BrienneWilliamAMeetingOfMinds(Continued from Princely Gifts and Royal Mothers and whatever Brienne's thread is.) Shannon's sorcery is much like the sorceress herself - precise, elegant and lacking in the showiness of her brother. William appears before Brieanne with no fanfare or the slightest flicker of obvious power. He glances about briefly then offers her a bow. "Cousin," he says by way of greeting. "Hello William." Brieanne replied. They were standing in the shade of a large tree and as William arrived she did ensure their privacy. She made no effort to hide what she was doing, the air around them tingled with energy and the shade vanished as the space filled with warm, golden light. The visual effect faded, and the sense of energy subsided, though it was still there if William cared to look. "Wise," William says with a nod. "I asked Shannon for privacy, but I did not make her promise it. And the temptation to hear what we discuss might be too great for her. Better our discussion be unheard." Brieanne made a soft sound that wasn't quite a snort, and her eyes didn't quite roll, but she certainly agreed. Two horses carrying packs with their saddles lingered in the shade of a small stand of trees nearby, tended by Emmet, and a formidable gray hound lounged a few feet from Brieanne. The dress she was wearing now had purple accents, but seemed to have been chosen to match the hound's gray. She was watching William, waiting, but did not approach him. William regards the hound gravely, and gives him a nod. "He looks somewhat familiar," he says thoughtfully. "But he is neither Smoketredder nor Briarsting." "His name is Eisenholz. He is best for big game." She walked over and knelt in front of the big hound. "He suits me moreso than they. He even told Carl that I was His Brieanne." She smiled, scratching the hound under the chin before she stood up and faced William again. "Our Carl, or yours?" William asks. "Yours, though with Carl there is less distinction than there would be for others." She paced several steps, her back to William as she stared out at nothing in particular. William sits on the grass beneath the tree and leans back against its trunk. "Have you developed any theories about how you came here?" he asks. "I am assuming from the way you have acted and the things you have said that it was not intentional." She didn't answer for a moment and then half turned to him. "Your Brieanne opened a Trump Rift..." She shook her head. "They are dangerous." She glanced at him, looking dire, and perhaps somewhat appalled at her other self's action. "My only plausible guess is that she created an opening that someone else has taken advantage of, pushing me out of where I belong. Possibly a happy coincidence for them." Her voice was bitter and she turned away again. "The Omphalos attacked and kidnapped Julian," William explains. "And our Bri opened this gate to allow a rescue party to go through. From what I have been told she ..." he pauses, remembering Julian's exact words. "She embodied the gate. The rescue was a success, but the cost to the caster was high. She still lies in a coma." He nods his head thoughtfully. "I agree that the trump gate must have something to do with your appearance here." At the word "embodied", Brieanne turned to look at William, clearly disturbed. She turned away, shaking her head. "With the Rift, a coma may be the least of her worries." She shook her head again. "I only know one sorcerer with any reliable, working knowledge of the Rifts, and gaining that knowledge ... did ... unkind things to his mind." She was quiet a moment and glanced at William apologetically. "I am sorry, but your Brieanne may be on the growing list of people I cannot help." William nods. "I understand. I shan't give up, of course. If my counterpart in your universe was anything like me, you know I never give up on friends." She shook, as if she might have laughed, and clasped her arms around herself. He regards her soberly for a few moments, then asks quietly. "The sorcerer you mention. That wouldn't happen to have been Uncle Brand, would it?" She started to reply, but her voice broke. She nodded, composed herself and began again. "It is quite a thing, to watch someone break away from the shared reality to become lost in their own. I was certain there must be something I could do for him." She shrugged helplessly. "He would come back to us sometimes, beg us to stay away from him. I was not so naive as to believe he would not hurt me, but it is hard to leave when you know someone is hurting." "I need to warn you," William says. "He went mad in our universe as well. A cold and crafty madness. He sought to destroy the Pattern and rewrite the universe in his image." Brie gave him a sharp, worried look, and then turned away thoughtfully. She was quiet a long moment, then she bowed her head with a sigh, shoulders slumping slightly. The silence dragged out and then, with another sigh, she looked up. "I will not seek him out. Even if he has answers, he will not know me here." William lets out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thank you," he says quietly.He sits quietly for a bit, watching her, the asks, "What did you plan on doing now?" "What I have always done." One shoulder pulled upward in a shrug, her voice sad and resigned. "Mourn those I have lost and carry on with what I have left." As if deciding that meant him, the hound stood, stretched with a yawn that revealed a maw worthy of a lion, and ambled to Brieanne. He nosed her elbow, summoning her back from her thoughts to him. She rewarded him with a scratch behind the ear. "The Omphalos will remain a threat to every universe until we have dealt with them once and for all." William links his hands behind his head as he leans back against the tree. "I should be happy to have your help against them. And their universe jumping techniques might prove to be helpful in finding a way back to your own reality." "They might." She agreed, wiping a hand across her face. She didn't sound hopeful, or enthusiastic. "The Omphalos here plan three points of entry. They will use lay lines to fuel gates and reduce the number of mages they need to move large numbers of troops into the border of Begma and Arden." She half turned toward him. "Dalt is working with them." "Past time he was put down," William says with a slight snarl. Then he asks, "Your source of information on this? I do not doubt you, but I shall be reporting to Random, who will convey this information to Benedict, and you know he will want details on the origin of the intelligence." "Last night after I freed The Lord Mayor, I put the spell on a soldier. It was meant to keep the Omphalos unaware and give us the means to track the caster. Shannon was tasked with that effort while we went to the manor." Brieanne recapped events briefly, walking back toward William, hound trailing behind. She was pale, but composed, and sat down a polite distance from him, leaning on the hound when he settled next to her. "Her jealousy and sense of entitlement got the best of her." Brieanne did not hide her disgust. "Instead she took him to her studio, experimenting on the spellcraft, and when she failed to understand what I had done and how, she laid a vampiric spell on the man and dumped him in the barracks. He was in very sad shape when I went to check on him this morning. I gave the petty shrew what she wanted, smashing the spell so she would have more of her precious data to analyze and freed him quickly instead of taking the time to undo her mess quietly. When I had restored him, and he told me they had not done the work intended, I laid what was left of the Omphalos spell on Eisenholtz." She rubbed the hound's head and it looked up with a gaping, doggie grin. "With Emmet, we tracked the spell to a house at the Begman capital, bluffed our way in, and came face to face with an Omphalos Mage and Dalt having a breakfast meeting ..." Her expression echoed the surprise and alarm she had felt. "He knew me, but did not know what to make of me, and gave us leave to depart. The close quarters are to his advantage, so I did. But it gave me opportunity to spy. The Mage had a map I stole a good look at, and he called Dalt 'm'lord' when asking permission to blast us when we reached the gate. You should have heard the dreadful things Dalt called me when I backhanded their attack to them." She managed a ghost of a smile at the memory. "I recreated the map to the best of my ability and gave it to Carl. I made notes for myself." She nodded toward the horses and this saddle bags. "I will find what troops are here, and what the other marks on the map mean, and craft some means of closing whatever Doors I find when they prepare to use them." "I will not allow an invasion of Arden." "You have spoken with your brother, then?" William asks. "That must have been an interesting conversation." She blinked at him, then dipped her head in a nod. "It went well." She wore a small smile as she played with the hound's fur. William smiles as well. "I am pleased to hear that," he says. "I was somewhat concerned about the reaction of your family to your presence." He draws out his trump deck and begins thumbing through the cards. "Do you mind if I contact King Random? I need to consult with him before I take my next step." "As you wish." She shrugged. "Trumps are one of the few things that will work here." She waved a hand around, indicating the space in the shade of the tree. "I will need to get moving soon. There is a great deal of ground to cover, and a limit to Emmet's endurance." William had started to look at Random's card, but at Brieanne's words he looks up at her instead. "Just so we are clear," he says mildly. "My claim upon Emmet predates yours. I gladly renounce it and offer him to you. But, Family being Family, I do think we should be clear on that." "Oh William, he's hardly your type." She answered with a quiet, throaty laugh. "He's been quite helpful, but if you feel the need to take him back, I will make do." William laughs out loud at that. "By all means, keep him, dear cousin. I release all claim upon him." Brieanne bowed her head quietly in thanks. William then turns his attention to the card he is holding. "Uncle Random," he says. "It is William, with news and a request." Random answers immediately. "William." he says. He moves his attention through the contact, looking at Brieanne. Grimacing. "News and a request. Which will I like less? Never mind, give me both." Random says, turning his attention to William fully. "Brieanne managed to get intel on the Omphalos plans regarding an invasion of Begma and Arden," William tells the king. "She passed the information along to Carl. I assume you will have it soon if you have not already been apprised.She also learned that Dalt is working with the Omphalos." William smiles thinly. "Which leads to my request. Since Dalt is, technically, of the Blood Royal, I am herewith request official sanction to put an end to him once and for all." Brieanne lounged against her hound casually, watching William from the corner of her eye. She almost looks amused, though her expression sobers slightly at William's request and she is most certainly interested in the answer. Random looks hard at William for a long moment. He steps back, leaning against the wall in his office. "I don't, William, want to see you dead." he says. "Dalt's survived just about everything we've thrown at him. I don't give a damn that Rinaldo's feelings might be hurt. I do give a damn that you won't walk away alive from such a conflict. But I can't ignore a direct threat on the Kingdom. "I am going to assume that the information is valid and relatively accurate." he continues. "If you can cut off the head of this snake, then do it." He purses his lips. "Benedict still has to get his war on. Julian is still out. Gerard has the damn refugee problem. Right." He looks at William. "Call Bleys, in fifteen minutes, if he doesn't call you first." He pauses. William can see his eye movements, thinking fast, like a gambler faced with a changing situation at the poker table. "Right. I like this. His daughter. You need more muscle than you've got on hand, and someone you can use as a weapon. You'll get her." "Thank you, Your Majesty," William says formally. Then he grins. "I promise to do my best not to get killed." Brieanne arched an eyebrow, once again looking faintly amused. He glances at Brieanne, then back at the king. "Is there anything else before I go?" he asks. Hound and sorceress regarded William silently, without any obvious opinions. "Yes" Random says. "Watch for any evidence that his daughter Larissa is involved. I know they get along not at all, but we've seen blood thicker than water before. Last I heard she was in Chaos, though." "Expect Bleys' call shortly." Random says. "I need to talk to some others as well." "Your Majesty," William says with a nod of his head. Random then ends the contact. William looks at Brieanne with a smile. "This should be fun." "Do tell..." Brieanne arched a brow curiously, but she looked skeptical. "I have permission to kill Dalt If I get the chance. And Bleys should be contacting me in a few minutes to coordinate." He tilts his head. "Do you want in on this, dear cousin, or do you still want to run your own game?" "You forget, m'love, that I have already crossed paths with Dalt today. I made him ... rather unhappy. There is a most excellent chance that he will come looking for me." Her smile grew broader and she stretched, shifting slightly. "So I will hunt as I see fit, and we'll see who flushes the prey first. Besides, you are a bit of a traveling circus, and I don't always play well with others." "A pity, "William sighs. "I am more than halfway tempted to abandon the mission and hunt alongside you. Alas, duty, don't you know?" He regards her with a slightly possessive smile. "Why is it, do you think, that I have a feeling my counterpart in your universe is tearing time and space apart in an effort to find you?" Her smile faltered, then vanished, her gaze dropping as she withdrew so abruptly that no mask could hide the fact. She swallowed hard, took a took a deep breath and lifted her face in his direction, but did not look at him. "William carried two spells with him. One we crafted together, so he could call me if he needed me. The other was mine alone, designed to trigger if he could not cast the first. It was the second spell that summoned me. But I found you in a hallway with Shannon of all people." Her voice was hollow, and she shook her head at the memory. "I can imagine how that could be a crisis, but you did not seem to be in distress, and when I touched you, you had none of my magic on you." She looked down, smoothing the hound's fur. "Instead of looking for me, he has most likely died thinking I abandoned him." She took hold of her skirt, twitched the hem out of her way, and rose smoothly to her feet. "We should go." Her voice shook, but she made a concerted effort to regain her composure. "The Bleys I know is prompt." William stands. "We know nothing of what has happened in the world you left," William says. "Do not give up." He gives her a bow, then says, "Aunt Fiona and Uncle Julian wanted me to keep an eye on you, out of concern for what you might be. It is possible they will search for you. I do not think they mean you harm, directly, but if Julian thinks your presence in our world is the reason for our Brieanne's continuing coma ..." he shrugs, then smiles a slightly twisted smile. "And Aunt Fiona can let the spirit of inquiry carry her away from time to time. Be careful, is all I mean to say. Call on me if you need my aid." She turned to listen to William, her expression moving from grieving to bleak, to withdrawn, calm and finally, remote. "I appreciate the concern, but they're not the most frightening individuals to come searching for me, and Fiona should remember what happens to the cat." The last came out with a bit of a hiss, her lips managing to sneer and smile in the same gesture. "Take care William." She whispered and turned stiffly to leave the sanctuary she had created. "May I come to you in your dreams?" Williams calls after her. "I would not presume to do so without your permission." She paused, looking back at him, curious. "If you wish." The barrier shattered into little motes of light as she crossed it, walking toward Emmet with her arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold. The big hound watched her go and then hauled himself to his feet with a sigh, fixed William with a look like he'd have something to say if William had the ears to hear him, and then stalked after his mistress. William nods to the hound, then searches out Shannon's trump. "Bring me back," he tells the sorceress. (Continued in William: Re-Joining the Circus and whatever Brienne's thread is.) |
