Chapter 095: Home Affairs

"Home is where the heart lies,

But if the heart lies, where is home?"

Charting the Single - Marillion

Boadice, again. Like I said before, even though she tends to be friendly and likeable enough, she is way too unpredictable for her own good. And the thing was that you never knew when she was going to act up. I won't hesitate to admit that I had secretly been impressed with the way she had handled herself during our efforts to contain the spreading Primal Chaos, and her particular skills with Trump had proved more than useful. However, we had barely returned to Amber, seeking its safety rather than an arguably pointless confrontation with what remained of Flora's forces, when Boa managed to destroy the image of capability she had so carefully been constructing in my mind by casually remarking to the Lady Jasra that since she was now in Amber she might want to ask the King's permission to visit her husband. Jasra's look of frank astonishment did nothing to discourage Boadice either, nor did Rinaldo's and my own urgent silent pleas for her to stop and desist right there and then. She really didn't seem to think that she had done anything wrong.

"My husband is here?" Jasra asked in a chilling tone.

"Yes," Boadice replied, still happily ignoring all the warning signs. Fortunately for her, Jasra decided to turn her wrath on her son instead. Rinaldo tried his very best, flashing his familiar glib smile while quickly apologizing about not having mentioned this before, simply because he had thought she'd already known, but it was plain that his performance quite failed to convince his mother of his innocence. It was also plain that Jasra did not like this particular bit of news having been kept from her at all.

While Rinaldo was busy trying to keep his mother from blowing her top, I saw my chance clear to beckon one of servant and have him relay an urgent message to the King, informing him of our arrival while quite explicitly naming all the people who had arrived. No doubt Random would not be pleased to see Jasra, but he would be even less pleased if we neglected to tell him about her or if one of us were to be so foolish to let her visit Brand without his consent. I wasn't naming any names here, but at this point I didn't think it beyond Boadice to try something that stupid.

I turned back to the others just in time to hear Jasra announce that she had reconsidered and that she was now planning on staying in Amber after all. She was still giving her son very dark looks, so he was more than happy to let Boadice take him aside for a private word. Well, with cousin Boa out of the way I might still be able to contain the disaster long enough for Random to take steps. I gave a quick nod at Janice, who was indicating that she'd rather not partcipate in the current argument and retire to her room if I didn't mind, and while I again did my best to play the perfect gentleman I directed Jasra to one of the closest sitting rooms and started explaing a little about the unusual condition her husband was currently in.

My pleasant manner and seemingly genuine wish to enlighten her appeared to placate her a little, although she had many a sharp question for me. I had no problem, however, relaying a bit more about the way that Brand, or rather Fabian, and I had had to find our way back home from another Reality. I didn't mention his or my own imprisonment, nor did I tell her whom we had been imprisoned by. One thing Jasra really wanted to know was how I had been so certain that Fabian was her missing husband, so I told her about Fabian's background and the dreams he'd been having, and how finally when we'd returned to our Reality I had been able to see that he indeed had walked our Pattern. She regarded me a bit doubtfully at this point, but ultimately she seemed to accept my story was true.

When I had been talking to Jasra for some ten minutes or more, the door to the sitting room swung open and in marched the King accompanied by a small contingent of Castle guards. Random nodded at me, but I could tell from his expression that he was not at all pleased with this turn of events. Still, he was mindful enough of protocol to let me introduce the Lady Jasra properly, although that was just about as much courtesy as he would show her.

"I understand that you're holding my husband here in the Castle," Jasra said, not being one to beat about the bush herself.

"You have heard this said?" Random replied levelly, as if it were a mere rumour.

"I've been told as much, yes," Jasra said curtly. Random turned his gaze on me, and I was feeling very glad right now that I hadn't been the one to let this slip. I shook my head with my best 'it wasn't me' expression. Random frowned but turned back to Jasra.

"We do have a guest of whom it is said that he might be your husband, madam," he said coolly. "And as you are undoubtedly aware, your husband is still a wanted criminal in these parts. His crimes against the Realm cannot be overlooked."

"I would like to see him," Jasra said.

"Unfortunately I cannot allow him to have any visitors at the moment," Random said firmly. This effectively left no room whatsoever for further negotiations. Jasra glared at Random for a minute or two, but there was really nothing she could do. Finally, Random coughed politely and said: "I'm sure you have some important matters to see to, so I won't keep you." The implication that these important matters of hers were to be found elsewhere was clear, and the captain of the guards moved forward to usher the lady out of the castle. This proved unnecessary, though, for a bit disdainfully Jasra took out her Trump deck and transported herself to safer havens.

Immediately Random turned to me for an explanation. So, I told him about the Primal Chaos, the now defunct Keep of the Four Worlds, and our efforts to further the cause of Shadow stability, which had been curtailed by the untimely arrival of Flora's footsoldiers.

"So I Trumped the lot of us to Amber," I said, "and I'm sure Jasra would have left gracefully if at that point someone hadn't mentioned to her that Brand was in the Castle."

"And after I'd gone through all that the trouble of striking up a special deal with Rinaldo and everything…," Random began.

"Oh, it wasn't Rinaldo."

"Alright," he growled, "and it was just the three of you and Jasra, was it?"

"Well, Miss Fabre was there as well, but she hardly has cause to help Jasra with anything. There's no love lost between those two."

"Boadice, then." He heaved a sigh.

"Once the cat was out of the bag, Rinaldo could hardly have kept on pretending that he hadn't known either, could he?"

"I see, I see. Great." Another sigh. He seemed to be more grumpy that usual, even aside from this nasty new little problem. "Now that crazy woman will surely try and rescue him too. As if I didn't have enough to contend with at the moment." He shook his head angrily, waved at me and the guards to indicate that we had all been dismissed, and wandered off, presumably back to his study.

Well, that could have gone a lot worse, I felt. Could have gone much better too, but that was someone else's problem. I yawned and suddenly I felt the weight of the last day or so hit me like a ton of bricks. Just half an hour of sleep hadn't been enough, I guess. However, there was something I really needed to do before I could retire, and I'd better do it now, for if I put it off some new crisis was bound to get in the way.

I was just in time to hail the guards that had accompanied Random, and my feeling that the captain weas a bit familiar proved to be right. I'd met him before upon occasion, and luckily he was able to tell me where I could find my uncle. He and his squad were on duty for at least a few hours more, and at the top of the west tower too, of all places. Sighing, I thanked him and headed in the right direction. The climb was a bit longer than I would have liked, especially in my current condition of sleep deprivation, but once there I was glad to see that uncle Jaro appeared to be doing just fine, and with a bit of sentimental nostalgia I spend a few minutes just listening to the banter between him and the guards in his squad while I was catching my breath. Things may have changed for me in so many ways, but I still knew where I stood with uncle Jaro and his colleagues.

Time was a bit of an issue, though, as I needed to head out into the city for my second visit and I really needed to catch some shut eye too, so much sooner than I would have liked I took Jaro aside for a moment to discuss the main reason for my coming to see him. Luckily, he proved well aware of the trouble brewing in the City. There hadn't yet been any special orders issued on the matter, but from his friends and acquaintances in the City Guard he knew that there were more men patrolling the streets these days, and there also seemed to be more frequent visits from troops belonging to one of the Royal Amberites, like Julian's Rangers or Benedict's own special forces. Jaro didn't appear too surprised, therefore, when I told him about the warning Random had given me, but he just nodded grimly, commenting that he and his fellows would be ready to do their part. When I mentioned my father, he nodded again, more reassuringly this time.

"Don't worry, lad," he said, "I'll look out for him, you know that. He may be the elder of the two of us, but if it hadn't been for me…" He sighed over-dramatically and chuckled. "Still, he managed to snare himself a true to life Princess and all, while I still have to stand out here on the battlements on cold nights." I returned his grin, knowing full well that uncle Jaro was more than happy wearing his Castle Guard sergeant stripes and would gladly do guard duty outside every evening if necessary. Well, every other night at least. I warmly thanked him and bade him and his fellows good day, saying that I would be telling my father about the arrangement myself.

I'd just done a turning down the spiral stairs when I stopped and reconsidered. Climbing the tower hadn't been much fun, and the prospect of descending all those stairs, then heading for the main gate and walking all the way down to the City and on to my father's house was less than appealing. I suppose I could arrange a horse or even a carriage, but that would mean going through a lot of trouble too. Besides, after my talk with Jaro I was a bit reluctant to head out into the City just by myself. If things were really turning as ugly as he had let on… No, tired as I was, I thought it better to cut a few corners.

Fortunately, the tower was one of those areas in the Castle that had not been warded against my mode of transportation by dear aunt Fiona, and I didn't have to worry about my destination either. In the blink of an eye, or two, I found myself in the back courtyard of my father's estate in the City. The house servants were surprised and happy to see me, and I was quickly ushered into my father's study. Seeing him again like this made me realise how long it had been since we'd last seen each other, and it hurt to think that this visit would probably be all too short once again.

My father had a slightly more worried look than usual, which showed in the little frown wrinkles that hadn't been there before, and he frowned deeper than I'd ever see him do when I mentioned the reason for me dropping by like this. He had never been very politically engaged in any way, aside from his unquestionable loyalty to Amber itself, and I was surprised, therefore, to hear him mutter about 'damned fools and opportunists' when we were talking about the Democratic Movement. He had more faith in the King and his Generals, as he referred to them, than I had, though, and in hindsight I think my concern for him might have upset him more than I had expected. Up till then he had just never considered the possibility of the City becoming too dangerous for him, and he only grudgingly promised that he would take refuge with uncle Jaro if things were to go critical.

As I had feared, our meeting was not destined to be long, for my father had some pressing affairs he had to tend to himself, and though he was about to offer to cancel them and be with me instead I just shook my head and said we would make up for it some other time. I hugged him to say goodbye, far too soon, and I just hoped that Random's warning had been premature.

I must admit that for a moment I considered whether it would not be better for me just to stay in my father's house and sleep in the bed of my youth. The thought was appealing, but finally I decided against it. My place was in the Castle, after all, and there was no use in trying to go back to what once had been. That would even consitute a risk of dragging back some current problems to my former life, which I'd rather leave as untroubled as could be. So, with a final effort I transported myself back to my chambers, where I only popped out to ask a passing servant to have someone wake me in time for dinner, before blissfully retiring to my soft, warm bed.

***

I awoke with a start when someone drew back the heavy curtains, immediately bathing the room in light. I blinked and shielded my eyes against the sun, which was still far too bright I felt. Disorientedly, I looked around the bedroom. "Who…?" I began.

"You gave orders for someone to call you, my lord," I heard an unfamiliar voice say. I glanced up at the girl who was still tying back the curtains. One of the servants, I guess. Groaning, I let my head fall back onto the pillow. Surely I couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour, two at the most. Just let me be for a few hours more! The girl didn't seem to have picked up on my silent pleas, though, as she continued to move around the room, tidying and picking up the clothes I had shedded left and right.

"There are some messages for you," she said. "First, Lord Alexander left a message that he would speak with you, quite urgently too. He said that he needed to see you before dinner tonight." Of course he did. If Alex wanted to see me, it was always on a matter of the utmost urgency. At least, it was to him.

"Fine," I sighed. "There was more?"

"There are some older messages of less importance, but this letter arrived while you were sleeping," the girl replied, holding aloft an envelope with golden lettering that glimmered in the sunlight. "It's from the Lady Boadice."

"Alright," I said, "open it, will you, and see what it is that she wants." I had half expected the girl to protest that it wouldn't be right for her as a servant to read my personal mail, but she just shrugged everso slightly, took a small knife from some hidden pocket in her skirt and slid the envelope open.

"Oh," she said, reading the oblong card inside, "it's an invitation. The Lady Boadice will be holding an informal dinner party here in the Castle tonight at nine o'clock." She scanned the card critically and added: "It seems very much like the sort of social event the Lady Flora used to organise, my lord." Hmm, perhaps… An informal dinner, some wine, some music yes, it might just do the trick. It would be better than just sleeping too.

"Have someone send word to Miss Janice Fabre about this, will you," I said. "Tell her that we've been invited, and that unless she'd rather not go I'll be at her quarters to pick her up at a quarter to nine. And then have word send back to the Lady Boadice that we will be attending. What time is it now?"

"Just after four, my lord."

"Four?" That couldn't be right. I had asked to be woken in time for dinner, but this was ridiculous! I sat up and took a good look at the servant girl, who was still hovering at the foot of the bed. I hadn't really seen her before, I realised, or at least, I'd never seen her among the usual servants that looked after my quarters. She was young, early twenties or perhaps even late teens, and pretty too, with long and slightly, curly copper-coloured hair and green eyes that twinkled rather pertly. She was a bit shorter than average, and a little bit plumper too. I guess that she was the kind of girl the word 'buxom' had been invented for. "Care to explain what's going on here?" I said with a slight frown. "I haven't seen you before, have I? What's your name anyway?"

"My name is Ysabel, my lord, and it is true that I may not have come to my lord's attention before. And as for why I am here, you left orders for someone to wake you, and I volunteered for the task. Gladly, I might add."

Aha, now this was starting to make some sense. "Gladly, you say? Perhaps a bit too eagerly, though, for it seems that you're at least a few hours early. Hours, I don't mind adding, when I could have been sleeping too. Now what do you propose I'd do with my time, Ysabel."

"Oh, it's not for me to say, my lord," she replied demurely, but with just the hint of a sly smile. Yes, I'd been right in my guess. I'd heard about girls, and even some guys, like her. There was a certain hierarchy among the servants, and while some were content to labour ceaselessly, patiently climbing from one rung on the ladder to the next, sometimes people sought other ways that would ensure a much quicker rise. And there were many ways to gain the favour of one of the Lords and Ladies of the Castle. Of course, it was a bit of a gamble on Ysabel's part, for if she had caught me at a bad time or, the Unicorn forbid, if I proved not to be interested, she stood as much to lose as she might gain. That was why she was still taking things very slowly, now saying: "Maybe the matter which Lord Alexander wanted to discuss is urgent enough to warrant my lord spending some extra time on it?"

"Could be," I mused. Then again, conversations with Alex had a tendency to seem a lot longer than they actually were, so it might not be a good idea to plan too much time for this one. If it had been really, really urgent, he would have Trumped me.

"Or perhaps my lord would simply like to relax and enjoy himself in some other way," Ysabel suggested, catching the momentary look of tedium in my eyes. She hesitated momentarily, before she added: "Since I may have erred in waking my lord too early, I am fully at my lord's disposal if he should require me for any kind of diversion." Her eyes strayed down from my face, and I suddenly became aware of the sheets that had fallen down to reveal my naked torso. I smiled a bit self-consciously, but let her offer hang in the air while I considered what to do. Not that I thought very long and hard, though. Life's too short, and I hadn't had all that much fun lately.

So, with a different kind of smile I nodded at Ysabel, indicating that her gamble had paid off. We spent a quite pleasurable few hours together, that first afternoon. From the ease and experience of her lovemaking I suspected that I might not be the first one for her to have used this particular ploy on, but it wasn't something I was prepared to dwell on for too long. One thing I did ask her afterwards was why of all the Amberites available she had decided on me. Jokingly, she began by saying that she'd rather have one of the good-looking lords as her master, but when I pressed her a bit further she revealed that my sexual exploits had garnered me quite a reputation in Amber, which had made me seem to her to be a safer bet. Although I had usually tried to be discreet about it, there would always be people to notice such things and there would always be people to talk. Oh well, it couldn't be helped now, I guess, and I'd rather have a reputation as a lover than as a fighter.

Ysabel's honesty about her intentions made it easier to come to an arrangement afterwards. I made it clear to her that I had no problem with her becoming the first member and the de facto head of my personal staff, with all the perks and priviliges of the job, but I also told her quite plainly that I wouldn't stand for her lording it over the regular staff too much. In other words, if she was to become my personal maid, she would also become my personal responsibility, so I expected her to behave appropriately. As for livery, I left it up to her to come up with a suitable style of dress, as long as it would feature both my personal colours - grey, blue, and black - and the crest of Ayland. I wrote her an official letter (well, more like scribbled note, but with my signature making it at least look official), proclaiming her new-gained status and facilitating all her dealings with the other Castle officials, and then I sent her on her way. Her company had been quite enjoyable, but there still was this supposedly urgent matter of Alexander's I had to see to before Boadice's dinner party.

First, though, I showered and dressed in one of my finer outfits, before I tried to raise my cousin on his Trump. He had been waiting impatiently for my call, I could tell, and his news was both urgent and none too good. He told me that Galoria's leaders had officially been invited by Sonia to discuss the future of their realm with Lothair himself. In light of their current situation and the distinct lack of aid from the other Powers, Alexander thought it likely that they would be forced to evacuate Galoria completely, but if that were to happen they were also planning on sealing off the Flux, the locus of the Nexus, to keep it from falling into Lothair's hands. He hoped that Random would be able to help them somehow with the Jewel, although he wasn't entirely clear on what he expected the King to do. I couldn't help him either, for I knew too little about the Flux or the Jewel to make any correct assessments about the way they might interfere with one another. However, Alexander was scheduled to have a meeting with Random later that night, and maybe he might have some further useful insights.

Alex had one other reason for wanting to see me besides the grave news, which was basically his distrust of Lothair's intentions. He, therefore, asked me to wait for him to get in touch again after his meeting with Lothair, which was to be the next day. If I had not heard from him after two whole days, he said, I should assume the worst and try to reach him in any way I could. To this end he even gave me the Black Trump on loan, saying that this would be a way of tracing him if he were to end up in another Reality. He had been practising with the thing himself and he quickly gave me some useful pointers on how to get the thing to do what you wanted it to. I promised him to stand by and wait for him to call, but I added that I hoped his precautions wouldn't be necessary. Personally, I didn't think they would be. Lothair's grip on Galoria was much too strong, and I didn't believe he really needed to set up any kind of trap to take them out.

As I said before, conversations with Alex tended to run longer than I'd like, and with but a minute or two to spare I had to rush over to Janice's guest room to make it in time for th party. I had only a moment to straighten my clothing, drag my fingers through my hair, and catch my breath, before knocking politely. Janice looked as stunning as ever, although I realise that I may not have dwelled upon her looks all that much lately. Perhaps the business relationship we more or less seemed to have arrived at keeps me from paying too much attention to her in the more physical sense, but I'm sure I must have mentioned before that she's quite a looker. Her tan just a bit darker than usual, her hair long and black, and her eyes dark and piercing. I had noticed before that she quite favoured red dresses on occasions such as these, and this was no exception. Again, she had had the tailors adapt the typical Amber dress to her own style, keeping the bodice and tight sleeves, but reducing the length of the skirt to a bare minimum. She could pull it off, too, with those legs, but I didn't reckon hers would be the start of a new fashion. Far too scandalous for Amberite society. I guess that would nicely add to all those rumours that were already going round about me.

Casually, we strolled through the Castle corridors, taking a slight detour that would pass along some noteworthy pieces of art, which also ensured that we wouldn't be arriving too early. The party was being held in one of the larger rooms on the second floor of the guest wing. All in all, there were about fifty people or so in attendance, most of them Amber nobles with their wives, or husbands as the case may be. One family very prominently seemed to be the centre of attention of the entire evening, to the extend that I was certain that Boadice was very ostentatiously repaying some kind of favour. Baron Henry Vandemar was of high enough standing, to be sure, for he was officially the Personal Secretary to the King of Amber. I tended to avoid having any dealings with him, though, for I rather disliked the man. He might be very good at his job, but from what I'd seen he tended to think rather too much of himself. However, with Trumps and the Pattern at one's disposal, one hardly needs to bother with the tedious business of making official appointments.

Another, more personal reason for my dislike of the Baron was unfortunately also present this night. His distinct hook nose and arrogant expression made Orvard Vandemar, the Baron's eldest son, into the spitting image of his dad. He was a few years older than me, and at age 12 had been the worst kind of bully you could imagine. He had not bothered me or my friends all that much, however, for my innate Amberite strength, though relatively meagre in comparison with some of my relatives, had been sufficiently impressing to make him think twice about picking on us. At that time we had struck up a strong mutual dislike, and now and again I had stepped up to him to keep him from bullying some other kids who were not able to defend themselves, for which I felt he'd never forgiven me.

The Baron's wife was as likeable as her husband or son, that is to say not at all. Haughty, disdainful, snobbish, she was as much fun to be around as a pile of dead fish. One thing you could say for her was that she had been quite pretty once, but the years of nagging and complaining had given her a permanently sour expression that was most unattractive. During the entire evening it was hard not to overhear her complain all the while about her husband, making it seem as if there was nothing that he could do right in her eyes. If I remembered correctly she had also been one of those people who had cried shame when my true heritage had first been made public.

The Vandemars had two other children, I recalled, but their youngest son was absent from this social event. Their daughter had been fortunate enough to inherit her mother's original beauty, although I rather believed she had inherited her character traits too and would end up looking just as sour. Still, for the moment she was pretty enough, and just for a moment the evil thought passed through my head that if I hadn't been at the party with Janice, I might have been making certain advances, if only to annoy the hell out of her horrible family. Hmm, perhaps my dalliance with Ysabel had awakened certain darker instincts in me.

As it was, I gladly avoided any and all contact with the Vandemars, simply enjoying myself in Janice's company and having some friendly conversations with other people I remembered from my youth (the ones I didn't dislike, that is). There were but a few Amberites present, but I found that this helped to keep the mood rather casual. Aside from Boadice and me, only Alexander and Julian turned up, the latter looking as splendid as I'd ever seen him. Hopefully, just the few of us would be endorsement enough for Boa to organise these kind of things more often. One could not help but miss Flora's touch in that regard.

No, that's not entirely fair to Boa. She did a splendid job in organising this, especially considering the short amount of time she'd had to prepare. The evening was a pleasant one, the dinner was not too elaborate but still excellent, and there was some music and dancing later, which both Janice and I greatly enjoyed. It was a nice break from all the Power games we'd been caught up in lately, and it would have been perfect if not for one encounter I had later that evening.

As I said, there were quite a few people I remembered from my earlier years in Amber, but I hadn't counted on running into Koras Lavassar. It had been a while since we'd last seen each other, and that parting had been a frustrated and bitter one. We'd been friends, best friends even, but too much had changed since the days of our youth. That last time Koras had made it plain that he did not know how to relate to me anymore, now that I was Royalty. Aliane, the third member of our childhood triumvirate, had also had problems in dealing with this issue, but the two of us had been able to resolve them, albeit not in the way that she had first envisioned.

Our meeting at this party drove home to me how far Koras and I had drifted apart. We proved unable to move beyond the meaningless pleasantries and chitchat, and there didn't seem to be anything left of the old connection we once had had. Best of friends we'd been, but how had we come to this? No, the party was perfect, but this brief encounter cast a shadow on my entire evening.