I’ve always loathed calls from family, as they usually mean one of two things: either said family member is in trouble, or said family member is trouble. Neither is preferable to the other as both usually mean a good deal of work…and I am nothing, if not lazy. So when I began to feel that distinctive tingle, that prickling in the back of my head that felt like a combination of pins and needles and dread, I have no doubt that the subconscious sneer that came to my lips transmitted perfectly across the connection that began to form in my mind.
[spoiler]“Who?” I said through gritted teeth, carefully blocking my thoughts to keep the anonymity of my location secure. The only thing worse than family calling, after all, is family dropping by. In my mind, an image formed, hazy at first, then sharpening, gaining focus as I allowed bits of the transmission to break the veil of mental concentration while still carefully maintaining a block of my own surroundings. There was a shimmering, and then the face of a beautiful, porcelain skinned young woman solidified in my mind’s eye, her hair dark and lustrous, her eyes vivid green. My full sister, Alora. Trouble.
“By the Pattern, Bastian, do you have to make it so difficult to get through?” she opened. I grinned.
“Hello to you too, sis. Doing well, thanks for asking,” I returned. A look of consternation crossed her face, and my grin widened. The game was afoot.
“I don’t have time for pleasantries, Bastian,” Alora said with no small amount of irritation in her tone, “And I don’t want to have this conversation here, where others may be listening. Come through, and let me catch you up to speed.”
“Like hell,” I responded, “First, I never leap before I look. Second, I especially never leap because one of my beloved siblings asks me to. And third, I’m in the middle of a delightful afternoon ignoring your existence, and I’m not ready to give that up simply to catch up on our family’s machinations.”
“Corwin is dead,” she said softly, and in an instant my grin vanished, the game board wiped clean.
“What? How?”
“Not here,” she said, and she glanced about the darkness, “Come through.”
I thought for a moment.
“No,” I said, dreading what I was about to say, “You come through to me.”
She gave a pause for thought, then nodded. Focusing, her form began to take on a clearer shape, and I reached forward, my hand physically mimicking the image of my arm reaching out in my head. I felt her grasp it, and that same tingling ran up my arm, down my spine. I pulled gently, and a moment later, she stood before me, a mental image no more. She leaned suddenly, her arm shooting out to balance herself. I couldn’t help a sly smile. On her face, a look of confusion and concern was quickly exchanged for one of irritation.
“By the throne, Bastian, where are we?”
“Far enough from home to be unnoticed, close enough to the Entropy to make it very hard to scry,” I explained.
“That explains the headache. How can you stand it?”
“You get used to it. Now talk.”
She ruffled, I shrugged. She started the informality, so I felt no reason to present any airs on my end. Alora looked sick, but that suited me. She’s the type better kept off guard.
“Can we…is there someplace we can sit?” she asked. I nodded, and gestured across the lot where we were standing. A coral colored building drifted lazily on another plane of gravity. She followed as I lead the way. I stepped carefully into the angle of the drift, and the world seemed to shift as gravity conformed about me to its new orientation. Alora stumbled, and the near forgotten gentleman in me reached out and caught her in her fall. I steadied her until I was sure she had adapted, then let go.
“Why, in all of Shadow, would you choose to live somewhere like this?”
“I’m not fond of unwanted guests,” I replied, “And the physics here make trumping in difficult at best. Even the Pattern has a hard time locking in here.”
I opened the door, and behind it, found a nice little café of my desire. I picked a table near a bay window, that I might see the rest of my world floating by. Alora joined me, carefully not looking outside.
“So, our beloved father, Corwin…”
She sighed slightly, though whether it was genuine remorse or a show for me, I couldn’t tell.
“We found him this morning,” she said, “Ah…well, morning in Parys at least.”
“We?”
“Bernard, Alexander, Tara, and myself.”
My brow furrowed against my will. I’ve never been a fan of family politics, but that didn’t mean I didn’t keep up with them. There were twelve of us total, we children of Corwin, seven brothers, five sisters. The boys, by order of birth were Lucian, Regnus, myself, Javert, Hugo, Bernard, and Alexander; the girls, Amsyn, Mina, Alora, Honor, and Tara. Bernard, Alexander, and Tara were a close-knit group. Bernard and Tara were both products of our father’s dalliance with a lesser lady of the court, but he had never married her. Alexander was the youngest of us – his mother had died in childbirth. I suppose that helped him feel a stronger kinship with the bastards of our line.
“Well, that bunch isn’t suspicious in the slightest, is it? I didn’t think you were in tight with them.”
She blushed in anger.
“I’m not,” she shot back, “Unless you consider my mere presence in the castle an alliance. I merely came when I heard the scream.”
“Tara?” I asked, dropping my unsubtle allegation of allegiance. Alora nodded.
“I was in the library, reading a tome on Pattern when I heard her scream. I came running, along with a host of palace guards. When I reached the throne room, Bernard was already there, holding Tara. Alexander arrived about the same time I did.”
“And father?”
“Dead, on the floor before the throne. Drenched, as if he’d been in a storm, though the day was clear and perfect, as always.”
“Bernard, Tara…”
“Dry,” she acknowledged, interrupting my thought, “First thing I checked.”
“Clever girl,” I said, and I allowed myself a slight smile. Alora was my only full blooded sibling, and though I found her tendency towards intrigue tiring, I admit, it pleased me how well she thought on her feet. She smiled softly at the compliment.
“What of the others? Lucien? Regnus?”
“Off in Shadow, as far as I know. Lucien was tending to the Silk Road treaty of late, so I suppose he was with the Nine. Regnus…is not in Parys, so far as I can tell.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I nodded acknowledgement, the same worry crossing my mind. It was very unusual for Regnus to be anywhere but Parys. Father had made him commander of the Musketeers, and thus he bore responsibility for all matters of state security.
“Did you try to reach either of them?” I asked.
“Of course,” she replied, “And could not reach them. Perhaps I was blocked…either by them or by someone else. I wasn’t sure that I’d even be able to get through to you, and at first…”
“You thought it was me.”
“Naturally. You always were Merlin’s best student. If anyone could disrupt the trumps, it’d be you. And with Lucien and Regnus out of touch…”
Her voice trailed off, her eyes hardening as she stared at me. I understood.
“No, dear sister, it wasn’t me. ”
“Still,” she lingered, “You are third in line. You have a talent for appearing and disappearing, and for transporting others…perhaps even during a storm. You must understand my line of thinking.”
“I do, Alora. But I’m curious…why contact me, then? If you thought me behind it, why not go to Javert, to Hugo, to any of our dear sisters?”
She shifted in her seat, and gazed out the window.
“Because,” she began, and after a slight pause, “Because if it had been you, I wanted you to know I support you.”
I turned my gaze from the world of my desire and focused again on my sister. Despite sharing full parentage, she and I had never really gotten along – too close in age, I think, and our mother played us off each other regularly in an attempt to teach us the game of courtly politics. It had played no small part in my voluntary exile from Parys for the majority of my life.
“You know I don’t play that game, Alora. The throne of Parys has never even crossed my radar. Besides, Lucien and Regnus…”
“May be dead. Perhaps they weren’t blocking,” she interrupted.
I reached into my pocket, and withdrew my trumps. Eyeing Alora, I shuffled through them, and withdrew Lucien’s card. I focused on it, weaving about it a pathway through my shadow, to lessen the interference of Entropy. The card was cold, as always…but it remained silent. The image it bore did not come to life before my mind’s eye. I shuffled again, pulled Regnus. The same. Alora watched solemnly.
“If something has happened to Lucien and Regnus,” she said softly, “and if you are not the one behind it, then you may be next.”
Damned. Damned! All I had wanted was one free afternoon. I sighed, rubbed my temples for a few moments, then came to a decision.
“I don’t trust Bernard and company alone in Parys. Get back there, and if you can, get Hugo there as well. I’ll reach Javert if I can, and Mina.”
“You have a plan?” Alora asked. I shrugged.
“I’m winging it,” I said, rising. I shuffled a card out of my private deck, and took her by the hand. I concentrated for a moment, till the trump gave way to a view of the castle kitchen in Parys. Alora raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged again.
“I don’t like to cook,” I admitted. She passed through, and as the trump gate closed, I took a seat.
Moments later, the air shimmered, and he appeared before me, despite all my Shadow tricks. He’d always been crafty that way.
“Hello, Father,” I said plainly.
He looked a lot less regal than I remembered – harder, leaner. Not as soft. It suited him better, I thought. He regarded me for a while in silence, as I did him.
“So…not dead?”
A feint, almost nonexistent smile crossed his face.
“Not yet,” he replied, “But the day is young. We have a long way to go, you and I, and a short time to get there. Are you ready?”
“I’ve been waiting since you first sent word. I still don’t understand what you’re trying to do here.”
“You will, in time. But now, we must hurry.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, grabbing my trumps.
“To the beginning, son, and the end. Where all places start, and all stories end,” Corwin, my father, stopped and looked at me, a strange glimmer in his eyes, “Come, son. There are other worlds than these.”
“Strange words for a king,” I said. He smiled, a portal opening before him.
“To Amber,” he said, stepping through the gate, and with a final glimpse back, I followed.
To Amber.[/spoiler]