Chapter 4             Perdita and Cinder

The two cousins were already talking up a storm as Math began to lead them away from the library.

Cinder gave another one of her infectious grins.  "Well, like basketball is probably the best sport on the face of the planet..." She paused, "Well, er, where I'm from anyway.  It's hard to explain, but easy to show ya." She scuffed her knuckles on her tank top, "I'm, like, proud to say that I could probably out-move Michael Jordan himself, man." She frowned then, "But, um, you probably don't know who that is, do ya? Hmm..."

"Nope. Can't say that I do," Perdita replied. "Where I'm from it's called Rodeo. Real down and dirty. Buckin' broncos, bull riding, barrel racing, team roping and bulldoggin'. Earl Grey comes in real handy for some of those events." 

Cinder nodded, smiling, "Yah, we have those too. I never, like, you know, participated or anything, but it looked fun. Kinda dangerous too, I guess."  She shrugged "Who's Earl Grey?"

"Oh! Well, Earl Grey's my horse. Dad let me bring him along. He's down in the stables at the moment. We can go see him later, since he'll want to be fed. He's a Shire Draft. I thought he was a huge horse until I met Morgenstern--Dad's horse. I swear, Morgenstern must be some kind locomotive in disguise!"

"Wow, he sure sounds like a big horse alright," Cinder agreed. "And that'll be cool--I like horses." She smiled again.

She paused for a bit, walking down the hallway with Math and Perdita before continuing onward, "And, Steve Irwin is this guy who likes chases after alligators and sticks his head in their mouths and calls it 'REALLY EXCITING'" --using her best Aussie accent, of course--- "and like...he grabs snakes by their tails an' stuff, and picks 'em up, and calls 'em 'Little Sweethearts' an' stuff."  She paused, "He's kind of a nut, but he's a heckuva lot of fun to watch on the ole boob tube."

"He sounds like he's insane.  Kind of sounds like this guy back home called 'Backwoods Bob'.  He's really into nature and gators.  He puts a traveling show together of dangerous animals and gets real excited over it.  You'll forgive me if I ask just what the heck is a...what did you call it...?"   Perdita seemed to have turned red all of a sudden and barely choked out "Boob tube?" --then all in a rush to cover her embarrassment "From what dad's been telling me, I guess I come from what you'd call a primitive shadow.  We don't have --what did he call it again?" she paused and slowly enunciated  "electricity--or cars or technology.  I'm sorry, I probably sound like some uneducated backwoods hillbilly-hick or something!"  She broke off with a nervous giggle and pointed her eyes to the floor.  

Cinder nodded again, grinning, "Man, that sounds like Steve Irwin all right.  Total nutcase." 

Cinder put an arm around Perdita's shoulders tsking, "Now, now, jeez. That's like, you know, not your fault. I mean, you prolly know lots of stuff I don't cuz I'm like, well, a 'city girl'. Except for skiing, cuz you can't exactly do that down 5th and Main..." She stopped and gave Perdita's shoulders a squeeze.

"If ya want to know what all that other stuff is, just like ask. I mean, maybe we can go there sometime.  I bet Dad will take me back there if I like asked, an' you can meet my other family."  She backed off from her cousin, putting her arm back by her side, "And like, the boob tube is a television.  It receives pictures from faraway places, it's for entertainment, though mostly what's on it is junk."  She stopped again, frowning at Perdita, "You, like, never had a boyfriend, did you?"

Perdita smiled at this. "Um, no.  I had some real good friends who were all men, but nothing ever serious. I grew up being so different from everybody else that the men-folk seem to be afraid of me. I knew at an early age I was different, thanks to my dad. I either had people's likes or dislikes and there was no in-between. How 'bout you?"

Cinder frowned. "Well, that's kinda weird. I mean, course I knew I was special, but then so were Nathan and Athena--they're twins you know."  She sighed, "I'd like to be a twin, like, it'd be awesome."

She shrugged idly at the last question, "Well, yeah, I guess. I mean I dated and all, but like, no one was ever good enough." She smiles a bit, "Like, no one could keep up, y'know? And most were SOOOOO boring..."

By this point Math had already led the two girls up a flight of stairs--still within the family's wing, of course--letting the two of them chat as they saw fit. He was in the process of moving down some other hallways on the second floor.

Cinder touched Perdita's arm for a moment and gestured to a door.  "That's my room there, kay? So, like, if you need anything, just like, um, yoller or something."

"Sounds good.  Good to know you're close by." Perdita said before turning to Math.  She shifted the saddlebags again and looked over at him expectantly with a "What next?" look.

Math nodded, understanding that a continuation of the trek was desired.

The group of three moved along for a few hallways, then to another staircase, equally as spiraled as the first and equally as elaborate.  The stairs themselves seemed to be made of white marble and a carpet of red along the center of the staircase seemed to be made of a material that was high not only in quality but expense.  The rail appeared to be ivory, and the poles holding it up were oak.

The third floor seemed to have less rooms than the second and a staircase going up could be seen at the end of the hallway.

"My rooms are up the next flight, to the hallway to the right. If you ever need to find me at odd hours, that is most likely where I will be." Math gestured.  Perdita could tell by the look in his eye exactly what he meant.

Math stopped at the first door on the left. He took a key ring out of his pocket which held quite a high number of keys on it.  He shuffled through the keys, found one and removed it from the ring.

"This is the key," he said and handed it to her.  He stepped back waving his hand towards the door, "and this is your room."

Perdita paused only for a moment before trying the key in the lock. She 
gave Cinder another smile--it was obvious she was excited and maybe even a hint nervous. She turned the handle, put her weight against the door, beckoned Cinder to follow behind her and......

Cinder, of course, followed Perdita in, looking around curiously.

The door opened wide into a rather large room with wood walls and wood floor.  There was a large rug in the center of the room with plush chairs and tables set upon it.  Off to the right was a large fireplace complete with mantle, waiting to be adorned with knick-knacks.  Opposite the fireplace and around a corner, daylight could be seen streaming in through what must've been a window.  There were shelves in the walls and ample wall space for hanging things.  Small orbs about the size of a grapefruit hung on the walls also, giving off a soft glow.  On the wall between the fireplace and window was a pair of double-doors.

Perdita stepped in into the room enough to let Cinder follow in behind her. She looked around the room with wide eyes.

"Shoot howdy! This is mine? You could fit my whole house in here!"  She gingerly set the saddlebags down by the door and removed her hat.  She tentatively walked over to the rug, her spurs softly jangling.  She silently marveled over how soft and opulent it felt beneath her feet.  The whole room had a sense of "big" to it--not to mention clean and she was suddenly very aware of the dust she carried again.

"This is all so nice I'd almost be afraid to touch anything!" she muttered and headed for the double doors which she opened carefully to look inside.

The doors opened into a grand bedroom with a large, comfortable looking bed opposite the doors. On the right wall were two separate doors and between the bed and the right wall was a glass door that opened onto a balcony. The left wall also had a door onto a balcony. There was a bed stand on both sides of the bed as well as more of the large chairs, the bookshelves and the orbs were also in this room.

"The Grand Hotel doesn't even hold a candle to this place!" Perdita continued as she went to admire the view from one of the balconies.  She had a lovely view of Arden from one and a view of a vast expanse of water from the other.  She came back inside, unable to conceal her childlike wonderment and headed over to the huge bed.  Cinder continued to watch her in amusement.

"A person could get lost on a bed like that!" she gingerly reached out to feel the opulence of the comforter.  Perdita took in the sights with a child-like awe for a moment before mastering herself again. She took a look about the room again and came to stand by the foot of the bed again.  She took another moment to smack more of the dust off of herself as she carefully lowered herself onto the bed, holding onto one of the posts in case she were to sink into it.  Feeling that it was solid enough she lest herself lie all the way back and let out a happy sigh.

"Wow!" was all that was heard for a moment. She sat back up again a moment later, looking back at Cinder.

Cinder grinned. "Yah, pretty cool, isn't it?" Cinder crossed her arms for a moment, then uncrossed them. "So, like, what's your home like?"

"My home? Well, I'd say it's a whole lot simpler than this! It's almost like living out in Arden in a little house. There's just me, Ma and Earl. A room for her, a room for me, an itty bitty kitchen, a place to hang yer spurs and a barn for Earl. We live very simple-like," Perdita perched on the edge of the bed. "So what's you're home like?"

Cinder blinked, "My home? Uh, well..." She pauses, thinking hard on that for a
moment, "Well, it's like in California, so it's really hot and nice. I mean, like it hardly doesn't rain and it's not cloudy. Well, if you ignore the smog, that is.

"Um, we live in Beverly Hills, which is like the nice part of town, with a whole buncha movie stars. My dad's like, a lawyer? He's like...well, he's really rich. His name's Damien. My mom--her name's Lucy, or Lucretia--she's like a sorta housewife, but not really. She goes to a lot of parties and luncheons and stuff like that.

"I've got a brother and a sister (they're twins) and their names are Nathan and Athena. Both of 'em are sorta nice, but kinda not. I mean," she sighs, "I mean, you'd have to get to know 'em. Of course, Athena's not really herself nowadays, but like, that's not her fault.

"I just go to college, an' play basketball, an' sometimes softball.  Oh, and lotsa beach volleyball too.  I think you'd like it there." 

She paused, "Hey, like, there's like a big dinner tonight. Did you bring any
clothes, cuz I sorta forgot to pack." She blinked, "And I better get Fluffy
some food and litter at some point too. I bet he's really confused."

Perdita paused. "Well, I did bring my Sunday best--y'know, nice shirt, nice jeans, nice boots, but I've got a sinking feeling I'll be a bit underdressed.  Back home, nice is only required for Sundays and special occasions.  We work six days out of the week.  No matter how hard Ma tried, I've never made "dress" a part of my vocabulary and I've a sinking feeling that given the chance, Aunt Flora will do just that.  I like to go with what I know--besides that, my sword would look funny with a dress!" She smiles to herself with that one and removes her sword belt and sets it down on the bed before retrieving her saddlebags.

Cinder made a "hrm" sound as she looked at the sword.  "I don't think so, no.  But I'll tell you, I don't want that woman tryin' to dress me."  She "hrumphed" and shook her head again.  "Um, why do you carry about a sword?  Isn't that like, outdated in the Wild West?"

"No, actually," Perdita replied with a smile.  "Just about everyone has one or two.  We use swords instead of guns since they don't work where I'm from.  I guess you can say that Helwelena's a bit Old West meets Medieval Times.  Compared to Beverly hills, it's very backwater.  We don't even have--what'd you call 'em--movie stars.

"I was thinkin' I'll just clean up and change into a clean shirt before dinner.  Too bad if others think that's underdressed," she continued as the dusty leather chaps came off.  She put them in the closet along with her saddlebags and then put her sword back on.

"So who's Fluffy? Did you bring your pet?" she asked.

Cinder nodded.  "Yah, he's my cat.  A Persian, you know.  I think he's got papers an' stuff too."

Perdita gave a wry grin.  "Papers?  That must be some cat!"

Cinder smiled.  "Yah, he really is."  She blinked as she regarded Perdita again.  "Change into a clean shirt?  For dinner?"  She shook her head.  "No way.  I think it's gonna be, like, you know...a formal affair.  Like, dresses an' stuff."  She paused again with a grin as a new thought hit her.

"Hey, wait.  I bet we could prolly go out on the town, like, shoppin' an' stuff.  would you want to?"  

Perdita blinked, then smiled.  "Shopping.  Sounds like a good idea.  Just where are we goin'?"

"Good question," Cinder said.  "If you don't mind, I could get Daddy to show us around--I'm sure he's up for a good time on the town with two fine looking chicks like us."  She smiled and winked.

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, but I thought the closest city was hours away.  Think we'd be back in time?  Perdita seemed to warm ups to the idea as she began to realize her dress options.  She looked ready to go.

Cinder blinked again.  "I thought Amber was like, you know, a city?" she looked out the window.

"Oh.  I thought that Amber was the Castle and then Amber the City--I'm not sure now.  There was an awful lot of information to take in on the way over here.  This place is so huge, maybe it has a gift shop?" Perdita took a mild stab at humor.  Cinder made a "hrm" sound and seemed to consider it gravely.

"Well, I don't know.  I suppose it can't hurt to go out and have a look at this place, hmm?  And if we run into Math or Dad then we can get directions to the city and do some serious shopping, okay?"  Cinder was all smiles again, rather pleased with herself.

"It all sounds good to me!" Perdita smiled back.  "Shall we?"  She made a grand gesture toward the door.

"We shall," Cinder confirmed.  She began looking up and down the hall for any sign of Math or Bleys and began heading back in the direction from which they had originally come with Perdita close behind.

The duo found themselves in an empty hallway and had no trouble finding the stairs that led back down.  No sooner did they start heading down did Cinder bump into someone heading up.

Cinder gave a small, startled gasp and looked straight into the almond shaped eyes of Shinseki.  He was wearing what Perdita had guessed to be some kind of hiking outfit of browns and tans made of soft cloth and leather.  Perdita and Cinder had recognized him from his Trump.

"Oh, jeez, thanks from stopping me from tripping. Like, stairs are dangerous, y'know?" she cocked her head to one side, smiling sunnily and giving him her best 'dumb blond' happy look.

Shinseki took a moment to stare at Cinder, completely emotionless.  (If one could read "Vulcan" one might see "I stopped.  Why?  Oh, something bumped into me. Why did it bump into me?" on his face.)  He was giving absolutely no indication of even being aware of Perdita.  He continued on without saying a word.  They stood there and watched him, frowning slightly, until he had disappeared into the room next to Perdita's.

"Well, now, that was rude, Jeez.  After I thanked him too," she pouted a little, seemed to turn the matter over in her mind for only a moment, regained her happy smile with a shrug of "Whatever!" and began to bounce down the stairs again.  Perdita seemed to be mulling it over in her mind as she followed Cinder.  She had never been so blatantly ignored before by anyone.

They had found the entrance to the Family Wing again and found lots of people milling about and servants rushing all about.  Hallways seemed to extend in almost every direction.  Cinder looked about for a moment and then vaguely gestured to the left.

"Let's go that way.  It looks interesting," Cinder raised her eyebrows for an affirmation.  Perdita glanced down the indicated direction, gave a nod and a slight shrug of her shoulders and let Cinder lead the way.

"I just hope the new people we meet will be more friendly-like.  Could you believe the nerve of that guy?  I hope we don't meet anymore like him!"  Perdita said what was on her mind.

"Oh, I know," Cinder said as she led the way.  "It was like, so rude.  Uncle Gerard was friendly and so was dad and Leo and you of course, but I don't know about the rest of them.  Some of them...well, some are pretty intimidating."  Perdita nodded and a smile returned, indicating that she had let the incident go.

The two of them fell silent as they checked the place out.  They saw lots of people, lots of artwork and lots of stuff that would require the coffers of an entire nation just to furnish the interior of this castle.  At one point, the two of them saw the back of someone that definitely stood out from the crowd.  While everyone around was wearing expensive gowns and robes or just flat-out well-dressed, the two girls saw the back of a man  wearing a leather jacket, the word PUNK scrawled across the back in jagged letters.  He seemed to be taking everything in and successfully ignoring any and all of the well-dressed who try to speak with him.  In the process of taking things in, he turned around and the girls could see his face: clean-shaven, with a business-style haircut, and brown hair.  There was a five-pointed star on the lapel of his jacket.  He also appeared to be wearing a nice shirt, pressed pants, and expensive-looking shoes.  If it weren't for the leather jacket, he probably wouldn't have been standing out in the crowd.

Cinder skipped up to the man and just gave him a big old hug--huge hug--enormously huge. "Why, you must a cousin!" she positively giggled and danced back a step or two. "I can tell these things you know. Where's the rest of your hair?"

Perdita stood back and watched this exchange with amusement and a smile.

I mean, how can you not smile with this girl around?  She tried to suppress a chuckle of her own.

He blinked a few times, mouth partially open.  Eventually he managed a "Huh?" It took him a few moments, but he then recovered.  "'Cousin'?"  He looked at Cinder more closely.  He then noticed Perdita and looked at her the same way.

"Oh, I see.  Yeah, I guess we are cousins.  My name's Vyvyan."  He held out his hand.

"I'm Cinder!" she ignored his outstretched hand and gave him another hug.

"And I'm Perdita.  Pleasure," she smiled and tilted her hat with a wink.

"Pleasure's mine.  Let's see...  You're Julian's, aren't you? And you would be.." he studied Cinder again for another moment.  "Fiona's?"

"Humph!  More like Bleys' problem," she pouted, but only for an instant.

"It would appear that there's a great deal more to the family now that Trumps work again.  They seem to be coming out of the shadows almost hourly," Vyvyan commented.

Cinder snorted very indelicately, "Like, that's prolly the only way Daddy dear would bring me here.  He's SOOOOO like, ashamed he's old enough to have kids or something."  She smiled again, "But, poopy as he might be, it's still like, nice to know I wasn't weird or something.  And that there are other people like me."

Vyvyan had trouble suppressing a snort at Cinder's comment.  "Undoubtedly, you'll eventually come to a time when you'd wish there weren't others like you."

"Ah.  So that's what all the gatherin's for," Perdita said brightly.  "I just managed to activate dad's Trump earlier today and he came and got me as soon as I did.  So you might know--why the family reunion?"

He turned to Perdita.  "So you activated a Trump without previous training, eh?  That's pretty good."  He nodded approval. Perdita turned a little red as she nodded her head.  She bit her tongue and checked herself from gushing "'Twer'nt nothin'."  She let Vyvyan continue.

"As to the Gathering, well, yes, I know why it's been called.  But it involves a bit of a history lesson."  He paused, waiting for a sign from either--or both--of the girls to go on.  Once he had that, he continued.

"More than a thousand years ago, as Amber counts time, our land was a prosperous land.  Things were going very well, and we had to do little to make sure things didn't fall apart.  Well, in the king's eyes, we apparently got too complacent, so he decided to kick all of us out of Amber for a thousand years.  That exile is now spent, and it's time for all of us to come back.  Random made it an order, for some reason, but I don't know why."  He shrugged.  "He also told us that, if we had any kids in the millennium, that we should bring them back with us.  Gave that the weight of an order, too.  So here we all are, back in the Shining City, new blood in tow.  Can't say that it's the best of scenarios, but it's better than being thrown into the Abyss."  He seemed as if he was reliving a memory as he said it.

"Oh!" Cinder exclaimed, then dropped into silence as she absorbed the new information. "So, like, you know a lot about the history of this place then? Like, Daddy didn't tell me anything, just kind of dragged me here." She
pondered, "So, like is Luke Fiona's or Brand's? And who's Brand? And what's the Abyss, is it like, you know, Hell or something?" She paused for a breath, "Oh, and like can you tell us about our uncles and aunts and cousins and stuff more? Daddy didn't tell me very much, and...well, jeez, do I have any brothers or sisters? I mean, you know..." She pauses a bit with a sly smile, "I just met Daddy and all, but I can tell he's a player. It's kind of hard to imagine that he doesn't have other kids around. I  mean, jeez. Oh, and why is this place called the "Shining City"? And...um..." She stopped, "Well, I guess that's all I have for now."

Vyvyan blinked repeatedly at the barrage of unexpected questions.  He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts.

"Well," he said, "let's go over those questions in order.  Luke is Brand's son.  Brand is--was--the brother of Fiona and Bleys, the son of Clarissa.  The Abyss is, well, precisely that.  It is also Brand's resting place, if one can actually find rest there."  He held up a hand to stay Cinder's expression regarding his lack of real answers.  "I can get you a book from the library, if you want.  It's a novelization of Corwin's journals and it explains quite a lot.

"As for the family, well, that'll take a bit."  He shifted his stance to a more comfortable one.  "The House of Amber starts with Dworkin Barimen.  His son, Oberon, was king of Amber for millennia.  He had many children; some died, some didn't."  He shrugs.  "Such is the way of things.  Osric and Finndo are practically nothing but dim memories now.  Benedict and his brothers were the first group born to Oberon and Benedict is the only one who remembers them.  Even Eric, who followed Benedict, didn't remember them.  Benedict is the master-of-arms of the family, and we're all pretty sure that his brothers were pretty good, too.  Eric, Corwin, and Deirdre make up the next group of Oberon's kids.  Eric is dead, now and he sat as king or regent, depending on who you ask, during a short time before the Patternfall War.  Corwin and Eric hated each other, but Corwin claims to have settled his differences after Eric was killed in battle.  He drew his own Pattern and he now lives exclusively in his own universe behind that Pattern of his.  Deirdre died during the Patternfall War when Brand dragged her into the Abyss with him as he fell."  He shook his head.  "Shame, too.  She was pretty cool, once you got to know her.  The next trio was Fiona, Bleys and Brand, but Llewella was born between Bleys and Brand.  From what I heard, there were a number of complications regarding that situation.  The Redheads, as Fi, Bleys and Brand are commonly referred to as, are all talented sorcerers.  Brand was also a Trump artist.  Llewella was born to then-Queen Moiré of Rebma.  Consequently, she had a tendency to spend most of her time there.  She never had much interaction with the family; 'sprobably why she's so normal."  Vyvyan shrugged.  "My mother, Florimel, was born after Brand.  There's, well, just not much to say about her.  She's pretty easy to figure out once you watch her for a while.  Caine, Julian, and Gérard were the next--and last--trio.  Caine and Gérard took to Amber's navy more than the rest of their siblings and Julian took his home in Arden.  We've all had our stints in the army, navy, rangers, and all, but some of us actually liked them.  Julian liked the Rangers to much that he became the best of them, and eventually took them over at Oberon's decree.  Caine and Gérard became fleet admirals.  Caine eventually died, killed by Luke with a sniper's rifle.  Sand and Delwin were born after Gérard, but Oberon got them so mad that they permanently left Amber for Shadows unknown.  Random was born after Delwin and for the longest while we thought he was going to stay the youngest of Oberon's children, but then we eventually found out about Dalt, Coral and Math and that descriptor for Random was lost. 

"Our generation is a little different, though we do seem to take after our elders.  I'm pretty sure I'm the oldest of our generation, but I've heard rumors of another who--if he were alive--would be older than me.  I was
born during the Golden Age of Amber, long before the events that brought about Dalt's existence.  Shinseki was born after me--and Dalt.  He was very different back then, before he saw his mother killed.  Much happier.  Passionate about the things he liked.  Now, though, he just doesn't seem to care about much of anything at all.  Natasha was the first of us born after Math, and she was born about half a century, at least,  before Patternfall, as Amber counts time.  She was in her early twenties when she got to Amber, though.  And her appearance is attributed to her dad, some Shadow-guy.  Pigments worked weird there and the males also took on the fetus after a few weeks.  This explains how she got into the family after her mom died.  See, Corwin was walking through some Shadows and just happened to find her, as happens quite often with our kind when walking through Shadow, (kinda like two steel balls on stretched rubber; they tend to gravitate towards each other).  Well, he found Nat and brought her here.  He sponsored her, out of memory for his sister, and got her to walk the Pattern.  She takes after her mom a lot and is a very good  warrior.  The next four were all born close to the same time: Martin, Luke, Darniil, and Malaclypse.  Martin, being the youngest of our generation at the time, was picked by Brand, when he found out about him, to be used as a sacrifice in an attempt to destroy Amber.  Brand failed and Martin managed to live.  Luke was born to Brand not long after that.  He learned sorcery and other things, and gained a great hate for Caine when he found out that Caine was the one who killed Brand.  That's why he assassinated Caine, you see.  Blood calls for blood.  Darniil was born to Dara, a descendant of Benedict's, somewhere around the time that Luke was born.  He was raised out in Shadows near Chaos, and taught Shape-Shifting by his mother.  He eventually found his way here and walked the Pattern.  Since then he's been the sculptor of Amber.  Malaclypse was brought to Amber shortly before Patternfall by Caine, though I'm pretty sure he's just a little younger than Darniil.  Mal took after his dad in much the same way that Nat took after her mom.  Mal has even managed to pick up the nickname 'Malaclypse of the Thirteen Daggers.'  He met Reetha in Chaos while the family was stuck there right after Patternfall and eventually convinced her to come back here with him.  Dar brought Aloria Dann to Amber after Merlin was crowned Emperor of Chaos.  She's a painter, and a damn good one at that.  Geo was born a while after her.  I forgot Merlin, though.  He's the
son of Corwin and Dara and was born probably around the same time as Luke, since they actually went to school together.  But he's been in Chaos for the past few thousand years, so I tend to forget he's one of us.

"The only person who might be older than me could be your brother, Cinder.  I remember when I was young hearing rumors about a son of Bleys', but I never met him, nor did I ever hear much more than rumor.  If he existed--or exists--his name's Ignis. 

"'Shining City' is just a nickname we've given Amber.  It goes hand-in-hand with The Perfect City, The One True World, Home, and anything else we might decide to call it.  Although, now that I think about it, 'Shining City' would probably be a better descriptor for Tir."  He shrugged.

"Wow! Well!  I sure like what I've seen so far," Perdita said, with a big smile of her own. "Actually, Cinder and I were just on our way to do a little shopping. However, seeing that we've only been here for a few hours, we don't know our way around all that well. We're practically wearing all we own.  I don't suppose you'd know of someone or someplace that could help us-girls out with a little clothes shopping?  You seem to know the place well enough like the back of your hand.  So does that make you from here originally?" Perdita smiled again, making light conversation.

"Yeah, I'm from here originally.  I was born back in the "golden days" as my Mom and her siblings call it, though it didn't really seem all that golden to me.  Especially with that plague that came through shortly after I was born.  But we all got past that and life went on.  Consequently, I'm very familiar with the surrounding area, and the surrounding Shadows in the Golden Circle.  If you're looking to be back before dinner tonight, then you'll probably want to stick to Amber City instead of going to Kashfa or somewhere else in the Circle.  There's a very good formal wear place that I know about, and a number of casual dress places as well.  I could give you
directions-- well, no, it'd take too long to walk there and back.  I can walk you two to the carriages and have the driver take you there.  That'd be pretty quick."  He arched an eyebrow questioningly.

"That'd be great," Cinder said, "But I have one more question." She waited for his nod or assent  "What's the Pattern?"

Perdita shot Cinder a quick look of "You had to ask!?"  Which went unnoticed and ignored.  She put an expectant smile on her face and looked to Vy.

Vy inhaled as he adjusted his stance and took another look at Cinder.  "Well," he said, "you certainly do ask the big questions, don't you?  Come on, I'll explain as we go to the stables."  He held his arm out and walked alongside the two as he lead them to the stables.

"Well, let's see.  Quite literally, the Pattern is a mass of squiggly, blue lines on the floor in one of the lowest levels of the castle.  Materially, we're not quite sure of what it's made of.  Intrinsically, it is the heart of our Universe.  Mystically, it is a Great Power, such as the Shadows have never before seen.  And inherently, it is the core of our very beings.  Even though you've never walked it before, you both have still been influenced by it.  You've noticed it before, but you were different than the people you grew up around.  Maybe you were faster, or stronger.  Perhaps smarter, or just plain lucky.  Either way, neither of you would be who you are today without it."

He continued to walk but he seemed to be realigning his mental tracks.  "Random will most likely want all of you newcomers to walk the Pattern.  You're all close enough to the age of majority in Amber, and I know that he wouldn't want any of you to be defenseless in this new world you're being exposed to.  Hells, he may even ask that you spend some time in Shadows unfamiliar to you so that you might better learn about what it means to be an Amberite."

"Uh," Cinder began, "So a mass of squiggly blue lines gives Amberites power over worlds?" She shook her head, "Am I, like, the only that doesn't make sense to?" She smiled then and bounced along the path with Vy and Perdita.

"What's the age of majority? I'm like, already over 21, you know." 

Vy glances back at Cinder with a shrug.  "Well, there's more to it than just the lines, but the explanations are so convoluted and complex that to understand it all is to spend decades studying it.  Which you could, if you
wanted to; you've got the genes for it, Cinder, for sure.  But yes, the Pattern is a mystery to most Amberites, and even to many of the Blood--the Royal Family.

"And since natives of Amber have long life-spans, especially the Blood, the age of majority here is a quarter-century.  But considering the circumstances, not only of your arrivals, but also of your origins, I think
Random will overlook the fact that some of you might be younger."

"Oh, that's excellent," Cinder beams, "I'm 27, so, like, in the age, right?" She bobbed her head a bit, and glanced around. "Ok, so like, what do you do then? I mean, like, you're old, right? Really old, but maybe not so old as the other people around here, and you've like, studied stuff, right? Or just kind of a jack-of-all-trades?"

"Well, we've all had plenty of time to learn a bunch of things; just about everyone in the family could be certified as a medical doctor, for example.  Everybody knows most of the basics: medicine, mathematics, sciences, technology, strategies, animal handling, psychology.  Some even learn the basics of magic.  After that, though, we have a tendency to specialize.  Fiona, Bleys, Math, and I, we specialize in magic.  Gérard specializes in brute strength.  Benedict, Natasha, Julian, Dalt and Malaclypse specialize in weapons and tactics of varying sorts and degrees.  Llewella, Mom, Luke, and Random seem rather well-rounded.  Darniil and Aloria are Shape-Shifters primarily.  Shinseki and Martin are enigmas to me.  And Geo's still kinda young, so I'm not too sure about him yet.

"But no, we're not all Jack of All Trades.  Most specialize in something.  Ah, here we are."  Vy walked up to a wooden door and opened it.  Inside it was an area that made Perdita feel almost at home; horse-gear is was everywhere.  There were a number of people, too, going about their business. 

"Ah, Duke Vy, so good to see you," one of the stable hands said, rising.  "Going riding so soon after your return?"

"No, not quite, Tim.  These are new cousins of mine.  This is Perdita, daughter of Julian, and this is a daughter of Bleys who still hasn't bothered to tell me her name," he smiled.

Tim bowed his head with his hand to his chest.  "Ladies."

"They need to go into town to get some clothes and I thought you might be able to spare a coach for them."

"Oh, of course," he said jumping out from behind his desk and walking towards a hallway.  "Please, follow me."

The group followed Tim to a rather well-kept waiting area.  "You could have just called me, you know.  We usually just meet people at the front."

"Yeah, I could have," he smiled in response.  "But these two will need to learn the layout of the castle anyways, so why not start now?  And I know that Perdita, if not Cinder, will want to stop by here often."

Tim nodded at that.  "Understood.  Let me go get a driver and have a coach prepared."  He started to walk off and suddenly stopped.  "Where will they be going?"

"I was thinking Grayson's Fineries and possibly The Circle's Fashions if they want to.  Formal-wear will be needed for tonight, but casual wear can wait if they want."  He said the last part looking at the pair, obviously
letting them know that that part was up to them.

"Right," nods Tim as he walks off.

"That's Tim Eldberg, Chief of the Stables.  He makes sure the carriages and other equipment are in top shape, as well as making sure that the horses and riders are healthy and skilled.  The only horse he doesn't take care of is Morgenstern, Julian's horse; Julian takes care of him personally."

Cinder nodded, absorbing all the information that Vy had spewed out in the last half hour or so. She smiled a 'hello' to Tim and had a look at the horses and carriages about with some interest.

"Pardon me, but could you tell me where they've stabled the new horse?" Perdita stopped a stableman passing by.

"Oh, uh, 'e's over that," he pointed off to an area off to the side, away from the entrance.  "'e's a fine 'orse.  Is 'e your'n?"  He seemed to really see Perdita for the first time as he looked up at her in his reply.  His expression changed as he seemed to realize something and he quickly averted his eyes again.

"Oh!  Ah'm sorry, Lady, for talkin' so informally.  Ah didn't know!"  Perdita noticed Vy watching her with a small amount of disinterest.

"Oh, that's a'right," she smiled warmly at the flustered stableman and glanced back at Vy. "I take it you're not a big horse fan? This'll only take a minute. I just handed him off to a bunch of strangers and didn't see him settled in myself when I first got here. I just wanted to make sure he was adjusting okay--which I'm sure he is--and then we can go." She turns back to the stableman to follow him over to Earl's stall.

Cinder watched as well with some interest.  "We have all the time in the world, Cuz. Like, don't sweat it." She smiled, then continued to have a look around.

Perdita beckoned to Cinder and Vy to follow as she headed for Earl's stall.

Cinder bounced along perkily after Perdita. Once they arrived at the stall Cinder smiled, "This one yours, then?"

"Yup," Perdita said with a hint of pride and gestured toward the massive shire draft horse.  "Meet Earl Grey."  She turned back to her horse.  "Just makin' sure you're doin' a'right."   She reached over the half door and gave him a hug around the neck.

Earl Grey stomped in his stall happily at the sight of Perdita and nuzzled up to her with a soft whicker as she gave him his hug.  He seemed rather happy as she was approaching the stall and even more so now that he was with his mistress again.

"Nice horse," Vy commented, breaking his silence.  "As to earlier, the disinterest was with the stableman, not the idea of horses.  The Family has different requirements as to how the servants treat them, and most of them, to be safe, go the sniveling servant route when they first meet a new Family member.  Personally, I can't stand that."  Earl Grey seemed to be searching for a treat.

Cinder tossed her hair artfully, "Well, like, duh. I mean, we're like, royalty, right? So, like, people suck up. It's a fact of life." She shrugged her shoulders, "I mean, can't really blame them when we can go all like 'off with their head' an' stuff."

"Sure.  Never had anyone really go to pieces like that for me.  I think it's flattering at the moment; maybe I'll find it annoying before long."  She reached into a pocket and promptly provided Earl a few sugar cubes.  "That's my boy!"  Earl Grey happily accepted the gifts from his mistress.

Cinder pat the horse on the nose, "He seems nice, that's for sure." She smiled at her cousins. "Well, shall we, like, go?"

"A marvelous idea," a voice sounded from behind them.  It was Tim.  "The carriage is ready, and the driver has been instructed to take you where you want to go.  If you'll follow me."  Tim lead the group through the stables to the outside where a carriage with a rampant unicorn on a green field emblazoned on its side was waiting.  A driver stood at the door holding it open.

Vy helped the two girls in.  "I'd go with you," he began, "but I've got a few things to work on here before dinner tonight.  Don't worry, though; you're in good hands with William, here."  Vy indicated the middle-aged-looking driver with a nod of his head.

"You're too kind, Lord Vy," William said somewhat dryly.

Vy, ignoring the comment, closed the carriage door once the two were in.  "Like I said, just let him know where you want to go once you're done with the first shop, and William'll take you there."  He stepped back from the carriage, giving William a look, who promptly climbed into the driver's seat and readied the horses.  Vy gave a wave/salute to the pair, and with the quick word of destination from Perdita, the carriage was on the move to the tailor's. 

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