On To Ambrose

Lilly is still recovering from the rip in spacetime Madoc cast her through following their failed negotiations at the Tree when the attack happens. Wherever she's arrived seems to have had a recent volcanic eruption: there's ash in the air and what Lilly suspects from the appearance of the trees is a dense tropical forest of some sort is on fire. She's in no immediate danger from the flames, which mostly seem to be at a lower elevation and closer to the volcano than the switchback in the mountainside where she's standing.

The light of the cracked moon is dim, almost bloody, as best she can see through the clouds and ash, but even without sight, Lilly knows what the sound of a spear thumping into the ground a few feet from her is. She can guess from the sound what the direction of approach must be, and her guess is confirmed when there's a call in a language she doesn't know.

It doesn't sound like a call for her to surrender. It sounds like a call for reinforcements.

Lilly turns. Slowly. A feral grin spreads across her lips and her eyes sparkle with a manic glow despite the gathering dimness. Staring in the direction of the spear thrower, she reaches for the blade at her hip and unsheathes it in a blur of motion. Fresh anger and frustration churned within her blood. First Madoc... Now this. Fine. Let the universe do whatever the hell it wanted. No more games. No more running away. Time to claim her heritage.

Come to me, she dares the unseen foes. Come to me and discover just how dangerous a daughter of Benedict can be.

There are three of them, nearly-naked warriors with tattoos, rushing at her. None of them are trained nearly to the level that would challenge a daughter of Benedict. She can tell by the way they approach and move. Nor are their weapons of obsidian any threat to her steel.

Stillness caresses her skin. As they approach, Lilly is little more then a statue set forth in honor of some distant war god. Only the faint movement of breath betrays her life.

The ploy works. The men slow in their attack, curious. Was this a surrender or simply a death wish? One dared inch close. Too close. With a satisfying squelch, Lilly plunges her blade deep within his bowels then forces it upward stealing away life sustaining breath. The others react, moving in quickly but not nearly quick enough. Freeing the blade, she slides the steel effortless across the second's throat nearly severing his head before piercing the apple of the third. In scant seconds, the fight is over and three men lie dead at the sword mistresses feet.

Once Lilly has incapacitated her foes, she can hear what the summons has wrought. More warriors are approaching. On an individual level, Lilly can kill any of them with ease, but if there are enough of them, they could take her down by sheer numbers of bodies. She can't tell how many are coming, but it seems to be a lot.

Lilly hesitates. The three had been less then satisfying. Rage still howled in her mind demanding release. But now was not the time for a suicide mission. No. She would not allow herself the peace of death until Dara had been dealt with. She wipes her blade clean on the clothing of one of the fallen and moves from the path of the approaching men.

Cover is thankfully abundant in this place. The rank air, full of ash, should keep her scent well hidden. Lilly finds an area to survey their approach. Taking on an army might be foolish but taking on the leaders is something different entirely. There had better be a challenge, her inner voice calmly states. There is no point in playing with the prey unless a few skills can be honed in the process.

The men are near-naked, they are carrying spears with obsidian points, and they seem to have a uniform look in their eye as if they are on some sort of drug or are bewitched. They seem to be unafraid of the fire that is around them, although they do not deliberately burn themselves.

They are coming down the mountain from above. Lilly can see a saddle-pass between to peaks up the hill. In the other direction, Lilly sees the burning remains of a city beneath the settling ash and soot. The stone buildings will survive, but most of the structures are wooden and they are already afire.

Based on the pattern of movement above and the trail left below, Lilly believes that the army climbed over this mountain from the city and are either escaping or just leaving. Most of the army is passed. This may have been the rear-guard.

They may not fear the fire, Lilly notes, but they certainly have enough wisdom to walk away. So drugged or not, common sense still functions. Good. Because she needs a distraction and a chance to burn away some of the inner rage, Lilly follows their course, moving at a swift pace alongside. Occasionally, she tosses a stone into the distance simply to gauge their reaction. Best to know thy enemy.

Much like a cat, Lilly begins to enjoy taunting her prey. It made life more interesting. Fortunately, there is no one near enough to see her grinning.

Clearly, the mice are trying to bell the cat. They are searching the woods for Lilly. In a little bit, Lilly will be forced to leave the woods or take out a portion of the search team. They've sent back a second squad of more experienced fighters. There seem to be plenty of them at the top.

Growing bored with the game, Lilly retreats slightly to reassess the situation. There is nothing to be gained here. Not really. Perhaps a bit of self-satisfaction and a minor escape from her otherwise confused existence but little else. She turns with the intent of stepping off into the Shadows when a thought intrudes.

He sent you here for a reason.

Stopping mid step, Lilly cocks her head slightly to the side. Go on, she thinks back.

There must be a reason. There always is. Even if it is not intentional. Your world isn't equipped with coincidence.

There is truth to that, Lilly agrees. Fine then.

She turns back and begins to move around the army of men, over the hill; making their destination her own. Let's see what's here before finding out what's somewhere else. The sword, of course, remains in her grip.... just in case it's needed.

Lilly crosses the saddleback mountain and finds herself looking down at a ruined town, the stone buildings covered with more of the burning lava. There is a building standing in the midst of the ruin and fire. It looks like a pyramid whose top has been blown off. Standing on it are two people. It looks as if it's the destination of the army below.

Interesting. Perhaps this game might still have some merit.

Lilly pulls her pack from her shoulders and reaches within. Sifting through the contents, she smiles as she touches cool metal. That will work, she decides and pulls out a sleek, black metal spyglass. She looks it over once before setting down the pack.

"All right then... let's see why we are here," Lilly whispers to herself as she lifts the spyglass to her right eye and begins an elaborate series of lens adjustments designed to bring the two figures into sharp focus.

The two figures appear with surprising clarity in the center of the focal area. She recognizes the woman popping a gem into her mouth and eating it at once; it's Clarissa. The other figure is bronzed and handsome, and has a golden dragon draped around his shoulders like a sated snake. He is her cousin Edan.

Lilly watches for a moment and then decides that there is little point in playing hid and see with the sorcerers. She returns the spy glass to her bag and begins to make her way to the duo. She continues to walk carefully, trying not to attract the undue attention of the nearby soldiers. No point in killing more of them if they are working FOR Edan. And if they are working against him - well certainly he can fight his own battles.

As she makes her way toward the pyramid, Lilly sees glimpses of a stallion caparisoned in a vaguely familiar style, something like the Amber bridle and saddle but yet not the same. She thinks she may have seen the horse before, but she may not recall where.

Approaching a strange beast is not always the wisest of decisions, still Garrett would be disappointed if she did not at least attempt to make friends with it. Besides, riding to meet Edan will be much faster then walking. If only she can get close enough...

"Hello there," Lilly says in a low voice as she cautiously moves towards the horse. "And who might you be?" She does not expect the answer but the [time] in chaos has prepared her for one never-the-less.

The horse whickers at her. She's sure he's combat-trained, both because of the way he moves and his steadiness. Examining him more closely, she can see that it's been closer to the fire and explosion and is now running away. There are some mild burns and scorchmarks, but he doesn't seem to be severely injured, and he doesn't move as if any bones are broken.

He doesn't seem inclined to flee from Lilly.

Lilly reaches into her pack and removes a shiny red apple. She gives it a quick polish with her shirt before dangling before the horse. "Here you go boy, have a treat." With her best Garrett impersonation, she attempts to feed the apple to the horse without getting her hand removed in the process.

Once the feeding experiment is concluded, Lilly tries the next logical step - mounting. She is rather intent upon succeeding too and feels her will can certainly outweigh the horse's in this matter.

Lilly is able to convince the stallion to let her feed him. Mounting up is more difficult and requires quite a bit of enforced willpower to make it less improbable for a trained warhorse to accept someone other than his master on his back. About the time she has successfully managed this feet, she feels a hot, dry wind of the sort she'd expect from the desert blow over her and the horse, carrying a piercing whistling sound.

The stallion's ears perk up and he starts to move off, as if in reply to the summons.

Lilly smiles. Fate may not be always be a friend but it appeared to be a constant companion. She shifts her weight, prompting the stallion into a gallop. The scenery rolls by in a blur. Her focus remains steady on the movements of the horse. For a few moments there is the exhilaration of free movement. All boundaries fall away. Then finally, the horse begins to slow, and Lilly spots Edan not far ahead.

Moments pass. Edan hears the approach well before it is seen. Aramsham is moving at a gallop, speeding towards his destination. His pace slows slightly, as he comes into sight. A woman... no not just any woman... Lilly sits poised in the saddle. She quickly makes eyes contact with Edan and offers a nod. "I knew I recognized this horse," she says. Pulling the horse to a halt, she dismounts in a swift, fluid move.

"Thank you," Lilly offers to Aramsham before turning her attention fully to her relatives. "I apologize if I have offended you by borrowing him," she gestures to the stallion. "He is a fine creature and saved me a bit of a walk."

Edan, realizing his jaw has dropped, closes it with a click. Then, he grins. "Of all the people I expected to find here, you... well, you were not even on the list. It is good to see you, cousin." He takes a step or two forward to pet Aramsham on the nose.

"No wonder you took so long, you spoiled nag. You stopped for reinforcements! I hope he behaved for you, Lilly; he has a very foul temper somet- oww! Off the foot!"

Aramsham's ears go back, but he removes his foot from Edan's foot.

Clarissa, meanwhile, has moved to envelop Lilly in a perfumed hug. "Dear Lilly! So good of you to come! I didn't expect to see you here."

They are standing at the foot of the pyramid, the top of which is blown off as if it were a volcano.

Lilly somehow manges to refrain from wincing but only just. In her mind, she remembers the old women who lived near her when she was growing up. They too had a penchant for embracing. On the bright side, Clarissa, at the very least, would most likely not provide her with a running commentary about how she should eat more because men enjoyed curves and she really wanted to make sure she attracted the right kind of man... Of course, the speech always had the opposite effect of making her sick to her stomach and prompting her to eat even less but that was all beside the point.

Pulling back, Lilly attempts a social smile that promptly up-ends itself into a bit of a grimace."This destination was not exactly my choice either but fate, for whatever reason, has put me in your company."

She looks around and then returns to the question most pressing in her mind right now, "Perhaps you could tell me where I am?"

"We are at the Pyramid of the Magician in the Shadow Uxmal," Edan says. "Home of Brennan, Ambrose and Chantico. You caught us just as we were about to depart."

"Your cousin Ambrose seems to have abandoned the place and left Chantico some surprises." Clarissa gives Lilly a rather sharp-toothed smile. "We're on our way to find him now. Where were you going that your path drew you here, Lilly?"

"I was going nowhere," Lilly replies. "I was attempting to reason with Maddoc but the negotiations appear to be over." She takes a deep breath. "He either sent me here or simply out of his realm and I landed here. I realize there is quite a difference between the two. If there was nothing going on here or this was simply the middle of some distant war, I would say the latter. However, I think there is far too much coincidence involved for that. As to why he would want me here..." there is a slight shrug, "Perhaps one of you is better able to answer that?"

"I do not know." Edan is frowning. "How did he get you from there to here directly, past the Tree? I didn't think that was possible."

"It's possible he was trying to send you to me, although you must have been near or at the Tree for him to send you even this far," Clarissa says. "We're not very far in," she clarifies for Edan's benefit.

The frown lessens, vanishes. "Not a limit," Edan says, slowly. "Only very difficult. Like when I juggled Pattern and Sorcery." He glances back and forth from Clarissa to some far-off spot as the idea of it dawns on him. That, and the realization that there are probably more limits he's set in his head that need to be reviewed at some later quiet moment.

Finally, he gives both Lilly and Clarissa a weak smile. "So much for staying subtle and invisible. I certainly did my part to ruin that. Perhaps we should get going before someone with the Art zeroes in on us."

Lilly nods in acknowledgement if not in understanding. Sorcery and mysticism has their place but as of now that place remains very distant for her. "I have no objections to leaving. However, if there is danger present, can I have a quick appraisal of the situation. Otherwise, I claim the right to kill anyone that crosses my path... present company excluded, of course." There is a slight hesitation, then a smile as she realizes she should probably make it seem as if she is not quite serious.

"There's whatever drove Ambrose to abandon the place, and then his sister Chantico." Clarissa blithely dismisses the latter problem and seems none too concerned about the former.

Edan looks in the general direction of the path Ambrose took from the pyramid. "If Chantico has not been here already, which is likely, she will be tracking us as we track him. The explosion will be nothing to her. Not the best tactical situation, but it could be much worse." He turns to Lilly and bows. He looks completely serious. "And... thank you, cousin. It is ever so tedious and tiresome to come back from the dead."

"I'm sure it is," Lilly responds smoothly. "Let's move then. Staying still for too long really doesn't suit me anyway and I've wasted enough of my time on diplomacy." The last may not have anything at all to do with the situation but there is an edge to it all the same.

Once things are settled, Clarissa takes out a lock of red hair and a brazier and burns it ceremonially, and then she Parts the Veil, using a stick with the lock of burning hair to draw the rift.

She gestures to Edan and Lilly to step through first. There is darkness, as if it's night, on the other side, so it's hard to tell much else immediately. Edan will have to lead Aramsham through instead of riding.

It seems to be taking Clarissa more exertion than usual to hold open the rift.

Lilly's brow furrows as she peers through the rift. Why did it have to be dark? She is neither frightened nor apprehensive, though she probably should be. Instead, due to her current state of contempt for all that is her bloodline, she merely feels an active disdain. For once, just once, she would like to have some measure of control over the universe. Walking the pattern was supposed to deliver that. Instead, she keeps finding herself entrenched in the company of sorcerers and with seemingly less control over her environment then before. Whoever coined the phrase life isn't fair didn't know the half of it...

Realizing Clarissa may not be able to maintain the effort for more then a few moments, Lilly draws her sword. With the blade leading the way, she steps into the unknown.

In contrast, Edan looks almost relieved. "This will solve some problems," he says, and turns to look at Lilly; getting a glimpse of her expression, he presses his lips together and leads Aramsham through behind her.

Even in the darkness, Edan's hand finds Lilly's shoulder. "It is said that those of Amber do not use sorcery. They use sorcerors, instead," he says. "My father and I do not agree- we prefer to maintain our own control over dangerous things like that, rather than trust someone else. But if it is sorcery that brings that look to your face, my cousin, remember it is but a tool. A weapon, like a sword, or an extremely versatile martial art. That is all it is. You have the means to defeat it. In the meantime, why not enjoy its advantages?"

Clarissa starts to step through behind them, but the rift begins to close and she sticks her hands through to hold it open. As the burning hair comes through the rift, there's an explosion of light and heat, and Edan at least can feel a power of sorcery happening in it.

"Clever of him," Clarissa's voice says behind them, almost admiringly, "I may have taught him too well."

Then the rift closes, severing Clarissa's hands partway through the palms and fingers. They, and the wand with the lock of the burning hair, fall to the ground, the flame extinguished.

Edan and Lilly are alone in the dark.

Lilly stares into the dark void for the briefest of moments before whispering, "Now do you understand why I prefer a more direct approach?" There is a pause as she shakes her head. "I certainly hope she is OK. Fingers tend to be important but I trust she has the means to staunch any bleeding." A long sigh. "This seems to have changed the plan just a bit."

"A bit." Edan's hand leaves her shoulder. "Clarissa's going to want those back.'

There is a pause in the darkness. 'Try not to think of her as human. She doesn't have the same frailties. Have you seen her in her own demense? I have... what was with us at the pyramid, that was only the smallest fraction of her. She doesn't need fingers. She would make them as she wants them."

He reaches down to where he remembers the severed hands to be, touches them, draws the heat from them until they are frozen solid. Picking all the items up from the ground, he puts them in his robe. Then, he claps his hands together and lays a palm flat against Lilly's back.

Edan's and Lilly's eyes have already begun to adjust to the near pitch-black of their surroundings. Between the echoing vision and their own sight, they can tell that they're in a wood somewhere. The feel of the air suggests they're not too far from the sea, although they're not so close they can smell salt. It's cooler and a bit drier than it was in Uxmal, but, after all, that was a jungle.

There is sound, actual sound, off in one direction, more than can be accounted for by small creatures. The forest canopy hides any starlight, but there is no moon as far as Edan and Lilly can tell.

Maybe Ambrose planned it that way.

Lilly starts to take a step forward then hesitates, "I assume our plan is to head towards the noise and scout the situation? I realize Ambrose is probably more or less expecting to be followed or else there would have been no trap left behind. However, that fact does not change the need for action. Simply standing around awaiting an attack will not make me very happy."

"Indeed," Edan says, straightening his clothing. "But not scout as in to sneak around. We must meet him as equals, not discovered as spies. Parity. It is necessary."

"I agree it is necessary," Lilly responds as she begins to move forward. "However, I prefer to not go into battle blindly. Hence, scouting. To be equal, we must know a bit more about our surroundings and his weaponry. So by all means, look as confident as you please but walk with your eyes wide open and absorb every detail. You never know what small piece of scenery might prove to be vital later on."

"Agreed," Edan says. He pats Aramsham's neck and moves his hand before it's bitten. "Thinking about riding, or walking?"

"Seeing as there is one horse and two riders, I think the answer to that depends upon Aramsham," Lilly replies. "He may not be willing to carry us both." She smiles gently at the horse before continuing on. "Summoning another may take too long. Of course we could always walk until we find a horse I can borrow." To be fair, she thinks to herself, it really does not qualify as borrowing when the original rider is dead and there is no real intent to return the creature to anyone. But why refer to it as stealing when it hasn't happened yet?

"We can ride and then walk," Edan says. "It has been my experience that when Aramsham is walked for too long, he gets restless. He will snort, and prance, and toss his head, and let everyone know that he is a prince amongst horses. Then comes the sniffing and rooting around for a treat. Spoiled, this one is. I wonder how he got that way..."

"I can't imagine," Lilly replies coolly. "Though I will admit, he responds well enough to bribes. And I may have an apple or two left in my bag if we need it." She pats Aramsham gently then steps aside. "After you?" she says to Edan, assuming that the horse will respond better to this.

Edan nods, and mounts; once he is settled on his horse, he holds out a hand for Lilly to take.

She moves with effortless grace and is soon seated behind him.

Edan sets Aramsham forward at a walk, head turning this way and that to see what is around them. He seems to have had a lot of practice with the spell he's placed on them, or at least looks very comfortable with it. Less comfortable is his expression when he tries to decide which subject to bring up. "Were you and Martin... successful... with what you were about?" he asks, finally.

Lilly presses her lips into a thin line as she takes a moment to formulate an answer. "Our distant cousins are a difficult lot. They play with different rules. I would hardly call anything I managed to do or not do a success. Martin and I were separated. It is possible his efforts were rewarded." She breathes in deeply and looks off into the distance. "Do you ever feel like you were thrown into all of this without the proper teaching or understanding? For all of my abilities, I still constantly feel as if I have no grasp on the rules of engagement, particularly when it comes to Family."

Edan blinks, then chuckles. "You could say that, yes. I have a slightly different problem: my father taught me the old way of dealing with our Family. How the brothers and sisters would treat one another. It is one of the reasons I chose to stay in the Dar-es Salaam. No one prepared me for the cameraderie of the cousins, or the, ah, executive style of the King." He glances back to her. "How do you handle them, these rules of engagement?"

"Normally?" Lilly asks then promptly answers her own question. "Normally, I prefer to sit back, assess the situation, look for points to weakness and find ways to exploit them. That works well in battle. Sometimes it is necessary to engage ones opponent on a superficial level to truly discover their weaknesses but eventually, I can find them. Except when it comes to family." She pauses for a moment then smiles. "I suppose after living multiple lifetimes, it is easier to hide things from one with less experience. I'm just not accustomed to being so easily thwarted." Judging from tone, the last statement is obviously something she is not comfortable admitting.

"Social interaction is a completely different battlefield," Edan agrees. "I know enough to know that I don't know very much. At least I grew up as an outcast in a Byzantine court, and have seen my share of manipulation and deception. Plus I have... had... my faith to show me how to act." He shakes his head. "A pale shadow, compared to Family. I take it that you concentrated your talents in another direction, then... a more martial one."

"One could say that," Lilly responds, the slightest hint of laughter permeating her voice. "I grow up in a loving household and had the misfortune of learning how to be nice to people. Stay quiet. Help out. All those wonderful things they teach the children of normal parents. But, as you know, my father is Benedict. So picking up a sword and pointing it at men twice my size was as natural and as easy for me as breathing. No one was going to be able to keep me from it."

Edan raises an eyebrow. "Are you inferring that someone tried? In my homeland, it is almost unheard-of for women to take up the sword. They are encouraged to more... traditional... pursuits. That was before I met the women of the desert tribes, of course."

"Oh, my foster mother tried!" Lilly responds. "Over and over and over again. I think when I arrived, she envisioned tea parties, and cooking, and little pink dresses. And I tried, too. I wanted to please her. More then anything I wanted to make her happy." Sadness momentarily overtakes her forcing a pause. "I won't say I was a disappointment, just something other then what they were expecting. They were able to understand and accept that I would never be like the other young girls I grew up with. I think that made them sad not because they wanted me to be something I wasn't but because they knew the life I was chasing would be much more difficult then that of a more traditional wife and mother."

"Indeed," Edan says. "So, you took the path of a Sword Maiden, then? How did they put it in that shadow I visited... a sword-saint? A full dedication to the art?" He looks troubled. "I can applaud the decision, but I doubt I could ever pursue a goal with such... determination, Lilly. I have too many fond interests. In a way, I envy your path. Its simplicity, its purity. But... isn't it lonely, this path you have taken?"

Lilly smiles softly, "Perhaps it is but to be honest, I have no measure of the word lonely. As a child I was separated from those around me for many reasons. I was a stranger. I looked different therefore I was treated different. Not by family but by everyone else. So in many ways, I grew up alone and followed my pursuit alone. I suppose I was lonely, but I never associated that word with my feelings. And now..." she pauses as she tries to put her feelings into perspective. "Well, let's just say I am very accustomed to my solitary lifestyle and at times the idea of not being alone is more frightening. There is a certain vulnerability, I have found, to needing the company of others. I'm not sure I am comfortable with that."

Edan gets a strange look when Lilly mentions 'looking different' and 'treated different', but it goes away. "But is that not a vulnerability in itself? Are there not those among Family that would take advantage of your desire to be alone, the lack of social interaction?"

"Would or have?" Lilly asks but leaves no time for a reply. "Certainly, I would like to be more socially adept and feel comfortable in the company of family. And you're right, it has all ready proven to be a vulnerability. I guess I don't really play well with others in many circumstances." She laughs softly. "It's something I suppose I will just have to keep working on."

Edan nods. "It is a thing that I have wanted to do, too. Not overcome a lack of interaction, but rather overcome my, ah, more exotic background. I keep saying that I will find the time to do so in Shadow, but more important things keep coming up." He glances back. "Where will you go, then, after we have met up with our cousin?"

"Not sure yet," Lilly replies honestly. "I have some long-term goals in mind that involve eradicating the problem most of us know as Dara however, I am wise enough to not pursue that end alone. Besides, I know there are others with the same goal and I do not wish to deny them any joy they might get from watching." She smiles, then shakes head. "And I suppose I should check in with King Random at some point, if for no other reason then to let him know I am alive." As she speaks, the face of another enters her mind. At some point, Lilly knows she must stop avoiding him as well. He had done nothing wrong. In fact, his actions had in some ways been too right. Giving into fear, particularly the fear of developing a relationship had been foolish. But even though Lilly understood that, the idea of seeing him again still made her stomach churn. Best to not think on that right now, she decides and attempts to purge the image from her mind.

Edan nods. "Let him know that I am still out and about, would you? I have no Trumps. Though I am considering coming back soon... I have a search going for the firelillies, and the question of the Moonriders will have to wait until that first question is answered."

"You do realize that simply discussing those two particular ongoing problems is nearly enough to divert me from any other tasks I may have planned, don't you?" Lilly shakes her head. "There are simply too many things vying for my attention right now. I think if nothing else, I need to return to Xanadu so I regain my focus but first, we must obviously deal with this mess."

"Of course," Edan says. "There will be time afterwards, Lilly. I understand that now. There are no limits. Only difficulty." He smiles. "If nothing else, that is the greatest lesson I have learned from Clarissa. That there are no limits to what we can do, what we can be. We can make the time we need because Time and Space are illusion. They are Principles. We are Real. There is only the matter of our perspective, within the everpresent Now. And, of course, the interference of others." He glances back. "Did that make any sense?"

Lilly shakes her head but offers something of a grin. "Some of it does. A sense of immortality does permeate this family. Of course, being as young as I am, I think I have a minimal grasp on that. But I do understand that patience is necessary... for many things. But I still perceive shadows as being perhaps more real then I should. It's something I think I will overcome with experience. Still, it is a grand thought and almost comforting."

"It is so," Edan says, nodding once. "Patience is more than a virtue for us. Taking the longer view, planning decades in advance, it is part of our gifts. And understanding the reality of Shadow..." he waves a hand, not going into his own years of staying in one shadow or worshipping a probable shadow god. He pushes away the strange feeling he gets at such a casual waving off of his past. "I understand. But there is another thing, and if you meet the Gheneshi, you need to know of it. The Calusan dragons do this instinctively. The Elders make use of it to varying degrees; it is how Father finds the time to do... whatever it is that he does. It is how Oberon placed the arm that came to your father. The Gheneshi understand this. It is one of the properties of Tir."

He pulls a length of thread from his pocket and stretches it out between his hands, guiding Aramsham with his knees. "Observe. This is how our senses perceive time. Our lives have a beginning and an end. Time moves linearly, in one direction, moment by moment. Right now we are a point on this line; we remember the points before, and normally we cannot see ahead. Being Family, we can affect time. We can stretch out the thread. We can shorten it. If we push hard enough, we can break it." He pushes his fingers together, making a loop and touching two points on the thread. "When a sorceror is asked, 'How does one see ahead in time?', this is the analogy that is usually used. He brings another point in the thread together with his own, and observes what he can. It is the simple explanation, and true. But things are more complicated than that, Lilly. Time is not a line, even though we see it as such."

Edan wraps the thread around his finger, ties knots, and continues wrapping the thread until it is a tight little ball. "This is time. Time is a big ball of string, and it contains an infinite number of threads. Do you see? Our moment in time, it does not just touch the moments before and after. Any point on that thread, it touches many, many other points. And our actions, or inactions, they jump us from thread to thread to thread within that ball. That is probability. Suddenly, looking ahead in time, it is not so simple, is it? And this is just one Shadow. Imagine a network of string, stretching to infinity in all directions. Each ball of string with an infinite number of threads. And they are all connected, in an almost infinite number of places. Do you see? Whether we are aware of it in our one moment, there are paths all around us. The Chaosi use these paths. The Gheneshi use these paths. Not all can be traveled, but they have learned, are learning, which ones can be walked. Have you been to Tir? I have seen Tir-na Nog'th, and have walked its Pattern. I have seen these properties of time for myself. This was what I was trying to say. Time is our plaything, Lilly, though it is a dangerous plaything. You could go anywhere. You can make time as you need it. And since time and space are really the same thing, you can go anywhere, anywhen. You just need to learn how, and know the risks. Rest assured, our enemies are already doing this."

Lilly nods, "You are an excellent teacher." She takes a moment to mull over his words before continuing on. "Your words offer an excellent model for understand and for that I thank you. In answer to a few of the questions you asked... No, I have not been to Tir. Prior to the sundering, I never had the opportunity to visit Amber. I have walked the pattern in Xanadu but no other and only once. As you can no see, there are many things I have yet to learn or experience. Perhaps someday you can help me remedy some that."

Edan smiles, looking ahead. "I would be honored, cousin Lilly. Whenever circumstances permit, of course. We both will have much to experience. Assuming we get through this." The smile fades a little. "Did I explain what happened to the pyramid?"

"No. Not really." Lilly responds. "I do know it has something to do with Ambrose and that Clarissa is evidently heavily involved but little more then that. It might be beneficial to know a few more details."

"After visiting Grandmother, she offered to teach a little advanced sorcery to me, along with Ambrose," Edan says. "I accepted, and we came to Uxmal. Ambrose was supposed to be in that pyramid, the Magician's Pyramid, but it was deserted. It is, ah, something of a family symbol for Brand and his descendants. Apparently, Ambrose is fighting a war with his half-sister, Chantico, for control of this shadow. He had left, with his mother and people, and had trapped the pyramid against Chantico's entry.

"These traps eventually snared us as we moved into the pyramid... at least, I think Grandmother was letting them work as part of my education. Eventually, I was stopped... trappped... by the sorcery, my desire not to disturb the traps for Ambrose's benefit, and my desire not to injure anyone. I became frustrated. Well, actually, I became angry. I can only assume Ambrose knows what happened, though he may not know what he's just done to Grandmother. He might be angry, too. I'll have to remind him that he was willing to give up the pyramid and indeed, that whole of Uxmal, in a bid to trap his sister."

"My father decided to teach me about warfare by having me command an army. So on some level, I certainly do understand. Our family is not particularly sympathetic when it comes to teaching," Lilly replies with a smile.

"All right then," she continues on. "Except for thwarting his plans to trap his sister, do you believe Ambrose has any other reason to direct his anger at us? Or will he be looking to maintain allies?"

"I heard about the Coronation," Edan says. "I'd say he's looking for allies, if he hasn't already found one in the King. We could use that. I'm sure that will come to his mind quickly."

Lilly nods, "There is that. Still, I am interested in hearing what he might have to say, as strange as that might sound. Diplomacy may not be my forte' but I feel it would be foolish to rush in with swords flashing."