On The Good Ship 'Hippogriff' (Triton, Mint, Aiden)

"It can wait. And probably Fiona put it there and will tell me so at the party. It only bothers me at all because of the timing. I don't trust coincidences. In our family they don't seem to exist."

Mint starts walking toward Sister Mircalla.

"Do you want to catch the end of the party before heading out? You have three new cousins to meet or four if you have not yet met Winnow."

Nor am I a believer in 'coincidences' either, cousin.

Aloud, "Sure," Aiden replies, following Mint, "I think I can spare a little time. And it might be prove useful. Certainly it should be entertaining. Where is this party to be held?"

As they approach Sister Mircalla, Mint continues, "Rebma. They have combined Prince Llyr's Birthday with a welcoming party for Kieran, Kierenne, and Fergus." And I got added as a last minute guest as well bizarrely enough. "The twins, who call themselves the Kier, come from a Shadow where royalty cover their bodies entirely so they should prove easy enough to spot. Fergus is another ginger and he has eyes of two different colors."

Sister Mircalla can probably hear most of this.

"Truly?" asks Sister Mircalla as they approach. "Someone with different colored eyes? Who is this?"

"A new cousin who I have not met yet. I hope to yet tonight at Prince Llyr's party."

It does seem odd that Sister Mircalla would leave right before Llyr's birthday. Why not wait til after the party? None of my business she would say so I won't ask.

"We have a list of questions for Josette. If you can answer any of them it may save me a question."

"What events led up to the disappearance of Isabel?"

"What do you see as the greatest extant threat to His Royal Highness, King Random the First's Realm of Amber?"

"What is the provenance of the Crimson Unicorn Trumps found scattered throughout reality?"

"By what path might I travel reliably to your lands from Amber?"

"What do you see as the likely results of my completing your task?"

"What role did Oberon play in the history of your family and people?"

"Which persons do you count as kin?"

"Who are the three most skilled warriors in your family?"

"How might Amber establish a peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship with your land and people?"

"What do you see as the foundation of your disagreement with Fernand?"

Josette nods and thinks for a long, long moment.

She hold up one finger. Her thumb. "My brother Fernand and I are very different people, so different that he at least cannot quite understand or trust my motives or actions. More, I suspect some have sought to weaken me by planting seeds of doubt--or maybe a better way of putting it, by watering and tending those seeds already there. He fears or believes I seek the throne, not without some justification, but because he does not understand the rules by which I live my life, on an instinctual level he suspects my ethics as being lax enough for me to commit any crime. He is wrong. I will do more than he, generally. But his lack of imagination and my own unwillingness to be held accountable by him or some others leads us to this impasse."

A second finger. "If you complete your task, then the truth about our sister might yet be discovered, and a possible usurper stopped. My fear is that the best we can hope for is that a long, three-sided civil war may become a shorter two-sided one. My hope is that we'll discover Isabel held prisoner somewhere--and that we'll manage to rescue her. That life will probably send results I do not forsee inspires both terror and hope."

Finger number three. "In my family, the most skilled warriors I know of are Fernand, Leontes and myself."

Next, a fourth finger. "Isabel was--or is--the greatest explorer of our house. Not out of any sense of adventure so much as maybe seeking an escape from a life and family where she was unhappy. Very beautiful she was or is, with many the suitor willing to do all they could for her. Some, maybe too much. The situation did engender some jealousy, I admit. And by that I do not merely refer to myself. But she spent more and more time away from home, increasingly we learned in finding pockets of Shadow hidden from all the rest, oases I think of calm. But then, she deliberately insulted us all, one after another. Within a few weeks of each other. And from that time we saw her no more. Less than a single year later an enormous tumult happened--some Shadows actually dissolving like sand castles at high tide or cracking open like eggs. Age-old pathways closed, seemingly forever, while new ones opened up. Of course now we realize these were the consequences and byproducts of the so-called Patternfall War, but then we had no idea. Within days we'd all tried to contact Isabel. None could reach her mind, not one of us. We began looking in her old haunts, finding dreadful signs--beloved gardens neglected, favorite rooms locked and bolted, special places she had always tended left alone. And then we began to run across shadows of her--or news of what happened to those shadows. Murdered. Burned alive. Executed. Dead in a plague, killed in one catastrophe or other. Just as if she herself had..." For a moment Josette looks distracted, sad, even just a little guilty. For what? Who can say.

After taking a deep breath, she holds up a fifth finger, the pinky. "The greatest danger to King Random and to Amber itself--that's a subtle question! Most obviously, I would suggest the ire of the Courts of Chaos, but that doesn't seem right. Whether you realize it or not, many of the shadows that form one...region...have been shifting for years in the wake of Patternfall. Tiny in and of themselves, their total impact might be great indeed. I'm concerned mostly because its origin isn't that clear, while I cannot quite believe it threatens Amber in any meaningful way. Inconvenience, yes, endanger individuals and even whole lands maybe--but threaten Amber? Which leaves me with looking for another answer." She thinks for several moment, eyes intense but out of focus, before she turns to look Mint in the eye. "In my opinion--the only threat I genuinely see are the subtle consequences of Oberon's decisions. No offense, but my parents were a love story worthy of epic sagas, devoted to one another year after year. Despite all our faults--and they are many--at least we had as an example a union of genuine devotion and fidelity. Oberon, on the other hand, seems to have been..." she makes herself think of a diplomatic way of stating it "...a man with more talent at strategy than parenting, or indeed any kind of personal relationship. Those of his blood carry the power of minor gods, and frankly everything I've ever heard about them makes me amazed most aren't mentally disturbed. Plus there are so many of you! Into a third generation now, I think? Seems to me you're all potential danger spots to the realm. Perhaps none of you personally, but as a group? On the other hand, people do mature over time so perhaps I'm overreacting. And it isn't as if I'm any kind of an expert on Amber's political and military situation, anyway."

"Fairly done Josette. And now it falls to you to specify the task you wish me to perform. I will of course accept any information that you wish to volunteer because my having it will aid me in this deed."

"Prove to my brother I did not kill our sister Isabel."

"Interesting. I see no dishonor in it. To truly prove someone did not do what they did actually do would indeed count as an impossible task out of a fairy tale, so you have warranted to me that you have in fact done no such thing. If someone has murdered Isabel then proving your innocence may well harm the murderer, but doing harm in the name of justice does not deter me."

Mint furrows her brow momentarily.

"By brother you mean Fernand? Some information might help. Who last saw Isabel alive? Where? When precisely? Had Isabel a mate? A lover? Children? What sort of proof do you think Fernand will accept? How may I contact him and you once I find this proof?"

Mint glances plaintively at her cousins. I'm no investigator. If either of you have any ideas at this point I hope you speak up.

"Sister Mircalla knows Fernand, and where to find him," answer Josette. "He in turn can contact me any time he wishes. As for the last person to see her--I don't know. Isabel felt her life in court was much like living in a zoo, so she kept her own counsel. If indeed she is dead, let us all hope she found love before the end." She glances at Captain Medraut, touching him on the arm. He and his men turn and make for their boat. Josette follows. "As for what proof Fernand might accept--I suggest you ask him. He will also cheerfully give you any help he can towards your goal. He suspects me of murder--that hardly means he wants to believe it." She stops before leaving the ship and gazes at the four of them. "Under the circumstances, he will believe Sister Mircalla. She is as reliable a witness as can be imagined. And he won't see any reason for the rest of you to take sides in our disputes. He's quite honorable, my brother Fernand. Remember that. Those exact words."

Mint allows Aiden or Triton to speak with Josette before she departs if they wish, but unless they do she has no more to say at this time. Instead she digs a mirror out of her pack and begins to check her cosmetics.

"It seems after the party that I will need to return to this company so that you, Sister Mircalla, may introduce me to Fernand. Cousin Triton do you have a Trump of me?"

"For now Sister may I borrow that room. I have a frock to don and I would not tease cousin Triton overmuch by dressing in his view twice in one day."

Aiden has nothing to ask of Josette at this time. He does, however, ask Mint, "Are you planning on Trumping back to Amber before the party or have you made other arrangements? If this is a formal gathering I may stop by my suite to fetch something a little more suitable."

"Unfortunately I have no Trumps of the Castle. I planned to Trump a cousin and go to the party direct. If you need more suitable garments I suppose we can take an indirect route."

Mint disappears below decks and returns shortly dressed to the nines. The effect only slightly spoiled by her bag of gear.

"So I'm thinking Winnow, Alexander, or the indirect route."

Suddenly Mint's Empty hand holds three Trumps face down.

"Pick one."

"One moment," says Sister Mircalla. "I actually have quite a few things to discuss with you all, but there's a question I never got an answer to and would like it now. You said something about a man with man with different colored eyes? Who? And please, what color are they?"

"Fergus or so I have heard. I have not met him yet."

I hesitated to say his name where Josette might have overheard. I trust her word, but not her intentions.

"And to quote the maids, 'Who ever heard of someone with one eye gold as the crown, the other purple as a royal cushion?'" Mint actually does a fair impersonation of the Castle maid she heard say those exact words earlier this day."

Sister Mircalla stares at Mint for a moment. Blinks. "There are things I must show you when we reach Uberwald," she says simply.

"Agreed." Mint says simply.

After a moment she add. "Sister would you have me say anything to Fergus, or anyone else at this party on your behalf?"

She turns to Triton. "Or on yours?"

Then to him she adds, "Please Trump me if you reach Uberwald before I return."

Mint's three cards still await Aiden's choice.

"Oh, no worries" replies Aiden looking at the cards. "One of the few Trumps I do have is that of Amber. I can come through on your Trump once I'm ready. I was just curious as to your plans. How much time have we got? At least an hour I hope?"

"I don't know the time differentials between here and Rebma if any, so I can scarcely guess."

"Well then we'll just have to hope that it is our fate to arrive at the perfect time," Aiden grins
"Oh, I suppose I should ask how formal we are expected to appear. Is this a State occasion or simply an informal gathering?"

"They told me to wear a new dress or my military dress uniform. Boys always seem to face less restrictions with these things than girls. With the twins in custom full body suits and Winnow probably topless you will have to work if you want to stand out."

(OOC- I don't actually know the answer to the Trump question. I have some memory of you posting that I have a full royal Rebma set. Do I have a trump of Mint as well?)

Triton waves Mint off when she asked if he had any messages to deliver to the party.

OOC: Mint will make certain that Triton has a Trump of her, loaning him one of her copies if necessary. She will also take along any messages from Sister Mircalla written or verbal. Those things accomplished for her next move she will try trumping Alexander.

[OOC - Given Triton is Corwin's son, I would say Random gave him a full set, including Mint. He also has a complete Rebman set, including Llyr and Moire and Rebma itself. At present there are no Trumps for Fergus, the Kier, Casca or Winnow.]

Mint feels the sensation of yet another Trump contact. It is in fact Bleys and he has a quick question. "Is Julian with you?" This does not sound like a simple inquiry.

OOC: So no messages from Sister Mircalla. And yeah you can safely assume that Mint will answer just about any Trump call unless specifically asked not to do so.

"I'm getting a Trump call" Mint announces to all present.

Mint answers the call so that Bleys can see only the Ocean behind her. "Only in the sense that I serve as his subordinate and representative. I think that you mean something more physical. Is he late to the party?"

Mint takes careful note of Bleys' surroundings, tone of voice, and surface state of mind. She does not probe for anything she cannot passively notice.