Session 6

Miranda wakes up in the morning and is surprised to note that her fire's out, but she isn't cold. She goes to the window and sees that the sun is out, and there's water dripping. She throws open the window, and a warm breeze blows in. It looks like the spring thaw has finally deigned to arrive in the beginning of May. The spring thaw always means the roads are impassable for a week, then Duchess Manot has her ball about a week after the roads clear. A serving girl arrives with breakfast and asks if Miranda wants to pull out her summer dresses and start deciding which ones to keep for the season. Oh yes.

Miranda spends the morning going over her summer wardrobe. She is surprised to learn from the girl that she was gone for four days, and been asleep for 24 hours. Why didn't anyone wake her? Her mother had a doctor brought in, and he said she just needed rest. How is her Uncle Delwin doing? He's recovering. Rinaldo's doing well, too. What happened to him? He was at the art exhibit yesterday when there was some sort plague outbreak. He seems to be OK.

Miranda receives a note shortly before noon from Jasra, proposing they go dress shopping tomorrow. She accepts the invitation.

Miranda goes to lunch. Neither of her parents or Rinaldo are there, but Sand, Bleys and Deirdre are. Sand tells Miranda that the bridge problem has been taken care of. Miranda says her problem is resolved as well. So Sand sees. Miranda asks how Uncle Delwin is doing. Oh, he's recovering fine. He's going to milk it for all it's worth, but they had a doctor from Prydain come in to help heal the wound. He'll probably be a week in recovering. And Rinaldo? He's in quarantine for a week. A lot of people died in the plague outbreak, and most of the houses have one or two people affected. They're not quite sure what happened. Rinaldo left after the earthquake, after which there apparently was acid rain, a plague of insects, and then fire. Miranda thinks that was kind of overkill. Sand asks if Miranda recalls that she has an Assembly meeting tonight. Miranda thinks for a moment and realizes that this is true. Have the repaired the bridge yet? Yes. Miranda comments that she doesn't intend to linger on it this time.

Miranda spends the afternoon going over Sand's notes about the Assembly meetings she missed, and the official agenda that she received from Brand.

Miranda attends the Assembly meeting in the evening. Nothing unusual happens, and she returns home safely.

The next day, Miranda goes shopping with Jasra. Jasra mentions Brand's desire to hire a more permanent bodyguard. Yes, he'd discussed that with her. She was planning to ask Kail for a recommendation. Oh, hadn't she heard? Kail has disappeared. Really? When? Several weeks ago. Rinaldo mentioned that he'd missed their appointment, so they made some inquires with his house. No one there knows what happened to him. Did any of his friends know? Like who? He mentioned someone named Driscoll. Jasra gives her a level look. Miranda asks why she's looking at her that way. Jasra explains that Driscoll is wanted by the Palatine, for possible involvement in the death of the Countess Amaranthe. Does that mean he's missing too? He was presumed dead for a time, but now the Palatine is looking for him. Miranda can't believe Kail would be involved in Kirov-Rost affair. Jasra agrees, he lacks the intelligence and the motive. But maybe if they find Kail, they'll find Driscoll. Jasra mentions that Miranda and Rinaldo are ideally suited to track Kail down. But she should discuss this with Brand first. Oh yes, she has no intention of getting involved with anything concerning the Palatine without careful consideration. They both agree that it could be good to do a favor for the Palatine, though.

Miranda meets with Brand and asks for access to his library. What does she want to know? She tries to say that she's looking for information on Solange, and realizes that she can. Which means the geas is broken! She says as much to Brand, who asks what the geas was about. Miranda explains the Solange situation. Brand isn't pleased about Solange's ultimatum. Maybe he'll have to marry her off. Miranda notes that then she'd have to leave the House, something she doesn't want to do. Not necessarily. In that case, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. But there's no rush, she has a year. True. He does want to give her a bodyguard, though. She was going to ask Kail about that, but it turns out he's missing. She tells him of her talk with Jasra regarding Kail's connection to Driscoll. He agrees that it bears looking into, but he'll do it, since she seems to be a trouble-magnet of late. She argues that none of that's been her fault, which he doesn't deny, but he'd rather she stayed somewhere safe for now. And had a bodyguard. He has one in mind, one Earl of House Quince. Miranda is surprised that someone belonging to a house known for teaching would be a bodyguard. He's a bit unusual in that regard. Can she meet him before he's hired? He'll arrange for the two of them to have lunch. All right. So, can she have access to his library? No, but he'll get her books on the topics she names. There are books there that she isn't allowed to read, like the ones on sorcery. She says she's mostly interested in anything about the gods right now, and assures him that she has no interest in sorcery. That's what he told his parents when he was her age. Her eyes widen, since she hadn't realized that he knew sorcery. She still insists that she's not interested, but he isn't convinced. Looking to distract her, Brand suggests that she offer to help Duchess Manot prepare for this year's ball. Miranda loves this idea.

Miranda spends quite a bit of time over the next week or so with Duchess Manot, helping decide who to invite, sending out invitations, determining where they will sit, etc. She also picks up a lot of gossip, so basically she's in teenage girl heaven. When Duchess Manot is deciding who to invite from Succat, Miranda suggests Maevyn, remembering the lovely stone he gave her.

The night of the ball arrives, and all is going well when Miranda is spun onto the dance floor from behind. When she looks to see who it is, everything changes around her, and she's dancing with Merlin in a far more angular hall. He makes a comment about it being a touch of home. Where are they? Still at the ball, he's just created an illusion. He's been in Thelbane for some time now, but no one ever sees him. So people can hear them speaking? Only if they're listening carefully. He tells her not to make a scene, or she'll be trapped in the illusion forever. Just kidding. Miranda isn't so sure. She asks why he's taking such a risk. He wanted to warn her. She should leave the ball, since he's going to destroy everyone present. Miranda begs him not to do this. He comments that such compassion is unusual coming from one from Thelbane, but is not swayed. He releases her from the illusion and disappears.

Miranda hurries to find Duchess Manot to warn her. Suddenly, Merlin appears in the middle of the room. He announces in a loud voice that this is technology. It can be your friend or your foe. In this case, since it's going to destroy everyone within a two and a half mile radius, it's their foe. Then he slams his staff into the ground, and everyone begins screaming and running. Miranda reaches Manot, who was too far away to hear what Merlin said, and insists that she get everyone out of the building immediately. Then Miranda finds her friends and urges them to do the same. When she looks back towards Merlin, she sees that he is being confronted by a Palatine. The Palatine picks up the staff, only to be warned by Merlin that if he breaks it, the bomb will detonate on impact. The Palatine begins bringing the staff down, at which point Miranda Trumps out.

Arriving back home, Miranda runs frantically searching for her parents. She finds Sand first, and blurts out that Merlin is going to blow up Duchess Manot's party. Sand hurries off. Miranda continues searching for her parents. A few minutes later, Rinaldo approaches with a hysterical Duchess Manot, who he turns over to his sister. The two women proceed to cry on each other's shoulders.

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Last modified on August 11, 2001 by Kris Fazzari.