What a brilliant idea this was, Edan thinks to himself. Just what is needed.
Standing in the Trump booth in Xanadu, he turns slow circles until he spots Bleys's card; then he takes a deep breath and concentrates on it, willing a connection.
Bleys comes into to sharp focus quickly. He's aboard a ship and behind him is a burning city. "Edan, my boy, how nice to hear from you."
"I have good news! The baby is born. A healthy boy. You are a grandfather again." Heroically, he doesn't ask about the burning city.
Bleys beams, "At this rate, I shall best Corwin at his favorite game. How is Hannah? I expect you two will be knee-deep in child-rearing tasks for some time. Have you spoken to your sister yet?" He pauses. "She was particularly distressed by losing so much of her children's infancy to their grandmother, I suspect she'll either be a doting aunt, an insufferable pain, or both."
He nods to someone out of sight, and the ship starts to turn away from the harbor, the burning city panning behind Edan's father's head. It is a merry, destructive blaze.
"I haven't talked to Paige yet, but that's next. I need to get out to the camp in Broceliande and check on the troops. Speaking of, is your city there part of the war effort?" He gestures towards the burning city.
"Of course," says Bleys, still beaming. "I assume you mean our greater fight against these priests? It is, although it was more of a strike at their supply lines than a battle. I tried something I heard about Jerod doing, which was hitting a building I didn't like with a meteor. I made it a bit more stylish, but credit where credit is due.
"Your cousin Martin was also following up on the matter, as he was the only other capable person with a ship under his feet. I think our enemy are either traversing natural sea-shadow lanes or else they've got someone making them shadow-paths." Bleys frowns.
"Either one is a problem, but they are different classes of problems."
"I remember how much trouble it was sailing through shadow paths on the ocean," Edan says. "And that was just the route from Xanadu to Amber. It is hard to imagine how... oh. The second thing means it's one of Us. Or maybe not. No telling how many more kids out there." He takes a deep breath.
"The baby means I will be staying around Xanadu for a while. I hope I can get some substantial work done with the troops and the Lamp."
Bleys nods. "There are definitely advantages to being a strong supporter of the King's new realm. Just be sure you're not the only supporter."
He blows out his breath. It's not quite a sigh. "Your Grandmother will want to see the baby at some point. You might want to make sure you're in control of the timing and the interaction. She might be a bit much for Hannah, all at once."
Edan smiles at that. "I've warned her. We must meet with Hannah's father as well, when the baby is able to better travel." The expression changes. "I didn't see you at the debriefing, were you there? Did you get all the details of what Martin and I did?"
Bleys nods, but it's unclear which question he's replying to. "I always like to get my after-action reports directly from the commanders involved. Three parts, wasn't it?"
"Yes. In Part the First, Martin and I engaged Vialle and Fiona in one room while Folly spirited Random away in another. Fiona and I traded a lot of Sorcery in the castle, which debilitated the both of us and I think hurt Random some, but in the end it worked out. In Part the Second, Martin and I rolled Vialle up in a rug and hellrode out of Xanadu. Marius came upon us and I struck him unfairly- well, we both did- to get out. That's not going to be resolved any time soon. We ran through Shadow, rested in Fiona's old tower, ran into Chantico at the City of Brass. I made a bottle prison for Vialle and... Tir's Queen, intending to bring them both back imprisoned. In Part the Third, the Marshal caught up to us as I trapped Vialle. I got her to the edge of Broceliande before the Marshal caught up to me. We dueled to save my men, and I lost anyway. He took the bottle prison, but she may very well still be trapped in there. I did a very good job." He shakes his head. "It was so close."
Bleys listens attentively to the report, nodding sympathetically at the right places. "Especially having dueled Fiona recently. She was impressed with your attacks, by the way. And thinks you two should exchange notes at some point. You did a good job all around, based on what I've heard, both before and from you.
"As to the Marshal, what do you remember of how he fought? Did you learn anything the we can use when he next crosses blades with us?"
Edan nods at all the right places, too. "Had Fiona not fought her way out of her geas, even partially, I would have been in real trouble. I would appreciate learning from her.
"The Marshal, now...." Edan tries to keep it concise, but there were ten or more minutes of all-out fighting involved. He talks about stances, movements, choice of blade, grips, tricks, and the extent of the time-dilation he's seen the Moonriders use. He also mentions the loss of Kyauta.
"In the end, I never got through his defense. Then again, he didn't get through mine, either. Random thinks he suckered me into thinking he was better. Certainly, with the threat and his shield-bearer in the wings, I assumed my men would have been sacrificed for nothing and I still would have lost- so I stopped fighting."
"Random is an expert on gambling and bluffing, yes. Dueling ancient powers, he’s quite good, but there are a few who are better than him. He may be extrapolating based on insufficient data."
Bleys pauses. "If your affine was merely tossed back into the past, it wasn't killed. Have you looked for it? What would it do if it were separated from you by temporal diversion?"
"I have to find it first. The next trip to Broceliande, away from the Pattern, I'll use Similarity and Time to get an idea what I'm dealing with. I don't know what to do yet if I find it. Traveling Time is hard for us, and backwards is almost impossible. Easier to bring Kyauta back, it's so much more malleable, but if it changes too much in the process then I've failed. I've considered just communicating to start."
Bleys strokes his beard. "Hmm. You should do as you see fit. However, if your affine is safely in the past, that's a grievance you have against the Marshall. You might be able to have Random negotiate that into our terms. Have you asked First? You could also ask her to work with you on finding it. Assuming you're on good terms."
"Good enough terms, I think, once I formally apologized at the Stair. First was cordial to me at the palace. I will try to ask her."
Bleys nods. "If they're much like the Altamareans, then it may be an offense against her for him to damage the gift she gave you. But you might have to bring that up with him." He shrugs. "We don't have a lot of interpersonal dealings with the Moonriders to compare this to."
Edan finds that it's his turn to shrug. "I had not considered bringing that into negotiations. It wouldn't hurt to try. I suppose the next step here is to find First and see what she says. Random gave me the go-ahead to tell her all that's been going on with the Queen, so the conversation will be... spirited."
Bleys nods. "It's a fascinating gambit, and a proper application of his personal reputation for deviousness to the statecraft of Amber. He has only to ride herd on the family, while the Moonriders have the entire order of knights that might schism if they do or do not approve of a peace built on the desires of idealistic youth.
"It's not a plan I'd've come up with. But he can openly conspire with First to accomplish something he can at least use to push the Moonrider issues out of the foreground. He doesn't even have to disguise what he wants."
Edan smiles, a little. "All roads lead to First. She's still in town, I think, so I'd better hurry and check."
He blinks, and adds, "Will you be speaking to Fiona soon? I would take her up on her offer, perhaps have a meal here at the Lamp. I hope she is doing well, she looked pretty rough when Martin and I left. We all did."
"I'd be worried if she didn't show signs of exertion after fighting on that many levels at the same time. But left with Dworkin, who should take care of her. Time heals all, when it isn't breaking all, of course.
"I hear that Mother is displeased enough that she's decided to say something to the Moonriders. I do hope that someone gets to witness that.
"But yes, I'll check in with Fiona soon, or at least soon by my timeframe. I'll tender your message, if you don't see or hear from her first."
Bleys looks to his side, and more of the buring city slides through Edan's view. "I won't keep you if you wish to find First and speak to her."
"Mm. I'd best look, I've had people wander off when I've dawdled before. Very dynamic, this place. Come visit when you can, yes?”
Bleys nods. "People have a distressing tendency to do things that they want to do rather than what you or I might find most convenient. Quite vexing of them. And speaking of people wandering off, if you learn more about your Mother's Father and his people's whereabouts, I'd like to hear about it."
"In any case, I shall try to visit the three of you when I can. Or at least send warning if I hear that Mother is on her way..."
Edan nods. "Attending to the Land of Peace and the Land of Fire is a morass I didn't yet want to step in. It involves finding the afriti, resetting the magic, uprooting the Klybesians and maybe Chantico. It is a thing I need to do, but not at the expense of everything else. If I hear anything of the migration, though, I will try and let you know; if I'm not here in Xanadu I'll try and send a bird."
After that, Edan sends his goodbyes and covers the card. Then he asks around the palace staff to see where First and/or Folly has gone.
Edan is directed to the library. A page will lead him if he doesn't know the way. From the door he can see First and Folly sitting by the windows at the far end, where the light is very good for reading.
They say their goodbyes and the call drops, but Folly does not immediately let go of Syd's hand. She's staring off into the middle distance, thinking.
After a long moment, she says in a low voice, "You know I'm on team 'probably not a real baby', but if we're wrong about that...." She mutters an obscenity. "That's one hell of a decision tree."
"I don't like to worry when I can't do anything. I also don't like to speculate on what awful things she might've done to putative baby. If we can't kill her, then we need to figure out how to live with her, and if I get to thinking about what she's done to us in detail, I won't be able to act like a King.
"But I sorta wonder if it's like what Merlin told me about Chaosians. If she absorbed a person, she might have some of their traits, but if they weren't very strong she might not get any, just some energy. I think that's what you're getting at with 'not a real baby', and it could be. If she's Dad's peer, then she was a Lord of the Living Void, whatever the hell that is, other than a pretentious Metal band name."
Whatever Folly was considering, it clearly wasn't precisely that; she pales again, and swallows audibly. Folly knows what it is to be pregnant, to be aware of that other life from almost its first spark, and is clearly horrified at the thought of losing it like that.
What she says, after a long moment, is, "Poor Vialle."
"Yeah, even if she was all-in on things, I don't think she planned for it to go like this." He pauses. "I don't think Moire set all this in motion on purpose, but I can't rule out that this was three chess moves in before I saw the board and thought we were playing checkers. Maybe not, though. We started getting reports of Floaty-Woman after that."
Folly nods; as he knows from earlier conversations, she's had similar thoughts.
Random runs his fingers through his hair, mostly creating new and different furrows rather than neatening it. "I swear, I am going to need a tour in someplace where nobody has any idea who we are, we're playing first on a three-band bill on a Twosday and getting $40 bucks and fried baloney sandwiches from the bar to get my equilibrium back just from this week's bullshit."
"I'm in," Folly says emphatically, clearly on more even ground here. "I just need to steal, like, a duvet cover or something that I can turn into a stage outfit, and I'm good.
"I just need to talk to First, first."
"Well, first First things first. You've got time. We don't even have a band van anymore, so there's some tour prep to get out of the the way.
"We'll probably have to play Paris, since I'm not King there. Heh. It actually sounds sorta appealing. Sneak in, play a few sets at an underground club, leave before Corwin or Flora figure out we've visited. Trump each way so we don't have to actually spend a month away from here."
"I understand they even have their own Red Mill," Folly offers, "but I get the feeling it's not as 'underground' as we're looking for."
"And for our next tour, I want to see how Lord Ashe plays bass in Rebma."
"Well, if I can work out how to sing with my LUNGS FULL OF WATER, I'm sure he'll be fine. Assuming the tides don't pull him off beat." Folly blinks, and looks at Syd like she's tempted to ask him a million questions about the acoustics of Rebma, but... "We'll figure that out later, though. Duty calls." She grins, gives his hand a gentle squeeze, and heads off to find First.
Folly finds First with the Steward in his office. The two seem to be having a difference of opinion. Vent smiles when he sees Folly. "Ah, Lady Folly. The Princess was asking if she could see the castle library. If you or his majesty approve, of course."
First looks at her as well. "I thought I would like an opportunity to see how your people preserve knowledge."
Folly smiles at them both. "Of course -- I'd be happy to show you. There's a thing or two I need to track down there myself."
She thanks Vent and sets off for the library with First. On the way, she asks, "Is there anything in particular you're looking for -- particular topics, or types of works?"
"We have led a nomadic existence, mostly. A library is a luxury of having a place to accumulate books. I am interested in knowing what writings you all feel are important to always have at hand."
She smiles, and her over-flexible joints flex as she does so. "I think your Steward thought I might frighten your librarian."
"Well, yes, there is that," Folly says with a thoughtful frown. "He's... ah. He's a good man, but he's very protective of the books, as befits a librarian. He--" She hesitates, and then shakes her head. "Well, that's a long story that we'll definitely get into later, but for now, the best way to get onto his good side is to be gentle with the books, and never look like you might accidentally take one of them too near a candle or spill tea on it or anything. He's also not fond of finding you asleep in the library with your face on the book you were reading," she adds sheepishly, "but that was a long time ago and we've made up since then.
"I actually haven't spent much time in the library since the family base moved here from Amber," Folly continues, "so I'll be interested to see how it's different. I expect there will be a better and more modern Music section here, at least. I do hope the Amber Histories are still intact, since that's what I need to look into."
"We have Priests as keepers of knowledge. They are... odd men, with odd ideas about what is important. They sound like these librarians you have."
"Quite possibly," Folly says. "What is it they worship? The knowledge itself, or something else?"
First peers at the paintings as they walk through the halls. "They're not Klybesians, if that's what you're asking. Priests who believe in things are very dangerous.
"Ours don't worship anything, but they are the keepers of our traditions. You could say they worship ourselves, I suppose."
She turns, changing the subject.
"I would also like to see the Amber Histories. We can compare them to what I was taught."
Folly nods agreement. "I'm sure your story of what happened at what we call the Battle of Jones Falls looks rather different to the story passed down on our side." She wrinkles her nose, as if she has her doubts about the version she's heard.
When they reach the library, Folly takes a few moments to point out some general features and give First a chance to take in the scope and ambience before going in search of the librarian.
"Hello, Nestor! Ambassador First" -- she gestures to their guest by way of introduction -- "wanted to see our library, and we're both interested in digging into some of the Amber histories -- accounts of the Battle of Jones Falls, I think, and the history of knightly orders under Oberon." Her tone and posture are warm and relaxed, as if it is the most natural thing in the world to go to the library with a Moonrider Princess. She looks at First. "Anything else of particular interest?"
Nestor's eyes are wide and he's not quite panicking. His smile is pure fakery. "I shall have an assistant bring you books, Your Highness, Ambassador. Though perhaps you might be more comfortable in the Giraffe Room? It is just down the hall."
An assistant appears at his shoulder. The man is a thinner, younger version of Nestor and looks equally unnerved.
Folly smiles, trying to turn her amusement into an expression of calm confidence. "Perhaps in a bit. We'd like to take in the ambience of the library first, though, I think. I haven't had a chance to spend much time here yet, and libraries are something of a rare treat for the Ambassador as well. Is there a quiet corner where we can settle in for a bit?"
"Of course," replies Nestor, leading the women towards a pair of armchairs near a tall glass door that also acts as a window. "Many people think this part of the library has the best light for mid-day reading."
The younger librarian smiles behind Nestor until Nestor smiles. "My assistant Folio will attend your needs." Folio only barely wavers. He stands waiting.
The light is very good. It would do well for painting. First sits, cross legged. It's unclear how her knees bent like that.
It's probably just a coincidence that the seating group is so far from the stacks.
"This is lovely," Folly says as she takes her own seat. She smiles at Folio. "I think we should start with accounts of the Battle of Jones Falls, and the history and traditions of knighthoods and various knightly orders in Amber. If you have writings from cousin Cambina on either of those topics, please include them. And then, for something lighter, maybe throw in a book of old Amber folk songs, with music notations, if you've got it, and a more modern book of music as well, for comparison." She looks at First. "Any particular topics you'd like to add to the list?"
First smiles. "Those sound excellent. Perhaps, also, something modern? A history of the Reign of Eric of Amber, perhaps. We knew so little of him."
"Of course, my Lady." Folio departs, returning with two even-more-junior librarians carrying books.
"The Princesses' works are not here, My Lady, but here are the music books you asked for, and three accounts of the Seige and Sack of Amber and the ensuing battle, including Lord Rein's song-cycle on the topic." He looks down at his notes. "I believe the ah... the King's .... The secretary of the Royal Family has those books, My Lady." Folly can tell he's trying not to say either 'Vialle' or 'Queen' in her presence.
Folly bites the inside of her lip until she can turn the reflexive smirk at his verbal contortions into a gracious smile. "Ah, I understand. Thank you, Folio." He may sense the thanks are as much for the attempt to be sensitive to her feelings as for the information.
He nods to First, relieved to be able to change the subject. "And this is a short history of Amber under King Eric, by a soldier who fought in the wars. It tells of the battles in Amber and Arden before the return of the King his father.
"May I fetch you aught else?"
"I think that will be all for now -- thank you, Folio." Folly waits for him and his assistants to depart, then asks First, "How would you like to proceed? I'd be happy to read aloud if you're most comfortable getting your histories orally. Although given the sorts of reading aloud I've done recently, I might feel compelled to do funny voices if there's any dialogue." She grins.
First smiles, "We do read, we just don’t have the luxury of libraries. I would not be considered educated without the ability to read, write, and converse in the standard diplomatic languages of a dozen important shadows." She looks out the window. "For some of our history, the languages, culture, and literature of people we conquered were considered spoils of war, to be taken, appreciated, and cherished.
She looks over to the door, where Edan has just appeared. "That was more literally true when we were nearer to Chaos, of course."
"Did you... ah... absorb them in the Chaosian way?" Folly asks with only a little trepidation.
Then she notices First's gaze and turns to look at the door. "Come join us, cousin," she calls when she intuits he's looking for them.
"No, 'took' was not a euphemism for that." She looks somewhat disturbed by the suggestion. "We were in more marginal places closer to our enemies than you were. Your people had the luxury to forget the horrors that they represent, but we knew better than to adopt their ways. We were shocked to hear that one of the King's sons had made a bargain with them. It suggests that the Chaosian threat was not taken as seriously in Amber as it was by us."
Folly looks relieved at the answer. "We have a rather... complicated history with them, as I understand it," she says, but holds off on elaborating, as she sees Edan approach.
Edan smiles a little and comes over. Here at the center of things with no shadows to lie for him, he wears a light-colored suit and white shirt with a crimson-red tie and handkerchief. A flash of gold at his wrist reveals a thick gold bracelet that is probably also a sorcerous fetish, and exactly matches the gold of his eyes.
"I hope this isn't a book club, I'm not prepared."
First smiles up at him. Edan thinks it's a gesture she's practicing. "We're reading about the history of Amber." She points to Folio. "That man will kindly fetch you any book you ask for. Unless he can't."
"I will. I like libraries. I think it's the mystery-- whether an adventure novel or a dry tome of trigonometry, I always run the risk of being hooked." Edan glances at Folio and the other staff, then back to Folly and First. "Are there more books coming? This seems a quiet place to talk."
"These are it for now," Folly says. "Some of the ones I was looking for -- about the history of knightly orders in Amber, incidentally -- are currently out. So we've got Eric's reign, and Jones Falls... and ballads, of course, because obviously." She flashes a grin, but her expression becomes more serious as she continues, "This is a quiet enough place to start talking, but eventually we may want to adjourn to The Nursery." First may intuit a weight of implication in those last two words.
She turns to First. "Where would you like to start?"
First looks confused. "Do you normally read in the Nursery? Other than to a child? I am not familiar with this custom."
"No, we don't. But it's a place you'll want to see. At the big get-together, you had questions you wanted answered. I could almost see them forming over your head. It's time to answer them. It's time to talk about what’s been going on in Xanadu."
Folly nods.
First looks at him, waiting a moment, and replies as expected. "What has been going on in Xanadu? Or shall we retire to the Nursery for that tale?"
She stands fluidly, and gathers her book. "I'll take this with me, if that's all right."
Folio looks as if it's not all right, but also like he's not allowed to say it's not all right.
Edan tries not to look amused. "If something happened, out of the handful of people in residence who could reconstruct that book from its component atoms, you're looking at two of them," he says to Folio. "Perhaps I could be a guarantor for the ambassador? I will make sure it stays in the palace and is returned forthwith." Micro-pauses around the word ambassador add emphasis.
Otherwise, he looks happy to take a walk.
While Edan is speaking, Folly takes a moment to glance, seemingly idly, at Rein's ballad. She's heard it before but it's been a while, so she's just quickly reminding herself of the shape of it. She closes the book and taps her small stack as she rises. "We may be back, so perhaps hold these in reserve through the end of the day?" she says to Folio. "Thank you for your help."
Folio stammers something about it being fine as long as she and Lord Edan say so, and retires towards his office, or perhaps towards some distant library corner that needs therapeutic re-shelving.
With that, she turns to Edan and First. "To the Nursery, then," she says, and gestures for them to accompany her as she sets off.
First follows along, admiring the paintings that line the hallways. "Like libraries, art collections are not a part of the regular experience of a group of nomadic warriors."
There is a red-cloaked knight in the hallway outside Random's quarters, but he relaxes as he sees Folly and Edan. It's one of the Lanp lieutenants, Sir Haytham.
He bows to the group and looks to Edan for orders.
"Ah, Haytham. The king honors us by posting us here. Has he left instruction? We need to examine the nursery," Edan says.
Haytham nods, his red cloak swishing in a way that makes it clear he doesn't normally wear cloaks. "Of a sort, Mahdi. I was told 'guard this door'. I have been praying to the Merciful One to help me understand my task."
First's eyes light up when Haytham speaks, but she doesn't say anything. He doesn't seem to recognize her, and is focused on Folly and Edan.
He stands aside and says "shall I open the door?"
"Allow me. Is someone in there?" Edan reaches forward to scratch at the door politely, as one does at a tent entrance before entering.
"I've not allowed anyone in, Mahdi, but there are other doors not being guarded."
He looks back at First, taking advantage of the pause before he goes through. "Interesting. Do you know Haytham? We have served together a long time."
"I do not. He calls you Mahdi, a title we discussed at dinner last night. It's almost like calling someone 'the Angel of Death'."
Edan's answering smile is thin.
The room is set up as a nursery, but it doesn't look particularly ordered. The furnishings seem to be more extruded than constructed and as if they were composed from plastic or clay, then carved. At least one, a sort-of crib, has had a piece broken off of it. They look like a child's drawing come to life. The center of the room contains the remnants of a magic circle, although it seems to be damaged.
The room smells wrong and Folly and Edan both feel as if it is not a thing that belongs here. The smell is fainter than before and the wrongness seems to involve decay.
Haytham, from the doorway, is muttering prayers to the Merciful One, continuously.
First looks around the room and through the door. "What happened here?"
"Even knowing this conversation was going to happen, it is still hard to know where to begin. The Queen of Air and Darkness infiltrated Xanadu by possessing Random's wife, Queen Vialle. In that form, she enchanted Fiona and Random under her power and also announced that she was with child. What you see here, this is what she built to prepare for the baby." Again, the thin smile. "There's more."
Folly rubs her arms, as if against a chill. "Her plan seems to have been to force the family and the court, through Random's orders, to swear allegiance to the unborn child. But... we're not sure whether there was ever actually a real baby or not. My working theory is that perhaps she was trying to... recorporealize... by growing a body for herself. A spectral red-haired woman appeared to several of our female relatives prior to this, and we now think this was probably the Queen looking for a host. Fiona thinks this, ah..." -- Folly waves her hand at the circle on the floor like she's trying to shake off something noxious-- "may have been some sort of conduit. It seems... out-of-phase with everything here."
"This is no magic that our people know or practice. It is unordered," First replies.
Folly looks at Edan, her expression grim. "You should probably tell the bit about how the Queen came to possess Vialle in the first place."
First looks at Edan, waiting for him to tell that bit.
"Do you know Cambina? Jerod's sister. She and Brennan were close. 'Seeress' would be a word to describe her. Vialle asked Cambina to take her to Tir. While there, they met your... grandmother, right? Who froze Cambina in place while Vialle... completed the ritual in the basement."
Edan pauses just a second to gauge First's reaction, but is willing to answer existential questions about the Pattern later. "Then Vialle returned to Xanadu, while Cambina was allowed to fall to her death. Vialle played the royal card and the amnesia card to the hilt after that, and that's about when Random and Fiona were geased. So. Then. Martin and I fought Fiona and Vialle in that room right over there, while Folly grabbed Random and got him out of Xanadu, broke the spell over him. We knocked out Vialle and freed Fiona, grabbed Vialle and went on the run.
"What started as 'free Vialle from the Queen' plan rapidly turned into 'put her on ice until we get a better plan.' I questioned Vialle, accused her with the facts, while she denied everything. I could see our Queen completely possessed, overwhelmed. I created a prison for her, trapped them in it, with your father on our tail. He caught up to us, got us separated and caught me in my camp in Broceliande." Edan shakes his head. "It was brilliant. He came with his Shield. We were down to blades, as I was mostly tapped out with Sorcery and he threatened my men with Time. Kyauta attacked him and was sent... somewhere. I want it back, by the way. We fought with blades, the Marshal and I. He beat me, or to be more specific, I folded when I saw I could not win and too high a price for losing. So now the Marshal has the bottle prison I made, though I don't know if he can open it. Our Queen, who may or may not have been complicit in the scheme, is gone. Cambina is dead. Martin took the responsibility on himself, which is not entirely accurate, but it is the least damaging explanation for all of us. And we're all quite angry about the whole thing."
"Angry, but also wanting to understand more about what happened, and why," Folly adds. She holds off on further comment to give First a chance to respond, or ask questions.
She nods, taking it all in. "My father should get you your affine back. It is innocent of all but loyalty." She looks at the circle again. "I hope you're not leaving that there. It seems inert, but I don't think there is an expert on those to say with certainty."
"We wanted to show it to you first," Folly says, "but yeah. I'll feel better when it's out of here." She looks at First. "You... have a sense of what it was for?"
First paces towards the door, and looks at the circle from a different angle.
"We need to interrogate the two queens. Without asking, there's no way of determining who has transgressed, or if they conspired to do so together."
She stares at the circle. "It's hard for me not to start excusing the Queen. She is the Queen, after all. It will be harder for Sworn Knights."
"There are those here for whom it will be hard as well, for Vialle," Folly says. "I didn't always see eye-to-eye with her, and even I can't help but consider that she could've been primarily a victim of circumstance -- even if it was a circumstance she initially stepped into willingly, without necessarily fully understanding all the consequences. But as Edan says, when she seems to be herself and not her possessor acting through her she's claimed amnesia, which I'm inclined to believe at least to some extent. Which is not to say that questioning would be completely useless, but I doubt it will give us all the information we'd want or need."
Folly regards the circle as well. "You say this is not magic your people have. Would you have thought your Queen capable of it?" She hesitates, thinking, and adds, "And to your knowledge, has she changed since the... whatever-it-was... that exiled your people from the city above?"
Edan adds, "As far as an interrogation of the Queens, that path lay through the Marshal."
First nods. "Either he will cooperate, or else I shall help you steal it back myself.
"You know about Choasian digestion and reproduction, I think?" She turns from Edan to Folly. "It's a sort of merging, at a more-than-just-physical level, of two beings. Or fission in the case of reproduction. When a Chaos-lord eats someone, if that person is strong enough then their traits can be imposed even on a Lord of Chaos. If they are careful about how they eat and how they isolate their meals, they can be re-produced later.
"But if a Lord was desperate, or not careful, they could lose themselves. This is common with beings who don't have a sense of self-identity, but not all do. Some even gain sentience by absorbing more complex beings."
She turns briefly to Edan and smiles. "Kyauta is such a creature, Edan. They are hardy.
"But back to a desperate Lord-- or Lady of Chaos. She could find herself faced with a being with an equally powerful need. The old ways could cause them to merge, and the merged being could have the worst traits of each. Neither would be herself. And separation might be impossible.
"If that's what happened with Vialle and the Queen, it will be very hard to ever separate them."
Folly's brows knit in concern bordering on horror. "I... would not have considered that Vialle could qualify as a Lady of Chaos. Or at least, not the Vialle we knew in the five years Amber was cut off from the standard routes. But I don't know much of her history before her marriage to Random. There's definitely been some recent... ah, weirdness... even before the business at Tir, though."
She looks at Edan. "You weren't around while she was suffering regular headaches and frightening dreams she couldn't remember, I think. That was before Tir-- before the army came back from Chaos, even. I don't know how much they continued after that. I was... otherwise occupied for a while there." She hesitates, then adds, mostly to herself, "I think 'talk to Ember' just moved way up my to-do list."
Edan reaches up, slowly, and rubs at his forehead. "Do I know an Ember?" he asks. "This... this here, I thought it was like a ruse. A nursery for someone who really had no intention of having a baby. Full grown child sprung out of their forehead, kind of thing. If there is a win here, I think our king is free of the influence over him, which was the main goal. The rest went badly. If one of them was a Chaos Lord, then there was really no good place to take the Queens."
First waits for Edan to finish, then turns to Folly. "I was speaking of our Queen, who is a peer to your former King. Do your legends not say that they predate history? That would make them Chaos Lords, by default. I have not met Vialle, but if she were a Lord of Chaos, I think it would have been obvious. They are not subtle beings."
To Edan she adds, "if it is not possible to reason with a Lord of the Living Void, then it is wise to think of a strategy where they are not likely to trouble you for as long as possible."
Folly looks as though at least one and maybe several unpleasant somethings have occurred to her. She rubs a hand over her face and blows out a sigh. "Yeah, I've no doubt your queen would qualify. So almost certainly they can't be properly separated unless she decides that's what she wants to do, and even then it wouldn't really work unless she'd already been careful in the... possessing."
She looks at Edan, her complexion pale. "I don't know which seems worse to me: 'I'm sorry, you digested too much of it, now you have to keep it,' or having Vialle returned to us still carrying enough of the Queen that she continues to be influenced by that agenda." She steps back slowly, away from the magic circle, until her back hits the wall, and slumps down it to sit on the floor.
Edan's head drops, almost like a nod, and his lengthening hair forms a curtain to hide his face. He picks idly at one of the surrealist furnishings. "I'm not going to say Her name." Micro-pauses around the word made it capitalized. "There ought to be an acronym. Q.A.D? She obviously had a complex plan, and I can't believe that She hadn't made allowances for this binding. Maybe something so simple as looking ahead thousands of times so that if a daughter was formed it would be an optimal split."
First looks at Folly, as if she wants to pet her. She ends up folding her legs and rotating down to sit cross-legged across from her. "I do not know if we can resolve the problem permanently. Not even Oberon was capable of that. But we can oppose her plans. Ideally by brokering a peace between our peoples. And if her plans include that, perhaps they are less malign than we imagine." First doesn’t look as if she believes that to be true.
"One can hope, I suppose," Folly says with a wan smile. Then, with more resolve, she adds, "I'm definitely in favor of brokering peace, if we can. Why don't you tell us your side of what we call the Battle of Jones Falls, if you don't mind, since that was on our library agenda anyway?" She sits up a little straighter to listen attentively.
First nods. "I can tell you the legends of it. It starts with The Fall, of course. The Fall is tied to the Wars between the Kingdoms of Heaven, sometimes called the Conflict of Realities. The reality of the Land of Youth was unbalanced, and people rained from the sky and into the harbor of Amber, so many that it was said that a person could cross the harbor on the backs of the dead without having to get wet. There are tales of it Rebma as well. It may have been as bad in Rebma as it was in Tir or Amber. The Rebmans would have to tell that tale." She shudders a bit.
"So many bodies fell that the city in the sky was becoming a ghost town. Those who had hewn closest to the Queen were the least susceptible. Finally, in desperation, she bound herself and her knights to prevent the whole of our people from falling to their doom. The survivors were on the stair when she did … something. Something we call salvation, but we cannot otherwise explain. Each living knight owed her his life."
She paused. "That is prelude, for there is always prelude. We have legends of the Conflcts and the Creation as well, and they may well be right. But these tales are ones I know people who lived."
She pauses to see if they have questions.
"I would be interested in hearing those other legends as well, later," Folly says. "At that time was the stair more... permanent... than it is now?"
Edan keeps quiet and listens intently to the tale.
"The City was," says First. "The Faiella-Bionin was in those days a complete road between the Cities of Order, and it ran up stairs from Kolvir to Tir and eventually to Rebma and then back to Kolvir. There are philosophical arguments that there was even a fourth city, but there are stories both ways. The Bionin was Faiella's gift and it ushered in the peace between the cities, the Pax Civitas. It was the first benison, and that it showed the way that a Princess of the Realms can, upon dying, bless those whom she cherishes.
"I don't know about the fourth city. It's as if it existed and then it didn't, but moreso, it hadn't. Not in the Moonrider way, either." She shrugs. "It reminds me of Xanadu, except in reverse. Tir may be unusual in that it didn't immediately disappear. We don't really know enough. Maybe there are dozens of other cities that were founded, flourished, and disappeared before the ones we know. What of the Ninevehs and Tyres that were legendary in the cities we think of as legends themselves?"
"Paris," Folly says; she holds out a hand as if spanning an octave on an invisible piano. "Our Uncle Corwin's new realm. Except unlike Xanadu, it came into being fully formed, with an ancient history. One that may overlap that of his brother's realm, Avalon." She regards First to see if the names are familiar to her.
Edan straightens involuntarily. "There are reflections that endure, too. Nineveh and the Mashki Gate, they are in the Land of Peace."
First nods. She doesn't seem surprised to hear the names of the realms or of their kings. "It's so remarkable to me that three of Oberon's sons have kingdoms and none of his daughters do. It just seems like that shouldn't balance, somehow." She turns to Edan. "Ninevah and Tyre are famous for having been destroyed, at least in the legends I have heard. I wonder if they, like Paris, sprung into life as some sort of echoed recreation. Have you been to either of them since you became initiated into your power?"
Edan shakes his head. "I have not, and I will look out for that when I can, but not soon. The Klybesians are infiltrating and Chantico is nearby. Neither problem is going to be easily solved."
"Getting the Klybesians solved is like getting 'rats' solved. It's hard to do permanently. I haven't heard of Chantico. Is it a place or a person?"
"Chantico is a fire goddess from Uxmal. I think she is Brennan's half-sister. She was hanging around with Dara for a while, I heard. She is not our friend."
"...Dara being a distant cousin from the Courts of Chaos who has a bit of a vendetta against us, if that name isn't familiar to you," Folly adds.
First nods. "One of the things I wanted to do with Amber histories was try to sort you all out. Dinner was a whirlwind of people who have only started figuring in our understanding of Amber in the last few years."
She looks at Edan. "I was always supposed to be the one who figured you out, but how was the subject of methodology disagreements. What is Dara's lineage?"
Edan blinks. "I'm sorry, I don't know."
"As I understand it," Folly says, "she is the..." she counts on her fingers "...great-granddaughter of Benedict and Lintra, who the stories I've heard call a Hellmaid of Chaos."
She hesitates, and adds, "I don't know the precise circumstances under which the two of them came together." The statement sounds carefully neutral. "Most of the time, they were foes."
"Oh, Lintra the Firemaiden. She's got a reputation. It seems... risky to tryst with a firemaiden."
"Yeahhhh, well..." Folly's nose scrunches. "Eventually it cost him his arm... and her, her life. So I'd have to agree with you there, although I'm not sure it was the tryst itself that led to that outcome."
She regards First across the circle. "So now I'm curious about those methodology disagreements." Speaking of trysting, she doesn't add, although she might be thinking it.
First seems to be about to answer Folly, when Edan asks about Tir, distracting her.
The semi-glowy aura around Edan is probably not him blushing. "Did any of you have access to my Tir visit?" he asks First.
First looks at him as if all the words make sense, but not strung together in that order. She turns to look at Edan. "I’m not sure what you mean, but if any Moonrider had access to Tir, it would have been well known. We have been cut off from Tir for some time.
"But tell me what you suspect, and I will tell you what I know."
Edan shakes his head. "When I came into my heritage and the beginnings of my abilities, my father brought me to Tir-na Nog'th for it to be done. I wandered in the ghost city for a long time, interacting with the shades of my past. The Queen would know every detail. All of it."
First nods, but it's not clear what she's agreeing with. "While the Queen is real and present and like a living person to my father's generation, she is a historical figure to those of us who are younger. But I do not know what she was like after her sacrifice, or if she had access to her realm. Perhaps she dreamed. If you were important to her dreams or not, I could not say. We should address this question to a priest."
Edan blinks. "A priest of whom?"
First is on more solid ground here. "Priest is the closest word in Thari. It's an old word, and it means something different to our people than to many others. To us, a priest is a dedicated scholar who has a place of honor and a role in preserving our traditions. They are the keepers of the consensus of the community. They and the knights are two of the main institutions of our society."
"Yes, they would be quite interesting to talk to," Folly agrees.
"Where would we find one?” Edan asks.
"Ghenesh," says First. "Or someplace the Gheneshi have visited."
"All roads lead to Ghenesh, then, soon as I complete my tasks here."
They return to the topic of Jones Falls. First knows many people who were there, but they are a different generation and Folly and Edan get the feeling that they are not the people First considers most relevant. As if they are stuck in the past...
The Moonrider version of the story has been told before: they came down from where they were trapped, they bypassed the castle, since it was of their enemies, they holed up in the town for a few days, seeing if they could rescue more of their people, they tried to break out. They got as far as Jones Falls. Possibly minor looting, but not wholesale destruction and no intent to destroy Amber.
Forced march to the passes into Amber where they lost at the Falls. Many died, the rest were captured or surrendered, some wouldn't surrender, and they died as well. Oberon made them swear a mighty oath, but it was a personal one...
First listens to the reciprocal story, nodding at parts. She was unaware of the long quiet between the fading of Tir and the breakout, and expects that Amber would have ben better prepared if so much time had not passed for her, while none passed for the Moonriders.
She doesn't think the conflict is intractable, even so.
Edan thanks both First and Folly for this, and lets them know he will be at the Lamp or In Broceliande; when he finishes his business there and checks their progress all around, they will figure out what to do next. He is still a little unsure of First's status here.
Folly also thanks first for her help and candor. She expects to be in Xanadu for a while and invites First to call on her if she has more questions or needs assistance with anything (such as convincing the librarians to let her borrow more books) -- or just wants to hang out and engage in a bit more cultural exchange.
Last modified: 3 December 2022