Well Met!

After leaving Edan Vere returns to the palace. His first priority is finding an upper level member of the staff, preferably Random's steward or chamberlain, and impressing upon them that Vere absolutely must report to the king at the first opportunity. He will try to get an estimate of how long that might be.

Assuming that it isn't immediately, he will return the trump of himself to the trump room, and then turn to Caine's trump. He will touch it lightly and think, "Uncle." He won't push if Caine is not ready to take the call.

Caine takes the trump immediately. He is standing somewhere in the harbor area; Vere can see the masts of ships behind him. "Nephew! Our plans have been overtaken by royal events. You've heard the news of course?" Without waiting for confirmation, he continues. "Tell me what you learned."

"To use the word 'learned' when referring to Tir might be presumptuous on my part. I observed something, and certain conclusions can be drawn, but I hesitate at deciding which of them might be correct." Vere frowns very slightly. "I saw both of the ladies, and their champions. They were playing a game, and using people as the pieces. The game was not familiar to me. It used a grid inside an octagon, with a tower in the center." He pauses a moment, recalling the scene. "There was a knotted piece of rope in the tower. I do not know what that might have represented.

"Morgne was dressed in green and red, while Ophiuchus wore green and gold. Laudine bore a lion on a field of vert, Ywain a lion on a field azure. They were playing as partners, with the ladies concentrating on offense while their champions focused on defense. The goal seemed to be to take territory, although neither possessed a clear advantage that I could tell while I watched."

Vere shrugs very slightly. "Numerous interpretations could be given to such a vision. I hope you are much better at interpreting the visions of Tir than I am, Uncle."

Caine nods. "Often, the largest danger of Tir is assigning too much meaning, or assigning a second meaning to something perfectly meaningful on the face of it. This sounds much as you tell me your guests described the state of conflict between their kingdoms prior to their spell.

"What sounds different is that in your vision, they are driving forces, not pawns. When you return, you may want to subtly question them about their true role, all those years ago.

"Beyond your report, I'd also like your opinion, Prince Vere. What do you think it means?"

"I was struck by the same thing," Vere answers. "Though they had said that they were simply guarding the border from each other, in a stalemate designed to end the war between their respective courts, the vision seemed to imply that they were seeking to gain advantage over one another. It leads one to wonder whether they are still playing the game. Immortals, I understand, can think in very long terms."

Caine nods. "The advantage to us is that for a long game, they'll want to build up some trust. That should at least put them out of the immediate threat while we deal with more immanent ones.

"How do you wish to dispose of them, assuming both of our plans for the next day or so are altered to suit the pleasure of the King?" He smiles just a bit as he says 'dispose'.

It's probably nothing.

Vere does not react to the smile. "I would like to continue with the original plan," he says. "And settle them in Paris and Rebma. With the addition now that I tell Celina and Corwin what I saw in Tir." He tilts his head to one side, considering Caine. "With the change in plans, I wonder if you might arrange for them to come to Xanadu? It seems more efficient."

Caine shakes his head. "Too many unknowns, and we're about to have a conclave. We'll see if we can get it on the agenda. You should have a Royal answer within a day, so we have no need of rushing."

Vere nods. "Understood, Uncle. Is there anything else?"

Caine looks at him. "Just that you should get some sleep. Tir drains us more than a mere all-night binge would do. It is a difficult place, you did well, nephew."

Vere awakens around noon, in his bed in Xanadu. A page sticks his head in. "Good Den, M'Lord. His Highness, your father, has asked that you attend him when you awaken. Would you prefer to go down for Lunch or should I send for food for you?"

"I will attend upon my Father at once," Vere answers. "Have food sent to me there." And he will head for his father's chambers.

"Of course, your lordship," the page says.

Vere arrives before the foodstuffs, of course, and one of the household staff welcomes him to Gerard's suite. Apparently he's doing enough work right now that he has a functionary to send the less important people. Vere, however, isn't one of those, and he is ushered in to see Gerard at once.

"Vere," Gerard says, delighted, and rolls over to give him a clasp. "I gather you've had some wild adventures. Tell me all about them. I've been hearing from your cousin about his stories. Now it's your turn." He gestures to the other person in the living area he seems to have commandeered as an office-cum-meeting room.

It's Garrett.

"Garret," Vere says, walking over to is cousin and clasping his hand. "Well met, indeed. What have you been up to?"

Garrett grins widely and clasps Vere's hand with a strong grip. "Good to see you, Cousin," he replies. "Been up to the topmast on a merchantman out of one of the near Shadows, lately." And indeed, Vere would likely recognize the patterns of roughness on Garrett's hand as that of someone recently returned from service on a ship. He also appears a bit older, though no taller, with a heavier brow and more meat on his bones. "I'd been out testing my shadow skills until I got the call back. And you?" he asks, genuinely interested in hearing Vere's tales before his own.

Vere tilts his head to one side, considering. "It has been some little while," he says. "Since returning from my sojourn to Chaos with Merlin I have been working with Prince Julian and his rangers. That led to assisting Robin with a matter concerning some Ancient Powers, and Prince Caine sending me up to Tir to gather some information." He shakes his head. "I see now for myself that he Visions of Tir can be quite confusing."

"They always are," Gerard says. "Except when they're even more confusing. Caine said something about ladies and lords and chessboards and fountains, but I wasn't entirely clear on the lot of it and with Random away and this do of Edan's tonight, there's far too much to worry on for me to spend much thought on it. But I always have an ear for your stories.

"Jules says, by the by, that Robin will be coming in on his Trump." There's a bit of a mischievous twinkle in Gerard's eye as he says it. The work of regenting, even for this short period, seems to have infused him with energy somehow. Maybe he just likes being busy and useful.

Vere grins. "That will truly be excellent," he says. "I had promised to contact her as soon as possible after my walk to Tir, but I am sure she will understand the new situation makes that more difficult." He glances at Garrett then, and seems about to say something else, but then does not.

"New situation?" Garrett asks, quirking an eyebrow. "You mean Father's callback or something else?" He glances at Gerard as well and continues apologetically, "Forgive me. I've been out of touch for some time."

Vere nods. "The accompanying confusion and rush caused by the summons," he clarifies.

"Aye," Gerard agrees with Vere, "It's a lot of work all at once, arranging everything, but it's better to gather everyone and tell them at once instead of yelling at us all individually. That's how Dad did it. Probably going to be a lot more ale and wine drunk down this way though." He turns back to Garrett. "Why don't you tell Vere a bit about what you've been doing?"

"A lot of learning, mostly," Garrett replies, settling into a nearby chair and indicating Vere to do the same, if he chooses. "I reckon you must've heard I walked the Pattern some time ago. Since then, I spent some time in Paris and sailed to Gateway to deliver some trade goods for Jerod. Dad thought the trip would be a good, low-risk learning experience. And it was. But once I was done, I decided to try sailing further. I rather liked being out on the water. It was a good exercise in manipulation of the skies without the distractions you have in trying to shift on land. I sailed with a number of different crews, so that I could make my way back to familiar places eventually." Garrett realizes he's running on now and shortens the tale. "I was on the last leg of my journey home when I got the call from Dad to come back immediately."

Vere grins at him. "I have always preferred a small ship," he confides. "And now that I have learned how to 'find' the Psyche wherever I go in Shadow I expect to eventually sail between many worlds. If we ever find leisure I would be delighted to sail with you some day."

"Enjoy your time of leisure while you've got it. Family meetings mean Random's doling out more assignments and there'll be work aplenty for us all," Gerard advises. "Though perhaps you can sail together to whatever Random sends the both of you off to do."

"I would like that," Garrett says with a nod and a smile. "I enjoy learning new ways of interpreting the experience, especially from those who have gone through it recently.

"You mentioned Tir, though," Garrett continues more seriously, "and it reminded me of something. Do you know anything about the 'Ring Road'? It's something that came up during my expedition with Dad to rescue the Queen. Something about it being perhaps a back door into Tir, I think? I never had a chance to follow up on it."

Vere frowns slightly. "Direct connections between the realms with Patterns, is it not? The stairs to Tir and the stairs between Rebma and Paris are part of it, if I am remembering correctly. If it is a ring, then that implies each realm has a minimum of two connections."

"I thought Conner found a back way out of Rebma, which was how he and his lady of Gateway escaped from the Tritons. Maybe the two of you should talk to him," Gerard suggests. "This is a moment for giving information, and it's not like it was with Dad where we all hoarded and traded. Share it all out. It worked for us during the war."

Vere frowns very slightly at his father's words. "And yet there are still secrets," he observes. "Matters touching royalty or personal affairs."

"I reckon there always will be, to some extent," Garrett offers pragmatically. "Especially in the subjects you noted. But secrecy doesn't seem to be as ingrained in most of this generation as it was in the one before. We've been more inclined to cooperate." He glances at Gerard, "Often because we had to in hard times," he adds, acknowledging his uncle's point.

"All to the better. There's so much left broken and damaged--" he frowns at those words "--that we need everyone's wisdom and knowledge to heal. Even if I have to beat it out of some of them."

"We shall talk," Vere says to Garrett. "After the meeting tomorrow." He smiles slightly. "Assuming that we are not both sent out on missions for his majesty, of course."

"Of course," Garrett replies with a grin to both of Vere's points. He turns to Gerard. "So, Uncle," he begins, "I haven't had a chance to get the full rundown on things here. The town seems so much more - well, MORE - since I left. And what of the rest of the family? Has everyone else been afield as well?"

"Most of them, aye. I know Folly and Martin have gone off into shadow to see to their daughter. I hear there's been some trouble in Benedict's Avalon, which some of your cousins have been seeing to. And I know there have been some visitors to Rebma, as well, though I think Corwin knows more about what's happening there than I do. Plus Jerod's trip to Gateway to deal with the trouble there." Gerard's brow furrows; he clearly mislikes whatever he's heard about that business. Or it could just be misliking Gateway after what they did to Marius. "And Vere has his own tale to tell about what he and Robin have been up to."

But before Vere can get to that particular story, there's another knock on the suite door and another figure is ushered in to join them by the pages.

"Greetings one and all." Fletcher strides in, waving a salute to the assemblage. His frock coat might seem a bit rumpled from travel, but the knot in his tie is crisp and his scabbarded long sword is slung over his shoulder. "Lady Paige said I might find some of the family here. She tells me there's to be a meeting of the minds. What news? I was on a steamer in the subarctic regions off Bellum when she called. I hadn't been planning on returning so swiftly. Has duty called upon us all once again to face the the usual tide of crisis?" He smiles and looks about in search of liquid refreshments.

"Not yet," Garrett replies, waving his hand toward a bar in the corner where the liquid refreshments most likely reside. "I was just getting the full update on recent events myself, but the more immediate news is that the Queen is with child. I'm sure there's more to discuss at the meeting of the minds, but that's the first part." If the Prince has feelings one way or the other about this "first part," he's not showing them.

"I'd've thought whoever was made responsible for summoning you might have mentioned that fact, Fletcher," Gerard says, sounding mildly bumfuzzled, but it quickly passes. "But aye, the Queen is with child, and it's all hands on deck, both to celebrate and to speak of all our news. Tonight there's to be some sort of exhibition from the new order of knights that Random has settled on Edan's shoulders. And I think it's the family meeting in the morning where we'll find out what do to with them."

Vere also greets Fletcher and moves to fetch him a drink.

"It does strike one that calling a family conference to announce a pregnancy is a trifle extreme," Vere observes. "But perhaps this has spurred the king to take a more proactive stance towards matters." He shrugs slightly. "Or perhaps it is mere coincidence that this news occurs at the same time that a critical mass of news has moved the king to act."

The arrival of a vodka martini garners the thanks of a grateful Fletcher. Taking a sip, Fletcher replies. "If the King wants to celebrate, it is certainly his royal prerogative. Are these other 'matters' you mentioned likely to have reached a critical mass? I know I was looking into a matter of escalating tensions between two shadow nations, but there's always something of that sort going on somewhere. What's this new order of knights? It's Random’s third new order created since his coronation, isn't it? It sounds like things must have been going well, at least in recruiting."

"I think he means to send Edan's lot against the Moonriders. Or possibly use them as Home Guard against the Moonriders. Whichever Brennan's not doing with his lot. Card's for personal defense of the Crown." Gerard thinks about this and adds, "Like he expects to need it, still."

Fletcher nods, "You were in Amber for the first time the Moonriders came against us, weren't you? What actually happened there? I was warned there would be trouble back then, but was told to stay on mission."

Vere looks at his father expectantly. He'd very much like to hear this story.

Garrett, who had been fairly relaxed, shifts forward in his seat. He also wants to hear more.

"That was before I was born. I've heard the story a million times, of course. They showed up out of nowhere, in force, between the Castle and the City. Eric held the Castle, Caine evacuated the harbor and was sent to gather the fleet. They sacked the city for 3 days, but Caine got the fleet out, and a lot of refugees. Others went to Rebma, or to Arden. Rebma sent us some troops, but mostly they guarded the Faella-Bionin with Tritons to close up that avenue of escape.

"On Dad's orders, Benedict and Corwin held the pass into Arden at Jones Falls and Bleys and Dad rode in and smashed 'em into Ben. It was a meat grinder, they say. You couldn't go back or forward without stepping over bodies. All of the Moonriders either died or surrendered. All of 'em. Even the Marshall. They say it took a week to burn all the bodies, and the forest took a generation to regrow all the trees that had to be used for the burning."

Gerard looks around at the three youngsters. "But a birth isn't the celebration to be draggin' up old battles, even if there was nothing like it until Eric's defense of Amber. If you want more of the old stories, you'll want to ask the veterans, and most likely later in the day, or at least once the drinking and bragging has started."

"I've always tried to avoid drinking and bragging," Fletcher declares unironically as he crosses the room to replenish his empty glass. "Especially when I find I need to come up to speed on actual historical facts if I'm to be of any help in the current situation." He pauses to examine olives. "So thank you for the synopsis. I appear to have misestimated the chronology of the family tree. No offense was intended. I shall have to study up on all the newer relatives. Have any more been revealed since my last visit? I don't supposed anyone's actually compiled a catalog..." Fletcher take his seat once more.

Vere gazes into the distance as he observes, "That is exactly the sort of thing that Cambina would have been doing, were she here."

"Aye," Gerard agrees, pleasure dimming from his expression. He decides to shake it off. "D'ye know Captain Raven, Fletcher? I think he's the last of them to come out, though we'll be shaking them out of Shadow for some time if the last few years have been any guide. We don't know whose he is, but he's survived the Pattern, so he's one of us one way or another."

"That's new," Garrett notes. "I hadn't heard that Raven had walked."

He continues more seriously, "You bring up a good point though, Uncle. Something I've been concerned about for a while - the number of us undiscovered out there, perhaps even unknown to ourselves, like I was. Seems it'd be something of a liability, I would think. Not sure what's to be done about it, though." He shrugs slightly and glances around at the others in the room, inviting ideas.

Vere nods. "We have been told that producing too many offspring is bad for Reality, although I am still unclear about the reasons for that. But having members of the Family wandering around unknown is clearly not a good thing."

Fletcher leans forward, gesturing with his drink. "Oh, well, think of the universe as a bag made of lace, and before we get too exotic I mean cotton or silk lace. Now imagine each of us is an osmium ball bearing knocking around inside the bag. The wear and tear on the lace can get to be a bit much if the weight isn't distributed right. There's math, but we're more than just numbers. The analogy isn't perfect either because ball bearings don't radiate density beyond the normal gravity. But I think you get the idea. There's a certain cold-hearted logic that indicates that maybe rounding up any lost children and bringing them in to walk the Pattern isn't the healthiest thing for the universe. But they're family, and have the right to realize their potential." Fletcher realizes he might be starting to rant, and so ends with, "That's good news about Raven though."

Gerard acknowledges the comment about Raven with a nod; it is a good thing when any of the family survives a Patternwalk.

"It's easier on the universe if we're near a Pattern, but aye, that's the right of it. Too many of us in one place is hard on it. But it's more dangerous in other ways to have us on the loose and undefended, especially with as many enemies as we seem to have floating around just now. Moonriders and monks and everything else. You know times are hard when the Courts have moved too far down our enemies list."

Vere nods, his eyes fixed on something far away. "We shall see what the king plans on doing about this." His eyes snap back into focus and he looks around at everyone in the room. "Does anyone know when he will be returning? I have some small matters that I think I should bring to his attention before the family meeting."

Garrett shakes his head. "No. He was as vague as ever when I spoke with him. Just that he'd be back for the festivities."

"He told me he'd brook no disturbances before tonight's event, so my best advice to you is to catch him and Vialle at Edan's exhibition and get her to ask him for an appointment for you. You can never be sure with Random, but I reckon she's riding high in his favor right now." Gerard says this with a bit of an apologetic glance to Garrett, as if he feels he might somehow be slighting Anna by saying so. "Is it aught we can help you with?"

Vere shakes his head. "A small matter that needs to be brought to his attention. I shall attend to it."

"Well enow," Gerard says, the thick accent of the Isles taking over his speech. Changing the subject since it's obvious that Vere Does Not Want To Talk About It, he turns to Fletcher to ask courteously "And what have ye been up to since last we saw ye?

"Most recently I've been at sea. Whale-watching in the colder waters further off in Bellum. Currents may be shifting around Asir Island, and the migration routes of Bellumese sea life might be becoming more circumspect as a result. As a dedicated conservationist, Dad had asked me to examine migration patterns to see if changing conditions might result in a mass die-off that would wash up on Assirian beaches from an unexpected direction." Fletcher then either winks or squints into the side of his glass at the remains of his drink, and rises to refresh it.

Vere tilts his head to one side. "I just returned from Asir," he says, "And their harbour was blocked by a permanent storm. Did you see signs of that?"

Fletcher turns to look at Vere. "I knew there was an avalanche and ships went down. I had not heard about a blockade. What happened?"

"Huon's doing," Gerard grunts, clearly displeased. "I know family punishments are Random's prerogative, and I know we needed to find out what the bastard did to Marius, and I know we don't let anyone lay a hand on Princes of Amber. But still I wish your cousins had let the Asirians hang his sorry arse from the yardarm."

Fletcher stiffens. "What happened to Marius?"

"First," Vere says soothingly, "He was rescued and is safe. Gateway captured and bled him, apparently for sorcerous work. My understanding is that a punitive expedition has already been sent, and no doubt we shall have a report on that tomorrow. To return to the Asirians, Edan reported to the king yesterday that they are involved with the Klybesians. When I was on Asir I heard of a cult on the mountain called Questioners of the Oracle. I considered investigating further, but decided it might be risky to do that alone and I should report back first. The king has already received that information."

Garrett's brow lowers ominously upon the description of Marius's treatment, but he does not interrupt. "I've been away longer than I thought," Garrett says finally. "And perhaps I was not as attentive to family matters as I should have been before I left. I do hope that many of these threads can be pulled together once everyone is in the same room and can compare stories."

Fletcher has been doing some calculations in his head while Garrett spoke. "But surely I've been gone for weeks and weeks, if not months. Hasn't Marius recovered by now? He seemed in good, or at least OK hands when I saw him in Paris." He frowns. "I didn't want to step on Conner's toes, but if Marius isn't well enough to direct his own retribution, maybe I should re-examine him. These 'Klybesians', if that's the name they're using now, have been slow to move directly against Am... the family as a whole in the past, even when they were legally tolerated. But if the Klybesians are behind the Assirians, why would the Assirians have wanted Huon dead? They helped him use Marius's blood to develop the means to destroy Rebma. Maybe they were just using Huon as a deliveryman." Fletcher shakes his head. "We can punish the Assirians, but the Klybesians are too widespread by this time to be defeated by purely military means. The last time I checked they had multiple hard points that would be costly to take, and by now they have more."

Vere listens to this with interest. "One hopes that these are all matters that will be made clear by the king tomorrow. If he has that information them I suspect we will be given instructions on how we are to be deployed. " He smiles thinly. "If the king is not yet in possession of sufficient information then I anticipate numerous reconnaissance assignments.

"I expect Random will be sending out reconnaissance," Gerard says, and turns his attention back to Fletcher. "Marius took the sharp end of the stick in a fight with Brand when his mother was killed at Patternfall. He never completely recovered from that; being bled for a--blood golem?--" Gerard makes a puzzled and somewhat disgusted face "--can't have helped. He's lucky he's still alive. But we're tough old bastards, we of Amber stock. You can do a lot to us and we don't quite die." He pats his wheelchair by way of reminder.

Fletcher grins. "You think he'd call everyone in like this just to hand out reconnaissance assignments?" He looks around, and seems to realize Vere meant it as a serious possibility, so he explains. "Consider the following. One: The likely geographic distribution of family members. Two: The relative size and concentration of forces required for reconnaissance versus combat operations. Three: travel times for family members from their likely locations to Xanadu and to the target area (or areas). Four: the increasing sense of urgency you've implied at the sheer number of threats. Five: the apparent coordinated use of trumps currently available to Random. Given that, wouldn't it be more likely that he would dispatch reconnaissance missions via trump, operating on the assumption that many if not all of the family members he would deploy are already physically closer to their target areas? There must therefore be more than just reconnaissance assignments on the mystery agenda." At this point Fletcher pauses and dutifully addresses the matter of his martini.

Vere nods. "All very logical," he agrees. "However, there is also the fact that we may individually have information that we have not shared, because it did not seem important. Getting everyone together and combining that information in person is an effective way to make certain we have the most complete possible idea of what we face."

"Not that I'd ever call Dad 'predictable', but that has been his preferred means of gathering information in the past," Garrett concurs with Vere. "I reckon, poker player that he is, he gets even more information by watching reactions around the table."

"No doubt," Gerard agrees. "I think he'll send reconnaissance the way he did to Gateway. Jerod and Raven and Brita, and the lot of them to find out exactly who in Gateway was working with Huon, and then to act with the Royal writ. When they get in, there'll be news of that and, I reckon, a new regime in Gateway to deal with. Plus he's having Huon to the family breakfast and we've all got questions for him, and the Unicorn alone knows what that will open up."

Vere's cheek twitches in what might be an extremely small and fleeting smile. "Huon's presence should make things... interesting," he says.

Fletcher eyes the assemblage. "Huon will be actually answering? What questions are you all going to ask?"

"I'm going to wait until you lot have asked clever questions and ask the follow-ups that depend on his answers," Gerard says. "The ones he'll answer, anyroad. Wish I could hold him off the edge of a cliff like I did Corwin. What are the rest of you asking him?"

"I'm not sure I know enough about his history to ask the right questions. I think I'd rather watch his face while those who know more grill him. Like Brennan or Jerod." Garrett says with a sly smirk.

Fletcher starts, "I suppose I'd ask him why he thought damaging the Pattern was a good idea. And how he came up with the plan of how to do it. And who else knows about that plan. And if he's got a stockpile of blood somewhere. And why he didn't use his own blood to make the golem. Or if Marius was the only one whose blood he harvested. But that's just off the top of my head. I imagine Vere has a list prepared."

Vere smiles thinly. "I shall be acting as a calming influence on Robin," he says. For Fletcher and Garrett's benefit, because he is not certain how far the news has spread, he explains, "Some of Huon's men killed Canareth, the dragon bound to Robin's brother Jovian. Huon was quite callous about it when Robin spoke of it to him, and at their last meeting she threw a dagger at him."

"Maybe she won't be carrying a dagger this time," Gerard says, in a tone that suggests he knows that's a forlorn hope. "But we do need to find out the things Fletcher was thinking of. I want to know where he got the idea, and if the bloody Klybesians are involved."

"I rather thought they were involved. For whatever power and ability he may have, Huon doesn't have the necessary knowledge from direct experience, and must have learned it from someone more ancient. Oh yes, it was 'monks', but religion is a natural for the franchise model, and 'Saint Klybus' (sorry, private joke) was always one for centralized control." Fletcher remarks, eloquently pronouncing the parentheses as usual.

"It is a pity we never learned more about the not-quite-human priests who served Reid's mother," Vere says. "I still believe they might have some bearing on all of this."

"D'ye remember that far back, Fletcher?” Gerard asks. "I know the librarians would love to hear about it as well."

Garrett, who until now had been wearing a "trying my best to soak up ancient history on the spot" look, perks up. "Librarians. Maybe you meant that figuratively, Uncle, but would any of that history exist in Amber's library, or here, if it's been brought over from Amber?" he asks hopefully.

"It is worth asking Nestor, certainly," Vere agrees.

"Some documents from that time survive, though of course I can probably fill in the blanks. Ried had departed Amber prior to my parents' marriage, but the legacy of my grandmother's descendants was a particular area of interest for my mother," adds Fletcher.

"If Nestor has anything, it'll be in Cambina's papers," Gerard replies, giving voice to the thing he'd been avoiding. "Or something she gave to Brennan. But any insight you can give either Nestor or us would be welcome, Fletcher. So much of that history has been lost, or excised. What's written down can't be forgotten, but it can be destroyed or burned, and one of the things we learned after the Sundering, during the interregnum, was that Dad had arranged for us to forget a lot of unpleasant business, if we hadn't noticed that during the war."

"The problem with an immortal king," Vere muses quietly, "Is that he does not feel it necessary to pass vital information on to his heirs."

"I gather you're referring to something more than unpleasant family dinner conversation when you refer to things intended to be forgotten," Fletcher shudders. "Princess Pastoral did have a number of priests from her home shadow that came with her to Amber. They were active in religious circles, and probably at least interacted with the people that became the Klybesians. As for 'not-quite-human'... it's all a matter of degree, isn't it? Are green-skinned Rebmans 'not-quite-human?' They're certainly a lot more human than animate magma blobs with heavy metal neural nets, or self-aware meme-replication entities." Fletcher shudders at the memories.

Garrett's brow suddenly knits together in thought during Fletcher's comments, and he turns aside as if trying to recall long-distant events. "That part about the priests and religious circles..." he muses, pointing vaguely with his finger, not quite sure where he's going or what significance it might have. "I just remembered something. Back before anyone knew I was family... Lucas approached me when I was in the library one day and asked if I would help him investigate something. I think it involved one of the religious sects in Amber. It made me uneasy and I didn't do it, but... I wonder if there might be something that he suspected back then," he finishes, looking up with a slight shrug.

"Lucas was a slippery one, though I have no doubt he had what he thought was the best--" Gerard stops as the door opens and a page announces "The Lady Robin".

Robin is nimble, she does not trample the page on her way through the door. But there might be a boot print (or two) on the doorframe after the "Lady's" entrance. Robin is observant, she beams in passing to Garrett and nods politely toward... a face she vaguely recognizes from some Family gathering or other.

But mostly, Robin is fast!/

"Vere, Vere, Vere, Vere, Vere!" She rushes her Love like a lightning bolt, all static and energy and light, fully confident that her wonderful man is capable of catching and grounding her when she gets to his arms. And how she wants to be in his arms right NOW!

Vere trills a delighted avian cry as he catches Robin in his arms and converts the kinetic energy of her charge into a swing, taking the two of them around in a series of spins that end up with them breathlessly kissing, ignoring the rest of the room.

Beaming widely, Garrett steps aside to give the pair plenty of space for their reunion celebration.

Fletcher nonchalantly avoids Robin's attempt to change the topic from sects to sex. He asks Garrett, "Which sect did he ask about? Was it one still active in Amber?"

Gerard wheels over toward Robin and Vere, leaving Garrett and Fletcher to their conversation for a moment. He waits for Robin and Vere to stop communicating in Cadence and/or birdcall before saying, gently, "I know we'll get no more sense out of either of you until you've talked. I expect a report at dinner, no later. You're dismissed."

There's Vere. And then some noises. Maybe. Oh, look, there's more Vere. Yay! Yum! Oh, wait. That was a Prince speaking...

Robin's blushing as she slowly disentangles some of her molecules from Vere's and looks around.

"Sir," she says warmly to Gerard. "It's good to see you too." Robin jiggles a little to hug Gerard one-armed, the other arm never leaving Vere. "If Vere's working, I can take my storm elsewhere. I just wanted to confirm that he was here, alive and undamaged by... stuff." You know, storms, Tir, Caine, stuff.

Gerard offers Robin a big smile and a nod, by way of encouragement.

Vere turns to his father, one arm still around Robin. "Robin and I do have much to discuss," Vere says, "But nothing that cannot wait a short time. We are together now, and that is enough." His arm around his beloved tightens just a bit as he says that, then he blinks once, replaying in his head what his subconscious heard while is conscious attention was distracted by his lady love, and he says in a slightly louder voice, "When I left Amber to lend my aid to my mother's war I asked Lucas if he could continue my investigations into the Paresh, and their possible connection with the ancient priesthood of Pastoral. I saw a vision of those ancient priests in the cellars beneath their House."

"That was likely what he was talking about then," Garrett speculates. "He said he wanted someone to help him with research - field work - for a book on religion, I believe. He didn't specify a particular sect, but he did mention something about 'reading of the entrails' and 'mass sacrifice.'" Garrett shudders. "That was enough for me. I said, 'No thanks, m'lord' and beat it out of there."

Gerard does his best to suppress the face he starts to instinctively make at that. "Lucas was always investigating something or other interesting," he says, with 'interesting' clearly holding the place of another word. "Brennan and Ambrose came from a shadow where Brand had people doing that sort of thing. Might want to check in with them if you pursue that line of thinking.

"Now Robin, have you got anything to tell us all about what you’ve been up to?"

"Ummmm... Vere caught you up to the tsunami, right?" She squeezes her man back.

"After that, me and the Knight of the Lake, Sir Ophiuchius, ended up in sunken Avalon. We found Lir's empty tomb. I had an awesome vision that I'm not supposed to talk about. We called Bleys. He conditionally passed Ophiuchius and got all keen on the architecture. Then we went to Rebma, which was surprisingly nice for being so wet. Celina and Llewella were really... nice." Robin shrugs as her vocabulary fails her.

"Then I had another vision (assisted this time) which totally explained why I don't have a Chaos critter in my head, which is good. But it broke three really good antiquey mystic mirrors, which was not so good. But again, Celina and Llewella were awesome. Then we called Caine and got Lady Morgne passed through and reunited with Ophiuchius. And then all of us came here." She ends cheerfully.

"I didn't see any sign of..." she thinks it through, "Klybesians, Paresh, Moonriders, Dragons, hostile Chaosians, Aesir, Bellumites, Gatewegians, Dara, Moire, Chantico or anything else on the watch list.

"Though if you guys are talking about reading entrails and mass sacrifices and stuff, maybe you should mention the Witch Queens, dear, even if most of them are drowned by now." She blows a happy little kiss to Vere.

Vere smiles fondly at her. "I suspect that was merely Lucas' sense of humour. I have no information that indicates the Witch Queens ever had dealings with Amber."

"What's this about a sunken Avalon?" Fletcher asks with perhaps a shade more urgency in his voice than usual.

Garrett, too, appears very interested in this part of Robin's story.

"Oh," Robin says straightening up both literally and figuratively as she takes in folks' more acute interest.

"Sire Ophiuchus and I got separated from the boat during the storm. After a bit of struggling with the currents, we hit upon stretch of breathable water. We submerged to give the seahorse a rest and came across an underwater city of overgrown silver towers. You know, coral, kelp, anemones that sort of thing -- though they weren't very securely anchored to the various structures.

"So while Eckford, the awesome seahorse, was resting, we did some exploring. There was a large throne room with engravings in the floor, very reminiscent of the Pattern. There was also a bunch of dead looters with open air weapons not underwater ones, open sarcophagus, and I got really strongly visioned with Family Images." A silly slightly intoxicated smile sneaks back across Robin's face, then she gets back to business.

"Sir Ophiuchius said the writing on the sarcophagus said 'LIR'. Sir Ophiuchus also said that Lir's sword was missing and I mentioned that Conner and the Queen of Rebma were okay with that. Ophiuchius had no idea who Cneve was, by the way. And there was another cairn, more recent, off to the side. Some kind of coral summoning circle... stuff.

"Anyway, big silver rooms, Pattern, Vision. I Trumped Prince Bleys to get a more experienced eye on the scene. He was the one who said he recognized the throne room of 'Corwin's Silver Towers of the Moon' -- or near enough. He was pointing out where banners had hung and was... well, all full of fond remembrance. He also hand-wavied and confirmed that we were in the shadow that 'Benedict had retreated to' -- that's Avalon, right?

"Soooo, sunken Avalon... am I being too liberal with my metaphors?"

Gerard shakes his head. "Not at all. What do you make of it?" His gaze flicks over all three of the gentlemen in the room, though it rests only briefly on Vere and Garrett and longer on Fletcher who seemed so urgent.

Vere looks thoughtful and murmurs quietly, "Corwin and Benedict can no doubt shed light on it."

Fletcher shrugs, trying to play it cool. "I hadn't heard Lir's tomb was tied in to Avalon. The vaguely Pattern-like engravings are probably something worth asking Corwin about. Whatever gave him the idea to make those engravings might be something that the Klybesians also know about. I wonder how long ago Corwin was there, compared to Dad. Or Lir. Did you get anything useful from the Visions?"

Gerard turns to Robin to see her response.

"Uhhhhh... not specifically on Lir, Sunken Avalon or the Klybesians. Prince Bleys gave me to understand that the nature of my Visions was something that I should confine to King Corwin, Prince Benedict and myself. And that I should have an escape plan ready when I talked to them... I'm sure that was just Prince Bleys' sense of humor. But good advice, nevertheless." Robin casts a grin under worried eyes over to Prince Gerard and hugs Vere a little tighter. With Random not present, they and her father comprise most of her escape plan.

Robin blushes as her stomach suddenly rumbles loudly. "Sorry, Rebman cuisine..." she mumbles with a embarrassed shrug.

Vere returns the hug, but remains thoughtfully silent.

"Think on it, all of you, and if you come up with anything, tell us tomorrow at breakfast. Lass, dinner is soon," Gerard adds for Robin. "Clean up and go eat, and I'll see you all there."