Toil and Trouble

Hannah comes out into the hall just in time to catch a glimpse of Solange. She heads after, and not wanting to challenge her dignity by running, calls. "Solange, hey, let me distract you."

Solange stops and turns around slowly, her shoulders tense. "Hannah. Is Father all right?"

Hannah catches up before saying quietly, "He's just as well as he was. He's having a hard time transitioning off the morphine, but I suspected that might be a problem."

Solange frowns. Cutting a shadow path probably didn't help matters at all in that regard. On the other hand, he seemed happy for the first time in a long time. Which was the lesser evil?

"He'll do it though. But let's walk. Or ride. We'll look at the results of all the testing we just had done later. Would you like to go see if we can find Wixer?"

"Wixer? That was the griffin Dworkin had you treat, right? How far away...?" Solange hesitates, not really wanting to take an extended trip into shadow now that she was back in Xanadu.

"I can't answer that exactly. We could just ride, and let trouble find us," Hannah offers.

Her sister pauses, then relents with a lopsided smile. "All right. Lead on."

Hannah does lead the way down toward where the horses were stabled last time she was in. "My mustang will thank you," Hannah smiles. "I expect she will be put out with me."

"She may thank me...or she may remember me as the strange one who was there when she was passed through a trump into the inside of the castle." Solange gives Hannah a faint smile at the memory. "That seems so long ago.

"For me too. Misae is an adventurer, so I doubt it bothered her too much," Hannah grins.

"So while I was away you and Father went out into shadow to do testing?"

"We did. A very high-tech place. Frankly, I didn't like it, but it got us what we needed, or a good start at least. I may go back and kidnap me a doc later. We'll see how it goes." Hannah fidgets with the strap of her medicine charm.

"High-tech?" Solange looks suddenly interested. "What did you find out?"

"Mostly what we already knew. My main concern was that he might be in danger from floating bone fragments - and he's not. We left sooner than we'd planned, what with Huon being in the Isles and all - but I'd say we were all pretty ready to be gone from there. We can look at the images, after we ride," Hannah offers. "If there's a miracle we haven't found it yet, Solange."

"So what else is new?" Solange says darkly. She makes a dismissive gesture at her comment. "Hannah, I have a friend here in Xanadu who's a doctor from a high-tech shadow. Do you mind if I bring him in on this?"

"If he can follow my rules, I'd be grateful for fresh eyes. Did he actually practice on people, or did he do... research?" Hannah asks.

"He practiced on people," Solange replies. Her face clouds over. "Combat surgeon--the shadow he was in was at war. What do you mean by 'follow my rules'?"

"I have rules. I am a doctor, I have patients, and I can get protective. Therefore, there are rules. Some doctors have many of the same rules. Some... don't. I'm sure if you like him, Solange, he'll be fine. I'm sure he's a good man." Hannah smiles. "Combat surgery would be hard. A very hard job."

"It wasn't what he wanted to do, but our Patternfall War was reflected in his shadow and screwed up his life." Solange looks away. "Anyway, we can find him when we get back and I'll introduce you."

Back from a refreshing ride, Hannah will sit Solange, and Kyril if she'd like, down in her room. She has the images. Solange can look at them or not.

Solange is definitely interested in viewing the images.

Hannah introduces the images a stage at a time then, as she reaches a new area to speak about. There are a lot of them.

Hannah explains that Gerard's spine is severed right about where we thought it was, in the sacrum. The fact that it is severed and not crushed is a good thing, as far as Hannah is concerned, because it's less likely to simply regenerate a return nerve function.

Solange asks if all the nerves serving the lower extremities are in the sacral area, or if any are in the lumbar area? If yes, are those nerves functioning?

He's only lost nerve function from the severance down - so no, there isn't any nerve function from the lumbar region interacting with the lower extremities. Either it has retreated, or Gerard didn't work that way to begin with.

[GM's can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but that's the impression I've gotten.]

The reason we don't want nerve function is because the spine is crushed from the site of the sever on down. The pelvis isn't repairable from a normal quality of life perspective. Looking at it from the point of view of this family... rebreaking the pelvis in an attempt to reset the bones is possible. Not advisable if there is any other way, but possible. It would take years.

"So no nerve function is good because if he felt the crushed spine and pelvis, then he would be in huge amounts of pain?" Solange asks, trying to understand. "If the nerves are severed, then where or why is he feeling pain?"

"I don't really know all the answers to why we have pain. Pain builds on pain. There is phantom pain. There is the pain of having to shift all his activity into his upper body. If he was having no pain, frankly, it would scare me," Hannah admits.

The leg bones though, this can't be done with. They're too traumatized. His blood vessels, veins have apparently rerouted themselves around the course of his bones. There doesn't seem to be bone marrow at this time. "This is a mystery to me. I don't understand how bone lives without marrow - and yet, these bones aren't, so far as I can tell, re-fracturing. Bones require nourishment, and they must be getting that somehow. I just don't know how. Yet."

Hannah had talked to Solange before about the strain on Gerard's organs. They were able to confirm they're all there, and working, though the kidneys and liver are enlarged and still under strain. Gerard now has medicine that helps with kidney function, and that should help some. Getting him off the morphine will help more.

Nerve control to these organs in the pelvic girdle is compromised, but that's to be expected. We managed to get two different pain meds when we were in Tyrell City. A general pain reliever, and another that targets Gerard's specific pain centers. Sooner or later, we'll have to get someone to go out and get more of this made, and bring it back. Either here, or Paris. "I am firmly of the opinion Gerard needs to be somewhere he cannot shift probabilities while he fights his way off the morphine."

The morphine withdrawl is going to be difficult. Gerard is highly addicted. Even if the new medicines treat all his pain, he will still be struggling with the many symptoms of withdrawl. Stress makes this harder. Anything that can be done to prevent adding stress to Gerard's life without compromising his choices should be done. We need to fine a full time massuse. It helps. Human touch is extraordinarily important.

We're dropping the morphine one ml at a time, as he adjusts. He is going to be highly irritable, but as long as no one will reject him for that, that's acceptable. Depression is more worrisome. The more engaged and useful he can be, the less depressed he'll be. Pain is... like a sandstorm, and he has survived it a long time now. "He is the strongest man I've ever met," Hannah says, and she is not talking about his physical strength.

"He can't go laying shadowpaths any more, so he needs responsibilities here in Xanadu to keep him occupied while he's being weaned off the morphine. Perhaps one of us can talk to the King," Solange suggests.

"Your turn," Hannah smiles. "And I'd suggest making a list and just making sure none of it's a problem. Or Ash - the Mayor - I bet he'd have some ideas, and know what toes we need to avoid rolling over."

Solange nods. "All right, I'll take care of that."

[OOC: GMs, do we need to make this a thread? Or can we just say it's been done and feed me back replies from Random?]

Solutions are few and far between. One of the things discussed in Tyrell City was cloning some of the bone structures. Hannah is curious if Kyril has any knowledge of cloning - and is there really anything as perfectly identical DNA, if something is cloned - because this would have to be. Perfect. She's willing to try it on herself first with something like a finger. Replace something and then walk a Pattern and see what happens.

Solange looks at Kyril, curious how he'll reply.

Hannah, having decided to share the medical information with Kyril, seems supremely unconcerned about talking about universal metaphysics or the labyrinth in the caves below.

She wants to know Solange's questions, but she knows it's a lot of information to absorb. Hannah is planning to shortly head into shadow to look deeper into magical possibilities.

"Just to verify, the new meds you got from Tyrell City aren't addictive?" Solange asks, looking for confirmation. "Did the doctors there in Tyrell City suggest cloning the bone structures, or was that Father's idea? Can they clone nerves as well?"

"Less addictive and less dangerous to the organs and the mind. I know there must be completely non-narcotic pain relief out there, since everything is possible, but I don't know how to begin looking for it. Or, I should say, the way I begin looking for things that seem impossibilities are by spirit-walking, which is why I'm headed in that direction again," Hannah shrugs.

[Kyril]
"DNA transfers are inherently imperfect and that's a key factor in evolutionary biology, I wasn't interested in cloning as a research topic; it was a stunt. Before the war, it was a crapshoot. 19 out of 20 weren't viable, but the last one was identical."

Hannah's eyebrows go up. Probabilities.

[Kyril]
"I don't know of any medical approach that can fix this, but that's just because I don't know enough. Nothing I can think of works fast enough that the intermediate stage won't be fatal."

Hannah nods, but smiles at Solange. "We'll figure something out. I just don't see how it's going to be quick."

Solange is looking grumpy again. She frowns and nods.

The terrace of Xanadu is the preferred spot for Royal Breakfasts, and that was where Kyril and Solange were taking theirs. The sun was up, but still not visible over the clifftops above.

The geography that made for short mornings made for long evenings, which seemed to suit Random. He seldom was up for breakfast unless there was business to attend to. This morning, unusually, Kyril and Solange had the table to themselves. The servants were, as usual, available but not hovering.

Breakfast conversation centered around the usual topics. "I'm not surprised that she's not here. It's the 15th. She probably slept on those steps of hers last night."

"Cambina. Full moon. Tir. That would be my guess," Solange elaborates for Kyril around a mouthful of eggs.

The interruption came in the form of the guard Thorn. He had a young boy with him, probably a messenger. "Your pardon, my Lady, but can the Doctor be sent to the town? They asked for him specifically."

Solange raises her eyebrows and looks from Kyril back to the Thorn. "Sure. We'll be ready to leave presently. What's the emergency?"

Kyril pushes back his chair. "Is someone hurt?"

"No," replies Thorn. "Someone's dead."

Kyril changes speeds in mid step.

Solange pauses with her fork in midair and stares at Thorn.

[Kyril] says "Oh. Not as big a rush, then. Why do you need me?"

Thorn prods the messenger. "Lord Mayor Ashe suspects foul play."

Thorn looks at the lad. "Perhaps you can go as well, Lady Solange? They may need a level head down there, and I have to stay here."

The corner of Solange's mouth quirks at Thorn naming her as a level head, but she lowers her fork and nods. "Sure."

She pushes her chair back and stands, snagging a donut before turning to Kyril. "Anything you want to grab before we go down?"

He shakes his head. "If I need to do an autopsy, we'll do it up here. If I need anything else, I'll get it from people I know in town."

Thorn speaks up. "I have horses ready, or perhaps you should take a carriage if you need to bring a body back here..."

"We'll take horses," Solange decides.

Kyril leads the way to their ride. "Who's dead, boy?"

The lad looks up at him. "A lady. I found her when I was digging for clams."

If Solange has any comments so far then she's keeping them to herself for the while. "Let's go see her," she says to the boy. "Lead on."

Thorn has horses ready at the gate, as he'd mentioned. The ride down to the town is uneventful and quick, and ends at the Lord Mayor's Hut--Random's official name for what was effectively City hall.

Ash comes out the door and looks at the riders. "Lady Solange, thank you for coming." He turns to the messenger and says "Where's Syd?"

"Your Honor, Captain Thorn told me to tell you he couldn't find the King or the Queen, so he thought it best to send someone."

Ash nods and looks back at Solange and Kyril. "Come in. You can officially identify the body."

A chill runs down Solange's spine as she dismounts. "Is it someone I know?" she asks.

"Yes," says Ash, signalling to have the horses taken care of by the runner.

Inside the high-roofed building is a small boat, covered by a sheet. It looks like she was carried in on it. Ash closes the door behind them and gestures them towards the boat. He pulls back the sheet and Kyril peers in. The body looks like a hastily straightened ragdoll. Her face is smashed, but her split skirt is straight.

Kyril says what Solange knows. "The Lady Cambina. Barring other evidence, it looks like she died from the impact, not drowning."

Ash nods, grimly.

Solange's face drains of color as she stares at her cousin's body. "It was the full moon last night. She would've been in Tir, or Xanadu's version of it." She looks at Ash. "Has Cam...the body...been searched?"

"No" says Ash. "We didn't want to interfere with anything Syd might want to do."

Kyril looks over the body for signs of other injuries. "How was she discovered? Where?"

Ash looks from Solange to Kyril. "About two hours ago, by that boy I sent to the castle. I didn't want him spreading the news, although he doesn't know who she is, just one of you 'castle people'. She washed up onto a sandbar where he went to dig for clams, on the north shore, above the bay. Where did you say she should've been?"

"Not 'should have,' but 'likely' been in Tir," Solange clarifies. "It was common knowledge that Cambina longed to visit Tir again, the castle reflected in the sky only at the full moon and only in the presence of a viable Pattern. Since Xanadu's inception Cambina has been waiting in anticipation for this event, the first time Tir has appeared since the Sundering.

"Tir disappears at moonset. Cambina knew this and she would've descended before that happened, unless prohibited in some way. Well, Amber's Tir disappeared at moonset. I don't know if Xanadu's Tir behaves in the same way. And in Amber's Tir we appeared to the denizens as ghosts, likewise they to us... Again, I don't know for certain if Xanadu's Tir behaves similarly, but in Amber's Tir, I know of only a handful of objects that could manifest fully in both places...

Solange worries at her bottom lip, thinking.

"I don't want word of this getting out, either," she says to Ash after a moment as she pulls out her trump deck. "I'll trump the body back to the castle and report to the king."

"OK," says Ash, pulling the cloth back over the body.

Solange bows her blond head, shutting out the sight of her cousin's body, and concentrates on Random's trump.

Random's face appears, lit by a warm electric glow. "Hey, Solange, I think we've got a basic amp working. What do you need?"

Solange swallows. "Cambina is dead," she says, struggling to keep her voice steady. "A boy found her washed up on shore north of the bay. She looks...like she fell. May I bring her through?"

"Uh, yes. 'Fell' as in 'Fell Overboard', or do you mean something else?" The King turns his head and says "Daniels, move this crap, I need to put a dead body on your worktable."

"The current theory is fell from the sky," Solange replies, motioning to Kyril to pick up the sheeted body. "Is there anything you wish me to pass onto Ash? He's here too."

"A hot potato? No, that's what he's passing to us. Just tell him to keep it quiet until we make a formal announcement and lower the flag and all that. Shit. We'll need to trump Jerod. Daniels, find the Queen. Tell her...bring her here.

"How did she fall? She's never done that before."

"Fall? Well, obviously not," Solange replies, a bit bemused. "I don't know." She starts to ask a return question, but then stops herself. First things first. Questions after everyone is through the trump.

Kyril has Cambina's body in his arms, wrapped in a shroud. "The water will keep us from determining time of death by advancement of rigor mortis, so I'm not worried about that. Where are we going?"

"Back up to the castle. Rigor mortis is a poor way of determining death, anyway--too variable, right? I'm hoping you have some other thoughts on the matter in that handsome head of yours."

"Yes, but we're sorta low on tools here."

She nods.

Solange takes hold of Kyril's elbow and guides him through the trump to Random.

Random pulls them both through.

Kyril and Solange pop into a room that isn't as dark as it feels. The sound in the room is deadened, and there is a single floor-to-ceiling window looking into another room. A work table has been cleared and Kyril places the body on it.

Kyril lays her out and begins a complete examination.

Random looks at Solange and Kyril. "OK, this was not a surprise I was hoping for this morning. Tell me what you know about this."

Solange keeps half an eye on Kyril and what he's doing as she replies.

"We were at breakfast on the terrace when Thorn came in with a boy from town. The boy had found Cambina's body this morning washed up on on a sandbar above the bay when he was out digging for clams. Ash was informed and sent word to you. Thorn couldn't find you and settled for us. We went down, I identified the body and then trumped you.

"Did she say anything to you about intending to visit Tir last night?"

Random shakes his head. "Only because I didn't see her last night. I expected it and heard about it for a week before the full moon every month since we got here, but it kept being cloudy. Not that I'd've been surprised or concerned if she'd told me."

"Speak of the devil..." Random says, and a moment later the door opens, and Soren is there with Thorn. Thorn bows to the King and Random waves at him to stand. "Did Cambina leave the castle last night?"

Soren replies for the guard. "That's what I came here to tell you. She did. With Vialle. Who we can't find."

"Oh, shit," says Random.

"Vialle doesn't have a trump, does she?" Solange asks. She's pretty sure the answer is no.

"Unless I'm wrong, you can't make a trump of someone who isn't in the family. Also, she can't use one. She'd be a lousy spotter for Cambina." He turns to Thorn.

Well, that answered a long-standing question Solange had concerning the queen.

"Search parties. The woods and the town. She's not in the castle."

Thorn turns on his heel and leaves.

Random looks at the body on the table. "Anyone have any idea why she'd leave with Cambina? Other than Cambina, I mean?"

Solange rubs the bridge of her nose. "Presumably there was something the queen could do that Cambina couldn't, and so Cambina needed her assistance--or some variation of that premise.

"You so very much know Vialle better than I do," Solange continues, very careful to speak of her in the present tense. "What can Vialle do that Cambina couldn't?"

"Sculpt." Whatever else Random might have said, he settles for "Sculpt." "Now? Lots of things, I hope."

"Sculpt..." Solange trails off and shakes her head. "I dunno."

Solange pauses.

"And will Tir be up again tonight?"

"It's normally up for two or three nights. It may be dangerous. So far, it looks that way."

"It's the best way to find out what happened." Solange glances over at Kyril. "Find anything?"

"Not anything unexpected. How long will it be before we bury her, your highness?"

Random is looking into space, as if he were taking a trump. "Huh? I think we have to let people see her body. We'll have to trump Brennan and Jerod. Caine can tell her foster-father.

"We don't have a family burial plot in Xanadu, yet." He turns to Kyril. "Get her as presentable as you can, assume it'll be a week before we bury her. I can get you ice, but not refrigeration. Solange, I have to find Vialle. She's not safe wandering loose. Can you see about talking to people and stuff?"

Solange nods. "Of course. Brennan and Jerod and Caine--I will contact them. Anyone else? Anything else?"

The King looks up. "Um, them first, they'll know who to tell and can figure out what arrangements make sense. Damn, I wish I'd brought flying here before recording."

Soren reaches under a counter and pulls out a rucksack and hands it to Random, "That I can't help you with."

He takes the pack and heads for the door. "Soren, you and Solange take care of anything that we need here and call me if she's found, or when Brennan or Jerod come in."

At the door, Random turns. "Or Folly, if she checks in. Anything else? I'll be in the forest. Oh, yeah. Tell Paige."

"Right. Got it." As Random turns to leave, Solange adds, "Good luck."

Kyril looks at Solange. "I think we've done everything we can for Cambina. We'll have her body put on ice. What should we do now?"

Solange runs a hand through her hair. "Put her body on ice and inform the masses. I'll take care of the latter if you take care of the former. Sorry about breakfast." She turns to leave.

"I'll be in the trumpbooth," Solange says to Kyril and Soren. Suddenly she stops and turns back to Soren. "Where in hell is the trumpbooth, anyway?"

"Gatehouse. Random insisted that it be outside of the castle, which I think is pretty inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as having one of those things connected to your head." Soren turns to Kyril. "I'll take care of the masses, if you take care of the icing."

Kyril just nods, all business and detachment. "If you call anyone in Amber, send an embalmer."

"Soren, will you send the embalmer request down to Ash?" Solange asks. "Kyril, talk to the kitchens about ice. I'll check in with you later."

She heads out the door to the gatehouse. Once in the trumpbooth, she reaches for Jerod's trump and contacts him first.

Solange feels the familiar coldness of the trump and reaches out to Jerod, his image on the card, all in black, looks almost uncomfortable. Almost.

There's no answer.

Solange exhales loudly, frowns, and replaces Jerod's trump. She tries Brennan's trump next.

Again no answer, and Solange actually sighs in relief. She wasn't looking forward to explaining the reason for her call to either party and the fewer people around, the easier it will be to take care of the aftermath. She'll try them again later.

Caine is next, and of the three will probably be the easiest conversation. She fishes Caine's trump from her deck and concentrates on it.

Caine appears quickly. He is in a chamber in Castle Amber. "Yes Solange, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing, Uncle. The king asked me to inform you that Cambina is dead. She was found this morning washed up on shore. Murder is suspected, and that something happened in Tir is suspected, but we don't know anymore yet. Also, Vialle is missing, and she was last seen in Cambina's company."

Solange watches Caine, curious how he'll react to the news.

"It seems unlikely that Vialle would murder Cambina and run away. Has anyone sent any demands? It seems unlikely that it would be Huon, who shouldn't know enough yet to try that. Kidnapping is more Dara's style, from what I've heard, but I don't know what she'd want with Random..."

Solange shakes her head.

His voice tails off. "Did the King want me to do something in particular?"

"Not that I'm aware of. He just asked me to inform you. Uncle, do you remember any incidents in Tir before? Back in Amber? My knowledge of family history is not that extensive."

Caine's eyes narrow. "Tir is a palace of lies for people who can't master the cards. We do best to ignore it, because it belongs to enemies of Amber. Ask Corwin or Bleys about how we were attacked from that quarter, and the terrible vengeance that Benedict took on our attackers. Then ask Corwin why he kept going there."

Solange's shoulders slump. "I don't really have time. Can't you just tell me without going all elder-igmatic on me?"

Caine smiles. "Sadly, I don't have the time to educate you in all you would need to know to understand that I just told you everything you needed. What is to you an enigma is to me a centuries-long relationship with my brother and a glut of history, including several salient points. When your knowledge of family history is more extensive, you'll do better.

"For now, the most important incident involving Tir is that the moonriders consider it holy and it is a place of our enemies. And of Corwin."

"Why did Corwin keep going back to Tir?" Solange presses, figuring she has nothing to loose.

"If you find out, let me know, would you? It never made any sense to me. My theory for the longest time was 'because he was our enemy', but I've had to reevaluate that one, lately."

He smiles, as if that is a concession of sorts.. "The other perspective worth getting would be the redheaded one. Bleys is the special enemy of the High Marshall of the Moonriders, and Bleys considers him a worthy adversary.

"Tir is layered in our history, Niece. It's not a trivial thing to understand it, or to understand why it might kill Cambina, who has always been interested in the City of Lies."

Solange lowers her gaze into the middle distance between them while she assimilates what Caine has told her. After a moment she looks back up. "Why do you call it the City of Lies?"

"You've never been there, have you? It shows you visions of things: futures, pasts, never-was and never-will-be. People you know and love and hate. Some people try to use it learn what they can of the future, or as an oracle. "

He looks into her eyes. "Something, somewhere, somehow uses those visions to subtilely manipulate people. Brand was obsessed and he went mad. He was going to fix it."

"And we all know what happened to him. Thank you, Uncle," she continues quietly, "I will let you know if there are further developments and when the funeral will be."

"Thank you. I shall let her family know." He does not seem enthused at the prospect.

The trump connection closes.

Solange leaves the trump booth and makes her way to Cambina's rooms. Maybe there's something to be learned there that will shed light on the situation.

Solange finds Cambina's rooms easily. They look comfortable, if a bit spartan. There are still medical supplies about from her recent time in the infirmary, but they're tucked into a corner. She has an office adjacent to her bedroom, with a writing desk and, in a sunny corner, art supplies. A cabinet next to it has some half-finished drawings and a canvas rests beside an easel beside it. None of it looks recently used.

The staff seems to do a very good job keeping this area tidy.

Solange heads for the office. She looks through the writing desk, then turns to thumb through the drawings and look at the canvas.

Aside from some unanswered correspondence, the desk is largely unused.

The drawings are of people, both family and not. There are a number of sketches of Brennan. They are quite realistic but have none of the immediacy of Trumps. They're not cold.

The painting is quite good, if only half complete. It is a view from Amber, high on the Castle overlooking the city. Tir is visible in the sunlight, and the harbor seems to be full of people swimming. There's a sketchy, incomplete figure standing where the steps to Tir are, or there would have been. The figure looks like it has been added, removed, returned, and changed a number of times.

Solange stares at the canvas. Tir visible without the moon present is strange enough, but the people swimming in the harbor remind her of Elder Germaine's prophesy of the end of Amber, the harbor described by him as being so choked with bodies that a horseman could ride across the bay on top of them. Cambina's painted harbor is not that choked with bodies, but the similarities still give her pause, even down to both Cambina and Elder Germaine being regarded as prophets--well, in Cambina's case, having been regarded.

It occurs to Solange that the people might not be swimming and that the perspective of the portrait might be from a spot floating somewhere about Castle Amber.

She turns her attention to the incomplete figure, looking for indications that it might be a woman, maybe even a woman with long, kinky hair.

It looks like it has been changed many times. Currently it looks not dissimilar from the sketch of Brennan.

So, a prophetic painting? And Tir visible during the day says "invasion" to her. Solange grabs the canvas and leaves to immediately go find the king. She starts by looking for him in his office.

Solange hears voices from Random's office, but does not encounter Gilt or anyone else in the outer chambers.