Left Behind

Once the rainbow dazzle of Signy's and Marius' departure has faded, Caine packs away his trumps and turns his attention to Brennan and Tomat.

"What," he says conversationally, apparently to both of them, "do you know about the Illuminati?"

Brennan may not play poker with the professional passion of a King Random, but he's far and away sensible enough not to put all his cards on the table at once, although it's not Caine he's concerned about.

"The Illuminated Ones," Brennan muses. "I've travelled enough in Shadow to hear a few things." By expression and body language, nothing he thinks is terribly important or worth saying. If anything, he enjoys the ironic play between the words-- Illunimati, and Shadow.

Tomat takes a step back. "I am forsworn to the eye-in-pyramid for leaving to find Lady Signy. I am no friend of the Illuminati."

Caine grins, ferally. "The Illuminati have no friends. Only slaves and enemies. "

"And is Amber any better?" Tomat's chin rises defiantly.

There are plenty of openings in Tomat's reactions to go on the verbal offensive, but Brennan doesn't really bother. Instead: "Why Signy?"

Tomat looks incredulously at Brennan. "You've seen her. How can you not know?"

From behind his desk, Caine makes an exasperated face at Brennan.

Brennan regards Tomat without any sympathy at all, waiting for either him or Caine to continue.

"So you've abandoned the powers promised by the Illuminated Brotherhood for a woman." Caine sounds equally incredulous, but where Tomat is defensive, he's just mocking. "What sort of oath are you willing to swear to Amber, or to Random?"

Tomat is indignant. "My oaths are to Signy."

"Then you and she will have to work that out with Random. Until then, you'll be our guest here in Castle Amber." Caine moves past Brennan and opens the door. An Amber naval officer--Brennan decides he's a lieutenant--is waiting outside. "Freeboard, see that Tomat here is housed in guest quarters. He is not to receive any guests without my approval."

Freeboard nods. "If you'll come with me, sir," he says politely to Tomat. Tomat looks at Brennan, as if hoping there might be some succor in that corner.

Tomat is looking at the wrong redhead if he's expecting an excess of mercy. Brennan looks back at him dispassionately, almost curiously, head tilted to one side, waiting either for Tomat to offer something worth offering, or for Lieutenant Freeboard to drag him away.

Freeboard does so, although Tomat has to the good sense not to try to struggle or run. Caine almost looks disappointed. Once the door has shut behind them, Caine sits back down in his chair. "Well, that was unpleasant. What do you make of him, Brennan?"

Brennan watches Freeboard and Tomat's exit without turning, or changing expression. After the door has shut, and they are some paces away, Brennan muses softly, "And in the mean time, perhaps you'll think of something useful to offer."

Turning to Caine, he scowls, and says, "I'm not sure, but he knows more than he's telling. I met him with Marius, Signy and Lilly, in Shadow. Marius introduced him as a former member of the Klybesian Monks-- which I'd never heard of-- and implied that he and Cloudeater," the scowl turns into a positive grimace, "needed to help Tomat escape them in exchange for leading them to Signy.

"He's generally stuck close to Signy, as close as he possibly can," Brennan suppresses an eye-roll, "and says as little as possible. He knows enough about Lords of Chaos to refer to them as 'predecessor beings,' which I found interesting, and suspicious enough that none of us would answer any of Signy's more obvious questions in his presence. I think I heard his teeth grinding every time we turned one of those questions away. On principle, I don't trust him. He's hiding something.

"And of this Illuminated Brotherhod," he continues, now that Tomat is out of the room, "I don't know much more than I've already said. I've heard of them. When Tomat mentioned the eye in the pyramid, I recalled having seen it, but not putting much importance on it. Are these powers he's supposedly forsworn enough of a concern that he should be sedated during his guesthood?"

"Normally I'd say he's no danger in Amber, but that was before the new normal." Caine scowls. "These Klybesians he belongs to are clearly one of the fronts for the Illumninati. They have fronts in a number of shadows and cross-shadow regions. Have you seen him in action? Do you know what his magical capabilities are?"

Brennan takes a moment and replays the events of the last subjective day or so back in his mind. And, while he's at it, sits down himself. "No, there hasn't been any action to see, only a few tense moments. Signy is a Sorceress, and he seems to be her long time advisor. Did she teach him? Did he teach her? I can't say if either of those is true, but I don't like being surprised like that."

Brennan scowls as Caine's statement sinks in. "Shadows and cross-shadow regions? Interesting, in an I-don't-like-the-sound-of-that way. They're obviously no friends of yours, and I infer not mine, either. Who are they and what do they do?"

"I don't know exactly who they are; I suspect some of them are by-blows of Dad's or my brothers. What they do is spy on Amber and make trouble for her--"

Caine is interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come," he calls to whoever it is.

Brennan is in the process of frowning at Caine's information, because he grasps at least some of the implications immediately, but holds any comment he might have until after the immediate interruption.

Another one of Caine's young naval officers sticks his head in. "Prince Garrett is in the castle and wishes to speak with you, sir."

"Send him in," Caine says.

A moment later, Prince Garrett is ushered in.

In that moment between Caine's speech and Garrett's arrival, Brennan mutters for Caine's benefit, "There are a few other sensitive details you should know about, too."

When Garrett come in, Brennan is seated with Caine. He greets him cordially: "Highness."

"Your Highness," Caine agrees, and gives a neck-bow to Garrett. He does not rise to his feet. "Welcome home."

Garrett nods respectfully to both men. "Thank you, Uncle. I had hoped to have a moment to catch up on recent events, but I see you are already engaged."

He turns to Brennan. "Sir Brennan. It's good to see you again. How long have you been in Amber?" Brennan can see the young prince has been taking his lessons to heart. He seems more poised and confident than the last time they met.

And Garrett can probably feel Brennan's appraisal on him, although whatever Brennan makes of him today, he keeps to himself. "Long enough for a breakfast with cousins," Brennan says, "and likely I'll be gone by this time tomorrow. Wouldn't mind catching up on current events, myself."

Caine smiles. "Why don't you join us, nephew? It's a good time for a council of war." He gets up and opens the sideboard behind his desk. "And that's thirsty work. Brennan? Garrett?"

Garrett's eyebrow raises slightly at the mention of war. Apparently there's news that he's missed.

[Caine] chooses a fine crystal decanter filled with amber liquid and starts to get out tumblers for the whisky.

Garrett nods once. "Yes. Thank you, sir. Council of war?" he prompts, looking from Caine to Brennan and back inquiringly.

Brennan nods a thank-you to Caine, then turns back to Garrett in very mild surprise. "There's Julian's war in Arcadia," he says, "a brewing conflict that smells like a civil war in Rebma, and a long-lost Uncle tramping through Shadow with a gunpowder army. Take your pick of hostilities."

By inflection, Brennan is using the term 'gunpowder' somewhat loosely. He reaches into his coat and draws out one of the powder samples, putting it out in full view. Then, frowning at himself, he reaches in and puts a second sample on the table. "I should have given one to Marius before he left for Xanadu."

[Additional note: By negligence on my part, I did not mention the mangled gun that Brennan obtained from Brita. I've been tacitly assuming that he's still got it with him, because it's not something he'd let out of his sight. Perhaps it's accidentally out of view on one side of his chair? Or whatever the GMs deem appropriate.]

[Also, as a note to the future, Brennan put down about two thirds of his total stash.]

"His Majesty is a little preoccupied just now, I imagine," Caine points out as he pours. "All the more reason that we should be prepared to present him with the best information and options we can."

He hands one glass to Garrett and one to Brennan before settling back into his chair with his own glass.

Garrett takes the glass with distracted thanks, his interest now on the samples of gunpowder - a substance he's never before encountered up close. He pokes at the granular black powder with the point of a nearby quill and sniffs the odor, though not closely enough that it would cause him to sneeze.

"Agreed," Garrett says, turning away from the samples. "Is this war council at a start or have you two already come up with plans?"

While Garrett examines the powder samples, Brennan takes the opportunity to sip and savor what he's given, nodding quite appreciatively to Caine after he does so. During that process, he looks from Caine to Garrett again, and reaches some internal decision.

Addressing the younger Prince, Brennan says, "It's impromptu, and started as soon as you walked in the door. Lacking any particular insight into your father's goals, all I can do is start with the basics-- what do we know, what do we expect, what do we suspect, what do we need to know, and what can we influence?

"Here's what I know that's new about any of that," he continues, and he reaches beside his chair to bring up the mangled gunpowder weapon he got from Brita and company. "This is a representative of the weapons Huon is marching with, courtesy of Brita and Ossian. It's the result of a pretty serious misfire," he says for Garrett's benefit, "but Marius noted the handcrafting that went in to it, and presumeably all the rest.

"Here's what we need to know about Huon, just for openers: Where's he going, and why? Brita and Ossian are convinced that he's heading to Rebma." Brennan's mouth twists. "With powder weapons. I don't know if I'll be surprised or not, if the stuff works here." There's more, but that's enough for Garrett to digest, and besides, Brennan is really curious about Caine's thoughts on the subject.

"I doubt it'll work here. Corwin was the only one who ever got powder weapons to work here and they're inert now," Caine explains to Garrett. "And powder weapons in Rebma make no sense. But Huon could still make a lot of trouble in Shadow. And Bleys is many things, but he's not bulletproof, for all his clever talk."

Garrett nods as he examines the gun Brennan is holding. Having nothing important to add to the conversation, he simply listens while he tries to figure out, from talk he remembers from Corwin's return to Amber long ago and the reading and studying he's done since, how the weapon worked and what would be the best defense against one.

Brennan chooses not to quibble with Caine on the subject of Bleys and bullets.

"Well, we can test the powder here-- that's why I brought it-- but I agree in principle it probably doesn't work here. And even if it ignites in Rebma, I can't see the point to it either. But, Brita had strong reasons to believe he was headed to Rebma." Brennan steeples his fingers in thought. "And I'm unwilling to assume that Huon is a cretin. So if all that is true, if he has powder weapons, and is going to Rebma, and the powder weapons make no sense in Rebma..." He shrugs, stating the obvious. "Then the weapons are for something else, probably after he gets whatever he wants out of the drive to Rebma. So, what does he want in Rebma?"

Brennan almost rolls his eyes at himself, then. "Well. What would he want in Rebma if he's been nursing a grudge against his Big Brother the Sorcerer for longer than I've been alive? Cneve's blade, Belagamon, stands out as a likely target."

Caine nods his agreement. "It's the obvious answer."

"Would his powder weapons simply not work in Rebma or would they in fact be damaged by even going there?" Garrett asks the two older men. "What I'm getting at is would he have to leave part of his force somewhere with the weapons while he tries to take the sword?"

"Now that," Brennan says with an appraising look in Garrett's direction, "qualifies as something we need to know." He stops and tilts his head back to think about it for a moment. "He has cannons as well as hand weapons. He used them against Abford. When I think about transporting cannons under water, my instinct would be to find a way to leave them behind. On the other hand," he gestures at the ruined weapon on Caine's desk, "those are handcrafted, and should stand up to the environment of Amber for a while. More important, though, is where he plans to go after he does what he plans to do in Rebma, if the guns aren't for use there.

"Here's another question," Brennan looks at Caine. "Is Huon likely to have any idea what is required to tune Cneve's legacy to himself?"

Caine laughs mirthlessly. "No."

"Well then," Brennan says with a thin smile, "Either he is going to be bitterly disappointed when and if he gets his hands on it, or he's thought it through, and his next stop will be somewhere he can get that information."

"What is required to do that?" Garrett asks, since these two seem to know.

"You'd need to ask in Rebma to find that out," Caine replies. "Which would be the next stop your cousin refers to."

Garrett looks to Brennan for elaboration.

"What I know is very little," Brennan says. "But apparently, a proper King or Queen-- Oberon for one blade, Corwin or Random should they have one made-- can tune a blade to a person." He looks at Caine, and asks with a skeptical eyebrow, "But is Moire capable of that? I wasn't aware that Moire and the rest of Moins' line had even been able to walk Rebma's Pattern.

"Weyland has implied there's another way, though," he says. Then, in a credible imitation of Weyland's voice and cadence: "A simple matter. One must learn from it a true name. It is different for each true bearer." Then again in his own very dry voice. "Although I'm certain it's not that simple a matter."

"Walking the Pattern's a simple matter, too."

Caine pauses to think for a moment. "Moire, on the other hand, is complicated. If she's walked the Rebman Pattern, it's news to me. I've never believed that she had that kind of power, and Dad certainly didn't treat her as if she did. But if Cneve's blade isn't just legend and it is as powerful as Grayswandir and the others?" He shrugs.

"It's not a legend. Weyland brought it up without us prompting him," Brennan says.

Caine's eyebrows arch, but he doesn't say anything.

Garrett ponders the points of the discussion. "So..." Garrett begins, "in your opinions, are we most concerned with whatever commotion he causes in Rebma trying to obtain this sword, or are we more worried about what he'll do with it, and his army, once he leaves? Assuming he's successful. And if he indeed does have to split his army, is there any way of finding out where it is and disabling it while he's gone?"

"I haven't spoken to the King about Huon for some time," Brennan says. "Not since his intent to march toward Rebma became clear. At the time, he wasn't particularly looking for a fight with Huon, unless it was necessary. Given that, I am going to speculate that the King's wish will be to hope the situation contains itself to Rebma; to actively keep whatever is going on in Rebma out of Amber and Xanadu; and in general not to provoke anything. So if that's right," Brennan glances at Caine, since Caine knows Random better than Brennan and Garrett combined, "pre-emptively disabling his army probably isn't an option.

"I myself am fascinated by the question of where he's going next. It almost certainly relates to Bleys, Belagamon, or both," Brennan says.

"We could lay the cards," Caine says.

Garrett looks at Brennan inquiringly.

Brennan nods decisively. "Let's do it, although I want to say before we do that I don't think Bleys is his very next step, at least not with that gunpowder army. I'm assuming Huon is not a cretin-- a sniper rifle is one thing, but an army run on explosive powder? Against Bleys?" He shakes his head.

If Caine shuffles and looks to Brennan or Garrett to voice the question, Brennan says: "'What is the intended target of Huon's gunpower weapons?'"

Brennan might already have an idea where Huon is aiming those weapons, but he wants to see what the cards say, first.

Caine shuffles out his deck and lays out a six-card pyramid.

Bottom row:
The King (reversed)
Striking the Dragon's Tail
The Fool (reversed)

Middle row:
War
Corwin (reversed)

Top row:
Amber

Garrett lets out a low whistle. Even without the experience or inclination to read cards, he can recognize some major points of the reading. "There's some big cards there. I've never learned to do this," he admits to Brennan. "What do you make of it?"

"Unfortunately, I didn't get an instruction manual with mine," Brennan says with a grimace. Then he focuses the grimace on the cards as dealt, and says, "The bottom row looks shockingly transparent. The Past, from Huon's perspective at least, is the King, reversed: he's still carrying that grudge agaisnt Oberon, and against Bleys who enforced Oberon's will. The Present is the Dragon's Tail, meaning for my interpretation, that he has no idea what he's getting into: either he doesn't understand or care enough about Rebman politics to know he's walking into the middle of a civil war, or doesn't know what's necessary to tune himself to the blade, or both. The Future is the Fool, reversed: He's cut off from the Family, and he's going to stay that way, or at least, intends to stay that way. Which is too bad, because I was wondering if someone from a younger generation could talk some sense into him, but gives support for the Present reading that he might know he's heading into a civil war... and just not care.

"The Virtue is War: clear support that he doesn't care about the bubbling war in Rebma. Or even more, he knows and is going to use it somehow. The Fault is Corwin, reversed. I never know how to interpret a reversed Family member in the Virtue or Fault position. I also don't know how Corwin figures into this. It seems wrong to assume that Corwin or Paris personally will get involved in this. Although, he might have an interest in it for Celina." Brennan indulges in one of those brief pauses, where he thinks furiously, but decides not to pursue an otherwise rich vein of thought. "Or they could symbolize Corwin's guns, or guns in general, in the sense that whatever he's planning with the guns is going to very wrong." Brennan does not enumerate any of the vast number of ways those weapons might bite Huon.

"And the Fate: Amber?" Brennan almost shrugs. "I'm not seeing how those particular weapons are going to gain him that much of an advantage in Amber. Not considering what Bleys could do to that. But it does argue for testing the powder samples here anyway."

Brennan looks at Caine for his thoughts, and also asks, "How do you interpret reversed Family in the second rank? Not just here, generally?"

"Depends on the family member and the position." Caine is looking at the spread. "They can be literal, or symbolic. Or, now, I might take it as you do--to indicate a child of the brother depicted." He glances over at Garrett. "Try it anyway, nephew. You'll have to learn how to do this sometime. Tell me what you see."

Surprised, Garrett looks up from the spread, then with a determined nod, he studies it again. He's certainly not about to say "I can't" in front of Caine and Brennan. Leaning with his palms on the edge of the table, he regards the cards, trying to remember anything Paige might have said about fortunes on their last journey to Xanadu.

Past, present, future. Virtue, fault. Fate.

"Well, King reversed in the past has to be King Oberon. And usually reversed means 'tyranny'. So that's probably how Huon saw his father. As a tyrant. And probably what's driving him now. Underestimating the challenge for the present. Hmm..." Garrett's brow furrows. "At first, I'd think it's that he thinks Rebma is a pushover, but maybe it's something else. Since Amber is at the fate, I'm going to look at it in that light. I've heard that in the old days, there was a lot of contention between the children of Oberon. What if that's all he remembers and thinks he can exploit that?" Garrett looks up at the others inquiringly before resuming his study. "If he doesn't realize that the old animosities are buried - or at least not quite so active - he might think he can play one against the other. Perhaps that's what Corwin reversed in the Fault means. That he thinks he can use Corwin against Bleys but doesn't realize that that isn't likely to work now." He looks up again and shrugs.

"Future. Fool reversed," says Garrett, resuming his reading. "Lack of connection. Is it that he will be even less connected after he does what he plans, or the fact that his lack of connection to the family, and the resulting lack of information, will make his future task more difficult. Dunno.

"War as the Virtue. He's a warrior," Garrett shrugs simply. "That's what he has on his side. Power, an army, and the balls to attempt something like this. Corwin reversed as the Fault..." Garrett sighs, narrowing his eyes and rubbing his chin as he ponders a new thought. "It could be what I just said. Or perhaps..."

He turns to Caine. "Uncle, is there anything that you know of from Corwin's past that Huon might think he can use against him? Or something about Bleys that could anger Corwin to a point of siding with Huon against Bleys?"

Brennan rubs his chin, while Garrett gives his impressions of the spread before them, nodding at a few points. "In that sense," Brennan says, "if that's his gambit, than the disconnectedness of the Fool is something that applies to him now, and that he would try to spread, in the future. Whatever that hypothetical lever on Corwin is, it would have to be pretty impressive-- last I spoke with Corwin, he seemed very content to let the old animosities lie buried. But disconnectedness could spread if Amber gets sucked into Rebma's wars, and various Family members end up on different sides.

"I have no interest in the place," Brennan says, "but many of our generation do-- Martin, Celina, Khela and Jerod are just the top tier." He frowns. "Interesting that Llewella has no place here."

"Llewella wouldn't. You're both too young to remember this, but not only was she born while Dad was married to Clarissa, but before your father was born." Caine gestures to Brennan. "Rebma fell out of favor for a time, at least until Dad got tired of Clarissa. Afterwards Dad legitimated her to smooth things with Moins--and to spite Clarissa, no doubt--but Eric's supporters dragged her through the mud for that. Dad never legitimated him, you see, and he was born before Dad married our mother. So she's always had enemies in Amber."

Brennan gives Caine a thin-lipped smile-- he may not have been around during Brand's own youth, but he's obviously gotten some form of this story from somewhere.

[Caine]
"I can't see her making a place in Xanadu, either, given that the Rebmans blame Random for Morganthe's death. Paris, maybe, but at this late date, she's probably happier in Rebma, or will be unless Huon takes it."

Caine turns his attention back to Garrett. "He could always take Corwin's children hostage."

Garrett nods, understanding the connection now.

"And in context," Brennan says, "he could do it, or threaten Celina-- or Merlin, I suppose-- without even realizing they're Corwin's children. I can't imagine that would work in his favor, though, so it ties into all of Fault, Striking the Dragon's Tail, and the ignorance of Disconnectedness," he gestures at the appropriate cards, "now and in the future."

Garrett glances down at the cards once more, an appreciative expression coming over his face at how Brennan's conclusion does indeed tie things together.

After a moment, Brennan looks at Caine and asks, "So who was Cneve, anyway? He and his missing Pattern Blade weren't covered in Brand's special Family history lessons... probably for the very obvious reason."

Caine shrugs. "Cneve was before my time. Rumor had it he was somebody's by-blow and that's how Osric and Finndo got dragged into the war with the Tritons. At the time, nobody thought of any of the blades that way; it was just a part of his legend. The story is that it was buried with him. You'd need to ask brother Benedict about that, or maybe Reid. They're the ones who'd be old enough to remember."

"So... that would mean Huon would presumably be headed for Cneve's crypt, yes?" Garrett ventures. "Unless someone else has already gotten there first."

"Assuming anyone even knows where it is," Brennan says. "I know next to nothing about Rebma. If the location of the tomb is public knowledge, I'd have thought the blade would have been taken, or at least moved to safety, quite some time ago.

"At any rate," Brennan says, "This powder is not going to test itself. I very much doubt that it works here, but the location of Amber in the capstone position heightens my paranoia on this topic."

[Unless Caine or Garrett object, Brennan makes his goodbyes, takes one of the two pouches he put on Caine's desk, leaves the other and the weapon itself, and exits stage left to test the powder in summary.]

[Caine has no objection.]

[Garrett bids him luck.]

Caine turns to Garrett. "You had business, or was this a social call?"

Given that Caine has never struck him as one for pleasantries, Garrett gets right down to business. "A point of history, Uncle," he says after a sip of his drink. "Down at the docks today, the subject of Asirians came up. It prompted some large amount of cursing and venom from the sailors present - more than I would've expected under the circumstances. I was just wondering if you could explain what the issue was. Why the sailors and dockmen would have such a hatred for that particular group."

"They're bad luck on a sailing vessel," Caine explains.

"There must be more to it than that," Garrett presses. "Something prompted the superstition. How far back does it go? I mean, is it something fairly recent, or are we talking ancient history?"

Caine shrugs. "I don't remember when or how the superstition started. I don't think it was in practice in my youth, but I don't remember." It's clear from his tone that he doesn't think it's worth the effort to try, either. "You might ask Gerard when he gets back. He's more interested in that kind of lore than I am."

"That's a good idea," Garrett agrees with a nod. "I asked because I didn't recall it from my childhood down on the docks, but then again, I was quite young. Perhaps it's something that came up during the war years. I'll ask him if he knows or if he remembers the Regency Council running into anything.

"In the meantime, I reckon that's all I have," Garrett says as he straightens and prepares to leave. "I'd be interested to hear the results of Sir Brennan's tests on that powder."

"I'll report that to your father, or Sir Brennan will," Caine replies.

"'Preciate that," Garrett nods, pretending not to notice the slight. "Evening, Uncle," he says as he departs.

Brennan tries everything he can think of to get the sample of Huon's powder to light. It does not light.

After a good watch or more of careful controls and meticulous experiments, Brennan is satisfied that nothing that could make this powder burn could possibly be taking place in weapons of the level of simplicity that Huon has been dragging around with him.

He is not terribly surprised, but is content to have crossed one major concern off his list. He cleans up the area he was experimenting in, and retreats to his own chambers.

After returning to his suite, Brennan slows down to gather his thoughts , and tie off loose ends. He starts by stretching out in his easy chair and lingering over the plate of late lunch/early dinner that some charming servant thoughtfully left for him. Then, nourishment achieved, he moves over to his writing desk.

The first letter is the easy one, to Random:

King Random,

I leave this letter with Caine, in the hopes that he will send it to you with the sample of Huon's gunpowder and the weapon that Brita retrieved from Abford. Be advised that no experiment I have performed in Amber has been able to make this powder into functioning gunpowder. Wherever he is heading-- and Caine and I believe that he is heading to Rebma-- it seems unlikely that the powder is intended for use here.

I have saved a part of the sample for use in Xanadu, as well, though I would be shocked if it functioned there.

Finally, though I am sure you will have heard this through other channels, I would be remiss if I did not forward this piece of information as well: It is my understanding that Dara has kidnapped Meg. Her daughter, Meg.

Sir Brennan, KCOR

The second letter is covers much the same ground, to Caine, in the same practiced handwriting:

Caine,

You were right. The powder will not burn here. I did not doubt, but I am more comfortable knowing it, rather than suspecting it. I've enclosed a copy of the report for Random as well.

Be advised also of the following: I am told reliably that Dara has kidnapped Meg, her daughter. Martin already knows, as do others. Perhaps you already do as well-- I thought I'd make that a certainty.

Brennan

The third, to Fiona, is a courtesy and describes in some detail the various things Brennan did to the powder to try to get it to burn, because Brennan knows the information will get to Bleys without him having given it directly to Bleys. It is addressed to "Favored Aunt" and signed, "Your Favorite Nephew."

The fourth, to Paige, comes after a longer pause for thought, and is copied out twice.

Paige,

I have news that I promised to share. I have found Weyland. I will make a long story short: I did not intend to leave without you, but found him quite by accident, as I sought Marius and Lilly. Much that we suspected is correct-- one blade per Pattern, I believe, is the rule, and would you have a blade of Paris or Xanadu, you will need Corwin or Random, respectively.

But.

Weyland mentioned a third blade, a blade of the Rebman Pattern called Belagamon, once held by someone named Cneve, now dead even before Caine's time, in the era of Finndo and Osric. If you would have a weapon against the Dragon, find it. But be warned that it will be dangerous. I believe Huon is looking for the same thing, for use against your father.

I would have preferred to give you this information in person, but I have a pressing errand to run. I may be out of touch for quite some time.

Brennan, KCOR

And then the fifth and final letter, to Cambina. This one, too, is copied out twice:

Cambina, I send gifts to my favorite historian, since I cannot send myself. I have spoken to Weyland, and he is ancient, scattering names that may be older than Benedict. I had not the time to ask for details, but perhaps these will give you some pleasure. He mentioned a Pattern Sword, called Belagamon, associated with Rebma, and held once by a man named Cneve. I suspect you may already know more than that, as Brand very wisely never mentioned it to me. Amber would be a better place today had I had that blade in hand a hundred years ago.

But more interesting to you, I think: he mentioned a woman named Queen Maeve, in a context that made her sound a queen of Tir-Na Nog'th. He described Greyswandir as the Moon Blade of Queen Maeve, in the same breath as the kings and queens of the Faiella-Bionin.

I hope these please you, love, for I do not expect to see you soon. There is a task I must complete, which will take some time. It is time consuming, and very likely only the first of many, but it is a task that is absolutely necessary. I regret only that it will keep me away for so long. If all goes well I may not even be reachable by Trump, but Cambina, know always that I will return for you.

Never doubt that, no matter what the cards say.

I remain,
Your Knight,
Brennan

All are sealed with Brennan's signet.

The letters to Caine and Random are sent by page to Caine himself. The letters to Fiona, Paige, and Cambina are sent to their rooms by the same page. The copies of the letters to Paige and Cambina are sent by ship to Xanadu, since Solange seems to have opened up a path there. If Dignity has ever displayed the slightest interest in Xanadu, this is his chance to make good on that site-seeing desire. It is above and beyond the call of duty for a squire to carry mail in that sense, but he would be more than free-- Brennan points out-- to begin or assist the transplantation of his own family.