SquadronSupremeIISquadron Supreme IIAs the sun rises over the eastern horizon, casting its golden light on the city of Amber, William's lonely vigil comes to an end. For one thing, the tide has been steadily rising, signaling that the departure is best done soon, if not immediately. For another thing, as William turns from regarding the rising sun, the daughter of Fiona has somehow appeared, on the deck of the ship, right behind William. Several trunks surround her like low walls. "You didn't think I would be late, would you?' Shannon says with a smile for William. William smiles back at her. "If you had been, I would have known a crisis of some form had occurred. Alas, given recent events, that seemed a definite possibility. I am most glad we seem to have dodged that particular quarrel." He looks back out at the harbour. "Although I am somewhat surprised the Admiral is not here yet. I was certain he would want to see us off, and he has not much time, if he wishes to do more than wave at us as we depart." "Oh, I saw Uncle Gerard a few minutes ago." Shannon says easily. "I saw him conferring briefly with the Captain of the Peryton and the diplomats. Last minute instructions for the diplomats, who are already awake and agitated. I suspect the half of it is to make sure the diplomats know that they are to obey you and not what is in their somewhat small heads. Not to besmirch Pollux, of course." "The real diplomats, of course, as opposed to Random's agents." Shannon adds. She then turns to look at the gangplank. "And here he is." Dressed in his full Admiral's uniform, coming up the gangplank, is Gerard. "Admiral on the deck" Shannon shouts, with a smile and a laugh. The sailors who are around suddenly become a beehive of activity." "Show time," William says with a smile to Shannon. He straightens up and walks forward, snapping a salute to his uncle as he reaches the top of the gangplank. "Admiral," he says briskly. From Shannon comes some sort of cantrip, the sound of a naval whistle that, combined with the previous shout, is enough to get the sailors of the ship into a beehive of activity, frenzy and concern. Gerard ignores all of this, for the moment, in favor of saluting back to William and grinning. "Prince William." he replies. "I see that both you and your cousin have arrived safely, and in time to leave on the tide." The pleasure in his tone of voice is obvious. "I have seen to the diplomats and the captain of the Peryton, and so I came to see if the Narcissus is ready to sail, and as importantly, if my niece and nephew are ready to undertake the journey and tasks assigned to them." "From what I can judge of the captain from my meeting with him last night," William replies, "I should be most surprised were he not ready. As for myself, indeed, ready and eager." He looks at Shannon. "I did, given his background, personality and history, wondered what you made of him." William says. "Your impressions of the Captains, and any concerns you might have had, are important." he says. "Not that it is likely that a change in Captain would be made at this stage, since his Majesty is not awake. However, assuaging any fears or concerns would be productive." Gerard says. "I have not spent enough time with the ships and their men to judge" Shannon says, worrying her lip. "I know that" Gerard says. "My question was directed at William. Hopefully before the Captain arrives." He glances behind William at the sailors. "I've no concerns," William answers. "I think bucking him up to captain was a good idea. I sounded him out some last night, and I was impressed with his answers." Gerard gives a nod to William. Shannon gives a small smile to William as well. He grins at his uncle. "You had your reasons for giving him this command, didn't you?" "I did indeed." William says. "If I don't miss my guess" he continues "You probably have divined at least one if not more of them. I would be curious as to your impressions of those reasons." Shannon cocks her head as William begins his response. "A man whose chief skill is navigation will be handy for keeping us from getting lost, and perhaps for finding those who are already lost," William answers. "As well, it's a waste not to have this man in a position of authority, whether he wants it or not. And this is a perfect excuse to put him there. Once there, he'll find getting out of the captain's chair a damned site harder than he might think, as long as you want him there. Also, I think, he has his own reasons to not wish to see a return to a time of war, although I'm not quite certain how personal those reasons might be. Whatever the cause, it means he'll work all the harder when he realizes the cost if our mission fails." He regards his uncle. "How did I do?" "You did extremely well" Gerard says, scratching his chin. "It would appear that your perceptions are well honed and formed." He gives a grin "I still think you need a keeper for certain aspects of this mission, but you already have one..." Shannon smiles slightly at this. "And your analysis has shown that you have a good head on your shoulders, nephew. My brother has made an excellent choice. My reservations about giving you two of my ships are much relieved, William." "And judging from the first officer lurking behind you..." he adds "it is time I talked to the Captain." William turns and nods a greeting to the first officer. "Do you wish me to accompany you, Admiral?" he asks. "No, I don't think that is necessary." Gerard says. "In any event, you and Shannon may wish to confer and determine anything else you wish to ask or do before the ships set sail. I will not interfere in that." Gerard gives first William, and then Shannon, a nod of the head, and then heads off with the officer in the direction of the Captain's office/quarters. "Well, then." Shannon says with a smile. "I suppose you should get me up to speed, since you have done much of the legwork on *this* end. Or did you want to know what I've found out in my research?" William calls a sailor over and orders that Shannon's trunks be taken to her cabin. He leads her up onto the quarterdeck and officers' country, away from inquisitive ears. "Tell me what you learned first," he says. "That will give me a chance to try to remember whether I learned anything or not." "Of course" Shannon says with a smile. The sailors, by now used to William, do not hesitate to take Shannon's trunks away. The fact that there is little physical way she could have carried them is of little concern to the sailors. "I told you that I had read about this count in a broadsheet from Begma." Shannon says. "Well, I've had the time to do a little more research in the library." "The Good Count has his estates near Erkus, that's the port we'll visit in order to get to the capital" Shannon says. "His family has held their county for six generations, and its about as large as a county can get without being a full fledged Dukedom of Begma. He has a wife, no children, no heirs except his younger brother." "I found out some more esoteric information, too, but I want to make sure we're underway before I reveal that. For several reasons." Shannon adds in a low voice. William nods. "I have something as well, that I will not speak of until we are out of this harbour, several shadows distant, and you are confidant that you have wards up that cannot be pierced," he says in a voice as low. Shannon's expression grows as serious as any William has glimpsed on Fiona's face. She nods, once. In a more natural, but still quiet, voice he continues, "I've learned that in several of the shadows of the Golden Circle there are strangers, using magic of an unfamiliar type, seeking information on Amber and its royal family. And one of the reasons Uncle Gerard has loaned us these excellent ships is that a ship of the Navy went missing during the shadowstorm. He suspects foul play." "I might jump to the island of conclusions and suggest its agents of Chaosians, Black Zone, that strange relation Hideo is related to, or even the Omphalos." Shannon replies, voice quiet and spartan in its intonations. "But now why Uncle Gerard gave us *two* ships for a simple mission to wave the flag makes much more sense to me now." "Too much sense." Shannon adds. "We're going to find out the particulars, and deal with the situation." Shannon says. "We're given leave to rope in more relations if we come across resistance?" William grins wolfishly. "If things are as serious as I think they are, then we have leave to do a lot more than that. But Random's made sure he's got deniability, you notice. The official story is that I've been sent off on this diplomatic junket as a punishment for the Triton affair, and if I have to do any serious damage to people, kingdoms, or shadows out there, Random can just blame it on the wild, uncontrollable son of Flora." His smile becomes less predatory and more friendly, "If it goes that far, then you have that same cover. You came along to try to keep me out of trouble, and had no idea I was going to do ... whatever it is I end up doing." "Two ships, two cousins. Two layers of stories. And here, Mother always said that the universe often makes sure that matters come in threes. Your three companions, for instance, manifest that way. Perhaps the third between you and I will manifest sometime during the journey." she says, with reflective seriousness. And then she is smiling and jocular again. "Right. I am the straight woman in this duet, as long as it remains one." Shannon says. "Mother, too, will approve of me keeping you in line, even if its a cover. After all, especially after last night, she still has hopes of recruiting you, you know." "It would take a brave or foolish man to say 'No' to the Sorceress of Amber," William answers with a smile. "And as for the power of three, that is one of the things I will discuss with you later." "Later" Shannon agrees. "When we are underway." Shannon pauses a moment. "For now, I perhaps should get settled, since if I do not miss my mark, Uncle Gerard will be just about done with the Captain, and will have final words for you before we cast off." "I doubt me it is often that you miss your mark, sweet cousin," William says. "Away, then, and knock up those laggard compatriots of mine and inquire for me if they plan to sleep away their departure from the Queen of Cities." "I had wondered' Shannon says "where your companions had gotten to. If I were to place a wager in a certain infamous establishment that I have never set foot in, I would have wagered they were sleeping off some sort of trouble they had gotten themselves into." William grins. "But I will be happy to rouse them for you." Shannon adds brightly, bobbing her head in a direction behind William. Indeed, as Shannon had predicted, Admiral Gerard is striding toward the son of Flora. Shannon curtsies to Gerard and moves to withdraw. "Thank you, niece." Gerard says, giving a nod that she takes as permission to depart. William nods a farewell to his cousin, and waits until she is out of earshot before saying to his uncle, "Orders, Admiral?" "I'm certain that her mother has a separate agenda for Shannon on this trip." Gerard says, with something like a sigh. "That said, she's too valuable an ally for you and this mission to keep her out." "You will notice that I carefully avoided asking her any questions that might have given me to replace her. She can act and appear extremely innocent, but you and your companions might have to be careful yourself in the same manner." "Other than that, the Captains are ready, the ships are prepared, and the cargo, human capital and otherwise is ready, I am told. You have my permission to depart. Good luck, William." Gerard salutes William in the traditional manner. William retuns the salute. "Thank you, Admiral," he says. "I will report to you as soon as I have any information." Coming from the direction of the cabins at this point, William will notice, is Devaine, leading a bleary eyed looking Kiathas and Valric in tow. ' Gerard gives a nod. "Very good." he says. Without further ado, he turns and heads toward, and down the gangplank, getting a smattering of salutes from sailors as he does so. By the time Gerard is a quarter of the day down the gangplank, Kiathas, Valric and Devaine reach William and form a half circle around him, Kiathas on the left, Valric on the right, and Devaine in between. "He certainly takes this seriously." Kiathas says to William, as Valric continues to watch Gerard's departure. "The exchange of salutes was unmistakable." "Being a nephew might get you an interview," William says, watching his uncle depart, "But Uncle Gerard assigns duties and grants favours based on what he thinks of a man." He smiles. "He's the best of all of us," he says quietly. "So why isn't *he* King?" Valric says. "Are the nobles back home the best men?" Devaine counters. "Besides, our friend told us that Gerard was Regent between Kings. He could have practically crowned himself King while everyone else was gone, Guilliaume? Like King Eric did?" "He could have," William answers, "And continued the Brothers' War after the Chaos War was won. But Gerard is not the man to do that." Devaine gives a nod. Kiathas and Valric merely nod and listen attentively. He smiles once more. "And besides, the Unicorn herself, who is as near to a patron as the Royal Family will ever have, chose Random to be king, rising from the Abyss of Chaos with the Jewel of Judgement on her horn, and presenting it to him. Quite the spectacle, I must admit." "That sounds positively mythic" Devaine says. Valric gives a grin of agreement. "Yes" Kiathas says. "Say, William, has the moment been depicted in a painting? You've said some of your cousins dabble in that sort of thing." "Oh, I am certain someone must have done so," William answers absently, as he watches the crew preparing to cast off. "I do not recall off hand that there is a painting in the palace of it, not that I have seen." "William could always just take us there one day. Him, and that cousin of his." Valric says. "It would be a bit of a long sail all the way there, though." Kiathas counters. "You would get bored on such a journey." "How long would it take, if we were to, for example, commandeer the Captain to sail us there?" Devaine asks. Simultaneous with Devaine's question, there is the sound of a sharp whistle, and, more distantly, a whistle from someone aboard the sister ship , Peryton. The subtle but unmistakable movement of the deck beneath his feet clinches it for William and his companions. It appears that the squadron supreme is casting off. "It's beyond the far end of Nowhere, my friends," William answers, as he heads for the command deck. "And not a place I want to return anytime soon. It is not called the Abyss for no reason. It is the very antithesis of reality and logic." He nods to the captain as he leads his companions to a place to watch the ship's activity, while remaining out of the officers' way. "But someday, perhaps, who knows where duty and whim might lead us?" "The antithesis of reality and logic." Devaine says. "That sounds like a typical trip with Kiathas and Valric, Guillaume." she says, with mirth in her voice. "Doesn't sound like a place to put up a placard thought." Devaine adds. She braces her legs, trying (and doing as well as her compatriots) in getting their sea legs under them as the docks of the city start to fall away from the movement of the Narcissus. "I suppose it could be worse." Valric says, reaching for the mast to get himself settled and used to the motion "How?" Kiathas says, looking around for a bracing spot and finding none. Instead he stands next to William as if he were a talisman or proof against seasickness. "We could be in an airship of some sort." Valric counters. "Or in a submersible," William says, deadpan. "A ship designed to travel beneath the waves, with cramped quarters and the smell of your fellow crewmembers living in a confined space in your nostrils, and the knowledge that fathoms of water are between you and the surface, and numberless sea creatures of unknown nature and temperament are just outside the thin walls that are all that protect you from them..." "Luckily" Devaine says brightly. "They don't have Airships or submersibles in Amber." "There is that whole city underneath the sea, though." Devaine says. "But it sounds like Guillaume has spent time in all sorts of military outfits and vehicles." Valric says. "Airships, warships, submersible ships. Fie on all of those. Nothing like a good horse. Got to admit, William, the horses here are better than back home." "Next, though." Kiathas says "Guillaume will tell us that he sailed across the disc of the noonday sun itself!" "Indeed I did," William avers. "But I did it at night, to avoid the heat." Kiathas laughs in response. This laugh is soon joined in by Valric, and Devaine as well. Under the backdrop of the retreating profile of the city of Amber, the nearby sailors on the ship watch the three companions of William laughing with him. "I am not entirely sure" Valric finally says, mirth on his face. "William is joking." Backlinks |
