And then a fine line pointed out from under my name, to a symbol and
another name, simply printed...
Sarah.
Chris and I gave our best efforts at being private investigators as we went over the evidence, or lack thereof, time and time again. The guards on the wall had not seen anything. The partygoers, nor Flora, had not seen anything unusual. There was no evidence of B&E on any of the entrance/egress points to that interior garden.
So how the hell did the Chaosite, or the assassin, get in there?
Magic, of course. Exactly how, we're still not sure, but on a hunch I
headed to talk with Miredrith, who is a sad case, so radically changed
from the small girl
I wonder how old she is now? Or if she even survived that harsh world
in which I suffered? Or maybe even the unthinkable, that she was born
during the time I spent in the hands of Ciro...
that we knew not so long ago. In any case, her strange awareness of
events gave me just enough evidence to justify kicking in Saturn's door,
and it was only a matter of time before I held the dagger sheath in my
hands.
Call out the dogs.
*****
After a small amount of time confirming the fact that the trumps were
real, I had to keep Bailes from eenie-meenie-miney-moeing her ass off
somewhere. Sure, we'd check out the place Trumps, in good time.
Christopher was off doing his diplomacy thing, so I gave Bailes the
spellbook from the
I wonder what she was thinking there, as I look at that list as if the
words made no sense, as if I had no understanding of Thari. She was oddly
quiet; even when she discussed the nature of the Zodiac, I'm not sure
what she might have thought.
I could have swore I had said that I was not a good man.
chest until Chris came back. Seeing as he could get nothing more out of
Miredrith, we decided to investigate the Trumps. Fake flames or not, the
Tower was last; we went to the Faery Ring, which just happened to lead to
Naiade's shadow.
*****
Chris and Naiade talked about whether anyone had been through there.
Naiade couldn't be certain who, but yes, someone had been through this
way. And as for that ring of toadstools, that's where Miredrith showed
up. Us detective types quickly concluded that Saturn had been a part of
the original
Seeing Chris and Naiade talk, I can only wonder if this would be the
fate of my daughter and I... she not knowing who am I, nor particularly
caring, just a man who met her mother some night, leaving the next
morning... Can I look into familiar eyes and see a look of disinterest?
Would that not be worse than open hatred, or even never finding her?
What has one simple name on a parchment done to me?
plot to kidnap Miredrith. Swell. But time to move on.
*****
Our last stop -- the gingerbread cottage in the middle of the evil forest. Empty, but reeking of herbs and plants that hung from the ceiling. I checked out the curious basin near the fireplace when Bailes and Chris popped open the chest. The Trumps were antiques -- the gates of Amber not even yet completed, the eldest sons of Oberon as well. Jars of fluids, some of which I didn't even want to guess at. But here we are now, I sitting cross-legged looking at the parchment with our family, so very detailed, upon it, looking at unfamiliar names, but one in particular; Bailes and Chris discussing the significance of the Zodiac symbols.
Sarah. Just a name. Why did your mother choose that for you? What was her name? dozens of faces half-remembered flow through my mind, faces cast in some hot liquid metal, features mixing and blending. Fair skin, now dark with sharp Asian features... how will I know? What am I to do, with all going on around me?
Sometime soon I must go back to that one place I swore never to return to.
Back to Diaries
Back to Quentin