SorceressAtWorkIISorceress at Work IISettling those in the basket, she looks around thoughtfully before turning to Dulcinea. "Do your parents have favorite colors?" "Well" Dulcinea says. "I know Random likes orange, red and brown. As far as my mother..." She stops a moment "My mother, you mean and not Queen Vialle?" Dulcinea blinks uncertainly. "Well" she thinks for a moment. "Royal purple of course, sea green and white. I prefer blue to the purple, although if I succeed her, I'll change." "If you meant Vialle, she likes Rebman colors. I think she sees them, in some way. Maybe its a Rebman thing." Actually, Aura did mean Vialle, but she decides to let it pass for now. Her mistake. "I'm her only daughter and heir." Dulcinea says "and the man who she thought I was going to marry is...gone. And I really am a Princess of Amber. It is going to be difficult for my mother, for Maeonis. And for me." Aura pulls a tin of her favorite Persan sweets into her lap and sits back on her heels. But she gives Dulcinea her full attention for the moment. "Why is that?" "It's good" She says. "Oneology? Magic of wines?" she asks. "There is a shadow outward of Maeonis where all of the magic in that world comes from specially crafted wines by sorcerer-vintners." Aura seems to consider that sort of place while she takes her first sip. She wonders how that works exactly. Especially when one drinks to excess. "I don't know much about how the wines and other liquors are made. The Vintner's Guild is rather protective of their secrets." Aura smiles a tad sly. "And some things should remain a mystery." "Nai" Dulcinea says in an agreeing tone, nodding her head. She takes another long sip of the wine. "It is very good, Aura." she says once she is done. "It's a potent vintage." she adds. "I can see how too much of this can easily go to your head." "Random appreciates other sorts of alcohol, but gifts of this fire wine could help could make lots of friends with the nobles of Amber and the Family, too. Like me." "This is Fire Wine. Wrap your hands around the bowl for a bit before drinking. You'll know when it's time." "I will know...?" Dulcinea asks quizzically. She cups the dark bowl of wine, and watches as the flaming red color blooms in the dark liquid. Dulcinea's eyes widen. She does not drop the glass. "Fire Wine, baby" Nick says. "Drink up." Dulcinea nods and slowly starts to sip it. Dulcinea closes her eyes in thought for a moment, purses her lips, and then opens them again. "My mother is mortal and will not live forever, Aura. I, like you, am a child of the Pattern and have a naturally long lifespan. They say Benedict is thousands of years old, and even Random, the youngest, is hundreds of years old. Whether I want to rule that long, or not, its going to be a big change for Maeonis to have, well, a goddess on the throne. Or someone with the lifespan of a goddess. And I don't even know how long I could rule Maeonis before I would tire of it, but what do I do then? How would the people of my land react if I decided to retire, but still lived decades, centuries afterwards?" "And then there is the fact that I'd be a ruler of Maeonis, and the daughter of the King of Amber. The politics of that are...tricky. Even our cousin Rinaldo must get grief ruling over Kashfa because of that. Or Merlin, ruling Chaos." "That I can understand," Aura nods. She looks down at the tin in her lap. She would just have to pick up some more when she goes back to Atlantis shortly. Random would never know how stingy Aura normally was with these things. She sets it in the basket. "But as for the other concern, you have a long time to work that out. But if it were me, I would go the goddess route." Aura gives her a sly smile." Even deities must leave their earthly concerns sometimes to deal with more esoteric matters. Appoint an Earthly Representative to act in your absence. Come up with a grand ceremony full of rituals and oaths. Lorius, the great show-off, would be someone to ask for ideas for that. If your people accept that you are Divine, you should use that. You can always go back and take up your throne again at another time when you desire to do it again." Shrugging, Aura continues: "Of course, if you were just speaking rhetorically, use those years you have to come up with something different." "I was not speaking rhetorically." she shakes the curls of her blond hair. "Maeonis is similar to Antioch, where our cousins Castor and Pollux are thought of as demigods, and our Uncle Gerard is considered to be Heracles, incarnate. Once it becomes well known where my descent comes from, and as I do not age, I am going to be recognized as a Goddess As which and what Goddess, I don't know. That is going to be as much my choice as what the priests and populace decide. "Goddess of blond hair?" Nick quips. Dulcinea shakes her head at Nick and continues. "I know only of rituals and ceremonies from the outside, but I will take your advice, when the time comes, and ask cousin Lorius." She pauses a beat and chances tack. "Those are beautiful things in the basket." she comments. "How long is the passage to Atlantis from the Golden Circle, if a trader properly educated were to dare it?" "I can honestly say I have no idea," laughs Aura. "I have only made the journey three times and none of those were done without the aid of magic. When someone has time, we will have to try a normal trip through Shadow to see. Lorius may know, since I suspect his first trip was the normal Shadow walk - assuming he ever did anything so mundane as a normal Shadow walk." Aura summons a fruit basket to her and starts selecting pairs of Atlantean fruits for the quickly filling basket. She hums while depositing two of Atlantis' most sought after delicacy among the gifts. Those will also require an explanation. Aura summons a fruit basket to her and starts selecting pairs of Atlantean fruits for the quickly filling basket. She hums while depositing two of Atlantis' most sought after delicacy among the gifts. Those will also require an explanation. "The area of the multi-verse I am from uses several rites and rituals on their religious holidays and a few other occasions," she informs Dulcinea. "I find them all very beautiful and full of magic. If Lorius isn't handy when you are ready for it, find me and I will be pleased to assist. I'm sure I can find several other volunteers among my artistic friends from home that would be happy to add their input." "Hopefully, we have a couple of decades more before we have to worry about this." Dulcinea says. "But I thank you for the counsel worthy of Chiron." Moving over to her jewelry chest, Aura draws out a long strand of variegated pearls in shades from silvery white to deep purple. From the center is an iridescent tear drop about half the length of her thumb. She holds it up and lets the pendent spin slowly so the colors chase over the surface. She personally has more than a fair share of the Tears, so she can afford to be generous with one. "The pearls are from Atlantis, but the pendant is from one of our neighbors. Tears of the Singers are highly prized and widely held to grant the wearer with a sense of calm, as well as peaceful and sometimes prophetic dreams." Aura smiles. "I can't say I have ever had a prophetic dream, but the calming influence is very helpful when one has to deal with diplomats." She holds it out to Dulcinea. "A gift for your mother, I think." Dulcinea takes it into her hands and lets it dangle herself, watching the colors and the spin with unblinking eyes. "My mother will treasure this gift from the scion of Atlantis." She smiles. "A gift from Hypnos would soothe her mind and her brow. And given how the Mistress of Dreams has influenced her mind and mine, she might doubly value it." "Would this protect from her in any way, you think?" Dulcinea says. "I speak of Jayson's mother." Aura cocks her head to one side, her brow furrowed. She reaches out with one finger and sets the Tear to spinning. "I cannot say. It isn't something I am aware has been looked into. I can have someone look into the possibility. I could probably spell it myself, but I am fair certain that Fiona could overcome it." Pulling her gaze back to Dulcinea, Aura asks curiously: "Is that real concern? Has she tried anything on your mother before?" "I thought everyone knew the story by now." Dulcinea says. "It certainly had been spread around enough." She pauses a beat and regards Aura and Nick. "You know that Sand is the Queen of Corilaine, which isn't terribly far from Maeonis, in Golden Circle path terms" Dulcinea says. "She has had an eye on her own succession, and had opinions about the ah, suitability of Jayson's concubine being Jayson's wife. So for the last decade or so, she has sent frequent dreams both to my mother and myself about her son, and his, ah, compatibility with me." " It is said that Aunt Sand's power over dreams is equal to Aunt Fiona's ability over daytime magic, and I believe them. I...I thought I loved Jayson, thanks to these dreams, Aura. Even Valerian picked up on Sand's doing, and merged a dream of Jayson and I together so that we could meet." "Sand was not pleased by that meddling. Now that Jayson is..." she pauses, choking back a sob. "lost. Now that he is lost and I am free to love and choose as I will, I fear that Sand will still continue to meddle with the life and dreams of my mother and I still." Aura looks properly horrified at the very idea of someone being able to freely traipse through her dreamscape without a by-your-leave. "Veils and Tridents," Aura softly exclaims. "That is highly inappropriate. I do not know if the Tear will help with that sort of meddling, but I will speak to one of the Arch Mages when I return to Atlantis and see if he has any ideas. Perhaps between the Arch Mage, Lorius and myself we can come up with something. I cannot promise anything will come of it, but we will try." Dulcinea nods. "I don't know who besides Valerian knows of this sort of magic. And even he seems afraid of what Aunt Sand can do." Aura gives Dulcinea a reassuring smile and turned back to the basket. Deciding she has handed over enough of her personal stash, Aura stands and gestures towards the seating in the room. "I believe I am done for the moment. How does a glass of wine sound for you?" "A glass of wine sounds wonderful" Dulcinea gratefully sinks into one of the chairs. "Especially after the day we've had. If we were having mezedes too, I'd vote for something stronger, like a tumbler of ouzo." "Ooo Zoh?" Nick says. "It's a drink of my land." Dulcinea says. "But I have none here with me, and many do not like the taste. It is more as a drink before a meal in any event." Aura saunters over to collect another black bottle and set of glasses. The bowl is clear, but the stem & foot are black with pale blue dolphins wrapping upward around the stem. When she pours the wine, it seems to be as black as the bottle. She smiles as she hands Dulcinea a glass. "This is Fire Wine. Wrap your hands around the bowl for a bit before drinking. You'll know when it's time." "I will know...?" Dulcinea asks quizzically. She cups the dark bowl of wine, and watches as the flaming red color blooms in the dark liquid. Dulcinea's eyes widen. She does not drop the glass. "Fire Wine, baby" Nick says. "Drink up." Dulcinea nods and slowly starts to sip it. "It's good" She says. "Oneology? Magic of wines?" she asks. Backlinks |
