Chapter 45: Sum Of Parts

"Come together

Right now

Over me..."

Come Together - The Beatles

     Of course I should have realised that it wasn't going to be that easy, but as always hindsight seems to be much clearer. My intentions were naturally beyond reproach, and in my enthusiasm I thought that there was no way that my little plan for more unity among my cousins was going to fail. So, I Trumped Murlas, who fortunately wasn't busy, and got him to come through to my suite. Seated in a reasonably comfortable chair I proceeded to explain to him my misgivings about the coming Family meeting. Wouldn't it be more desirable, I asked, to have our generation take some form of collective position in order to be able to offer some resistance to certain other people, who otherwise would simply order us about to fit their own ends. For the two of us it might not be an immediate problem, but Adrian was clearly in a position where he could do with something more than just moral support.

     "So," I said, "I figured I call you first and see about your ideas on such a collective position, and whether such a thing can be realised of course. After all, we're a pretty individual bunch as it is, and I'm not unaware of certain differences that still stand between some people."

     "When you are talking about a collective position," Murlas said thoughtfully, "you really mean that you want us to take some form of collective action during the Family meeting, do you not?"

     "Yes, something like that. Just to prevent the five us from becoming too divided. I can see us now: being sent off into different directions on our own individual little errants."

     "I see what you mean," he said. "I must confess that my first reaction on hearing about the meeting was to sit it out and hope nothing too bad would happen to me. I admit, however, that you are right about Adrian. He is certainly caught up in a quite nefarious plot."

     "Things haven't been exactly easy on him, no. It doesn't require too much imagination to realize that some people will simply love to see his child on the throne of Chaos."

     "Well, that is more or less bound to happen, is it not?"

     "In itself it's not really a problem, I guess, but I wonder who will become the power behind the throne." My tone made it clear that I didn't so much wonder who would fill that role, but more whether it would be the right kind of people.

     "Personally I think that they can do whatever they like here in Chaos," Murlas said, "so long as they do not involve Sherwyn in their affairs."

     "All nice and easy," I said, "but I'm not really sure whether Adrian is all that clear on what he really wants himself. People are pushing and pressuring him from every side to let his child partake in the race for the throne of Chaos, but they seem to forget that it will also be his own heir for Sherwyn."

     "Actually it would be better if someone else were to become the next King of Chaos, would it not?" Murlas said with a smile.

     "Actually," I said, "I think you're right. As a matter of fact, it would be best if this whole mess were to be settled as soon as possible, if someone were to get the Logrus back into shape again so that we could once again travel through Shadow in an ordinary fashion. If only things were that easy..." Of course I couldn't tell him that I had a more personal reason for wanting to see the Logrus repaired, but then I guess he wasn't above suspecting something like that; nowadays everybody appeared to have other reasons for the things they did than the ones they claimed in public.

     "Well, we would only have to find a suitable other candidate for the throne to take a step in the right direction."

     "Yes, nice idea. Only I fear that every Chaosite will come up with a different person who he thinks would be most suitable. Where to start looking?"

     "Be it as it may," Murlas said with a shrug, "your basic idea of finding a candidate of our own, other than the one who would be backed by certain people who we both know, is a sound one and one that I feel I can support."

     "Is there someone in particular that you're thinking of?" I asked innocently.

     "No," he replied in a much similar tone. "How about you?"

     "Me neither. Not from the top of my head."

     "Perhaps we should talk to some of the others."

     "Yeah, at least they seem to be more involved in the politics of the Courts. They might be able to come up with some useful names."

     "However, I hope they do not start promoting their own circle of friends," he said. "We want someone on the throne who can take care of business."

     "A powerful figure," I said with a nod. "We don't want a replay of the whole Merlin thing, I think."

     "He also should not be aligned with any one particular group or have an outspoken point of view. Conservatives are right out of course, and I think the more liberal-minded candidates will not get enough general support. No, we need someone who everyone will be able to accept as their king, or who can make everyone accept him."

     "Tall order," I said, thinking back to what I had heard about the Courts thus far. "But we can always discuss this with the others, I guess, although Adrian is probably asleep by now, and I don't really want to wake him. He needs his rest."

     "He was wide awake when I left his room just now," Murlas said.

     "You woke him up?" I said with mock indignance. "The guy is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and you go and deprive him of his sleep." I shook my head.

     "I had news for him about his wife-to-be."

     "Oh dear. Good news, I hope?"

     "Not exactly, no. I saw her walk around freely in the palace."

     "Hmm." I refrained from commenting on this. What did it mean, though? Was Sereva's whole kidnapping nothing but a ploy to keep Adrian running around? Was she in league with her kidnappers? I gave a mental shrug; too soon to tell. "Anyway," I said, "then we might as well contact Adrian and the others and have them come over."

     "Let us begin by asking Adrian for his opinion. It is quite easy for us to say that his child should not take the throne of Chaos, but what if he says that that is exactly what he wants?"

     "Well, if he does, he's simply asking for trouble," I sighed, taking out my Trumps once again and locating the one of my royal cousin. Contact came quickly: Adrian was lying in his bed, red-eyed, worried, and totally sleepless.

     "Adrian," I said, "I see you're still awake. Perhaps you'd like to come over to discuss some things."

     "Alright," he sighed, "I guess I won't be getting much sleep after all. Just give me some time to get dressed. I'll be with you in a minute."

     We broke contact and for a moment I considered getting a glass of wine ready for him. I decided against it, though. He was tired enough as it was, and at the moment alcohol would probably do him more bad than good. While I was thinking about this Murlas threw a curve ball at me.

     "By the way," he asked, "how did you get to be here?"

     "Well," I began, "actually I was already in the neighbourhood, though we've been incommunicado for a while. I was working on a project with Fiona, and it was only fairly recently that we were informed of everything that had happened here." He seemed to be satisfied with this answer, and it was only later that I remembered not having asked him the same question.

     There was a knock at my door: Adrian, fully dressed and baggy-eyed. He greeted me and Murlas half-heartedly, and Murlas informed him of having told me the news about Sereva. That was okay by him. Adrian slumped into a chair and shot me an inquiring look.

     "Did you secure the room?" he asked.

     "No, not yet. Do you think it's necessary?" He nodded, so I complied with his request. Murlas regarded my actions with keen interest, but he didn't ask for an explanation.

     "We were discussing the scheduled Family meeting," I said when I had finished. "I thought it would be a good idea to device some common strategies in order to stop a certain pair of our Elders from walking all over us. A possibility Murlas and I have been discussing is finding an independent candidate of our own for the throne here. For we were wondering whether you are all that eager to see you future child become the next King of Chaos."

     "As a matter of fact I'm not," Adrian said.

     "Just as we thought," Murlas commented.

     "The big problem, however," Adrian continued, "is that I shall probably have to support my child's claim in public anyway."

     "It all depends on who the other candidates are," Murlas said.

     Adrian once again elucidated the whole succession matter and the roles of the Houses Sawall, Baccaran and Helgram. As Murlas rightly remarked, though, the individual claims of these Houses were not in any way a certified ticket to that illustrious and much coveted high chair. In fact anyone could in theory step forward and try to raise as much support as needed to claim the throne. They might even get away with it.

     "I must say that I would prefer to see a totally independent claimant succeed than any of the others," Adrian said, "but I'm afraid I will have to support my own child publicly, and I will have to make sure that they won't start reverting to a process of elimination. Especially eliminations in certain locations, above certain constructs, with lots of blood. I want to keep my child alive at all cost."

     Well, I could understand his sentiments. I had six young children myself, and I would hate for them to get caught up in something like this the way Adrian's unborn child had.

     "So you basically want to stand by your child all the way," Murlas concluded. Adrian nodded gravely.

     "In the meantime, however," he said, "I wouldn't mind people looking for possible other candidates."

     "Or even somewhat undermining your child's claim to the throne?" Murlas asked slyly. Adrian nodded again, with a sly smile of his own.

     "Okay," I said, "I see how you want to appear to the rest of the Courts, but what about the Family meeting? How are you going to present your case there?"

     "Well, Fiona and Bleys seem to have to decided amongst themselves that my child is going to be the next King of Chaos. Period."

     "And you lose your child even before it is born," Murlas added.

     "Yes," Adrian sighed, "if it were up to them I can kiss my child goodbye and that will be all. I don't think so."

     "So we will have to start looking for another possibly suitable candidate," I said.

     "I'm not sure about this," Adrian began thoughtfully, "but what about that new guy that just showed up, that Ornach? He might do."

     "I do not know whether that is such a good idea," Murlas said.

     "I believe he harbours some grudges against Amber," I said. "Not exactly your ideal choice."

     "But who else?" Adrian asked. "He certainly seems capable enough. Name me one other person who's powerful enough to claim the throne and who at the same time can get both major factions to back him up!" We all remained silent after this outburst. Adrian had a point, I knew. It was true that Ornach seemed powerful enough, but was he really the right choice?

     "Perhaps we should ask Boadice to join us too," I ventured. "She might be able to give a more personal impression of Ornach and whatever his immediate plans are." 

     Adrian looked at Murlas for a moment, then both shrugged and nodded. For the third time that night I took my Trumps and shuffled them till I found the right one. Keep this thing up and I might just be able to find a job as a dealer in Las Vegas. Provided I would ever be able to reach Shadow Earth again, of course.

     While concentrating on her enigmatically smiling image I wondered what exactly our dear cousin would be able, or willing, to tell about her new master. How had Ornach managed to bind her in his service anyway? No answer was forthcoming; the Trump remained as cold and lifeless as before. With a sigh I put the card away and turned back to the others.

     "She's not responding," I said.

     "Hmm. Well, nevermind," Murlas said. "How much time do we have until the Family meeting?"

     "I'm not entirely sure," I replied, "but I think it's to be tomorrow morning. Fiona appears to be in quite a hurry to get things organized."

     "It appears that an overt independent position is to be avoided," Murlas contemplated, "for that would probably prove harmful for Adrian. This also holds for the Family meeting, I think." Adrian nodded. Well, I could understand him not wanting to stand up to Fiona and Bleys publicly, but if he was to plot his own course in this mess, he'd have to part ways with them soon enough I'd think. He'd better make sure that there would be plenty of people willing to stand by him by then.

     "What about Alexander?" I asked. "Maybe we should call him in too and hear what he's got to say."

     "I must confess that I am somewhat reluctant to confide in Alexander," Murlas said, and Adrian nodded vehemently. I had, of course, expected Adrian to be leery of having his brother as a co-conspirator, but somehow I would have thought Murlas to have more common sense. Didn't he just see that the three of us wouldn't be enough to stand against the combined guile and intrigue of Bleys and Fiona? No, he did realise it, though. He was just much more closer to Adrian somehow, and that bond between them kept him from trusting Alexander in this matter. I sighed. It had seemed a good plan at the time, but I could see it coming to nought pretty soon now. I guessed I'd better revert to the strategy Murlas had been considering before: sit the thing out and hope that not too many bad things would happen. Pity about Adrian, though...

     While I lapsed into silence Adrian and Murlas continued to discuss the coming meeting, going over the Amberites who would be present (Delwin was not named and frankly I wondered whether he was going to show up), and puzzling over the identity of the Galorian embassador to the Courts. For the moment they agreed on not publicly opposing our Elders, at least as long as we didn't have a suitable candidate of our own. I concurred with their notion of letting sleeping dogs lie, but urged them to stay alert for other possibilities.

     "Still," Murlas remarked, "there remains a fifty percent possibility that your child will not even be suitable for their plans. After all, it can always be a girl."

     "I don't know," Adrian said, less sure of himself. "They might be able to take care of that with shape shifting and all."

     "They might be able to do that indeed," was Murlas's reply. "In fact it would be best if we could keep Sereva out of the picture altogether, while the child was growing up under your guidance. For it is clear that your wife-to-be is playing a little game of her own, and I think this game of hers will most certainly result in the child being a boy after all."

     "I would give a lot to know a little more about that game of hers," Adrian sighed.

     "As would all of us," Murlas added with a smile.

     At that moment there was a knock at my door. I shot a questioning look at my two guests, who both moved over to a part of te room where they wouldn't immediately be noticed by whoever it was that came calling at this hour. I walked slowly towards the door and opened it. The lady standing outside in the corridor was no stranger, although I had only really seen her once at the ball in Galoria: it was Adrian's bride-to-be and the woman we had been talking about most of the evening, the Lady Sereva Baccaran. I must admit that my reaction at that point was mostly along the lines of: what the...?

     "Can I come in, please?" she asked, looking quite serious.

     "Er... Yes, I guess so," was my stunned reply.

     "I've got a favour to ask," she said, walking into the room, "which I'd like to discuss in private." At that moment she noticed the other two people in the room, foremost of whom was Adrian, who had started walking towards the door himself as soon as he had recognized the voice. I glanced from Adrian's face to Sereva's; his expression was one of confusion and anger, hers turned to a mask of wax, void of any human emotion.

     "I see it's no longer relevant," she said to me, and turned to leave.

     "I that all you've got to say?" Adrian cried, rushing after her. Once in the corridor he managed to grab hold of her arm, forcing her to face him. Indignantly she shook herself loose from his grip.

     "For now it is," she said icily.

     "Great!" Adrian exclaimed. "I've been searching for you everywhere, then suddenly you show up again without so much as a word of explanation! Not a word about your kidnapping, nothing!"

     "I was never kidnapped," Sereva said. "Who told you so?"

     "You were reported as taken by those men in black," Adrian replied, a little bit confused, but still mainly angry.

     "Those were simply my escort," Sereva said calmly. It was plain that she wasn't about to be intimidated by our dear cousin. I noticed Murlas taking a place in the doorway beside me. I flashed him a questioning look: should we interfere or should we let Adrian settle his own affairs to the best of his abilities? He shook his head, indicating that for the moment he just wanted to watch the proceedings. "I had some business to take care of," Sereva continued. "Why, though, this sudden concern for me? Oh, that is right, I nearly forgot."

     "Like you forgot to mention that our child would be an heir to the throne of Chaos," Adrian spat.

     "It wasn't relevant at the time."

     "Of course it was relevant! Such things are always relevant!" He heaved a sigh. "All of a sudden the King has been murdered, then I find out that my child is going to succeed him. And you wonder why I am concerned about you! Then I hear about you having been taken by the Oban, those mercenaries..."

     "Correction," Sereva interrupted him calmly, "it is not your child that has a claim to the throne, but my child. The fact that you're the father doesn't enter into it."

     "But it does!" Adrian asserted.

     "No, it doesn't," Sereva said in still the same level tone of voice.

     "But it is my child too!" Adrian cried.

     "Only if I say so," Sereva replied softly. This nearly brought on an apoplectic rage in our dear cousin.

     "It's our child," he hissed. "It may never have been officially announced, but..."

     "No, it hasn't, has it?" Sereva cut him short.

     "But it was our reason for marrying in the first place," Adrian fought back.

     "I suppose there will always be rumours," Sereva said wistfully. "Naturally you will break off our engagement should the child not be yours after all, won't you?"

     "Yes..." This was something he clearly hadn't expected. After she had conned him into this marriage through her pregnancy, to ditch him like this was inconceivable. Yet it appeared to be happening before our very eyes. "It is my child," Adrian tried once again, though there seemed to be a hint of uncertainty creeping into his voice.

     "That's for me to decide," Sereva replied curtly.

     "We'll see about that."

     "We certainly shall." With that she turned around and walked away, with a sense of dignity that belied her deceitful nature. As she turned a corner and disappeared from view, Adrian's shoulders slumped and he shuffled back into my room.

     "Get me a drink," he sighed, sounding more depressed than I had ever heard him before. I found him a bottle of stronger stuff than wine and poured him a liberal amount. He immediately gulped it down in one go and held out his glass for a refill, which I dutifully supplied for him.

     "So how does this new development alter our plans?" Murlas asked practically. "For one thing it does seem to make things a little bit more clear-cut."

     "What are you talking about?" Adrian asked.

     "Well, it is clear that Sereva wants to see your child on the throne without any interference or influence from you. This state of affairs is not really desirable, I think, so we shall simply have to claim the child in the name of Sherwyn."

     "You'll even get Bleys and Fiona to back you up on that one," I added.

     Adrian sighed once more, looked at his glass, and then emptied it. "It's as bad as things could possibly get," he said. "That she would stoop so low I could never have imagined. At least now I don't have any doubts left about her whatsoever." His bitter tone stung me deeply. That this should happen to him of all people! I just couldn't understand it. For a moment I wondered what Sereva had wanted from me anyway, but I soon dismissed any thought of her. I certainly didn't want anything to do with her after what I had just witnessed.

     "I think I want to learn a little bit more about Ornach," Adrian mused aloud. I regarded him for a moment. He seemed a bit more calm and collected than before. "I think I would like to talk to him too," he mused on, "but first I would like some more information."

     "Boadice might be able to supply you with everything you need," Murlas said, "as soon as she has finished with whatever she is doing."

     "Before we do anything, though," I interjected, "I feel we may first have to inform either Bleys and Fiona of the latest developments. I don't think they will be pleased if we wait till the meeting with such important news."

     "Well, who do you want to contact?" Murlas asked. "I do think you should be the one to tell them. After all, they expect you to, and you do not want to upset your relationship with them, at least not yet, do you?" I guess he had a point, but why did it have to be aimed at me?

     "Okay," I grumbled, "I'll call them later."

     "Capital," Murlas said. "That concludes our business for the moment, I think. We shall just have to wait for some further developments before we can go on to planning our next steps."

     As if on cue these further developments chose that particular moment to make themselves known, for outside in the corridor we could suddenly hear the sounds of what could only be a major skirmish in process. We hastened to the door to see what was going on. Three distinctive groups were embroiled in what appeared to be a full-scale battle. Adrian identified them for us as the Royal Guard, formerly commanded by Merlin, the Court Guard, who were under the command of Merlin's stepbrother Mandor, and the Serpent Guard, officially controlled by the Church of the Serpent, but more commonly known as the military branch of the conservatives in the Courts. It looked to me as if both the Royal and the Court Guard had more or less allied themselves against the Serpent Guard, although there seemed to be a large enough amount of suspicion between the first two to keep them from turning their greater numbers into a real advantage.

     Suddenly we discerned a dark-haired woman right in the middle of the fray. Adrian cursed and asked me if I had a sword for him, since he had only thought of bringing a dagger when coming to my room. I tacitly handed him my sword and watched him throw himself into the battle with an unequalled enthusiasm. A perfect way to work certain frustrations out of your system, I guess.

     Alexander also appeared in another part of the corridor, only to follow his brother's example. A streak of something black flashing by, and there was Boadice too, still in her Chaos form, not about to let this kind of amusement slip her by. Before she entered the fray she shouted: "Murlas, you still owe me one! In my room you'll find Trisha Chartin; keep her unconscious!"

     I looked at Murlas, but although I was certain he had heard Boadice perfectly, he made no move to follow up on her request. On the other hand, request...? It had sounded more like an order really. Oh well, that was for the two of them to figure out, or bicker about, or whatever. The name Trisha Chartin was vaguely familiar, though. Oh yes, now I remembered, that was the lady who Boadice had supposedly murdered, because of which she had been caught up in that whole vendetta business. It seemed she was making some progress in that field then.

     Somewhere further on in the corridor a door opened and Fiona appeared, looking very much annoyed. "What is the meaning of all this noise?" she cried. "How can I work in these conditions? Just stop it, all of you!" She immediately disappeared back inside, without waiting to see what effect her words would have on the assembly. It was fortunate that she didn't, though, since everybody just ignored her anyway.

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