GM:

(In response to Caitlin spying on Kendral's conversation with Rhees)

What was said with Rhees?

They chatted about Emma and the Jewel, considering the possible

implications. Rhees put forth the idea of protecting the Jewel and Emma, so

as to prevent any change in the current power structure.

Kendral agreed (reluctantly?).

She asked him to contact Mason so that the two houses could present their

offer to Despil. And then they went their separate ways.

(Spying done)

On to dinner.

By the time Kendral arrives at dinner, Caitlin and Rhees are already seated

and chatting about the hunt. Gwydion is at her side, quietly listening.

Some other assorted nobles are seated about the table, and servants are

bustling about pouring wine for everyone.

Cedric arrives at virtually the same time, a smile on his face.

Both of you notice someone at the table who wasn't at the hunt earlier, a

young man with dark hair and gray eyes, dressed in black and gray...but you

do recall passing him in the courtyard as you left for the hunt.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~matvey/queen/trumps/edgar.jpg

GM (Rhees):

Rhees smiles as Cedric and Kendral seat themselves, and after wine is

poured for both of them, Rhees raises her voice to make a toast, "To the

conclusion of a successful hunt...and may our future hunts be as

productive." All drink.

Kendral:

Kendral drinks, then looks at the young man with a look of

inquiry, then at Cedric and Rhees.

GM (Rhees):

"I am remiss," Rhees comments quietly. "Allow me to introduce Lord Edgar of

House Karm. Edgar was passing through and so I invited him to dine with us."

He smiles at the group and replies, "It's a pleasure to meet you,

Kendral...and you Lady Caitlin...."

Kendral:

Kendral arches a brow, then nods in acknowledgement to Edgar.

"A pleasure, Lord Karm. What would, if I may, bring you so far from

Karm's usual domain?"

Caitlin:

Caitlin smiles broadly. "Yes Lord Karm, it is a pleasure." Caitlin

reaches out her hand to Lord Karm, as any lady would.

GM (Lord Karm):

"Visiting family, of course," he replies with a wry grin.

He kisses Caitlin's hand gently. And stepping back, smiles anew.

"You remind me of someone, Cat, but I can't quite place it. Ah, well. When

you travel as much as I do, you're bound to see faces that seem familiar."

He pauses. "Do you happen to know a woman named Mirelle?"

Caitlin:

Caitlin smiles and notices an odd coldness and dryness of his lips. "No, I

am afraid I am unacquainted with her. Is she from the courts? I do not

recognize her name."

Kendral:

Kendral watches, not intruding on the lady's conversation.

GM (Lord Karm & Rhees):

"I see. There is a similarity in your features. But then again, perhaps I

am stunned by your beauty," he continues, "and rendered insensible."

He turns to Kendral, "But we are making the cooks impatient, I fear."

Rhees laughs. "Yes, I agree." With a clap of her hands, the servants begin

to bring in the food, and the feasting begins. A special dish is brought to

Caitlin, Kendral, Rhees, and Gwydion. It looks to be some kind of roast,

smothered in a honey mustard glaze.

Rhees cuts off a bit and chews. "Roast heart of dragon," she comments. "A

fitting treat for the successful hunters."

Kendral:

Kendral chuckles. "Appropriate, certainly. Was this the

white or the red?"

GM (Gwydion & Rhees):

Rhees laughs. "How rude of me...I do not rightly know. And how are we to

choose the wine accordingly? I suspect that yours and mine are white,

Kendral...and the others are red."

Gwydion tries a bite, and shrugs. "Yes, I think this is red meat."

Kendral:

Kendral smiles, "The wine could be a problem, yes." He cuts

into his piece of the heart.

Caitlin:

Caitlin tries a bite of her's. "Delicious, my compliments to your chef

Rhees." She then smiles over at Edgar "How long will you be staying in

the courts?"

GM (Lord Edgar Karm):

"Only for a few weeks longer, I'm afraid," he replies. "I have to head to

Amber to help with some negotiations...such is the life of a diplomat."

Caitlin:

Caitlin looks interested. "I wasn't aware any new negotiations were going

on. Has something happened?"

Kendral:

Kendral listens in.

GM (Lord Edgar Karm):

"No, nothing has happened," he adds, stressing the last word, "but it

strikes me that we might better restore reality to its former, more

connected, state by opening a dialogue. I, for one, would like to see

shadow returned to us. Don't you agree?"

Caitlin:

Caitlin nods. "I am sure we would all like shadow to become more

accessible. Who will you be representing, Despil?"

GM (Lord Edgar Karm):

"No, no, no," he responds with a chuckle. "In Shaenan, Despil has the best

representative available in all the Courts. No...I don't represent Amber or

Chaos...consider me instead merely an arbitrator."

He smiles at that, and continues with his meal.

GM (Rhees):

Rhees looks over at Kendral. "So, Kendral...what is to be done concerning

Anyssa? Or have you heard of her return...?" Her tone isn't at all

challenging; she seems sincere.

Kendral:

Kendral looks puzzled. "Anyssa? I'm not familiar with the

name, should I be? I'd guess she is a person, but that's only from

your question..."

GM (Rhees):

"Anyssa is the mother of Bella Helgram, your father's second wife. She was

a Hendrake who married into Helgram and, if rumors are to be believed, was

later betrayed by her husband and imprisoned in stone. She has returned to

the Courts...and as we speak, is residing in the Ways of Sawall," Rhees

replies. "My people contacted me about this shortly after her arrival."

"More importantly, she is the daughter of Lintra of Hendrake and Benedict

of Amber," she adds softly.

Caitlin:

Caitlin looks mildly startled.

Kendral:

Kendral's eyebrows rise. "Indeed? Hmmm, well then perhaps

she is what Mason was concerned about, when we spoke recently."

"For my part, I see nothing to do, particularly. After all, she

has at least 3 Houses she could choose from if she desires to be part

of a House at all: Sawall, where she's the great-grandmother of the

current head of House, Helgram, where she's the grandmother of the

current Duchess, or Hendrake, the House she was born into. If the

rumors you mentioned are true, I might suspect that Helgram will have

no great appeal, though that's not really Dara's fault."

"Is there something, in your opinion, that should be done?"

GM (Rhees):

"I must admit that my father acted inappropriately by marrying her off to

the Helgrams...especially given how they later betrayed her. He wished to

have no part of what he viewed as 'a grand breeding experiment', and in

rejecting her thrust Anyssa into the hands of those who wanted her for that

purpose alone. She has been wronged, and I would like to see this

corrected." Rhees pauses.

"But I cannot welcome her into House Minobee."

Kendral:

Kendral nods. "Well, I certainly see no difficulty in helping

right this wrong, if at all possible. I don't know Mason's mind on

the subject for certain, but _I_ don't see any reason that she wouldn't

be welcomed back into Hendrake if that was her desire. After all,

she is family, and if rumor speaks aright, family that we, the House,

let be used and imprisoned. It seems the least we could do."

GM (Lord Karm & Rhees):

"It would please me to see this set aright," she repeats, and drinks deeply

from her wineglass.

Edgar clears his throat a bit. "I heard rumor of an interesting twist of

fate the other day. Despil has allowed your brother's weapon to be removed

from the vaults of Thelbane. The Kinslayer Rifle is abroad again." He

smiles slightly.

Rhees' expression sours, and Gwydion stops eating.

Rhees quietly asks, "And who is in possession of it?"

"A name I do not recognize, I'm afraid," he replies benignly. "I believe

her name is Emily...or some such."

Caitlin:

Caitlin begins to choke on her wine.

GM (Lord Karm & Rhees):

Rhees glances over at Caitlin, her expression bemused. "If the wine does

not agree with you, Caitlin, I could have the servants bring something

else...."

"And in the meantime, you can tell us of Emily, since you apparently

recognize the name," Edgar adds.

GM (Cedric):

Cedric gives Kendral a pointed glance. "The Kinslayer Rifle? Bad news that,

in anyone's hands."

Kendral:

Kendral nods. "Truly. An effective enough weapon, but....

certainly an ill-omened one."

Caitlin:

Caitlin regains her composure. "From what I know of her, she is an

Amberite. Other than that you'll have to search for yourselves."

Kendral:

Kendral's breath hisses through his teeth. "Now that ... is

interesting. One _does_ wonder what his Majesty is up to."

GM (Lord Karm):

Edgar chuckles. "Placing a deadly logrus weapon in the hands of an

Amberite? One could easily assume that he's involving himself in the

politics of Amber...perhaps helping to aid an assassination?"

Caitlin:

Caitlin looks to Edgar. "Edgar, how long ago was this? If it was recent

enough, perhaps we can stop such a weapon from coming into the hands of

our enemy."

GM (Lord Edgar Karm):

"Certainly a possibility, though the Kinslayer isn't exactly

subtle. Anyone in Amber who chooses to look would be able to tell

that the death was due to a Logrus weapon... Of course, this

assumes that the Kinslayer even still works as it used to, given

that the old Logrus is no more."

"I'm afraid I don't know. I heard news of it but three days ago, but I

cannot say how old that news is," he replies.

Edgar looks pensive a moment. "And why did Despil allow this action to leak

out? He didn't exactly hide the fact that he was doing it...else I'd have

never heard of it. More importantly, why indeed a Logrus weapon? I can only

assume because it is to be wielded against someone strong in Pattern...."

Kendral:

"I would have to say that his involvement was intended to be

found out, that it was not supposed to be some sort of secret. If

anything, given recent events, I would guess that it was loaned or

given to this Emily at the behest of the Queen of Amber, for use on

some target that we currently do not know. I agree with your reasoning

on why the choice of weapon, though."

Caitlin:

"Agreed." Caitlin looks pensive for a moment, "Perhaps it would be in all

of our best interests to know that for a fact though, as well as who the

target of the rifle is to be."

Kendral:

Kendral smiles, "I suspect we'll hear soon enough who the target

is. And I doubt we'll find out sooner, at least I certainly wouldn't

advertise that I want person X to die before they do, if I'm the

type to commission an assassin."

GM (Lord Karm & Rhees):

Edgar shrugs. "I'm very curious whether or not this relates to the fact

that his son Jonathan has been sent to Amber to meet Queen Rhiannon. There

may be plans for them to wed. If Jonathan is to assume the throne of Amber,

whether overtly of through his wife, then who would have to be eliminated

to pave the way for this?"

Rhees looks over at Edgar. "You seem to be a fount of information this

evening, Edgar. I must commend your sources. Are you perhaps keeping court

with the Empress?"

He smiles tightly in response. "I wish that I could say I am thus honored."

"But certainly your sources must indeed be close to the Emperor to know

this much about the affairs of his immediate family." Looking up at the

approaching servants, she smiles, "Ah...dessert."

Kendral:

Kendral shrugs. "Brand, possibly, Emma strikes me as another

possibility. Or, of course, Queen Rhiannon herself, though that would

all but certainly result in yet another war. The problem with any of

these targets is that killing any of them with Reprisal is likely to

result in a backlash against us."

Kendral watches the servants.

GM (Lord Karm):

Edgar nods. "True enough, though I suspect Brand's removal would cause few

tears, even in Amber."

GM:

The servants bring in for each of you a dish of iced milk with fresh fruit.

And for a bit the dinner proceeds with no conversation.

Kendral:

Kendral nods. "Possibly so. I suspect we'll hear soon enough,

anyway."

GM (Cedric):

After dessert, Cedric yawns loudly and chuckles. "Time to return home, dear

sister," he begins. "I have much to do in the morning, and the ride is

long."

Turning to Kendral, he adds, "Do you wish to ride with me Kendral? Seeing

as its on your way to Cardiff...."

At that, everyone begins to rise from their seats, thanking Rhees for her

hospitality. Some head off to the library, some outside. Edgar thanks Rhees

profusely, glances at Caitlin once more, and the heads outside.

Kendral:

Kendral nods. "That would be a good idea. It's even farther for

me than for you, and so I must be off."

Kendral leaves with Cedric.

Caitlin:

Caitlin walks out, watching for Edgar.

GM:

By the time Caitlin gets outside...Edgar is already gone. Vanished almost....