Chapter 037: Predetermined Meetings

 

"I stood alone upon the highest cliff-top,

Looked down, around, and all that I could see

Were those that I would dearly love to share with

Crashing on quite blindly to the sea....

I tried to ask what game this was,

But knew I would not play it..."

 

Lemmings - Van Der Graaf Generator

 

     Lonely as the Wordsworthian cloud I wandered from Shadow to Shadow, ocassionally stopping for something to eat or to have a little rest. It's hard to look for something in Shadow, especially when you aren't really sure what you're looking for in the first place. I should have asked Tiziane to be a little bit clearer on this, I know, but I had the feeling that her answers wouldn't have been much more reveiling anyway. So, I just kept walking, keeping my eyes open for anything out of the ordinary that might present itself to me. I had been wandering like that for a couple of hours, when I spotted a figure lying in the middle of the forest road, huddled in a buch of tattered clothes. As I cautiously came nearer, I saw that it was an old woman. Could this be the person Tiziane would have me meet?

     "Good morning," I hailed the stranger from a few yards away. "Are you alright?"

     With some difficulty the woman managed to turn her head in my direction. She looked really worn out, and she had barely enough strength left to extend her hand towards me. I hesitated only for a moment before taking it and slowly helping her to her feet. With a faltering voice she thanked me for my assistance in perfect Thari.

     "Who are you?" I asked. "And what are you doing here?" She looked up at me and studied my face carefully.

     "Who are you?" she croaked in return. "Do you perhaps come from Amber?" So much for this being a chance meeting. Whether or not this woman had been directed to this spot by Tiziane didn't really matter, her reference to Amber made her presence important either way.

     "How did you know?" I asked her. I wasn't ready to tell her my name as yet.

     "I am going to Amber," she said, and a strange look came into her eyes. "The great, golden city where everything is right and beautiful." Hmm, I wondered who had been spouting this touristic nonsense to the poor woman. Her expression turned to one of sadness and worry as she continued: "But I don't think I shall be able to make it. It was too much for me after all. All those Shadows! The road is too long." She barely managed to shake her head.

     "Where do you come from?" I asked her.

     "Our House," she said, "our estate in the Courts." Now that she mentioned it, I could detect a faint Logrus scent about her. Not from herself, I could tell, but from something she carried on her person.

     "What is your name?" I asked her again. She hesitated for a moment, as if she had troubles remembering it.

     "Liret...," she said falteringly, "Liret... Grendyn." Couldn't say I had heard the name before. She looked very weary, at the point of collapsing really.

     "Please," she said, "will you tell my sister? Tell her that I hadn't meant it that way and that the voices told me to go to Amber?" She reached inside the remains of her coat and produced a small parcel which she extended towards me. At the moment when I accepted it from her, her body slumped forward in my arms. I checked her pulse, but it was too late: she was dead.

     Okay Dorian, you've just met some lady from the Courts who might possibly haven't been entirely sound of mind, she gave you something and then she went and died on you. What do you do now? Well, first thing I did was have a look at the thing she had given me. It was a small leather case containing two Trumps, or more specifically, one Trump and one Trump-like object. The Trump was of a young woman with brown hair in a neat-looking dress. Probably she was the sister Liret had been talking about. The second object was a card that was Trump-like in appearance, only it was in black and white. It depicted a black tree branch with a white snake curled around it. A strange thing, that one. Where the Trump of the woman was just an ordinary Logrus Trump, the one of the snake was more than that. There was a lot more power in it, and I wasn't sure that all of it was Logrus.

     I put both Trumps aside for later study and first went and burried Liret in a convenient spot, figuring that I couldn't leave her body lying around like this. After I had finished with the grave I lingered for a few minutes, wondering if there was something that I should say at such an occasion. Finally, I settled the matter by saying that I'd tell her sister what she had asked me to, before shifting off again to find me a place where I could clean myself up and have something to eat. This burial business was dirty and tiresome work.

     A nice little wayside inn provided all the comforts I needed. The meal was simple but good, and I devoted all my attention to it before starting to contemplate the matters that had just been dropped into my lap. First thing I did was have another good look at the strange black and white Trump. My, it was powerful! The  longer I studied it, the more I felt that it wasn't a Trump in the ordinary sense of the word, and the more I realised that it might be very risky to try and use the thing without a manual of some kind. Was this the thing Tizzy had wanted me to have? Could be... No, must be. So, what if I contacted Liret's sister and she wanted it back? The old Dorian wouldn't have hesitated to give it back, but the current one was a lot more reluctant to do such a thing. If I really needed this thing to help me with my problems, there was no way I was going to let go of it. I mean, it would be just the thing for Tizzy to have me find the thing without taking into account that I wouldn't be the rightful owner and that there might be someone else who would want this thing back. Alright, so I would keep the thing secret, at least until I had found out a little bit more about it. I put it safely away with my other Trumps.

     Next, on to the Trump of the lady. Best not wait too long to tell her about her sister's death. I concentrated a long time before feeling the first inklings of a contact. She must be a long way off. The lady looked a lot like she did in the Trump, only her style of hairdressing differed. She was rather surprised at having a stranger contact her this way, but she quickly composed herself and greeted me in a friendly manner.

     "My lord," she said with the faint tone of an unasked question in her voice.

     "My lady," I said, "you probably don't know who I am, so let me introduce myself: my name is Dorian and I come from Amber." She gracefully nodded and I continued: "My lady, I must confess that you now have me at an advantage, for I don't know your own name."

     "My name is Alexa Grendyn," she said politely. Well, it seemed to be the right House. I had noticed that my mentioning of my name and of Amber had subtly changed her manner to a more deferential one. The House Grendyn must not be very high up in the Courts hierarchy. "May I ask how you came into the possession of my Trump?" Alexa ventured cautiously.

     "Do you have a sister by the name of Liret Grendyn?" I asked in return.

     "Yes," she replied in a worried tone. "Yes, she's my younger sister." Younger sister? Now that couldn't be right. Liret had looked old enough to have seen her grandchildren's grandchildren, and Alexa looked more like she was of the same age as me. Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice.

     "I am very sorry to inform you that your sister has unfortunately passed away," I said. Alexa was very quiet for a moment, but she kept herself under control.

     "Thank you for taking the trouble to tell me," she said. "May I ask how she came to...?"

     "I found her in Shadow," I said, "not far from Amber."

     "Near Amber? How is that possible? Was there anyone with her?"

     "No, she was alone, and in a very sorry state I must say." Alexa looked very surprised and confused at hearing this. "She died almost immediately after I had found her," I said.

     "Had she been hurt?" Alexa wanted to know.

     "No," I said, "that was very peculiar. She was extremely worn out, though."

     "That cannot be right," Alexa began with a puzzled expression. "My sister doesn't have any way of travelling through Shadow that I know of. Are you certain that she was alone? She could have been kidnapped and left there in Shadow. She had disappeared a while ago, without anyone knowing where she was."

     "Look," I said, "I don't really know what the deal is here, but she told me that she was on her way to Amber. Just before she died she gave me your Trump and asked me to tell you that she hadn't meant it that way and that the voices had told her to go to Amber."

     "I do not understand. Whatever could she have meant by that? The voices? I don't know. She had been behaving rather oddly just before her disappearance. I had been quite worried about her health."

     "Well," I said, "I don't know if it's any consolation, but I'm just as confused as you are. You did say that Liret was your younger sister, didn't you?" She looked at me with questions forming in her eyes. "It's just that she looked pretty old to me," I explained. "Her hair was grey and everything."

     "How strange!" Alexa exclaimed. "No, that cannot have been my sister! She's still young and she only disappeared a month ago. It's true that ours isn't a Major House, but still, we are of the Blood." I shrugged. Sure, it was a puzzle, but I knew there were ways of having people suddenly age much more than they ought to, especially in Shadow. I still figured that the woman must have been Alexa's sister. How else to explain me talking to the lady right now? Alexa appeared to have reached the same conclusion too.

     "I am sorry that my sister bothered you," she said.

     "Oh, think nothing of it," I said, "it wasn't any bother at all."

     "Could you please tell me where her body is? She should be laid to rest in the Family tomb, of course." Of course! Damn! And here I had gone and already buried her. Better find some way to work around this one without embarrassing either of us. I felt no need for making myself look like a fool, and Lady Alexa seemed like someone who would handle embarrassment rather badly.

     "Perhaps it would be a good idea if you were to send some servants to me to carry the body back to the Courts," I ventured.

     "Yes, I suppose you are right. I shall try to arrange it as soon as possible. It will be difficult to find someone who can travel through Shadow, though. I shall have to try one of these demon services."

     "If it is too much trouble for you, I may be able to arrange something," I said.

     "Oh no," Alexa said immediately, "please, that will not be necessary. I couldn't ask such a thing of you." From her tone and expression I could tell, though, that she really needed all the help that I could give her. I didn't know about these demon services, but they were certain to be a costly affair, one the House Grendyn might not be able to meet. Besides, if I arranged this myself, I would be able to clean up the body a little bit before taking it back to Chaos, which would mean less embarrassment for both of us.

     "I'm sorry," I said, "but I really feel I must insist. You have already been through enough with your sister suddenly dying like this, and besides, it gives me a chance to give in to my gallant nature." I smiled as Alexa tried to hide her grateful expression. We agreed that I would contact her again as soon as I was ready, and meanwhile she would start making arrangements for the burial service.

     It took me some time to dig the body back up again, and then some more time before it and I were once again suitably presentable. I'd have to remember this for the next time: Do not put the body six feet under until you've talked to the next of kin first. Still, with all the weird time differentials between Amber and the Courts, I figured I could get away with the extra time it had taken me to get ready.

     Once contact had again been established I Trumped through with the body. Alexa tried to remain calm and collected, but it was clear that the appearance of the body severely startled her.

     "It does look like Liret," she said after a closer examination, "but she was so much younger than this." I looked up at me from the ghastly sight. "I don't know much about magic and Shadows, but this isn't normal, is it?"

     "No," I said, "it's not. However, It is possible." We fell silent. Alexa studied her sister's body for a while longer, occasionally glancing up at me. I began to get the feeling that there was some matter that she wanted to bring up, but didn't know how to without possibly offending me in some way. I waited for her to screw up her courage enough to ask me.

     "I know you will probably think this very improper of me," she began hesitantly, "but my sister had taken a certain Family heirloom with her when she vanished. It had been given to our House for safe-keeping, although I am not certain why this was done, or what it had to be kept safe from."

     "Could you give me a description of this heirloom?" I said, already having a good idea of what the thing would probably look like.

     "I saw it only once myself," Alexa said. "It looks like a black and white Trump. It is a very old and very powerful object." She sighed. "I guess it is the reason why all of this got started. Liret was fascinated by the object. Against all of my wishes she took it from its usual place to study it. It might have been the thing that influenced my sister into acting so strangely. I guess it is my duty now to find it again." Hmm, she didn't really seem very eager to get it back. However, I couldn't very well just confess that I had had the Trump all along without having told her so right away. Okay, how to put this in such a way that I wasn't telling her an outright lie?

     "I shall look for this object in Shadow," I said, "and in time I hope to be able to return it to you." There, that was rather neatly phrased. No promises I wouldn't be able to keep and no outright lies. I was learning how to be a real Amberite yet.

     Alexa didn't appear to know whether she should be happy or sad at not having the Trump returned to her. "I must warn you," she said, "that it is a burden for the one carrying it. Are you in any way familiar with these kinds of objects?"

     "No," I said, trying to hide my curiosity.

     "Once we were a glorious House," she said, "but our light shone dimmer and dimmer with the ages. Maybe we aren't fit to be its keepers anymore. If you should happen to find someone better suited, perhaps you could... No, no, I cannot ask that. It is jinxed, it only brings bad luck. That is what I thought when Liret wanted to study it, what I told her. Just look at the state our House is in! How could I ever ask anyone to take on such a burden. It will only bring them misery." She sighed. "I have heard that there are certain learned people like Master Suhuy... But no, he would never agree to see someone like me." She looked me straight in the eye. "Please," she said, "do be very careful. I do not want anything bad to happen to you."

     "I will," I said. "I'm sure everything will be alright." Hmm, so this Trump was cursed too. Seems that Tizzy had a strange way of going about getting rid of my problems. Still, I could bear it. I thought. I hoped...

     I agreed with Alexa that I would keep her Trump in order to contact her when I had found the `missing' heirloom. That was one reason, another was that she seemed to know more about this object. Maybe I could talk to her again later on and find out a few more things. And then there was the idea of knowing someone in the Courts who I could talk to which kind of appealed to me. She may not be the highest ranking member around there, but that didn't matter much to me. I kissed her hand while saying goodbye and Trumped back to castle Amber. There was more than enough that I needed to think about before going into action again.

     And there was still more coming up, although I hadn't planned on it. Apparently Random had arranged for some kind of special meeting of the predominately younger Amberites to be held that afternoon, attendance obligatory. As one of the last to be notified I was immediately herded into one of the bigger sitting-rooms by a bureaucrat and found myself a seat at the large table. Surveying the room I saw Martin and Melusine talking quietly amongst each other, Boadice arguing about something with her sister Yaslin, and the rest of them looking on just as I was doing. There was Alexander (an unexpected sight, really), Myrthe, Adrian and Murlas sitting side by side, and finally there was Diana. Damn! I had hoped for better circumstances of seeing her again, a chance to tell her about her new brothers and sisters privately. Well, perhaps I would have some chance of talking to her after the meeting (whatever that would be about).

     Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long for the thing to start, me apparently being the last one to be included in present company. Random looked rather serious as he began his speech, and I hoped that it wouldn't entail yet some new threat towards Amber.

     "Good afternoon," he said, drawing everyone's attention and quieting the room down. "What I want to discuss with you all today may be news to some, while others may already be familiar with some of it. It appears that a lot of you are in some way involved in projects that are directly or indirectly linked with the Courts. At the moment all of you have been acting individually, but I think it is time that you started joining forces.

     "Now I know," he continued, seeing some doubtful expressions all around, "that you have all learned that relatives just can't be trusted, which is the usual Family behaviour, I guess. Personally I would have liked to see things differently. I won't give you any flowery language on the joys of cooperation, but even the most doubtful among you will have to agree that we're dealing with a potentially very dangerous situation here. We simply have to face the fact that the Universe as we knew it has irrevocably changed, and that cooperation may be our only sure means of survival.

     "I can't force you to do this," he sighed, "so I won't try to, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to see it happening. I know it has taken our generation several hundreds of years before we came to that point." I snorted derisively. Yeah, sure, as if the Elders were all ready to cooperate. Tell that to Caine.

     "Okay, okay," Random snapped, "I know, we were a lost cause to start with. But if you all think you can handle your affairs on your own, then go ahead! Some of you have made some dangerous enemies by now," (his eyes glanced over the assembled company, momentarily halting on Murlas, Martin and Melusine), "while others are faced with difficult problems, (now he looked at Boa, who kept her eyes turned to the ground). "I think that whether you like it or not, you are all linked. When the civil war in the Courts breaks out, you will all in one way or the other become possible targets.

     "I have already spoken with Merlin, but no matter what he says, he doesn't have a real grip on the situation in the Courts. The recent kidnappings organised by Dara and the House Helgram go as far as to prove that much, aside from making clear that each and every one of you could become a victim at a moment's notice. Another important fact to consider is Felicia being in Dara's clutches. She will probably be used to put Monias under pressure. This will not help to serve our cause. Monias and I have come to the agreement that we shall try to deliver her; a problem some of you were already working on, I believe."

     "Are you saying that it is our job to go and look for her?" Boa asked.

     "It could be a possible item on your agenda, yes," Random replied. "If Murlas has to work on it on his own, he will not stand a chance."

     "He won't have to," Adrian said self-assuredly.

     "I'm glad to hear that," Random said. "Another point is the matter of Boadice." He turned to her personally for a moment. "You too have quite some problems linked to the Courts: not only do you need to reclaim this item, but there's also the vendetta with the Chartins. I don't like that last part, it smells fishy. Anyway, you know you won't be able to solve it all alone, or even with just Gran's help, that's why these two points should be included on all your agendas.

     "Why you, you might ask," he said, turning back to us all. "For one, there's the fact that interference from us, the elder generation, may lead to unwanted extra irritation on the side of the Courts. You are simply less conspicuous. Also, some of you have good reasons for visiting the Courts, for instance Adrian and Alexander who are both currently engaged in different stages of marriage proposals. In this way you might have different options open to you than we would have.

     "As I said before, I'm not forcing any of you to cooperate, but please consider it carefully. More coordination in your group, more helping others out without immediately demanding some form of compensation, in my opinion it's essential. In the end it's all up to you, though.

     "I've asked Merlin to supply us with an extra liaison in the Courts, someone he could trust. He suggested Frewar Escallwyn, who I guess you all know by now. There is also another member of the House Escallwyn here to assist us, but perhaps it's better if Boadice were to introduce him herself." All eyes turned to Boa, who squirmed a bit under all that attention.

     "Well," she began, "it's like this: the Escallwyns always openly opposed the politics of the previous King, Swayvill, and some got banished for this. While spending some time in Shadow, I met the oldest son of the House, Gran. We took a liking to each other, and, well, one thing led to another, and now he's my boyfriend. I can't help it really. Would you all like to meet him?"

     We all nodded our assent; sure, we were curious as hell what Boa's boyfriend looked like. Meanwhile Random used a Trump to bring Frewar to our little get-together. I remembered him as being Boa's partner at the ball in Galoria. Hmm, weird that going to such a social event with your boyfriend's brother. Anyway, the brothers looked a lot alike, with the same short dark hair and the same elegant manners. Only difference I could notice was that Frewar tended to smile a lot more than Gran.

     "Okay," Random said when the two newcomers had found a seat, "I hope the two gentlemen will be able to help you. From here it's all up to you." With that he left.

     I won't even try to describe the thereon ensuing discussion in detail. There was a lot of talk, not always to the point unfortunately, but some things got mentioned that were news to me. To start off with, there was the matter of Felicia. Murlas told us that he had been asked by Monias to look into her disappearance, which he had done. In the course of his adventures he had discovered that she was in the hands of Dara, where she presumably would remain until we found a way of setting her free. All agreed, however, that this would be a tall order. Murlas and Adrian expressed a desire to get further involved in this matter, with possibly Alexander as back-up.

     The other points all included Boadice in one way or another. I got to hear how she had been asked to come to the Serpent Cathedral when she had been in Chaos, to meet Trisha Chartin (who, by the way, just happened to be Gran's ex-wife), under some pretence of there being a painting by Gran which depicted (among others) Boa's mysterious dad. Boa had gone to see if she could learn something she didn't already know, but Trisha hadn't been able to tell her much. As Boa had Trumped back to her apartment, there had been some kind of explosion in the Cathedral, presumably killing Trisha. The whole story spelled `set up' to me, in capital letters. Boa also mentioned that Gran had indeed told Trisha about herself, but that he had never mentioned her father; this was a connection the Chartins had figured out for themselves somehow. They used to be part of Swayvill's intelligence service, so they were sure to be well-informed. The only ways for Boa to get in the clear with this vendetta was either to find the real killer and expose him, or somehow find Trisha, if she was still alive that is, but there seemed to be a good chance that she hadn't yet snuffed it. For both options she would first need a lot of information.

     Of course there was also some talk about Boa's father, who she only knew as the Red Sorceror. Apparently Gran knew this person as well, having at one time or another done some odd jobs for him. The description he gave us of him sounded very familiar to both me and Murlas: it was the guy in the red robes we had encountered on our trip to the Overshadow. We agreed that there probably were some high politics involved here. Still, Yaslin decided to travel back to the Shadow where she and Boa had been born to see whether there was any useful info left on this mysterious character.

     The item Random had mentioned in connection with Boa's troubles turned out to be more something related to Gran. When old Swayvill had banished him from the Courts he had apparently given Gran a little going-away present: a curse. This curse was in some way linked with the ring Swayvill had worn on the occasion, a ring which now resided in the art collection of the House Sawall. House Sawall was the home of such illustrious figures as Merlin, Mandor, and of course Dara. Each of these had their own Ways, however, and since nobody currently resided in Sawall Ways, there might be a chance of getting in and out without being observed. The prospects for quick success were so great that everyone more or less agreed that this matter should be given full priority: first do something that you think you can do and then stop and think about the impossible. Of course, Boa and Gran were the two people most involved, but Martin, Alex and Diana were quick to offer their assistance. Melusine was a lot more reluctant; apparently she still hadn't completely settled matters with her parent. Myrthe professed a suitable amount of worry over the fate of her mother, but she also mentioned the possibility of much needed support from the House Wysternion in the case of a rescue operation. There would have to be sufficient proof before they would spring into action, though.

     And what about me? What were my plans? Frankly, this whole business of `forcing' us to work together had somehow rubbed me the wrong way. Yes, I knew that I also had some problems that seemed to be linked with the Courts of Chaos, but there was simply no way that I was going to bring the matter of the Curse up with all of my relatives here. I would have to handle this one on my own, I knew, because there was nobody I could trust enough to stand by me. Even Deirdre was a problem, with her professed affection for Caine. I trusted Caine even less than any other relative, I guess, and I didn't want him involved in any way. Besides, there was the all too real fear of them two taking the whole matter out of my hands altogether, and the last time that kind of action had almost cost me a daughter. Diana? No, I didn't know what kind of dangers I would be getting myself into, so I felt I couldn't drag her along as well. No, it was just me, myself and I, and I felt rather little inclination to get myself involved in all these other problems. That's why I stayed only as long as courtesy required me to and not much longer, contributing little to the conversation, but for the vague promise of acting as an extra back-up should they really need one. I knew myself too well to realise that I still wouldn't be able to ignore a plea for help from any of them anyway...

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