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Theo and Harper

Theo does as he asks, but is careful never to turn her back completely to Harper as she slips through the door. Rather than looking like a weird crab movement, however, her natural grace makes the motion seem spare - less wasted turning.

Theo makes it gracefully out of the palace and out of the grounds. Though Harper did frown when they walked out of garden doors that she had come in.

Once outside the palace/castle grounds, Harper looks at her and asks,"How long is it going to take to get to your Corwin?"

"Not too long - a day perhaps, shifting, unless you have a quicker way," Theo offers.

Harper gives shrug of acceptance.

After a bit of walking and shifting, Harper asks, "What is your Corwin like?"

"You mean my father, or the Corwin I'm taking you to?" Theo asks.

"Both." Harper replies.

"My father, the Templar, is a tough man, a leader. He has a decent sense of humor, but he's iron under that. Most people where I come from are afraid of him. The only ones I know who aren't are family - me and my mother because we love him, the Scarecrow and the Archangel because they're tough too. Corwin... is a lot like my father, but not exactly. He's not quite so hard, but there's a sadness. My father used to have that sadness, too, until Mother came back."

Harper listens carefully as they shadow shift, "And your mother is?"

"The Silver Lady," Theo replies. "What is Corwin like in your land? Or does he exist?"

Harper replies, frowning every so slightly, "Oh, he exists. If ever there was a Prince among bastards, my reflection of Corwin is one. Somehow, he managed to arrange it so he can't be killed. Believe me there are those that have tried and ended up on one of his dissecting tables -- still very much alive under his silver blades. He doesn't kill them either, which is an amazing testiment to his medical skill. When he is done with them, assuming they haven't gone mad, he just dumps them someplace, usually someplace you would not put your worst enemy, and lets them figure their way out of that mess. And if he is really teed off at you or in a foul mood, he dumps you in the Labyrinth. Death is preferable to being dumped in the Labyrinth." The last said with a shake of his head.

Theo shudders. "That... doesn't sound at all like my father. But I guess... in my Reflection, before it changed, the Scarecrow - that is Benedict - was a figure of nightmares. I met him in Amber, later, and he seemed normal - noble... So I guess there are wide variants."

,p> Harper nods, "Wide variants." He pauses as if he is listening to something, "Unbelievable ... someone killed him. I amend my current statement, someone just killed or, or at least left a dead body of Corwin. Can this conversation with the Corwin we are going to visit hold a bit? I really need to go back and find out what happened."

Theo knows she ought to do what Corwin asked her, but her natural curiosity overwhelms her. "Yeah, sure. No hurry."

Harper gestures and there is a series of elegant tones and a gate appears -- through it she can see a round stone room, "Step through please."

"You mean you could always have done that?" Theo demands, as she steps through.

Harper steps though and gives her a sly smile, "Maybe. You didn't ask." He gestures for to head up the stairs on his left.

Harper and Theo are not more then a dozen stairs up when a woman clad in a green robe/gown opens the door at the top of the stairs. A petite little thing, maybe 5 feet tall, beautiful and very pregnant. "Harper," then she sees Theo and falls silent a moment then continues, "Benedict is waiting to take you to Corwin's body."

"Thank you Ke'dra, I will talk to you later," Harper replies.

Theo smiles slightly at the woman's beauty, and at her reaction, but as they leave Ke'dra, and somewhat behind Harper's back, she makes a quick gesture, nodding towards him, touching her chest and then shaking her head imperceptibly and smiling.

Ke'dra smiles at Theo's gesture and nods.

Once upstairs, Theo sees a man much like Benedict both of Amber and of Unreal City. Benedict flicks a quick, assessing look at Theo, then turns and walks out of the room, assuming that they will follow.

Its not far, though at one point the stairway they are on shifts to the right, which of course requires that they take another route. Finally they walk into a room, where Corwin is laid out on a table. From his appearance he almost looks like he is sleep.

Theo follows, studying Benedict as she does so, to try to sense the differences in this Reflection.

The biggest difference between her Benedict and this one is that her Benedict may have been mad but at least he was still fundamentally good, this Benedict of Sepulcher -- he was just plain immoral almost evil.

Theo waits a little away from the table for Harper and Benedict to do whatever they're going to do. The sight of someone so like her father dead unnerves her a little.

Harper looks at Corwin for a bit, then says,"I can't believe he is dead. What killed him?"

Benedict replies, "An assassin slipped in and nailed him with a blade. We didn't catch the assassin. A pity, I would like to have seen that blade."

"A blade. He is supposed to be immune to any blade. Only a Great Blade could have done this, and I didn't feel it. Jasor, are you around?" Harper says.

Benedict lifts an eyebrow but says nothing.

From the deep shadows in the room steps a Fey male clad in blade, almost unseen even though he stepped out of the worst of the shadows, Jasor says, "Depend on what you define as around." Then he looks over at Corwin and hums.

Harper asks, "Did one of your friends take him out? if so, we owe someone a favor."

Jasor replies as he looks back at Harper, though his eyes did pause on Theo as he ses her standing in the background, "Oh he is not dead, at least in the complete sense of the word, his soul and power have been taken. You have a bit of a problem. Three Corwins have been struck this day, all three lay like this one. And one you thought dead is alive and very much after your ass among other things." With this he starts to turn away.

Theo remains quiet, hoping they'll go on giving information if they fail to remember that her loyalty is to another place and version of these people. She registers shock at Jasor's words, but only that.

Harper frowns then says, "Ke'dra!" Then he turns, gesturing, steps through a gate and is gone.

Benedict looks at Jasor, "Who do you speak of?"

"Ceres, he isn't dead, not anymore. They summoned his soul back from beyond and arranged for him to get a body. Queen Merikara is not happy right now," Jasor replies.

Benedict looks once at Corwin's body, then turns and walks out.

Theo is swearing like a sailor, fumbling for Merikara's trump. "How do you know all this?" she demands of Jasor.

Jasor smiles at her swearing, "That trump might not work, it depends on when the block on trumps was put up in relationship to when the trump was made and who made the trump." He pauses a moment and looks at Corwin's body and hums softly before glancing back and adding,"I have my connections, Lady Theo. Connections that are difficult to explain other then to say there are many that observe what is happening in the Ether, not all of them living in the traditional sense."

"And that's how you know who I am?" Theo asks, trump in her hand.

"The Glimmering told me," Jasor replies.

As Theo concentrates on Merikara's trump, she senses that the trump is either blocked or not working.

Jasor looks away as if listening to something, then nods and heads over to Corwin's body and picks it up. "Mandor of the Courts of Chaos is with Merikara now. They have asked me to bring Corwin's body to them. Did you wish to come with me?"

Theo shrugs, her eyebrows raised. "I'm probably not one of Mandor's favorite people, but yes, I would."

Jasor cocks an eyebrow up at that, sensing a story there. Then holding his hand out to her he says, "Come, it's not far as I travel. Someday I would like to hear why? Don't forget to name your price for the story."

"I'll name a price when I give the story," Theo agrees, taking Jasor's hand. "Is this going to be a rough trip?"

"No just a few steps," Jasor says as he draws Theo into the shadow.

And how right he was, only a few steps and then they walk out of the shadows of a column that is holding up a stone roof.

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