Miranda's Page | Miranda's Logs
The morning after the party in Amber, Maevyn leaves for Maseera's party and Brand's execution. Miranda spends the day reading up on Amber history in an effort to keep from thinking about her father's impending death. She finds no mention of the Eye/Jewel in her reading, other than a passing reference to it in the account of Corwin's coronation, as one of the ceremonial objects of the King: the Mantle of Nobility, the Orb of Power, the Crown of Wisdom and the Jewel of Judgment. Benedict, Fiona, etc., died in the war. The redheads were treacherous, forming a cabal, but Brand and Fiona were evil so Bleys switched sides, feeling that things were getting out of control. Sand isn't mentioned in the histories - nothing on when she and Delwin returned to Amber. Nor is there any mention of Martin or how the Pattern was damaged.
When Maevyn has not returned by the next morning, Miranda Trumps him. He looks a bit irked. Apparently he had to ride for six hours before he was close enough to Thelbane to Trump Lily. Miranda learns that Maseera's party is tonight, and Brand's execution is actually tomorrow. Which means she gets to be depressed all over again.
Miranda notices that her appetite has increased a bit, and she has extra food at breakfast and lunch. After lunch, she receives word that Jasra has arrived in the castle. The chatelaine asks Miranda what kind of servants Jasra expects. Not having any idea, Miranda claims she isn't sure since things are different here. She changes and goes to see her mother, who is relaxing in a comfortable chair, directing servants and looking weary. Miranda greets her, they chat briefly about the journey, and then Jasra says she'd like to be alone. After she leaves, Miranda realizes that she didn't see the twins anywhere, although they could have been in another room.
Miranda sets out to familiarize herself with the castle, and comes across the records of Oberon's marriages, including many that she never heard of. These appear to be marriages that were annulled, produced no children, or produced children who died young. All together, she finds 22 additional wives, and 16 children who did not live to majority. Harla, Sand and Delwin's mother, is mentioned, as is Coral, daughter of Kinta, the Prime Minister of Begma. There is a man named Dalt, believed to be a renegade son of Oberon, who was killed in the wars that preceded Patternfall. And Random had a younger sister, Mirelle, who went mad and took her own life at the age of 25.
Wondering at the number of offspring that Oberon produced, Miranda considers the next generation to see if there's any pattern. Of all of Oberon's children, only five, possibly six, have children. Corwin has two sons and a daughter, Brand has two sons and two daughters, Dara claimed to be descended from Benedict, Bleys has a son with Jane, a noble woman of House Chantris in this reality, Delwin has a daughter with Bridget, an etiquette instructor from Amber city in this reality, and Random has a son. None of Oberon's daughters appear to have had children. If this is true, Miranda realizes that she will be the first female descendent of Oberon to have offspring.
Miranda makes the acquaintance of the librarians, who are happy to tell her about the royals. Apparently there are a number of bastard children of Oberon running around as well. Most of them appear to have been provided for, monetary-wise.
When Miranda inquires as to whether there are books on sorcery in the library, she's told there is a special library devoted to it. It's open to all the royal family, unless they've been specifically banned. Miranda investigates it, and finds a large collection, although not as well organized as Fiona's. With the help of one of the librarians, she finds three books on basic magic to study in her quarters and spends the rest of the day doing research.
Miranda wakes up the next morning feeling a little queasy, but her shapeshifting quickly takes care of it. She tries to study some more, to take her mind off of the fact that Brand is being executed in Chaos, but can't focus. Fortunately, Yut-Lung is willing to spar with her, and she finds that makes for a much better distraction. Yut-Lung pushes her a little harder than normal, knowing what's bothering her. They finally stop around noon. Feeling tired, grimy and hungry when they are through, Miranda bathes, eats and takes a nap.
Miranda has a very odd dream while she sleeps. She is in a classroom at a school somewhere. There is a book on her desk that she is studying, although in the dream she can't read the words. Small details seem very vivid, like the sound the chalk makes as it strikes the blackboard. She can almost smell it.
So strong is the memory of the chalk, that when Miranda wakes up, she checks under and around her bed for symbols, but finds none. Then she realizes that there is someone sitting next to the bed. It's Brand. She starts, turns pale, and just stares at him for a few moments. Then she jumps out of bed and throws her arms around him. Brand comments that she didn't really think they could hold him, did she? Not normally, no, but she wasn't sure how Trump worked in this reality. She just had to hope she'd interpreted his message correctly. Brand says Trump works the same, and admits that Belissa didn't even try very hard to keep him from escaping. The Trump ward was done by two regular sorcerers. He figures Belissa needed to execute him, but figured he might be useful some day, so she left him an opportunity. So who was executed? A Shadow of him. It death cursed Belissa and her children and their children. Of course, since it was a Shadow, the curse isn't real.
He asks what's been happening with her, and she fills him in. The only real threat she is sure of at the moment comes from Martin. Why? He remembers. He was at the Pattern, you see. He tried to stop them and turned her into a robot, which was a mistake on his part since she simply shot him. Maybe he thought he could control her? Brand notes that if Martin's blood is what had such a strong affect on how the universe was rewritten, then maybe he should have used his own blood. Miranda says she would have killed Martin, but when she tried, the universe seemed to shake. This doesn't surprise Brand. Martin should be killable now, though. Brand hands Miranda a black Trump, and tells her not to concentrate on it, and not to put it with her other Trumps. He tells her to slip it into Martin's Trump deck. It will take on the appearance of the card it is next to, and when he uses it, it will eliminate him. He warns her not to try to study the Trump, and don't get it mixed up with other cards. Even he would be hard pressed to ID it once it has changed. Miranda assures him that she'll be careful with it. She tells him that Martin is Corwin's advisor here. Brand notes that he'll have problems then, since he doesn't remember this reality either.
Brand reveals that he has memories of his life in both realities. Miranda wonders why. Brand thinks it was Una's way of punishing him. So he remembers the Miranda from this reality? Yes. What was she like? Less demonstrative. Colder. More like Jasra. Miranda was responsible for several deaths in this reality, including Random. Really? How did she manage to kill him? She poisoned him. Poison was generally her weapon of choice. She also tried to kill Corwin's wife in a similar fashion, but it didn't work. Brand doesn't know the details of why. Miranda didn't like to admit failure. Miranda had visited Amber several times in the past, to keep tabs on things. So people are going to be suspicious that she's unfamiliar with it? No, because she was not there looking like Miranda on those trips. Brand asks if she knows sorcery. Yes and no. She hasn't really learned it, but recently she discovered that sometimes it just comes to her. She did just find the sorcerous library in Amber and has started studying. Brand says she'll need to study quickly, since those who knew the old Miranda will expect her to know magic.
Miranda asks Brand if he knows where the twins are. He has them. He asks if she thinks Jasra remembers. Miranda isn't sure. He'd like her to find out. The Jasra from this reality didn't care much for children. Does she know he's still alive? No, and he'd rather Miranda didn't tell her. His marriage to Jasra in this reality was purely political.
They discuss who else might remember. Driscoll knows, obviously. He indicated that others did, but didn't tell her who. What does he remember about Driscoll in this reality? Driscoll was a so-so general who compensated for this by slaughtering people. Miranda notes that everyone seems to have been much nastier in this reality. That's because Thelbane is nastier in this reality. For example, parties in Thelbane are an open opportunity for assassination. That's why everyone goes. Miranda recalls that Maevyn is attending one of these parties and pales a bit.
Miranda brings up the incident where she overheard Fiona claim that Brand isn't her father. Brand notes that Fiona made that claim to the Miranda in this universe too, trying to get Miranda to side with her against Brand. Brand assures her that she is his daughter.
Brand notes that Miranda will need to figure out her place in this new world. She tells him that Corwin will be giving her Brand's old lands. Brand doesn't seem displeased by this. Miranda adds that there will be a delay before she gets them, since Corwin is insisting that she walk the Pattern first to prove that she is family, and she can't do that until she has her child. Ah yes. She notes that Brand hasn't asked how she managed to get to the Primal Pattern without walking a Pattern first. Brand admits that he's still sorting through all of the memories he has, and asks her to fill him in. She tells him about her deal with Solange. Brand is surprised to learn Miranda was the Queen of Demons, and says that would have been handy to know. No wonder he never succeeds, when even his own family doesn't trust him. Miranda looks a bit sheepish about concealing this from him, and admits she only found out about it when she was being held by Fiona. Ah, and that would be shortly after she heard Fiona's little scene. Yes. And she didn't really talk with Brand much after that. She admits to using the demons as spies, and reveals that they observed Jerand kill Finn AKA Famine. Brand didn't know Jerand was involved with the seals, and notes that he must have been working for Bances. He asks her if Jerand remembers, but she doesn't know. He'd like her to try to find out. She'll see if Maevyn learned anything at the party.
They talk a bit about how things didn't turn out quite as well as Brand would have liked. Miranda notes that Driscoll's position improved. Yes, but this means that Driscoll is useless to Brand now because he holds such a public position. Miranda thinks the grandson of the Empress is still a useful ally to have. Brand concedes this, and asks if she trusts Driscoll. That depends. He leaves it up to her whether she wants to tell Driscoll that the curse isn't real.
Miranda wonders if Faith remembers. Brand notes that Fiona imprinted herself on Faith. If Faith still remembers, she has the potential to some day become Fiona, so he wants her to try and learn whether or not Faith remembers. Miranda wonders why some of them remember and others don't. Driscoll wasn't involved with the Pattern, so it can't be that. What do she, Maevyn and Driscoll have in common? Well, she and Maevyn both have had connections to demons. Suhuy even removed something from her at one point. She remembers that the removal made her feel stronger. Maybe he did the same to others? Or he tried to. Driscoll did kill Suhuy at one point. If Suhuy had cast a spell at him, Driscoll would certainly have responded in a deadly manner. And Jerand? Well, he and Suhuy are both Helgrams, so their paths could easily have crossed. It's worth looking into.
Shortly after Brand leaves, Maevyn Trumps Miranda. He looks a bit shaky. She brings him through. He tells her about the party. There was apparently much sniping and killing, and something involving Dmitri, Maseera, Jerand and a bomb that was apparently set by Dmitri to take out the royal family. Maevyn used Pattern to make it not work. He also learned that Maseera remembers the old reality.
Maevyn tells Miranda about Brand's death curse, and notes that it didn't twinge his Pattern sense. Should it have? Based on his understanding of the Pattern, yes. Miranda plays innocent, and goes over possible explanations - maybe it wasn't Brand, or maybe death curses can't be detected in the way Maevyn is theorizing. Maevyn suspects that she's not telling him something, and lets her know this, but doesn't press the matter. He goes on to tell her that he's been named the Thelbane ambassador to Amber, and has been told to find the missing soldiers that are still in Amber and the Golden Circle and tell them to return home.
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Miranda's Logs
All text on this page is © 2002-2003 by Kris Fazzari.
Last modified on March 10, 2003 by Kris Fazzari.