Blessings and Bookkeeping


The morning of 16 Coins dawns bright and clear, with an eager crowd of onlookers crowding the docks to watch the departure of Lords Jovian and Vere, and especially the dragons. Lord Worth has pulled a few strings, and somewhat to Marquess Maritime's disgust is taking the Convent's Kiss temporarily out of the King's service for this duty.

The ship is ready and waiting for the turn of the tide. In a showy ceremony the Unicorn of Amber is lowered and replaced by the Swan of the Children of Lir. The Children cheer the rising of their standard, and then seek out their assigned places.

Lord Vere's orderly, Shrike, follows the Rebmans like a nervous mother duck, the words of Lord Vere still ringing in his ears. "These warriors are submariners, Shrike, not mariners. They are good men all, but almost none of them have set foot on deck before. I expect you to see to it that they stay out of the sailors' way, and learn how to conduct themselves on board a ship of war. We may not be able to make them sailors by the time we reach my mother's land, but I damn well expect them to at least be marines."

Two dragonriders stand on the larboard side of the quarterdeck, conversing with each other and with the midshipman of the watch - R'liat, blue Finath's rider, and Sir M'corli Antrithsrider, distinguished from the rest by the red sword-baldric of the Order of the Ruby and by the bandages covering his eyes. Finath and Antrith, their hides gleaming in the morning sun, stand perched on an empty quay not far from the ship, basking in the respectful attention of the milling crowd.

Wives and sweethearts of the sailors on the Convent's Kiss line the wharf, waving handkerchiefs and blowing kisses, and sending shouts of undying love across the water between them and them men. Vere stands near Lord Worth, looking out at the city and the castle, and recalling the few quiet words he was able to exchange with Gerard this morning. He lifts a hand to the distant shape of his father on the dock, where he sits surrounded by officers of the navy and such family members as chose to come to watch the departure.

Brita is there, standing to the back of the group near a lantern post. She has lifted up a young girl onto her shoulders to watch the departure, placing the girl higher than the three young boys vying for a position on the lantern post base who had been ignoring the girl's attempts to see.

Solange is there, standing next to Gerard. When Vere lifts his hand in farewell, she waves back, a bright yellow handkerchief in her hand.

Lucas is present as well - there was a reason why he was dressed like a matelot from a Noel Coward musical at breakfast.

Vere turns to the dragonriders' liaison and tells him, "Let J'rim know we are departing." Then with a nod of his head he says, "Lord Worth, at your discretion, take us out."

R'liat nods acknowledgment and gazes for a moment into the middle distance as if receiving a Trump call. After the briefest moment, the two dragons on the quay rear up, snap their great wings open and spring into the air.

The watching crowd cheers as the ship begins to move, and a band begins to play.

As the Convent's Kiss begins to make way, easing into the channel and out of Amber's harbor, Antrith and Finath take up a circling sort of watch over her wake. Their normal flight speed is many times what the Kiss can manage under a full press of sail, but they glide easily on the morning air just above a stall, swinging lazy curves back and forth as if tacking on the ship's course.

As open water draws near, they voice a cheerful bugle - and the clear air above the ship is suddenly filled, the four fighting wings of the King's First Air Corps in stacked formations from a few hundred to a thousand feet above. The crowd recovers its breath for a fresh cheer as two riderless dragons take their places among their comrades and turn toward open sea.

The Children of Lir are off to war.

Lucas may have witnessed the ceremony ... but he is now nowhere to be seen on the shoreline.

Brita is clapping her hands and cheering with the child on her shoulders, but her eyes belie the cheer as she silently wishes the warriors Safe Passage, Victory, and a Swift Return. She wants none of the Dragons harmed.

After releasing the girl from her perch to run after the boys down the dock and as the crowd clears away, Brita walks out to the edge of the water. She is Goddess of Brooks and Streams, but she draws on her Power to send a Blessing into the salt water after the fleet - "May your way be Rich in Food for Dragon and Man;", into the water she drops a small live minnow from out of a water filled bag, "May your Ships glide through Tranquil Seas or Gentle, Soothing Rains;", into the air she blows a handfull of whisps that looks like soft fluffy clouds, "May the Skies refrain from Drinking of the Sea at your Destination so that no Storms mar your Battle;", she sprinkles some bits of paper onto the water, "May Your Victory see you Swiftly Return to Reality." She takes a knife from her belt, bends down on one knee, and throws the knife with all of her strength straight down through the water. Any one watching sees the water part oddly around the knife; it makes no splash and does not slow upon hitting the water. It will embed in the silt and sand at the base of the dock to call the Warriors Home upon their Victory.

She rises and whispers, "Blessings on the Warriors of Water and Air." before she returns to the Castle and her appointment with Chi-Lin.

"Thank you," a voice says at her shoulder. Turning, Brita sees Solange gazing at her. "Thank you for blessing them."

"It is the least I could do for such Brave Warriors and Cousins Vere and Jovian," Brita dismisses her small efforts. "I have not had a chance to speak with you since your return; do you return to Castle Amber now?"

Solange looks over her shoulder toward Gerard, then back at Brita. "Soon, with Father. Otherwise I would ask to walk back with you, assuming that's where you were going. Just wanted to say thanks for the blessing and ask you how you're doing."

"I am fine. I found my Father. Things go well with your Search?" Brita asks as she inclines her head slightly towards Gerard.

"Making progress," Solange grins. "I'm glad you found your father. Will you be going to Xanadu tonight?"

"Not tonight, no. I have some work to do for my Brother. I saw you speaking with Cousin-Healer Hannah last night. Hopefully she can help you make further progress. I have an appointment I must return to Castle Amber for now; Iwill speak with you again later? Do you go to Reality Xanadu tonight?"

"Supposedly so," Solange smiles. "Take care and good luck with your endeavors."

"And you," Brita responds as she turns to return to the castle.


After seeing Vere off and talking to Brita, Solange accompanies Gerard back to the castle. She returns to her rooms to find that Gaston has indeed left the records of Lord Hardwind's accounts there.

Solange gazes at the large pile for a moment, sighs, then steps back out into the hallway. She instructs the first servant she sees to bring a carafe of coffee and, at the appropriate time, her next meal.

She returns inside, plops the pile of records on her bed so she has room to spread out, and starts going through them. Her first task is to put them in chronological order, if they aren't already.

They're in considerable better order than when Lucas got them, he can tell you.

The first thing Solange will discover is that (and I quote):

The most recent set of books have extensive cross-outs, errors, and adjustments. It is not always clear which ledger entries refer to what transactions, especially in the area of household payments. Going back a few months, the books are better, in a thin, spidery hand. What is clear in older ledgers is that there seems to be a greater outlay than income.

The things she'll look for are:

1. On what day do the account records stop? (And for the player's benefit, how that day corresponds to Hardwind's death, if before or after)

The change happens with Hardwind's death. It looks like someone was learning as he went after that, and there is evidence that someone corrected some of the more egregious errors at a later date.

2. Is there any indication who actually kept the records, whether Hardwind or someone in his employ?

No.

3. Verify Lucas's suspicion that funds were diverted to the Paresh

--Is there a transaction that actually says "Paresh"?

No.

--If not, and there probably isn't, is there a transaction that keeps coming up, perhaps in the household payments where it would be easy to hide it, that looks unusual? Perhaps it shows that money went out, but no goods or services were received, or something along that line.

There are a number of transactions that are identified solely by symbols. These are exclusively expenditures.

After the above, her goal is to try to straighten the records out at the point when they start going wacky and working forward from there. She wants to find out exactly how much Hardwind has left of his estate and exactly how much he still owes. She realizes that this may require more coffee.

It's a good thing conjuration works, because the books are a mess. Solange is not convinced that these are the only set of books, because they don't seem very usable. [Sorting this out will take more time than Solange has before the trip to Xanadu, but she makes a start on it. After she gets back, or if she stays and has the books sent/brought, send us a note when she settles back in to the task.]


Brita makes her way swiftly back up to the castle and straight to Chi-Lin's room. She nods to the guards as she knocks and calls out her name. "Protected Chi-Lin! It is Ranger Brita here for our appointment." She waits politely with her arms crossed behind her back.

Chi-Lin opens the door cautiously. He looks old and tired. "I am here, Princess Brita." He doesn't invite Brita in, but she could walk in if she chooses to.

"May I enter or do you wish to speak elsewhere? You look like you did not sleep the night."

"I did not, Princess. I am surprised enough that I awaken that it is hard to let the little death of sleep have me. I fear magical attacks."

He opens the door and stands back, implicitly inviting her in.

Brita nods in acceptance of his explanation and steps in to the room. Once she has closed the door, she turns back to him and asks directly "Magical attacks from whom?"

"Spirits, your Highness. I fear I have offended them greatly." He shudders.

"Spirits." Brita's tone is flat. "It seems that Spirits are less likely to harm you than Physical Beings at this point."

"I did not mean for anyone to die, Highness, you must believe me. I didn't know!"

"I am not a 'Highness'," Brita notes in a brusque aside while she inspects the room with her Third Eye.

It is about as uninteresting as can be, except for Chi-Lin's ring.

"If you didn't know there was to be a murder, what Exactly was your Part supposed to be? What were your Instructions? And Who Instructed You?" Brita's voice has become steely yet she has not raised her voice.

"I. I watched things for him, Lady. He sent messages via traders. He paid me in case he suddenly needed a friend who was connected to your Uncle. That was all! I didn't ever do anything for him. But when he found out I was here, he was enraged, and he threatened me. He was going to hurt me! I didn't mean for him to kill him! You must believe me, Highness!"

By the end of this speech Chi-Lin is quite excited.

"We are not going to get very far with this if I do not get more details." Brita sighs. "Lord Brennan thinks torture would be a faster method to the thruth, but I can't help but think..." She turns back to Chi-Lin. "Protected Chi-Lin, what traders, from where, brought the messages. Do you know who 'he' is? If not, how do you know it is a 'he'? Which Uncle was he interested in? What do you mean he 'needed a friend connected to my Unnamed Uncle? And how did he find out you where here? Where were you supposed to be?"

"I wasn't supposed to be here! He thought I'd never find my way back! He didn't know that Prince Jerod found me where your Uncle had left me! He thought anyone who could tell about what he'd been up to was lost when the ways closed! But I was in Amber, and not closely watched ... he thought I'd tell too much about what he was doing. He threatened me! I must have said something ... the spirits are wily and evil and they twist a man's words. I didn't mean for him to die, Highness, not really--I just wanted him to stop threatening me!"

"Ah, so The Deceased was threatening you because you had inadvertently arrived back in Amber and this threatened his secrecy? What had he been up to?"

"He had been friends with your Uncle during the wars, when he and the Silver Rose fought the King who was dead. I think--" Chi-Lin wets his lips, "--I think I was the only one who knew he'd worked for your Uncle."

"What's in the Ring and why do you have It?" Brita suddenly asks.

"Your Uncle gave it to me. I don't think he knew what it was, or cared. The foreigner who gave it to him was trying to impress him, and he gave it to me show that he was not as impressed as he was supposed to be.

He looks at her, wild-eyed. "It used to have a magic spirit in it."

"_Which_ of my Uncle-Princes gave it to you?" Brita asks. She follows his answer with, "Used to have a Spirit? What kind? Did you free it? Is that the Spirit you fear or is it the Spirit of the one who was murdered."

"The spirits always hate the ones who have bound them, or used them in their bindings ..." Chi-Lin gets wide-eyed. "Is... Is he haunting the castle? Ahhh. Spirits of Air and Ghosts. I don't want to die!"

"No, I do not believe He is haunting anywhere near the Castle... yet." Brita is calm. "May I have the Ring?" She holds out her hand. "I may be able to use it to bar the Spirit of the Ring from the Castle."

Chi-Lin jerks the ring from his finger and gives it to Brita with shaking hands.

Brita closes her left hand over the ring.

"What else can you tell me about the situation we find ourselves in now?"

He shakes his head. "I don't know anything. Please, Lady! I don't know!"

Brita intuits that he's less lying to her than overwhelmed by the question.

Brita does not let her frustration show. She stands and says calmly, "Protected Ch-Lin, I appreciate your assistance. Remember I am nearby," she rings the small bell by the door. "You can send a guard if you need anything else." She glances down at her closed left hand. "I will see what I can do about protecting you from Spirits."

"Thank you, Lady! Thank you!" Chi-Lin looks likely to fall on his knees with gratitude.

Brita manages to remove herself from the room without too much fawning. She makes it down the hall and around the corner from the guard's view before she gives a little shake like a dog shedding water. On her way back to her room, she examines the ring with her eyes and hands (she doesn't put it on).

Thicker on top than on the bottom, it has a pagoda motif and some writing on it in a foreign script.

When she gets back to her room, Brita examines the ring a little more with her Third Eye, trying to find some kind of pattern or essence to the magic of the ring. She compares this to what she saw of Chi-Lin's aura in her past viewings of him and his room.

It's still there, although it seems as if it may be fading.

Eventually, she takes a string and hangs the ring above the Sketch of Chi-Lin's room. She will spend some time at her table, looking at the sketch and ring, trying to develop a protection spell.

[What principle will she use, and how?]

This would be a combination of the Principle of Space and Brita's own innate Cleaning capabilities. She is trying to extend a cleansing ritual around Chi-Lin's room, warping the space to make it seem - in aura only - that Chi-Lin does not live in the room, but Brita does.

[Sort of a faraday cage? Brita isn't sure if she got the former, but she's convinced that the latter worked...]

[Brita will work on shoring it up daily to keep Chi-Lin's aura from reasserting itself in the room]

As dusk approaches, Brita rises and goes to the wall. She gently touches the sketch of the room with her right hand and the tents her left hand over the ring above. She closes her eyes and breathes deep. Opening her eyes she pours the cleansing power of the Goddess of Streams around the ring to cleanse it of Chi-Lin's aura. She floods it and - via the Sketch - Chi-Lin's room with her own aura as she whispers "The Way is clear; The path defined. No longer Yours, all is Mine."

After her spell, she clears her mind of Chi-Lin and continues with her Sketches. She works first to finish the one of Uxmal's youngest Son. She then begins a Sketch of Conner.

[How much time has Brita put into the first one? Does she try it?]

Brita has spent probably a total of 16 hours on this particular sketch. She started with sketches ever since she met Ambrose and while she was at Clarissa to work up to this one. A total of maybe 48-72 hrs.

She does not try it immediately. She still has to finish her Trump (of herself).

It's done. It's not the best she's ever done, but she thinks it will work, at least for a while.

Brita will work on her own Trump to complete it in a couple of days before she tries the Ambrose Sketch. Assuming, of course, that other things do not get in the way...


The day after the Concert (I think that's the right timing) Paige knocks at Hannah's door. She's carrying two bundles, one blue and one green, with red tufts of hair. One thinks she might've "knocked" with the toe of her shoe. She's dressed in blue jeans and low boots and a comfortable sweatshirt that has that "my clothes don't fit right now" feel to it.

Hannah smiles at such a gathering. She's got on a very plain purple skirt, with a matching tunic. "Well, hello."

"Hannah, may I introduce Leif," the green bundle that's trying to escape his mother's arms, "And Brooke," the blue that's taking in her surroundings.

Hannah just beams at the babies. "Hello Brooke, and mister Leif. Here," she offers, and will take Leif if Paige lets her.

Paige leaves such a decision to Leif, who accepts the escape from Mama's evil clutches, even if he's unsure of his new gaoler. She smiles. "A little to young to be such a ladies' man, but then again, you haven't met his father."

"Some of them are just born that way," Hannan grins. "Come on in," she offers, stepping aside so Paige can enter. It looks for all the world like Hannah's stripped the bed of blankets and spread them in the middle of the floor. Up on the vanity there's a brush, and a basket, and hanging from the mirror, a purple feather. Otherwise, the room is very neat and hardly looks lived in. It certainly does not look like the room of a woman planning on staying in it long.

There are a few chairs, but Hannah seems to be headed for the blankets.

Paige follows unplussed. She'll let Brooke down on the blankets unless it seems that there is something to disturb there.

[nope, just blankets.]

She plops down with a small secret smile, and unslings her back of child rearing implements. Most notable, as they've been watching out the top of the shoulderbag are two floppy eared bunnies. Brooke pulls at the one but continues to watch Hannah, even as it falls in her lap.

"So, you don't look moved in, yet," Paige comments. "Too new to have your own stuff here, or planning on making Xanadu or Paris home?" she asks.

Hannah sits down with Leif and shrugs. "I really don't know yet. I'm going to visit Xanadu and see if it makes a better place for healing people than Amber. I haven't... had an invitation to Paris," she adds a bit haltingly. "I'm still trying to concieve a good plan."

Paige nods. "Me, too. On security issues, I think one of the Pattern realms will be home soon. We'll see if Paris can trump the allure of Xanadu, but I doubt it."

[Hannah] sits Leif down in front of her, facing his sister, but she doesn't let go. She holds his little hands in hers and wiggles him around.

Hannah glances around the room. "I never did keep a lot of things. I've always been too busy to keep them dusted right. And I wasn't packed up when I came here, so it'll accumulate soon enough, I imagine. Plus I have to get home, at some point, and let them know I'm well, and make sure they've gotten another doctor, or get them one, and," a small sarcastic smile plays over her face for a moment, "I need to ask my father a few pointed questions."

She picks Leif back up and turns him around as he tries to escape her. She tickles his sides. "Yes I do, yes I do," she smiles at the baby.

Paige chuckles. "If it's paternal lineage that carries the Amber blood, don't expect a straight answer. I think it's some sort of racial memory for Amber fathers to be obstinate troublemakers," she jokes.

"I don't expect a straight answer. I may have to confront him where I'm stronger," [Hannah] grins.

"So, my own background is a good bit of mid-wifery and some nursing skills learned in field hospitals. I'm not as familiar with technology as say Solange, but you shouldn't be talking too far over my head, I hope," she explains.

"I doubt I will be about babies," Hannah laughs.

"Leif? He eats and eats and eats. His sister almost as much, but she's a watcher. Catches more than I do most days." She hestitates and collects her thoughts before driving forward.

"On examination, how old do you think they are?" she asks her cousin. Brooke has pulled herself up on the bedskirt and took a few steps over to her mother, in a fairly confident manner, even while wary of Hannah.

Leif is obviously trying to engage Hannah in conversation. He's pointing at something and babbling on about it. In the stream of sylables he does turn and point to Paige, indicating, "Mama."

"Yes, that's mama," Hannah smiles, quite pleased. Hannah names them at someplace between nine months and a year old. "They seem healthy. Is there something specific you're worried about?"

Paige nods, "Yes. While time in my grandmother's realm is subject to her will, the fact remains that the twins are actually no more than two months of subjective time."

Hannah blinks.

"My pregnancy seemed sorcerously advanced also, at a 3:1 ratio. It was either by the Aspect of their Arcadian lineage or another outside means. The concensus holds the former true, as we've sorcerers enough to have noticed the latter," Paige explains. "Unfortunately, Adonis, their father, has been unavailable to speak with... He being our best authority on Arcadia short of Uncle Julian, who's currently at war with Arcadia.

"They've seemed to jump several months at a time, and no matter how fine and 'normal' they might seem to me, I worry about emotional and mental development as much as the physical," she finishes even while smiling for Brooke, who's playing with her mother's braid.

Hannah looks mildly concerned, and starts undressing Leif. "Have they been making, as far as you can tell, emotional and mental jumps along with the physical ones?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean I don't worry," Paige admits.

That makes Hannah smile.

[Paige] runs a hand through Brooke's hair. "I almost fell over the night they hit this point and Brooke called me Mama. The babbling Brooke wasn't unheard of, but when I left them earlier that afternoon they were each about five pounds lighter, their clothing fit and they weren't pulling themselves up in the cradle.

"To be true, I can't tell you if the emotional and mental are jumping with or if they're adapting to the physical changes quicker than I notice... Quick enough that it almost makes the question moot. To my eye, they're rather average for any child approaching their first birthday," she explains.

"Even if they're no place near it."

Paige watches the doctor's examination and hopes that Leif doesn't relieve himself on Hannah's blankets.

The babies appear normal for their age when Hannah examines them.

[Do they have stretch marks?]

[No.]

Hannah doesn't seem all that concerned with the possibility of bodily fluids. On the other hand, she doesn't want them to get cold, so she looks at Leif first and gets him redressed before she starts trying to coax Brooke over with a game of Peek-a-Boo.

Between baby-talk, Hannah asks, "Have you noticed any kind of sign that they're about to accellerate? Do they eat much more? Are they more quiet?"

"No. It seems to happen shortly after a change of season," the mother answers. "Could be the link to their father's natualistic nature. In his home of Arcadia his Aspect changes with the seasons, or so they've said." They, in this instance seems a vague term for Family who know Adonis better - or at least differently - than Paige does.

"My last travels through Shadow led me from Spring here to Summer in the Lands of Peace, to Fall and Winter in Clarissa and back to Spring again in Altamar. They haven't jumped in age since we returned, but it was still Spring in Amber."

"I wonder if it's Summer yet in Xanadu," she muses aloud. "Seems like Random's mood."

Hannah presses her lips together in worry before she says, "Perhaps it would be best not to move them for awhile, even if only to give yourself a chance to catch up, since they seem just fine. Are you [sorry all, gotta ask] breastfeeding?"

"I was until they jumped several months in the space of an afternoon," Paige answers. "They're on soft solids and aren't truly looking for mommy milk anymore at the moment."

"And you know enough midwifery that you're comfortable. If you run into problems, I know tricks," Hannah grins.

"As to moving, I fear I need to move sooner than I wish," [Paige] explains as Leif procures his bunny from her bag with much more gusto than Brooke had shown. Both he and the bunny go tumbling over the top of the bag and land in a similar sprawl on the other side. His green eyes sparkle up at his mother as his sister giggles.

Hannah giggles too.

Paige lets him right himself and continues, "Their paternal grandmother may have designs on them and their Arcadian Aspects, and..." She hesitates, not knowing how much Hannah knows about State Secrets.

"Well, Xanadu or Paris would offer more security than Amber, for numerous reasons," she hedges.

"You've got to do what you've got to do. At least you're prepared for it." Hannah smiles at the babies. "They are completely adorable. They're your first?"

"Yes," the redhead answers simply, still for a moment.

She physically and mental shakes off whatever caught her, and the smile is back in place for her cousin. "A wise man once said, 'Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.' The twins are my life now."

Hannah smiles and nods.

"Would you like the story? I'm sure you'd eventually get it all in some form from the castle rumor-mill, no matter the castle, I fear."

"I always like a story. Sure." Hannah quite deliberately reaches and takes Leif's bunny from him and sets it next to her, but she's watching Brooke as she does it.

Brooke looks to her mother for a reaction, and Leif just comes after the bunny himself, seemingly fearful of no woman.

"To save you sorrid details, which might be available once I know you better," she begins with a smile, "I have a habit of poor relationship choices. I've been known to hang my self-worth on the opinions of others instead of myself."

Hannah just nods.

"Anyway, at the time of the Army's return from Chaos, about two months ago, I was a regular escort of then Captain Worth, our cousin Solange's foster-father. We had been dispatched to Heather Vale to bring the veterans home.

"Cousin Adonis arrived with a wound to his side, and on further thought, perhaps to his pride," she chuckles. "After almost burning down one of the hospital tents, cousin Brita sedated Adonis with a strong right hook. I've some nursing skills from a civil war in the Shadow I was raised in, so I chose to watch him. I took the time to sketch him sleeping and was captured.

"I don't know what it was, but he seemed... well, godlike's the right term, but not what I saw... unearthly beautiful. On hindsight, one would believe that it's a prerequisite for fertility dieties. When he awoke extolling the medicinal properties of wine, women and song... I don't know, it just seemed to call to me.

"After, word passed around the camp quickly enough, and my relationship with Worth became Worth-less and to be honest, I don't know if Adonis knows of the twins, or even of my pregnancy."

"That's hard. It's been my experience we never warn women enough about the dangers of cowboys, fertility gods, or salesmen." She's only half joking. "Is there no way to get in touch with Adonis?" Hannah asks.

"Not that we know of at the moment, but I've an iron or two in the fire," Paige answers. "As to the dangers, I think it's my own fault, at least to some extent. I've lived near enough two centuries and never had to worry about pregnancy. Our family's birthright ensured that it simply wasn't possible. I was... over-confident of my self imposed infertility."

Hannah nods. "So that doesn't really work with other family, then, I guess. Especially fertility god family." Hannah smiles.

"I dated family for a couple years. Worked fine with him," she shrugs.

"Was that because he wanted the same thing, do you think? I mean, would it work if he wanted a baby and you didn't? Or vice versa? Is it a matter of what's most likely to happen, then in that case? The two of you achieve balance with opposing desires and so you're back to unprotected and just hoping?" Hannah rambles, clearly just thinking out loud, but for all she knows Paige might know. Then Hannah breaks into a huge smile. "I don't think we'd get a lot of volunteers to experiment and find out."

"Well, I'm pretty damn sure that he didn't want a kid, yet," Paige says, remembering the conversation and her stupid, stupid play. "So that answers that set of conditions."

"Does it? You wanted one and it didn't work?" Hannah asks.

"No, that was the 'we both don't want one' subset."

Hannah clearly makes a mental note.

"Do you have support within the family for them? A man around you might name their... I don't know what you'd call it here. Their adoptive father?" Hannah goes on. She wiggles the bunny away from Leif again, with a little tickle this time.

Paige hesitates, her lip quivering for a moment before fighting the reaction back down. "No. As I said, I'm bad with relationships.

"But I do have support in the family. While he's totally helpless around them, my father is an adoring grandfather," she admits.

Hannah scoots over closer to Paige and takes her hand. She squeezes. "Even an adoring grandfather can be an adoptive father. All they need is a man around who loves them enough to care. They'll be fine."

Paige doesn't have any sense of personal space at times, so she never flinches. She offers her cousin a smile and a nod.

Hannah lets Paige's hand go. "Anyway, you can train him."

Paige chuckles. "Obviously, you've not truly met my father yet."

"No, I haven't, but he's got a stake in keeping his descendants healthy. Even if he doesn't know he does, he does."

Hannah leans over and holds the bunny out to Brooke. "Would you like to play with the bunny?"

[If Leif starts crying she'll pick him up and whisper to him.]

Brooke points at the bunny, or perhaps that's the beginning of a grab and says, "bunny". Leif also reaches for the bunny, and indeed Hannah does find herself comforting him.

Hannah gives the bunny to Brooke and pulls Leif up in her lap. "They seem perfectly normal," she tells Paige over the noise. Then she picks Leif up with a firm hold on his ankles and holds him upside down, facing her. Crying babies do not phase Hannah, especially not when she started it.

"Oh no! What happened? Why are you upside down? Where is your sister?" Hannah crosses her arms and turns him, still upside down, to face Brooke. "Tell her she should share her toy, since she has the bunny, Leif."

Hannah smiles reassuringly at Paige. "They should have a good idea of themselves in space by now. He's emotionally right where I'd expect. She's ahead a bit, I think."

"Girls do that," she says in her best proud mama tone.

"So, I know nothing about you and I've already started rambling on about my failed romances," Paige smiles, watching Brooke's reaction.

"We all have at least one. And those that don't are just too lucky," Hannah grins.

"How'd you find our happy family, especially after so many years and the fact that 'All Roads DON'T Lead to Amber', at least anymore?" she asked.

Hannah glances at Paige before she gently lowers Leif until he's on his back. She leaves him free to do what he will, although she watches. Hannah seems to think about how to put it before she shrugs. "The Unicorn came and got me. But we went somewhere else before, well, Princess Fiona sent me here with the magic cards."

"Trumps," Paige corrects, with a gentle tone. "A full set is also often referred to as the Fortunes."

She produces a gold silk scarf from her bag, and unwraps her Fortunes. "People attuned to them can do a bit of divination and those of relatives can be used as you saw my Aunt do."

Paige offers the deck to Hannah, careful to keep them from the twins' reach.

Hannah carefully takes the deck with the same care she would use with any item of power. She looks through them, keeping them in her hands, because obviously, they are not good for babies. "They're beautiful. Does everyone have this many?"

"A full set of Fortunes is always thirty-six cards. The number of family Trumps included I believe varies from deck to deck. Compared to my Father's deck, I'd guess that my collection is slim," Paige explains.

"The first decks are beleived to have been painted by Dworkin, who taught cousin Reid, who taught cousin Brita. Dworkin also taught Uncle Brand, who instructed cousin Ossian and myself, and I taught Merle.

"Dworkin's decks included all the elders, himself and Grandfather," Paige continues. "I'm not as quick at producing them as he, but most any of those I just named are better Artists than myself, although, I'm improving myself.

"Maybe better's a misnomer. More dedicated, I suppose, is appropriate," she rambles. "Father's officially labled me a dabbler."

"Dworkin asked if he could sketch me. He did sketch me, I guess. So he could, um, talk to me now, with one of these?" Hannah asks.

"Master Dworkin?" Paige asks rhetorically. "After one sketchign, yes I think he could. Myself or the others might take a little bit longer to understand enough of you to distill that essence to a useful Trump or even a sketch capable of it.

"I'd like to sketch you, if time allows in the future," she offers.

"And then you could use it if you needed me? That'd be just fine with me. I haven't sat for art for a long time." Hannah reluctantly gives the cards back. "How does it work, if someone... uses a 'trump' of you? What happens?"

"You feel a touch, at the back of your mind," Paige explains while she watches the twins interaction. "Cool and soothing like a fresh breeze through an open door in a waking dream."

Hannah smiles.

"Of course, you're opening yourself to possible danger, as someone adept in their use could initiate a contest of wills," she warns. "But I only know of a few instances of that ever happening."

Hannah scowls, but nods.

"Eventually in your mind's eye, it will resolve to a vision of the person calling from the perspective of the card they're using, normally.

"You could try placing a call," Paige suggests. "I've a copy of my own Trump here."

She shuffles out a Trump without looking at it and offers it to Hannah.

Hannah takes it and looks at Paige, and looks at the card, and looks at Paige. "What do I do?"

Paige chuckles, "Oh, I'm sorry.

"Hold the card. Can you feel how cool it is? Good.

"Try to picture me not only as I appear here," she taps the cardback, "but as you see me. As you associate with me in your mind.

"I argued once with my teacher that the Image could at some time be abstract. Like Corwin's rose. To most it would be but a picture of a cloakpin, but to those with the right associations it speaks as well to my mental image of our uncle as any painting on pressboard might. But I'm rambling...

"Focus on me, call my name without your voice, and know in the center of your being that I will hear you. Go ahead." Paige stands and crosses the room out of Hannah's field of vision.

Hannah closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, imagining the Paige she might find in the spirit realm. Then she looks at the card and calls her without calling her.

Paige feels the beginnings of a Trump connection.

Paige opens herself to the contact and speaks, "Hello?"

Hannah laughs nervously. "Hello?" She's very focused and her eyes widen when she 'sees' Paige.

Paige's voice is soft to try to prevent echoing. "So, that's it in a nutshell. As I said, I'll have to sketch you to do it the other way, but I hope we can find some time, eventually for that."

"You could pull me through and really confuse the kids if you like," she says.

Hannah smiles really big and holds her hand out for Paige to take, watching for the effect closely - and prepared for a weird feeling.

Paige reached for Hannah, a vision one moment and a warm hand the next. She steps forward and is standing next to Hannah smiling. She looks to Brooke who had started surfing along the furniture to follow her mother as she scoops Leif up in her arms.

"Oh, that's just... nifty!" Hannah nearly giggles, and then she takes a few steps to scoop up Brooke and spin her around. "Did your mama hop across the room? Did you see her go?"

Hannah takes a deep happy breath and calms down. "Of all the wonders in the world, the worlds, you little babies are still the most precious."


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Last modified: 3 May 2005