A quick glance over my shoulder at the guy I was trusting with my life was almost enough to make me turn around and go back to the castle until I could find someone else.
Until I could find anyone else, acutally.
I'm not sure Sander was even doing this for me -- except for the fact that he's sort of an adrenaline junkie. Okay, no more thoughts: I headed up the now visible stairs.
I muttered about Eric while I climbed. He thinks he can run Amber; he thinks he can cut off the Pattern like a ride a Disneyland. The Pattern is everyone's and something no one should be denied -- the chance to claim our birthright. I could probably expect a butt-chewing trump call right after my trip, though, and I had to think of something.
I checked Lysander's attention span again through the trump, started walked through the Tir ghost town. On the way to the Pattern, I got an eyeful of some seriously wigged out visions, but I brushed it off -- it was all about gun powder working in Amber -- c'mon, let's be real here, Tir. If I hadn't been so pressed for time, I would have taken better notes, maybe studied the scene, but if you're standing in the ghost citty and the moon starts playing peekaboo behind clouds, you take a long fall into the ocean -- no thanks. I wondered if Lysander was getting all this imagery through the trump contact.
No time for dilly-dally. Another quick check on attention span and I stepped down onto the Pattern. Part of the danger would be the Pattern the other part would be keeping Lysander's attention on what he was doing, namely watching me to make sure I didn't turn into a thousand-foot cliff diver. I'll the 'oh this was so hard' and everything. I was hard, it sucked, and when it was done I didn't want to do anything but throw up and then sleep. Instead I told Lysander I was all right and leaving, then thought about where go, and decided on Uncle Benedict. No one in the family knew if he was still alive, but no one really thought anything could kill him. Guess I was going to find out for sure.
I took a deep breath told the Pattern where to take me. He was not in the least surprised when I stepped into his tent out of nowhere, and he was so considerate I almost felt bad for taking up his time -- he was in the middle of fighting a war that he at least thought was very important -- from what I've heard, that's typical for Benedict.
'Bright and early' has a whole new meaning around Benedict -- very early and not very bright. The sun actually came up over the horizon an hour or so after we started talking. I told him about Amber and all the crap the Eric was pulling, he told me how to defend a small area while surrounded and outmanned. He regretted he didn't have more time to share with me, and I have to say I regretted it too -- he'd probably forgotten more things about fighting that I'd ever learn.
I remembered hearing Mom talk about Shadow Earth. Most of my Aunts and Uncles had spent time there, and I thought I go find out why -- at any rate, I wanted to figure out this Pattern thing -- the few tips Benedict had given me where not much to go on. I'm not sure how long it took me to get there. I had gone beyond annoyed with this shifting thing. I had pulled out the trump of Amber several times, but I didn't want to use it -- I don't know if there was a rule that you had to get back to Amber under your own steam the first time, but there might as well have been as far as I was concerned.
No one can really help you or teach you how they do things, as no two people do it alike. I had to reach shadow Earth. It was beyond curiosity now. The natives to the shadow called it New York. I would just have assumed call it a hellhole -- more accurate. I totally missed whatever everyone had found so entertaining.
To make another long story short, I travelled from there to to another shadow, learned why not to shift while drunk, and found myself a horse. He was a beautiful one. I wandered in Shadow with him, and finally received a trump call. A quick glance through the deck told me it was Gerard and I promptly took the call. His message was short: get home fast. I knew hellriding was no thing of joy, but no one mentioned that the first time was enough to make you never want to do it again. I shook my head after the first attempt -- wiping a bit of vomit from my lips -- I must have gone 4 hours and still I was nowhere near Amber. I took off again after a short rest. I believe I must have gone about twice as far this time -- same eventual result: my hands on my knees, with my horse giving me odd looks while I threw up (he was handling this better than I was). I suddenly had a thought, and I pulled out the trump of Amber and simply went there. Silly me.
I arrived in the middle of the great Amber hall to the sound of my mother's voice. She was sitting in the chair reserved for the leader of Amber -- anyone else's Ridiculous Detector going off? No hello, no 'how have you been', didn't even look like they had been worried about me. The response was 'where the hell have you been?' Mom and I went around the same ground we'd been on many times before for a few minutes and the end result was that I found out everything I had seen in Tir had come true. My mother was now acting regent, and that's not all: Corwin dead, Eric dead: Now how much would you pay? Bleys and Caine missing or dead. (I don't believe for one minute that Caine is dead, personally: Corwin's cannons or not, Caine is harder to kill then that.)
Since I had just gotten a wonderful new horse, I was put in charge of the Navy. Thanks loads, Mom. I am now being sent to calm some people in the Golden Circle down and see what the fuss is all about. Diplomat duty. Thanks again, Mom.
Mom gets so touchy sometimes, especially when she has two brothers in the morgue, two missing, and two in the hospital, so I am being Good Daughter and doing what she says. We sailed out to the Golden Circle shadow as requested, using Corwin's tres impressive flagship. I chatted with the shadow's leader, with him asking more questions then I felt like answering. I told him as much as I was comfortable with about as little as I could. He told me about his problems and I made listening faces. He seemed bothered by the fact that his troops hadn't been able to catch one of the raiders that were bothering him. This sounded like a yawner, so I told him I would catch one for him.
I sat in a tree for 4 or 5 hours that night, wondering when the raiders would get on with it. I hate waiting, and I really hate waiting for something that probably won't be that interesting when it finally does happen. I captured one without any trouble or being seen. I thought about taking a second one for good measure, but I wasn't sure I could stay hidden and that was important to the game I was playing out in my head. I think Uncle Benedict would have approved.
I used my mental talents, such as they are, to extract things out of his mind. They were trying not to hurt anyone but still be annoying enough to get Amber's attention, and it looked like it worked. Yet another sect of the Attention Hungry, excuse me if I forget to curtsey. Upside: I wasn't seen, so they wouldn't know it had worked. Yay for me.
After a loving chat with Mom, I had a game plan: wait for the next raid and search out for the home shadow of these dog-men -- I'm not being mean, they really were dog men. I'm still thinking un-pleased thoughts about the man leading the group of raiders… maybe later I'll see how good he is without a platoon of armed cheerleaders.
Today was a wild ride. I was still in the Golden Circle shadow mommy dearest sent me to. I was hoping the raiders would come tonight, so I could check out their hideout and find out as much as I could, hopefully quietly. Call me stealth-girl. I know they wanted my attention but wasn't exactly thrilled about them finding out they had it.
They finally showed up and I took off. Once I got to home base, I dismounted and checked out the guards -- of course, there had to be guards. The first one was alone went for a walk to sleepy land. The next two were grouped up, and I made some noise to try to separate them -- no dice. They both walked over to the bush so I knocked one out with the hilt of my sword. He was the lucky one. From behind me, a snort startled me a bit, and I'm thinking "oh what now". It looked like an rottwieler mixed with a boar -- not the prettiest face in town. I needed a tree… and remembered one close. I turned my hilt and my sword was now a spear. I aimed for an airway, then ran for the tree.
How do you get in these situations? The boar now came to the attention of three dogmen patrolling the area. They began to shoot at it tried to kill the tree. Eventually the thing died and the guards came to check out the body. I took two out but the last one yelled before I taught him how to choke on his tongue, and here came twenty of his friends. Theseus's trump. Contact, please…please. I had to wake him up from some twisted dream he was having. He came through and helped me with the fight a bit. We got to the cave they were using as a base and raided it. I took everything -- even the clothes -- just to annoy the Ass behind this whole operation. Maybe petty, but I felt better.
We trumped back to Amber and riffled through the belongs I had picked up. A trump of a man who looked like a young Oberon caught my attention and I picked it up along with some letters. I went to talk to Mom -- she was in the Pattern room, and there were lots of surprises there for me.
He was supposed to be a corpse long since rotting somewhere and yet he stood before me. I made the connection from the pictures mom had in her room. I had heard stories of him, but he wasn't what I had expected. I wasn't heir to the regency anymore, and I had a living brother -- two up sides. He was larger and nicer than stories had made him out to be. I met another guy named Quinn; not too impressive to look at, physically, though I suppose he was handsome if you liked the library. He mentioned the Navy I was supposed to be running and I cursed. I'd left the ship loaded with Amber-okay gunpowder in the Golden Circle shadow. Ahh hell, short reunion, I guess and I ran off.
I was aboard ship again after a bit of work and was sailing it back to Amber when I got a trump call. It was Brother Ander, still hard to believe. He came through and made mention of the trump of the mystery man that I'd picked up and that Mommy dearest wanted him to bring it to her -- I hadn't told anyone about the trump yet, which meant Theseus friend. He was being way too nice about Mom: either he is a chump and Shadow has made him soft, or he is a terrific con artist, or this really isn't him. After a short talk he said something about one of us going back. He also told me about an incident with Theseus and a bad trump call with another mystery man: served him right: like I can't get into trouble with Mom on my own, thanks.
I got back to the castle, and first things first: pay Theseus a visit and thank him for talking. He was out cold and drooling on himself. I shuffled through his trump deck taking the cards Ander told me about and put them in my pocket. I'm not sure why I did it: I'd like to chalk it up to pure curiosity, but I think it was more then that. I contemplated trying them, but after seeing Theseus' state after playing with them, I think NAH.
Off for a chat with Mom. She looked like hell, which made me smile a bit, but the conversation took the smile out of my pretty fast. I wonder what I did to deserve this. I didn't tell her about the letters or the extra trumps I had; as far as I'm concerned, she didn't deserve to know.
After leaving I thought about where to go. I didn't want to stay around, what a bitch. Maybe a nap would inspire me. The sleep was less then restful, but when I woke up I knew what I needed to do and got to it.
Another night with sleep but no rest.
I was dreaming and it was if I had entered someone's dream. I had seen this before: twisted mind that Theseus had, this had to be his work. A chess board... again, and I appear to be Queen's knight. Queen is none other then Mommy Dearest. Here comes King's Bishop, sneaking up on us. Well, here's one way to vent frustration, I suppose. After a short scuffle I notice it's Uncle Brand I am fighting. Well I only noticed this as I punched him in the face, (what a glory) -- that knocked his hood back to expose his face. Of course, Uncle Brand does some funky magick and knocks me on my butt across the board. Theseus really needs a woman if this is the best dream he can come up with.
Damn my mother... I had to get out of this place. We are not meant to be around one another living in peace and harmony yada yada yada. I awoke and sat down at my desk and I began to write. Yes, this would do short and to the point. How to get it to her without having to see her face... ah yes, my newly rediscovered brother -- he would do nicely.
I gathered up the things I would need and trumped to the ship with the card of Anthony I had frantically searched all of Amber for. I was again aboard the ship, and my brother was right there. I gave him the letters I found in the cave and the one for Deidre. I also gave him Theseus's missing trumps to return to him when he was no longer drooling on himself.
I returned to the Amber stables for my horse and got a trump call. Mounted on my horse I took the call -- Lysander, who has a tone of disperation in his voice. I tried to keep the call short for Lysander only becomes less understandable the longer he talks. I got the basics: he's in trouble and could I please please please help. I go through and end up in a malee with psycho albinos in black armor, (bet you didn't see the black armor coming). I watch Lysander tossing small boulders at them as if he is picking up pebbles, but I can't watch to long as that isn't why I was brought here. The battle is fairly painless (for me), though the attackers have a tendancy to disappear into the shadows -- simply vanish. Very very odd.
Turn out we're close to Benedict's home, and Lysander is working with him on something.
Lysander and I go to talk to Benedict who I must say really needs to loosen up. He has ruined all my plans by telling me I can either stay here or return to Amber and help out, and if it were anyone but Benedict I would blow them off. Somehow that doesn't seem to be much of a survival trait, so here I sit in the tent he had prepared for me. This or go back to Amber... hard call? I think not.
My family has the absolute worst timing for laying guilt on you. All I wanted to do was leave Amber for awhile and do things I wanted to do for awhile, which is exactly what Benedict was doing, and here was Benny himself telling me that I wouldn't be 'allowed' to do it. This irony was lost on him, but not on me. Stay here or go back to Amber: no in-between, no negotiation. I thought about it, and even with him being this obstinate, he was still a better choice then Mom.
I sat on the cot in my new tent and felt sorry for myself.
He didn't even let me do that very long. Benedict called for me and sent me after Lysander. I have to wonder why people send Sander off on his own when I was always end up having to find him later anyway. Benedict kept looking up at the storm coming, and this worried me more than a little, so I headed off to find Lysander before trouble did. (No, it's not the same thing.)
It wasn't hard to catch up with Lysander because he was moving multiple catapults, which aren't known for setting land speed records. Camp was set quickly by Benedict's men. I sat in my (second) new tent and began to wonder if this Pattern imprint could help me out here. I've had time to play with it a bit, but I'm nowhere beyond 'total suck' -- I still throw up when I hellride. I figured it was worth a try because the weather was lousy and increasing in lousiness.
I began pacing and tried to shift clouds away. I wasn't having much luck, and I really needed to get lucky. I mean I need to get more effective... nevermind. I yelled for Lysander to see if he knew anyone who could help me with this, and he surprised me saying he could. I tried to pretend I wasn't, but I think he picked up on it. Together we managed to clear up the sky and Lysander ran outside of there to do something that I probably didn't even want to know about -- he said something about 'mud surfing'.
Benedict showed up the next morning, and finally let us in on the plan. It wasn't that great of a plan. Normally, I would have questioned it, but this was the Master of all Masters of Battle and who am I? Schmuck-girl with a pointy sword. So, tomorrow we head off to attack the Black Circle and the full force of the creatures that are using it. Yay for us. Go team go.
Benedict put me in charge of the first battalion, and Lysander was put in charge of the second. While this at first didn't sound off, Benedict was a member of the first battalion, which basically meant he could run off at any time and I would be in charge, who knows. Again, don't question Benedict, just obey: you live longer that way.
Benedict was commanding troops from a cliff overlooking the battlefield. I have to say he just looked right up there. I was in the middle of things: running around hacking through their second rate troops. Scratch that -- second rate to me: Benedict's people were good, but if we hadn't had a number advantage, I think we'd have lost -- compared to normal grunts, the bad guys were pretty... nasty. I was in the middle of a fight when Benedict trumped me and pulled me up to where he was. He told me he was going after the leader -- take over. In contrast to Benedict, I did not look 'right' up here, and I tried to explain this to him, but he was already gone...
It wasn't too long before I had more company then I wanted.
She wasn't anything to look at. And she looked surprised to see me standing up there -- I suppose I looked surprised to see her too. Looked like the leader of the bad guys had the same idea Benedict had, at the same time -- pity her second in command. Pity me.
She looked at me, shrugged, and proceeded to try to take my head off. She was good... and quick... and way way way way better than me. I had about 2 seconds of backpedaling to think 'You're going to die, Brea.'
I remembered something Mom had taught me, a reward for harassing Aunt Flora (which is the sort of thing I did for parental approval when other kids were cleaning their rooms). Lesson One: When you are losing in a fight, cheat. Great, cheat: I was doing my best full defensive and only barely to keep all my body parts in one location, how the heck can I--. Then it came to me: simple.
I yelled 'Benedict, now!!'
She took her attention away from me and I buried a dagger into her shoulder. Yay for me. Then she turned around and smashed her sword hilt into my mouth. I swallowed teeth while I flew through the air, and my jaw suddenly didn't work. When I got up, she was gone.
Yay for her. Go team go.
I sat there bleeding and waited for Benedict. When he got back, he asked what happened. I didn't say anything. Go figure.
I sat in the dentist chair, still in awe of how this all happened. I couldn't feel any pain because of the dope the dentist had given me, buy I somehow found my way back to the camp. I feel asleep and it was semi-restful.
Next morning I assessed the damage: there were caps, two bridges (total of six and a half missing teeth, all in the front) and my jaw was wired shut -- it would all grow back, but I was still pissed. While I was checking myself out, Benedict came in with a mixture of wine and narcotics. Maybe I'd judged Benedict too harshly before: either that or he felt guilty for not being there when I'd needed him.
Everyone left alone for awhile, and I'd say Benedict is a good bartender because I felt really good after the wine. Benedict again entered my tent, but I didn't notice until he spoke to me. He said there was a meeting in Amber and we were going. I objected with all the strength I could muster and ended up at the meeting anyway.
Mom was at the head of the table and babbling per the norm -- I was off in lala land because of the mixture Benedict had given me -- body here, but mind in much nicer place. It sounded like Mom was trumping someone she'd rather not -- hehe. The next thing I knew she was pulling the dog-boy leading town-harrasser through the contact. Great, lovely: nice going, Mom. Ander got all cozy with this 'Kethos' and my stomach being weak as it is couldn't handle it, so I went off to my room for a nap.
I woke up when a servant brought breakfast to my room... funny, I didn't remember the service being this good. I had been away with Benedict for a week or so now, and that hardly seems like long enough for me to miss this place. I looked it over and spotted a note: the breakfast was from Kethos, and I lost my appetite. It was probably a good idea not to eat it anyway, it was probably poisoned or drugged.
I got out of bed and set the tray aside, preparing to make the walk to breakfast. I got dressed -- not such an easy task because of my jaw -- and started the walk, running into my brother who passed me a note to meet him later this evening. Boy, did he have some explaining to do. He went on ahead of me to the dining hall. I sat down by him and ordered some liquids, ie. breakfast.
Kethos came strolling in and Ander invited him to join us. I got up, handed my brother the worst dirty look in my arsenal -- one of the ones I'd borrowed from Mom -- and left. I went to the kitchen to pick up my food -- I'd just take it back to my room. Back in the dining hall Ander was being all buddy buddy with Kethos, who was sitting in the chair next to him. I picked up a nearby butter knife, and knocked over Ander's glass of juice into his lap from across the room. It was a good throw. I felt better.
On my way back to my room with breakfast I stopped in the library to try to find out more about the wench that had done this to my face. I found Ander's playmate Victor in there reading and asked if he knew about her -- after a lot of digging in the stacks, he began reading me 'Brigid's' history with Amber. She was not going to be easy to kill: she fought Benedict one on one for almost an hour once, and the fight hadn't had a solid conclusion.
Player Absent
I was fencing with Kethos. I've had nightmares about this and had decided to avoid it at all costs, but here I was. He told me while we circled that Brigid’s troops had firearms that worked in Amber. Color me stunned. He was explaining why we were doing this reenactment of Eric’s death, and while Theseus might have been interested, my mind was wandering.
How could that have happened? Firearms in the hands of the enemy: even I don’t have the knowledge, access, or guts to try that. There it was again, dancing in the back of my mind, a dream with Benedict’s face becoming Osric’s. The more thought I gave it, the more it would explain things. I thought back to my battle with Brigid... and Benedict conveniently (so I saw it now) excusing himself from the scene seconds before she appeared. A deliberate attempt on my life? Why me?
He had also sent Lysander into the worst part of the battle to rescue some men, obviously he didn’t know Lysander well enough: any Amberite would assume he'd bungle it (though he didn't), and someone who wanted Sander dead should know that he has inflicted more pain on his own body than any two wars could.
It's all too murky, and there's no good way to approach it. How do you ask the master of battles if he is a fake? How do you weed out a fake without warning him? The Pattern would show his true form if I could get him on it, but I can’t even think of something that would require him to do that, and I gave it more then a few hours thought.
I ran through numerous scenarios and couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be insulting if he were the real thing and I was only a (healthily) paranoid Amberite. Then there was the harder question of how to arrest him if he was a fake. Make my head hurt, sheesh. I thought back to Amber and the basics, and the answer stared me in the face: the most obvious solution, and the most trying. I knew another Pattern walk this close to the last one would be risky, but an impostor Benedict in Amber was... let's just say 'riskier' and leave it at that incredible understatement.
I didn’t want to do it alone, because if something could hold Benedict prisoner, how was I supposed to wander in and out with no trouble? The answer to the problem stood in front of me, still muttering about where Eric's shooter had to have been... my thoughts wandered again.
We finished up breakfast and I realized I was going to miss Lysander’s wedding, but I had to know if my paranoia was warranted. I put a few toys for him and the new bride in with his 'Deidre in Drag' T-Shirt, along with a short note: "Sorry I couldn’t make it, something even more disturbing has come up." Theseus was in the great hall with Fiona (I would give that situation more thought later), and asked him to deliver the present to the bride and groom. He agreed and Kethos and I made our way down the long stairway to the basement and the Pattern.
I remembered this being much easier last time when my brother was leading, I hope he is ok. I think Ander hardly breaks a sweat when he did this; you had to admire his stamina... I could use it now. Kethos was having a hard go of it too, even though he was behind me. When I got to the middle I told him that a nap was in order and we fell asleep in the middle of the Pattern. After a few hours I trumped Gerard to let him know that I was doing something... sort of dangerous and that if I was not back in 48 hours to start looking for me because I was probably in deep trouble. I could tell he did and didn’t want to know any more then that.
Kethos was awake too and I told him to simply tell the Pattern to take him to me. I told the Pattern to take me to the real Benedict. The room I ended up in was completely dark and I felt a sense of dread.
Kethos came through right after me and we talked to Benedict -- my paranoia had been warranted. It was dark, damp and smelled like a porta-pottie. He was alive, and I can only imgine the smell was from him. I got the feeling we needed to get the hell out of here fast. I searched my pockets: no lighter, no matches, no way of making a light. Damn. Kethos had a book of matches and I found the Amber trump, but of course it didn’t work. I used the match light to slowly begin to shift gentle light into the room, not knowing how long Benedict had been in the dark and wanting to be gentle on his eyes. Kethos began to cut Benedict free (cut him from from shackles -- Kethos has a nasty sword) and I stopped to see how he was adjusting to the light only to see huge holes where his eyes should have been. I shifted like I have never shifted before. I got to a place where trumps worked, removed my outer shirt, placed it over Benedict’s head, picked him up, and carried him through the trump.
I got through the trump to a crowded Great Hall, and just ran as fast as I could up the stairs, calling to Kethos not to tell anyone, so the impostor wouldn't have a chance to get away. I took him straight to the third floor infirmary and the doctors went to work on him right away. I turned around to see a huge crowd and people yelling: damn, it would be all over the castle and we would have no way of catching Osric. I gave Theseus a trump of Gerard and told him to call him and have him come and arrest the impostor. Sure he was in a wheel chair, but even crippled he was a force to reckon with. Theseus sat there just drooling on the trump, wondering what was going on. Ander, I assume, went after the fake, bolting out the door, and I took matters into my hands and called Gerard to let him know the sitch and he came through the trump, He had been at the wedding -- Lysander was going to kill me when he got the chance, I'm sure: not only did I miss the whole thing but I called away all family that actually did show up.
I looked after Benedict and helped wash him up and kill that awful smell. It was nice knowing he would owe me one, but annoying knowing I could never bring it up. I wondered where my brother was off to so I trumped him. He was on Morgenstern, the joyride of the month. My valiant brother chasing after the bad guys, but did he bother to bring a weapon? Ummmm... no, guess he was going to talk them to death. I lent him my sword. He was coming up on a camp and asked me to get his spear from his room -- I started running. I knew Gerard was at Benedict’s side which equated to him being safe.
I trumped him again, handed him his spear and got my sword back, I also went to my room and found a gun, trying to be a well-prepared girl scout. I watched the whole thing, as I was still in contact with Ander: The infirmary group had also started a trump with Ander so we were all in a big three-way. Team Amber tried to organize as Lysander showed up next to Ander. I had seen all I needed: my two favorite people were in danger and I was by Ander’s side without hesitation, dropping my sites on Anax. I made my way into the camp in Morgenstern’s wake, and what a wake it was. I faced off with Anex: after a pass or two he was bleeding, and I was smiling. I was going to get to take him apart piece by piece.... or so I thought.
There was an explosion and I woke up to a probe from Quinn. I gather he and Osric has tangled indirectly and had pretty much destroyed the shadow we'd all been standing in. Have to hand it to Quinn -- he may be afraid of being anywhere near harm's way, but when he decides to cause damage, he doesn't do it in half steps. He took me to the infirmary and I made my way to a cot next to Benedict and crashed. All the sorcery to need or want, no waiting... yay for Osric.
I think Mom calls these meetings because she likes to feel like she has power. I got out of it by getting Lysander’s new wife some clothes, then taking her down to Benedict’s garden. A family meeting is no place for a stranger. You never knew what people would say at one, and she'd endured quite enough stress lately. I headed to the meeting.
It was a good thing I was firmly sitting on my chair because my brother introduced his daughter to us. Wow, he really was old. She looked a lot like Mom.
I listened to the important parts of the meeting that I didn’t already know about. Brand is tapping trumps, good to know. Oh, and Ander not only has a daughter, but a son. The littlest one was almost killed by someone trying to wipe out the Primal Pattern. (Primal Pattern? Seems there's more than the three patterns we know about.)
Quinn kept pestering everyone to go after Brand, (yeah, like he is going to mess Brand up or even get his little Pattern hands dirty). They tried to trump Brand, but it seems he wasn’t taking any calls. Then Theseus trumped Lysander and waited for Brand to start spying. This worked. Ander put a hand on Theseus and went in too. I didn’t really understand all that was going on, but I knew I wasn’t much help in a battle of the minds. After awhile they began to show signs of distress and I decided I should probably help them. I placed my hand on Lysander and soon I was there too. My legs and body felt different and so much more sluggish then I was used to. I took a look around -- not a place I would choose to vacation in. Brand was off in the distance and everything we tried on him failed. Fiona eventually saved our sorry butts and we were back in the castle...
Back in the meeting again as if nothing had happened. I decided to do a nice deed for my brother who could not get bring his son back to Amber himself, because the little kid thinks Daddy tried to gut him over the Pattern. I took Lora and rode off. We tried to make good time because a child’s life stood in danger.