forward, down a barely discernible path through the scrub. The low, dun-colored buildings come more into view as they make their way out of the foliage. As they move, Delta murmurs, "We come from water, not land. Babies swim in their mother's oceans before they're born into the world, eh? The gods are below, deeper than deep. And that's where we go when our bodies die, back to beautiful darkness."
"Very Ordered, warm yet violent, safe and haunted. I like it." The thought comes up from the dark tide of past nightmares: Beautiful darkness is Rebma.
"I understand," Merlin says. "Not that dissimilar to Chaos in its own way. We are consumed by beings more powerful than we are, but that is how we are spawned in the first place."
People become visible, striding down a dirt street just beyond the buildings. They're dressed much as our trio is, and some hats have feathers even taller than Merlin's. Everyone seems armed, openly so, and at this time of day, all seem busy. Crates are carried to and fro on travois that scrape the dirt. People shout to each other, wares are hawked -- it's a busy port settlement, alive with color and noise. Delta steers brother and sister toward a separate small building set back from the road and nearly swallowed by flowering vines. "That's hers," she says tightly. "Ready?"
"Very," says Celina eyeing the flowery kelp seized upon the structure. Celina takes a big breath and feels out the current of local magic. Has Order pushed sorcery out of day and into night?
Celina lets Merlin steer them to the building. She sniffs the flowers when they arrive.
Merlin follows Delta and brings Celina to the hut. When Delta knocks for entrance, it takes a moment, not unexpectedly. Then a dark-skinned woman, wrinkled with age, pushes the door open. She blinks in the daylight; behind her the interior of the structure is dark, as all three can see. She looks at Delta, taking her clearly unexpected presence in. "Delta, is that you?" And she reaches to embrace Delta.
Closer to the small dwelling, the flowers are almost overwhelming. Delta -- who gave Celina a grateful smile for the hand kiss -- waits at the door while bouncing on her heels. When her grandmother reaches out her arms, Delta falls into them with the trust of a child. "Grandmother," she says on an exhale, squeezing the older woman tightly. She's caught in emotion -- the other two may have to introduce themselves while Delta holds back tears.
As witness to this reunion, Celina is vastly moved by old stories and never-considered missing truths of being a fake-orphan. Merlin's hand holds her from moving to hug the two women.
Celina bites her lower lip and gives them a moment.
Celina curtseys instead of hugging. "We are pleased to meet you. I am Celina of Rebma. This is my brother."
Having heard the word Rebma, Coral freezes for a moment and looks hard at Celina, almost ignoring Merlin, who wisely releases his sister and steps back. "Rebma?" Coral asks, uncertain and perhaps a little frightened.
Celina bows and smiles with kindness. "Celina. Who cannot seek your hospitality without cherishing your peace. My own grandmother is gone. But yes, Rebma. The emerald city of trade beneath the Restless Sea. I wish to know you better and ease your fears. Delta adores you. I can only wish I had a chance to hug my own grandmother when I was a girl. May I enter and hear your stories of the seas? Delta is my cousin and no harm shall come to you."
Delta has eased back slightly so Celina can say her initial greetings. She keeps one arm protectively around her grandmother's shoulders as she addresses her, "I'd never let anyone harm you if it's in my power. Promise." It's said firmly, even formally. "They won't hurt you, they won't take you. Please let us in, eh? They're my guests, I vouch for them."
"I am not here from Rebma and I do not stand under my sister's orders," Merlin adds. "I will not permit you to be taken unwilling, Lady."
Between Delta's reassurance and Merlin's and Celina's words, Coral calms a little. "Come in then, and let's close the door. Nobody needs to hear our business," she says to Celina. She gestures the group inside and when they have all come in, secures the door behind.
The familiar room hasn't changed much since Delta's last visit. Some new bright fabrics from traders, a brightly sharpened knife; but much remains as it was. Coral moves to open up her pantry and take out some dried fish and seaweed. Not much, but it's what she has to offer guests.
"Let me get that," Delta says immediately. While she trails after her grandmother, Merlin and Celina are faced with a more cluttered room than they might have expected. Much of it seems foraged from the water or the shore: bits of interesting driftwood turned butter-soft from waves, magnificent shells with iridescent whorls, smooth rocks with veins of green and grey. No mirrors are visible, like a Rebman might have expected. No books are seen, like a scholar and cartographer might have expected to see. And no flowers in vases or jars to reflect the foliage that's nearly swallowed the hut. Just the natural bounty of the sea, heaped in abundance. A hammock swings idly with the breeze in one corner.
Brother and sister will see a different setup in other houses on the Island, but here, Coral uses low-slung cushions with woven reed bases as furniture. When ready, Delta will plop onto one of the cushions and sit cross-legged with practiced ease. She watches her grandmother constantly.
Celina studies the possible currents if the room had been under the sea. She claims a cushion that centers her in the space.
Celina offers simply, "This is nice." She samples bits of food offered.
Merlin arranges himself on a cushion near Celina with an awkwardness that suggests a teenager not quite grown into his adult body. He, too, samples the food and echoes his sister. "It is nice," he says to Coral, and adds, "Thank you, Lady," as if she were a courtier and they were all in some fancy palace.
Coral has chosen her own seat, the one Delta would have expected her to choose, and settles with the slow motion of age. She does not eat, though she has some water poured from a jug made from a hollowed out rock into a shell-cup. "You're welcome, young sir," Coral answers Merlin. "But my question is for your sister. What bring you from Rebma to visit me, and how did you, Delta, come to meet Celina and her brother?"
Delta's cushion is next to Coral's, and she stays close in case Coral needs more water or other refreshment. "Right. Crazed monks stole me from my berth, and I was rescued by my..." She hesitates briefly, but plows on. "My father's kin." She emphasizes the word 'father' enough to hopefully differentiate him from her mother's husband of many years. "Which...these two are. Along with many others." She shakes her head. "I would be dead if not for them, I think. Or worse."
Celina is attentive to Coral, using her intuition to compare Delta's previous comments about Coral's burden of pain to the unfolding questions and answers.
Celina says, "Unexpected crossings in shadow with Family are said to be more probable. In this case, it was a blessing as the Monks Klybesian are prone to bloody excess when unraveling Family history. Once we freed Delta and got a bit of her story, it suddenly seemed that questions about my Family history were less critical than helping Delta discover hers. There are far fewer members of the Family who love the ocean and have history there."
"My history there is cut off. I am banished by the will of the Queen, or so I am told," Coral answers. She is angry, resigned, despairing. "I gave Delta here my cards, which I got from my own mother. I know they're not Rebma make, but Amber. But they were hers, then mine, and now Delta's."
Celina is sad, but keeps her hopeful tone, "I would love to hear your story from your mother to you if you care to share it, but first, you should know that the Will of the Queen is ended for she is no longer queen. That monarch fled her throne when powerful armies attacked Rebma. I hope you would visit Rebma again sometime. Rebma remains a place worth fighting for. Worth loving for."
Delta lets the new Queen say her piece, but follows that up with, "Why would they send you away? Why would they exile you?" There's indignation in it, barely bit back from rising into greater anger. Then, after a beat of silence, "Wait. Your mother was of Amber and had cards? What?"
"Mama was from Rebma. She had the cards, but she was from Rebma. And they sent me away because it wasn't safe," Coral explains. "That's what they said, but I think it wasn't true. Or not completely true."
Celina looks surprised and then asks, "Did they rush your departure? Did your mother leave with you? What part of the exit seemed false?"
Delta is quiet this time, but sets an arm around her grandmother's narrow shoulders as she listens. There's a hard set to her jaw developing, and a stiffness in her posture. Outside the hut, parakeets screech and sailors and traders call to each other in the expressive local cant. Wagon wheels clatter over the uneven boardwalk.
"Mama's mother had died and they said it was safer. This was long before your time, child," Coral says to Celina. She pats one of Delta's hands. "Mama's mother tried--you know." This again, to Celina. "She died. And we left. I was a girl then. We used to go back, sometimes. Mama had a charge from her mother, and she left it to me when she died. The cards came from Mama's daddy; she got them after she left Rebma."
Celina lets her sadness show. "You can return to Rebma as my guest, if you like. I have a spare bed and my Aunt collects stories of Rebma."
Celina adds, "If you still wish to honor your mother's charge, we could also transfer her remains to a family shrine in Rebma."
Delta is likely glad for Celina's response, given that her own jaw is hanging open a bit. When Celina has completed her gracious offer, Delta says, "What the blazes? Wait. My grandmother on your side was one of the Amber...Rebma...Xanadu people too? My father and my grandmother?" Her voice goes up half an octave, though she tries to calm it with her next words. "Grandmama, I am so damned confused. We want to help you, aye? You mean more than ten castles and a thousand lifetimes to me. But I need you to tell us your tale. And your mother's charge. Please."
She reaches for Coral's hand to hold, as if that might help convey some of her love and confusion.
Merlin says, "Your great-grandmother, Delta, and your great-grandfather was of Amber, and presumably royal, which is how he had the Trump deck that was given to you. Is that correct, Lady Coral?"
Coral is burrowing into Delta's arms. "That's right."
"What was her name, your mother?" Merlin continues gently.
Coral looks at Celina and Merlin, since she's not in a great position to look at Delta, and then says, "Mera."
Celina nods.
It happens again that she doesn't notice, the reflex tears slide slowly down Celina's face. Under the sea, no one sees you cry. "You are daughter to my mother's sister, Coral. We are blood Family and I love the idea of you visiting me in Rebma whenever you wish. As soon as can be I shall give you a Trump card of me. If your mother is buried in Pearl I would like to visit her with your indulgence."
Delta nods her head slightly at Merlin's correction, though she's frowning all the while. "Then...who the blazes fathered...no. Sorry. We're not here for me." She wraps arms around her grandmother and rocks gently, soothingly. "We're here for you, Grandmama." To Celina she adds a soft, "We don't bury anyone here. We return flesh to the sea. But ...there might be a cairn on the shore, aye, Grandmama? I've seen that plenty, from the elders."
Merlin is already reaching into his card deck to find a sketch of Celina to give to Coral. It seems to Celina that he has gotten used to being ignored the way men often are in Rebma.
Celina smiles for Merlin and for Coral gestures at the small sketch. "It will likely function but once."
"There was no body," Coral says to Delta and Celina. "I made a cairn, but there was no body. And not the kind of no-body that means she ran away. I mean there was nothing left when she died. She tried to walk that thing and it killed her."
Celina takes a long slow Takhi breath and holds it until the tears stop. She nods one time more. "Many bloody prices have been paid. I am beyond vexed with it. Coral, what was the charge your mother set upon you?"
Delta's gaze follows the sketch as it moves from Merlin to Coral. Her brows furrow. She still has her arms around her grandmother, but extends one leg to so she can nudge Merlin's knee with the side of her boot. If he looks at her, he'll see her neck extended, her face calm but grave -- it's the epitome of a portrait pose.
She only holds it for a second, though, as Coral's continuing words draw a gasp from her throat. Celina's tale of her recent loss is still fresh in her memory. "Gods below, Grandmama. What a horror." She murmurs it, then keeps her arms in place, strong and warm, for Coral to lean into as she answers.
Merlin nods to Delta. He fishes in his things and finds a notepad, in which he starts sketching.
Merlin receives a nod of thanks, though he may not see it due to the sketching.
Coral is leaning heavily on Delta. "Mama said this time would come when she gave it to me." She starts to get up, letting Delta help if Delta is so inclined, and moves to one of the shells, a conch with a deep opening. It takes her a moment to retrieve something, and then she has a necklace in her hand: one with a small sapphire placed in the center of a gold amulet. "Mama gave me this and the cards, and she said the cards would tell me which of my descendants I was meant to pass it to. That's you, Delta. It's why I gave you the cards."
Celina nods once and in a very ordinary voice bids Delta, "Gently with that. Avoid touching the gemstone, please. This is a happy day regardless of how we weave tomorrow."
Delta continues to help support her grandmother over to the conch. She reaches for the necklace when it's offered, though she's careful to follow Celina's calm warning about the gemstone. Still, her grandmother is her focus and the necklace is only secondary; with nowhere else to really put the necklace, she just slips it over her head and lets it hang, with her linen tunic a barrier between the amulet and her skin.
"It's a happy day if you're free of burden, Grandmama. What is this, anyway? Come on, back to the cushion. I know your knees aren't the finest these days."
She flicks a glance toward Celina, in case the Queen has more to say about the trinket she now wears. In Delta's mind at least, that's how she categorizes it: trinket.
Celina waits to see Merlin's reaction to the gem stone. But she winks at Delta's glance and mouths 'later' to her.
Merlin's eyes get very big. He starts to say something but decides against and his mouth closes without him making any noise.
Celina nods at her brother and says nothing.
Coral lets Delta help her back to the cushion and rests on it. "It's something Mama was given a long time ago, before she died. And she gave me the responsibility of seeing to it. I left it where it was for as long as I could, and then I had to bring it here. It's heavy, Delta. You'll understand what I mean in time."
Celina nods once. "Coral, would you like to visit Rebma? Is now a good time? Is there someone who may look after your home while you are gone traveling?"
"My mother would," Delta says absently while getting Coral settled again. "But -- grandmama, is this what you want?"
With the question asked, she then kneels by her grandmother's cushion and gives her a level, serious look. "And I need to know what Mera wanted, now that this gift has been given. I cannot exchange unless I know the value. And the expectation." She's already explained to Celina and Merlin the Pearl Island's system of gift-and-obligation; she doesn't do it again.
"It's not about what I want, Delta," Coral says. She sighs. "This is about a duty. The obligation is in our blood. You can step away from it, but it will go badly. I need to make sure that the Queen--the queen who was--" she adds, looking at Celina for a moment, "doesn't take the necklace. It's mine to guard."
"I'm not walking away from a sodding thing," Delta answers. "...is it mine, now? "That's fair exchange for the bauble, especially if it's sought-after." And though she's heard a few versions of Rebma's tale, she still has to ask, "...wait, which Queen? Is that one near Rebma still? Are we taking this thing right into the shark's mouth?" She gives Celina a befuddled look, with her brows furrowed.
Merlin is still working on his sketch but pipes up, "If I may, Lady Coral, I think you will find your burden eased if you return to Rebma with my sister."
"I am willing to go," Coral offers, "if Delta wishes to, and your sister promises safe-conduct for us both."
Celina nods, "Granted. And a safe return to Pearl as you like."
"Delta wants what her grandmama wants," Delta makes sure to echo. She gently squeezes her grandmother's hand. "The offer of safe passage and return is a kind one, Celina. Aye, thank you."
"My mother, Moire, ruled centuries in Rebma. She has fled and we do not know exactly where she is. Somewhere near Paris we think. I also will protect the necklace, as will my court." Celina nods to Delta.
"Moire, Moire, Moire," Delta mutters under her breath, fixing the name in her mind. She then asks, "What's the story of this, then?" as she indicates to the pendant around her throat. "Why does a deposed queen want it?" She adds in a murmur to Coral, "She won't get it, Grandmama. Promise."
Celina studies the stone in the necklace. Maybe Merlin hasn't heard this and Delta is already in deeper than she'll know. She needs to carry all the weight of knowledge. Especially if I'm going to be dead in a year.
Celina responds slowly, feeling her way forward, "Keep in mind this story actually begins with my grandmother, who was the Primus Rex of Rebma, thousands of years ago. Moins acknowledged a group of sister kingdoms, Avalon, Amber, Paris, and Tir that were ruled by other immortals equal to her and centered on foundations of Pattern. Moins set herself against the Queen of Tir when that monarch went mad and tried to destroy the other cities."
Celina adds, "She never returned from the confrontation. Moins' spirit resonates still with Rebma's Pattern. The Queen of Tir recently seems to be trying to return from being a spirit herself.
"Moins had three daughters. Mera, Moire, and Llewella. Rebma entered into a period of unrest and fear without Moins. The throne being empty created stress. I think none of the sisters had been prepared by Moins to take over. Just as the other cities fell into ghost-states when they could not transition after their Artist Rex had fallen, it seems that actually keeping a throne alive when the Rex falls is counter to the currents of Pattern. But the sisters tried, each in their own way. Mera tried to marry the Pattern and died. Moire held her life more dear and took the throne through politics and guile. Llewella refused to play Moire's game and tried to remain true to the city instead of the throne.
"I wasn't there. My mother didn't want me to know any of this. She never walked the Pattern. Even now she has the storm sapphire taken when she fled. But that stone you are wearing is one part of...the Pattern Regalia. If Moire had that stone to go with the other she would be much more powerful. I guess Moins used a scepter and two sapphires when she drew her Pattern. Rebma persists because these items are Real with her spirit. But that spirit is thin now and only the scepter is within the city. I'm Queen by right of walking the Pattern and caring what becomes of Moins legacy. It isn't really a great solution."
Delta listens carefully. "So some would call your claim thin? But between the two of us now, we've got two of three?" She shakes her head. "Gods below, listen to me. Scheming when I've never even been to the place."
She turns away from Celina to face Coral. "Grandmama. We'll go, eh? But we need to talk more. A lot more." She cups her grandmother's cheek with her hand. "I'm not going to ...marry a maze. All right? I'm not ending up like your mother. Promise." The last word is said firmly, even if it's not something she can actually proclaim. "I'll walk it and beat it, and then I'll be able to protect you when you need it."
Coral sighs. "It's a long story, Delta. I haven't heard it the way Celina tells it, but there's more to it. And I'm sure I haven't heard all of the things I might have heard if my own mother had lived."
The sound of the scratching of the pencil against paper stops. "If that is indeed a piece of a primal jewel that could inscribe a Pattern," Merlin says, "then you should not wear it, Delta. My father believes that wearing such a thing cost his brother Eric his life. It will drain the wearer. And it may warp Shadow if it is left too long in one place."
"This shadow feels more intimate than any I've ever visited. Did father say what sort of warping he noticed? That could be important." Celina stretches her entire Takhi length and her toes wriggle against the floor. "According to my Archivists, Moire only brought her jewel out for limited display."
Brother and sister receive a sudden annoyed look -- fleeting, but it shows. "This place isn't someone's imagination," she says after her expression smooths again. She takes the necklace from around her neck and, with a bit of fumbling, tucks it into its own tiny compartment in the pouch that holds her cards. "There."
Merlin looks unfussed at the reprimand, but that may simply be his way.
She turns back to Coral, and her voice softens. "I'm not interrogating you, Grandmama. If your charge was to someday get this to me -- it's done. You did it. Well done, faithful one. Do you want to show me Rebma now?"
"Not really," Coral says, with a hint of her old sparkle, "but it's time to go anyway."
"Aye," says Delta. There's a longing look out the window, toward where the main complex lies. "She'll know, eh? She always seemed to know when you went off on your travels." It's the only mention she makes of her mother before looking back at Celina and Merlin. "I suppose we're ready to see Rebma," she says. "If you'll show us the way--"
She pauses there and furrows her eyebrows, looking at Coral. "How'd you get there, all these years?"
Celina pauses any response, hoping to learn something interesting from Coral about this.
"There was a way, by boat, to Gateway" Coral says, "but it closed after the Great Storm." The Great Storm was a few years ago, perhaps half a dozen? The sky was black, the rain was fierce, and some thought it was the end of everything. A few islands disappeared; boats sunk and were lost; people died. When the dawn came afterwards, it was like the world was begun anew, at least until people started to have to pick up the mess.
Nobody in the Pearl Islands would forget the Great Storm.
And of course Delta hasn't. She grimaces, with a sympathetic grunt to go with it.
Celina nods with a sympathetic cetacean sound in her throat for the lives lost. "We can make an easier journey if I can reach my Aunt. Let's see."
Celina pulls her deck and Llewella is already the top portrait. As a kindness, Celina shows Coral and Delta the image before she brings it to focus at arms length. "Llewella, it is Celina and Merlin with guests."
Llewella takes a moment to answer. Celina can feel exhaustion and melancholy and relief in the connection briefly before Llewella squelches the emotions. "Celina, I'm in the Pattern chamber. Misao has just walked the Pattern and I watched them depart the center. Can whoever it is wait until I'm safely back in the precincts?" She's clearly ready to pull them through if Celina cuts her off or it seems to be an emergency.
Delta gives Celina a nod of thanks and reaches for her grandmother's hand, so they can link arms and go through together. "Onward," she says to the older woman with a smile.
Merlin also moves to help Coral, but Coral seems not to need any further help beyond what Delta can offer.
Celina says immediately in a shadowed voice, "Yes, yes. I'll call again in an hour. Be safe." She quickly puts her hand over the card.
Celina turns slightly from those present to stare in the direction of the ocean. Realizing the others only heard her side of things she adds, "My Aunt was in a... My... The timing was wrong for us to go through to the bottom of the palace."
Celina takes a Takhi breath to clear her head.
Merlin moves to take Celina's arm at the news.
Delta opens her mouth to ask something like, "what's happened?," but the woman on her arm - her long-suffering grandmother - doesn't need more troubling news. She lets it lie, instead asking Coral, "Grandmama, we seem to have some time. Do you need anything before we go? Any errands run, or the like?"
Coral looks at Delta and asks, "Are you going to tell your mother you're here?"
Delta and her mother have mostly gotten along - with the usual fretting about Delta's travels and the dangers in her life. That said, Delta scrunches her nose, uncertain. "I don't know what to say to her," she mutters to her grandmother, though Celina and Merlin would no doubt hear. "Everything's changed, eh? Everything I thought about her and whoever sired me, that's all different now."
Celina admires Delta's balance. She feels something like regret for taking a swing at her Father at the news.
Celina turns around. "No telling when you will return here. Experiences await. As different as this is so far it will shortly be amazingly different. Misao is well."
Celina thinks that phrase suits the idea of sharing news with Merlin and Delta without putting a burden on Coral.
"I need a stiff drink," adds Celina.
"Good to hear it," says Delta about Misao. An inadvertent grin pulls at her mouth with Celina's next statement. Delta lets out a snort of a laugh, saying, "Well, my mother will have that. Everyone here has that."
"If you need someone to remain sober, I can neutralize the toxins as they enter my bloodstream," Merlin says, sounding very confident in this ability. Clearly the idea that he just shouldn't drink hasn't occurred to him. "I am ready if you wish to see your mother." He starts to say something else, which Celina intuits may be about his own maternal experience, but thinks better of it and chooses not to.
Coral has been following Delta's line of thinking, and states the question outright: "Do you mean to ask her? Because she never told me."
Celina's already noted they have the time so she waits Delta's choice.
"If we go over to the big house, we'll see far too many people who I'd rather not catch sight of me," Delta says. "But Grandmama or - gods, even one of you, probably Merlin - could fetch her over." She arches a brow at Merlin. "Would you be willing? There will be guards outside all the doors, eh? A word to one of them that Coral needs her daughter should bring my mother at a run."
"Of course," Merlin says, and finds his hat, which he has taken off inside the hut in a correct and mannerly fashion. "I am to say that the Lady Coral needs her mother." He stops and waits for approval, and someone to fix his hat, before he's on his way.
Coral looks to Celina. "Your brother is very well-mannered."
Celina chuckles with pride. "In our family, He got all the smarts and I got all the--" she stops herself from saying 'tears' and finishes, "complications." Celina swallows. This shadow is so relaxing she must consider her words more carefully.
Celina nods once to Coral.
"And he has an eye," Delta says. "For drawing. Detailed as can be, eh? It's impressive. Doesn't talk much, though." It's said idly, not as criticism. Delta then lifts her free hand to tousle her shaggy, short hair. This nervous fidgeting will absolutely continue until Merlin returns with his quarry.
Perhaps a half-glass later, the door opens and Isla enters the hut. She's clearly been running to get down here. Either whatever Merlin said worried her or she was already concerned about her mother's help.
Isla has a short cap of hair, dark with some grey, and from the look of her, Celina thinks she'd do well enough in a fight. Her balance is not full Ta'Khi but it wouldn't surprise Celina if Coral had trained Isla in Ta'Khi.
"Mother, what's--" and she sees Delta. And turns on her, angry, fierce, upset. "Where have you been, Delta?" Whatever lies between mother and daughter, it's evident to Celina at least that this woman loves both Delta and Coral.
Merlin enters the hut behind Isla and closes the door, such as it is.
Delta gives her mother a sheepish half-smile. "Fair winds, Mama. And that's a long tale. I'll tell it, but first -- formally meet Celina and Merlin, eh? My ...cousins. On at least Coral's side. If not also my father's." Her head tilts as she offers that small challenge, but right now she's speaking quietly, with no hint of rancor. "We're here to help Grandmama. Promise." She will offer an embrace, if Isla's willing to take it.
"Merlin I have met, thank you. Pleased to meet you, Celina." Isla doesn't quite brush that introduction off, but she's more interested in her daughter and mother than the newcomers. She moves to pull Delta into her own arms, still clearly angry but still clearly also relieved to see her. Once she's given Delta a good squeeze, she pulls back and asks, "Now what in the names of all the little gods and fishes is going on?"
Celina nods politely at Isla. The shadow flows around her and Isla is a proper mother. Celina considers and once again decides not to look too closely at the currents of this fantastic place.
Maybe next visit. Celina knows she will be back.
Still that simple hug stirs a slow spin of jealous tide. Celina smiles at the three generations of Rebman comfort. 'Little gods and fishes' sits so happy in her ear that Celina busies her hands with a firm lace of fingers so she doesn't touch someone without permission.
Merlin comes to stand by her and puts a hand lightly on Celina's shoulder as the Pearl women talk.
Celina shifts her center to be matched to Merlin's touch.
Delta is absorbed into her mother's fierce hug. When set free, she takes a step back, away from her mother's obvious emotion. "Ah, well --" There's a brief 'help-me' of a look toward Celina and Merlin before Delta just dives in and says, "I was taken off my berth by monks who want to figure out how people like me - like us - work. I've no idea how, but it didn't look pleasant, that's for sure." She drags her hand back through her hair. "And I've been found out as part of the ...one of the ..."
Celina gets another helpless look. Family nomenclature is hard.
Celina nods and offers, "Delta was kidnapped by monks lurking the trade routes of Amber and Rebma. The monks spotted an uncle who had Amber colors and also captured him. He realized the other handful of captives there already could likely be cousins of the royal blood. Delta was liberated by my Uncle and a double-handful of cousins. I've been helping her since get her legs back and such. So that makes it possible you are also related to me, Isla. We traveled here with Delta."
"Then you brought my daughter home," Isla says, as if she's considering what's a fair exchange for that.
But Coral interrupts her train of thought to tell her, "And I'm leaving with them to go to Rebma."
"It'll be fine," Delta says hurriedly. "I mean, we're with the queen of the place, of all people." She gestures toward Celina. "Not much safer for Grandmama than that, aye?"
Celina braces herself for reaction from Isla now that her royal status is revealed. There is plenty of injustice baggage with the throne.
It's not Celina that Isla turns on, but Coral. "Mama, you told me you wouldn't go back!"
"The girl's mother is gone," Coral says, tilting her head toward Celina "and you can't keep Delta from her heritage any longer. If you didn't want her tied up in this business, you shouldn't have had her."
Celina may jump in, but Delta's too dumbstruck to react for a few seconds. The only thing she manages to say is, "...Mama. Grandmama. You could just tell me the whole heritage business now. Save us all some time, eh?" It's the sort of flippant, insouciant question that Coral's always indulged, and Isla's always hated. "Celina and Merlin are family. They won't mind."
Merlin usually speaks his mind, but Celina cannot guess if he will mind. He seems to be paying a LOT of attention to this meeting.
Something Celina hasn't guessed about Paris?
Celina stands with Delta's bid. "I will not mind. A light on these things benefits us all."
Coral says, "After my mother died, I left Rebma. That my mother had a daughter wasn't well known at all. She had her reasons, not the least of which was that some of my father's relatives were ambitious and would have used that connection. But I went back to visit my father now and again, until he died. He left me the piece of jewelry. I didn't know not to wear it," Coral explains. "I just knew it was important, and that my mother wanted me to have it. I think my father made the piece around the stone."
"Fathers," Delta repeats, and points first at her grandmother and then her mother. "I've no sentiment toward any man I've never met. But help me -- tell their names, aye? You know me -- it's not as if I'll show up on their doorsteps crying for a father or a grandfather." She sounds utterly assured on that point.
Celina approves and listens.
"My father's name was Cornelius Drusus Scipio, of an old and honorable family of Rebma," Coral says, watching Celina and Delta. This news doesn't faze Isla. She's already heard it. "And he's gone now, so there's no visiting him, except where his bones lie. As for your own father, you'll have to ask your mother, Delta." That seems to be a challenge issued in Isla's direction.
Merlin is definitely keeping his mouth shut during this part of the conversation. Ordered reproduction is not his favorite topic.
Delta lifts her grandmother's hand to her mouth and kisses it. "Thank you. A revelation of mine - your choice, as long as we have breath - is yours to claim."
Coral turns her hand to touch Delta's cheek fondly.
She then raises an eyebrow as she fully faces her mother. "Just name him, eh? I'm the last one to judge whose berth people fall into. But I need to know where I stand in this new world, eh? Please. What do you want for such a gift of knowledge?"
Celina listens, equal parts delighted, curious, and learning that all Family parental choices may be whale crap.
Coral is also watching Isla.
"I don't think the name he gave me was his own," Isla says after a moment. "He was dark-haired and tall, and gave the name Corby. But he's not one of the men in the picture cards Ma has."
Merlin frowns at the name and finally speaks up. "I have heard that is a common use-name in the Navy," he tells Delta. "So it could be any of our cousins or uncles who know that custom, even if they did not serve themselves."
"Grand," says Delta drily, to Merlin's remarks. "But thank you -- it's a place to start."
She then meets her mother's gaze. "Why'd you never tell me before? I never would have cared. Or sought him out, except that all this sodding nonsense is happening." She gives brother and sister a sheepish grin. "No offense, eh?"
Back to her mother. "But you know as well as I do that seed's just ...seed. I know the Captain raised me. He's the one I'd kill or die for."
And, in another aside to Celina and Merlin: "That's my mother's man, the Captain. He's the one who taught me blades and cursing." She grins at whatever expression crosses her mother's face. "And many other valuable ways besides."
Isla shrugs. "Corby was just one night. I didn't think he mattered. I didn't expect to catch a child from him. But the Captain's happy enough to have you, so it didn't matter until now."
Corby? Celina looks at Merlin. She's never known him to be anything but to the point.
Merlin looks back at her. She intuits he definitely knows something that he's not ready to say here.
Celina sets her politics face. "I'd like to meet the Captain sometime."
This seems to startle Isla, and she looks to Delta for some kind of clue. Delta suspects she's surprised that they won't be leaving immediately. And perhaps a little relieved.
Celina decides to clarify, "I'm not inviting myself into your personal life. I'm well disposed to this place and Delta. So knowing more about both is a good thing. This man offers such an opportunity. For now, it seems a good time to tour Rebma. You are invited if you like, Isla."
Delta arches a brow as she regards her mother, seemingly very curious to hear Isla's answer to Celina's offer.
"I'll have to speak to the Captain before I make a decision," Isla says. "I do appreciate the offer of hospitality, Lady." She makes a neck-bow of sorts, normal to Delta but not a gesture that is familiar in all its details to Celina. Perhaps a local custom.
Delta reads the need to speak to her stepfather as not a request for permission but a desire to calculate the return needed for such a gift. Coral doesn't seem to need to value the exchange between herself and Celina that way for whatever reason.
Apparently Coral considers the matter resolved. She says, "Let's go up, then, or send someone with a message for the Captain."
"Send a message," Delta says hurriedly. Suspiciously so. If gazes turn her way, she shrugs and says, "I'm supposed to be on a six-month berth. Everyone knows it. If I'm here, I'm not there, and no one likes a sailor who deserts, eh?" Her tone is dry; perhaps the punishment for desertion of a contracted berth is a very big deal. "It isn't my fault that crazy men kidnapped me, but I'm not exactly racing to get back to the ship."
She offers her grandmother a rueful half-smile. "Sorry to crowd your hut, Grandmama."
Celina nods, "Wise, yes. Let's just send a messenger."
Merlin again takes the role of courier and goes to fetch the Captain, bearing a token from Isla for entry and to get her husband's attention. Not long afterwards the two men come back from the fortress. Merlin stands aside and lets the Captain in before him, closing up the entrance behind him so whatever happens is done and said in private.
The Captain stops just inside the doorway. Merlin almost bumps into him. "Delta? How did you get here?"
He's a large man, a full head taller than Delta and her kin. Burly, though his middle is clearly thickening. Grey peppers his long, braided beard and the braids that hold his black hair back from his craggy face. The sash across his jerkin has a badge of crossed swords embroidered on it, perhaps a sign of office. He is armed. Very armed.
Celina quietly studies this oversized gentleman. Something there is part if the yearning she feels in this place.
"Papa--" Delta begins, then quiets, rethinks, and starts again. "Captain Wade, my companions and I seek the hospitality of the house for this afternoon. What would you have of us in exchange?" While Wade has the opportunity to think over his answer, Delta pivots slightly to give Celina and Merlin a quick nod. Time to introduce themselves.
Celina does a small curtsey instead of the Rebman bow. "Captain. I am Celina Rex of Rebma, Heir of Khela, daughter of the traitor Moire and Prince Corwin of Amber. I am so pleased to meet you."
"Captain," Merlin says, following on the heels of Celina's introduction, "I am Merlin of Paris, son of King Corwin and Dara of the House of Borel. It is an honor to meet you." He bows like a Parisian gentleman.
Captain Wade looks the two newcomers over, clearly putting together Rebma, which he seems to know, and Paris, which he doesn't seem to. Also, whatever is up that has Delta here, now, and her mother not arguing with her about abandoning her berth. "For your assistance in bringing home my wife's daughter, I offer you the hospitality of the house for today." He's exchanging looks with Isla in what is clearly marital code. "Mother Coral, will you come up to the house as well?"
Coral says, "Yes, and I will want to offer something for you to look after my house for a time. I will be travelling."
Wade's shaggy eyebrows rise. "Travelling? I thought you'd given that up, Mother."
"I have one last trip to Rebma to take now." Coral doesn't out Delta's intentions; clearly that's for Delta to do. "And it must be you, because Isla has been offered a chance to join me."
Celina stands quiet though her heart dances a little. This family and its intangible currents could be so essential to Rebma now. Perhaps even more so than she can guess. Yet, Celina wonders if Coral may feel stronger and happy in Rebma for a time. Celina clears her throat and adds, "We hope to have a longer visit with you soon, Captain. But other matters press for time."
Delta can't help it; she sputters a laugh at Celina's Queenly diplomacy. She winks at the other woman before saying, "That means we need to put wind to our sails, eh? Can't stay long. But aye, let's go up to the house, get matters arranged so -- " She arches a brow in her mother's direction. "Do you come with us, Mama?"
And, Captain that he is, Wade is still her stepfather, not to mention mentor and friend. Delta slips through the ever-increasing crowd in the tiny hut to finally give Wade a hard hug.
Wade returns the embrace, giving Delta a good squeeze. Celina can see that he's grinning. "Ah, welcome home, lass. We didn't know to be worried about you, or we would have been, but we're glad to see you all the same." He turns his attention to Isla. "Do you want to go to Rebma?" he asks Isla.
"How would we get back?" Isla asks, and it's a question for all of them. Not entirely rhetorical, either. But she continues: "And, there's no way we could repay--"
Coral, practical, cuts her off. "Isla, you're my daughter. Don't you understand what they're saying? You're royalty."
"He gets us back," says Delta, pointing at Merlin. "He draws, and we can step through. It's how we got here." She gives Wade an apologetic half-smile. "As rum-soaked as that sounds, it's the truth, eh?"
She then asks both Merlin and Celina, "Or is there another way?"
"There are several," Merlin says, "One of which either Celina or I could manage, and another which is, I think, a skill known to Celina but not myself. Or I could Part the Veil, which is--I am a sorcerer, sir, and while I would not want to perform that act of sorcery in Rebma proper, I could easily do so elsewhere." He bows to Wade, who looks suspiciously bewildered.
Coral is trying not to laugh. She says, "Getting us back will be fair exchange for your hospitality and them some."
Isla says, "But that's not fair exchange for the Queen," glancing with some mild bewilderment at Celina, as if the word is strange to her.
"I told you, you're royalty through my mother's line. You don't have to exchange in Rebma anyway if the Queen offers her hospitality," Coral says. "Let's go up to the house and you can go off with Wade and figure out what you want to do."
Celina came to aid Coral's pain and perhaps find an answer or two for Delta. For her, seeing the Regalia is the most positive personal thing in a long period of Tempest.
Celina shares her good vibes by confirming for Isla what Coral has said. She gets some food, maybe a cocoa to shake down the buzz this shadow has on her.
If there is a mirror of quality at Isla's place, Celina will memorize its character.
Celina is ready with a Llewella Trump but asks Merlin to do the honors. He's great at this and she wants to step through first to make sure there is no mishap with the party's arrival. She explains to Merlin that Llewella should use the Airy Chamber if Isla is coming along.
Once in Rebma, it's introductions and accommodations and putting the family branch in the archives.
Delta is uncharacteristically sentimental with her family. It's ODD for them. It'll fade, but for right now, being around the family members she knows well, and who know her well, is a balm.
The regalia remains in a pocket, not touching her skin.
Isla and Wade are two of the highest members of this warlord's wealthy & powerful household. Food of all kinds (as long as it once swam or oinked or grew in a garden) is available. Given the plunder the warlord has amassed, there's no doubt a fancy mirror or two also available. The compound is large and well staffed.
Last modified: 16 January 2024