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Jean is following Dworkin around through the basement of Castle Amber. Dworkin is asking the guards in front of the rift in front of the Pattern room why they are there, but not being very coherent about it. The guards finally explain that whenever anyone goes past them, they disappear and then get pissy about it when they return afterwards.
The gathering of non-locals outside House Helgram that Jean is teaching about etiquette has suddenly become extremely large. Following the final out-flux, one last person leans through the doorway, yells, "and stay out!" and slams the door.
Faythe has woken up. "Hi, Jean. Do you know where my mother is?"
"Sure. She's in that over-thingy."
"Oh, she's home. Could you tell her that I'm awake, and ask her what she's doing?"
"Norton and Snarsht are working on... what's her name... the vegetable."
"My sister?"
"She looks kinda like you."
"She's not a vegetable. She's a person, Jean."
"What's the difference? I've always been unclear on that."
"Vegetables have cell walls."
"Ahhh."
Jean tells Celeste that Faythe is awake and curious. Celeste trumps Faythe, and actually makes contact. Faythe asks her mother who told Jean that Felice is a vegetable, and expresses concern that he might turn Felice into a salad. "Since you're getting Felice fixed, could you get Brandt and Brendhyn fixed, too? I miss them."
Norton is busy at his work, so Celeste gives Norton a note telling him that Faythe has requested help for two of her other siblings and gates in to the front gates of Amber to start working on her obligations there as regent. Amber seems mostly empty, except for a nightmare stabled outside the walls. The nightmare still looks like a bunny to Jean.
Random has started Pattern-shifting the barca-Jean through shadow. Jean fails to notice that they are moving through shadow.
["I get weirder things than this free with my breakfast cereal"]
The Jeans in the Council chamber in Chaos notice that there is a House trying to hire the Pattern-armored Dragaeran-looking Jeans to bodyguard their head of House. It's Tharsight, one of the minor houses. Jean asks Ilk for advice, then goes back and asks Tharsight for more information. The people from House Tharsight express concern with the current unsettled state of Chaos, but fail to mention any specific attack. Jean agrees to have four of the boba-Jeans bodyguard their House head, and to provide succor to the survivors if the bodyguards fail.
Vlad is hanging out outside House Cara. Gentleman Suhuy and his apprentice are trying to work the apprentice through the Pattern surrounding House Cara. Suhuy's apprentice is in Suhuy's ways. Ilk is tendri'd out and preparing for the Council meeting.
Neville is heading to the Council meeting and taking one of his mages with him.
Cassandra is preparing for the Council meeting and going over the team to take out the Poisoners' Guild - Zorro, Bun-bun, and Cassandra, with Princess Chandra along to keep an eye on her apprentice, Cailin so that Cassandra can keep an eye on her student, and associated bodyguards and backup team. Cassandra trumps her father to fill him in. She tells him that Princess Chandra thinks that the Warriors' Guild should be represented at the upcoming Council. Corwin requests and is given a Jean.
The Jean that went through the trump contact finds himself in the midst of a battlefield without corpses, and nobody is attacking him. As soon as he appears, one of the large cats is looming protectively behind him. He scritches it; it purrs.
Cassandra and Corwin talk about finding a chatelain and locating Malachai. Cassandra tells Corwin that he'll have to do it - she can't find her brother. Corwin complains, "Why do I have to do everything?"
"Because you're the adult."
"Sure - your curfew is 9:15."
"By what clock?"
Cassandra agrees to take White Company to a war - they're desperately out of practice.
"While you're looking for Malachai, tell Gil, Ingold, et. al. that they've been absent for an awfully long time." Cassandra reminds Corwin that they are no longer bodyguarding her - the Assassins' Guild has taken over that duty.
Corwin mentions that cats are harder to dodge than blows in the current battle, so Cassandra tries to sic a cat after him. Corwin grabs Hunter and passes him back through the contact to Cassandra. Hunter sulks briefly, then slinks off, calling out towards Lazy for a lift.
Cassandra asks Princess Chandra if she should acquire some clothing before the meeting. Princess Chandra replies that they're assassins and can wear whatever they want, and could even show up dripping with blood if they so chose - nobody would give them a second look.
Corwin asks to have clean clothing waiting for him at the Council Chamber. Jean tries to help by asking an etiquette guild member outside Thelbane, who refuses to believe Jean's authority in this matter and demands proof.
Jean asks Augral to trump him and pokes the etiquette guild member, sending him to the Jean next to Corwin. He is in Pearl long enough to see Corwin leading a successful campaign, acquire a sword through the gut, a cat slash across the torso, and say "proof acceptable." Jean sends him back to the council chambers, where he mutters something to another etiquette guild member and then expires. That person turns towards Jean and says that clothing will be provided for Corwin when he arrives. "...and we shall not doubt that you can speak for the Warrior's Guild in the future... are there any other Guilds for which you normally speak?"
Jean denies speaking for the Warriors' Guild in general, as well as any other guilds, with questionable success. He also apologizes to the etiquette guild member for the death of the leaking corpse, but they take it in stride.
Castle Amber seems mostly empty, except for a nightmare stabled outside the walls. Celeste tries to sense life within the castle. It's mostly empty above the ground, and she can't sense below the ground. She heads inside, in search of the captain of the guard. The guard station is empty, and a bloodstain on the ground has been sanded. Jean sends a few saucers in after her, and tells his contact within the Dancers' Guild that Celeste is in Amber.
Jean notices that, racked among the weapons in the weapons rack in the guard post in Amber, is a fish. He checks the balance - it's a bit carpish, so it's not very good for throwing.
Celeste - "Jean? What are you doing?"
Jean - "Checking out this fish."
Celeste - "Why is there a fish in a weapons cabinet?"
Jean - "Where would you keep a fish?"
Celeste - "In water."
Jean - "But then you might lose it."
Celeste gives up on that conversation and heads towards the ballroom. The ballroom is a mess. There was obviously an altercation here. Although there are no corpses present and the blood-stains have been sanded, it hasn't been set up again yet. Jean reports in. The Dancers say that they lost several people in the battle at the ballroom.
Celeste reaches the throne room. The doors are closed. As she reaches out for the handle, it starts curling towards her hand. She backs up, and reaches out with a telekenetic hand. There is a discharge of energy when her hand reaches the handle and a subsequent scream of pain. The scream isn't familiar - it's not anyone that she's heard scream before.
Jean reports in. The Dancers warn him that the not-Benedict is in that room. Jean warns Celeste.
Celeste looks for life signs - the door is covered with life signs, so she can't scan past it. She tries to look through the walls, and there is an automated mental attack back along her channel. She handles it, but the attack was close to Old Lord level - anyone lesser than her would be gibbering in a corner.
Celeste takes ten steps back and sets up a gate to retreat through to the far gardens behind the castle.
On Celeste's behalf, Jean asks the Dancers who died here. Guards, ambassadors, castle staff, and possibly Caine and Raven as well. Celeste is pleased at hearing that, and contemplates thanking Benedict.
Celeste tosses a bundled message at the door asking if it can communicate.
"Yes, if you'll just stop hurting me." The door says that she killed three of his friends with that last blast.
"Who are you?"
"Well, Celeste, you last saw me as a nondescript-looking grey guy that was scheduling appointments for you, and Malachai before that, and Oberon before that..."
The door says that the person who was killing everyone is on the other side of the door, so she might not want to open it. The door agrees to let her see inside.
Celeste places her hand on the door handle. The mental flavor of the person with whom she is in mental contact is thousands of boring years long. All that he has done since being created by Oberon is scheduling appointments. Celeste can see that there is a pattern of corpses around the room and that the thigh bones that not-Benedict is gnawing upon are artfully arranged.
The sight is designed to distract the viewer long enough for the traps to take effect, which is only a few seconds. The grey guy starts pointing out traps scattered liberally throughout the room.
The entire room is flooded with magic. Not-Benedict seems to either be a magical creature himself or so saturated with magic that it doesn't make a difference. There are finger bones playing on a musical instrument and skulls trying to sing along, but lacking the vocal cords necessary to do so.
Celeste trumps Norton. "Norton - I need fish." Celeste starts figuring out how to get the fish through the door without exposing it to magic or herself to Benedict. She asks Ilk for a fish-carrying Logrus-basket via Jean. Ilk claims that Dworkin recently made the walls of Amber Logrus-proof, and suggests that they ask Osric. Jean talks to Osric. They talk extensively, then Osric hands Celeste a tube made of his crystalline material. She places the tube against the door, and contemplates what to do next.
When Jean sends the Trump-fish back to Dworkin's apprentice and tells Dworkin of Celeste's plans, Dworkin becomes loud and annoyed. Dworkin reaches up and Celeste has an uncomfortable moment as Dworkin comes out of her abdomen.
"What are you doing in my castle? You had better not get killed - I have plans for you!"
Celeste asks Dworkin to poke a hole in the door. He does so.
Norton shoves the fish through. The fish gets through. Celeste tries to look through the hole through the wall of the tube. She can see a dagger fly through the tube and disappear.
Those people in Norton's head notice a large black dagger sticking out of one eye socket. They push, but the knife fails to be dislodged. Sarcastic comments are made while Norton starts powering up his backup brain. Mandor is in Norton's backup brain, filling him in on what he missed.
The door yanks open. Celeste jumps through the gate, pulling the tractored Jeans with her, and slams the gate behind her. There are griffons swooping at her and harpies defecating on her. She teleports to Darkover, taking Jean with her. Dworkin and the seneshal are left behind in Castle Amber. The harpy crap is starting to eat through the outer shell of the saucers when Celeste cleans it off.
Jean continues to chat with the guards near the Pattern room. They complain about that they are running out of food. Jean goes down the hallway and unracks a spell from one of the Dragaerans, causing a wild boar-like thing to appear and charge down the hallway at the guards. They are thrilled at the combination of food and sport, kill it, and ask Jean if Dworkin would mind if they cooked it. Jean tells them that he didn't think that Dworkin would mind.
Jean and the guards chat about not-Benedict and the guards decide that they will wait on the other side of the rift, in case the not-Benedict decided to come down and kill them. They avoid the rift by taking a back way into the corridor with the Pattern.
[NOTE - Flora had a comment for Jean]
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