After the Fat Lady Sings

The ongoing tale of William, Son of Ophelia of House Rebma, and of the Line of Barimen in the Courts of Chaos.

The Curtain Falls

We cross blades, Tybalt and I. He has called me a demon and I have tried to retreat but he presses and draws and I must do the same or die. No poetry. Just dancing. Then confusion as he wraps the Logrus around me like a Retarius’s net and I cut it to pieces with the sharp edge of the Pattern.

We fall, Diptera dissolving around me and the cold of the Abyss wraps me in ice. Stars wheel around me and then my head is struck and I fall unconscious and dream.

Aware that I dream of dreaming, I watch as my mother reaches out for me. She falls into water, but this time I see it is to save me. Her arm outstretched. I wake.

DeLambre is there. DeLambre is always there. I comment on the noise and he apologises. The blood needed to be scoured from Der Rukenshild. And he did not mean to wake me. I gesture. It is nothing important. Still half asleep I ask after Rachael. Did she make it home? He defers, he does not know, but will find out. I ready myself for breakfast with Grandmother and ask him to despatch me parchment and paper afterwards so I might write a note to her. Rachael that is. Not Grandmother.

As I walk to breakfast, I shake myself awake but the memory of my mother holds on to me. I sit opposite Cymnea and help myself to food. She seems quieter too but asks if I enjoyed my moment in the spotlight. Deciding to be honest, I shake my head. “No”, she said, “Me neither. All those tears and wailing. That’s not me. How is your arm?”

I look down, the cut healing already, the scar likely to fade like my memory of Bo of Chang. Grandmother promises that heads will roll for the attack but I press her to relax her vengeance, especially as Rachael is a member of the same Order as Bo. “A head has rolled”, I say. “Let us end that cycle here.” She accuses me of going soft, but agrees to go gently, passing me an invitation from Rachael to “conversation and light refreshments in the garden within Sphere Four”.

As she passes the note, Grandmother tells me that Rachael seems smitten, but that I should not press ahead too fast. And that I should keep DeLambre close. I promise, as much as I can to do so. It is odd, but as the world gets wider, I find more and more places where I cannot go if I want to take Delambre with me.

Returning quickly to my quarters I write a quick note to Rachael accepting her offer of conversation then, picking up DeLambre, I head to the Duomo to check up on Darig.

There is a queue of Chaots lined up to look at Darig, mostly Barimen but with two Spectral just leaving as I arrive. DeLambre stays outside – the Duomo is holy ground and another place where no demons are allowed, which makes the presence of the Orca here a few sleeps ago troubling. Darig is in good spirits; camped like a soldier in a small fenced area with a hot plate for food and a couple of small packs to sleep on. He seems in good spirits and we discuss his ability to stay in touch with us all. He has cards for Benedict, Havelock and Julian, though he cannot remember who he borrowed that from.

I wish him well and take my leave, borrowing one of his daggers with his permission. I make it clear to him that it is a loan, and that I will return it to him.

From there to the golden sun that is the home of Seraph where we descend into brightness and meet with Gabriel, the angel we met at the Races. His(?) attitude towards me is supercilious, but hovers on the edge of polite as he shows me to the garden where I am to meet Rachael.

The gardens are almost too perfect; fruit and flowers hang heavy on the bough and a light perfume infuses the air. The lawns are laid out in formal patterns, with marble figurines and benches all around. But underneath the perfection and order is a scent of wildness, as if the garden is power held in check by the will of its creator.

Suddenly I can hear singing and Rachael appears, bearing a ewer of wine and two crystal goblets. She smiles, and pours both glasses, leaving them on the ground for me to choose one. I pick the goblet on the left and sip – Soma, she calls it, a light and heady wine that has the briefest of effervescence on the edge of its flavours, leaving the imbiber refreshed.

We talk, honestly, of the desires of our houses concerning us both. Alliance, either here or in Chaos, tying Ascaris, Barimen and Seraph together. She speaks of her personal desire for freedom, and to spread her wings. She offers, even if I will not wed her, to leave the Courts at my side, to learn more of the worlds outside.

And she asks, based on a rumour heard from Grandmother, if I intend to be King in Amber, stating that she might find being Queen as constraining as living in Seraph? Once I have finished choking, I answer that should such a thing be in my future, I would hope that it was a long way away, as there was much of the worlds outside the Courts that I would see first. She treats me as a mix of a hero and a dangerous force. And I worry that I might find such hero worship attractive and let that sway my decision.

So, as honestly as I can, I tell Rachael that Cymnea has cautioned me to not be impetuous, but that I would like to see her again. We agree that the next date should be somewhere of my choosing, and DeLambre and I depart to Ascaris to inform Grandmother of what has occurred. And to get some cushions for Darig.

I return to the. Hive and call upon Cymnea. She is in her dressing room, playing with makeup. We discuss my date with Rachael and I ask Cymnea how she was treated in Amber when she arrived. We discuss how Rachael might be received. Cymnea thinks that Rachael would be a good match for me, both personally and politically, and I like her, so I tell my grandmother to take the next steps in the negotiations while I will sort out something to do with Rachael on our next date.

I leave grandmother; as I do she asks if I would wish her to come to Amber with me. Telling me that she will expect my answer tomorrow, and cautions me not to speak of the negotiations with Rachael. I bow, and agree, and then go find DeLambre who is looking for cushions and blankets.

We delivered the cushions to Darig then on leaving meet Constance and Margrath. Constance has found Morgenstern in the Crystal Caverns at House Karm. As she’s explaining this I am trumped – I answer and Havelock greets me. He wishes to speak with me so I bring him through to the Duomo. He tells me he has information for me. – his father thinks I should be shown the family cards and be brought up to date with who everyone is.

He goes through the the deck describing who everyone is and telling me that I am the Knave of Wands and that Benedict is the King but when I ask what that means, and why Benedict and I are of Wands where Darig is of Swords, he does not know.

There has been a reading that he did about freeing Julian. He and I are involved. We should not try a frontal assault. We instead should use diplomacy. My faith in the cards of Dworkin has never been lower. We discuss what binds us two together but quickly it becomes obvious – the two of us are the ones that have summoned Pattern in Chaos.

We grab Constance and go talk to Darig. We realise that we could bargain with Mandor for his support to free Julian if we agree to kill Swayvil.

Margrath joins us and we fill him in. We discuss the authors of the Opera and the consequences of assaulting House Karm. Havelock trumps Deirdre to find out where Sorashi is, they get invited through for food but Deirdre doesn’t want to bring demons through so Constance and I walk with Morgenstern and DeLambre.

We get there reasonably quickly – the others are still eating. We’re greeted and Morgenstern is stabled. Deirdre greets us and feeds us – spicy meat broth and rice and flat bread. We discuss House Karm – Deirdre thinks that Julian is Julian.

As is usual with the cousins, the conversation goes round in circles. Then Havelock trumps Mandor’s brother Despil and passes Margrath through to Woodstock and Constance and I start to walk again.

When we arrive Mandor and Despil greet us. He tells us that he thinks Darig will be freed on the morn. Constance apologises for her behaviour in the box and tells Mandor her fears about Julian and what Karm might be doing. He gives us the name of several of the Karm high-ups. Mandor thought that Julian had got upset just like Constance did in Spectral and that Karm put him to sleep. Mandor’s at us about the balance in the Courts – we might destroy Karm only to see someone worse rise to the Rim and that we might make ourselves worse off. I try not to laugh in his face. He is, of course, looking to make sure whatever happens, afterwards he will be in a position of power. So we must cause enough disruption to let Mandor rise but not enough to swamp him.

With that, we all part and I head home to Ascaris.