Everyone has been notified within a reasonable amount of time to
prepare, now it is only a matter of minutes before they're escorted to
the Throne Room.

Corwin and Drake stop at various apartments, collecting Terry, Miho
and Graham, and ending at Dina and Eduard's. Eduard allows them to
enter so that they might use their room as a final gathering spot.

Drake has had the opportunity to change into some scaled trousers if
he so wishes. He walks with a pronounced limp.

Obi and Marie are conspicuously absent.

Corwin takes a deep breath and reaches into his jacket pocket. "This
was intercepted, on its way to the Queen. I suspect anyway." He
extends it to Dina. The proffered object is a note. It is addressed to
her. Obi's handwriting. The correspondence was once sealed, but is no
longer.

"That's how it was when I got it," Corwin adds.

Whether the contents of the note are shared with anyone in the room or
not, the note reads as follows:

*
Dina~

Drake's not wanted by the Crown but by her advisors, possibly in
reference to a former relationship with Morganthe, obviously
pre-Random.

"Sister" at the gate is part of the Rebman Seers Guild. (Little sketch
of the hourglass and eye symbol) They were expecting Random and
Diomedes. Morie's being advised by them of late, apparently only their
two big misses recently have been to do with Dio, first the marriage
to Lady Theano, now his non-appearance. I'm sure Pagano had something
to do with that last. Captain Soybek is a senior guy, probably at the
Gate not for Drake or us, but Random.

Don't say anything stupid and my contacts suggest there's no reason
that Corwin can't attempt the solution we've suggested. I'll be in
Amber in case he tries something stupid afterward. Please extend my
apologies to Her Majesty and the Ladies of her Court for my abrupt
departure, but as I suggested previously, my Mother's safety is of a
concern for me.

~Obi


Dina looks up briefly to cast a speculative but sympathetic look at
Drake, before turning back to the letter.

"What's up?" Drake asks pointedly.

"Obi thinks it's not the Queen that's pissed with you," Dina tells
him, not unkindly, and goes back to her note.

"Timing, timing," she mutters with a grin as she reads on, and then sighs and shakes her
head. " D@mn it," she whispers. She takes a deep breath before she
looks back up.

She's wearing a formal flowing piece she must have gotten from a page.
It's a light brown sheer material and wrapped just enough to protect
Dina's dignity. It brings out the deep golds in her brown eyes.
She's taken her hair down so it's loose in the water. She looks at
Miho to see what she's wearing.

Miho's hair is pulled back from her face in clips but otherwise floats
free. Her clothes are Rebman, comfortably and not likely to bind nor
trap her arms and legs, but likely more modest than most wear as well.
Her feet are bare.

She looks back to Dina. Concerned. "Are we ready?"

Dina looks nervous. She takes another deep breath. "Well, that's
that. Let's go."

With a nod, Miho is ready to go as well.

Dina moves toward the door. She pauses close to Drake, and
whispers, "I wish we could have come to an agreement. I won't just hand you
over, if it comes to that."

Drake opens his mouth to reply, but as Dina turns immediately to Corwin, he
shuts his mouth again with a smirk. Only he hears the witty rejoinder he had
in mind.

And without giving him time to respond, she hold a hand out to
Corwin. "My Trumps, please, mister. And you still owe me a fight."

Corwin just sort of grunts at that, but reaches in his back pocket and
passes Dina's trumps back to her. "No.." he stresses, "I owe you a
good beating. There's a difference." Then he gestures for Dina to take
the lead. Glancing back at Miho and Drake, he spares them a quick
wink...

This actually draws a brilliant smile from Dina. She tucks her trumps
into part of the wrap of her hip, like a man might secure cigarettes
in the sleeve of his tshirt.

Drake can't help but notice Dina's brilliant smile. Then squares his
shoulders and prepares to walk in and keep his silence.



The throne is different than Amber's, oval or egg shaped with the
throne at the smallest end on a circular series of steps that forms a
raised podium. The incredibly high ceilings are rounded and behind the
throne covered with massive windows of blue tinted windows. The floors
themselves are glassite as are the walls and the support pillars are
covered in seamless mirrored glass. Everything is colored blue or
green, and the room itself dwarfs everyone, conveying the majesty and
might of she who reigns here.

The group is led to and admitted through massive double doors at the
wider far end. Along the curved edges of the room are galleries,
already filled with Rebman nobility and citizens who stare silently as
they must walk past to approach the Queen's dais. Llewella can be
spotted in one prominent seat as close to the Throne as one can get
(which is not all that close, the Royal podium is separated from all,
there at the end).

The woman on the throne has hair of green though streaked with silver,
and her eyes are round as moons of jade and her brows rise like the
wings of olive gulls. Her mouth is small, her chin is small; her
cheeks are high and wide, and rounded. A circlet of white gold crosses
her brow and there is a crystal necklace about her neck. At its tip
there flashes a sapphire between her sweet bare breasts, whose nipples
are also a pale green. She wears scaled trunks of blue and a silver
belt, and she holds a scepter of pink coral in her right hand and has
a ring on every finger, and each ring has a stone of a different blue
within it. She does not smile when she speaks:

"What seek you here, outcasts of Amber?" she asks, the question
directed at Dina in the front. Her voice is a lisping, soft, flowing
thing.

Dina meets the Queen's eyes. The currents in the room carry her hair
behind her, but she speaks strongly to be heard. "We come in pursuit
of balance and healing, your Majesty. We can not seek these things in
Amber, and until there is a restitution of power there can be no
balance. In truth, we seek aid, just Moire."

Drake keeps his mouth shut. He wonders idly to himself if Corwin didn't
infect them all with shadow stuff of a place that belives in truth, justice
and the so-called American way. He hopes not.

"And you think balance and healing is to be found here?" Moire asks
rhetorically, her features still poised but somehow also grim. Her
words are left to hang in the air as her round eyes take them all in,
one by one, lingering a moment on Drake before returning to Dina.

Then she reclines a little in her throne, a slightly more relaxed pose
as she stares down at Corwin's daughter. "Lady Corradina Dante, how we
have wished to meet you." She smiles a little. "I'm to understand that
you are Rebman today."

Dina gets her own little smile, and allows the color to slip into her
cheeks. She bows in appreciation of the Queen's power here, and her
humor. She doesn't look away though. In fact, there is a fraction of
a shrug, a tilt of the head, a giving and acceptance - the move is
half flirtatious in itself. Yet it is an honest motion - a young lady
perhaps caught out, but with no ill intent.

There comes a small murmur of appreciative laughter from the
galleries, but Moire doesn't let it prolong, it is only a minor tease.
"Of course the Line of Faiella is still honored in these halls," she
says in her soft sibilant voice.

Something happens, and all will be aware of it, though Dina will not
have much opportunity to consider it without taking her eyes off of
the Queen. In her most prominent place in the gallery, Llewella stands
up quickly. She walks behind the last row of seats in a small aisle
between them and the curved wall. She moves quickly along the throne
room in the direction of a guarded side entrance. Moire's eyes flicker
in that direction, but she spares it little attention, keeping it on
Dina instead. Drake, being well travelled might liken it to someone
whose pager just went off. Likewise Miho might think to herself, 'that
doesn't look good.'

"I will not give you troops to restore whatever power has been
lost in
Amber," Moire continues, "even for the sake of hoping to achieve
balance. The chaos would be reflected in my own realm, as you
know."

"That is not what I would have of you, your majesty. What we seek
is
a small thing, and would have no cost to you, or your
subjects. While
I cannot promise it will bring more stability to Amber and Rebma, I
have high hopes that will be the outcome," Dina says, her voice
earnest.

"Name it then," Moire says in a voice that sounds soft but carries
quite well. "But know this, I have little love for the Princes of
Amber these days. I have long desired a reckoning, or re-establishment
of balance to use your own words. They say closure brings a form of
healing." She stares pointedly at Drake, undisguised contempt in her
eyes. "Though while one miscreant alludes justice.. somehow.. it has
come to my attention that he may have had an accomplice. We shall
see."

Her eyes flicker back to Dina. "But let us not get ahead of ourselves.
Corradina Dante, describe this boon that costs me nothing and offers
so much."

Anyone keeping an eye on Llewella will notice her dashing out of the
Throne room with alacrity, the ornate door closed behind her and the
Guards now standing before it instead of beside it.

"It is for my father, Prince Corwin, that I ask this thing. I hope he
has done nothing to offend," Dina says, keeping her honest face toward
Moire. She really does hope Corwin hasn't offended her, but she has
no way of knowing. It is all she can do not to turn back and look at
him.

"Here, deep beneath this place, there is a mirror image of the design
that we in Amber call the Pattern. It is said that only one of
Oberon's blood may walk it and survive. I would have my father take
this quest, that his full health might be restored to him. Then, and
only then, can he make informed decisions about his future, your
Majesty," Dina says.

Drake remains where he is and is resolutely silent under the queen's gaze.

"It is for my father, Prince Corwin, that I ask this thing. I
hope he
has done nothing to offend," Dina says, keeping her honest face
toward
Moire. She really does hope Corwin hasn't offended her, but she
has
no way of knowing. It is all she can do not to turn back and
look at
him.

"That is true," Moire replies, studying Corwin, taking her eyes off
Drake for a moment to study his uncle.

"Here, deep beneath this place, there is a mirror image of the
design
that we in Amber call the Pattern. It is said that only one of
Oberon's blood may walk it and survive. I would have my father
take
this quest, that his full health might be restored to
him. Then, and
only then, can he make informed decisions about his future, your
Majesty," Dina says.

Drake remains where he is and is resolutely silent under the queen's
gaze.

"And that is why he does not speak for himself?" asks the Queen.

Moire turns her gaze on Dina for a moment, sweeps it over Drake and
Miho, and looks again at Corwin.

"Is Corwin willing to essay this thing?" she asks.

Corwin bows. "Willing m'lady," he answers, for once sounding serious.
Those in the second generation who have now only newly met him might
realize that Corwin has a fine masculine voice when he isn't cracking
jokes, or growling at somebody.

The Queen smiles then.

"Very well, you have my permission," Moire tells Dina. "I can
guarantee you no guarantees of safety beyond my own realm, however."

"We understand, and we all are grateful for the safety you provide us
here," Dina says, and bows. She carefully watches the Queen to see
what happens next. She is ready to be waved away, but she dares not
move yet.

Miho likewise waits to see what happens next, but her eyes are on
Corwin rather than the Queen.

Under the circumstances, Drake too stays silent.

"Oh," Moire says softly, "but not *all* of you are safe."

She glances at Drake before continuing to explain to Dina. "I'll spare
the 'good' Captain from having to explain, he seems so content on
holding his tongue, I'll let him hold it a bit longer until I
pronounce sentence." All of Moire's previous humor is gone now, as if
Corwin was merely the preliminaries. Scarely a sound can be heard in
the chamber of glass and mirror, not even the breathing of the crowd.

"Surely you recall," the Queen continues, "that one time Prince Random
came into my realm as a friend, and did thereafter depart in haste
with my daughter Morganthe."

"Let me assure you, the story is true. A month thereafter was she
returned to me. Her suicide came some months after the birth of her
son Martin."

Moire fixes her round eyes on Drake now, and does not look away, and
for all that she remains poised, there is growing air of tension and
even fierceness in her demeanor. "Now let us recount what has not been
known before. Another 'explorer' came to my realm before Random. He
too, cultivated a friendship with my daughter. Of this, I knew. I
looked the other way, thinking it was merely a dalliance. No, I
reserved my anger for Random. When my daughter was stolen from my
Court and I was sick with worry, who came to me to express his
concern? Prince Caine. And who assured me that his son had nothing to
do with it? Prince Caine."

Moire raises one hand to the side, and a servant rushes up the steps
of her dais to hold out a packet of papers. The Queen nearly snatches
them out of her hand. Instead of looking at the letters, Moire points
at Drake with them. "My staff found your letters. Where she'd hidden
them all this time, Drake." Moire spits his name as if it were a
curse. "It would appear that after you'd taken her maidenhood, you
broke her spirit. Walked out, and so careful not to commit to anything
explicit. But I can read for myself. I see how you played her, and
then left her as easy prey for the likes of Random."

"What have you to say to that, Captain Drake?"

"These letters," Drake replies, "who found them for you today? Convenient
for them, not so for me. I have nothing else to say."

Dina looks between Drake and the Queen. "Your Majesty, let it be a
day for mercy," Dina pleads.