An
Imperial Summons
Once Momus had departed, I wasted little time in trying to ascertain
just how much time had passed while we were gone. Unfortunately, our
suspicions about the time flow in Father's Shadow were proved correct, as
two weeks had passed in Chaos since our departure. I had been expecting
as much, but still, the news did not please me. Especially once I learned
how much had happened in my absence. The very day we left, it was
revealed that Despil had been driven mad by his Logrus walk, so much so
that Shaenan had been appointed Emperor in his stead. Shaenan had then
appointed Despil's son, Jonathan, as his heir, which was especially
interesting given that Jonathan had married Queen Rhiannon of Amber
shortly afterwards. If Jonathan remained Shaenan's heir, it was
conceivable that his children would be heirs to both Amber and Chaos. I
found this highly unlikely to occur, however, for it assumed that there
would be no change in power, either in Amber or Chaos, and history had
proven how improbable that was.
Despite the news of Despil's madness, Sarah had assayed the Logrus the
day after my departure, as had the Heads of Amblerash, Minobee and
Hendrake. All had survived with no obvious ill effects, certainly nothing
like the insanity that had afflicted Despil. Even so, there was no real
rush amongst the Chaos nobles to take the Logrus, with the exception of
the Minobees - they had always been the least cautious of the houses.
Sarah had issued orders forbidding any Chanicuts from assaying the Logrus
for at least a year, just to be certain there were no adverse effects. I
wished she had been so cautious with regard to her own safety.
In other news, Sarah was engaged to marry our new Emperor. Obviously,
Shaenan was wasting no time in solidify his power. The benefits to Sarah,
of course, were obvious, and I had to admire the speed with which she had
made her move. Naturally, there was currently much speculation within the
House on who would be the next Duchess. Or Duke, I suppose, although
those had been few and far between in Chanicut's history. Ironically, the
best man for the position was the one who had died trying to walk the
Magic Circle. I suppose that answered my question as to whether he was
anyone of consequence. Still, I felt no regret for the manner in which I
had used him, for Sarah's life was more valuable than his.
There was a rather surprising bit of news from Amber. My dear Aunt
Florimel was dead. How sad. The details were extremely sketchy, of
course, but there apparently was some question as to whether her husband
Brent, who had just recently been appointed the new Amber Ambassador to
Chaos, was responsible. It seemed that he was rumored to be involved with
Meredith, another member of the Amber royal family. How deliciously
ironic, to be killed by her own husband. Were she still alive, I am sure
she would have found it quite humiliating. Had this Meredith been
involved with her death as well? It seemed probable. Amberites are
rather difficult to kill, especially the older ones. Given how much
trouble we had had with Bleys, I found it rather unlikely that Florimel
could have been killed by her husband alone. I wondered if Brent had been
appointed ambassador before or after Florimel's death was discovered?
Despite the rumors, he had not been recalled, so either the rumors were
not credible, or he had been assigned the ambassadorship as a means of
getting him out of Amber. If the latter, he must have some powerful
allies in Amber's court...or no one was all that sorry to see Florimel go.
Possibly a combination of both. How was Ryan taking the news of his
grandmother's death, I wondered? Probably not very well. Momus, on the
other hand, would doubtless be overjoyed. In fact, had he not been with
me at the time, I might have suspected him of doing the deed himself.
It was not long after my return that I received a missive from the
Emperor himself, stating that he wished to speak with me. I cannot say
that this pleased me overmuch, given how my dealings with Swayvill had
turned out. Still, Shaenan was a different man, and this was a different
time. And I had changed as well. My encounter with Shaenan in the Tir
had gone amiably enough, and if I was cautious, there was no reason why
this meeting should not go likewise.
As I changed into a dress more appropriate for an imperial meeting, I
reviewed what I learned about Shaenan since our last encounter. He was
the son of Dara and Prince Corwin of Amber, but had been raised secretly
in Shadow. In this he was similar to his half brother Ryan, although it
appeared he had turned out better than that naive young man. There was no
real record of his activities before he created the Spider at the end of
the Abyss war, an act which had garnered him quite a bit of attention.
Most recently, he had served as the Chaos Ambassador to Amber, although he
had been spotted frequently in the Courts as well. Definitely not a man
unfamiliar with power, and how to wield it. I had not found him to be
physically imposing, despite his height, but there was this...dark feel to
his mind. Something that most people would probably not care to examine
too closely. I had raised in part by Brand, however. This did not
frighten me.
Satisfied that my appearance was satisfactory, I locked Werewindle
away and made sure my wards were in place. Much as I was loath to leave
the sword behind, I did not want to risk Shaenan detecting it and taking
offense...or demanding that I hand it over to him. I had spells to mask
the nature of the sword, of course, but given Shaenan's connection to the
Spider, I could not discount the possibility that my measures might be
insufficient. Better to travel without it than to risk losing it.
The trip itself was thankfully uneventful, and we made good time to
Sawallways. The door was answered by a rather scruffy-looking servant
with an usually surly expression. Unusual for a proper servant at least,
although perhaps not for him - it looked like it was an expression he wore
frequently. He merely looked me up and down before saying, "Right this
way," and turning, not even caring if I followed. I found his behavior to
be quite insolent, and I had to wonder what favor he must have done for
Shaenan in order to ensure his position. He obviously had not been
employed for his manners. I was distracted from this train of thought
rather quickly, however. First, by the realization that magic had ceased
to function once I had entered the door. And second, by the sense I was
getting from Sawallways itself. I felt like I was being watched. It was
not a feeling of being watched from afar, however. It felt more like I
was walking inside of a giant creature that was about to swallow me whole.
I reached out a hand to touch a doorknob as I passed by, and though it
looked normal enough, it felt...warm. I had heard rumors that Sawallways
was alive, and after this experience, I was inclined to believe it. I was
suddenly rather grateful I had decided to leave Werewindle behind. Who
could say how the Ways might have reacted to it?
Shaenan's servant eventually brought me to a library, where he showed
me into the Emperor's presence. I curtsied deeply, of course. He
motioned for me to rise, saying, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you.
Shall we go out into the courtyard?"
"As you wish," I responded, and followed him outside.
He took a seat at shaded table, and motioned for me to do the same.
"I'll summon some tea and refreshments," he said.
I sat silently while he gave instructions to one of the servants,
waiting for him to explain why he had summoned me. But even after the
servant was well out of earshot, he made no move to initiate the
conversation. An interesting tactic, one I had used myself in the past.
It is an effective way of making the other person feel uncomfortable,
often causing them to blurt out information they should not have, in their
eagerness to end the awkward silence. I was no amateur at this game,
however. I decided to open with a safe topic, but one that would at the
same time emphasize a common link between us. "I understand
congratulations are in order."
He smiled and nodded. "Thank you. The Lady Chanicut and I are quite
looking forward to our wedding day."
"As are all of us in House Chanicut, you may be sure." There was a
certain amount of prestige associated with being the house of the Empress,
after all.
"I appreciate that." He paused for a moment, then brought the
pleasantries to an end and got to the point of our meeting. "Something
has been brought to my attention recently, regarding...the Magic
Circle."
I frowned. "I understand it was...stolen." That was one situation
which had not changed in my absence, unfortunately.
"Yes, it was."
I was still not happy with the loss of such a source of power, and I
allowed my vexation to show on my face.
Shaenan noted my expression, adding, "I'm unhappy about that too."
"Yes. It was ours. Has it been located?"
"No. I have an inkling, but...friends of both of ours are currently
looking for it, actually, I've heard. Oh, what's the word... She's an
industrious sort, and I'm sure she's found it by now."
"Assuming it is Sarah of which we speak, I can quite imagine that she
has." Indeed, I could almost feel sorry for the thief when she caught
him. Almost.
"My question to you is, I'm wondering what you know of the Magic
Circle, and who would be in control of it."
Ah, so that was why I was here. Shaenan hoped to use me as an
information source on the Circle. I would have to tread carefully here.
I did not wish to risk withholding information unnecessarily from the
Emperor, lest he learn of it from other sources and be...upset. Not to
mention that I wanted the Circle recovered as much as he did. On the
other hand, it was not known that I had taken the Circle, and indeed I had
taken great pains to keep that fact a secret. I would have to be certain
that my answers did not accidentally reveal that fact, while revealing
enough to convince him that I was not hiding anything from him. I decided
to start small. "I was told by Cerridwen that Meridian created it."
He nodded. "That I knew."
Now did that mean he had already questioned Cerridwen? Or just that
the fact was more common knowledge than I had thought? Well, either way,
thus far he knew I was being truthful. I decided it could not hurt to let
him know something of Meridian's fate, and so continued, "And that, ah, he
is no longer in a position to make any claims on it."
"Hmm."
"But, I understand that Gawain was involved in its creation as
well."
"Why doesn't that surprise me? I figured as much."
Which could be interpreted as a hint that I had not told him anything
new, thus far. This next part would be tricky. Both Dara and Ryan had
walked the Magic Circle, and he could easily have questioned them, so my
words would have to be accurate. What could I tell him that I would have
known, even without walking it? "Hmm, I know that you have to have
Pattern to walk it. Or not have the Pattern, but you have to have Amber
blood, somewhere in your lineage. I am not sure how much of it is
necessary. We recently lost a member of our House discovering this, much
to our dismay."
"Well, these things happen."
"Yes." It was obvious that he cared no more for the loss of the man
than I had. On the other hand, he did not appear to suspect that I was
withholding anything from him, yet.
"I really, really want it back."
I smiled a bit at that. "I believe we are in complete agreement
there. Any aid I can lend in this endeavor, of course..." It always
looks better to volunteer for something that you know you will be ordered
to do anyway. Besides, I honestly did want the Circle back. I had gone
through quite a bit of effort to secure it to Skeltland, after all. As
Shaenan was certainly aware, since he had been involved in that process as
well.
"That's what I'm thinking. Can you think of anything that could be
done? I admit not knowing much about the Magic Circle, magic in general.
Only what my mother has told me."
So he had talked to Dara. "I only know what I picked up from
observing it close hand," I reminded him. Then I dropped a tidbit that I
suspected would get his attention. "I know that it grows with each person
that takes it."
"Grows?"
"Increases in size. Seems to, perhaps, I do not know, take their
knowledge and add it to its own?"
"So perhaps anyone assaying the Circle after, let's say, Sarah,
may..."
"Yes."
"Oh great."
I felt I should clarify. "Well, may gain some part of her knowledge,
depending on where...
Shaenan interrupted me. "Knowledge of magic, or knowledge in
general?"
"I think knowledge of magic. That would be my guess. I do not see
how it could get any other kind of knowledge. Cerridwen mentioned
something about having memories of learning things that she had not had
before, people teaching her who she did not know." As had I. I still
found that somewhat disturbing. How many people would have memories of me
teaching them, I wondered?
"Hmmm."
"So, I suppose if you were a mage and had some wonderful secret that
you had discovered, you would not want to go walking the Circle, lest
everyone possibly learn about it. It also does not help..."
Shaenan interrupted me again, much to my annoyance. "Unless, of
course, we had it. Hmmm, I would have wanted it for the Ways of Chanicut.
It seems a very good place to park it."
"It was doing rather well there before."
"That's what I thought. Funny I didn't notice it was gone.
Hmmm."
And just how would he have noticed that, I wondered? I brought up a
more important point. "What I wonder is how it was found and accessed in
the first place. I doubt Cerridwen did it. Perhaps..." I frowned as a
thought occurred to me. "Gawain was able to find it once before. And he
was even somehow able to latch onto it. I do not know how."
"I'm concerned with this ability of his to attach to it, and remove
it. If we find it, and get it back here again..."
"We need to figure out a way to stop him from simply..."
"Taking it back."
"Yes. He unfortunately has certain inroads, in that he is its
creator. I suppose...hmm no, it would be difficult." I sighed. "It
would be rather hard to get Meridian to cooperate in any of this, given
his current state."
"Do you know where he is?"
I did, but he was Cerridwen's prize. Still, she might be willing to
allow his use in this case... "Cerridwen could let you speak to him, if
she wished."
"If I remember, Cerridwen owes me a favor."
"Perhaps she will be cooperative."
"I have no doubt that she will." He seemed rather pleased. "Do you
happen to know where she is?"
"I imagine she is with the Tir, wherever that is."
"Easy enough to find."
I nodded. The rest was Cerridwen's problem to deal with.
The tea and cakes arrived at this point, and we paused while the
servant poured us each a cup and then made herself absent again. I sipped
at my tea and was rather surprised to find that it was actually quite
good. Shaenan did not appear to be in the mood for enjoying it, however,
taking only a perfunctory sip at his cup before setting it down and
speaking again. "I've also heard rumors, I'm not sure if you can answer
any of this for me, of some less than positive feelings for me among
Houses Minobee, Hendrake and Amblerash."
As had I. I would have to choose my words carefully, of course, lest
he think Chanicut had been consorting with those who were voicing such
opinions. That way lay treason, and I was all too familiar with how
quickly that label could be applied. "If such feelings have been
expressed, Houses Minobee and Hendrake and Amblerash, of course, have not
chosen to share them with Chanicut. But, I have heard rumors that there
were certain rumblings, yes, some unhappiness...how far these rumors and
murmurings may go, I cannot say. There is always to be expected a certain
amount of, oh, idle discontent among people who do not have anything more
significant to focus their attention on."
Shaenan responded in an irritated tone, "Perhaps we can do something
to give them something to focus their attention on."
I had hoped he would respond that way. In fact, I had deliberately
encouraged it with my words. "For some of the houses, it will certainly
be easy enough."
He nodded. "Your reputation does not do you justice. You are quite
industrious."
I smiled. "I am flattered, to be sure. I do try my best to be
helpful."
"And you have been." His tone was almost wicked, in a pleased sort of
way.
"Thank you."
And with that, he dismissed me. It was as good a note to end our
conversation on as I could have hoped for. I rose, curtseyed, and was
escorted back to my coach, pleased to have survived the experience, and
possibly risen a few notches in Shaenan's eyes as well. I would continue
to be cautious, however. I knew how fleeting such notice could be...and
how dangerous.
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Fazzari.
Last modified on January 10, 2000 by Kris Fazzari.