Tear comes to Court: Cly meets VikundTaking advantage of the conversation, Cly stepped back a pace, listening. At which point she noticed the loiterer for the first time. He was close enough to Mandor that the Prime Minster could not fail to know he was there, but far enough away so as not to intrude. Also, he had been hidden by trees as they followed the path. Quite why he was there was unclear. He didn't look interested enough to be properly listening, though perhaps he ought to have been. He turned at Clytemnestra's regard and mustered a smile and a sort-of bow perhaps inhibited by his wish to remain hidden. He fiddled with a cigar he could not light and looked a little uncomfortable. He was well-dressed in Amber Court style, so clearly not a random interloper. Cly gave him a smile in return; and with a delicate hand sliding along a coppery tree, and a glance back to her father and Tear engaged in conversation, she glided back along one of the side-paths. With a glance back towards where the conversation was coming from, the dark haired man slipped around the trees and vanished from view without a sound. When he re-appeared, it was on the path Clytemnestra had followed. He caught up with her when she was a safe distance away from the activity in the Jewelled Forest. "Highness," he said huskily, "I don't believe I've had the pleasure. My name is Vikund. I do occasional work for your father." She gave him a charming smile in return, accompanied by a look through lowered eyelashes. "Ah, Master Vikund. Or isn't it Lord Vikund, now? I believe I have the advantage of you, for I've heard your name quite often at court. A friend of His Majesty." The last sounded far, far too smooth. "Just Vikund will serve, Highness," he replied, "and I think 'associate' would be more appropriate than 'friend' in the context you use it. I do what is required. Which is why I was rather intrigued when your father told me he asked you to bring the child to Amber, not I." He paused significantly, gazing at her dark curious eyes. Clytemnestra held a pose suddenly, partially facing away from Vikund, as if she were some shy forest animal that would bolt at any moment. The look was certainly helped by the trees and brush around them. "I don't pretend to know why Father does what he does," she said. She glanced back once, in the direction of Mandor and Tear. "Or says what he says, for that matter. You have no lack of courtly grace, from what I have heard- perhaps Father simply wished me to see Tear, to be a friendly face for an overwhelmed little girl. He often desires me to do this... function... for him." "That seems a terrible waste, if that is all he has you do," Vikund replied softly. "What do you think he sees when he looks at her? Or you, for that matter?" "He sees potential," Cly says. "He sees a student. He sees raw and untested power, that needs his touch to shape and mold, to bring subtlety and finesse." She smiles, a smile that could cause wars in another venue. "He sees an object, a reminder for me of the way certain things could have been. "And I? I see... innocence." "A dangerous thing, innocence," Vikund said, "if only for its rarity. Was he that way with you, once? I wonder sometimes whether those of royal blood ever treat their progeny as mere children, instead of as part of some great scheme. Is she part of your schemes as well, Highness?" "You flatter me," Cly said of the title. "Technically I am a Princess, I suppose, but in name only. Merlin's children will rule." If she shivered, she hid it well. "You certainly ask interesting questions... I was fostered in Aegea, and didn't come to Amber until a few years ago. If I was a piece in some grand game, it was done through proxy." She smiled. "And as for the child? Innocence is a virtue, the first step on a path. If the path is walked with love and support, the result is much better, I think, than the alternative. I would see Tear grow up properly." Vikund smiled. "Merlin has no children," he pointed out, "and may never have." "Innocence is a virtue in some places, but not in Amber or the Courts," he continued. "You speak of virtue as if you know it well. It must be curious place, Aegea. Let me ask you this then, Highness." "If you would set the child on this path, is your father the one to give her love and support?" He asked. A slightly raised eyebrow matched Cly's smile. "Could he do so, and not compromise the first task he sets himself- to train her in her abilities? No, I think Father would want someone else to oversee that... path." "Ah, I see a dilemma there. If she is as talented as his devoted attentions seem to indicate, is he likely to allow anyone else privileged access? I wonder...." Vikund mused. Cly turned away a little more, looked at Vikund from over her shoulder. "Possibly," she said. "Good help is hard to find, and Father will have a Need." "Well...should *you* ever have a need, Princess, I hope you will consider me as possible assistant," Vikund replied. He smiled, bowed slightly and stepped behind a glistening tree-trunk, disappearing from view. Clytemnestra smiled and closed her eyes a moment, remembering the details of Vikund's face, his clothing, his posture and mannerisms, everything she took the trouble to notice. The smile remained as she stepped back around her own tree. "Of that you can be sure, Master Vikund..." |
