Julian hands Meg through to Gerard, a large man confined in a wheeled chair that he seems much too large for. His expression is the slightly pinched look of a man long in pain, but he has a smile for Meg and another for Julian when the prince steps through the connection.
"Welcome to Xanadu, kinswoman. I am Gerard, and I'm the Regent," he tells Meg.
For the Regent, a curtsey as courtly as Meg can manage in her gypsy-garb from Texorami; for the kinsman with the long-suffering eyes and the kind greeting, a hand upon the shoulder and a light kiss upon the cheek follow. "Give you good even, my lord Regent," she says, stepping back. "I hight Margaret Carper, but of your kindness pray you call me Meg." She does not use her title, as Abford honours can hold no meaning here.
Gerard has taken no royal honors himself for all that, being referred to as Julian's brother, he is almost certainly entitled to them.
They are in a chamber with windows that overlook the sea. It is night, and the moon is full. Outside the window, there is a silvery city floating in the sky.
Meg is burning to ask of the struggle with Huon where her sons are, but knowing her place, she leashes her tongue until Julian and Gerard have exchanged their news and she is recognised again to speak.
There is a brief exchange, in which Gerard hears about the plans for Martin and Folly's return and the brothers discuss the progress of the chase for Vialle, which does not appear to have succeeded yet, and the visit by Corwin and Hannah to someplace called Tir, and that Fiona is watching for them.
Meg listens as alertly as she can through the fog of weariness that cloaks her, storing up names and situations for later. The beginning of a tapestry rarely makes sense to the eye; it is the weaving of as many threads as possible that at last makes clear the pattern.
It takes them that long to realize that Meg is waiting on them, at which point they break off their conversation. Gerard says, "And we hae not offered you a room, nor a place to sleep, nor aught to eat. When the Queen returns, she'll have my hide. I can call for a page to show you a guest room, if you like."
"Please you, my lord, I have eaten; but rest would be most welcome. Only this morning in my own sense of time, I fled Castle Dara aided by His Highness the Prince Martin." It is all the news she has to offer -- news seems to be nearly the only currency this family respects -- so she gives it gladly enough. "Ere I go, one question, if I may be so bold. My sons, my two eldest at least, they left my home with Huon, to fight in his wars. Please, is there any word of battle?"
Gerard frowns. "The last word I had was that Huon had laid siege to Rebma. There's a battle brewing, but I've no word of whether it's started, or the victor, or casualties. I'm sorry, lass. If I speak to our kin there, who should I ask for news of?"
Sudden hope almost unstrings Meg's knees. If battle has not yet joined, perhaps... "Hugh, Hugh Carper is the eldest, and Quinn his brother. I would give my very life to see them safe. Where is Rebma? Is it difficult to reach?" Impossible for her, ignorant as she is; but anything those here can learn, she can.
"Rebma," says Julian, not unkindly, "is an underwater city. There's no direct way from here, but I believe there's a way from Paris."
"Aye, and there's magic so you can breathe there," Gerard adds hastily, before Meg can have a good panic about that. "But with the siege, there's not much we can do just now. Are ye trained to arms?"
Meg doesn't look like panicking just yet. "No, I fear not, my lord Regent," she admits. "And though breathing underwater may be a thing magicked up, fighting must be rather a chore." She sighs, accepting the inevitable conclusion. "If any news can be had, I should be most grateful... and should any embassage depart thence, or even to this Paris, whose mission rests not on force of arms, I will gladly serve as its least handmaiden, so it only bring me closer to my sons."
"Bide," says Gerard, and lifts a hand.
Julian moves to stand by Meg, near Gerard, and murmurs quietly, "It's another Trump contact."
Meg nods, having suspected something of the sort after her Trump-enabled escape from Chaos. She takes the opportunity to set her impedimenta -- her own clothes-bag and Folly's garment bag -- on a convenient corner table. This done, she returns to her place beside Julian and awaits events.
Gerard says, "Who is it?"
There's a pause, and then Gerard says, "Aye, pass them through." His hand reaches out to someone not present.
After a long moment, the search party returns, pulled by Gerard from some other place. First to arrive are Random and Queen Vialle. "Thank you, brother. Julian, can you fetch the Queen's Ladies? She is unwell." Random finds a nearby chair and helps his wife to sit.
Julian moves to the door in answer to the King's request.
Meg is far from fool enough to run to the Queen's side, however unwell Her Majesty appears, unless ordered to do so; lèese majesté is a dangerous pastime. Instead, she steps quietly behind Gerard's wheeled chair, partly to be out of the way, partly in case he should wish to go someplace. She glances down at the mechanism, curious as always about craftsmanship. The wheels must be anchored or blocked somehow to keep him from accidental movement. Built-in brake, or something under the wheels?
Signy appears through the Trump contact in a multicolored flash of light, a drawn sword in her hands. Dark green eyes sweep over the group of people as she steps aside to make way for Brita. After looking everyone over and verifying the presence of the King, she slips the sword back into its scabbard though her slender frame still shows a wary tension.
After Signy arrives, Brita steps forward on Gerard's hand with a "Uncle Gerard, it is Good to See You, Again." She glances around the room and almost shouts at the sight of her cousin, "Lost Cousin Meg! You Are Found!!" Brita has moved quickly forward to take up her cousin's hands and is protectively towering over her. "She did Not Hurt you, Did She? cleph Did Not Hurt you? How did You Return?"
Meg looks rather a long way up at her cousin. "I am well, thank you, cousin," she says; it is near enough to the truth for the purpose. "His Highness Prince Martin came for me, just this morning in my sense of time. But you have been in a struggle, all of you -- are you well?"
Brita waves off the question, "Fine, I am Fine." She says, "It is Well. Our King Uncle has Found His Missing Queen." And she turns back to the others.
A lean young man steps through the connection behind Brita and the sparkly rainbow gate closes behind him. "Thank you, Uncle," he says to Gerard. The man bears a passing resemblance to both the king and Prince Martin, but he's much younger and his hair is brown instead of blond.
When he sees Meg, he grins. "Mistress Carper," he greets her, then adds in case she forgot, "I'm Prince Garrett. We met in the library a while back."
She smiles bravely at him, though the lines about her eyes betray how tired she is becoming. "I remember you indeed, Your Highness. I am most pleased to see you well. Your genealogy lessons were of great use to me during my -- forced sojourn elsewhere."
Julian returns and kneels beside the Queen on the far side from Random, murmuring something soft to her.
Random looks over at the group. "Signy, inform Prince Benedict of our success, if you would. Note to him that we saw the High Marshall in our travels. Garrett, drinks for everyone, please. And reports from the rest of you. Brita, you were asking about something while I was distracted, Gerry, was everything the usual calm and carefree idyll that we've come to expect while I was gone, and Meg, tell me about Martin." He reaches down and pets Vialle, who grabs on tight to his hand, as if she never means to let go.
Gerard says, "I wish I could tell ye that, but it's nae been so easy. Nothing much that canna wait, though. Corwin and Hannah hae gone up to Tir, and Fiona is spottin' for them. And there be another thing or two, but those can wait."
Random looks nonplussed, but doesn't press the matter.
Brita puts a hand over one of her pockets. "It was The Captive Chain, Your Majesty. If You do Not Wish it Here, I will Remove it At Once, but I Felt it should Not be Left Behind."
"Nifty! It's much smaller than I remember it. Usually when we end up with something from there, it's much more complex than it needs to be. Maybe you could check with your mother about it."
Brita and Gerard have obeyed the King's order, so now it is Meg's turn. Extremely conscious of her unbefitting attire, she steps out from behind Gerard into Brita's protective shadow and curtseys. "His Highness Prince Martin is well, Your Majesty. He most bravely rescued me from my prison in Chaos and took me to the Lady Folly, where I was made welcome. I am given to understand that he has one further task to accomplish, after which he plans to wait upon Your Majesty."
"He probably forgot my sticks. OK. What are you doing next?"
"I must try to find my sons, Your Majesty, and of course make good my debt to the crown as I may," says Meg, withdrawing again with another low curtsey.
"If they're with Huon, they're in Rebma. We can send you along to someone there. Llewella is in the city, Conner and Celina are in the field, Jerod is supposed to attack as well, or so Benedict said." He taps his fingers.
"There's no trumps of Jerod or Celina in my temporary library, so Conner is your best bet. Brita's brother. Have you met him? Have you ever used a trump yourself?"
"No, Your Majesty, I do not know Lord Conner. For myself I have not used a Trump, but I have been taken through them."
Random nods. "At least we're done with the obligatory 'and then you turn into a rainbow and disappear' part of the description. OK, why don't you go with Gerard to where we keep the trumps? He can give you the skinny on how they work on the way and you can go to your cousin."
Meg curtseys and says "Thank you, your Majesty," in tones of deep gratitude. She returns to her little pile of impedimenta for her wrapped kitchen knife, which she puts through the rope-belt around her waist. The rest she leaves; Folly's garments have her name on a tag about them, and Meg cares little what happens to the rags she wore in Chaos.
She returns to Gerard's chair, ready to wheel him where he will.
Gerard unclasps his brake and it's clear he can wheel himself.
That being the case, Meg doesn't press the matter, instead retrieving her pile of garments. She leaves those with the first available page, with instructions to place Folly's in her quarters.
He leads her through the palace by a reasonably circuitous route that seems to be prepared for him because it has no stairways, merely ramps, into a room that has sketches of various people attached to the wall.
Meg frowns to herself. A palace full of sorcerers, and they can't be bothered to refit the place for the Regent, or give him some better way to navigate it? How can he do his duty if half his demesne is closed to him?
Gerard points out which of the trump sketches is Conner and briefly instructs Meg on how to use the sketches.
Gerard will wait until she has tried the sketch to leave, in case Conner doesn't answer.
Gerard sees her take a moment to gather her courage and composure, before she steps up to the picture of Lord Conner. It is a hard question she must ask...
The ladies in waiting come in and quickly surround the queen. "Please see to the Queen's comfort," says Random, letting them separate him from his wife. They lead her away, and Julian goes with them.
Brita takes the King's response as a dismissal and with a formal bow, she follows the Ladies and her Uncle out the door with a soft "Your Majesty, I am Glad you are Recovered." to the queen as she exits.
As she exits into the hallway, she peels off from the gaggle of women and heads for the nearest exit. She is gauging the time as she heads for the Stairs and her Mother.
It takes Brita some time to get up to the three steps that begin the stairwell to Tir, but in due time, Brita arrives to find her mother standing by them with a Trump in hand. Fiona offers the other hand to Brita for a one-armed, if somewhat distracted, hug.
"Mother." Brita returns the hug and then moves to sit at the base of the stairs, watching upward.
"Corwin and Hannah," Fiona explains slowly, "are speaking with a shadow of one of Hannah's cousins from her home shadow. In that future, or past, Huon killed Bleys and took Amber."
Brita is still watching upward. "In the Place where We Found Her Majesty, a Tir-Shade of King Random was Held in a Silvered Chain by a Gaunt Chaosi." She glances back at her mother, "Her Majesty is Safely Returned to Palace Xanadu and I Hold the Chain."
"Well done." Fiona smiles. "Did you bring the chain with you? I can't look at it just now, but when Corwin and Hannah come down, we should examine it."
"Yes, Mother," Brita responds. "Warn me if I Distract You or If you need Assistance," she adds. She goes a slight distance away from the stairs towards the edge of the cliff and sits down again. She begins to draw gently on her Pattern, attempting to coalesce the mist from the waterfall into whispy, low clouds and then, if that works and is not a distraction, into more solid, fluffy clouds - again well below them and the stairs.
Brita experiences a very great deal of resistance, probably because she is so close to the Pattern. She finds she can't manipulate the clouds at all, although she thinks her mother might be able to do better because of her long experience and strength with the Pattern.
A few minutes later, Fiona says slowly, "I have told Corwin that Vialle has returned safely. He's asking Hannah whether she has done what she needs in the city. They may come down now."
Brita nods her hearing of the news. She switches gears and uses her Third Eye to monitor the surroundings as she waits.
Everything is very bright and very alive.
"Please wait until Corwin has come through to do that," Fiona says. "It's a minor sorcery but it is one more thing to juggle with this Trump call." There's a pause and she adds, "Hand her through," and reaches out to take someone's hand.
Brita immediately stops her inspections and comes to stand by her Mother.
Hannah takes Fiona's hand and steps through. She thanks Fiona as she steps out of the way, and smiles at Brita. "Cousin, good to see you."
"And You, Cousin Hannah. How was your Adventure Among the Clouds?" Brita asks with a nod towards Tir.
Hannah's smile goes crooked. "Perhaps the best I can say is it didn't change my plans from... yesterday morning at all. It is an interesting place."
Brita nods in acceptance of that assessment. "Perhaps I will Explore it One Day, but Perhaps Not. A Similar place near Uncle Benedict's Shadow Avalon was Interesting as well. That is where we Found the Queen."
While Brita and Hannah are talking, Fiona brings Corwin through. "So tell us about the rescue of the Queen as we walk back down," Corwin suggests to Brita.
"Certainly, Uncle," Brita agrees. "King Random, Prince Garrett, Cousin Signy and I Rode from Uncle Benedict's Shadow to the Other Side of Moonlit Tir Na Nog'th. There we were Attacked by Rangers and a Reflected Cousin Robin with a Weapon like Uncle Huon had made in Shadow Abford. King Random Channeled Lightning to Drive them Away. We followed the Trail to the Reflected Grove of our Grandmare. The Pool was Filled with a Mix of Dead from the Former Reality. On a Throne of Stone to the Side of the Pool sat the Queen. She Gazed upon a Tall, Gaunt Man who Held the Reflected Robin and One who I assume was the 'Tyrant Brandom' both Bound by This," and here she draws out the fine silver chain. "Although it Seemed More then," she adds.
"Huh, there's another side to approach Tir from?" Hannah asks.
"Not to Approach This Airy Tir, but Another Tir - a Reflection, perhaps, Around the Ring Road."
"May I see that now?" Fiona asks in that maternal way that is just short of an order.
Corwin's listening with interest to Brita's tale. "Tell me more about this gaunt man," he suggests as Fiona reaches for the chain.
Brita hands the chain to her mother as she describes the man to Corwin. "As Mentioned, he was Tall and Gaunt. He had Wild hair," she adds and proceeds to describe the color of his hair, skin, and eyes. "When the Tableaux animated, he asked Her Majesty what was to be Done with the Prisoners. She Said to 'Kill her' and 'Leave him; I will question him.' The Tall Man then drew a Sword and that is when King Random had us Attack. His return Attack on King Random was Very Fast, and he was a Good Swordsman. When I Tackled the Chain and Cousin Signy Struck through the Tall Man, he and the Two Captives Disappeared."
Hannah looks at Corwin and Fiona, trying to read their interpretation of this. "Wouldn't the chain have to connect places and not just people then?"
Corwin and Fiona are exchanging looks.
"Do you think it was him?" Corwin asks.
"From the description, it could be. I'd want to see the tableau before offering a definite opinion." Fiona's tone is even, but there's an undertone of concern. She has stopped examining the chain. "I'd like Bleys to see it too. His personal knowledge exceeds mine on this matter."
"Then we'll get hold of him," Corwin agrees. He turns to answer Hannah. "The chain may be like Ben's hand. Once when I was in Tir, I fought a Benedict from an alternative future. He had a silver metal hand and I struck it off with Grayswandir. It came home with me, and our Benedict wore it for a while.
"Brita, do you mean to keep it?"
"It Depends on what is Made of it. If it is Of Use, I will Keep it. It is of More Value elsewhere, I will not," Brita half shrugs before turning to her mother. "I could Sketch the Scene and Players for you, if that would Help."
"Bide a moment. Your cousin Paige is calling me." Fiona's eyes grow distant. "Paige?"
"Don't let her see Tir," Hannah mutters.
Fiona smiles. "I'm with Corwin, Brita, and Hannah. Brita was with Random, helping to recover Vialle. Random's party has returned to Xanadu, and I'm going down to see them now. I can ask if there's anyone who can help you lead ships from Amber to Xanadu."
Some of this is obviously said for the benefit of the onlookers.
Corwin makes an aside to Brita, quietly, to avoid interrupting Fiona. "I'd be very interested in seeing that sketch."
Brita nods and immediately pulls out her small pad and begins to quickly sketch out the image of the gaunt man. She fills in the tableau behind him as well.
Corwin watches her work while Fiona carries on her trump conversation.
Brita continues sketching, her brows furrowed slightly in concentration, but she notes as an aside to her mother, "I could Lead Ships with Unfurled Skidblanir, if King Random has No Further Need of me."
Hannah watches Brita sketch with fascination.
Fiona replies, "I'll tell Paige of your generous offer, Brita."
Corwin is watching the figure take shape, and both Hannah and Brita can tell he's not pleased. "Bleys will need to see this. It looks like the Marshall, all right."
"Who is The Marshall, Uncle Corwin?" Brita asks as she finishes up her sketch and awaits the completion of her Mother's conversation with Paige.
Hannah looks at Brita and Corwin as they talk, but tries to follow both their conversation and Fiona's half of the other one.
"She disappeared, the night that Cambina died. Random led a party to rescue her," Fiona explains in answer to whatever Paige said.
Corwin lowers his voice to keep himself from interfering with Fiona's conversation. "The war leader of the Moonriders," he explains.
Brita examines the sketch again as she waits for her mother. "Do you Think this is a Shade of the Moon Leader or The Reality? He Seemed Caught in the Tableau as with the Queen."
"With the Moonriders, it's hard to tell. If it were anything but a Tir illusion, I'd say a shade. But under the circumstances?" Corwin shakes his head. "I'm not sure I could tell if I'd been there."
Fiona is still talking to Paige. "I'll suggest that to her. Good luck in your dealings with Lalal, Paige. Contact me again when you have more time; we have much to discuss." Fiona closes the contact and turns to Brita. "Paige asked that you contact her when you have time. She's in dealings with one of the goddesses of Arden right now. She needs someone to take a ship to Xanadu for her."
"What good would having the Queen of Amber do him, if he wasn't going to use her for a hostage?" Hannah asks Corwin.
"I don't have a good answer to that question," Corwin says grimly, "but I mislike whatever it is."
Fiona says, "The Moonriders aren't entirely in this realm any more. Perhaps they were trying to make Vialle like them."
"As in 'like they are' rather than 'in admiration of', you mean?" Hannah clarifies. "I don't have enough information to logic that one out."
"It's hard to explain what the Moonriders did to themselves to someone who hasn't met one. They transformed themselves, or allowed themselves to be transformed, so they're on the same--magical frequency is the best way I can put it--as Tir itself. Just as Tir is not entirely in this reality, but shifted off a bit so that it only appears under certain conditions, the Moonriders are the same way. Powerful ones can change reality so that it's more like Tir, especially if the conditions are favorable." She looks at Brita. "The presence of sufficient numbers of Pattern initiates would make the conditions much less favorable."
Brita begins to walk down the hill. "So Patterned Order Disturbs the Power of Ethereal Tir Na Nog'th? And yet We can still Walk its Streets," she waves to the fading city above them. "Cousin Signy's Sword went Through the Moonrider Marshall," she adds in passing, "just Before it all Vanished. If he was Real, he Might Know what Befell Cousin Cambina."
Hannah looks to Corwin. "Wrong sword?"
"Could be. But if he does know what happened to Cambina, I wouldn't be surprised if he did it," Corwin says, not quite under his breath. He looks around at the sky, then at Hannah and Fiona. "Hannah, do you need me to report your findings to Random? I need to get back to Paris as soon as I can."
"It would be helpful to me if you did," Hannah smiles.
Corwin nods. "All right, I can stay that long."
"Would the Moonriders work in League with Dara or cleph?" Brita asks her last question.
"That's a question I can't answer for certain. They were at Dad's funeral, though, and Dara was there, so it's not out of the question." Corwin and Fiona exchange looks, but neither seems to have a better answer than that.
[Brita] is silent after receiving the answer for the rest of the walk down to the Castle.
Hannah follows suit, making lists in her head.
Brita bids goodbye to her Mother, Cousin, and Uncle and heads to the Trump Booth. She finds and focuses on the Trump of her Cousin Paige, willing the vivacious image to three dimensional life.
Signy quietly slides over next to Garrett, a troubled look on her face. "Would you have a Trump of Prince Benedictu...Benedict that I could borrow? I only have the one of your father that my brother gave me."
Garrett is just shuffling his Gerard trump back into his deck. He continues shuffling until he finds the card for Benedict. "I thought you might need that," he smiles, anticipating the question. "So you've used them before?"
Signy pauses in mid-reach for Benedict's Trump. "I've never used them before. My brother gave me one, and said that all I needed to do was to concentrate. Is there more to it?"
"No. Not much," Garrett replies. He hands her the card. "Here. Try it."
Signy takes the card from Garrett, and stares at it, trying to concentrate on the image and make the connection to Benedict.
There is a sense of contact and the image on the card starts to move. "Who?" Benedict asks.
Signy starts as the connection forms, and belatedly reaches out and catches Garrett's hand in an awkward grasp, pulling him into the connection. "It's Signy, Your...uh....Uncle. We're back with the Queen and we saw the Marshall there as well."
Benedict is on horseback, surrounded by troops on foot. "Is she well? Tell me what you saw of the Marshall. It would bode ill were he to be here."
"The Queen seemed frightened, but otherwise unharmed, Uncle," Garrett answers. "The tall gaunt man that Signy is referring to was in a grove that Brita likened to the Grove of the Unicorn, but wasn't. He was holding a chain wrapped around two people who looked like my father and Robin. Brita and Signy went for him while I pulled the Queen away." He glances over at Signy, encouraging her to tell her part of the tale.
A slightly vexed look crosses Signy's face. "When Brita and I attacked him, he vanished right as my sword was about to hit him. There were a lot of corpses on the ground, and they all vanished at the same time as well." She gives an unhappy sigh. "The King said earlier when we were attacked by 'Robin' that they were just real enough, and yet they just disappeared like shadows in the sun at the end."
Benedict makes a circular motion with his raised arm, clearly some sort of sign to his troops. "Good. If your weapon could not touch him, he is only here as a projection, not an actuality, but whose? Random never knew him, and you are likewise too young. Had you seen him before? How did you know who he was?"
"Father recognized him as a Moonrider, and by his bearing, he seemed to have rank. He said something about him being 'Edan's girlfriend's father' or some such. I'd never seen him myself," Garrett explains.
"There was another odd thing about the encounter," he continues. "The Moonrider appeared to be taking orders from the Queen, and the Queen appeared to be able to see. When everyone attacked though, she could see no longer and appeared to be herself again. I wasn't certain at first that it was really her."
Signy nods slowly. "The only time I heard him identified was when the King asked us to tell you that he was there" she says slowly. She looks up at Garrett. "Another thing that was odd -- the King referred to the chain Brita brought back as being 'smaller then he remembered' also...."
She glances over at the King, before looking back at Garrett, a troubled look in her eyes.
Benedict's eyes seem to move from Signy to Garrett and occasionally off into the distance. There is no discernable background behind him, as if he is standing in front of a sheet.
"There are always odd things about Tir-na Nog'th. In this family one learns to interpret them or one learns to avoid them, as I do. Consider it a shared dream, and interpret it thusly. You will have to determine what it would mean to you for those things to be the case, and why it would trouble you."
Signy looks back at her Uncle. "Who have learned to interpret them?"
Benedict smiles, briefly. "Amongst the family, Cambina and before her Brand were the most proficient. Amongst other people? Do they have religions where you come from, Signy?"
Signy offers a diffident shrug. "The Aelfs and Dvarts have theirs, and I learned the basics of them from Brother Tomat. My father was never given much to that sort of thing, though."
Benedict looks cool. "Tir is like religion, in that people see in what they wish to see, and they tell people what they think it should mean as if it were true. Distrust a man who is certain of the truth of Tir as you would one who is certain of the truth of religion. There are no learned men and women, only charlatans."
Signy focuses an intense look on Benedict, her emerald eyes a dark, dark green. "And yet it seems that for all that, this Tir is still an important place, no? And one that poses a fair degree of danger as well...."
"And what of the chain that we brought back, Uncle?" Garrett asks. "It changed its form a bit in the transport, but it's still here. Is it possible to bring something solid back from a dream?"
Benedict looks past Signy and Garrett. "Excessive interest in Tir has led to several family tragedies, not all of which are done unfolding. You have my advice which is to avoid it. I must attend my duties." Benedict closes the trump contact, as if he had laid a hand over the card.
"Well. That's that then," Garrett says, reaching out to take his trump back. "I've never been much for following dreams and prophesies anyway. You?"
Signy releases the Trump to Garrett, a vexed look on her face at her Uncle's abrupt end to the conversation.
"Dreams and prophecies? No. But I think there's more to this place then the ramblings of some old Dvart seer more then half-way senile. A site that has that much importance is probably worth holding in a little higher regard, I would think."
She looks over at the rest of the room to see what the King and everyone else have been up to while they talked to Benedict.
"Did you think that Random's response to Brita about the chain being different then he remembered it odd?"
The room is mostly empty, except for Random and one of his functionaries. Random looks up when Signy does.
"Did Benedict have anything to say?", he asks.
In response to Signy's question, Garrett gives a nod toward his father that says, "Ask him." He seems interested in the answer as well. To Random, he answers, "Yes. 'Pay no mind to anything Tir tells you' was about all he said."
Signy nods in agreement at Garrett's words.
"What do you think of what happened there? Is Brita's chain important? It sounded like you might have recognized it?"
Random smirks. "That's pretty typical. Anyone who was around when the Moonriders were is gonna tell you 'leave it alone, kid, it's bad.'" He pauses, slightly. "Except for Corwin, who's generally gonna tell you 'let me handle that', or used to. You'll find more interest but less knowledge of it in the city."
He turns to Signy. "I've no idea what happened, but it was pretty typical of Tir. You go, you see a disturbing, warped mirror of your own reality, including people who matter in your life, you come back, you can't figure out what it meant, if anything. I've got no idea if the chain is important. When it was around 'my' neck up there, it was iron links an inch in diameter. When she pulled it down, it was like the most delicate necklace. It was weird, and it came here.
"We'll see what Fi has to say about it."
"Did the Queen say anything about it while we were talking?" Garrett asks delicately as he crosses to a nearby bar. He pulls three beers from a fridge beneath it, pops the tops and hands them around while he waits for the answer.
Random looks at Garret impatiently. "The Queen was indisposed. I'm going to ask her later. Or not. It looked reasonably traumatic and it's generally unwise to poke at a trauma victim's trauma carelessly.
"I'm gonna ask her in the morning, but you're not to pester her. I'd hate for her to fly in to a rage and, I dunno, be disappointed in you or something."
Garrett nods once, wisely putting the subject to rest.
Signy accepts the beer with a grateful nod, and takes a solid pull before looking back at Random. "Has anyone else brought anything back from there?"
Random drinks some of his own beer. "Only once that I know of. Corwin brought back a silver mechanical arm that he'd cut off of Tir-Benedict. Our Benedict wore it for a while, including to Tir, where he was frozen in place by Brand, but strangled him with the mechanical silver arm. Stuff like that."
Garrett stands silently, drinking his beer and taking all that in. Taking his uncle's advice, he has no further questions about Tir. He glances over at Signy expectantly to see if she has anything else to ask.
Signy ponders Random's words, taking another pull at her beer. "But Benedict seemed more...contemptuous of the place."
Random shrugs. "Don't ask me, I'm the younger brother. But it seems like people who get tied up in it come to bad ends. Corwin. Brand. Cambina. Corwin got better, of course."
"Heh. Benedict doesn't have to tell me twice," Garrett snorts. He takes another sip of his beer and seems to notice for the first time that everyone else has deserted them. "Did Uncle Gerard say there was a problem while we were gone?" he asks Random.
Signy looks vaguely dissatisfied with the answer, but merely takes another drink from her bottle.
"Did he? I wasn't paying a lot of attention, since nothing was on fire. I'll ask him later. Oh, and, by the way, well done, the both of you. That was some quite good rescuing." He drinks the last of his beer. "Same goes for Brita, of course."
Garrett smiles with undisguised pride. "Thank you, sir. Perhaps it's time to start a new phase of my training. I'll speak with Abd-Allah."
"Send him to me. I'll speak to him." Random pauses. "It's a prince thing. People don't tell us the truth because we're us."
The young prince turns to Signy. "That reminds me. We need to find your man Red Fox Claws."
Signy nods at Garrett's words, and finishes her beer. "Yes. That would be good, I think." She looks over at the King. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go and get Brother Tomat and then find Red Fox Claws, if you don't mind?"
She looks over at Garrett. "If you're interested in tagging along, I wouldn't mind the company."
"I'd like to," Garrett grins, then turns to Random. "Unless I'm needed here, sir?"
Random smiles and shrugs. "Don't miss the funeral, OK?"
Signy nods assent. "When will that be?"
Garrett finishes off his beer, looking inquiringly to Random for the answer.
"'When' doesn't mean a lot to us. It'll be when it is, probably timed so that Jerod and Brennan can be there." Random shakes his head. "Those two. I hope they're working out their grief in some ... non-destructive fashion."
He looks over at the pair of them. "You'll have three days, minimum. That's three days here. It's hard to say how long wherever you're going, so just check in enough to come back if it's time to."
Signy nods her understanding, and puts the beer on the counter. She turns towards the door, and then stops and looks at Garrett. "Um, so, how do we actually get to Amber? The last time I did it I had to walk the Pattern."
Garrett had started to follow her, but draws up short at her remark. He glances back at his father with a slightly annoyed look and opens his mouth as if to say something. Wisely though, he refrains and turns back to Signy. "No," he growls as he reaches for the door and holds it for her. "There are easier ways to get there."
Random coughs. "There are four ways to Amber from here. Of which the pattern is the second fastest. I'd advise you to take the long way, if I thought you had a week. Garrett would be able to show you how it works. But you don't so I won't. Garrett, give Caine the news."
Signy heads out the door, a sheepish look on her face.
"Yessir," Garrett replies, closing the door behind him.
Once outside the door, Garrett brushes off whatever it was that caused the momentary darkening of his mood. He strides down the corridor with the loping gait of one who has grown up on horseback. "It's too bad we don't have more time," Garrett says as he walks. "That's something I've wanted to do for a while. Take the overland route to Amber. Through Shadow. I need the practice."
Signy easily falls in with Garrett, matching his pace effortlessly. "Everyone seems to know so much about how all of this works. How does everyone get trained on how this 'Pattern' works?"
"There IS no formal training, really," Garrett shrugs. "I've only just walked it meself, so I'm not the one to show anyone. I learned a bit from my brother though. I rode with him from Amber to Xanadu some time ago when he was teaching Lady Folly. I listened to his explanations, but didn't truly understand them at the time.
"Now though...," he glances over at Signy with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Now, I reckon I get it. Enough to test it out anyway. When I get time, that's what I'm gonna do."
Signy shakes her head. "Learning Sorcery was so much easier with Brother Tomat to guide me. Even my father taught me his craft. Do many of our family last long learning this way?"
Garrett nods. "Many of them last for centuries," he says.
After a couple of seconds, Signy looks at Garrett curiously. "So, how are we going to get to Amber, anyways?"
Garrett finds what he was looking for - a quiet alcove off the main corridor where they are unlikely to be disturbed by passing servants. "Trumps," he replies, pulling his deck once again from the leather case at his belt. He finds two cards and holds them so Signy can see. One she recognizes as Caine. The other is the main gate of the castle in Amber. "We could go either way, but Father did say to speak with Uncle Caine." He shuffles the castle trump back into the deck and concentrates on the trump of Caine.
Garrett concentrates but there is no answer.
Signy looks at Garrett expectantly.
After a moment, Garrett blows out a breath and shakes his head. "He must be busy. I reckon we have to go the other way," he says. He shuffles the Amber trump out of the deck and concentrates.
The special spot in the courtyard appears, although it takes a few seconds to come clear.
As the contact opens, Garrett offers his hand to Signy and steps through.
Last modified: 2 August 2009