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October 1, 2000 |
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Palace at Kashfa...
Yosannah is arguing with a servant girl, "I know he cleaned out his room, I'm not looking for him! I"m looking fo his brother."
Edwin enters, yawning, "Hello?"
This man is tall and spare,
and seems to have been drained of color, except for a single vivid
green eye, the right one. The left eye is covered by an eyepatch of
black, the same color as his clothes, which are simple and
utilitarian. His hair, also black, frames a face with an expression
that tends towards solemnity in its dormant state, though it springs
into expressive vibrancy when he speaks.
Edwin rubs his eye.
Yosannah regards Edwin, "Wonderful, are you the butler or something? Can you help me?"
Edwin laughs a little. "Who are you looking for?"
"Edward.. ah. No, sorry. Edwin."
Edwin extends his hand, "That's me."
Yosannah bites her lip, "Oops. Ah, sorry." She holds out her hand, "Yosannah. Well, just Yo. I've been trying to get in touch with you. Hi."
Edwin shakes her hand firmly. "No apologies necessary. Sometimes I think I'd rather be the butler. Are you the mysterious Y?"
Yosannah crumples up her nose, "Mysterious what?"
Edwin says "I got a note from someone who signed their name "Y". Is that you?"
"Yeah." She smiles, "That was me." She looks you over, "Did you just get up. I can drop by later."
"No, I always look like this. You want some coffee?"
Yosannah smirks, "Ah, coffee. Sure, with lots of cream and sugar though."
Edwin smooths his rumpled clothes and sits down. "How can I help you? Something to do with Damen?"
Yosannah joins you, "Yeah. Actually. How'd you figure it was about Damen?"
"That's what the note said. Plus, you said something about a brother to Jane." Edwin waves in the direction of the vanished servant.
"Yeah, well. How well do you know Damen, Edwin. I don't imagine very well."
"Not at all. I've exchanged maybe two words with him, ever. He didn't seem very... friendly when I met him."
Yosannah nods. "I was hoping you good do a favor for me. As your would be sister-in-law, that is."
"Oh? You are going to marry him? Congratulations." Edwin smiles warmly.
Yosannah smiles, "See, there's the trouble. You didn't even know. He doesn't share much with you guys. He was trying to work on a relationship with your dad... and then you got named as heir of this place and.. well.." She shrugs.
"And now he's told my mother he's going to destroy Kashfa."
Yosannah just smiles and shakes her head.
Edwin says "I can't think of a less offensive way to say this... but did he ever hear the expression, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"?"
Yosannah laughs, "You really don't know a thing about your brother, Edwin. There 's a lot of history there. Especially with your grandfather."
Edwin says "That doesn't excuse him from being... well, mean to everyone he meets."
Yosannah sighs, "I'm not trying to justify his behavior. But I don't doubt that he intends to make good on his word. Or at least attempt to. I'd hate to see that. This whole thing reminds me of the middle child syndrome - you know. The one that never feels like they're getting enough attention."
Edwin says "You know we're only stepbrothers, right?"
She nods, "Yes."
Edwin says "I feel bad about it, but what am I supposed to do?"
Yosannah shakes her head, "I... I don't know. Help me to smooth this over, I guess. Though I'm not exactly sure how to do that."
"From the way he's behaved towards me, I feel like anything I try could only make it worse. Especially with the threat..."
Yosannah nods quietly, "Edwin, I know sometimes Amberites take it for granted that because they are who they are that nothing can touch them... I guess what I'm trying to say is that - if this doesn't get resolved I truly believe he'll make good on his word. I mean, you don't know the people that he associates with. I just don't want to... Christ, He'd be so pissed off if he knew that I was here."
Edwin says "I understand all of that. I just don't know what I can do about it."
She considers, "I don't know. Maybe try to smooth things over with your grandfather... though Alayne has tried to do that a number of times." She exhales.
"Alayne is someone else who has never felt it necessary to actually talk to me." The coffee arrives, one cup black, and one cup with lots of cream and sugar. Edwin takes the cup of black coffee.
Yosannah smiles, "Thank you."
"Have I mentioned how much I appreciate your directness and candor?"
She wraps both hands around the mug, "Gee, thanks" She laughs."
"Why do I have to hear from you and my mother how Damen feels? It really doesn't make me WANT to help him."
"I don't think, no. I know there are no personal hard feelings against you. He doesn't know you. And he's not like that. I think this is more about his relationship with Luke and Brand. And maybe a little resentment against your mother."
"We don't even know where Luke is, to be honest. And I've never even met Brand."
Yosannah laughs, "From what I've heard, because I've met him only in passing, you aren't missing much." She then pauses, realizing where she is perhaps, "I mean, just that he's so ..."
"My dad always said he was kind of... freaky."
Yosannah nods and makes a little twirling motion with her finger up near the side of her head. She sets her mug down, "Well, maybe I should get out of your hair."
"If I can think of anything to do... I guess. I'll give it a try."
Yosannah nods, "I appreciate that. Truly." She moves to stand, "Edwin. I don't mean to pry but - what happened to your eye."
"I, uh. I went insane for awhile. Literally. plucked it out myself."
Yosannah winces, "I ah see." She turns as if to move away but then turns back, "I only ask because Damen wore a patch for a while. He had a similar problem..."Her voice trails off.
"Oh yeah?"
"Coincidence, I'm sure." She holds out her hand, "Thank you for your time - and the coffee."
Edwin shakes her hand again. "It didn't have anything to do with Eric, did it?"
Yosannah pauses, mid-shake, "Actually, indirectly..."
"Really? Anything to do with a jewel?"
Yosannah laughs, "No, now knock that off."
"Seriously."
Yosannah nods all serious-like, "Seriously."
"Okay" Edwin releases her hand.
Yosannah slides her hand into an inner pocket of her jacket and retrieves a silver case. She pops it open and snatches up a small picture, "Take care, Edwin..."
Later....
Hell's Kitchen...
Mallik climbs the staircase to the The balcony.
Yosannah slams the front door behind her and presses her back up against it.
Mallik lounges at the balcony's edge, chair back leaning against the wall, and boots propped atop the railing. A rather large pump shot-gun rests across his lap, and it's lifted suddenly at the door slamming. He leans forward a bit, gun balanced on the railing. "Hell, you alright girl?" The barrel of the gun indicates the boarded up windows. "Serpent knows it's bloody dangerous out there." The room is littered with bullet-riddled appliances; a jukebox, a refridgerator, et cetera. The windows are all boarded up, and a small cache of automatic weapons is arrayed on both the bar's counter, and the half-table nearest Mallik.
This frame's theme is that of
a general slenderness; not fragile, merely compact. His shoulders are
the exception to the rule, in that their breadth lends a measure of
regal strength to his stature. The face is narrow, angular features
affecting severity. Oft-narrowed eyes of crisp blue are cornered with
crow's feet. Beneath the sharp, straight nose, is a thin-lipped
mouth. His hair is short, neatly feathered and black. His garb
strikes a mild contrast to the stern precision of his features: this
vesture evinces the notion of comfort through the easy drape of soft
fabrics. The loose-knit grey sweater's neck hangs just off kilter,
and the arms billow slightly above where long sleeves roll to the
elbows. The sweater's hem hangs just over the belt loops of decidedly
broken in stone-washed jeans, the pant-legs of which tuck into sturdy
black work boots. From shoulder to hip is cinched a leather strap,
which supports the angled scabbard of a straight, heavy
blade.
Yosannah gasps at his voice and jumps. "Jesus," she exhales. "Fine. Some wacko jumped me in the alley... chased me all the way here." She looks around, "Where am I?"
Mallik slides off of the chair, its front legs thudding heavily against the floor. He paces toward the staircase, shot-gun's muzzle indicating her briefly as he goes. "This is Hell's Kitchen, more literally than it used to be. Specifically, the George and Dragon tavern - my humble abode." The gun twitches to the side, indicating the door. "You aren't some demon trickster, mm?"
Yosannah regards the weapon, her back still pressed firmly against the door, "No. I'm not. I know this is the Kitchen, I've just never been in this part of it before. I haven't been here in a while, actually. I was looking for someone."
Mallik's wrist twists, and the muzzle is turned upwards. He inclines his head, curtly, steps carrying him toward the counter. "It's changed a bit. I come here to think, sometimes, but no one else frequents this place these days. Doubt you'll find anyone other than demons and psychopaths, in this neck of the woods."
Yosannah drops her head and closes her eyes, "..goddamnit.."
Mallik leans over the bar, free hand used to rummage about for a moment, and finally producing a small first-aid type kit, which clinks against the bar as it's set down. He surveys the other again, through narrowed eyes. "Hnh. Something the matter with you?"
Yosannah shakes her head, "Nah, I'm just out of breath... I was trying to find this woman's husband. She's from here, I was hoping... Ah, forget it. So what's happend to this place?"
Mallik's shoulders roll, heavily, as he steps around the edge of the bar. A pair of beer-bottles are collected from beneath the counter, capped, and set out atop the counter. "No one's really sure, so far as I know. The obvious, of course -- the demons and so forth. The shadow's changed on some fundamental levels, as well, though I can't say what caused the shift," He pauses for a breath, and a sip at his beer, "Unless your friend's husband is a sturdy fellow, with lots of firepower, I don't think he'd last long out here."
Yosannah moves to stand before a boarded up window. She makes a brief effort to see out into the city through a crack, "She's not my friend. And I don't know her husband, actually. So, maybe he's dead for all I know."
Mallik motions her back, quickly, with the bottle's neck. "Careful. They try to get in, occasionally." He offers a small nod, then. "Probably dead, yeah."
She takes a long look around the room. "How come you didn't shoot me when I came in?" she asks, her attention lingering up on the balcony.
Mallik stands and descends from The balcony.
Yosannah takes an absent-minded step back as he climbs down the balcony.
Mallik shrugs, lightly. "Prettier than most of the demons--the claws and fangs, you know." He drops onto the stool behind the counter, and props the elbow of the beer-toting arm atop the counter. He elaborates: "I tend to look before I shoot. Every so often another person'll show up, and I'd hate to put a hole in someone undeserving."
Yosannah laughs uneasily, "How can you be so sure I'm undeserving"
Mallik tilts his beer back, sips. He shrugs again. "I don't, for sure. You look less deserving than most, though. And if you suddenly become deserving, well.." His voice trails off, and he fishes a beer out of the cooler. Sets it down on her side of the counter.
Yosannah strolls casually over to the counter and chuckles, "What. You'll shoot me?" She laughs and shakes her head.
Mallik nods, minutely. "Most likely, yes."
Yosannah's smile fades, "That's not funny."
Mallik shakes his head. "Not really, no." He tilts his head to the side, sharply, neck creaking a bit. "Don't turn into a walking, carnivorous appliance, or try to consume my very soul, or anything like that, and you'll be fine."
Yosannah eyes the beer bottle, "Consume your soul, huh. You don't have a girl then do you." She looks up to meet your gaze, "I'm not much for beer, by the way."
Mallik's head tilts back the other way, as though he's deliberately avoiding that sort of gaze meeting. He squints toward the door. "Eh. She doesn't consume my soul in a literal sense." He gestures vaguely with the bottle, perhaps indicating something behind the bar. "There's some other stuff left. What are you much for?"
"Coffee. Hot Chocolate. I'm cold."
Mallik chuckles, quietly. "It's all on ice, and the coffee machine tried to kill me the other day." He sets his beer down, sits up straight, and extends a hand into the air, toward the door. "I'll find you some, and introduce yourself and tell me your story. How's that sound?"
Yosannah shakes her head, "Sorry. My name is Yo. How 'bout you?"
Mallik's extended hand meshes with something insubstantial, forming a brief ripple of green-tinged black in the air before him. A shifting tendril of translucent, inky black extends a few feet prior to vanishing. He grants her a distracted nod. "Mallik."
Yosannah watches him intently as she repeats, "..Mallik. Hm." She bites at her lip. "Well, I'm uh, from the Sun. I'm not sure what kind of story you're looking for though. Are you Chaosian?"
Mallik's eyes narrow, though remain focused on something in the distance. "The sun? Eh?" His shoulders twitch. "Your story. Who are you, what do you do? And so on. Yes. Hendrake."
Yosannah nods, "I figured as much. That magic you're doing, it looks like something my friend Merlin used to do." She watches you a bit longer and then, "Um, I'm nobody special, if that's what you mean. I practice law in my home shadow. I uh used to live on Shadow earth until I found the Sun and then I lived at the Gideon Club for a while." She shrugs. "Is that the sort of story you're looking for?"
Mallik twists the extended arm's wrist, sharply, and jerks. A tray laden with a mug and pitcher slides onto the counter, out of a blur of black and green. "That's about it, yes."
"What about you?" Mallik says "I'm the reigning Archduke of Hendrake, in the Courts. Merlin -- if he's the same one I know -- is a distant cousin, through my grandfather's sister." He tilts his beer's neck toward the tray. "Help yourself."
Yosannah smiles, "Thank you." She reaches for the pitcher, "Merle Corey is who I'm refering to." She fills the mug.
Mallik rolls his shoulders. "Don't know that particular alias. Merlin Sawall is the one I'm thinking of." His boots are replaced on the cooler beneath the counter, elbow again rested on the bartop. "Don't recognize the 'Sun' you mentioned, though I think I've heard mention of the Gideon club. Forget where, exactly."
"I think that's him. He never took me to Chaos, but we talked about it." She pauses, quietly, for a moment as if reflecting. "Ah, Banished Sun and the Club... the shadow is nearby, actually."
Mallik says "Banished Sun--yes, I do recall hearing of that. Some explosion a while back, and rumors of treachery and so forth." He sips, nods. "What ever happened with that?"
Yosannah smiles, "Things have a way of getting taken care of there. It's been cleaned up."
Mallik lifts his chin a bit. "Ah." He gestures vaguely with the bottle, as he speaks, "Did they ever catch the culprit?"
"Now that you mention it, I don't think he.. they have. Or at least they haven't sought retribution."
Mallik whips the muzzle of his shotgun around, and a short blast of flame erupts from its barrel, a shell tearing off the paw of a demon attempting to intrude. Yosannah jumps and drops her mug on the floor. Mallik snorts. "Vermin." And then he nods to Yosannah. "Ah, interesting." He cranes his neck a bit, squints at the shattered mug. "They're not very considerate demons," He notes. Another mug is fetched from behind the counter, and set before her.
"Christ. I guess not."
Mallik's shoulders rise, slightly. "Evil flesh-eating demons aren't ordinarily considerate, I suppose."
"Do you have any paper towels or something....Jesus, look at this mess.
Mallik collects a handful of napkins from beneath the bar, and tosses them onto the counter. "No real point to cleaning, but if you insist--help yourself."
Yosannah grabs up the napkins and drops them to the floor. She uses her foot to dab up the mess, "Tell me about you, now, come on."
Mallik tilts his head, squints at Yosannah, as she dabs. "What do you want to know?"
Yosannah attempts to meet his gaze, again, with a smile, "You're *story* of course."
Mallik draws an eyebrow up, a small fraction, gaze again shifted toward the gap in the window's boards. "Not a whole lot to tell, truth be told. I was reared in Shadow, grew up, returned to Hendrake, and took up serving her in the best fashion I was able. Jenner claimed me as his son, and I inherited the family, during a most unpleasant time in Chaos. Things got a bit better, and now we're at war with Amber again."
Yosannah gives up trying to catch his attention, "Yeah, well. The War seems to be the only issue on anybody's mind these days.
Mallik tosses the shot-gun once, pumps it, flips it around and catches the pistol-grip in a hand. "It's a pretty all-encompassing issue, mm?"
"I guess so."
Mallik says "Tough to worry about the price of silver on the open market with a cosmic conflict looming overhead."
"Sure."
Mallik shrugs. "Something else you think is more important?"
"Me." She smirks.
Mallik glances back at her, squints, looks at the windows again. "Hnh. You're joking, right?"
"Nope. Me and mine. That's all that matters. Something wrong with that?"
"Works fine for a personal philosophy. In fact, I think everyone holds a certain derivative of that to heart. It encompasses a lot more when you add 'and mine.'"
Yosannah smiles, "So.." She pauses, "You've got a girl. Where is she?"
Mallik says "Leading an army, somewhere. Not certain where, exactly, at the moment."
Yosannah shifts her weight, "You two married?"
Mallik says "Were for a while. Had to end it for political reasons, but, we're still together. Odd situation."
"Politics. I hate politics. So, you two in love?"
Mallik forms a small smile, accompanied by a small nod. "Politics are unpleasant. Avoid them as much as I can. And yes, I am."
"Someone I'd know?"
"Maybe"
She laughs, "And so you aren't going to say who she is?"
"You didn't ask. Aldebaran Jesby, if you're all that curious."
Yosannah smiles, "I know of her. See." She rests her elbows on the counter, "I get around."
Mallik chuckles, lightly. "I'd noticed. Merlin, and Aldebaran as well, mm? Some coincidence. Don't meet many shadow-travelers, hereabouts."
"It's easy to get around when you don't have to chose sides."
He nods. "Probably so. Always had to take a side, myself. Hendrake philosophy, sort of."
She smirks softly, "Well, I'm obviously not going to find the individual I was looking for by standing around here. I suppose it's time I get going." She reaches a hand into her jacket pocket. Mallik inclines his head. "Nice meeting you--uh, Yo. I'll see you around, maybe."
"Sure, ah.. ahh..." she retrieves a silver case from her pocket, "What is your name again?"
He squints. "Mallik."
"Mallik." She says the word in effort to retain it in her memory. A small card is pulled from a deck, "Well, Mallik. Good luck to you."
Mallik stands. "You too." His hands extend into the air, and mesh with the half-visible form of the Logrus.