Robin's serious knife is out as she gently maneuvers up the injured Canareth to where Jovian is slumped. A conflicted mess of worried croons, encouraging chirrups and irritated/terrified hisses is unconsciously pouring from the girl's lips. And though her ears are still open for cannonballs, Robin focuses on examining her brother and his soul-bonded.
[Is Canareth bleeding alot or a little - from multiple injuries or one? Anything else look immediately bad - broken wings or legs or the like? The same questions for Jovian, only with the relevant anatomy. ;) ]
Jovian seems unhurt.
Canareth's wing is broken at the first shoulder, probably from landing hard. He's got a gaping wound in the second shoulder as well, probably from cannonshot. Robin thinks he should be dead. Jovian is manipulating probability madly to keep him alive, grasping and weaving the fragile stuff of this shadow with abandon. It's a tribute to his love and ability and desperation that he's made it this long.
As soon as the thought concerning Canareth's state enters Robin's mind, she pushes it away firmly. Not on her watch, not on her world.
The Ranger Goddess quickly clambers down to beside the great bronze's wounded second shoulder and drops her cluttered hodge-podge pack beside herself. Carefully, carefully so as not to disturb Jovian's work, Robin gathers her heritage so that things go well from there on in. (Funny how we were just discussing probability manipulation in conjunction with emergency rooms. ;)
The moment she starts to gather her power to herself, Robin can tell something is very, very wrong. The stuff of shadows ebbs and flows, sometimes having the consistency of a congealed liquid instead of the moldable clay she is used to. It stings to open herself to it, and the source of the problem is Jovian's working. She can press on, but it seems quite likely to damage things further and faster.
As Robin works, she calls upon the decades of non-human-oriented medicine taught to her by the best in creation, her father. Cannonball and other particles are easily found and removed. Flasks of brandy emerge from the untracked contents of Robin's pack and are briskly applied to remove all infection and conveniently wash the blood away from where Robin needs to see. Bleeding is treated and bone reset as though given the best possible circumstances. Muscle is sewn, hide is stitched, bedrolls as bandages, etc. etc. (Obviously, I'm not up to Liz-level research into saurian medicine right now, so if I've got any of that wrong or bad, please just replace with 'general good medical things happen.' ;)
If Canareth was an animal, he'd've been put out of his misery already. He's in agony, which is a problem in a projective telepath. Robin thinks that Hoshith must be working on him, and Kourin as well.
The physical work is more straightforward. No one could possibly set that bone, but the bleeding can be staunched. The dragon has lost quite a bit, but it seems as if it can be staunched. It's at least been slowed, but even if he lives it's unclear if he could even walk, much less fly or go between again.
In addition, if Robin thinks that she can help Jovian and not unbalance his effort, she will do so with a gentle but strong swelling of agreement about how probability should go in the near and very local future.
[Also, though Robin's not thinking about it right now, this is the second -- or maybe third time -- she and Jovian have been working the Pattern around one another. Can Robin pick up anything regarding Jovian's usage - skill, style/technique, relative strenght, etc?]
What he's doing seems to be all force and no technique, but that's all she can tell.
Kourin stumbles up, obviously also under immense mental strain. She's sweating and it looks like she's been crying. She speaks quickly and it's obviously an effort. "I'm keeping the others away, we can only manage one like this. J'rim's keeping him here, and Canareth will do anything J'rim wants, even if not dying is killing them both!"
Robin looks at the wound and the feels the whipsaw streamers of shadow and notices that they seem to be pulsing in time with each other. It makes her feel slightly sick to her stomach, as if it was wrong, like the black road was wrong.
Whitefaced, Robin nods to Kourin; she's heard and understands. A couple of spastic gulps go through the girl as cold, cold dread wells up through her heart. A Ranger's duty. Her green eyes are wet as she looks up at her struggling brother.
Robin looks back to Kourin. One more thing. She wants to try one more thing and then she'll do her duty. Releasing her hold on the twisting wrong stuff of Shadow, the Goddess places her bloody hands on Canareth's hide and leans her head against the suffering bronze. For the first time in her life, she prays.
"Danu. Please. A miracle... Please!" Closing her eyes, Robin summons all that is wild, free, of the sky and alive within herself and tries to pour it into Canareth; the first dragon she rode, the one whose wingbeats lifted her in such ecstasy into the stormy night that she could not keep her seat, the laughing wise being that shares her brother's soul.
Kourin speaks. Her eyes look ... different. Older? It's hard to look at them. "A life for a life."
"Y-No! NO!" Waves of revulsion and guilt add to Robin's nausea and her gorge rises as she stares at not-Kourin.
"No. Ask for something else. Please!" The girl's lips are clenched and her face white. Storm surges of conflicting emotions crash through her making her gestures sharp, aborted and strange as she pleads.
"Wh.. What?" says Kourin. Her eyes are her own.
The curse Robin snarls at Danu is grotesque and heartfelt but she makes sure she doesn't direct it anywhere near Kourin.
An enormous sob rips through Robin and she leans her forehead against Canareth's suffering skin. "I'm sorry, Canareth. I'm sorry." The girl allows herself one sorrowful wail. Then she lifts dread-filled liquid eyes to her brother.
"Jovian! Stop it! Stop it now!" As she calls to him, Robin bounds to Jovian's side, all speed and grim determination.
Robin is quickly beside Jovian, where he lies across Canareth's neck. He breathes with the dragon, she notes. Jovian doesn't even acknowledge her presence until she touches him and then it is to swat her hand away.
"Shut UP will you! I'm trying to save Canareth and you're INTERRUPTING!" His eyes are also not his own. He seems mad.
"Jovian! You're killing this world! And Kourin and Hoshith are still in it! L'tarn and Manarth too. M'corli, Antrith, Peleth, T'lon, M'hall, V'laren, Avis, Siege, all of them! They'll all die if you keep this up, Jovian!" Robin pleads, tears in her eyes.
Please, her heart cries. Please, let her hero-brother see it. Let there be enough of him to understand. To let it be willing...
Canareth shudders and Jovian speaks, his voice a croak. "Can't ... Must ... Canareth." The vast dragon slumps and so does Jovian.
Hoshith is next to her mate, Kourin leaning against her dragon's leg. Hoshith rises on her haunches and emits an eerie, high-pitched keening sound.
"JOVE!" Robin cries out in alarm. Her voice warbles into strange arpeggios that dance through the tones of Hoshith's keening. She grabs her brother to herself desperately and screams to him again without words, her fear formed into formless wail.
Vere bursts into the clearing. Canareth lies slumped forward, blood pooling from several wounds. It's clear that attempts to doctor him have been made, expert emergency medical care has been applied, but it looks as if they have failed. Robin cradles Jovian and Kourin is by her side.
"Robin, let him breathe!" Kourin says. She is crying, but speaking. "Give him air. Oh by the shell, don't let me lose them both!"
Robin loosens her grip on her brother: her eyes wild, but she lets his ladylove near him. The Ranger's serious knife is out again and Jovian is free of his straps in a few economical strokes.
"Hrrkkkk, sskkkshii... I... Julian." Robin fights to get words out. "Send him to Julian."
Vere is at Robin's side in an instant. "Your trumps," he tells Robin. "Contact your father. Take your brother to him."
Kourin is at her lover's side, laying the rider out on the ground. She leans over his face and says. "Breathing. He's alive!" Her eyes are bloodshot and it's not clear that she won't pass out from the effort as well.
[Vere's] eyes take in Canareth, looking for any sign that the dragon still lives.
Vere finds no such sign, because there is none to be found.
Robin shakes her head to Vere, even as she's pulling out her Trump case. "K-k-kourin? You and Hoshith go to?" The girl is a mess of blood and tears; pale and twitching. Her voice is staccato and sharp but she's holding it together. For now.
Vere turns his attention back to Robin and Jovian, not letting any emotion show.
Vere frowns. "Can Prince Julian pull a dragon through a trump?" he wonders aloud.
Kourin turns to Vere. "Who did this?"
"The ones who attacked him are dead," he answers. "It appears they were slain by two Witch Queens with whom I had some brief conversation." His eyes are on Robin. "That does not mean they cannot be questioned, however," he adds, his pronoun usage unusually vague.
At that moment a blast of wind from above heralds the arrival in this space of a flight of dragons. They are flying overhead in a wide circle and the odd bugle sounds very, very angry.
Vere glances up, his lips compressing and his eyes narrowing, then he returns his attention to Robin.
The Trump of Julian is out as Robin looks up to see the angry swarm. A momentary look of dread dashes through Robin's eyes as she anticipates the day getting even more interesting. Then eyes narrow in cold thought as she correlates Kourin's question with the anger above her.
A quick shake of her head. Jovian first.
She stares into the cold clear image of her father - her mind awhirl, her self torn and tortured, her mental voice a scream - and she Calls.
As she did in the forest of the Unicorn, Robin reaches, reaches, reaches, calling into the vast universe. She puts her self into the call...and reaching the end of her ability to call, she falls back, unsuccessful. While she is sure that he lives, she can also tell that he is not receiving her call.
A whimper/curse erupts from the girl. Lowering the card, she looks over to Vere with sad eyes and shakes her head. Robin chews her lip for a moment in thought, and then quickly shuffling through her cards again.
"L-love?" she murmurs to Vere. "Help. Need t-to be... sane." That last word is spoken with a despairing undertone as the Trump of her king comes to the top of the pile.
Vere slips an arm around her shoulder and pulls her to his side. "I am here, my love," he murmurs. "Always with you." He glances at the card and nods approval. "The King," he says into her ear. "Yes, we shall call him, together."
A shuddering breath goes through Robin as she curls into Vere, drawing strength and steadiness from his warmth and his heartbeat.
"T-hank you." The girl's lips twitch slightly but there's no smile in her at this point. Only the warm gratitude in her eyes for her beloved.
She leans her head against Vere's shoulder, closes her eyes and draws several deep breaths. As she does so, she lets the light of Vere's presence chase the doubts, horrors, self-recriminations and screams off into a far corner of her mind. And focuses on getting Jovian the help he needs. As well as getting out of the place he's damaged.
Then with a steady hand, she lifts the Trump to her eyes, concentrates on speaking in words, and - mindful of Vere's voice - Calls to Random.
"Majesty?"
Vere holds her silently, staring at Random's card, willing it to move. He says nothing, but he concentrates on the vital importance of the card, confidant that the emotion will come through to Random.
Random's presence enters her consciousness. His young-looking, slight figure is sitting at a table or desk. "Yep, it's me. Hey, whoops! What's wrong? Where are you and what happened to it?" He gropes behind himself for something out of sight.
"We are in Danu, Majesty. C-canareth has been killed." Robin fights back the wail and focuses. "Jovian... fought that and now lies stricken. I'd like to get him.. help." ...out of here, echoes her treacherous mind.
Vere speaks up, still holding Robin in one arm. "Prince Huon is invading, quite likely on his way to Rebma to obtain a sword of power. He has brought rifles and cannon. Before we had a chance to speak with him some of his men fired on and killed Canareth. We fear for Jovian." Vere moves slightly, angling himself, Robin, and the card she holds so that Canareth, Jovian, and Kourin are behind them, and in Random's line of sight.
A tick draws at one side of Robin's mouth. Gotta love Vere. She would have gotten there... eventually... probably. But Vere? Concise and complete. Love him.
"Huon? In Danu? Damn, I thought he was messing with Meg, not you. Um, OK, Vere, bring me through. Garrett, tell Martin he's in charge." The king's hand reaches for Vere.
Robin's eyes widen in surprise and she gently presses back against Vere; not quite rearing, but definitely a gesture in that vein. This is soooo not what she expected. But her King has ordered and so it must be. The girl turns her body to give Vere the room he needs.
Vere blinks once, then reaches to the king with his free hand, taking his sovereign's hand in his and pulling him through the connection.
The King comes through and takes in the scene, including the angry flights of dragons above. "OK, anything to add to the report? Is this place safe?" He reaches up and puts a hand on his ear and grimaces as if in pain. "I'd like to see if I can figure out what's going on here with the Jewel, but I don't really want to find a cannonball with my name on it."
Robin tucks away her Trumps hurriedly.
"The attackers are dead," Vere answers. He turns to Kourin, "Ask the other dragons and riders to do a visual check, please. Is there anyone else on hills who could see us where we are? Any warriors visible in the woods nearby? Do not approach them if there are, just let us know."
Kourin nods, and her eyes unfocus in the way of those speaking to dragons. She is upset but functional.
He returns his attention to the king. "We also have at least two Witch Queens in the vicinity, powerful sorceresses with whom I am theoretically at war right now. They are also enemies of Huon's men, however, and they appear to be responsible for killing the men who fired on Jovian and Canareth. I have already had a brief conversation with them, so I think we can consider them at a temporary truce status."
He glances at Robin, then adds, "There's something wrong with the Pattern here. I do not have sufficient experience to know what it is."
The dragons fan out in a search pattern. Even from this distance they're clearly angry.
"Forced probability with brute strength. For Canareth to be not-dead. Last check, shadow shreds were throbbing together. M-majesty?" Robin presses herself back against Vere. "There was prior insult. To the weather. That way." She points. "I... I was involved in both incidentssss." The hiss is unconscious as Robin fights against nausea and shock, but she forces herself to keep using words because diagnosticians need to know priors and witnesses.
Random nods. "I heard about that. Mostly about Jovian, though." He looks up at the sky and stares briefly at the sun. "OK, here's the royal plan. Vere, I want you to examine Jovian and see if he's taken any wounds. As careful as you can, we may need to move him. Robin, talk to the dragon people. Find out what they normally do in cases like this. We'll ad lib based on what we know. I'll look at this place with my trinket. OK? Ready, break!"
Random closes his eyes and begins walking around. He avoids all trees and obstacles, and occasionally reaches out as if grabbing a hanging vine or swinging rope.
Robin nods and reluctantly eases away from Jovian. Gently, she takes Kourin's elbow and urges her away to let Vere do his stuff.
Vere's eyes track Robin for a moment, then he forces his attention back to Jovian. He kneels down next to his cousin and conducts a thorough battlefield examination, just as he was taught by his father.
No physical wounds at all. Passed out from exhaustion is the best diagnosis available without more medical equipment than is at hand. He seems safe and stable.
Once clear of the immediate area, Robin's head cocks as she lifts pain-filled eyes to meet Hoshith's. "S-sorry. Sooo sooorrrryy," she croons to Canareth's mate.
Shifting her gaze to take in both Queenrider and Gold, Robin shakes her head in frustration, trying to get her words straight. "Kourin? Hoshith? I... cannot promise the future. But I see you stranded. And I will do everything in my power to make sure that you guys get home. Truly." There doesn't seem to be enough reassurance that Robin can give in the current circumstances but she offers what she has.
"In the meantime, how do we help J-Jovian? How do we honor Canareth?" One bloody hand gestures to the enormous wall of bronze beside her. "And... anger?" She points up to the circling dragons above.
"If." says Kourin, dropping into a sort of recitation. "If a dragonless man survives the passing of his dragon, he will leave the Weyr, to escape the memories of his former life. Riders are cautioned to avoid contact with the dragonless, as our presence is very painful to them. Dragonless men can go anywhere, but most return to their childhood holds or crafthalls." She blinks. "He will not be the same man when he regains consciousness. It is no luck to survive your partner."
Robin's head bobs in an acknowledging nod as tears run down her face. She refuses to hear the 'if' that started Kourin's recital. Jovian can't... he just can't give up. After all, he is the son of a dragonless man. And now one himself... dragonless immortal princes of Amber. A shudder runs through her at the cost of her heritage.
And if the dragoned are to avoid the dragonless, what does this mean to Kourin? Another cost to both her and Jovian? Robin reaches out a hand to clasp the Queenrider's.
Her lips press together. She seems glad of the handclasp, but she's keeping a lot of emotion inside. It may not all be hers, either.
Kourin takes a deep breath, then another. "The wings are angry, but not out of control. I don't know if they will hesitate if we see an enemy."
Hoshith makes a sad-sounding call, and it is answered by at least a dozen of the dragons in the air. Their presence is no secret to anyone in the valley. Or in the next.
Those green eyes slide sky-ward to the flight. A malicious malevolent green flashes through them momentarily. Almost defying anyone to cross paths with the Dragons or Robin at this moment. But then she catches sight of Random out of the corner of her eyes, tugging at the strings of the world.
The girl snaps her head quickly, shaking away the desire to bring... everything down around their ears. Not fair. Not fair to stop Jovian from destroying this horrid place, only to do it herself. And Vere, bent over her brother. Kindness, concern, efficiency... hope. No. No black insan... No. None of that right now.
"Please, Kkkkourin. They... protectors, not k-killers, right? Remind them." Robin's eyes dart back and forth between Kourin and Hoshith as she fights that same battle within herself..
"Dragons," she says, using that teaching/recital voice she has, "need humans because they have no sense of time. They do not plan or reflect or hope. They know "now" and "not now" and "is" and "is not", but they are cognitively different. Given that they bear the brunt of the damage in fighting Thread, this is key to how we live with them.
"When young dragons train with new riders, most of the training is really for the riders. I can only tell them things I can make them understand. But I'll try, Robin."
Vere listens to them speaking as he examines Jovian, but he gives no sign that he hears, and he does not allow himself to physically respond to the raw emotion in Robin's voice. Without moving from his cousin's side he reaches out with one hand, and touches the cooling body of the great dragon.
"Canareth?" he whispers. "Are you here, partner of my cousin?"
Vere finds no sign of life in the huge body, but shortly notices a spirit, different from those he has seen before, near Jovian. It seems reptilian in form, but is no larger than a small cat. It does not speak.
Vere stretches out his left hand to the spirit, with his right hand still resting on Jovian. He raises his head and begins to sing, his voice ringing with loss, love, and, towards the end of the song, hope.
"The way is wide, I cannot get o'er
And neither have I wings to fly.
O go and get me some little boat,
To carry o'er my true friend and I.
A-down in the meadows the other day
A-gath'ring flow'rs both fine and gay
A-gath'ring flowers, both red and blue,
I little thought what death could do.
I put my hand into one soft bush,
Thinking the sweetest flow'r to find.
I prick'd my finger to the bone
And left the sweetest flow'r alone.
I lean'd my back up against some oak,
Thinking it was a trusty tree.
But first he bended then he broke,
So did my fate prove false to me.
Where the heart is planted, O there it grows,
It buds and blossoms like some rose;
It has a sweet and pleasant smell,
No flow'r on earth can it excel.
Must I be bound, O and he go free!
Must I love the thing that has parted from me!
Why must fate act such a cruel part,
And take a friend that is all my heart.
There is a ship sailing on the sea,
She's loaded deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as in pain I am;
I care not if I sink or swim.
The water is wide, I cannot get over,
There's no life nor love, nor aught at all,
My heart has died, and left me behind,
There's no answer more, to my saddest call.
Oh, come my heart, fly back to me,
Wrap your wings about my soul,
We are one in heart, we are one is mind,
Return my love, and let us be whole.
Where the heart is torn, O the soul it bleeds.
It cannot heal, when in half it lies,
So come by heart, fly back to me,
And as one we'll sail the eternal skies."
As Robin is nodding her understanding to Kourin, the sound of Vere's voice drifts to her ears, making her blond head cock. There she remains still, her eyes first glistening and then tears pour down her cheeks. Tears she makes no effort to stop or wipe away.
But as she cries, the paleness leaves Robin's face; being replaced with the normal pink blotchiness of the girl's complexion at such times. Steadiness comes to Robin's posture and her breathing and the jangled, ragged twitchiness that was contorting her earlier smoothes out in both body and mind.
Random comes walking up. "OK, something is screwed up here, and it's not just recent stuff. Order isn't all right here, and on top of that something was interfering with my checking-outing of this place, maybe your witches. I think the easiest thing to do is to just get out and see if a few years away causes it to start fixing itself, but that may not be possible. What do you all want to do? What do you need to do here, specifically?"
Vere slowly rises to his feet, still gazing down at Jovian. At first it appears he does not hear the King speaking.
Robin snorts inelegantly and swipes her face off with one sleeve, leaving a charming mix of smeared blood and tears across her cheeks. From somewhere the errant thought strikes her; Random likes lists. So...
"My orders are... " the girl does her best not to hiccup, stutter or falter in front of her King, "to seek Dragon-killing knowledge from the Priestesses, and to learn more of the weaknesses and strengths of Goddesses.
"My personal agendae are... to get Vere out of this stoop... the war, to not abandon my Uncle's wife, to learn more of my m-mother," shit! "and her presence here, and, most recently, to not abandon my brother's people."
"I would also like the opportunity to kick the ass of an Uncle who brought firearms here on his way Amberward."
Robin's words come to an abrupt halt as she reaches the end of her thoughts. And she looks over at Vere, a little confusion flickering there.
Still not looking away from Jovian Vere says quietly, "We cannot fight him here without destroying the world. My goals are simple. Save the world. Convince Huon to depart this world immediately. End the foolish civil war."
Random blinks, twice. "I have got to start reading the memos. OK, if you want Huon gone, the best way is to get out of his way and let him go. The world, we probably need some starry redheaded wisdom on, but it will last for years if we don't screw it up further." He turns to Vere. "Would it be possible to evacuate the people you care about?" He holds up a hand. "I know, sounds like retreating or losing, but what if it's a shadow of the doom of Amber? What's worth saving here, if not the people?"
[Vere] raises his head then, to look at Robin. His eyes have a faraway look.
"I believe I succeeded," he says. "But the binding will not last long. A day perhaps. A season, if I succeeded beyond what I expect." He shrugs slightly. "But perhaps no more than a watch, if the binding was not firm enough. I have never done such a thing before."
He lowers his head one more, watching Jovian breathe. "They are one, for the moment. Two souls, bound together in one body."
Kourin looks at Jovian and then Vere. "What's a soul?"
Vere looks at Random for a long moment, but does not answer his question immediately. Instead he turns to Kourin and says, "Do your people have any beliefs about what happens after death? Do you believe that the individual simply ceases to be, or that some part of her continues? A soul is the essence of a person, the personality if you will, which can continue after the death of the body, to be reborn, or to go on to another realm of existence. So the priestesses of my mother's people teach, at any rate. Canareth's soul had not yet departed, and I bound it to Jovian. It should be...." he frowned slightly. "At least I think it should be as though they were in constant mental communication, perhaps even a merging of their personalities. I do not know for certain. As I said, I have never done this before."
Kourin nods. "Dead people are dead. That's all there is to it. J'rim said you all had some funny beliefs." She doesn't seem inclined to argue the point nor to concede it.
'Doom of Amber'? The King's words rattle horribly around inside of Robin's mind. It's being spoken aloud of now? By the King? Sadness wells up inside the girl.
At the same time, an incredible tenderness flows in the heady mix of Robin's emotions. Vere, her precious Vere -- what a miracle he is. And what miracles he accomplishes. The eyes that Robin turns to Vere are liquid green with love. And shadowed by haunts.
She's silent for a moment, fighting a lifetime's training at hiding in the shadows from eyes exactly like Random's. Words and images flicker like lightning through her thoughts; Brandom, the not-yet-known-as-King falling through a chasm in the center of the Pattern, her father's voice "we can watch your back and keep you far away from Random." Robin's hand unconsciously rises to rub a spot over her heart where Random's arrow might or might not have passed through her body.
But then come other fragments. Again her father's voice, "a distorted mirror." Vere's love-filled voice scented with greenery "visions can be very confusing, and must be considered carefully", Jovian's words wrapped in warmth "We'll... sort it out... You don't have to be alone anymore." And finally Random's "...that I will defend you and yours from every creature, with all my power."
Robin darts a glance to Random from under lowered brows. "I... uh," she licks her lips and tries again. "With less big voices...." No that doesn't make sense either. Damn words!
"Vere? M-majesty? There's bindings, well more like compositions really... I've never done it on this scale... I'd need your help, beloved. But, there'd have to be less of us here. Redheads included. And, and, and," Shit! she forces herself onward, "it'd be good to evacuate... just in case."
Crap. That didn't come out well at all.
Random nods, encouraging agreement. "Piano, it is. Steady on the beat. What do you want to do and how can we help?" His voice sounds remarkably steady and like cadence. He looks to Vere and raises an eyebrow.
Vere meets the king's eyes and nods, then turns to Robin. "This is your battlefield, my beloved," he tells her. "I follow your lead. Tell me what you need me to do."
"Piano... beat." Robin nods almost in time with the King. That made sense to the girl. "I-I don't know if it's piano, Majesty. Or the beat. I didn't get a chance to Hear it before it was all cacophony. And, and Jovian keeps tearing it." She looks over at her hero brother with sad loving rueful eyes. Unconsciously, she scoots nearer to Vere.
Curling up against her beloved, she looks up at him. "I-I knew, Vere. Not to kill Huon here. I knew that, really. I intended to drag him out of this Shadow. Kill him elsewhere. I know there are too many battlefields. Too many marches. Too many war anthems here. And another of us dying in this place is far, far too big a chord for it to endure." Her green eyes drift back to Jovian with a wince. A maiming on the scale that Jovian has endured is no small chord in itself.
"But Huon has a large voice. And he can't be here while I'm trying to... compose-weave?" Robin struggles for the word before giving up. "The other voices... instrumen... perfor... shit," the girl shakes her head, there's no right word for it, but she struggles on, There's you... I'd need you here so I can Hear your... youness. To reweave-retune? I guess.
"The other big voices - me I know. I can compensate. You, Majesty? I-I don't know. You're very, very... heavy-loud. Can you just... play-be background/support?" Robin knows he's a percussionist but still. "Redheads. No. I'd be too... affected to... work well.
"And Mother." The girl shakes her head. "No clue. Vere? I don't have a clue how she sings-weaves into this."
Robin looks at the two men and realizes that she's drifting pretty badly. She swallows and tries to focus on their questions.
"I-I need Huon and Jovian gone from here. I need time to Hear this place; time when I'm not under attack or negotiating or being a Goddess or anything. I need to find out what is blocking the King's perception of the Order here. And I need to see if it is the same thing that made me see... Black Road symptoms here. I need to find out how Mother is woven into this place's symphony. And, and, and if I get those things, then I'll need protection and time and I-I might be able to heal this Shadow."
Robin grimaces at the end of her speech. So very much of what she is thinking is outside of her vocabulary that she knows she sounds crazy. Crazier.
Vere listens to her with an intent gaze, and when she finished he gives her a small smile and nods to show he followed her and understood. He mouths the words, "Well done," but does not speak them aloud.
Random grins. "Someday you need to talk to Soren. He gets unspeakably brilliant, too. So, if I understand it, I get Jovian out of here, Vere negotiates a cease-fire with some people and maybe steals some others away as a safety measure, and we let Huon go, and help him go if possible. Then you do something and it gets fixed or something. I'm not sure I have all the details, but that's the Big, Big Picture. Right? What did I miss? My part seems easy. What about the dragons?"
"They should go with the refugees," Vere answers. He turns to look at Kourin. "You and yours should be away from here in case things go wrong, and you will be able to act as guards for those who are leaving."
Kourin looks like she may be about to speak, and then stops.
Robin nods to Vere. "Yes, yes. Refugees, not hostages." She clarifies to Random. Then looks over to Kourin as well. It's her choice. Refugee-guards would probably be a good idea, but Robin-guards might be needed as well. And dragon song is typically very, very good indeed. But Vere is definitely a better stager than herself so she's willing to go with his recommendations.
He looks back at the king. "Lord Worth is here with The Kiss, Your Majesty. I'd suggest that once we have determined who will leave and who will stay we trump someone from the family to come here and lead them away. Solange, perhaps, if she is willing."
Squawk! Robin's reaction is immediate and negative and she grabs Vere's arm in alarm. "NO! NO! Not Solange! Someone else!"
Her green eye's flare and her face twists in a snarl. All of Robin's feathers are up as she forces words past her hissing and spitting, "Danu! B!tch-c^nt!" Worse epithets follow. "She's got a breeding agenda, Vere! And she plays dirty!"
Sadness flows over the Ranger as she glances to the bronze corpse that was once her brother's soul-partner and a close friend of hers. Another curse rips through her. "Solange shouldn't face that."
She seems pretty firm on the point.
Random just looks at her, confused. "Well, that's emphatic, if not well understood on my part."
Vere nods. "Very well, then, my love," he says calmly. "Perhaps we should not discuss that aspect of the matter any further, in this place."
Robin nods mutely. Damn words; too little, too many. She can't ever get the mix right. But Vere's tone of voice and his careful considered words let her grasp another rhythm instead of her own fury/panic.
"Wonder what Mom's deal was...." she murmurs sadly.
He turns once more to his betrothed. "The question of your mother, I think, we leave until you have had a chance to examine the tapestry of this world. Is that your thought, as well?"
"Yep, no use anticipating - it's gonna be too far off the charts." She makes a worried little ticcing sound.
Random nods. "Right, I got lost in the flood. What's next on the agenda? Is it 'now we do what we said we'd do?' Who's facilitating this meeting, anyway?"
Vere smiles, a trifle grimly. "My original thought was that however angry Huon might be at Bleys and Oberon, he would still most likely follow the family protocols, and engage in conversation upon meeting a new member of the family. And since he is a stranger in my land, I intended to invoke the right of the host, and have him tell me of himself first. Then, I thought, I might have a good chance to convince him to depart my land speedily, since he had no reason to wish war with Gerard and Julian. That was before...." and his eyes go to the body of the great bronze dragon.
"Now," he says, "Things have changed, and he owes blood-debt."
Robin looks up at Vere, hearing his words - "my land" and "blood-debt" - and his scotched plan - "family protocols" and "right of host." So very different from herself. And so very needed to balance out her own idiocies. She nods.
"But he has to pay elsewhere, right? No more kin-on-kin here." There comes the slight sound of Robin's teeth grinding before she forces herself on. "Jovian out with King first, evacuation plan with The Kiss soon - dragons or no to be decided, lead by to be decided. Robin to listen, listen, listen. Vere to... help." She doesn't want to go into how just now. Her own words are starting to tangle again. "Butt... how to vamoose Huon, claim blood debt, pronto?"
Random coughs. "Don't expect to do much more harm to him than you could do to Caine or Gerard. Also, I generally frown on Familicide, so even if you can, don't kill him. I don't want to set a precedent for killing relatives just because they're obstreperous bastards." Random grins. "Probably the most effective thing you could do is help him find Bleys. Barring that, maybe just get people out of his way. He's not interested in this place, he's just pulled here."
Vere nods, thoughtfully. "What about this?" he says, and while he is turned to address the king his eyes are watching for Robin's reactions. "You majesty takes Jovian back with you, where he can get good care. If I may suggest, it might be wise to have Aunt Fiona examine the soul binding I have created, as well. I think it unwise for both Robin and myself to approach Huon, so I suggest she return immediately to my mother and sister to discuss evacuation. I should speak with the two witch queens, if they have not yet left. They had just made the suggestion that I go to their capital city to discuss terms of truce. I will suggest to them that it makes more sense for me to seek to convince Huon to leave our land quickly. If necessary, I can discuss eschatology with them."
"Kourin," he says, turning back to her. "If you, or one of your other fliers if you prefer, would be so kind as to fly me to Huon's encampment, I would be grateful. I think the risk is small, although I cannot say it is non-existent."
"How? How long can we wait? We need to be with our partners for a while."
Vere nods, ackowledging her concern, and says, "I undertstand. We will address that question momentarily."
He looks then to Robin once more. "If things go badly with Huon, I have trumps of my father and of Corwin. I can escape if it comes to it."
Robin lets him speak, gritting her teeth with storm clouds gathering.
"Gaah! Ssssss! Veeeeeeereee! Love you, love you. But situation urgent!" She's shaking, trying to get the words out. "World may last. Jove not. Me not."
"Majesty! If more talk needed - elsewhere, elsewhen. My brother out NOW! Please!" The girl turns pleading eyes to the King as she kneels down by Jove's still form. A horrific sense of time passing is flooding through her. "Ppllleeaassse. Ve-eere," she looks to her beloved for support. "Jove in danger. Like Gerard. Must le-eave. Understand?"
As she cradles her brother in preparation to hand him to Random, Robin tries to soften her next words. "Love? Sorry. Not going back. No p-priestesses." Robin spits the word. "Hate their Goddess, Vere." Those green eyes turn sorrowful. "Sorry, beloved."
Looking at Random, Robin practically vibrates with conflicted emotions. "Houn. FINE! Family." Her mouth twists in distaste. "Orders. Fuck."
"Vere? You call Bleys?" She taps her chest over the pouch pocketed therein. "Find out where he is. Send Huon that-a-way. But Vere, please love, understand risk. He harms you? Nothing will save this world from me." Promise, threat and prediction; all in a fine Robin word-mess.
Random goes over and picks up Jovian in a fireman's carry, as if he's a ragdoll. Kourin looks very surprised. "OK, me and the big guy are on our way."
"T-th-th.." Robin decides to just settle for a nod of heartfelt gratitude to her King as he takes her brother from her.
Random pauses. "Um, Vere, you OK with this plan? I wouldn't want to be the one who sent him to Bleys. Someone will get mad. My plan, which does not have to be yours, is Operation Hell-Out-Of-Way. Or 'Path of Least Resistance'. People generally like that one. There you go, that's your free advice from your Dads' punk younger brother. Take it if it helps."
Vere nods his head. "My thanks, your majesty," he says. "I will consider your words."
A series of worried clicks rattles off of Robin's tongue. Huon landslide and the King says stand aside.
But behind the Ranger's eyes, the flames of Garnath still burn. And the sound of rifleshot echoing off Kolvir still rings in her ears. She's a defender of Amber and has been since birth. It's just not... possible for her to get out of the way of an army invading Amber. Rebma. Whatever. Too close.
For her, Bleys and Huon destroying one another -- somewhere else -- is the best possible outcome she can imagine. However, as she can't bring herself to even consider Card contact with that red-headed bastard, it'll be up to Vere to decide what to do.
Random pulls out a trump and is gone in a rainbow coruscating flash of light. The King and Jovian are gone, but Vere isn't sure he actually used the card.
Vere lifts an eyebrow, but doesn't take any time to ponder the question. "My love," he says. "Let me have Bleys' card, and I will contact him. Do you think the dragonriders can have some time to be with their partners before we move on?"
He holds one arm out as he speaks. It could be a request for the card, or it could be the offer of an embrace. He leaves it to Robin to interpret as she will.
Robin blinks rapidly, somehow surprised that things are actually moving at the speed she desired. But at the sight of Vere's arm stretched out to her, Robin utters a heartfelt keen and stoops into the shelter his arms. There, she buries her head in his shoulder and just shakes for a moment. Vere can feel her head nod.
"Y-yes. T-tt-time. D-d-distance. Needed."
Vere holds her tightly to him, and is silent, waiting for her to recover enought to be able to talk once more.
After a short while of shuddering, some odd gulping noise and miscellaneous hisses, whistles and ticks, Robin finds herself breathing in time to Vere and his slow calm rhythms.
"Sorry, love," she murmurs leaning back to look up into his eyes. A rueful sigh ripples through her. "Think the King will put me in one of Uncle Caine's special cells after that display?"
"Keep you in mind for diplomatic missions to realms he is annoyed with, more like," Vere answers with a smile. He tightens his grip and drops his face to hers for a kiss.
Robin gives herself to the kiss fully and freely, putting all of herself, her breath and her life into loving her miracle of a man.
After a long, long time, he finally relaxes his grip and raises his head from hers, continuing to gaze down into her eyes. He holds her quietly for a while longer, then gives her one last squeeze and releases her.
"I am to Huon next, I believe," he says. He frowns, and glances up towards the hill. "If you think we have time, I would like first to go and speak with the men of Huon's, if their spirits still linger. They died in confusion and surprise, so I think they will. They might be able to give me a better sense of where he is now." His eyes narrow. "And there is no reason their passage from this life should be easy..."
Reluctantly leaving the shelter of Vere's arms, Robin nods. With a quick glance to Kourin, she nods again. "Yes. Slower now." A little ruffle shifts through her shoulders. Vere's last statement is meet by Robin's first 'smile' of the afternoon, an evil one. But one that quickly fades as Robin starts thinking again.
"Do you want me there when you talk to them? Or would I disturb the..." she waves her hand a little aimlessly, "whatever?"
Vere grins at that. "You shall not disturb the 'whatever' in any way," he answers. You might find it boring, however. Most like, you shall hear my side of the conversation, and nothing else. It is quite like listening to a madman talk to himself."
"Hon, you do that for me all the time." Robin says with a rueful shake of her head. "The least I can do is return the favor. Besides," she ruffles again, "I think I want some time with my partner too." She smiles to him.
"I would like you to be there," he answers seriously. "You might think of questions I do not." He takes her arm and begins to head for the hill. "We have a general plan now," he says as they walk. "And many details will have to wait for the moment. But let us begin to fill in such as we may. While I go to speak with Huon, what will you be doing?"
"Listenin'," she says. "I-I've never even considered something on this scale before and I need to figure some things out. Think it through at least a little before I start. My biggest worry?" Robin snuggles up against Vere. "I'm beginnin' to hate this place more and more. The longer I stay here. If I try to heal it while hating it... Cockatrice reversed. For sure." A worried frown tugs at her lips.
Looking up at Vere, Robin's eyes are deeply green and bottomless. "That's why I need you there for the real thing, Vere. I need to hear your... feelings for this world. Hear your chords. Maybe find something of your father's echoes in those... I dunno. It's... not a real verbal thing." She shrugs.
Vere walks silently for a short while, his arm in hers, his step matching hers. Finally he says, "I regret that I could not show you the Isles in better days. You've seen her nobles and priestesses, but not the common folk, the sailors, hunters and farmers, the craftswomen and traders, living their lives as best they can, and wanting only peace and prosperity for their families. You have not had a chance to run in her woods, unhampered by concerns of war, to ride the swift horses of the great isles, to sail the firths and straits of the lesser isles. Oh, there is terror in the Isles, make no doubt of that, but there is glory, too. The Goddess has shown you her dark face, I know not why, but like Oberon she has many moods, and many faces, and some are gentle and loving. I would have taken you to see the dolphins at play, the doe guarding the newborn fawn, the osprey and the hawk on the wing over the great mountains. Oh, my love, if we could have come at a better time, then you would have known the Isles as I do, and you would have loved them, as they would have loved you."
There is moisture in his eyes, and he closes them for a second, his grip tightening on her arm. Then he masters himself, and opens his eyes, his face once more under control.
Robin's eyes are glowing and her smile grand. "See?" she says in a humming voice, "I knew that you were.... you!" Her kiss is immediate and powerful.
After as long as Vere needs, Robin untangles herself from her wonderful amazing man so he can walk. But she does remain tightly at his side. "Soooo.... you need me on the Huon thing? Sneak you in? Stake out a high spot, rifle in hand? Something else?"
Vere is smiling as they walk up the side of the hill, and there is joy in his voice as he answers her. "I was thinking that a grand entrance might be called for. While we are here," he gestures with a nod up the hill they are climbing, "I want to examine the cannon, to get an estimate on upper range. We will tack on a safety margin as well, and call that minimum elevation for the dragons from here on in, until we are back in safe territory." His smile turns predatory. "Unless they are called upon to attack, of course, and then I recommend a dive straight down to flaming range. I doubt the cannon can fire straight up, and dragon fire should detonate their powder and burn any wooden support structure."
He shakes his head. "Ah, but that is getting ahead of your question. So, what I think I would like, once we have located Huon's encampment, is to have Hoshith teleport directly to the ground from out of sight range. I dismount, Hoshith vanishes, and I announce myself as Huon's nephew and demand an audience.
"You, meanwhile, do whatever you think is best. Sneak around the encampment and listen to get a feel for the troops, perhaps. Or observe from above on dragonback, to get a good line of sight on how far their forces extend, and of what type of troops they consist."
He looks down at her. "I am making this up as I go along, you know."
"Best way, in my opinion." Robin shrugs. "Too much stuff keeps coming up for me to plan anything."
"You'll have to confirm with Kourin, but I don't... think the guys can do the poof thing on the ground. When I was thinking about ambushing Huon's ass, I was giving myself maybe a twenty-to-thirty foot drop." She raises an eyebrow to her beloved. "I seriously doubt that you'll have any problem with that. Might not be as dignified as you would want though."
"And frankly, I think I'd tag Manarth for this job, not Hoshith. Even without the memory/time-sense thing, I think Hoshith might be running a little... uneven for a while.
"Where I should be? Beloved? Can you actually make a picture like is on the Cards? Robin's nose wrinkles in distaste.
"Leaping from the back of a dragon shall be sufficiently impressive, I should think," Vere says with a smile. "And I should have realized that teleporting in too close to the ground could be dangerous, too much danger of something moving into the space just before one appears.
"As to the cards," he shakes his head. "No, I do not understand that at all. A pity, it would prove useful."
He looks thoughtful. "I wonder," he says slowly. "If, just in case Huon should prove to be less reasonable than I expect, and if he has persuasive methods of interogation, whether it might not be better if I do not know exactly what you are doing or where you are? We can arrange a signal and a time, say that within a watch after I enter the camp I shall return to the same spot and run my hand through my hair, so...." he strokes the coloured locks on his right temple, smiling at her as he does so.
Robin grins as he touches their shared symbol burnt into his being.
"If I do not do this, then I am under duress, or was forced to flee through Trump. Contact King Random to see if either my father or Corwin has reported to him that I am with them, if not, then I am held against my will."
The Ranger nods in agreement. "K." Though her slight frown says she's still not really happy about risking Vere in an enemy camp, but he gets to do what he wants.
Digging into her front pocket, Robin pulls out the beaded case. "I... think I want this one back, beloved," she says handing him the Trump of Bleys. "And please - don't call him from anywhere near here. I don't think I could handle it if his curiosity moved him the same way the King's did."
Vere slips the card into his pouch, alongside the cards of his father and Corwin. "I will call him from somewhere between here and Huon's camp," he says. "We can make a stop on a mountaintop for the call. And then, I think, I will return the card to you before I enter Huon's camp. No point in offering a temptation to our newly found uncle, I should think."
"Wouldn't look good if it turned up on a strip-search either." Robin adds wryly.
"Great heavens," the girl sighs, rubbing her eyes. "Soooo many enemies. Turning up faster than new cousins crawl out of the brush. And we keep losing old cousins.... and brothers." She finishes in a small voice.
The Ranger looks up a Vere sadly. "I'm getting tired, Vere. Maybe... maybe that's why I'm insisting on this thing. For a place I don't even like. Even though both Dad and the King say the shadow will hold for a while... It's, it's as if I can fix just one thing, make just one thing right, there's hope. I dunno..." she trails off.
Vere turns to her and pulls her into his arms once more. "No second guessing," he says with mock severity. "That is my failing, and I am jealous of it. Yours in an impetuous rush to action, remember?"
"You're right," she says, fondly thumping him with her forehead. Squeezing Vere tightly, Robin looks up into his eyes. "Okay. Let's go mess with a cannon and some mess-deserving spirits and see what kind of trouble we can stir up." She grins.
He returns the grin. "Have I mentioned recently that I love you?" he asks.
She tilts her head and just sparkles at him. This is the type of moment that needs no words.
He leans down and gives her a quick kiss, then straightens once more. "Onward," he says. And he turns and leads her up the hill, to where he saw the bodies previously.
"With you, gladly." Robin replies and holding Vere's arm walks with him up the hill into the next bit of future.
Last modified: 7 November 2006