LeftBehindInTheCastleIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | Left Behind in the Castle Left behind in the dining room were Merlin, Morgan, Helena, Amba - and Jurt and the recovering Tasha. Tasha looked around her beginning to recover her senses. She blinked as she watched the small group vanish in the shimmering rainbow. "That's going to take some getting used to," she murmured. "Right," said Merlin. "Let's grab all the bottles we can and retire to Morgan's rooms. Where we can get royally drunk." He regarded Jurt, still kneeling next to Tasha, with a slightly jaundiced eye. "I'd ask you to join us, brother, except you seem to have found another focus for your intentions ... " Tasha then looked at Jurt with some embarrassment, "I didn't drink anything, other than what I had at Tear's earlier... I swear." Then she looked about the dining room and the remains of the dinner and whispered, "Could we go somewhere else? A little more comfortable." "Of course," Jurt answered, not hesitating and sweeping her up in his arms. [Merlin] turned to one of the footmen. "The brandy," he said succinctly. "Bring it." The footman bowed and hurried away. "Let's go," said Merlin. Jurt headed out of the dining room toward the family wing... and to be continued in This Is Probably a Mistake "Onward, ever onward, comrades brave and true!" Morgan sings, as he heads towards the door. He pauses there, turning and looking back over the room one last time, then smiles at Zhenechka. "See that he has something to eat and plenty of water until his master returns, Ned," he says to a footman. Merlin turned and fixed the dog with a Look. "Stay," he said ominously. The dog, already lying down, raised his head just enough to yawn. He had a lot of sharp-looking teeth. Then Morgan leads them into the corridors of Castle Amber, and back towards the royal chambers. He stops at a doorway between Morgan's chambers and the main part of the castle, and says lightly, "Abandon all innocence, ye who enter here." Amba looked at Helena dubiously, as if to remind her that this was *her* idea. But that was the only reaction she gave as they followed their 'host' into his opulently appointed rooms. Helena swallowed a smile and walked in after Amba. The outer chamber of Morgan's rooms is thick with luxurious carpets and tapestries, and expensive knick knacks of all varieties cover all available surfaces. Morgan appears to have a weakness for jeweled eggs, there are dozens of them on display, along with delicate glass animals, fine silver and crystal goblets and decanters, and ornately carved chairs, many with animal motifs. "Make yourselves at home," he says, waving a hand airily. "Especially, make yourselves at home if you like to run around your house in the nude." Merlin threw himself down on a seat and unstopped the brandy bottle he had brought with strong white teeth before taking a long pull on it. Helena looked at the knickknacks with interest. "In the nude? Yeah, keep dreaming, sweet cousin," she said drolly. She turned her gaze on the king and extended her hand for the brandy bottle, requesting a swig. "You were going to elaborate about the whole Mother-Lord Sawall thing?" she prompted him. Morgan opened a door and stepped through. He was gone only for a few seconds, and then returned, then walked across the room and stepped through another door. He was gone a little longer this time. Merlin watched him, a sort of lazy regard like a big cat that was half asleep - but with the end of his tail still twitching. Then he turned and looked at Helena. "We can share what we mutually know, if you want," he agreed. "A trade. Because you know what happened at the Logrus this morning - and I don't. "And then, we can find out if you two are as good as rumour paints ... if you're prepared to risk your father's anger to help your mother's city." The back of Helena's neck prickled. Before answering, her eyes flicked to Amba to take in her reaction to Merlin's rather frank proposal. Amba's eyes were narrowed, and her mouth opened slightly as she considered Merlin's words, or something else. She did, however, catch Helena's look, and as her friend caught her eye, there was something that flickered across her countenance before she nodded quite seriously to Helena. Helena regarded Amba's face, her eyes narrowing in what might be concern, or might simply be wariness. She gazed at her thoughtfully for several seconds, then squared her shoulders and turned back to Merlin. Who was watching them both with a certain jaded amusement. Morgan returned from the other room and threw himself down in a large chair with clawed feet and lions' heads on the arms. "No one hanging about anywhere," he said. He smiled at the two ladies. "Always good to check. Sometimes a servant is in cleaning, and 'forgets' to leave when people arrive. There have to be a half dozen distinct spy rings running in this castle." "Are your rooms secure against magical means of eavesdropping, too?" Helena asked, preferring to remain standing. Amba remained standing also, as she waited for Merlin to continue. Morgan waved that question off with a careless movement of his hand. "Merl's the expert on that," he said. "All I know about sorcery is that you have to stick the sorceror with something pointy the moment he tries something." The sword dancer in Helena smiled at Morgan's words. "All right," she said to Merlin. "We'll trade information piece for piece in the long tradition of our paranoid families. Since this is your idea, you can go first. What do you know about what happened between my mother and Lord Sawall?" "Whoa," said Merlin. "Your father might have neglected to point this out - but I'm king. I get to ask first. What happened to the Logrus?" Helena didn't look impressed by his proclamation. Regardless, she accepted his terms and answered his question. "Nothing 'happened' to the Logrus. Amba and I helped prevent anything happening by helping prevent little Solitaire Helgram from coming into contact with it." She looked at him shrewdly. "What did you perceive having happened on your end?" Merlin smiled. Morgan chuckled. "An interesting strategy," he said, looking up at the ceiling of his room. "Give away the bare minimum with each answer, but with a tidbit to further whet interest, to keep the game going. If the idea is to draw this out, dance around each other, weigh each other as opponents and potential allies, then it's a good strategy." His eyes dropped to regard Helena. "On the other hand, it wastes time. And it sets us up as adversaries from the beginning. Maybe that's what you want. It's the way the family usually operates, and Damien and Vikund would certainly approve. But I respectfully suggest that you consider, just for the briefest moment, trying open honesty and a full exchange of information. See how it works." He stretched his arms out and linked them behind his head, tilting it back to regard the ceiling once more. "And that's my one and only public service announcement tonight. Feel free to return to your regularly scheduled vid program now." "Easy advice from someone who has no stake in what we're talking about," Helena noted, turning her attention to Morgan. "Don't get me wrong--my intention is not to set us up as adversaries from the beginning--but it is convenient for you that you get to hear both sides, yet need offer nothing in return." "He usually offers alcohol," supplied Merlin. "Very good alcohol too. In fact, I'm not sure why he hasn't done that already." "Someone else has the brandy bottle," Morgan said to the ceiling. "And she hasn't offered me any." Helena, having forgotten she was holding the brandy, passed the bottle off to Morgan. "Have at it." "And indeed, very disingenuous advice, from someone who hides as much as you do behind a languorous facade," Amba added, sparing Morgan only a brief cool glance before looking back to Merlin. "And let's not leave the King out of this," she said, finally taking a seat that allowed her a view of all in the room, her back to the wall. "Quite foul of you to have your foil call the game after you make the rules of engagement, just because your cousin knows how to play. If you wanted a true and genial discourse, you would not have called royal privilege, no?" She picked up one of the crystal goblets in her hand, lazily twirling it. Though Helena remained facing Merlin, she looked at Amba out of the corner of her eye, her expression again wary. She crossed her arms. "So, why not just go ahead and tell Helena about her mother. That seems the more emotional of topics. Then she'll tell you about the Logrus. Or I will, if you prefer," she said with a wry smile, as she looked at Merlin through half-lidded eyes. "No foul," said Merlin. "Morgan doesn't play by the rules. Any rules. But as for disingenuous... He turned to Helena. "How could we perceive anything happening this end of the Universe when, you claim, nothing 'happened' to the Logrus?" "I wondered how you could perceive anything happening at this end as well, but you were the one that asked the question, implying that you did indeed perceive something," Helena explained. [Merlin] gave her a moment to digest this before adding, "I suppose I must take it, therefore, that your mother attacked my half-brother out of sheer malice rather than having good cause. That, you see, seems to lie at the root of Lord Sawall's quarrel with her. Admittedly, it doesn't take much to get him stirred up. But a gratuitous attack on the only one of his children to show any interest in Chaos must count as a little more than a disruption to the flow of easy social intercourse, don't you think?" "How well do you know your Aunt?" Amba asked Merlin. "Fiona, that is. The redhead." She shrugged, continuing, "I just ask, because I don't know if she was as much of an idiot as you imply the last time you saw her. Because the woman that I know would not do what you imply, and if she did you wouldn't know it." Helena nodded at Amba's words and uncrossed her arms. She glared at Merlin. "You said at dinner you would tell me what you knew. You have not. I gave you information about the Logrus, and in return you bait me. I'm through here. Amba, shall we leave?" She turned to leave. Amba again shrugged, as she stood. "I suppose," she said. "This was getting tedious at best," she added, re-claiming the brandy as she passed Morgan. "Spoils of war, and all," she said as she followed Helena. Morgan took a large swig before letting her take the bottle. He smiled lazily at her. "Be my guest," said Merlin generously. "Oh, you already are. Never mind. "But before you go, there's something you should know. Sawall took Fiona's hand for what she did to Despil. He'd have taken the other, too, if Juty hadn't stopped him. Torren Ishtar's got her now." Helena stopped and looked at Merlin over her shoulder. Her eyes glittered. "And think about this... My darling stepfather is mad, bad and dangerous as all hell let loose in the Abyss. But he's nothing, nothing at all to the one who let fly the attack tonight. Mandor and the rest have gone off to the site of the attack. But me... I'm interested in the source." "So why are you telling us this?" Helena asked. "Is this where the 'risking your father's anger to save your mother's city' part comes in?" "Yes," said Merlin. "But, if you'd prefer, I'm sure Flora would be delighted to have you help pour tea and chat with the Ambassadors. And later on, we can all gather and applaud politely while you demonstrate your fighting skills on a prettily prepared court." "Why us?" Amba asked. "Why not Morgan," she continued, gesturing in his direction. "He seems perfectly capable of handling anything thrown in his direction, and has the added advantage of actually knowing the city." "And I'm well known," Morgan told the ceiling. "The price of fame and loveliness, alas." "He's also less likely to be able to sneak in where I think we need to go," said Merlin. Helena raised an eyebrow. [Morgan] gave a seated shrug, then added. "Truth to tell, though, even I don't know what Merle's got planned here. He makes this stuff up as he goes along." "But you're still in, aren't you?" said Merlin. "Always, coz," Morgan answered softly. "We're still here listening, though you keep insulting us," Helena pointed out, a little impatiently. Merlin grinned. "That's family banter," he said. "If you want insults, hang out with Damien. But I need to be able to trust you, if we're to do this. I need to know that you care - or could care - for Amber." And suddenly he was staring at her intensely, while Amber was aware of the reflected intensity that reached to her too. Amba cut her eyes towards Helena, awaiting her response on this point. Helena turned back to Merlin and smiled, opening her arms expansively. "What would you like us to say here that won't make us sound like toadies? Besides, I think you've already made up your mind about us--otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up." Her smile widened as she returned Merlin's acute regard. "And an adventure is always welcome for its own sake. Tell us more." "All right," said Merlin. "That attack on the Queen - it came from elsewhere in Amber - not the Queen itself. Not the Chaosian Embassy either. In fact, I suspect that the attacker picked a shrewd place to hide himself ... probably the safest place for a Chaosian in Amber." Morgan shook his head. "Nah," he said. "I already checked my bedroom. Nobody there." He leaned out of the chair, stretching towards one of the doors of a nearby sideboard. It was just out of his reach, but he was clearly determined not to get out of his chair. Helena glanced at Amba, then replied to Merlin, "We've been here less than a day--how are we supposed to know where the safe houses in Amber are?" She opened her hands again, thinking, then shrugged. "You accused Mandor of the disturbance at dinner, and you've suggested that pursuing this is going to annoy him, and you've said that we have a better chance of getting in--so perhaps someplace personal to him. I don't know." Helena's demeanor changed and she looked annoyed. "Why are you being cryptic? You're not Lord Suhuy and we're not your students." "You mean here, don't you?" Amba said suddenly. Merlin shook his head. "Not exactly," he said. "But if I were newly come from Chaos with decidedly ambivalent feelings about the current rulers of Amber, I'd head for where the concentration of Chaosians was thickest, and where anti-Amberite sentiments were likely to be stongest. "I'd head for the main barracks on the Scar." "So...you don't know for sure? You just know that the attack didn't originate on the Queen nor in the Castle?" Helena asked dubiously. Morgan was writhing in his chair, stretching further and further to try to reach the sidebar's door without getting up. Finally, stretched out on his back over the arms of the chair and reaching back with one arm, hanging upside down, the door clicked open. Morgan smiled at the bottle inside, and reached. His outstretched fingers fell several inches too short to grasp it. Morgan sighed. Merlin glanced in his direction -and grinned. Suddenly the bottle was in Morgan's grasp. Perhaps it had slid forward those few inches. Perhaps Morgan's fingers had lengthened. Either way it was likely that Merlin had made use of one of the "Get alcohol NOW" spells he kept racked. The bottle was of green glass, wrapped in leather, with a long, curved neck. Morgan twisted back into his seat and grinned at Merlin, then began working on the wax that sealed the cork into the bottle. "All right," said Merlin. "I don't know your abilities in detail - and I'm not 'fessing up to all mine here. But when the attack happened it was like a mortar going over and exploding. The first thing I was aware of was the explosion - it was big and messy in a way which suggests to me that it was unplanned. If it had been planned - well, the Queen would have just disappeared in a dead calm sea, and no-one would have been any the wiser." He frowned. "Well, perhaps not quite that easily - with the amount of protection that boat carries," he conceded. "But. Still. Splashy mess is not Duke Helgram's style, is it?" Helena's eyebrows rose at the name Merlin so casually dropped. "For what it's worth - I was aware of the explosion and where it happened. So I traced it back as far as I could - and that took me towards the Scar. Which raises my suspicions ... "Now, I can't go wandering in there. Well, I could, but even if I leave the crown hanging on the bedpost, as soon as I turn my profile, they'll spot me from the coins. I can get you close ... but you two stand a better chance of getting in - especially Amba, I'd think. Especially if you had a message from your Head of House. Just a general, nice, 'hi - my adopted daughter or whatever is in Amber - keep an eye out for her, won't you?' We can forge that. "But we need to get in there and find out what's going on." He looked across at Morgan, and then Helena. "Unless you have a better plan?" "Brandy," Morgan said, as the cork came out of the bottle. It wasn't clear if it was in response to Merlin's question, or just a statement of fact. Helena shrugged. "It would get us in. I can be conspicuous, leaving Amba to be more...covert." She looked at her friend for her reaction. Amba merely raised an eyebrow and half-shrugged. It appeared that she was taking Helena's lead on this one. Helena turned back to Merlin. "How are you so sure that Helgram is behind this?" "No," said Merlin. "It could be someone with a grudge against the Queen. It could be a little treat that Johann left in his wake - appearing to come from the Scar, while really being from elsewhere. I don't know - but I want to find out ... And I think the barracks is the place to start. "Will you do it? Morgan and I will help - won't we?" He glanced towards his cousin. Morgan grinned at him, while taking a long, long drink from the bottle. "Ahhh..." he finally said. "Those lizards know how to make strong brandy, I'll give them that." He waved the bottle genially. "Anyone care for some?" Helena resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. The thought of having Morgan back them up when he was 'drunk'' did not appeal. On the other hand, Amba could possibly have had the right of it when she pegged Morgan's behavior as an act. But did she really want to put her and Amba's trust in Merlin and his cousin? And for what? To risk not only placing Amba and herself in danger but also getting mixed up in a political situation that she knew very little about? Her stepfather would have little imps. Her mother, on the other hand... Mother would be pro-Amber all the way. And visiting the barracks was bound to be more interesting than tea with Aunt Flora. She glanced at Amba, then turned her attention back to Merlin. "We'll do it. We can change clothes while you concoct that letter from Lord Torren." "Good," said Merlin. "We'll see you back here in ... what? Twenty minutes?" Since the negotiations of 'what' should be done and 'why' had started, Amba seemed less interested in the conversation. Or it could just be more interested in something else. "Not quite... yet," she said, perhaps shedding light on which of the above it was. "Him," she said, pointing to Morgan. "He's either the weak link, or our final hope in the case that something goes wrong." "Helena, I trust with my life. But to trust someone you've just met- someone who affects being a drunkard with little care in the world for anything that doesn't in some way dull his senses- seems a bit precipitous," she continued bluntly, her attention on Morgan, though her words were meant more for the King. "So," she said. "Either he drops the act, or Amber can go to hell for all I care. For as much as I might at some point care what happens here, I'll never care for it as much as I do Helena." And she stood there, crossing her arms, her stance one of challenge as she awaited Morgan's response. Helena also crossed her arms, indicating she was of similar mind with Amba, and looked at Morgan. Morgan grinned at her lazily. Then he spun the bottle around the fingers of his right hand and sent it whirling towards the ceiling, spinning so quickly that the remaining brandy didn't leave the bottle. Before it reached the top of its arc he backflipped from his reclining position, his left hand acting as a balance point on the back of the heavy wooden chair. With a powerful push of his left arm he leapt, still upside down, to the ceiling, his boots striking with a thud, and he grabbed the bottle. He fell, turning in mid drop, to land in front of the chair. The bottle was corked once more. Morgan tossed the bottle to Merlin. Then he winked at Amba. "Truth to tell," he told her. "I'm not at all certain that I care about what happens to Amber. It's not the place my mother told me about. But he cares," he nodded at Merlin. "And that matters to me." "Hunh." Helena narrowed her eyes as they appraisingly raked Morgan from his face down to his boots and back up again. She grinned and looked at Amba. "Did that display do anything to quell your misgivings?" Amba looked pensive, tapping her fingernail against her teeth as she thought. Then she looked to Helena, with no visible reaction to his 'display'. "No," she said, frankly. "But his words did, and would have sufficed," she said with a wry grin. Then she looked back over her shoulder at Morgan, the smile still on her face. "But thanks for the information, in any case." Turning back towards Helena, the grin had turned into a full smile as she held out her arm for her friend. "Ready?" "Always," Helena replied, returning the smile. She took Amba's arm and they left, Helena glancing backwards once before they turned the corner and were gone.
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