Breakfasting within Fiona’s garden gazebo I couldn’t help be amused by the reckless innocence of Kit. A bit of a poem sprang to mind.

 

So white the rose,

And I the first to throw mud.

Better mud then blood,

But where are your thorns my dear?

 

Writing poetry has always been a hobby of mine. But if I chanced to write out the lines I always made certain to wash my hands afterwards. Deciding I needed to clarify exactly how Kit and Random met I ventured to ask, "Would you be adverse to telling me how you met your father?"

 

"No, not really," she shook her bushy head. "Wasn't anything really extraordinary. My lab blew up a little, and there he was grinning at me in the doorway and asked if I wanted to research stuff. I didn't know he was me dad until we stopped for a picnic by a lake."

 

Would Random sabotage her lab just to make it easier for her to leave? Nah, too risky. From the routine way she described her lab exploding it sounds like an everyday event for her. Note to self: Do not perform laboratory experiments with Kit!

 

"Sounds like a wild entrance. Hopefully nobody got hurt."

 

"Nope!" she grinned. "Just a little covered in soot, nothing a shower can't fix! Kwah ha! Then we had Chinese food, and went to the bar where he won several rounds of cards. Laughed my head off, I did...got nastily drunk too, but he helped me out so I wouldn't get such a bad hangover..." Kit babbled on, explaining her encounters with Random, though it seemed she completely omitted anything about her mother.

 

Taking the cue from Kit, I skirted the issue of her mother. "Sorry, I must be acting like the inquisition. Tell you what, I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now. I'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability but you need to one thing for me in return."

 

"If I can!" she grinned. "What?"

 

Nodding my head slightly "Treat everything I tell you with a grain of salt until you can confirm it with other relatives. Where you get a different answer, that in itself will tell you something. Agreed?" The standard boilerplate disclaimer for our kind.

 

“Yeah, okay," she nodded slowly, seeming apprehensive about what I might reveal. I’d have to temper this if I wished to avoid scaring the hell out of her.

 

Resting my chin in my hand in what I hoped was a relaxed pose I told her it was her ball.

 

The tiny scientist thought it over for a long time. Apparently unsure of where to begin. She Shifted her jaw from side to side, and finally straightened. "I know! Tell me about your parents!"

 

I smiled at her question but couldn’t help wincing inside. "Your learning quickly. My mother you just met. That was Fiona. She’s a very powerful sorcerous. A princess of Amber." I shifted my weight slightly "I don't know who my father was. I've been told by Fiona it did not concern me which ended the subject permanently as far as she was concerned. As you can tell with one of my eyes being green and the other blue it was someone probably very different."

 

"That's dumb!" she put her hands on her hips. "Not your eyes, I mean of course, because they're quite fascinating...but that your father doesn't concern you?! What a nasty thing to say! He's your FATHER!"

 

I shrugged, but internally I was irritated that I had let that issue slip out. "Not dumb. She has her own agenda. Perhaps the memory is painful to her. Who can say?"

 

Kit folded her arms, not appeased. "You have a right to know, though," she grumbled, and shook her head with a small sigh. "Sorry...I don't mean to get so involved. Parents are a big issue for me, though."

 

I chuckled to make light of the issue. Kit was thinking in terms of justice. At our level nobody has rights other then what we can enforce. Sure the king can make rulings but I wouldn’t even consider bringing the matter to him. Looked like this whole justice thing might have to be explained to her soon. But I wasn’t up to providing more shock therapy. "I have a right to find out. Honestly, the conversation between Fiona and I was a very long time ago."

 

"So how old ARE you?"; she asked.

 

"Eighty eight years by Amber standards. Add in time differentials for shadows I've been in and it adds up to over a hundred subjective."

 

Kit blinked once. Twice. "Wow, you sure don't look it."

 

"It's on account of the saintly life I've lead."

 

She chuckled at that, then pulled one knee up to her chest. "Hey Flavel...can I trust you? Honestly?"

 

Looking away momentarily I raised a hand toward her. What, she’d actually ask me like it was my decision and not hers? Amazing how people think in terms of trust when the real issue is reliability. From my own experience two things make a person reliable. Helping me when it would be to their disadvantage, and not screwing me over when it would be to their advantage. Any loan officer would know what she apparently didn’t.

 

"Trust is highly relative," a wry grin twisted my face, "no pun intended. I am not entertaining any thoughts of manipulating you or endangering you. Our goals are not at odds with each other."

 

"But later on, can I still rely on you for the truth?" she asked, with arched eyebrows. "I find that I hold scarce little of it."

 

Ahhh truth, sort of like justice and trust. Beware absolutes. I privately wondered if she’d start talking about love next, or maybe faith. I hoped not. I was starting to feel hard-bitten compared to this naive.

 

“Remember the condition under which I would provide you with answers? The next princeling you speak with may be even more charming and handsome then I. Words will flow like honey and he may tell you everything you need to hear. He may even state his honesty and wish only the best for you. And if it so happens the words are different from mine. Where would you be?"

 

Jupiter’s bones! I’m starting to lecture like a parent. I decided the next time Random saddled me with one of his progeny I’d tell them we were cannibals and the slaughterhouse was in a place we referred to as Amber with the butchering down at the pattern.

 

"Oh, bah, who cares for looks," she scoffed. "Besides, *nothing* can sway my heart from Dr. Umatso's brilliance and poetry. I can't be charmed!" she winked, waving her finger about.

 

Rubbing absently at the back of my head I grinned "Doctor Umaso eh? Must be quite a guy."

 

"Oh, I'm sure he is! Here, I'll let you read one of his books later on if you like. AH! Such genius!" she raised her eyes skyward for a brief moment as she grinned, hugging her knee happily. "I like smart men."

 

"You'll find most of our relatives have a lot going on upstairs."

 

Frowning slightly, her eye took on a brief tic, "Doesn't matter...you can't marry cousins anyway."

 

“I don't recall any Amber laws regarding the practice. Then again I haven't attended any weddings lately."

 

Where am I going with this conversation? Am I attracted to her?

 

"Well from the sound of it, marrying another Amberite is pretty hazardous to your health! Kwah ha ha!" she said.

 

"I hadn't considered the matter before but I do believe most of the Amber royalty is unmarried."

 

"Ugh, how vile. I'M not doing anything with a man unless I'm married to him!" she nodded matter-of-factly. "Wouldn't be decent otherwise, feh!"

 

At least she didn’t make it a question. I made an ambigious grunt and decided to change the subject, "There’s an unwritten rule that our generation is off limits to the worst of family arguments."

 

"Uhh...what does that mean, exactly?"

 

"Our elders are hundreds of years old. Some may reach into the thousands. Think of that experience. The wealth of allies, skills, and powers. Did I say powers? Fiona is spell caster. I don't mean hynotism although that's easily within her reach. I mean throwing a fireball that can melt cars. Now imagine that you've knocked over her tea-wagon so far. Not the sort of person you'd want as an enemy eh? We're not real competition to them so it's not considered...sporting."

 

"Oh...so they're basically not allowed to fight with us. Good, because I can't melt cars yet. Now if I had a *flamethrower*..." her eyes acquired a strange gleam, "...that would be a different story."

 

Seeing that look in her eye I decided that a pack of matches would be scary if it was in her hands.

"You might need one sometime. That unwritten rule is being ignored by somebody. Some of our cousins have been attacked. I might add this is rumor I haven't confirmed yet.

 

Kit quirked her lips to one side, obviously disturbed. "That doesn't make sense. Why would they want to take us out? We're not even considered threats, really, as far as I can tell."

 

"I agree, discovering a motivation is key. What do all our cousins have in common that requires their removal? I don't know either."

 

"Revenge maybe," she pushed a tart around with her finger. "Passions and fervent emotions are usually motivating factors in irrational behavior."

 

I shook my head, "I don't buy it. If it's an emotional issue, it would normally be confined to an attack by the person who caused it. As a group, our cousins have been independent. There's not much we represent that would tick off someone."

 

"Maybe it's not us they're angry at," she shruged, and watched a bee warily. "Maybe it's our parents, or theirs."

 

"If that's the case then the attack is from outside the royal family. Fiona mentioned there being cause for thinking an Amberite was behind the attacks." Taking a moment to stretch my arms I yawned, "Truth be told, all of this information was taken from Fiona."

 

"Hmmm..." Kit removed her goggles, studying them carefully. "Do we have any aunts or uncles that might not have had children? They might be bitter about that, I just don't know."

 

"We need more data. Did Random ask you to walk the pattern?"

 

"No, not yet," she shook her head. "I think he means for me to learn more about my heritage and such before I do."

 

Wrong answer. I decided if I had any influence in the matter she’d walk the pattern before jumping into a damn fool adventure with this family. I didn’t relish the thought of having Kit getting lost somewhere in shadow.

 

"The pattern is our heritage. But I don't know if I could adequately describe it to you. Some things have to be seen to be comprehended. The gift of Amber blood is the potential of being able to trace the Pattern and exert your will over shadow. It's power beyond belief."

 

"Yeah? Maybe I should give it a spin, huh?" she grinned happily.

 "Maybe, tracing the pattern was the most difficult thing I've ever done. A failure in negotiating it, is annihilation pure and simple. When you see it, and look within yourself...you'll know if you can do it, or", waved my hand, "you may decide you need more time to come to grips with the idea. Regardless, walking the pattern will be your decision to make."

 

"I don't see how it could be so bad," she frowned. "If you were drunk, yeah, it'd be hard..."

 

 "Difficult, but not impossible. If your in good shape, and confident, and your sufficiently bull headed you'd prevail. It's a process of attunement & alignment with the force of order that permeates the multiverse. Both an awesome and humbling experience."

 

She pondered, resting her chin on the heel of her hand. "Sounds exciting."

 

Nodding my head, "When we reach Amber, I plan to re-attune myself to the pattern. This would be my second time negotiating it." The first time I had attuned myself was a very scary touch and go process. I never wanted to try it again. The risks being as substantial as they are. Lately though I wondered if I had missed something the first time through. I wasn’t so much learning from it as just trying to survive the experience. If the pattern was sentient, maybe during an attunement process a person might be able to communicate with it. I was willing to take that chance.

 

"Can I walk with you?" she asked hopefully. "Or is it only one person at a time?"

 

"I...", my reminder prompted Caution!  Do not perform lab experiments with Kit.  "I don't know. I've never heard of two people walking the pattern simultaneously. It's never been considered a social activity. But that's only because people of royal blood usually just walk it once. As a means to an end." I smiled broadly, "I like the idea."

 

Which came as something of a shock to me. I had just hammered her for over an hour about trust and here I was setting myself up to a potential vulnerability on a scale much greater then anything she’d demonstrated. Her spontaneity was infectious. I guess I really was going to answer her question when she asked If she could trust me. Damn. As they say in my country, “Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur”  or “Don’t laugh, just change the name and the jokes on you.”

 

"Okay, good...we can help each other if it gets too hard!" she smiled pleasantly at the prospect.

I hoped she would be smiling afterwards. I hoped “I” would be smiling afterwards.

 

 "Whew...I am stuffed, are you?" she asked.

I tossed my napkin on the table, "Totally, what say we go inside and see what our parents are up to."

 

"Let's spy on them," she grinned mischievously. "Maybe we can get a clue as to what they're talking about."

 

Entering inside the house, we spotted Fiona and Random leaving the drawing room. Fiona looked serene though her green eyes glittered like emeralds. Something that passed between them must have struck a nerve. Random looked cheerful and said brightly "Hiya kids, ready to travel on?"

 

I imagined Random in clown costume handing out lollipops to children in a circus.

 

With a quick glance and my elders I murmered "Semper Paratus” When in doubt, say it in Latin.

 

“Give me a sec to grab my bag & sword." With that I took the stairs to my quarters. Soon returning with my bag. A quick rummage in the umbrella stand near the door and a sword was again at my side..