Mothers, Sons and Brita

[Brita's triumphant return to the main list!]

Brita awakens the next morning when the servant girl brings her breakfast again: meat and bread, as she seems to prefer.

Afterwards, two fellows bring in a tub of hot water for her. There are fresh clothes: a linen shirt, trousers of a heavier material, and low boots. There are also the supple branches and the long linen cloth that Brita requested to bind her knee.

If Brita wants or needs help, the girl assists her. She does not speak, and makes occasional reverences in Brita's direction.

After Brita has finished dressing and the girl has departed, Ambrose knocks and enters.

"Good morning, Lady Brita. I hope you slept well. Do you think you'll be able to travel today?"

Brita nods once and says, "Yes, Lord Ambrose. I am ready." She stands, holding her crutches in one hand, ready to leave.

"My mother, the High Priestess, would like to meet you before we leave, if that's all right," Ambrose says.

Ambrose moves to take Brita's arm. The gesture is reminiscent to Brita of the way Bleys took her arm the night of the Return, when he escorted her from the library to dinner.

Brita allows the move even though she is still somewhat startled by any assistance. She was treated more as one of the guys at home in Asgard.

"Lean on me when you need to," says Ambrose. He leads her through long, low passages past tapestries and frescoes decorated in vibrant geometries to a narrow, winding stair. It is wide enough for the two of them and leads them up to a platform high above a verdant, steaming jungle. The bright sunlight makes Brita blink and when she can turn and look at the city, she sees a vast place of giant stone buildings, some rectangular and others, such as the one she is one, pyramidal in shape. Some are white and some are painted.

[ This one looks just like "The Magician's Temple" in Uxmal]

The climb was remarkably tiring, [Meta: Moreso if she doesn't take Ambrose up on his offer of assistance.] but Brita catches her breath quickly as she looks out at the city from over 100' atop the tall pyramid. She notes that Uxmali seem to have no idea of guardrails or ropes. There are, far below, people moving between the buildings.

[Brita has resisted 'leaning' on Ambrose. She might have reverted to using the crutch on the side away from Ambrose if it became difficult. If it was anything like climbing the ruins in Belize with the oversized steps, she definitely used the crutch.]

After she has caught her breath, Ambrose looks at her. "Ready?" He asks. [Assuming she says yes...] "Then in we go."

[She squares her shoulders, nods and they go.]

Ambrose leads her into the door of the temple atop the pyramid, into a wide stone room slashed with windows and bright with the sun. On the wall are more of the colorful paintings and every inch of the floor is covered in squarish representations of people. At the far end of the room are two stone thrones, one occupied, the other not. The thrones, twin two-headed jaguars, look both impressive and uncomfortable.

The woman atop the leftmost throne rises. Her Thari is good, but accented. "Come forward Brita, daughter of Lord Vidar of Asgar." The woman is wearing a linen robe and does not seem to notice the heat. "I am Tayanna, High Priestess of Smoking Mirror."

"High Priestess Tayanna," Brita gives her a bow from the waist. "I understand I have you to thank for the healing of my injuries. I appreciate your effort on my behalf." Brita is no longer leaning on the crutches and has them tucked under an arm, with her hands behind her.

"You heal quickly, child. I can see that you are indeed of my late husband's lineage. Smoking Mirror was ever thus. Uxmal grieved to hear of his death in battle with his fellow Gods."

Brita's face is impassive. She makes no comment on this although her thoughts have turned to Ragnarok.

"We welcome you to Uxmal, of course. I must apologize. I have been quite derelict in my duties, but I never truly expected to outlive Smoking Mirror. Can you tell me which God killed him so that we may know who we should worship?" Her voice is tightly controlled, as if she is waging an especially difficult battle for control and just barely winning it.

Brita is silent for a moment, then she squares her shoulders and her head comes up. "I was not present at the Great Battle of the Senior Gods, but the tales will be legend. Chaos had overreached its bounds and by the Will of the Gods of Amber Gods, balance had to be restored. Not one but two gods fell that dread day on the far reaches of Chaos - male and female, yin and yang, dark and light - for there must be balance in all things. 'Smoking Mirror' was chosen for the ultimate sacrifice because he had separated from the balance. With him went one who was integral with Order.

"You ask for a single God who killed Smoking Mirror. The battle to restore Order pitted many against the one, but ultimately the god who killed Smoking Mirror was Himself." Brita pauses for a moment. "You wish to know who to worship. Smoking Mirror has chosen his path Beyond, but before He descended into Chaos He chose you and bequeathed unto you His Son [Ambrose might hear the plural] to guide your people up from the roots onto the next Branch of Life."

She stands, listening intently to your words. You sense that something in them upsets her, but it unclear to you exactly what. Ambrose notices as well, but does not interrupt.

"Such is the will of Heaven," she says, her tone perhaps more resigned than before. "The people of Uxmal Thrice-Built will do their duty to the Gods. We have always been an obedient people."

She steps forward and for a moment you think she will kneel before Ambrose, but he catches her wrists. "...Mother," he says awkwardly. "We'll figure this out later. I must take her to my Grandmother now."

After a moments indecision, the woman nods and drops her arms to her sides. "Yes."

"Thank you, Mother." He turns to Brita. "Are you ready to go?"

Brita nods. "Yes, I am ready." She seems about to say something to the Priestess, but decides against it. Her vision of gods is different than here in Uxmal. To Brita, a god serves his people as much as they serve him....

Tayanna looks at Brita, for a moment, then speaks. "I have one more question. Did my husband succeed in his task? Did he make the city in the sky whole again?"

"I am sorry." Brita says sincerely. "I do not know. I have yet to visit the 'city in the sky'" To Brita, Tir na Nog'th is the city in the sky. "However, the fact that all is still here," and Brita gestures to include all around her, "must mean the attempt [to restore order] did not fail."

Tayanna looks at her for a moment before nodding. "He was sure that much would be set right by the righting of the sky city." Ambrose speaks quietly to himself, his eyes not focused on anything in this room, and his left hand moving as if he were shuffling a deck of cards in one hand. He reaches out with his hand and smoothly opens a gap in space. If Brita looks carefully, it may seem cleaner than Cleph's handiwork.

The breeze through from the far side is pleasantly cool, and there are leaves overhead. Ambrose steps through, and with one leg in a distant place and one atop the pyramid, reaches back for Brita with his hand. "We have to stop at the midpoint to cross over, but we'll ride from there."

Brita bows slightly to the priestess, says "Thank you again for your hospitality, Priestess Tayanna", and then clasps Ambrose's wrist and follows him through. On the other side, she takes a deep breath and says, "You'll have to teach me how to do that little trick." as she looks around.

"I learned it from Grandmother. It's called Parting the Veil and is an application of the principle of Space. Do you know any Sorcery?"

"Not yet, but I will," Brita avers.

Ambrose smiles.

The scene is a wide expanse of rocky cliffs with a single tree standing near the edge. The tree is broad and leafy and provides a pleasant sound as the breeze blows through it. The tree looks old, knowledgeable, and singular.

"There is a corral a little ways beyond that hillock. We'll ride from there. Have you ever been beyond Ygg?"

Her head cocks to one side as she looks over the waystation of the return. "I do not know. My travels between Asgard and the coronation masque were extensive, but I do not know their relativity to Ygg. How would one tell if a place was beyond or before The Tree?"

"Did you pass the Tree? If not, you didn't pass it," Ambrose says.

Brita nods acknowledgement of the statement.

As they walk slowly towards the corral, Ambrose says to Brita, "What you said to my mother was quite clever. It could resolve a number of problems. On the other hand, one of the key legends of Uxmal revolves around rival brother gods. I do hope I don't end up in a deathmatch of some sort with my brother over it."

"Fighting with Family is best avoided as We have too few real Family to begin with," Brita notes. "We can make our own legends and our own resolution of legends." She frowns slightly as she realizes what she said and thoughts of Ragnarok flit through her head. "Tell me this legend of yours."

As they continue towards the corral, Ambrose begins his story.

"My father suppressed many of the stories of the old gods when he assumed the office of Smoking Mirror and became the God-King of Uxmal. But I heard this tale from an old wanderer who came to my father's court. I met him in the kitchens and he told me this story.

"Once upon a time, there were two brothers, the sons of a god-king. The older brother was tall and strong and a great warrior, and the younger brother was a wizard, brilliant and keen.

"Now the god-king grew old and feeble, and the goddess who was the mother of these two brother-gods advised her sons that they would have to strive to maintain their place in the new cycle that would happen when the old god-king, their father, died.

"So the brothers agreed to a plan, whereby the elder would be king and the younger would be his vizier. And they made war on the other gods. But at the moment of their triumph, the younger brother joined with the enemies of the gods and overthrew the elder brother. The elder brother fell from a cliff, and it was said that he perished. But some said he would return again, wise and strong, to repay his brother for his death.

"The elder brother was called Feathered Serpent, and the younger was called--Smoking Mirror.

"I'm afraid I don't know the ending. My father found me listening at about this point in the tale. He was very displeased with the old man for telling it to me, and sent him away."

Brita listens quietly to the story. When Ambrose finishes she speaking, she nods in acceptance of his words and says, "The fact that the story focuses on Smoking Mirror in an unpleasant light might have hit too close to home for your father." She examines the horse whose reins Ambrose has just tossed her. "You are concerned that history would repeat itself? Our elders have been known for being...less than agreeable with their siblings." She looks directly at Ambrose. "The present times have led most of our generation along a more cooperative path of mutual understanding if not full acceptance."

Mounting the horse, Brita brings the horse around to follow Ambrose. "I believe it is your choice, Cousin, to bring forth a new ending to the legend.

"Perhaps the Elder Brother does return, intent on vengence, his Wrath blazing in his eyes - almost blinding him. But the Younger Brother has learned the true nature of his enemies as they have abandoned him to Disorder. He has come to see that control of the World is not as easy alone. The Lands have gone askew and the People are lost. He sees his brother's approach and feels only relief that his torment is almost over. He kneels before the Elder, true remorse in his words as he offers himself up for the wellbeing of his People. Expecting War, the Elder Brother's advance is halted by this unexpected tact. He is hesitant, distrustful of what he hears from the deceitful Younger Brother. Slowly, the Younger's tears of true sorrow wash away the revenge from the Elder's eyes. Eventually, a new pact is formed and while the Elder is ever watchful now, he works with the Younger to solidify the World and there is Peace in all the lands."

"I might feel that way if I'd thrown my brother off a cliff," says Ambrose as he mounts his own horse.

"In our generation, the story's a little different. I haven't even met Brennan, so I'm hardly disposed to repent for anything I've done to him. And it's all very well and good for him to show up and say he's interested in fixing things in Uxmal. He might even be interested in solving Uxmal's problems. But I doubt he knows what they are any more."

"In our generation, the story is new. There is no need for you to repent [yet]. The Others will not be inclined to forgive one who sides with Dara. You just have to show that you don't. As to whether Cousin Brennan would be specifically interested in Uxmal's plight, I can't say; but he seems fair minded, a good - if driven - leader. You will have to work out your story together."

"If I'd intended to side with Dara, I'd have let her brother eat your mind for lunch," Ambrose reminds her. "I'm taking you to safety. If that's not enough to satisfy Brennan and my uncles, they needs must remain dissatisfied."

"It's enough for me."

Ambrose knees the horse gently and they head out of the corral. "You'll want to stay by me pretty closely here. Nothing this close to Ygg will be dangerous, but small beings that aren't affected by the taint may try to seek you out to ask you to be their Lord. Don't make the bargain. You're not strong enough in the needed skills to fight off a creature who wants to eat them."

Brita nods acceptance and keeps her horse close behind Ambrose's mount. "I don't need to be anything's 'Lord'. I have enough troubles just being Brita."

He adds, "When we get further in, I'll summon a filmy, and that should keep us safer."

Brita does not ask what a filmy is.

After an indeterminate while, Ambrose decides that it is indeed time to summon a filmy. A filmy seems to be a black cheesecloth on which the horses can walk. It moves as Ambrose and Brita ride down it.

[Brita]
Interesting.

"The filmy will take us more directly to Clarissa," Ambrose explains.

"What do you think of Grandmother Clarissa?" Brita asks.

"Overwhelming," says Ambrose honestly. "Grandmother is a Lord of Chaos. The universe bends at her will. She is a great sorceress, and she commands both the Bronze Legion and her grackleflints, among many other affines. I think she unnerved even my father a little."

He runs his hand along the side of his horse's neck. "If I'd been able to walk the Pattern in Amber, I'd have had a better chance of dealing with her as something other than a supplicant."

Brita is mostly silent after this. It may be apparent to Ambrose that little gears are turning behind the green eyes that are inadvertently boring two laser holes into his back.

If Ambrose is aware of it, he politely ignores it.

After a time, several "people" on strange mounts ride up to meet them. Ambrose speaks to them in a language that Brita doesn't understand, and they respond in the same tongue. Both the mounts and the riders are strange, spiky creatures.

The newcomers form up around Brita and Ambrose. "They're Grandmother's grackleflints," he explains. "Call it an honor guard."

Brita was silent as the 'honor guard' approaches, but her mount sidestepped a couple of times in response to her tension. She forces herself to relax.

Ambrose and Brita ride on with the grackeflints for some long time. Eventually, off in the distance, Brita sees--something. It's not exactly a castle, because that would imply it's on the ground, whereas the filmy seems to lead sort of into the middle of it. And the geometry of it is wrong in ways that make Brita's head hurt. If she were familiar with the art of M.C. Escher, she might describe the place they are heading as a floating castle designed by Escher without the aid of Euclidian geometry.

"That's Clarissa," says Ambrose, as they continue to ride towards it. "Don't look at all of it. Pick a gate or a tower that's vertical from our direction. If you concentrate on all of it at once, it will make you ill."

Brita cocks her head at the odd wording. "That's Clarissa?" she echoes. "My grandmother is a castle?" There is a hint of humor in her words. Brita does take Ambrose's advice, however, and examines small sections of the structure. The details are what would intrigue her - the outer stair that appears to wrap around a tower, but comes out upside down on the other side. The odd arrangement of arches that at one glance looks like two and the next like three.

"Only in the broadest of senses," Ambrose replies, leaning in next to Brita to speak outside of the easy hearing of the grackleflints. "It is her place, and so we call it 'Clarissa' for her. 'The Queendom Clarissa' would be equally accurate."

He points to a balcony that's approximately perpendicular to the angle at which Brita and Ambrose are riding. "Our grandmother watches our approach. Do you see her?"

If Brita follows Ambrose's gesture with her eyes, she does indeed see a figure on the balcony, waving in their direction. It is a tall older woman, with the red hair that marks much of the Clarissan kindred.

Brita returns the wave, practically standing in her stirrups to do so.

"She's smiling," Ambrose reports.

"Can we hurry up?" Brita says impatiently as she regains her seat on the horse. Her tone hints at underlying excitement...

"Of course," says Ambrose. He touches his horse and speeds up. Somehow it seems that in addition to the extra speed that the horses and the gracklemounts have taken on, the ground itself is moving towards them, not unlike trotting forward on a moving sidewalk.

As they approach the castle, it becomes easier and easier to focus on the entrance and not on the non-Euclidian geometry of the place. By the time they arrive and dismount, handing off the horses to waiting, well, Brita can't call them people, but they're certainly servants, the surroundings seem almost normal. If you consider grackleflints and six-legged bronze-skinned monsters normal, anyway.

Clarissa herself has come down to greet them. She is an elegant older lady, dressed in a simple but excellently-made brown robe that sets off her red hair.

"My dear granddaughter," she says, and opens her arms to embrace Brita. "Welcome to Clarissa."

Brita's hug is typical, practically lifting Clarissa off the ground. "Nanna Clarissa!" Brita crows triumphantly. Placing the lady gently back on more firm substances, Brita notes, "It is nice to be able to get my arms around you for a hug. With Grandma Grid, it is more like trying to hug the Great Wall in Master Ngyen's homeland." Brita cocks her head to one side, "You do not look old enough to be a grandmother."

"It's kind of you to say so," Clarissa says, but the appeal to her vanity is met with a ferociously pleased grin. "I like to think that visiting with my children and their children keeps me young."

She turns the vibrant smile on Ambrose and offers him an embrace, which he accepts with the sort of glee one normally associates with small boys hugging a great-aunt with overwhelming perfume and bad breath. "Grandmother," he says.

"My dear boy," says Clarissa, and releases him.

Grandmotherly kindness having been extended to both her descendants, Clarissa turns her attention back to Brita. "I've spoken with your uncle Bleys. I believe he and your mother will be coming for a visit themselves sometime soon. Won't that be lovely?"

"Surely." a slight pause, then, "Nanna, I have not been able to talk to Mother since...the fight with Cleph," Brita practically chokes out the last few words. "Do you think it will take them long to get here or can I speak to Mother to let her know that I am fine? Cousin Ambrose has seen to the good care of my injuries."

"I haven't heard from your mother or your uncle Bleys again since I spoke to them when I heard you were coming," Clarissa says, sounding a touch annoyed. "But I will certainly make sure to tell them how well you look when they do call."

She looks Brita up and down and says, "That naughty Cleph! I shall certainly have to have words with him and his sister when I speak with them next. Let us go in and you can sit down."

Ambrose has been observing this exchange, but has nothing to say.

Brita is willing to follow them in, but she is going to press. "Nanna, could we use one of my cards to bring them here faster? I only just recently regained my Mother and found out I had a Brother. I don't want them to worry." She glances at Ambrose wondering about Brennan's reaction to new brothers. "And I do hate waiting...even if it will be nice to catch up with you, Nanna."

"The trumps don't work reliably this far, unfortunately," Clarissa says, as if they, too, had chosen to be naughty just to spite her and her granddaughter. "We can speak to them with sorcery if you like. But first, let's go in and let you rest for a few minutes, and perhaps have a little nibble of something to eat, hmmm?"

Brita doesn't sense any power being brought to bear on her that she can recognize, but suddenly it does seem to her that it would be an excellent idea to eat and rest a little before attempting any further exertion, whether towards helping her most excellent grandmother, or escaping from her clutches, which seems like the silliest idea she's ever had. Why on Misgard would anyone want to escape from Nanna Clarissa?

It takes her a moment to realize that Nanna Clarissa must have some sort of a glamour, a bit like Uncle Loki (because who would ever trust him if he didn't?). But the feeling of needing to agree is very strong.

/Why indeed?/ thinks Brita. /It's not like Nanna Clarissa isn't just another Redhead. She's Family. Like Great-Uncle Loki./

Ambrose is watching her, as if waiting to see what she says. So is Clarissa, with a smile, as if the thought Brita might brook her simply hasn't occurred to her.

/Great. Hurry up, Mother./
"I have not just eaten of Aunt Iduna's Golden Apples*, Nanna Clarissa, but I could probably finish off Schrimnir** after our little trek." She inclines her head slightly at Ambrose. "I would like to know how long it would take you to teach me how to slice through reality like Cleph /bah!/ did. Ambrose tells me he also knows how to travel that way."

[*The gods of Asgard would eat of Iduna's Golden Apples to grow young again. I figure this saying is like "I wasn't just born yesterday."]

[**Schrimnir is the wild bore whose flesh feeds the faithful at Valhalla every night. He is made whole again by the morning for the next evenings meal...]

Clarissa says, "I didn't know you'd be interested in sorcery, Brita! Perhaps you can stay for a while and take lessons. The length of the lessons depends on the aptitude of the student, of course, and that varies."

As she speaks, she gestures to Ambrose, who obediently offers his arm to his grandmother. Clarissa accepts and leads the two of them into the interior of her castle.

The castle doesn't make sense. Sometimes, when Brita glances back, it's obvious to her that what's behind her isn't where she came from. And what appears to be ahead of them sometimes isn't where they end up. If Brita thinks about this too much, she really won't want any of the dinner on offer.

Occasionally they pass "people", none of whom are human. Even to Brita, who is used to the stranger creatures of Asgard, these are odd. Some are grackleflints, like the honor guard. Some of them are bronze creatures, angled and terrible, that Brita hesitates to think of fighting. The giant spider-thing only has seven legs, and they're not all jointed in the same places, but it seems quick enough as it skitters out of Clarissa's way.

Clarissa continues as they proceed through the halls, "Has your mother trained you in the basics of sorcery, Brita? It will be so much easier if she has."

"No, Mother was not available to train me until recently. My ability to stay and receive training from yourself will of course depend on my new assignments for the King."

Clarissa leads them all the way around what looks like a wall but has to be a pole based on the full circle the three of them make of it. At the end, they find a door, which Ambrose politely opens for Clarissa.

"The King!" Clarissa says, stepping into the room. "Do you know he missed his own father's funeral? I'm sure a sense of family duty is quite beyond him."

"I'm sure he had reason to be away. His sense of family duty appears very much in place now," Brita comments.

It's a tower room, but Brita doesn't remember going up any steps. The room itself is almost normal. It reminds Brita a little of the sitting room that connects to the family dining room at Castle Amber, with the couches and chairs.

There are three windows on one side of the room. The first shows a lazy cloudscape in oranges and greens. The second, which should continue the cloudscape, shows five blue moons in a yellow sky. The third looks like an aquarium, with large, dark things swimming by in the distance.

Clarissa says something in a language that Brita doesn't understand. It sounds like instructions, but maybe that's just Clarissa's normal tone of voice. There doesn't appear to be anyone to instruct other than Ambrose.

"Sit down, my dears, and let us talk of light things until dinner arrives," says Clarissa.

"I love your castle, Nanna Clarissa," Brita begins as she watches the aquarium window for a glimpse of the creatures within. "Does it take much effort for you to maintain?"

"Thank you, dear. It's not much effort at all to maintain it, and my affines do most of what you'd think of as the hard work," Clarissa says, but the compliment pleases her.

Ambrose says to Brita, "The affines are the other beings you saw here. They're our grandmother's vassals."

Brita's eyebrow goes up slightly, "But I thought..." then she shakes the thought from her head. "Nanna Clarissa, Cousin Ambrose, how long do you think it would take to teach me how to 'part the veil'?" Brita turns a questioning eye at Ambrose to see if she got the phrasing correct. "I don't know that I have any aptitude for sorcery, but it would be good not to be in an undesirable position again." Brita frowns as her thoughts turn inward.

Clarissa smiles at Brita. "I should test you for sorcerous aptitude. You know, I hadn't had a student since Ambrose's brother ran away all those years ago. And now I shall have two!"

"Maybe one and a part time student, Nanna Clarissa," Brita notes seriously. "You may not want me as a student if you talk to Master Reid anyways," she adds with a wry twist of her lips.

Clarissa's attention turns to Ambrose. "I thought we'd agreed that you wouldn't Part the Veil so often anymore, my boy. Your dear father told me that it was bad for the fabric of the universe, remember?"

"Of course," Ambrose agrees blandly from his vantage point leaning against the wall. "But you asked me to bring Brita to you as quickly as possible. It was the fastest way to travel to Ygg from Uxmal."

Clarissa considers Ambrose's words. "Well, that's all right then," she says with an airy wave of her hand.

"Is there a way to stop someone from 'Parting the Veil'?" Brita asks.

"You can do various things to break the concentration of the sorcerer," Ambrose offers, "but it's a crude use of power, without much structure, so it's hard to break the spell itself. If it were more refined, it would be less dangerous." Brita feels that there's a second message in Ambrose's words for her alone.

Brita just nods acceptance of the information.

Clarissa nods at Ambrose. "Very good," she says, sounding pleased. If he were standing closer to Clarissa, Brita suspects she would pat him on the head.

After some time, Clarissa's servants bring dinner for Ambrose and Brita. It's not the sort of meat and potatoes dinner that Brita would have preferred, but that's because there probably isn't any meat and probably no potatoes either. The meal reminds her of things Master Ngyen used to eat, with noodles and chunks of something mixed in, drenched in sauce.

Ambrose tucks into the food with the appetite Brita has come to expect from her kinsmen. There is wine, and that is all Clarissa consumes. Brita notices that Clarissa has an extra finger on each hand; it's particularly evident as she holds her goblet.

Afterwards, Clarissa leads Ambrose and Brita through the castle to her workroom. The sense of disorientation is stronger for Brita, especially on a full(er) stomach, but she is able to master it with only the slightest bit of nausea. Either Ambrose is used to the castle or he has a stronger stomach than Brita does.

The workroom is at the top(?) of a tower and has eight windows. They are all shuttered, and Brita suspects that if she opened them, she would find that they looked out on different places and/or times.

Clarissa begins to draw out props and components for the working. She directs Ambrose to find some paper and charcoals, which she then gives to Brita. "Sketch your mother," Clarissa says. "There need be no power in it; the likeness alone is sufficient."

Brita complies, although she is not able to keep some of her longing out of the sketch.

Clarissa takes the sketch and sets it aside. She is gathering various items from drawers and chests in the room; the paper is merely one of the interesting things in her armory of components. Ambrose is performing some sort of ritual over a large brass brazier.

When he finishes what he is doing, he lifts the brazier onto a workbench and comes to stand by Brita. "Now she must perform the ritual," he whispers, "and break the barriers of Space. It's a much cleaner working than Parting the Veil. Be quiet so we don't disturb her; she's testy when she's casting."

Clarissa ritually prepares a flame in the brazier using the various components, including a lock of bright-red hair that could only have come from one of her kin. The entire business takes perhaps a quarter-hour. At the end of it, there's a roaring fire.

The aged sorceress takes the sketch by one corner and lights it. The flame sparks up, bright and multicolored, and in the fire, Brita can see her mother.