Thanks for the Backup, Coz

Dina chastizes Obi for chasing skirts, among other topics

Afternoon of the day after the duel in ShadowVineyard

LadyCorradina
LordObi
PrincessDeirdre perhaps

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When Obi comes back, Dina immediately drags him off.

"Thanks, thanks a lot. I hope she was worth abandoning your cousin who doesn't know what's going on, who's getting horrible overwhelming trump calls, and who's trying to protect the man you claim is your friend. Thanks," Dina says with her hands on her hips and an accusatory glint in her eyes.

Obi's dressed in local custom again today, mostly in shades of brown. His colors of silver and red are only reflected in his earing. "I found the shadow that was following us through Shadows, but it seems it's not malevolent, but a Ghede, a spirit guide of Uzoma."

"I haven't been able to divine it's meaning, if there is something more to it than a reflection of me and your father's journey back." Obi perches himself on the low wall surrounding the practice area and looks back.

"What's going on? I thought you're running the show," he comments, but continues anyway. "Eric knew that Corwin was stranded in Shadow with no memory of himself and Flora was his caretaker, it seems. The redheads can make Trumps and are probably the source of your calls, unless Eric's made the simple deduction that Corwin's with you. Didn't Miho bring you up to speed on any of this?"

"And, yes, thanks, Marie *was* wonderful. She does this little thing with her, well... you wouldn't really be interested anyway."

Dina's face just closes off. "Miho was perfectly Miho, of course. But she's not you. But then, maybe you aren't what I thought you were either. Life's just full of hard lessons lately."

A strangely blank-faced Dina starts walking away.

"That's it? You work up a day's worth of righteous indignation over the thought that I abandoned you and him over a woman and that's all the bluster you can spare?" Obi chuckles. "Davide will be amused."

"We've a practice area here. Care to beat it out of me?" he suggests. "Take out the frustrations on the squire instead of his Prince? Don't make me pay for *his* lies, Dina."

Dina turns back to him with the same blank look, but eyes full of pain. "I don't think Eric ever lied to me, Obi. In fact, he very carefully worked hard not to lie to me. I don't have energy to waste kicking your ass, and besides, it wouldn't teach you anything but what you already know. I'm tired. I've got men to train, Corwin to protect - from himself even, and somehow I need to hold enough of a life together here that I don't leave nothing but scorched earth behind for my shadow. I'm glad you still have your sense of humor but I promise you, if one of them did this to Deirdre, you wouldn't find my lack of bluster so amusing." Dina takes a deep breath. "Of course, I wouldn't run off to get f@#ked if someone did this to Deirdre."

"What or who I did last night aren't on the table here, Dante," Obi replies, a bit of steel to his voice. "I doubt it's much different than what attracted you to this particular homestead anyway, but that's not really my concern." He obviously doesn't see any need to revisit those conversations.

His jaw is set and dark eyes shadowed by tight brows. "Eric is willing to offer him terms, and he's willing to listen because I'm the one speaking, but as you've pointed out, he needs time. My presence here wasn't going to make a difference in that and you know it. I had other things to accomplish and I have no reason to justify myself to you."

The unexpected smile begins in the right corner of his mouth and sneaks it's way up his cheek leaving the other corner behind. "I'd be hard pressed to decide which of them taught you how to be the self-indulgent, martyr-complex, paranoid, control freak that you currently seem to be. Odds are it's genetic."

"Stop trying to manipulate me and tell me what you want, Dina," he offers. "You want me to help bring him up to speed? Sure. Your medics? You want me to train them with the staff or spear? Done. Protecting your Shadow's quality of life? You'd be surprised how much I've already put into that."

"I want you here," Dina says, tears spilling over, "because as pissed off as I am with you right now, all one of them has to do is pin me down in a trump call, and you're all that's standing between Corwin and death. Except his thick skull. I'm not paranoid - someone nearly killed him. Now, there's really a f@#king reason to kill him. I'm not f@#king trying to manipulate you, a$$hole." She turns away from him and puts her hands over her face.

Obi slides off the wall and walks up behind her, wrapping his long arms about her. "Someone tried to kill him when they thought he was a secret, Dina," he soothes. "It's not half as easy now that so many of us know, not unless they plan on killing us all, too."

"If you wanted me here, all you had to do was ask."

Dina sobs. "You knew I wanted you to stay," she manages, eventually, from behind her hands but she doesn't pull away.

"I assumed you wanted to rant at me and, if it was something important, that you would've Trumped me or made more of a fuss in stopping me," he apologizes.

"Assuming..." she mutters. Dina pulls up her shirt to wipe off her face, and pulls away from him. "Are you going to stay?" she asks, not really looking at him.

"Yes. Although I'm not tying myself to his side or anything, Dina," he agrees. "He doesn't remember me, not wholly, and if he does the friendship has to be at odds with Eric's squire."

"And he doesn't trust you, either I fear."

"I just want him well enough to defend himself. Then I can live with what I've done here, as far as obligation to blood goes. He's not yet, he's a freaking kitten who thinks he's a lion. It's horrible." Dina runs her hands through her hair, tries to pull herself together. She reaches, quite obviously, for a cigarette case that isn't there, and scrunches up her face when she comes up empty. She finally really looks back at Obi, a bit of a mess. "Can Eric's squire tell me Eric's terms?"

Obi's whole demeanor changes, slipping into a more formal posture, perhaps by instinct. " Prince Eric offers a truce with his brother Prince Corwin. He feels that current events support the need for strong leadership in the King's absence and that he finds himself best qualified. If Corwin can overcome his mental instability, and if he is willing to openly support Eric's claim to the throne in addition to swearing loyalty, any reasonable request would be granted, including a full pardon and a regency of his choice. He is also willing to lend his support to discovering who is responsible for the most recent attempt on his life and his current condition."

He relaxes and digs within his vest and produces a silver cigarette case. "If Corwin is interested, Eric wants a face to face and things will progress apace from there. He puts conditions on the Regency if Corwin does not fully recover his faculties, but that is something that Corwin and I have already spoken on, if not Eric's feelings on the matter." Obi lights two and hands one to his cousin. "Our next port of call will likely be Rebma."

"Eric was also worried about how quickly Bleys will be involving himself and trying to ensure that Corwin doesn't make any sort of peace," Obi finishes for the moment, taking a long drag off his cigarette.

Dina drags on that cigarette like nothing Obi's ever seen. "A full pardon for what? Corwin talked about Rebma? Bleys has already sent him a trump, which I have, but I'd give him if he asks. I can't believe you left without telling me this stuff, Obi," she laments at the end, sadness and uncertainty creeping up in her eyes again.

He didn't specify, but I'd assume it's for an assault on the royal personage that resulted in amnesiac Corwin being left in that Shadow," Obi answers, obviously ignoring Dina's continuing tirade and sticking to the relevent topics.

Dina turns away to hide her expression, and when she turns back she looks as she did.

"I suggested walking the Pattern as a way of trying to deal with his amnesia, and he decided that Rebma was his best chance."

Dina presses her lips together.

"Speaks volumes about the redheads and Trumps that they've accepted that they can't contact him but have the resources to get him one of their Trumps."

"Yeah, I can't believe all this 'they can make trumps' crap. Can Dio, can Roz, can Jack? Just gives me all the more reason to keep blocking. But whatever, it's the sorcery they're too good at for my comfort."

"Dio claims to have no talent. Beyond that, I don't really know."

"Did Eric give you a deadline?" she asks.

"No, but he also gave me the impression that things would be moving at their own speed and not wait for him."

Dina manages a smile. "Of course. I can't imagine. I can not imagine what we're going to walk back into. You should check on Deirdre, Obi. Because when she finds out what has happened, she's not going to be happy."

"So, I'm released from my promise?" he asks.

"I don't want anyone here. I can't tell anyone, because I have to tell Eric before I tell anyone else, I promised. It doesn't matter that he already bl00dy knows. You can tell her, if you think it serves some purpose - but mostly I just want to be sure she's alright. Bleys is well enough to send notes, and obviously you spoke to Eric - but she's the one of their group of three we've had not a peep from."

Obi nods.

"My instinct is actually to call Benedict again. He asked me to bring you to him when this was over, to see something he had done for Corwin," Obi mentions after a drag on his cigarette. "He's not going to support Eric or anyone's grab for the throne if Grandfather's truly gone, even if he would support a Regency."

"He's been gone forever too. There's not supporting and then there's doing something about it." Dina throws down the cigarette and rubs it out. She crosses her arms over her chest.

"If Corwin regains himself, with Benedict's backing..." he spreads his hands expansively. "Princess Corradina has a nice ring to it."

"You have no idea how desperately I want to be that selfish. I don't see any way Eric sits still for that - nor should he. And you haven't spent the time with him... these gaping holes Obi... I have a hard time believing he's just going to be okay. It's been a long time. It doesn't seem like he's ever remembered. He doesn't remember my *mother* and come on!" She gestures broadly with her hands. "I mean, I know he was a selfish playboy but you don't forget the beautiful noblewoman with a freaking husband who *can* to some degree fight."

"He's had centuries of woman Dina. I'd think that some fade into others even without cognitive loss. Add to the fact that he must've known her close to the onset of that loss, and there may be structural loss that even for the miraculous abilities that we have to recover, well..." He exhales smoke and begins again. "Take a glass, fill it with something we'll call memory. Now shatter the glass. Even if you can put the glass back together again, it'll never hold that same memory. You can fill it with new, or maybe there's some left in the bottom, but it's not the same."

Dina looks devastated.

"So our course is, see if he can be restored and support his decision from there?" Obi asks. "I don't think I can stall Eric. He's going to make a play, if he hasn't already, for the throne."

"The throne, or a regency?"

"Yes," he answers wryly. "The latter as a prelude to the former."

"I don't know if I can support Corwin if he wants to fight with Eric," she adds more quietly.

"I'm not sure I can either, but Grandfather wasn't one to just say things for effect," Obi observes. "And if he can find himself again... he's the closest thing Amber's ever had to an heir. I don't know that the nobility's rights of primogeneture extend to our family, but it's not a poor assumption based on Eric's... status."

Dina's expression darkens.

"Otherwise, it wouldn't have ever mattered. Personally, I think Grandfather keeps his sons at each other's throats to protect his own."

"I always thought he was culling the pack, myself. But he did throw another obstacle before Eric - that non-subtle fratricide charge - and obviously, there was no fratricide, therefore... Eric has a case it was an acknowledgement of the possibility he could inherit. Beside, I don't remember Oberon making it that concrete of a statement. It's easy to say nice things about someone you've decided is dead," Dina points out. She lowers her voice. "The dead one is my favorite, let that be a lesson to you all."

She shakes her head. "I'm surprised they didn't all go out and get themselves killed in the hope he might name them heir."

"Moot point now. It would seem that Eric and Bleys are the front runners and until he's himself, Corwin a pawn. I'd think that if he were found dead in Shadow would've played against Eric, no matter who did it, so who gains from it?"

"The redheads, I agree. But Roz is the one who really put us on his trail, you know that, right? Did she find something out? Did they take it past her moral line? She was strange when she warned me, when she told me someone was trying to hurt him, to find him. Would she turn on her daddy over that? I don't know. If I knew, I wouldn't be hiding out, I'd be going after people." Dina sits down. She looks tired.

"All I can think to do, Obi, is try to get him well. It's hard for me to plan past that... this is all too much for me."

"Wait, Ros knew?" Obi seems confused. "What did she warn you about?"

"She was the one who trumped me Obi, right before I trumped Corwin, you remember, when I had my flipout and got serious? I told you. She wasn't herself, she was upset - she was checking in to tell me she wasn't coming with us, she 'had another angle'. Then, she was going to go, but she changed her mind and decided to tell me he was alive and in danger, and maybe she could do something about it but she wouldn't tell me from whom or what, she was just gone."

"D@mn, it seems like forever ago now. I hope she's okay, but I can't... she'd make a great trap for me to walk right into," Dina concedes. She looks worried again, like she did when she was talking about Deirdre.

Obi nods, "OK, somehow I've blocked that out, I guess just assuming that she heard something from her father. I really don't know who to trust right now." He reaches over and takes her hand. "Except you and the monkey."

"So if we get him to agree to Rebma, I can make my way there and bring you all through via Trump," the messenger suggests. "It gives him time to rest, but then you've got to trust Miho's blade while I'm gone. It gains us the time it would take to travel there ourselves and limits his exposure."

Dina nods. "I feel like Miho and I have an understanding, so that's fine she says," although she doesn't look happy.

[OR Dina shakes her head. "Take her with you. I can hold the fort here," she says, looking unhappy.]

"Dear, we started off this conversation with me promising not to leave you. I'm not trying to abandon you, I was bringing up a suggestion for discussion here." Obi reassures her. "I'm trying to think forward, because the people that set this all in motion, they're pro-active, not reactionary like we are now. Hells, I could Trump to my Mother if she's close and be there in a day, or maybe even to Aunt Llewella, and be in town a day or two before bringing you through to lessen suspicion, but I don't like leaving you here."

"What about sending Miho? She could take a sea route and Trump me, or even travel via her Father if he's in Amber's environs. It leaves me here if that'll make Corwin more confortable." _And you too_

"I don't know what to do. We'll have to talk to her - and we'll have to talk to Corwin. Because you know there's no way he's getting on that Pattern without going through the Queen, Obi. He needs to understand there may be a price to pay."

"Right, but I'm The Messenger. I can start the negotiations, and let's face it... Eric's not one of her favorites." Obi sighs and stubs out his cigarette. "So, I'll get in touch with Mom and we'll pin him down on if he's really planning that course of action."

"Look, if Corwin survives what I think you're suggesting - which is a Pattern walk - then he and Eric meeting someplace neutral might be better than Rebma. If Eric made an offer, and he didn't say, 'Corwin has a week Ambertime to respond' then Eric will be good for his word whenever we get back to it, assuming Corwin doesn't do anything aggressive. And going to Rebma to take the Pattern isn't aggressive, just slick." She grins. "No pun intended."

"Agreed. Eric won't see Rebma as neutral for talking afterward, and it's too soon to plan that, because you've nailed it... If he survives. I hate to risk him like this when we've just got him back, but on the other hand, without it we really don't have *him* back."

"Honey, Rebma isn't neutral. It's not just that Eric won't see it that way, it's that it's not. Let's just be honest about that up front. I we take him to Rebma, we're taking Corwin to the Queen who does not smile on Eric. It's a statement. I don't think we can control how it gets interpreted."

"Still, I don't see trying to sneak him into Amber where one good shove from the unknown enemy gets him fried," she adds.

"And Tir... well, it's Tir, and I wouldn't trust the sorcerers enough to know he had enough moonlight to make the trip, even if the moon was being cooperative."

"Plus, you have to go sit on top of Kolvir til the moon rises. I mean... obvious. Plus, one good shove from the unknown enemy gets him smooshed. As far as Patterns go, no, I don't see another choice. Still... we have to let him understand all the consequences and decide for himself." She smiles slowly. "I've never been to Rebma, you know. Just never got around to it. No, that's a lie. It was that by the time your mother invited me I didn't want to be known there as her ward. I wanted to be my own woman, there. But I never felt ready. Isn't that insane?"

"I'm sure I'm viewed as the Court's lackey more than Lord Obi, but I'd like to think that some of the ladies remember me on my own merits," he chuckles, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "So, not, not that insane. You'd be amazed at the length of my mother's shadow."

"That's it," he says slapping his thigh. "Yejide, that's what I'll call her."

Dina's eyebrows go up. "Call who? The baby you're making with the new girlfriend? Is she nice, by the way, or am I going to have to kick her ass to prove she needs to be nice?"

"The ghede," he answers with a little frown. "The panther. Strong, beautiful, tied to Uzoma, and dresses in black. I think 'image of the mother' suits her wonderfully."

"Where is the panther?" Dina asks, obviously having a little bit of needing to see to believe, in this case.

"She slipped off into Shadow when I returned to the inn last evening and I haven't seen here since, but I'm fairly certain that she's not far away," Obi explains. "I've no doubt that's what was following me, and the connection I thought it had with Caine..." He just shrugs.

"You think your mother set a spy on us? If we could confirm that, then I could probably rule her out as the one trumping me. Or, one of the ones..." Dina sighs.

"I've never heard of our uncles dabbling in Uzoman myth," Obi shrugs. "She seems likely. I had some other irrational concerns and had attributed it to Caine, all because of how his shadow fell over my mother when we left."

"It's not like Caine doesn't watch what everyone does. It's not like he couldn't have checked out the shadow his nephew came from in all these years. But then, he's at the top of my sh!t list right now."

"I'm not getting into that one, save to say a lot of people dropped the ball on this, honey. Try to let it go for now," Obi suggests. "It'll be easier to have your revenge once you're his heir."

That makes Dina smile, but she shakes her head. "Do you see a scenario where Eric takes from Corwin what he's currently offering Corwin? Because I can't picture it."

"If Eric's lost himself?" he hypothesizes. "No, not even then. Only if he would have truly lost his faculties, and from talking with him, I don't think your father has."

"He's just missing the centuries of experience and knowledge. That and a century of rallying supporters and forging alliances with brothers and the like. I fear that you and I make a sorry substitute."

"So what would Eric take. That's where we have to start. Convince Corwin that's what is reasonable to negotitate for - because you know they have to negotiate something - and try to go from there. What do you think?" she asks.

"I think that my mother would be better at this than either of us," he admits. Obi reaches into his vest and produces his Trump deck, shuffling out the bottom card before rolling it to show Deirdre. "How about we ask her?"

"I'm not here, and no pulling her through unless she's in danger," Dina insists.

Her cousin nods in reply as he concentrates on the card, watching the deep blue eyes, willing the lashes to blink. "Mother?"


to be continued - current to 14:07 10-3-2006

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