Signy rises in time to see the dawn out her window. Summoning a page, she sends for coffee and leaves word for Brennan and Raven to join her in her room when they rise.
She mulls over the previous night while she finishes the first round of coffee, before sending for another, larger container plus some extra cups.
With an unerring instinct, Brennan arrives shortly after the coffee does. As he was yesterday for Quicksilver, he is armed but not armored.
"Good morning. When did you get in?" he asks, while pouring some of the coffee. It's been a while since he's had any Ghenesh brew, and the aroma alone is enough to spark a memory of an invisible moonrider sitting on a log, watching him and Bleys a long time ago. He hadn't been saying anything particularly sensitive since he got here, but this conversation might be different. So while Signy answers, Brennan takes a hard astral look around the area to make sure they didn't send the same guy to try the same trick.
"Morning," Raven says as she also enters. "Ran into her on the road about midday, at a place that made me think of a few ports I've been in. Food wasn't bad, didn't get stabbed, but plenty of unfriendly looks. Eaten at worse."
Signy offers a wry smile of agreement at Raven's assessment of the food from last night. She perches on the bed, resting her back against the headboard as she allows the steam and heat to waft up from her cup of coffee, leaving the two chairs in the room for Brennan and Raven.
"I'm still not quite up to time in Shadows," she notes ruefully. "I spoke with the King briefly, and then collected a small group and we headed out. I don't think it was a full-on Hellride, but we moved pretty quickly and didn't stop until we got to here, and then somehow found our way to where Raven was." She pauses, considering for a second if it was truly random meeting like that, before continuing.
"I've got a token of safe passage from some Moonrider known as The Shield, so I need to find him to return it and not cause an incident, and also talk to the Marshall about his daughter. Or not, the King wasn't very firm about that, I hope because he was worried about overlap and potential conflicts with your mission."
Her last statement is probably tongue-in-cheek.
Maybe.
"The topic of First-to-the-Frey has come up," Brennan says, "Mostly in regard to marrying her into the Family as quickly as possible, with the thought that this will instantly paper over the hostilities between us. The Shield hasn't come up, that I know of." He looks at Raven for corroboration or dissent. "And it sounds like this person would be introduced by name and title."
Raven shakes her head. "Not that I've seen or heard."
He continues: "I myself spent most of a frustrating day stonewalling and getting stonewalled by Sir Quicksilver in return. A fair summary of our positions would be that they don't think they did anything wrong in the Sack of Amber, and we disagree and are not inclined to give them credit for good behavior during the exile. And it all seems... not quite pointless, but definitely of questionable point. Because on the one hand Sir Quicksilver is of the opinion that with Oberon's death and Amber's fall, all reason for hostility is ended. In theory, none of it necessarily is inherited by King Random or Xanadu. On the other hand, he had no good answer at all when I brought up their Queen's attack on our King. Those don't seem like compatible positions to me. I didn't give any of the details of the attack because personally I don't think he knew about it."
"Sounds like it was all a bit pointless. About all I got done was playing tourist," Raven says dryly. "And I'm pretty sure that short of walking into the woods alone to see who wants to take a bite, that's all I'm gonna get by wandering around outside this monastery. City's tame. Outside the city - well, they'll take you for whatever they think they can get away with because they ain't happy, but if there's anything going on, they ain't stupid enough to talk about it to random strangers."
Signy listens to Brennan's recap, not interrupting to pepper him with too many questions. "This may be a sensitive point, but are there many on our side that would still be looking to settle scores over the Sack?" She thinks back, recalling her brief conversation with the King. "I think he's definitely in favor of anything that allows any tensions to keep going down, but he might also have a similar concern about if there's camps over here that might not just let bygones be bygones either."
"Right now, the only opinions on that which matter are those of the Royal Family, since nobody knows of a durable Shadow Path. Without that, the avenues for mischief are limited. And although my father apparently had some dealings with them after the war, the fact that no one has made a Shadow Path probably means no one in the Family is nursing a grudge. Probably. Worth keeping our ears open for any unknown members of our generation who went missing or died in the conflict, though. And that calculus will change if a peace deal puts them up in elbow reach-- then the people at large get a vote, too," Brennan says. "And I just spent several hours pressing home the point that many in Xanadu still remember that sack.
"But that might go both ways-- I don't know if there's a faction of Moonriders who are nursing a grudge over their exile. But cynically, I expect there is. Just a hunch. And if there is, we have to know who leads it."
"Don't know why there wouldn't be," Raven agrees. "There's usually at least one that's gonna hold a grudge forever. Only really a problem if they've got the power to do something about it, which we ain't gonna know until we find 'em. But we're racking up factions to look for here, aye?"
Signy sighs, and takes a drink from her still-steaming mug of coffee.
"Well, the Marshall is going to be showing up in a few days. I can at least start with the one that gave me this," she says, pulling out a large, heavy coin that has an unusual metallic shimmer to it and giving it a flip in the air before tucking it back away. "I'm worried that the Marshall heads up a more militant faction that maybe favors something a bit more direct and confrontational, so we'll see what sort of impressions that we start to get when they get on the scene."
She pauses, before looking at Raven and Brennan quizzically. "They don't have good Shadow Paths, but can travel through Shadow. Is that because they don't have access to the Pattern in Tir, and so are cut off from some of the Family gifts, or do they have different Gifts than we do?"
"Different gifts, I think. Near as I can tell, they take a naturally occurring Shadow Path and if it doesn't take them in the direction they want to go, they undo it and try again," Brennan says. I don't think that's limited to whatever Royal Family they have, but I think it's something they have to be initiated into. Before you ask, I have no idea what that might be.And I share your fear that the Marshall is in charge of the martial faction," he says. "Don't know it for certain-- I only met him once and I'm trying to keep an open mind. But he did seem like the type to carry a grudge. Hence, sizing this place up for factions.
"So we've got a rapidly narrowing window of time before the Marshall arrives-- what's the agenda for today?"
"Open to a target so we ain't wasting time," Raven says, frowning. "We got a lot of stuff to stick our noses into, even aside from the faction thing. There's finding this Shield, and any other formal stuff we didn't get done already. There's whatever is happening with Sir Firumbras. Not sure we ought to leave our talking horse friend completely unsupervised, but I also ain't sure yet what his brand of being on his own side looks like. That's just the list of what I'm seeing, though."
Signy gives Brennan's query a shrug. "My main task doesn't start until the Marshall gets here, so if there's anyone that might give us answers that are at least not deliberately misleading I'd love to talk to them to try and figure out who I'm dealing with."
She opens her mouth again briefly, before closing it with whatever other thought unsaid.
Brennan sounds like he's in brainstorming mode as he says: "There's the historians or lore-keepers. There's the religious philosophers-- I'm not sure if that's the lore-keepers by another name, though. There's finding this Shield person, which doesn't sound like it needs to wait on the Marshal. There's understanding the situation between the Moonriders and the native population of this place. Signy, you'll notice it soon if you haven't already-- this place," he gestures to the building around them, "is designed to control the local population more than to defend it. Not sure if there's anything more to do on that point for the moment. That's all before the Marshal arrives-- there's more, after. Am I forgetting anything?
"And I think the religious types have to be assigned to me, because I think that's who Brand was talking to," he says.
"Figuring out the native folks ain't a short project," Raven says bluntly. "It's gonna take time; they've got less than no reason to trust anyone that walks out of this place, and there's not much point doing much of it in town here. Folks 'round here are all mixed up with the Moonriders by blood or greed, and they ain't going to make waves easily. We need the folks that are mad enough to talk. That's why I ended up out at that inn, and I couldn't tell ya if I did anything but line the innkeeper's pockets. Fastest way to get anywhere there is going to be taking a walk alone into the woods where they warned us of ambushes to see if anyone's willing to talk first and stab second, and that's iffy for enough reasons that it's probably best saved for last."
Signy looks at Raven. "I wonder if there's anyone in this place that might be able to provide us an introduction. I have to imagine that there's at least a few that are sympathetic, if not outright working to pass information along."
She pauses, before wondering out loud "And I wonder if anything's being planned based on our being here."
She frowns briefly at the thought, before dropping it as unproductive at this point. "I can get started on seeing who I can find that can talk to me about their token. This is definitely much more than just some pressed piece of metal, so if nothing else I may be able to strike up some conversations in the smithies and forges."
"Understood," Brennan says to Raven's assessment-- it would have been too easy, any other way. "Troops led by Moonriders will slice through most other forces. Might be worth subtly getting the word out that forces exist which can fight them and win. Hope can be a powerful motivator. Maybe a group of Knights can get that done. I don't want to pick a fight here in town just to prove the point, though.
Raven nods in agreement.
"Another thing on the Ante Marshal timeline is a call to Bleys. I'm open to suggestions of now to get advice, or tonight to deliver a more complete report, if either or both of you want to join the call. Oh, and speaking of Trumps, Signy, do you have a way to get out of here fast if you need to? Trumps, Sorcery, something like that?"
"Might not be terrible to have us all there," Raven comments. "Make sure we got all the pieces."
Signy nods her agreement at Raven's words. "Yeah, I'd like to be there for that. The King said that we should feel free to reach out for help at any point if we had questions or concerns."
Brennan's initial comment triggers something in her mind. "Oh, I've got a few Knights with me, too. A couple I think are part of Edan's organization, and I've also got one of my men from the Plane with me as well."
She pauses, before answering his question. "The only card I have is one from my brother that he gave me, but I haven't spoken to him since he walked out of the big get-together."
She pauses again, before giving Brennan a piercing gaze, eyes starting to narrow slightly. "He was upset about the Queen. Do you think he might resurface here?"
"Oh, that would be all we need. Let's go with, 'I sure hope not,'" Brennan says. "The reason I asked is, the King suggested Raven and I have escape routes planned if things really go south. I can use Sorcery, and Raven has my place-card of Amber. A card of your brother is good as a back-up, but a person can always decide not to answer, whereas a place answers as long as it still exists." Redhead training kicks in and compels him to add, "Mostly.
"As for calling Bleys, no time like the present," he adds. If neither Raven nor Signy obect, or have something else to discuss before, Brennan will place a card on the table, call Bleys with it, and rest his arms on the table so Raven and Signy can easily make contact and join the call.
Bleys answers quickly. Behind him is a wide expanse of ocean. One arm is as full extension and Brennan wonders if he's hanging from something?
"Hello nephew! How goes the diplomancy? If you need to come through I'll have to get somewhere more stable."
"Hello, favorite uncle. No rescues necessary, at least not for the moment. I have Signy and Raven here with me. We call partly to give status and partly to seek advice." He gives Signy and Raven time to join in the call.
"Sailing, or hang-gliding?" he asks.
Signy reaches over to rest her hand on Brennan's forearm, joining in on the connection. "Hello, Uncle," she says as the connection is made.
Raven joins from Brennan's other side. She nods and says, "Sir," but she can't help a quick scan of the horizon when she registers the sea view.
Blue seas, choppy, whitecaps (so probably near to land, or at least shallow water/reefs nearby). Tides are nothing to speak of. Seabirds, so near a nesting site.
"Free-climbing. Bit of a negative slope at the moment. Someone needs a lesson in the limits of their 'impregnable cliffside redoubts."
Bleys resumes climbing. "What can I help you with?"
Brennan looks at Signy as if to say, this is why place cards are better than people cards for an escape route-- you can always get someone at an inconvenient moment.
"Unsurprisingly, the Moonrider position in these negotiations -- as put forth by their Eldest, Sir Quicksilver, as the Marshall is not yet here-- is that they want back into Tir-na Nog'th, they want it as soon as possible if they can't have it today, and they consider any deal made with King Oberon as null and void after his death. They are also... disinclined to consider that the Sack of Amber is an event in living memory and that those who lived through it might be reluctant to grant them the high ground on a whim. As a potential upside, Quicksilver at least also considers any reason for war between King Oberon and the Queen to have died with Oberon as well. It's legally consistent to consider Xanadu as an unrelated state rather than a successor state, I'm just not sure it fits the facts on the ground. Which facts include the Queen's direct attack on the person of King Random. I'm actually not entirely sure Sir Quicksilver even has all of the details on that. So one thing I'm looking for is confirmation from a contemporary witness," that'd be Bleys, "as to whether the sack was as bad as it is currently remembered and retold.
"Also, Raven took a group of Knights out to get a read of the larger situation. I'll let Raven fill you in on what they found. But, Family lore has it that you were involved not only in the events surrounding the Battle of Jones Falls, but also bringing them here. So I'm wondering what you remember of the place, the reasons for this specific place, any political currents of the day, that sort of thing."
Raven nods and picks up the thread. "This is a conquered place, and everything says it's the Moonriders that did it. Around the monastery here, it looks pretty tame - folks that have both Moonrider and native kin, and those that are too greedy or too scared to do anything but business with the powers that be. Outside the city, they're angry. Don't have a good feel yet for how angry, exactly, or how organized, but we got warned against traveling alone in the woods on the way here, and me and Signy," that with a jerk of her head in Signy's direction, "had lunch at a place out there that's bold enough to fleece us and give us the stink-eye the whole time we was there. Looks an awful lot like somebody with a mind to could stir up quite a bit, if they wanted to."
Bleys nods, swinging his arm around to grab a rock behind him to pull himself towards. "That's similar recollection, although once upon a time it was fresh enough that the locals knew not to mess with the trickiest warriors in most of shadow. In part, the Moonriders didn't really ever bother to conquer the natives, and it was kind of them to warn you. Or perhaps calculated."
He moves to a ridge that looks promising. The impressive part is that he doesn't really grunt or exert himself while climbing. It looks like it's a long way down. "Don't count on doing more than annoying them without getting involved in the combat personally. You've fought, what, 3 of them, Brennan? With 2 cousins in a ground picked by Benedict?
"Father and I brought in a troop of Altamerean knights to hammer them against the anvil that was Benedict's guard at the pass. The Altamereans are a different generation of refugees from Tir, and have their own problems with the Gheneshi, so it was easy for Oberon to get their agreement.
"So, the question? How bad was the sack? Let me put it to you like this. Some of us remembered the wars, and more didn't. Getting sucked back into a war by accidental time-travelers is going to be an outsized event. It's probably somewhere in between what they remember and what got written about in the songs and sagas and broadsheets of the day. It was more than just breaking into the cheesemongers and taking all the brie, but the city did not burn down."
Bleys pulls himself onto a better sloping bit, where he's not hanging over a vast drop to the sea. From here, he'd bounce of a cliff face a few times before falling to his doom.
"But I wonder why they think their obligation is over. I don't recall the exact words of the oath they made to Dad, or why they thought it was a quitclaim, but if Oberon really made peace with them, then legally, it's interesting. I would be surprised if they did not know. I wouldn't be surprised if Dad didn't tell us what he agreed to. If it's a true peace, then we need to ask sharply why they've attacked since then. And Random needs to decide if it's a valid casus belli.
"Or perhaps I should see if Edan and I can scale a tower and kidnap the queen back from them."
"Well, that would put a crimp in the plan," Brennan says. "Whatever agreement we forge with Quicksilver would need to get ratified by the Marshal, who is en route with Vialle even now. I don't think the King wants her back, though. As for their obligation, let me quote the man directly: 'Oberon is dead, and the Queen's disagreement was with her brother. There is no need to keep personal enmity beyond the generation that sparked it. Royal quarrels are not quarrels between people, but sovereigns.' There were other things, an emphasis on them not attacking while Oberon was alive. But my guess is it's bound up in the feudal mindset where deals were made between sovereigns, not states. And my feudal oath to Random was until my death or the world ends. I would not be surprised if those were the terms Oberon set.
"Which is a good segue to another problem-- it's really hard to negotiate the end of a war when you don't know the terms of the previous agreement and can't really afford to ask. So. Assuming this was all before King Random's time, and King Oberon didn't write anything down... who do you think might know? Benedict?" Benedict is the obvious answer, but Bleys may have something more concrete or out of the box.
Signy has been mostly quiet while everyone speaks, before glancing at Brennan. "If they viewed the deal as with Oberon, or only valid until the end of the world, perhaps his death or Patternfall is viewed as releasing them from the oath and they're thinking to move back to Tir, and interference from us will result in a new conflict?"
She doesn't seem overly happy at that thought.
Raven isn't terribly thrilled by that idea either, by her frown.
"There should be something official in the Amber archives in the library, but you can't rely on that. Some of the librarians have been ... less precise than one might wish. But the problem is that the Marshall may have had a private deal with Dad that was never recorded. Any contract that Dad felt was enforceable was enforceable, so there's no need for things to be formalized, as long as Dad lived forever." His tone is precisely neutral as he expresses that last position. It is the kind of neutral of which all other neutral tones are but shadows. "And also the Marshall. So even if you ask Benedict, you might get a different version, but you won't get the Marshall's version without asking that worthy knight."
Bleys continues climbing. "They're an oral culture, or moreso than us. They'd probably be thrilled to go on at length telling you about it. What we knew was the broad outlines of the arrangement; they weren't coming back to Amber and we weren't going to order a general massacre."
Bleys turns to Signy. "It's a twofold thing. One, yes, the world, worlds did end and were renewed. The black rain was a thing. Two, deals arranged by handshake tend to end with the handshakers. It's often considered a courtesy to invite the heirs back to the negotiating table, but not strictly necessary, especially if you weren't very pleased with the outcome of the prior engagement.
"So, yes, to date we've been circling and sparring. Although the queen was perhaps a stronger opening move than they intended."
"That's the situation I think we're in, then-- either the treaty died formally with King Oberon, or the treaty died informally with him. I think it's worth getting some time with their historians and separately some time with their priestly caste." Brennan says a word or a phrase in Uxmali, something that manages to sound like liquid metal and solid edged metal at the same time, for Bleys, and then gives a candidate translation for Raven and Signy, "The Speaker-- maybe Speakers?-- for the Moon. And eventually back to Quicksilver. I don't care for him personally, but I'm beginning to wonder if he's caught in a two-sided game, trying to strike a deal that neither King Random nor the Marshal will reject out of hand.
"Know anything about them? The priestly caste or Quicksilver, I mean."
Raven nods. "Pretty sure they want us to believe that the priests and the warriors act in balance with each other," she adds. "Ain't clear yet how much of that's just talk."
Bleys seems amused. "Similarly to how we always work in concert for the greater good of Amber, I suspect." He looks up, calculating something perhaps. The view behind him continues to be a dizzying height that would make a person who wasn't afraid of falling nervous. "Which is to say that they probably do, unless they think it's important."
Without moving, he draws his attention back to Brennan. "We were encouraged not to fraternize with the Moonriders, after the battle. It was easy to comply, because Fiona had a son with one of their enemies and Eric was cozying up to the Weir, who were also their enemies, and they weren't sailors, and probably the only person who might've was Deirdre, and she was trying to get into Weyland's ... good graces at the time. So nobody had any time for ancient defeated enemies that Dad thought we should leave the hell alone.
"I think Paige has an Altamarian knight in her service. He'd know more about their priestly caste, I'd expect. Or one of the high-ranking people from Weirmonken. If they have priests, those are the ones to look out for. Anyone could betray you under the right circumstances, but a priest will convince himself that it's moral to do so."
"Ah, yes, Rides-in-the-Vanguard," Brennan muses, after dredging the name up from his memory. "It would be... provocative to bring him here at this moment, even if he consented to it. So, maybe later for that. But it would be prudent to consult him if I have the means. You wouldn't happen to have a Trump of Paige I might borrow, would you?"
Bleys moves his hands to get a more secure grip on the cliff and reaches downwards, out of sight. His arm comes up with a deck of cards. He cuts it, one handed, and holds it towards Brennan and the others. "Hers is on top. Just ask her to send me another one, or that one back, if she doesn't have a spare."
Signy frowns a little. "So every one of them is either a priest or a warrior? There's no cooks, or farmers, or anything? Or are the people in this Shadow that don't like them the bottom-most that couldn't make it as a priest or warrior?"
Raven shakes her head. "Don't think so," she answers. "I mean, there might be some that used to be priests or warriors about, but it's a lot more like two peoples shoved together and hating it 'round here than it is folks that resent the ones that didn't wash out."
Brennan takes the offered deck with thanks, and places it face down on the table.
He waits to hear Bleys' take on the Moonrider social structure.
Bleys reaches down and adjusts his jerkin. "The army that broke out and sacked Amber was likely composed of warriors. But that was some time ago and Ghenesh was already an established place. Established enough that it was where the Moonriders were thought to be from. Do they intermarry, or are the caste rules strictly enforced? Do they live slowly enough, or does the shadow time run slowly enough that they haven't had time to assimilate the natives? Comparative Anthropology isn't something that we often do, since we can usually just travel to the culture we want to visit, but it might be of use in this instance."
Bleys starts climbing up the cliff face again. Making better progress now that the slope doesn't have a negative incline.
"It's possible that they are all priests and warriors and they rely on the underclasses for necessities. Someone has to raise horses and be smiths and leatherworkers. It's also possible that they haven't shown you where their own people do those jobs. In Altamere there are definitely craftsmen who came from Tir stock."
Signy files this away, a possible excuse to go spend time at a smithy or three now filed away for future reference. Perhaps finding out how that coin was made could have some unexpected side benefits.
She pauses, that thought triggering another one. "Did they ever have a Pattern blade of their own for Tir? Could they reach out to my father about one?"
Brennan waits to hear what Bleys has to say, but looks like he wants to return to a previous topic when that's settled.
Raven likewise waits, though she's thinking about a certain Unicorn-interrupted duel as she does.
"The Patternsword of Tir-na n'Ogth is Greyswandir. Corwin has carried it as long as I've known of it."
He pauses, then begins climbing quickly. "Your father has an interesting relationship with the blades. And there are blades and blades. Deirdre's axe was made by him, and it was a thing of legends, but it was not a pattern blade."
He reaches a ledge and starts moving laterally towards a chimney. When he reaches that, his climb will be much easier.
"Have you asked your father about them?"
"Ask him if he can make a blade for Paris, when Tizon, the blade of Par-Ys, still exists," Brennan says. As usual, he distinguishes between Corwin's and Charlemagne's cities by emphasis and pronunciation.
The complete lack of mirth in Signy's smile radiates through the Trump connection.
"We weren't really on speaking terms when I left the Plain of Towers, and knowing him I don't expect time will have softened his temper any." She pauses, before adding "I do know that the greater the work the higher the price exacted to make it. Is the price for a Pattern blade only something that one of us could pay?"
"Conner was asking him some questions about the blades when we were there," Raven offers. "Not sure if any of it was about more than his, though - got called out of the room for most of it."
Bleys climbs on. "I fancy he would, given that he knows so little of the cost of the one he's been assigned. I have a great deal of optimism for that relationship, though. He's got good instincts.
"A pattern blade is attuned to a person and is a reflection of sorts of a pattern. A particular pattern, which we now think of as a particular monarch. I could give you the lecture, complete with maths, if I didn't have a date with my pattern blade at the top of this climb. I'd also need some chalk and I'd probably leave the cliff face covered in mathematical graffiti. The price is paid by the King who receives the sword, and the recipient is only in second-hand debt.
"I think Brother Corwin got very lucky by making Paris before the Queen of Air and Darkness was loose in the world. I'm not sure if he could commission a sword for Paris, but it might be related to Benedict's quondam metallic arm, if you get my meaning. And only peripherally to Par-esh, or whatever it used to be called."
Brennan thinks about that hard, with a closed expression.
"I've heard about that price paid by the sovereign more than once, but nothing beyond the fact that it exists," Brennan says. "What is it, though? Is it the same for each sovereign?"
Signy remains quiet, eager to hear her Uncle's answer.
Raven is less eager, but likewise waits for the answer.
Bleys shrugs. "There's a difference between praxis and theory, and I can tell you what the numbers say, but Oberon or one of the late queens could tell you how it really worked. Whatever it really is, it's been paid more than once.
"But not every pattern has one," he continues, squirming up the chimney betweenthe rocks. "Random doesn't have one, I haven't heard of Benedict having one. They might be due to being new, but I wonder why there isn't one for Dworkin's pattern. It should benefit the most.
"He won't say, or wouldn't to me."
"Pretty limited field of people to ask," Brennan says. "And no, there is no blade for Benedict's realm. He was hostile to the whole idea.
"Rolling back the topic, somewhat, to Jones Falls and the sack of Amber, though-- the Moonriders already had their powers over time during those events, yes? I never thought to ask directly, but everything I've heard or read indicates that they did. But the force that attacked at the sack of Amber are forces that were stranded in Tir-na Nog'th from earlier events-- when the City went out-of-phase, I believe-- so it seems they must have had those abilities even before." Brennan shrugs, "It's probably nothing, just trying to figure out the order of events and developments, and how they happened. They post-date Firumbras, certainly."
Raven frowns. "Didn't catch that, but aye, he doesn't move through time the way they do, so they had to have gotten it after. They seem pretty bent on shoving him back through time to where he belongs, though, and I can't say I don't wonder what that's going to do to all of 'em."
Bleys stops climbing and sits at the top of the chimney.
"It's not easy to change the past, at least not so far as Order is concerned. It's a lot easier to change what you say was the past. It's possible that they made up the idea of returning Sir Firumbras, and eventually believed it. It became an article of faith that they would, so they are attempting to do so.
"Seems plausible, but the fact that they have the opportunity to do so makes it seem like the past they want to create is the one that actually happened. It's easiest to change the past when what you want to do is make what actually happened, happen. If Corwin hasn't talked about Benedict's mechanical arm, ask him about it."
Brennan nods in agreement-- not about the arm, but about the closed loop nature, and Firumbras having always been sent back. There's a lot Brennan doesn't understand, but about that, he and Bleys agree.
"And the property of time predates Jones Falls. I can't remember which splinter group split off over it, it could've been the Altamareans or the Weir. But it was limited to a few of the Queen's bodyguards. The Marshall, for instance.
"I suspect but cannot prove that the Queen of Air and Darkness loaned some of her power to the Moonriders and that that was what both trapped them and saved them.
"They were amazing fighters before that, but they came down the mountain multiplying themselves, It was a horde, but the riders were each riding dozens of times. There seemed to be no end to them, but in the end, they were stoppable.
"It was father's plan that broke them, but he relied on us to execute it. I was always pleased by that. Not that he couldn't have solved it another way, but that he didn't."
"Benedict warned us about the self-multiplication," Brennan says. "Originally there was no other reason to escort them back to Ghenesh, then to prevent them from doing the same thing again. All of them that came down from Tir that day were warriors? No shopkeepers, craftsmen, merchants, families, servants, and so forth?"
Signy thinks for a moment. "It also seems that they may have a resource issue. If they add more warriors with this ability, does it drain Her further and reduce what She's capable of? How do they replace their losses?"
"Do we know who those other bodyguards were?" Raven asks. "In case we run into 'em and all."
"Let me work through those," he says, resuming his climb. He's now going up a castle wall. "I've only got a few moments before I need to concentrate and let you go, so I'll be quick.
Primus, it would have been easy for a few Tir folk who were noncombatants to escape capture, either leaving before the sack or heading over the mountains directly. But I do not know that the queen would have saved her greengrocers, considering the esteem she held for her warriors.
"Secundus," he says, turning towards Signy, but somehow not actually moving. "We don't know. They certainly lost a large number of Moon Riders at Jones Falls. Depending on birthrates, training, trauma, and such it may be that she is being stretched thin." He bites his lip. "It did take quite a bit of effort to entrap her, or so Fiona tells me. But it was possible."
"And Tertius, we didn't spent any social time with them after we captured them. Anyone who survived Jones Falls is potentially one of them, but they're likely to have ranks. You could probably ask, given where you are. 'The Marshall' and 'The Shield' almost certainly were in those ranks, but beyond that, I don't know."
Bleys suddenly ducks. He has a grin on his face.
Signy nods at her Uncle's words, but resigns herself to the conversation coming to a fairly quick close at this point.
Raven likewise nods. She'd expected an answer along those lines, but it was worth asking.
"Thanks for your advice, uncle-- you have fun storming the impregnable cliffside redoubt. And give my best to Fiona, tell her I'll check in as I can."
Bleys nods, and salutes Brennan with his short blade.
Brennan lets the others say their farewells, then covers the card with his hand, cutting the connection. After that, he shuffles his old cards into his new deck but peels the standard Amber card out of the deck and slides it to Signy: "For fast escapes," he says. "You never want to count on a person for a rescue, especially when they might be," ahem, "free climbing when you call for that rescue."
Signy sighs quietly to herself and lets her hand fall away from the now-dead connection to take the Trump that Brennan offers.
"So... I get the idea from what he said," Raven observes, "that maybe the tension we're seeing with the native folks ain't so much anything the Moonriders did as it was something that was picked about the place. Did I follow that right?"
Dame Jennet appears at the door. "Excuse me, Sir Brennan. You asked to be informed when the Marshall arrived. His party is approaching the town now."
To his cousins: "Well, that was faster than I'd wanted," Brennan says.
To Dame Jennet: "Thank you. Details, please-- how large is the party, what is its posture, etc. Most importantly, is it known if Queen Vialle is with them and how she is being treated?"
She glances briefly at Raven. "I'd hoped for a couple of days to try and answer that, but I guess that we've no such luck," she murmurs quietly before waiting for Dame Jennet to respond.
"Aye," Raven agrees wryly. "Didn't figure he'd be later than they told us, but I wasn't expecting this early. Makes me wonder if he wasn't headed this way anyway."
"The word came from a priest, Sir Brennan. 'Inform our guests that the High Marshal and his party will arrive before sunset.' Since that's perhaps a watch from now, I asked Sir Dignity to find a high vantage point and report back when he had spotted them. If they are in sight, he'll let you know. The knights are preparing to be formally introduced."
Sir Dignity arrives on the heels of Dame Jennet's description. "Sir, My Lords, there are 4 riders approaching with 6 horses. Two are armed and armored like knights, and the others do not appear to be such. More like clerks."
Dame Jennet nods. "I don't know how the priests knew before they could've known that these knights were returning without magic of some sort."
"Probably the same way they had a knack for knowing when and where we would attack and defend, in Avalon-- they cheat. They just cheat differently than we do. For now, consider it a precognitive effect and that'll be in the ballpark. We'll have a strategy session soon where we give you more details," Brennan says. He doesn't point out that it could have been a pigeon, because he doesn't believe it was a pigeon.
He does ask some followup questions of Jennet and Dignity, trying to figure out about how long it was between Jennet getting the message, and Dignity spotting them coming into sight. It doesn't seem like a long interval, but this is part of Brennan's long term agenda of figuring out how far they can see ahead and communicate back.
The two provide the requisite details. "The librarians told me where I could see them approach from and I went there. Sort of a bell tower. I could see them as soon as I got there, so I headed here. They came around a bend, so it's not like a telescope would've helped."
Dame Jennet reports that she didn't delay in coming to find them. There were a lot of people rushing around, getting ready for the arrival.
Signy looks at Brennan and Raven. "I assume that we should meet the Marshall as a group, at least for the first time. Do we want to have him deal with us as a group, or do we want to make him deal with us individually?"
"United front's better, to me," Raven says, with a shrug. "Unless we want 'em to think we aren't all on the same side. They might already be wondering, with us not all showing up at the same time."
"Group is probably best," Brennan says. "I think making them thing we're hostile to each other is probably too complicated, but even if we were... we'd still all show up to keep an eye on each other. So in that sense, nothing lost."
The temple has all the motion and orchestration of a castle whose master is arriving after a long campaign abroad. The party from Amber is offered the opportunity to greet the Marshal in the Entryway, with the knights they escorted here and Sir Firumbras.
Sir Firumbras greets Brennan and Raven, and is happy to see Signy again.
The Marshal strides in, with The Shield on his left flank. He looks ageless in a way that Oberon never did. His hair is a spiky mane of unkempt blond locks and he moves as if bones were an afterthought.
The Marshal stops and solemnly bows towards Sir Firumbras. "Progenitor, we shall have so much to speak of."
Firumbras bows back and puts his arm down on Brennan's shoulder. "My respects to you, Marshal. Do you know my friends, from Xanadu? This is Sir Brennan and two of his kinsmen, Captain Raven and Sir Signy."
The Marshal grins. "What a treasure you've brought home to us, Sir Brennan! I must say I am delighted. How fares my daughter with your King?"
Signy gives a servicable half-bow towards the Marshall, and a quick glance and nod at the Shield. "I have just come from the King, and your daughter is well and treated with honor."
"Thank you for the news," he replies.
Raven, recognizing a conversational bomb when she hears one, just nods politely to the Marshal and the Shield with a simple, "Marshal. Sir."
The Marshal nods. "Fair question. I believe she is trapped with my Queen in a sorcerous bottle by the magician Edan bin Bleys." He pauses, and nods a greeting to Raven.
"It's why I originally came here, to find out what should be done."
"And therein lies a tale, I imagine," says Brennan. "I believe we have the right to ask: Where is this bottle now, and how do you intend to proceed?"
And that's an answer Raven would like to hear too.
"We brought it with us," replies the Marshal. "To allow our priests and librarians and sorcerers to advise us on how to proceed."
"We would like to meet with your priests and librarians," Brennan says. "And, separately, to be part of that conversation."
The Marshal nods. Maybe he means "yes," maybe he means "yes, that's what you'd like."
He looks around the room and at the newcomers. "It will be some time before the priests are likely to provide any insight. And it may have a direct bearing on any talks we may wish to have regarding matters between our peoples.
"I understand that you are fully credentialed to act on behalf of Xanadu. What matters does your King wish to have discussed between us?"
"The disposition of your Queen and ours, in all their particulars," Brennan's voice carries. "The immediate cessation of trespass, armed or otherwise, into Xanadu and Avalon. And Paris, Amber and Rebma, if any such are planned. Reparations for any such past incursions. Justice for sorcerous attacks on King Random of Xanadu. Justice for any harm caused to other members of the Royal Family. The immediate cessation of all your movement toward Tir-na Nog'th.
"And any other issues which may arise as a result of these discussions," Brennan concludes.
Signy briefly reflects that her time with her father, both learning from him and also in conflict against him, serves her well in maintaining a calm and neutral outward disposition.
For the moment she refrains from adding more topics to the list while she waits to see what the Marshall comes back with. She also makes sure to keep The Shield in a position where she can watch his facial expressions while still maintaining the Marhsall as her purported focus.
The Shield, for his part, seems to be listening. He's not agreeing with any of the point, but nothing makes him react strongly. It's clear he's seen Signy, but this isn't his moment to interrupt.
Raven, for her part, nods, but she can't help but add, "And maybe making sure that decisions about what was done by one person ain't necessarily applied to everyone, if they weren't all of the same mind about it." Mostly because of the queens in the bottle and certain discussions over card decks.
The Marshall looks to Raven quickly, trying to determine what her contribution means without specifically asking her for context.
"That's quite a list, but the First did tell me you were interested in comprehensive agreements. I am not convinced we can cover so many topics in one meeting, but I am willing to talk if you are that ambitious about your goals. What do the Kingdoms of Xanadu and Amber offer for the many concessions you mention?"
"We do not consider reparations for recent attacks, justice for harm to the King or his Family, or an end to trespass as 'concessions'", Brennan says. "But it is only just that we hear any similar grievances in turn, if there is a balance to be found." Brennan's voice is diplomatically neutral, but Cambina's death, the attack on the King, and trying to swindle the whole Family into swearing fealty are going to sit like lead slugs in the balance pans.
He continues: "We are willing to consider the disposition of the Queens as a shared problem, which may cause each of us to better understand the other."
Finally: "What do we offer? First-to-the-Fray has surrendered to our cousin, Sir Conner; to the best of my knowledge she has been treated with honor and dignity. We may include her return in our negotiations. We may discuss hostages in return. It has been suggested that we consider a diplomatic marriage. But what do you want? We desire, and offer, an end to hostilities. Once we achieve that, we can discuss a true peace."
The Marshall nods. "So, the proposed broad outline is a cease fire for a specified time to give our negotiators a time to work out a true peace? It's certainly the traditional way of things."
He looks to the Shield, who looks back. They don't seem to have communicated, except they seem to have communicated.
Not for the first time, Brennan silently promises himself that he's going to find a way to listen in on the conversation that they just had.
"For our part, access to Tir is our desire and is a goal we would end hostilities to achive. The scale balances on those those two, and the rest can be hammered out to make the whole agreement just and valid. It seems we have the framework of a peace, if that is possible.
"How shall we proceed? We are not planning to delay negotiations by arguing about the shape of the negotiating table. But I would like to see a proposal for a cease-fire, including safeguards, activities to take place during the cessation, and timeframes. I intend to have consultations with the Riders and the Priests and see what we would do.
"Is that acceptable to your embassy?" The Marshall waits for some acknowledgement or indication.
"How soon would you be wanting to see a first pass of a cease-fire?" Raven asks. "If we're going to talk timelines."
Brennan's got definite ideas on that, but he keeps them to himself until the Marshal answers.
"When do you think you could have it done? We, of course, offer you research librarians and priests from the temple if you need assistance or clerks. We are most interested in the sureties, the peace talks, dispute resolution, and the dates of agreement and the end point if they are not successful."
The Shield looks at Brennan. "Disposition of captives can wait for a later date, but assurances of the safety thereof should be in the cease-fire." His voice is surprisingly soft.
Signy looks at The Shield. "First to the Fray is being treated as an honored guest of King Random while we look to find a path forward. Are there any other captives that need to be discussed besides Queen Vialle and First?"
Brennan adds, when Signy is done, "Regardless of the answer, at least an initial discussion of Queen Vialle cannot. There is too much of her condition, and the circumstances of her capture, that are not understood. We can work these two issues-- arrangements of a cease-fire, and understand the situation of the two Queens-- in parallel."
"Aye," Raven agrees. "There's questions about what she was up to, and if they were her own ideas or not, that can't wait. What comes of that might change the thrust of things that want discussion after the cease-fire is hammered out."
"Very well. We will cooperate with you on that as a good-faith endeavor while we are working out the cease-fire. Our one condition is that you do not unilaterally resolve the matter. If anything is to be done at this phase, it should be done in parallel. The Shield will be our lead on that matter."
The Shield nods or perhaps he already nodded.
Since Brennan had not been planning to kill her or kidnap her back, Brennan nods readily.
"On this condition of reciprocity, we are agreed: On the matter of the Queens we work in parallel, no unilateral solutions on either side," Brennan says. He glances around the room, noting reactions. He's been committing faces to memory, too-- presumably the Eldest is present, and if there are obvious or notable members of the priesthood, he doesn't need to know in detail who they are, just enough to describe them later.
The Eldest is present and a few other scholar/priests. Holy Librarians, might be a better title.
Raven also nods in agreement.
"There is another matter that I consider separate from the diplomacy of kingdoms," Brennan says.
"We have come here with Sir Firumbras, yes, and I consider him a true and trusted friend, yes. No, I do not wish him to depart, but no, I find I cannot stand in the way of his heart's desire." He looks up at the taller man, posing the question to him as much as to the Marshal, if not more: "If-- when, he decides to return, I ask that I be allowed to assist."
The Marshal looks over at Firumbras. "Sir Firumbras?"
Firumbras nods. "I do not know if Sir Brennan's Sorcery applies, but I would welcome his company at least as I start my voyage to my home."
"Then we will make it happen. You may need some training, Sir Brennan, if that is acceptable, for your safety."
Signy decides to refrain from pointing out that the Marshall didn't exactly clarify if they had any further hostages under discussion for the time being.
In what can only be called "an unsurprising coincidence", the Marshal refrains from inviting Signy to ask him about that...
While she waits for his answer to Brennan's request about Sir Firumbras, she looks for an opportunity to see if she can catch the Shield's attention and unobtrusively motion towards the pouch where she has his Challenge coin.
The Shield notices, but she suspects that he's not going to interrupt his boss just yet. But she definitely thinks he's noticed.
Raven, recalling the conversation at dinner the night of their arrival, takes a quick glance around to see if Lorides is around - for whatever such an inspection is worth when she's looking for a shapeshifting horse-man, of course.
Lorides is around, but is not prominent in the crowd. He entered with Sir Firumbras, but hung back.
Brennan nods to the Marshal's condition of training: "It is acceptable. Thank you."
Then he looks up at Firumbras again, and says, "Thank you, my friend."
The meeting winds down and the Marshal leaves with Firumbras.
Last modified: 16 January 2024