Escaping the FaeIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | Escaping the Fae [continued from Cast Your Green Kirtle Owr Me] They crashed through the forest in headlong flight... "Shift!" cried Pan. "Shift away!" Ness thought of Benedict, lost in the woods and in his own mind. She glanced at his daughter, racing wildly ahead of them. And she looked at her sister, clinging wearily to the saddle before her, and she made up her mind. "Follow me!" she shouted. Summoning the power of the Pattern, Ness sought a path through the forest; a path that would lead back the way they had come. Petra chanced a look back over her shoulder at Ness' shout. The other woman had a far better command of Pattern then Petra did. She tugged reins and leaned over, angling her mare towards Ness' path, slowing up enough to allow herself to fall in beside her. She had no idea where they were going, but at least she wasn't likely to end up in some deadly situation alone. For the moment, Thomas galloped behind them, still trusting Helena's word for protection. Not having to do the work of shifting himself, he concentrated on figuring out where they were going... Helena grabbed handfuls of mane and leaned forward as their horse galloped madly and Ness did whatever it was Ness was doing, hoping her sister had better luck exerting power here than Helena had herself a little while ago. The path back was vague and elusive...hard to grasp. Pan was a flickering form ahead, tricky to follow. Ness found her grasp of Pattern hard to maintain—and even harder if she pursued Pan. But another way was opening—where her Pattern was leading her, warm and strong. Petra was aware of a familiarity growing in the woods around her... They were coming to Arden. As the trees swelled and rose around their path, taking the distinctive form of the true primeval forest, Ness slowed her horse and groaned aloud. "Oh shit, not this way. Petra, please tell me you got our trumps back. We can't afford to be caught here." Petra had reigned in her horse the moment she realized where they had ended up. Even as she kneed her mare to the others, she had their recovered cards out and was shuffling through them, separating her cards from Ness' while looking for someplace to send people and horses. "Oh, they already know we're here," Petra informed her matter-of-factly. "They knew the moment a hoof touched Arden's soil. All those rumors about the forest being alive are not just stories to scare children, you know. It would probably behoove everyone to stay close and no one go for a weapon." Helena had only a knife in her boot anyway—Thomas took back the sword that she had belted around her waist. She tensed, eyes scanning around, and kept her hands in plain sight. [Petra] glanced down at her robes and made a face. Considering everything they had heard, this might take some explaining. "Nobody move," she said lowly and turned her horse to face the forest. She held her arms out to the sides, both hands holding Trump cards face down to show her marks clearly on their backs. "I am Petra, daughter of Benedict," she called clearly to the guardians she was sure were there. "Our arrival is unintentional, but I seek audience with our Uncle Julian, true Warder of Arden." Not Damien? Helena glanced back at Petra, wondering if she was being sincere or placating. Feeling her gaze, Petra's own shifted to Helena. "It will take more then Mandor's say so to change that. He has no authority over Arden, and no loyalty within it." "I don't have a stake one way or the other," Helena replied quietly, continuing to gaze around her again. "I'm just visiting." Thomas might have felt the same way, but it was hard to tell —- he, his horse, and the moon-dogs were nowhere to be seen. Helena cursed under her breath and scowled. "O Troublesome Changeling, I've fulfilled my vow," she muttered, somewhat annoyed that after all that had happened he would just disappear like that. "You're on your own until we negotiate new terms." "Petra, what are you doing!" Ness hissed. "I have an Amber trump. Let's use it and get out of here! I don't want an audience with anyone, I want to go home!" Petra slipped the top card off of one of the stacks in her hand and held the stack out to Ness. "Then go. But things happened back there that he should be made aware of." Ness took the stack and flipped through to her Amber trump. "Then send him a freaking telegram. Don't talk to him in person. He's not likely to see you as a neutral party in his war of liberation." She concentrated on the trump in her hand. Petra shrugged. "He has so far." She directed her horse away from the group and waited for a Ranger escort. A rustle in the bushes told her that one was very near. So near indeed that a voice could breathe in her ear. "Lady...tell your friend that if she tries to trump away, we will shoot her pretty face-sake." Even though [Petra] had been expecting something, it still made her freeze where she sat. Then she drew in a breath and forced calm into her voice. "Ness—if you do not wish your reunion with your sister cut short, please put down the card." Ness sighed and tucked her trumps into her bodice. "Fine, fine. But just so everyone who is listening knows, if you shoot me or my sister, I'm putting a blood curse on anyone who's ever drawn a bow. And I don't need to draw breath to do it. And it will absolutely involve your reproductive capabilities." Petra rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure that helped the situation, Ness." Helena swallowed a smile. The brunette turned her head slightly in the direction of He-Who-Hissed. "May I see Julian, please? It concerns my—my father." "He will wish to see you too," said the voice, and now Rangers were stepping silently into the clearing, several with bows nocked and ready. The oldest was the one who had spoken to Petra, a grizzled veteran of, it seemed, many woodland years. "He always wishes to speak to those who have traveled to the lands beyond." Ness sat fuming behind her sister, but said nothing more. "Yes, I imagine he would, thank you," Petra nodded to the man she could now see. A glance around the clearing did not reveal Thomas but she wasn't sure when they had lost him. She gave Helena a brief look that gave nothing away before she turned back the leader. "One of our number has been through a rather traumatic experience among those in the lands beyond. If we could get her somewhere she could sit down, perhaps have a stiff drink?" Helena grinned at the bowmen. After escaping Duke Helgram, falling out of the sky, walking a recalcitrant Tracerie, and almost being suffocated by a shifted Changeling, a few bows pointed at her seemed mild in comparison. "Yes, a drink. And maybe tea and cakes on the veranda." Petra sighed at the Ranger. "As you can see, surviving the experience has made her a bit...giddy." The Rangers lined up—they were forming more an honour guard than escorting prisoners, it appeared but...they were still armed and determined. They led the way deeper into the forest (and brought up the rear too). One of the Rangers, a young boy, rode close to them and asked, after a few miles, "Do you know the Baroness Helgram?" Petra gave him a curious look. She couldn't imagine how any one out here knew the petite sorceress. "Yes. Do you?" The gentle gait of the horse combined with the peaceful surroundings soon had Helena blinking blearily despite the presence of the guard. She leaned back against her sister and closed her eyes. Ness wrapped her left arm protectively around her sister's waist and held the white horse's reins in her right. She remained silent and alert, but seemed more relaxed, and her mouth held a hint of a smile. "No," said the boy, glancing also at Clytemnestra, close enough to hear as well. "But my sister, Sparrow...the Warden sent her to escort the Baroness back to Amber—and to stay with her. I...didn't have chance to say goodbye. You wouldn't have seen her, would you? Sparrow, that is. Not the Baroness." Tear was in Arden? Alone? There were so many things wrong with that statement that the Marchesa did not know where to start. Petra blinked at the boy and inquired curiously. "When was this? I have not seen Solitare since shortly after dinner. But when I see her next, I will be happy to pass along a message to your sister for you." She smiled. "Will that do?" The boy nodded, a little unhappily. "She was in disgrace, you see," he confided. For ... not stopping the Baronness when she called up the Logrus in Arden. Yesterday it was. Yesterday evening." Petra made a small sound at finding out they'd been gone that long, though she shouldn't have been surprised. She did wonder how the young Ranger was supposed to have stopped Tear, but that was Julian's problem. She reached over and gave the boy a reassuring pat on the arm. "The young Baroness, she will take good care of your sister. I am sure." Petra actually had no idea, but Garon thought highly of the girl, and that had to count for something. She looked around the area they were riding through curiously. It was all new to her. Then again, a tree was a tree. If Ness thought anything was strange about what the boy said, she gave no sign. She didn't even appear to be listening. The flickering of light and shade on Helena's face was soothing to her...rhythmic...almost hypnotic. "There you are," said a voice in her mind. Male, irascible, and oddly familiar. "Do you know what's been happening in Chaos?" Helena startled and opened her eyes. Merlin? she thought. There was a dry chuckle—and that was more familiar. Suhuy. She narrowed her eyes at her old teacher, seeing opportunity arise. Though Petra didn't seem alarmed to be here in Arden, Ness apparently was, and Helena desperately wanted to go back to Chaos to see their mother... Ness patted her sister soothingly, and murmured, "It's okay, rest, we're together now." Helena took Ness' hand in her own and held it tightly. My sister and I are in danger. Please bring us through! Ness's eyes widened for a moment on being unexpectedly drawn into the contact, but she blinked a few times and yawned, and seemed to be struggling to stay awake. And in a flicker of rainbow light they were gone, leaving Petra alone with the Rangers—who did not look to be amused at this turn of events. [Petra continued in And Finding the Rangers] [Clytemnestra and Helena continued in And Finding Chaos] |
