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It was with some relief that as the party broke up, Tasha took Tear by the arm and led her away to a waiting coach. The door opened to reveal an comfortable, but empty interior.

"Do you want to go straight to Minobee, or would you like to see a bit of the routes and landscapes of Chaos?" Tasha asked as they settled in.

Tear smiled at her companion, "Oh. I would love to see some of the landscape. If I might? There's no telling when I'll be back here. It's all so. Amazing."

She sighed faintly, a shiver running through her. Her violet eyes were filled with both wonder and trepidation. Nothing appeared familiar to her; not the people, the architecture, nor the very ground beneath her feet. Everything possessed an unmistakable aura of foreignness to it. Her brief time at the Chaosian embassy hadn't prepared her for this. And yet, she was determined to sample every aspect of this world.

Tear squeezed Tasha's arm. "I'm sorry. It's all very overwhelming. And I get lost very easy. My mind is so busy, you see. I just. Well. I'm just glad you know where you're going.

"Usually my boyfriend guides me. But he isn't here to find me now. Well. He's not my boyfriend. Not really. He's my…

She sighed again. "He's my whatever-he-is.

Tear smiled apologetically. "I'm rambling again. Sorry."

Tasha gave Tear a lopsided grin, "That's usually my shortcoming. I never know what to say, so I either say too much, or nothing at all. So you miss him... Your what-ever-he-is-not-boyfriend? Is he an Amberite, then?" Tasha looked intrigued.

But before Tear could anser, she eagerly pointed out the window, "I don't know how this coach is doing it, but this is one of the places I wanted to show you! Look out the window! Mother took me here when we first came to Chaos. It's like the market back in Darkmoore, only... More! You can buy anything here. Mother of course just wanted me to get an idea of what I'd like... Amazing isn't it? And it is so full of life, even at this...." She giggled, "Really guess time is irrelevant though it seems late."

Tear blinked in surprise and then chuckled softly to herself. Finally, after twenty years, she'd found a friend almost as distractible as her. In truth, she felt slightly relieved not to have to talk about Vikund. She wasn't sure how acceptable it was to admit to being involved with an Amberite in the Courts.

Instead, she gazed out the window and gasped. Having lived in Amber City, Tear had seen her fair share of marketplaces. Indeed, some of the finest markets known could be found there. But never before had she witnessed such variety of items and people. Women with insect-like heads pawned copper statutes of fertility gods, bovine men peddled fish, a centaur weaver displayed her tapestries, and a beautiful human woman bartered with a demon over the price of lavender-colored drapes. The market remained ablaze with light from paper lanterns and oil lamps; the level of activity growing, rather than abating.

"Oh my," she said and flinched at the simplicity of her words. But no words could express the vitality and wonder of this strange and beautiful place. A weak sigh escaped her lips as the carriage left the market behind, the window once again smothered in the dark caress of night.

Tear pulled out her notebook and began to scribble her thoughts down in a furious blur of hand and pen. "Do you come here often?" she said, without looking up. "Or just the once with your mother?"

"Not often," Tasha said wistfully as the carriage moved on, "But I did get some lovely things there. I can show you when we get to Minobee!" Tasha brightened.

Tear smiled softly, enjoying her friend's enthusiasm. After the discomforting dinner, Tasha's exuberance was most refreshing. For the first time since that morning, she was glad she'd agreed to come here.

The darkness seemed to fade away and be replaced by an orange glow. But it wasn't moonlight.

"Oh look now." The carriage seemed to be rumbling across a bridge and below, as if checkerboards had come to life, were fields of squares.

"You won't see anything like this in Amber, I bet... You have to look down" Tasha pointed, "I think, yes!... There is a match going on in the far courts. It's the Sword Dance. That's the game Lord Despil was talking about over dinner - the one that Amba and Helena compete in. You can see the squares change color as they move. That orange team is winning that one.

"It's required training." Tasha smiled and leaned toward Tear to share a confidence, "I've played a few games, but I'm not very good at it."

Tear watched for a moment, her eyes widening once more. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide the shock. She'd read, of course, that the Chaosians participated in blood-sports. But to see them in action both shocked and unsettled her. To learn that her new friend also participated in Sword Dancing surprised her even further. That Helena was a Sword-Dancer was of no surprise, however. The woman possessed a dangerous and unnerving edge to her. So unlike her sister.

"Well," Tear finally said, "I can barely hold a chopping knife without doing damage to myself."

She hunched her shoulders, "I'm not good around. Weapons." In the reflection of the carriage window, Tasha could see the pain in Tear's eyes. It passed quickly to be replaced by a wan smile.

"Oh," Tasha reached out and squeezed Tear's hand. "It isn't for everyone. It would be such a boring existance if we were all the same, don't you think?"

And as if sensing the occupants' change in mood the coach moved away swiftly and darkness once again engulfed them.

"So, what do you like to do?" Tasha asked.

Tear chuckled faintly. "I haven't the first clue, to be honest." She gazed out the window for a moment, seeking answers in the blackness. Finally, a thought struck her. She reached into the folds of her dress and removed the little book Tasha had seen her scribbling in earlier that evening. She set it on the carriage's small window shelf and opened it to the middle pages; both of which were blank.

"The Cogs," she said to the book.

Immediately, the pages began to flip on their own accord, spinning through a phantasmagoria of imagery and text until they came to an abrupt halt. Oddly, the amount of pages had not been altered, remaining perfectly even on either side. However, they were not longer blank. Sketches and arcane notes scattered their tree-scented surface. And stuck between them was a beautiful and masterfully crafted card.

Tear picked up the Trump and offered it to Tasha. It depicted a world of moss-covered gears, winding corridors, and stairs that wound into consuming shadows. "This is my mother's home. My. Home. I know I can't explore it. But. Perhaps we could at least. Drive by it? Perhaps?"

Tear worried her lip and gazed up at Tasha with eyes of violet trepidation. It wasn't the refusal she was afraid of… but Tasha's consent.

Tasha peered at the drawings, trying to discern the contents as she listened to Tear's explanation. "I don't think I know this place... The Cogs?"

At the request to drive past that location, the coach seemed to pick up speed and veer off in another direction from where it apparently had thought they wanted to go to where it now sensed was a new destination.

It slowed as it approached, and the ambient lighting took on a greenish hue.

Mustard colored fog caressed the carriage's window with oily tendrils. It blocked out the world beyond the cobbled road for a moment. And then, as quickly as it appeared, the fog slithered away to reveal a world of ash and stone rotting beneath a sickly green sky.

The carriage itself now raced precariously along a narrow bridge of polished bone and mortar. Only inches from the edge, the world dropped away into a thick soup of fog. Smoke stacks thrust up from the miasma like broken fingers. A vast city of steel and brick filled the dark horizon, endless and silent. Ten mountainous citadels dominated the skyline; brutish edifices that rose into the sea green clouds. Arches, trestles, balconies, and impossible stairwells broke their ashen surfaces like blisters. Vast machines dotted the rooftops, their purpose as unfathomable as their construction; an arcane mixture of metal and grey organics.

The City's gnarled streets, its rusted halls, its the moldering rooms were devoid of life. Nothing stirred in the city, not even the air itself. But even from the warm sanctuary of their carriage, the girls could feel an aura of potential and possibility. It was as if the city itself were waiting for something, and its inhuman anticipation radiated up from beneath its streets in palpable waves.

But what, exactly, was it waiting for?

It was then Tear said the most peculiar thing; her voice hardly a whisper, lest she wake the city outside.

"It's beautiful."

Tasha stared past the rapt girl and shook her head, "Well... Certainly interesting." Beautiful? To each their own, she supposed.

In only a few moments, the coach slipped back into the fog, and then the vision of The Cogs was lost to them. Once again they were traveling swiftly along the route.

Tear continued to watch the passing worlds in silence. She would jot down notes here and there, but otherwise allowed Tasha to get some rest.

Tasha found she was getting rather tired. It had been a trying and emotional day, after all. And with that the road opened before them, and Minobee's gates loomed into view. The portcullis opened as they approached, recognizing one of its own. They passed through beneath the iron gates and into the Ways of Minobee.

"I wonder if I should have sent word about your coming home with me?" Tasha suddenly thought. "Oh well, here we are. Come on inside!"

Tear grinned brightly and stepped down. if anything, she appeared even more energized than before. Without luggage to carry, she simply followed her guest inside. "Do you live here alone, Tasha? Or with your mother?"

Tasha laughed, "Oh no... There's dozens of people living here. My family has a wing." She pointed to the left. "I live with my... uh... siblings, as well as my parents." She had hesitated on saying older or younger siblings, for while they had all been born in Chaos, and she had been the youngest, the other children had also been raised in Chaos, and due to the time differential between Chaos and Darkmoore, Tasha had lived many more years, and thus was older than they were. How did one explain that, she wondered.

As they had approached the entrance two demon-doormen had thrown open wide the huge double doors. Tasha recalled the first time she had entered this way she had felt dwarfed by the largeness of it all. She still preferred to enter and exit via the side entrances. But this is where the carriage had left them off, so it would have appeared odd if she had taken Tear around to the side garden, leaving the servants standing there with the door wide open.

They entered the foyer which was paved with white marble and accented all in black. Crystal and glass reflected every move they made, and glinted in the light of the chandelier. Ahead and to the right was the hall leading to the library in which Tasha had met Ingrey when he had visited a few years before. To the left was a beautiful hallway down which Tasha had never ventured. Straight ahead were two huge double doors which were closed. Two stairs swooped lazily to meet at a landing which was directly above the double doors. Two more sets of mirrored stairways continued up from the landing behind them. Each ending on a landing either to the left or to the right directly above the hallways that led away on either side of the foyer.

"My rooms are at the end of the hall there." Tasha pointed up and to the left.

Tear continued to follow, her neck craning painfully so she could take in as much of the building as possible. She'd never realized people lived like this. Well, certainly the Royals did, and she'd visited Castle Amber enough times to sample their flavor for opulence. But for a Baroness, the young woman lived—to put it mildly—a very modest existence. An herb garden, a house with a few rooms, and a fountain were all, if not more than, she needed. And certainly nothing as grand as this.

Nimble, Tear was not. She narrowly avoided running into several pieces of furniture as she walked through the home in a trance. She smiled apologetically to Tasha with each stumble, and then returned to dreamily gazing around. It wasn't until her friend spoke that she realized they'd stopped.

"Oh? My. This is so. Big," she stuttered. "I'm sure I'll get lost in here before the evening is through. You have wonderful home, Tasha."

"Thank you. To tell you the truth, when I first arrived here I found it a bit... overwhelming. Some of the hallways don't go where you think they should lead." Tasha smiled warmly as she led Tear into the library. "I bet you'll love this room." She pointed to the shelves, "You want a book, you just ask and it's there, and...."

She stopped as she heard voices and turned to see a demon servant open the door behind them and stand aside as Tasha's mother bustled into the room.

Tear, however, remained wholly unaware of the recent arrivals. All she'd heard was 'book,' 'ask,' 'it's there,' and she was entranced. She'd always wondered what a Chaosian library might look like. Now that she stood in one, she would let nothing distract her from the importance of exploring it. At least, for the moment.

She walked up to the shelves, muttering the same words in a perpetual loop. "Oh my..."

The door opened and a tall, elegant woman, who bore some resemblance to Tasha, entered. She paused for a second, directing a gentle, enquiring smile at her daughter.

Tasha rung her hands nervously, "Mother! Oh, I hope we didn't disturb you coming in at this late hour." She hurried over to Tear and tugged on her arm, "Mother may I introduce, Tear... I mean... Lady Solitaire of House Helgram... Baroness... Oh drat." She looked at Tear and giggled nervously and gave her an apologetic shrug at mutilating the introduction. "Tear, this is my mother, Lady Tabitha Minobee."

She quickly approached her mother, much as a puppy approaches the alpha dog, "She's staying over in Chaos, and so... I invited her to come and stay here with me, with us. It's all right isn't it?"

Tear grinned with Tasha, showing no sign of distress at her mangled introduction. She touched Tasha arm and chuckled. "Tear is just fine." She provided Lady Tabitha with a practiced curtsy.

"It is a pleasure to make you acquaintance, Milady. Your daughter has spoken highly of you."

Tear watched the interchange between mother and daughter, feeling a sudden rush of unease. She hadn't realized she was technically an uninvited guest. And with the way Tasha deferred to her mother, this situation had suddenly become quite awkward. She offered Tabitha a light smile, "I hope that I'm not imposing. I'm certain I can find other arrangements. If my staying would. Put you out."

Lady Tabitha turned and managed a smile.

"No ... indeed ... we will be delighted to have you."

But her face told a different story. Her eyes were panicked and flickered to and fro, as though seeking escape ... and her face was pale with apprehension.

Tasha looked at her mother, reading her body language almost more than hearing her words. What was her mother afraid of? Certainly not her new friend. Tear was just a girl, a student, like she would be soon, Tasha thought. Perhaps it was because her mother hadn't prepared for an overnight guest. Yes, that must be it, certainly.

Many of the same thoughts were running through Tear's mind at that moment. Even as socially oblivious as she was, she noted the disquiet she was causing in her hostess. And this, in turn, disturbed her deeply. She had evoked many negative emotion before; annoyance, frustration, confusion, animosity. But fear? This was something entirely foreign to her. How could a wisp of a girl barely breaking five-feet in height cause someone to crawl out of their skin?

Trying to be reassuring, Tasha said, "Don't worry, Mother, we won't disturb anyone. We'll just go on up to my rooms. As we just ate, I'm sure there is no need to worry about refreshments?" She looked encouragingly at Tear as if to see if this were in fact true, or, and she offered a shy smile, to see if Tear might want something more.

"Tea," Tear replied automatically. A deep blush colored her face. "I'm sorry," she quickly added. "I can't fall asleep. Without a cup of herbal tea. Busy mind and all that. Usually orange blossom and valerian root with a touch of lavender. I don't know if you have that here. In Chaos, I mean. I would have brought some. But I didn't know I'd be coming here. Is it too much trouble?"

She wrung her hands together, trying to smile up at Tabitha. "I'm sorry to be such a pest. I just. Well. I want to be clearheaded for tomorrow. When we go see the Logrus. I hope you understand."

"The Logrus?" Lady Tabitha looked appalled. "Oh no ... You shouldn't .... no - you mustn't!"

Tear stepped back, shocked by her hostess' outburst. She felt her cheeks flare and couldn't help but look away. "But. I. It's why. I came. Is something wrong?" she sputtered.

Tasha, as conciliatory as ever when it came to her mother replied, "Of course Mother. We shouldn't go. We'll just go on up to bed now."

Her mother smiled and patted her cheek gently. "That's for the best, dear. And there's so much else to show Lady Solitaire. The fascinating Ways, and the Cathedral, and even the Abyss if you promise not to get too close - and not risk any strange filmies."

Tear smiled politely throughout Tabitha's explanation, but the unease her words caused began to settle in her bones like a chill. The woman's exaggerated relief whispered at a hidden truth. 'Trust, but verify,' Ingrey had told her. She'd begun to see how his adage had become more prevalent in every aspect of her life.

Tabitha turned to Tear and said, a little uncertainly, "And it's an honour and a pleasure to have you to stay ... "

She gave a last nervous smile as ...

Tasha grabbed Tear by the hand and pulled her quickly out of the library and whispered on the way up the stairs, "We can have tea, of course. One of the servants will have brought it." She hurried them down the impossibly long hallway and into her rooms near the end, shutting the door behind them with a sigh.

She wasn't surprised to see that another bed had mysteriously appeared in her room, matching her own. On a table in an alcove sat a silver tray with china cups and a teapot, the aroma of which indicated that it contained orange blossom, valerian root and a hint of lavender. "Ah, now see, they have everything ready."

Nightgowns were already spread out on the ends of the beds, just waiting for them to slip into.

"Oh, I can't wait to get out of this ghastly dress," Tasha laughed as she saw them.

Tear gave her a faint smile, still a bit overwhelmed by her whole ordeal. She glanced around to gain her bearings. The tea caught her immediate attention and she went to it with great haste. As mundane as the liquid happened to be, it provided her with a sense of stability, a link back to her life in Amber. For a moment, she could almost forget that she was universes away from the comfort of her house in Five Corners. She poured two cups and breathed in the sweet steam. "Oh, yes," she purred. "This will do quite nicely. Thank you."

Her violet eyes regarded the nightgown. It offered further comforts and an escape from this tight dress. She slipped Larissa's dagger from its hiding place and set it on the table. "I think I'll be glad to be under the covers after today," she said. "But…"

Tear cheeks warmed. "I've never shared a room before. Other than Tanstaafl. You're sure you don't mind me intruding?"

"Mind?" Tasha came over to retrieve her cup of tea, noting the dagger with curiosity, without the faintest hint of concern. "I grew up sharing a cottage with my... well the woman I called my gram... I suppose she wasn't really." she shook herself, driving away the memory, yet a touch of sadness remained. "As grand as this is, I find it rather lonely, to be honest."

She took a sip of the tea, never having had this blend before, and found it was indeed quite soothing. She smiled in approval.

Tear smiled softly, knowing full well the rigors of loneliness. "I can understand. I grew up with my uncle. But. Most of my life has been spent in the library. Or in classes. And you don't get to know people there. Not really."

Then Tasha recalled what else Tear had said and asked, "Who is Tanstaafl? Is he the not-quite-boyfriend you mentioned earlier?"

Tear turned twelve shades of crimson. She covered her mouth, half-giggling and half-choking with timid embarrassment. "Oh. Oh no. Definitely not my boyfriend. I haven't even let my boyfriend stay past midnight! Let alone. See my room."

She chuckled and went behind the large bed to undress. "No. Tanstaafl is my companion. I don't think he's a demon. But he certain is magical. I pulled him out of Shadow during the Dark Dream.

 Or.  At least.  That's what they tell me.  He's small and furry and

rather gruff. But he takes care of me. He'd find you very pretty and be wooing you mercilessly, I'm sure." Tear turned her back and began to hurriedly change out of her dress and into the nightgown.

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