ReportToTheSorceressSB: Martin: Report to the SorceressIn the wake of the defeat of the shard of Jayson by Meriel's duel, and the chaos in the Autarch's court, the threat has been alleviated. Returning to Deiga via the rift, Ostrom's rite remains in place long enough to allow him to return to his lord's Court, and for Martin, Meriel and Godfrey to return to the shore. Meriel's decision to depart and practice her new skills, alone, for now. means that for the moment, the pair will part. But Martin has duties to perform, and Meriel has her freedom and her place to explore her abilities. Meriel accepts Martin's offer of a trump, and promises to contact him soon. And then she dives elegantly back into the water. Martin and Godfrey stand on the Deigan beach, Meriel swimming and shadow shifting away. What is left, then is, to talk to Fiona. And Dad. It really is a coin flip, and the Sorceress of Amber wins the mental coin flip. The contact to Fiona is more difficult than Martin expects, as if there are barriers, or interference, but when the contact does go through, Fiona is in a sitting room of some sort, somewhere. The room is not immediately clear. The fact that Deirdre is in the background, as well as Brandeigh and Percy might be of interest, since the latter two were not in Amber the last Martin knew. "Martin" Fiona says, aloud, as if in announcement. She then concentrates her attention on Martin. "Your news? Or would you prefer to come here? Since they haven't seen any family for two decades, local time, I doubt my daughter and son-in-law would object. Deirdre, either, for that matter." "Good news we could certainly use." Fiona looks away from the trump and nods to someone. A minute later, Martin and Godfrey are stepping through the trump and into the sitting room. Indeed, in the room are his cousins, Brandeigh and Percy, Fiona of course, and Deirdre. "Welcome to Scota, Martin." Brandeigh says. "For Percy and I, its been 20 years since we've seen you." "A little more, I think." Percy says. He points at Godfrey. "That handiwork doesn't look like your usual style, cousin. I'd expected something more along the lines like the droid my son has on his ship." "Good day. I am Godfrey." Godfrey says. His head swivels around. "Princess Brandeigh. Prince Percy. Royal Princess Fiona. Royal Princess Deirdre." "Sentient." Deirdre says, impressed. "Manners" Brandeigh says. "I think Mother has first rights on you. Come, sit down." She heads to the door and starts speaking with a servant there. "Thanks," Martin says. He bows to his relatives in their proper turns, then takes a seat. He doesn't wait for Godfrey, thinking that his construct probably would stay standing, anyway. And he does, standing next to Martin. The interest Percy has in Godfrey is obvious, although they are too urbane to stare. "Godfrey's my assistant. After this trip, I'd say he would be my squire, though we probably need to do something formal in that direction. Good to see you all, by the way. It's been a while." "Not as long as has its been for us." Percy says. "Unicorn, its been long enough that Brandeigh and I were married and have a son. Kieran." He cranes his neck. "Cariad, I'm sure we can get the servants arranged in good time. Come and talk to Martin." Percy calls to Brandeigh, still at the door. "An aftereffect of the business with Jayson and Apollo, we think." Deirdre says. "This region of shadow went into an extreme fast time, and ..." she looks at Fiona "was cut off from communication as a result." "Yes. That's my theory. And a major reason besides our grandson that Deirdre and I are here. But speaking of Apollo..." Fiona looks at Martin expectantly. "Exactly," Martin says, wondering how much Fiona actually saw or learned from that ring of Meriel's while they were on their adventures. "That rogue shadow tearing along in the direction of Rebma was being guided by an independent fraction of Apollo. A shard, if you will, who had the ear of the local ruler. Meriel and I did a little schmoozing and a little murder in turns to get to the truth, and by the time we were all finished we left the shard dead, the king's court in shambles, and the shadow stopped cold somewhere far from the Pearl of Cities. Dunno how much trouble is going to be caused by that shadow moving or the sudden stop or where we landed, but at least we got it stopped." "Schmoozing and murder" Fiona says. "I wonder which of you did which? She seems rather bloody minded to me." "Princess Meriel ultimately slew the shard of Apollo." Godfrey says. "And he confirmed the death of 'Jaysen'. Our escape back to Deiga was effected primarily by Martin's efforts." he adds. "A shard of Apollo?" Brandeigh asks, returning from the entrance. "Unfortunately, Jayson's legacy was not quite yet done. Still isn't really." Fiona says. Deirdre grimaces in agreement. "Given that we do have a few members of the family who did NOT return from Corwin's realm." Fiona continues. "Efforts to have contact them has proved as fruitless as it was reaching into Keltia until recently." She knits her eyebrows in thought. "Who?" Percy says. "This is mostly news to us, Aunt Fiona." "Bhangbadea, Cyllene, Leigh, Alais, and Oliver." Fiona says, with a slight irritation in her voice. "You probably didn't even have a chance to meet the latter three. We're fortunate as it is that my son, and Martin here were amongst the few who managed to escape." Fiona looks at Martin. "Good work, by the way. Keeping that shadow from reaching Amber was the highest priority and I am sure your father will agree when you report to him. Although speaking of shadows and shards, Kieran, that's our grandson, has reported being plagued in this region of shadow by someone who might be a shadow of Cyllene." "It might bore my mother and Aunt Deirdre." Brandeigh says. "But why don't you tell us why you've changed paradigms, cousin Martin." "Dinner should be ready for all of us within the half hour." she adds. She looks at Martin. "I don't know how long you planned to stay after, ah, reporting to my mother, but quarters have been arranged." "Excellent." Percy says. "We might introduce Martin to Kieran, come to think of it." Martin looks like he's trying to suppress a surprised look, ever since Percy mentioned a son. "Stories like that are best told over dinner, methinks. If I bore you to tears, you can always concentrate on eating." He glances at Godfrey. "Yah, sure, I can stay for dinner before heading on to Dad." "Good." Fiona says. "Well, then, we've some clothes in your quarters. A servant can direct you there, you can freshen yourself for dinner, and then we can continue this conversation, before you head on to Uncle Random, Martin." Brandeigh says. "She's in full hostess mode, now, cousin." Percy says. "Resistance is Futile." "Referent: Resistance is Futile. Star Trek: The Borg." Godfrey says with a whirr of gears. "Well, he might look like a different paradigm, but I see his knowledge base is not unexpected." Deirdre observes. Martin smiles in response. "We really have Corwin's Pattern to thank for Godfrey," he says. "After getting away from Paris, I was struck by a feverish night of inspiration. Godfrey is the result. Even in an infinity of Shadows, he's unique." "I am sure you, and he will regale us with the full details." Percy says. "Keeping our cook Michaele waiting on dinner, though, is like asking for a duel with William. Painful results are nearly guaranteed. So go, get yourself settled and a servant will direct you and Godfrey to the dining room." "See you in a half hour." Fiona says. "We've still more to discuss regarding the shard, I think. And what else might be done." "Sure," Martin says, and waves as they leave, and concentrates on freshening up for dinner. (and is prepared in case anything else happens before they come get him - that would be just his luck) Martin's hopes of a quiet time in the bath, freshening up, seem to belie his sometimes less than stellar fortune for nearly the entire half hour. Godfrey remains in the sitting room of the small suite he has been given, as Martin relaxes in the bath. "Martin" comes the voice of Godfrey. "I compute a 89% probability that the guard lingering outside these quarters is attempting covert surveillance." He pauses. "Given inconsistencies in his appearance as compared to other guards and individuals that we have passed, I compute a 70% probability that if he is conducting surveillance on us, it is not on behalf of Princess Brandeigh or Prince Percival." Martin smiles. "I'll be out in a minute. In the meantime, see if you can open the door suddenly on our guard. If you catch him by suprise, invite him in for a drink. And a few words." "Yes, Martin" Godfrey says. Martin does get a few minutes of peace. He hears some commotion outside. When he finally emerges, the guard, a man with a truly red shock of hair, is sitting nervously on the edge of a chair. His mood relaxes somewhat when Martin emerges. "My apologies for disturbing you." he says in a heavy accent. "Your...machine told me to come inside, that you wanted to speak to me." "I've never seen its like before." he adds. "Save for some odd things the Imperium has. But none of them seem..." he glances at Godfrey nervously. "intelligent." Martin decides to play the odds; he smiles, a little. "Godfrey is a thinking being, all his own," he says. "I can tell you that he's better at surveillance, too. Tell you what - we'll be willing to trade questions, if you want a drink. Or you'll have trade off your post with another guard, if you're not comfortable with that. I don't feel like getting you in trouble for spying." "Spying, milord?" The guard says. The act is almost painfully, or deliberately unconvincing. "Perhaps a few questions, for a drink, before your dinner would do no harm." he says. The guest quarters do turn out to be well stocked, and Godfrey already has produced what appears to be a bottle of some sort of local scotch and has poured two glasses. "I thought I would take the liberty" he says with a whirr of gears. "It appears to be alcohol derived from cereal grains of some sort." Godfrey says. "Further identification would require chemical analysis." "It's Teeling's Single Malt Whiskey the guard says matter of factly. "Just the best in this entire county, if not the entire planet." "Sounds like it's the thing to try, then," Martin says. "Prosit! So, then, allow me to start, since we're pouring the drinks. What were you looking for... okay, maybe a little less obvious. If you happened to observe something interesting, what would it be?" The guard looks at his glass, takes a small sip, and swallows it thickly, too thickly for the small amount he actually consumed. "Many things might be of interest regarding the unexpected arrival of a stranger with an unusual companion. There is no telling what someone like you might do that is different than the norm." he says. He takes one more sip. "It might even be said, milord, if I might be so bold, or Teelings to be so bold, that someone of such unusual means might himself be in communication with others, and the observation of such an event would be interesting." Martin decides to try the obvious next question, though he doesn't expect an obvious answer. "And who might find that interesting?" The guard swallows thickly, without the benefit of the alcohol. "The High King and High Queen of Keltia is very interested in events here on Scota after the invasion." the guard says. "It is most curious that the invaders, reputedly from another dimension, attacked primarily here." "Brandeigh, Mistress of Scots, is a vassal to the High King and High Queen?" Godfrey asks. The guard looks at Godfrey and then at Martin. "Yes, of course. Who are you that you would not know this?" "See, that's what makes us such poor spy material," Martin says. "Godfrey hasn't seen his first birthday yet, and up until recently I was stuck on a desert island. With no rum. Oh, yeah, and before that I was trapped in a box for quite some time." He smiles as though that just sounded like the most normal thing in the world, and takes a drink. This stuff _was_ good. "So, yah, we missed the whole invasion thing. Omphalos, right? Mind catching us up to speed?" "Omphalos?" The guard looks mystified and shakes his head. "I know nothing of these Omphalos that you speak of. Unless that is your word for the Coranians ,or their mysterious allies. I believe the Mistress of Scots and her husband have called them 'Yithonghu'. They attempted an assault and invasion of the Scotan system not long ago, using strange ships and, it is rumored, portals from another dimension." "Even given all that, the fleet was defeated decisively, of course." the guard says. "However, there are rumors that agents and saboteurs managed to reach the surface regardless." There is a knock on the door at this point. "I compute a 77% probability it is either of your cousins." Godfrey says. "An additional 12% probability it is one of your Aunts." "Let's see how you did," Martin says. "Come on in!" Backlinks |
