In Search of Ygg

Thinking back on Cerridwen's warning, I decided that I would contact the Emperor about the matter, after all. Being both Sarah's Emperor and her future husband, he would have more power than I to interfere if Sarah was involved in something hazardous. Now normally, I would have contacted the Emperor by requesting a meeting with him via his secretary, arranging a time, and then traveling to the meeting via coach, a process which could take days. Unfortunately, if what Cerridwen had been telling me was true, I did not think such a delay would be wise. Proper protocol is all well and good, but there are times when it must be dispensed with in the name of necessity. I just hoped the Emperor would feel the same way after I explained the situation. I suspected that he would. He had not struck me as overly formal in our previous meetings, at least not to the point of standing on ceremony unnecessarily.

I returned to my quarters in Skeltland first, in order to freshen up and change into more appropriate garb. The sort of dress one wears to walk around a dry and dusty Shadow is not the sort of dress one wears to speak to the Emperor. And while time was of the essence, I did not want to compound my presumption in contacting him directly by appearing before him with dust on my clothing like some common peasant. I did move with more haste than usual, however, and not much more than half an hour passed before I decided I was satisfied with my appearance. After making sure that Werewindle was safely locked away, I took a deep breath and brought Shaenan's image to mind.

Contact was quick in coming, once I began to focus. Shaenan appeared to be in his study, judging by the decor behind him, although I could not see enough to be certain if he was in Thelbane or Sawallways. I thought I caught a glimpse of a young boy ducking out of view off to the side, but he vanished so quickly that I could not be sure.

"Do you have a moment?" I asked, not wanting to interrupt him if he was in the middle of something.

He made a dismissing motion with his hand, then replied, "I do."

I took his hand and stepped through, looking around curiously upon my arrival. There was no sign of the boy I thought I had seen, however. I recalled that there had been rumors Sarah had been seen in the company of a young boy in Sawallways recently. Could this be the same one? If so, what was his connection to Shaenan? For there must be some connection in order to explain Sarah's interest in him. She was not generally in the habit of adopting stray children...unless they were important to her in some way. And any child linked to her future husband would certainly fall into that category.

I banished my speculation for a later time and curtseyed before Shaenan. He might have an informal style, but he was the Emperor. Once that formality was out of the way, he motioned for me to be seated and I got down to the matter at hand. "Have you been noticing any disturbances in the Realm?"

"Yes."

Damn. I had been hoping that Cerridwen was wrong, unlikely though that was. "And in Amber?"

He frowned slightly. "All right, out with it."

I chose my next words carefully. Whatever was going on, I did not want to make it look like Sarah was deliberately at fault. "It is possible that Sarah is, inadvertently, the cause of this. Or rather, the cause via the Avatar of the Magic Circle."

"What is this Avatar?"

"I have not been able to ascertain that." Not in the brief period that I had been aware of any of this. "What disturbances have we been experiencing here?"

"Roots and leaves have recently begun invading Chaos, causing damage to some of the outlying Houses."

Roots and leaves. That was an odd motif. But yet, strangely familiar. Why? I asked him which areas had been hit, and it was as he was relating the details that it suddenly came to me. "Have you heard of Ygg?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "I vaguely remember reference to it in Corwin's writings."

"I as well. And if I am remembering correctly, he described it as a sentient tree..." I saw Shaenan's expression change as he made the connection, and I smiled. "I suggest that we check and see if it is where it used to be."

"Agreed."

I frowned as a thought occurred to me. "The difficulty will be determining where Ygg is supposed to be. I have never actually been to the site."

Shaenan smiled at that. "I don't think that will be a problem."

And, in the end, it was not. There are advantages to working with the Emperor of Chaos. He spoke briefly with two men I did not know, and then invited me to have some tea while we were waiting. We passed the time in polite conversation, much of it revolving around Sarah, she being our common connection. He made no mention of the boy she had been seen with in Sawallways, however, and I did not bring up the matter. It would be easier, and safer, to ask Sarah about it. Assuming I ever got the chance.

Within the hour, the men returned and chatted quietly with Shaenan again. They had, it seemed, ascertained where the tree was believed to be located, based on Corwin's writings and those of a few others. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the site, there was no sign of a tree, sentient or otherwise. Nor was there any indication that there ever had been one. Which was not a complete confirmation that Ygg was involved in the recent disturbances, but it seemed a pretty good indicator. Obviously, something had happened to move Ygg. Something on the level of a universe-shaking event. Nothing less could have possessed enough power to do the job. The creation of Arcana certainly fit the bill. I was not entirely certain how new powers went about creating their Avatars, but it was not beyond reason to think that a sentient being of Ygg's power, located conveniently close to the newborn power in Arcana, might have proved a very tempting target, indeed. But if that was the case, why was it lashing out now against both poles of reality? What could Sarah be doing to it?

After thoroughly investigating the area, Shaenan announced, "I will need to investigate this matter further. I will let you know when I know more. I assume you can find your own way back to Chaos?"

I nodded, and with that he vanished, leaving me alone on the empty plain. I opted not to linger there, teleporting to my quarters in Skeltland to consider what I had learned. It was still precious little. I decided to try contacting Sarah, on the remote chance that she might be willing to discuss her recent activities in Arcana, but she refused to answer. I suppose I could have pressed the matter, but I wished to have a better idea of what she was in the middle of before I resorted to such methods. For if I did so, and Cerridwen turned out to be incorrect about Sarah's involvement in the recent disturbances, there would be hell to pay. I had known Sarah for too long to risk moving against her unless I was absolutely convinced that it was necessary.

There being no further action that I could take regarding Sarah's situation, until she chose to answer or Shaenan contacted me again, I decided to return to Father's keep. Now that the Shadow was no longer running so slowly, it was time to do a more thorough investigation of Father's keep...and his Spindle. Whether Blethius liked it or not.

Melanie's Page | Melanie's Journals

All text on this page is © 2000 by Kris Fazzari.

Last modified on February 20, 2000 by Kris Fazzari.