An Imperial Summons

Once Momus had departed, I wasted little time in trying to ascertain just how much time had passed while we were gone. Unfortunately, our suspicions about the time flow in Father's Shadow were proved correct, as two weeks had passed in Chaos since our departure. I had been expecting as much, but still, the news did not please me. Especially once I learned how much had happened in my absence. The very day we left, it was revealed that Despil had been driven mad by his Logrus walk, so much so that Shaenan had been appointed Emperor in his stead. Shaenan had then appointed Despil's son, Jonathan, as his heir, which was especially interesting given that Jonathan had married Queen Rhiannon of Amber shortly afterwards. If Jonathan remained Shaenan's heir, it was conceivable that his children would be heirs to both Amber and Chaos. I found this highly unlikely to occur, however, for it assumed that there would be no change in power, either in Amber or Chaos, and history had proven how improbable that was.

Despite the news of Despil's madness, Sarah had assayed the Logrus the day after my departure, as had the Heads of Amblerash, Minobee and Hendrake. All had survived with no obvious ill effects, certainly nothing like the insanity that had afflicted Despil. Even so, there was no real rush amongst the Chaos nobles to take the Logrus, with the exception of the Minobees - they had always been the least cautious of the houses. Sarah had issued orders forbidding any Chanicuts from assaying the Logrus for at least a year, just to be certain there were no adverse effects. I wished she had been so cautious with regard to her own safety.

In other news, Sarah was engaged to marry our new Emperor. Obviously, Shaenan was wasting no time in solidify his power. The benefits to Sarah, of course, were obvious, and I had to admire the speed with which she had made her move. Naturally, there was currently much speculation within the House on who would be the next Duchess. Or Duke, I suppose, although those had been few and far between in Chanicut's history. Ironically, the best man for the position was the one who had died trying to walk the Magic Circle. I suppose that answered my question as to whether he was anyone of consequence. Still, I felt no regret for the manner in which I had used him, for Sarah's life was more valuable than his.

There was a rather surprising bit of news from Amber. My dear Aunt Florimel was dead. How sad. The details were extremely sketchy, of course, but there apparently was some question as to whether her husband Brent, who had just recently been appointed the new Amber Ambassador to Chaos, was responsible. It seemed that he was rumored to be involved with Meredith, another member of the Amber royal family. How deliciously ironic, to be killed by her own husband. Were she still alive, I am sure she would have found it quite humiliating. Had this Meredith been involved with her death as well? It seemed probable. Amberites are rather difficult to kill, especially the older ones. Given how much trouble we had had with Bleys, I found it rather unlikely that Florimel could have been killed by her husband alone. I wondered if Brent had been appointed ambassador before or after Florimel's death was discovered? Despite the rumors, he had not been recalled, so either the rumors were not credible, or he had been assigned the ambassadorship as a means of getting him out of Amber. If the latter, he must have some powerful allies in Amber's court...or no one was all that sorry to see Florimel go. Possibly a combination of both. How was Ryan taking the news of his grandmother's death, I wondered? Probably not very well. Momus, on the other hand, would doubtless be overjoyed. In fact, had he not been with me at the time, I might have suspected him of doing the deed himself.

It was not long after my return that I received a missive from the Emperor himself, stating that he wished to speak with me. I cannot say that this pleased me overmuch, given how my dealings with Swayvill had turned out. Still, Shaenan was a different man, and this was a different time. And I had changed as well. My encounter with Shaenan in the Tir had gone amiably enough, and if I was cautious, there was no reason why this meeting should not go likewise.

As I changed into a dress more appropriate for an imperial meeting, I reviewed what I learned about Shaenan since our last encounter. He was the son of Dara and Prince Corwin of Amber, but had been raised secretly in Shadow. In this he was similar to his half brother Ryan, although it appeared he had turned out better than that naive young man. There was no real record of his activities before he created the Spider at the end of the Abyss war, an act which had garnered him quite a bit of attention. Most recently, he had served as the Chaos Ambassador to Amber, although he had been spotted frequently in the Courts as well. Definitely not a man unfamiliar with power, and how to wield it. I had not found him to be physically imposing, despite his height, but there was this...dark feel to his mind. Something that most people would probably not care to examine too closely. I had raised in part by Brand, however. This did not frighten me.

Satisfied that my appearance was satisfactory, I locked Werewindle away and made sure my wards were in place. Much as I was loath to leave the sword behind, I did not want to risk Shaenan detecting it and taking offense...or demanding that I hand it over to him. I had spells to mask the nature of the sword, of course, but given Shaenan's connection to the Spider, I could not discount the possibility that my measures might be insufficient. Better to travel without it than to risk losing it.

The trip itself was thankfully uneventful, and we made good time to Sawallways. The door was answered by a rather scruffy-looking servant with an usually surly expression. Unusual for a proper servant at least, although perhaps not for him - it looked like it was an expression he wore frequently. He merely looked me up and down before saying, "Right this way," and turning, not even caring if I followed. I found his behavior to be quite insolent, and I had to wonder what favor he must have done for Shaenan in order to ensure his position. He obviously had not been employed for his manners. I was distracted from this train of thought rather quickly, however. First, by the realization that magic had ceased to function once I had entered the door. And second, by the sense I was getting from Sawallways itself. I felt like I was being watched. It was not a feeling of being watched from afar, however. It felt more like I was walking inside of a giant creature that was about to swallow me whole. I reached out a hand to touch a doorknob as I passed by, and though it looked normal enough, it felt...warm. I had heard rumors that Sawallways was alive, and after this experience, I was inclined to believe it. I was suddenly rather grateful I had decided to leave Werewindle behind. Who could say how the Ways might have reacted to it?

Shaenan's servant eventually brought me to a library, where he showed me into the Emperor's presence. I curtsied deeply, of course. He motioned for me to rise, saying, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Shall we go out into the courtyard?"

"As you wish," I responded, and followed him outside.

He took a seat at shaded table, and motioned for me to do the same. "I'll summon some tea and refreshments," he said.

I sat silently while he gave instructions to one of the servants, waiting for him to explain why he had summoned me. But even after the servant was well out of earshot, he made no move to initiate the conversation. An interesting tactic, one I had used myself in the past. It is an effective way of making the other person feel uncomfortable, often causing them to blurt out information they should not have, in their eagerness to end the awkward silence. I was no amateur at this game, however. I decided to open with a safe topic, but one that would at the same time emphasize a common link between us. "I understand congratulations are in order."

He smiled and nodded. "Thank you. The Lady Chanicut and I are quite looking forward to our wedding day."

"As are all of us in House Chanicut, you may be sure." There was a certain amount of prestige associated with being the house of the Empress, after all.

"I appreciate that." He paused for a moment, then brought the pleasantries to an end and got to the point of our meeting. "Something has been brought to my attention recently, regarding...the Magic Circle."

I frowned. "I understand it was...stolen." That was one situation which had not changed in my absence, unfortunately.

"Yes, it was."

I was still not happy with the loss of such a source of power, and I allowed my vexation to show on my face.

Shaenan noted my expression, adding, "I'm unhappy about that too."

"Yes. It was ours. Has it been located?"

"No. I have an inkling, but...friends of both of ours are currently looking for it, actually, I've heard. Oh, what's the word... She's an industrious sort, and I'm sure she's found it by now."

"Assuming it is Sarah of which we speak, I can quite imagine that she has." Indeed, I could almost feel sorry for the thief when she caught him. Almost.

"My question to you is, I'm wondering what you know of the Magic Circle, and who would be in control of it."

Ah, so that was why I was here. Shaenan hoped to use me as an information source on the Circle. I would have to tread carefully here. I did not wish to risk withholding information unnecessarily from the Emperor, lest he learn of it from other sources and be...upset. Not to mention that I wanted the Circle recovered as much as he did. On the other hand, it was not known that I had taken the Circle, and indeed I had taken great pains to keep that fact a secret. I would have to be certain that my answers did not accidentally reveal that fact, while revealing enough to convince him that I was not hiding anything from him. I decided to start small. "I was told by Cerridwen that Meridian created it."

He nodded. "That I knew."

Now did that mean he had already questioned Cerridwen? Or just that the fact was more common knowledge than I had thought? Well, either way, thus far he knew I was being truthful. I decided it could not hurt to let him know something of Meridian's fate, and so continued, "And that, ah, he is no longer in a position to make any claims on it."

"Hmm."

"But, I understand that Gawain was involved in its creation as well."

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I figured as much."

Which could be interpreted as a hint that I had not told him anything new, thus far. This next part would be tricky. Both Dara and Ryan had walked the Magic Circle, and he could easily have questioned them, so my words would have to be accurate. What could I tell him that I would have known, even without walking it? "Hmm, I know that you have to have Pattern to walk it. Or not have the Pattern, but you have to have Amber blood, somewhere in your lineage. I am not sure how much of it is necessary. We recently lost a member of our House discovering this, much to our dismay."

"Well, these things happen."

"Yes." It was obvious that he cared no more for the loss of the man than I had. On the other hand, he did not appear to suspect that I was withholding anything from him, yet.

"I really, really want it back."

I smiled a bit at that. "I believe we are in complete agreement there. Any aid I can lend in this endeavor, of course..." It always looks better to volunteer for something that you know you will be ordered to do anyway. Besides, I honestly did want the Circle back. I had gone through quite a bit of effort to secure it to Skeltland, after all. As Shaenan was certainly aware, since he had been involved in that process as well.

"That's what I'm thinking. Can you think of anything that could be done? I admit not knowing much about the Magic Circle, magic in general. Only what my mother has told me."

So he had talked to Dara. "I only know what I picked up from observing it close hand," I reminded him. Then I dropped a tidbit that I suspected would get his attention. "I know that it grows with each person that takes it."

"Grows?"

"Increases in size. Seems to, perhaps, I do not know, take their knowledge and add it to its own?"

"So perhaps anyone assaying the Circle after, let's say, Sarah, may..."

"Yes."

"Oh great."

I felt I should clarify. "Well, may gain some part of her knowledge, depending on where...

Shaenan interrupted me. "Knowledge of magic, or knowledge in general?"

"I think knowledge of magic. That would be my guess. I do not see how it could get any other kind of knowledge. Cerridwen mentioned something about having memories of learning things that she had not had before, people teaching her who she did not know." As had I. I still found that somewhat disturbing. How many people would have memories of me teaching them, I wondered?

"Hmmm."

"So, I suppose if you were a mage and had some wonderful secret that you had discovered, you would not want to go walking the Circle, lest everyone possibly learn about it. It also does not help..."

Shaenan interrupted me again, much to my annoyance. "Unless, of course, we had it. Hmmm, I would have wanted it for the Ways of Chanicut. It seems a very good place to park it."

"It was doing rather well there before."

"That's what I thought. Funny I didn't notice it was gone. Hmmm."

And just how would he have noticed that, I wondered? I brought up a more important point. "What I wonder is how it was found and accessed in the first place. I doubt Cerridwen did it. Perhaps..." I frowned as a thought occurred to me. "Gawain was able to find it once before. And he was even somehow able to latch onto it. I do not know how."

"I'm concerned with this ability of his to attach to it, and remove it. If we find it, and get it back here again..."

"We need to figure out a way to stop him from simply..."

"Taking it back."

"Yes. He unfortunately has certain inroads, in that he is its creator. I suppose...hmm no, it would be difficult." I sighed. "It would be rather hard to get Meridian to cooperate in any of this, given his current state."

"Do you know where he is?"

I did, but he was Cerridwen's prize. Still, she might be willing to allow his use in this case... "Cerridwen could let you speak to him, if she wished."

"If I remember, Cerridwen owes me a favor."

"Perhaps she will be cooperative."

"I have no doubt that she will." He seemed rather pleased. "Do you happen to know where she is?"

"I imagine she is with the Tir, wherever that is."

"Easy enough to find."

I nodded. The rest was Cerridwen's problem to deal with.

The tea and cakes arrived at this point, and we paused while the servant poured us each a cup and then made herself absent again. I sipped at my tea and was rather surprised to find that it was actually quite good. Shaenan did not appear to be in the mood for enjoying it, however, taking only a perfunctory sip at his cup before setting it down and speaking again. "I've also heard rumors, I'm not sure if you can answer any of this for me, of some less than positive feelings for me among Houses Minobee, Hendrake and Amblerash."

As had I. I would have to choose my words carefully, of course, lest he think Chanicut had been consorting with those who were voicing such opinions. That way lay treason, and I was all too familiar with how quickly that label could be applied. "If such feelings have been expressed, Houses Minobee and Hendrake and Amblerash, of course, have not chosen to share them with Chanicut. But, I have heard rumors that there were certain rumblings, yes, some unhappiness...how far these rumors and murmurings may go, I cannot say. There is always to be expected a certain amount of, oh, idle discontent among people who do not have anything more significant to focus their attention on."

Shaenan responded in an irritated tone, "Perhaps we can do something to give them something to focus their attention on."

I had hoped he would respond that way. In fact, I had deliberately encouraged it with my words. "For some of the houses, it will certainly be easy enough."

He nodded. "Your reputation does not do you justice. You are quite industrious."

I smiled. "I am flattered, to be sure. I do try my best to be helpful."

"And you have been." His tone was almost wicked, in a pleased sort of way.

"Thank you."

And with that, he dismissed me. It was as good a note to end our conversation on as I could have hoped for. I rose, curtseyed, and was escorted back to my coach, pleased to have survived the experience, and possibly risen a few notches in Shaenan's eyes as well. I would continue to be cautious, however. I knew how fleeting such notice could be...and how dangerous.

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Last modified on January 10, 2000 by Kris Fazzari.