Session 3

Caine seemed surprised when he returned to find everyone gone. As if he didn't know already. That was a pretty neat trick that Torrence pulled, using Pattern to leave. I wonder how he did that? And how difficult it is to learn? There's definitely much that lies hidden beneath his surface.

I was hoping Caine would let me hang out on the ship for a while, but he dropped a pretty large hint that he wanted me gone. He even offered to have one of his ships take me back to Rebma. It reminds me of when I was working on his ship as a teenager, and he finally turned me back over to Grandmother. Then, he was about to do something he thought would be too dangerous for me to get involved in. I sense a similar reason now. His flag was being lowered when I came on deck, and merchant colors flown instead. And they were bringing out cannons. Not the signs of a peaceful voyage, to be sure. Lyr, but I wish I could stay!

My ship entered a cove soon after we departed, and it wasn't long before I saw four warships sail past beyond the entrance. They were flying red and gold colors. Bleys' colors. And the sailors aboard the warships were wearing the dress of Karamoush. I suppose someone else could be commanding ships flying Bleys' colors from Bleys' Shadow, but it's pretty damn unlikely. Why would Bleys be going after Caine?

It took a day for us to sail back to Rebma, plenty of time for me to think about what I'd seen. And to talk with Caine's men about the current situation on the seas. They claim that while they're profiting from the unrest, they're not profiting from the piracy against Random. It's actually cutting into their trade, and they'd like it to stop. Now things make more sense. If Caine is opposing Bleys' piracy, it could explain why Bleys is sending ships after him.

Given all of the turmoil on the surface, Rebma's pretty quiet right now. Then again, we've always been good at that. Even during Patternfall, things never got too bad down here. But this is an uneasy kind of quiet. Aunt Llewella's off dealing with some negotiations and she won't be back for another two days. Pity. I wanted to know what she thinks of the situation between Bleys and Caine.

I wound up talking to Stefan for a while about ship movements. He pretty much confirmed what I'd heard from Caine's men. The amount of piracy within the Golden Circle has increased from an annoyance to a major inconvenience. Between the piracy, and Julian blocking the land routes, Amber's running low on staple goods. Not too surprisingly, Vialle and her kids have left for safer waters. I feel sorry for the surfacers in the city, though. Random fucked up, but they're the ones that are going to starve.

The most interesting part of the conversation centered around who's likely to replace Random. Pretty much the hot topic everywhere, I'm sure. What made this so interesting, though, was that although Stefan claimed he didn't know who the replacement would be, he was lying. What has Stefan gotten involved in? Men can be so impulsive. They make me look positively serene. Personally, my money's on Arthur as Stefan's candidate. Stefan even acknowledged that he might be beneficial. I asked him what Arthur's like, since I only have Mom and Aunt Llewella's stories to go on, whereas Stefan's actually met Arthur at various military and formal social functions. Stefan claims Arthur is an excellent soldier, intense, forthright and stubborn, not the sort to speak out of turn, but demanding. A good friend but a bad enemy. Very self-assured. I imagine that comes with being one of the red-heads. Stefan didn't know much else about him, except that he cared very much for Ariel. I suppose you can add him to Bleys and Julian's ranks, then. She must have been pretty impressive to have that many men all wrapped around her finger. Of course, Bleys was her father, but that doesn't automatically mean he gave a damn about his child. There's plenty of Amber men who don't.

We also spoke briefly about Torrence, since Stefan wanted to know if we'd met yet. I can understand his curiosity. It's ironic that I know Torrence's foster brother better than I know him. Well, he can blame Mom for that one, too. Stefan asked me to relay that he needs to talk to Torrence, if I should run into him first. Then he ascertained that I'll be staying in Rebma and said he'd speak to me in two days' time. He claimed we should have much to discuss then. Two days...that's when Aunt Llewella's due back. Coincidence? Could be, but the currents haven't been that kind, recently.

I've been picking up rumors about Aunt Llewella, and they're a bit disquieting. No one doubts that she's pro-Rebma. Problem is, they think she's placing her own desires ahead of Rebma's. They point to the current situation with the blockade as an example. No one is happy about the blockade, but Llewella has the navy spread out too thin to be able to counter it. And now she's in Trinados with Moire, trying to set up a treaty for them to trade exclusively with Rebma. Problem is, it's a treaty we don't need, so people are wondering why she's pursuing it at such a critical time. I admit, it doesn't sound good, but I think it's premature to judge what she's doing out there until she returns. Still, I can't blame people for being uneasy, given the situation on the surface. Even small things are bound to reflect into something bigger under such circumstances.

Last modified on January 16, 1998 by Kris Fazzari.