Part 17 - Redhead Reunion

"Somewhere in a hidden memory....images float before my eyes...."
- Loreena McKennitt

I watched as the "surgeon" began to operate on my cousins mind. As it was, from the outside, uninteresting I found a seat and turned to my brother.
"I love the decor, Lorius," I said, motioning about the room.
Lorius smiled, glanced at Kyle, then turned back towards me.
"Actually, while I picked the colors, Alek and Drusilla did the decorating. Some sort of changing this room in his Ways sort of deal. You know those Chaosians. Not phased by anything."
He stretched and yawned, a rather convincing imitation of a lazy cat. "So," he continued, "assuming all goes well, what did you and Kyle plan on doing? Besides perhaps calling Mom, once we are safely away? If I know her right now, she might be slightly miffed at our unavailability. Then again, there is lots to do, ranging from Tyler on down."
Tyler. I had forgotten about him. My intentions, of course, were good, even if he was trying to kill me...... Still, there were a lot of questions which only he held the answers to. His power for one - he never should have been able to reach the Primal Pattern.
I sighed. "There certainly is a lot to do. Never a dull moment in Amber, I suppose. Speaking of Amber, I have been a bit out of touch as of late....... Was the matter with Triton ever resolved?"
An enormous grinned blossomed across my brothers face at the mention of the thief. "Good news is, we caught fish-boy and he is resting in a dungeon cell quite comfortably at this moment, I suppose." The broad grin dulled and his tone took on a more serious lilt. "Bad news is, Cyllene and Jayson discovered that Triton had lost the gem, in a truly incompetent and ridiculous fashion beforehand, to some wizard named Baralis. I was pondering what to do about that when Kyle's cat showed up in my room and indicated the trouble with Brand's little spell."
Baralis...Baralis...the name swam through my mind, familiar, yet evasive.
A book came to mind........a large, leather bound tome with red binding. Mentally I cursed, wishing I was in library so I could read it, for I knew exactly where it was.
Back when Amber was young, Dworkin had a cadre of sorcerers and other magic users to help him and Oberon carve out the Golden Circle, fortify Amber and so forth. Baralis was the name of one of the more prominent members of the cabal; prominent enough to be mentioned by name.
If it were the same Baralis, however, he would be older than Benedict......
"Hmmm......" I tapped my fingers, pondering.
"I am going to try and get a hold of Mom," I said suddenly, pulling my trump deck from my pocket.
Lorius sat back and watched as I riffled through my cards until I found the right one. I put the others away and began to concentrate. The contact was not instantaneous and the resolution was low, but at least it went through.
Brandeigh and Percy, as well as a man and women I did not know, were behind her. The women was bound.
"Hello daughter," Fiona smiled. "It would seem that every time I try and can't reach my children, they seem to have the good sense to call immediately afterwards."
"Shannon," she said as explanation to Brandeigh and Percy.
Lorius placed a hand on my shoulder, entering the content, with a jubilant, "Hi Mom!"
"Hello, Mother." I smiled and nodded over her shoulder towards the unknown couple. "Who are your friends?"
In the background, I could hear Percy talking to my sister, as Fiona responded to my question. From the bits and pieces I over heard, Percy seemed to be telling about how he was captured by the now bound woman.
"The Lady is Princess Marguessan of this shadow...a relative of your sister's with a bad reputation and the ambition to match," my mother said, not looking towards them. "She once was a disciple of the shadow of Brand in this place, and now has struck out on her own...apparently Marguessan tried to nab Percy, and already had in custody the other person, the bard Taliesin.
"Taliesin doesn't know about Amber or anything, that much is clear.
"But, my daughter, judging from your brother and everything else I see back there, including Kyle, I might ask YOU the same question. Not to mention my concern about the state I found your quarters this morning."
I took a deep breath. I had known this was coming and had analyzed it my mind, but there seemed very little, if anything, that was worth hiding from her. She would have known, anyway.
"That is something of a simple story with rather amazing ties to it........
"As I told you before, Kyle and I parted ways at the Crimson Pattern. He was later captured by Brand," I paused to judge her reaction, but she did not seem surprised, "and had his mind....altered. He was striving to undue the damage when Brand tried to contact me. I was unable to hold off the call indefinitely, so I woke Kyle and he sent for help. Lorius came to our aid and transported us elsewhere. Brand was dealt with, momentarily, and the three of us traveled to Chaos to see if they could help Kyle with some of his mental problems." I smiled prettily, implying a double meaning to the last bit.
"Brand captured Kyle and let him go?" Fiona said in a questioning tone asking confirmation. Lorius and I nodded in unison and my mother sighed.
"And why exactly did you decide to go to the Courts of Chaos to help with Kyle's...mental problems, anyway?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow as only she could.
Lorius answered that one. "Because that idiot Brand tried to invade my Observatory World and fortunately it took the PPG's to keep him at bay. I am suspecting, mother, he has taken another dip in the font, and so is a Living Trump again. I figured that he would have a hard time finding us here and you have to admit, using a Chaos surgeon is something Brand wouldn't expect or plan for when he did a number on him."
Fiona nodded in agreement. "I have some information, too, that you might find interesting as well as disturbing, children. Triton escaped, and is now on the run. I think I have him pretty well tracked without his knowledge, but I am not moving in...I'm hoping he can lead us to where the Jewel is."
"H...hhow did he escape, Mother. We made that cage to be virtually impregnable." Lorius was petulant and angry, enough so to trip over his own words.
Fiona's temper flared, though whether it was directed at Triton or my brother was unclear. "Well, we didn't make it idiot proof. Triton faked an illness, and got a stupid guard with the intelligence that a beetle can match to enter the cage to see what was wrong. You can guess the rest."
Lorius sighed, almost in relief.
I, for one, was relieved. Had Triton escaped the mystical entrapment of Lorius' doing through his own merits, there could have been blood shed between the two, Lorius as the instigator.
"Triton escaped again?" Though relieved, exasperation at our inability to capture one Amberite was visible. "With any luck Triton will lead us to the Jewel and something good will come of this."
I turned as Alek finished his "work." Kyle rose none the worse for the wear, if not a little disoriented.
"It was a most educational experience, Prince Kyle. Brand's psychoses are very very interesting indeed." Alek said, nodding to something Kyle had said before.
"Looks like he's up and about" Lorius said, turning to see Kyle get up from the metal table. "Hey, are you fully functional now, Kyle?" Lorius, for reasons known only to Lorius, doubled over in laughter at his own joke.
"Aye, things seem to be in order Lorius. My thanks, to you, and your friend Alek. Who's on the wire?"
"My Mother," I said, not looking away form the contact.
Meanwhile, Fiona gave my sister and cousin a brief summary of our exploits while studying the blond women. Then, apparently, she asked Brandeigh if the three of us could come through to wherever they were.
Mentally, she spoke us, **This person has some odd power, and I want your two and Kyle's opinion on it, here. I suspect you may have some familiarity with it.**
"Hey, Kyle," Lorius said, turning away from the contact though still a part of it. "Time for some postgraduate work. Mom's studying an odd duck that Brandeigh's keeping watch over, and the witch seems to be filled with an odd power. Wants the three of us, if Brandeigh's willing, to go through and take a look ourselves. She thinks we might know something about it."
"Well, if our hosts won't be offended by our sudden departure, I'm for it." Inwardly I was relieved. Kyle seemed all right. In fact, he walked over and placed his hand on my other shoulder, joining in the contact.
Alek smiled. "Really, half of the pleasure was all mind. Good luck and be safe. I wouldn't want to have to have you three come here again and need more medical assistance, even if I wouldn't mind your visiting the Ways of Helgram again."
Lorius nodded. "Goodbye Alek and may the sky always turn over you."
With the greatest sorceress of Amber at one end of the call to make things run smoothly, the three of us crossed through the connection and into the Nemeton, a ring of stones which surrounded my sister and the others.
The ring was unbroken, stones piled high in an oddly familiar shape. Lorius had shown me a post card not long ago of a place on Shadow Earth called Stonehenge, which this resembled quite closely, only un-broken.
Percy and my sister I knew, so I studied the man and women briefly. The women was blond and seemed agitated while her companion had brown haired streaked with gray and was utterly calm.
"Hi sis," Lorius said with a grin as he looked around. "It's the King of the Mountain!" he said, his gaze falling on Percy.
Fiona just grimaced and looked in the direction of the bound woman. "Her, Lorius. Marguessan is her name." Fiona then regarded Brandeigh. "We'll discuss Liath later."
Lorius held up hand. "Fine, fine, Mother."
Brandeigh sighed and stared up at the sky for a moment at Lorius' greeting. "Lorius, please this is serious." She nodded to Mother, arching an eyebrow at the name "Liath."
Lorius squinted at Marguessan, as if trying to bring her into focus. He stayed like that a few moments, then, deathly serious, turned to Kyle.
"Take a look yourself, cousin. I think this ought to be disturbingly familiar to you...and to you, sister." He looked back and forth between the two of us.
"Aye, she's got the same power as Shannon's little friend," Kyle replied.
"Shannon," Kyle said, speaking in the tongue of my youth, "the lady here also speaks Tyler's language. Perhaps you have some insight to share?"
Though brief, a look of amazement passed across my face. "And to think, I thought my mother and I were the only ones who spoke this tongue. It does appear that I shall have to start guarding my secrets in another language, though I'm sure you would not go searching for things which do not concern you."
Kyle smiled warmly. "Of course not. I only acquired it as a by-product of my foraging in Tyler's brain. Thought it may come in handy."
I turned and studied the women briefly. "She is unfamiliar to me, but the power........." I shook my head, agitated. "Someone is going out of their way to teach them this. Certainly, I did not believe Tyler was an accident, but I honestly did not give the matter much thought. He was only one."I frowned. "It has something to do with the Broken Pattern, that I am sure of. There was one near my home shadow and that is where Tyler's initial power came from. I have not been back there in years." A bitter smile crossed my lips. "Perhaps that can be our next 'trip.'"
Kyle responded with, "I believe you may be right. The two of us seem ideally suited for the task. You, since it's your home shadow, and me for my knowledge of the Broken Pattern." He frowned. "Almost too perfect. Makes me wonder if it's a red herring. I wonder if she's as incompetent as Tyler?"
Kyle paused for a moment. "I suppose that there's nothing we can't share with the others, then, is there?"
"Nothing of value, to say the least," I replied.
Brandeigh watched our conversation. "What is that language? Where is it from? I've heard it before, or rather Marguessan has. The son of Xavier took her to wherever it was being spoken."
Xavier? I rolled the name on my tongue, trying to recall what I knew, which wasn't much.
After Faiella died in giving birth to Deirdre, Oberon's next wife was a lady from a fairly distant shadow, and her name was Nella. She had dark hair, like her predecessor.
Fraternal twin sons were an early result of the union, Xavier and Arawn. Both were stocky, well over six feet tall.
After a major falling out, Nella and her two children left Amber and came back sometime later. They came with an army, intending to topple Oberon from the throne. The attempt was a failure, of course, and Nella, Arawn, and Xavier were all publicly executed.
Most of the portraits involving the three were destroyed soon afterwards, but I had, several months before, come across an ancient volume compiled of long forgotten treatises. There had been, within those dusty pages, a faded picture of Arawn, Xavier, Nella and Oberon all together. The two sons were indeed hulking brutes, bigger than Gerard it seemed.
The battle between Amber and Nella culminated at the gates of Amber City. Some brilliant maneuvers by Benedict, leading half of the army, crushed the opposition...the enemy army relied too heavily on missile firing and magical creatures to withstand the frontal and flanking maneuvers of Benedict. Vaguely, I remember a reference in a Tactics book in the library which used the Battle of Amber City as a set piece for explanation of certain strategies.
"Is it from the same shadow you and Tyler were in?" Brandeigh asked me, still curious about the language.
"Well, Shannon is really the expert on the matter. That is what I was discussing her. I picked up the language from Tyler's mind. I believe they learned it in the same place," replied Kyle.
"We grew up there," I affirmed.
Brandeigh nodded her head. "Interesting... What language is that, sister?"
"The shadow is known as Kysondra," I replied. "The language is fairly universal there. More often than not it is called Kysondrian, though there are several different names dating back to the ancients."
In the meantime, Percy turned toward Taliesin. "I think Brandeigh should make the introductions as she sees fit. Needless to say, they are all relatives."
Brandeigh, of course, made the introductions.
She then addressed us all. "Shannon, Kyle, Lorius... this is Taliesin, Master Bard, husband of Morgan, brother in-law to Arthur and Gwenniver, high King and Queen of Keltia." She smiled, pointing to Taliesin. "He's also a cousin on my father's side, by marriage of course."
Brandeigh then pointed to the woman on the altar stone, her tone somewhat less jubilant. "And that is Marguessan, Morgan's full and Arthur's half sister." Her expression grew flat. "She's also a cousin."
"Marguessan has run into another relative of ours," she motioned towards us red heads and Percy. "A son of Xavier. This is how she came to know and become initiated in whatever power she has. One that you know something of apparently. Tell me more about it, please."
Kyle smiled at my sister. "I like what you've done with the place, cousin. As to the power, about all I know is that it is used for transportation, somewhat akin to Trump, though not as potent I think. However, I don't think it requires any kind of prop to work, though I could be wrong........and it got a thoroughly untalented wretch to the Primal Pattern recently."
Brandeigh nodded back at Kyle. "Keltia is........" She looked around for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. "Is as it should be. More or less. Any alterations were not done on my part."
" 'Tis different enough all right," she said, referring to the power. "It got through to here when it should not have. And Marguessan did have some sort of artifact when we battled on the psychic plane; though I shattered it and much of her resistance with it.
"Tell me more about it; what it is, how to counter it. This, I must know."
v Then, as an almost after thought, "And who got to the Primal Pattern and what happened to him or her?"
My voice and expression were flat, emotionless, as if replying by rote. "His name is Tyler. He's an old acquaintance of mine from the place where I grew up. We were at odds when we were younger, then I left and came to Amber. He appeared before me in shadow some time later, having walked a Broken Pattern." I shook my head. "He has gained power since I last fought with him.......he should not have been able to reach the Primal Pattern, yet he did. Kyle," I nodded to my cousin, my expression softening slightly, "turned him into a drooling idiot and we locked him in the dungeon in Amber. I was on my way to see him when Triton appeared and I was side tracked."
"An unfortunate accident, that. Tyler was weaker than I'd thought. I'm afraid that subsequent events forced the psychic impression I'd taken off of him to the back burner so to speak. I haven't had the time to devise a counter to this power, but I am sure that between the study I made of Tyler and this new specimen, we can come up with something if we compare notes." Kyle's voice seemed to indicate no more than a clinical interest in my sisters cousin.
Brandeigh's expression grew hard, stern at Kyle's terminology of Marguessan. "I do not want her permanently harmed unless it proven to me that there is no other way to deal with her. If you cannot affect a block against this power, say so and I will see what I may learn."
Always a stickler for manners and a believer in the myth that we "own" our shadow people, Kyle smiled at Brandeigh and replied, "I didn't have anything harmful in mind for her. Hopefully not even painful. And, of course, she's your shadow person, so I'll abide any of your wishes in regard to her treatment."
Brandeigh rolled her eyes as he called Marguessan "your shadow person."
"You are, after all, the host," Kyle continued. "Let me assure you, though, what happened to Tyler was......complicated. I've learned much since then, and I'm fairly certain that what I have in mind won't do any harm. Essentially, I planned on simply diagramming her Gateway power, getting a good reading, comparing it with what I know of Tyler, and then, using a model, not the lady herself, to attempt to reverse engineer it. That way, we'll discover the essential principles it works under, and be able to account for them in planning defenses. Simply blocking her from the use of her powers, in a blanket manner, is simple enough. Those areas of her mind may be walled off, or immersive aversion therapy can be applied."
Looking to Lorius, he said, "I've noticed that you've stepped into the microchip age cousin, what do you think?"
"Microchip age is better than Microbrain age, cousin." Lorius said with a smile. "We definitely should not damage the witch. She is after all, a relative of my dear sister and I am sure she wants final say in what happens to her." Lorius nodded to Brandeigh and she nodded in return.
"Do you have any idea of all that they are discussing, Percy?" Taliesin asked Percy, as us redheads continued to plot, scheme, and connive.
Percy was smiling. "Believe it or not, Taliesin, I think this is watered down for the discussions they usually get into."
Brandeigh winked at Percy and smiled at Taliesin. "It's been awhile since we've seen each other. We're just getting warmed up."
Kyle smiled at the two of them, seeming somewhat embarrassed. "I hope that I haven't been a bore. I've a habit of pedantry, I'm afraid, which comes out in times of stress." Smooth, empty, and gratiating, yet, sincere as well. I admired that.
Brandeigh nodded thoughtfully at all this. "He walked a broken Pattern?" she said to me. I nodded in return. "A brave man then, or one bent on revenge."
"Or a fool," Kyle added glibly.
My sister looked thoughtfully at Marguessan for a moment. "A coincidence that we both have old 'friends' bent on righting imagined wrongs and somehow gaining access to a power or powers that will help them do so? I think not."
"Doubtful, at best. These two may be pawns, red herrings even," Kyle said. "But, they may also possess clues as to the real power behind them. Their ability to travel seems suspiciously close to what the dreamer said our Door people can do, perhaps only a lesser form of the same ability."
"Was it wise leaving Tyler in Amber, even if he is no condition to think on his own?" Brandeigh asked.
"Probably not," I said, sighing. "Though I never intended to leave Amber for as long as I have."
To Fiona, Kyle asked, "How is poor Tyler? Were you able to salvage anything?"
"Tyler's pretty much a vegetable, with nothing much to his mind left, Kyle. I did notice his broken Pattern and this odd power the two of them share. I got a glimpse though, digging in one last time, of how the power works, and it looks nothing like Bronze Doors, from what I could get a sense of. I think your approach to learning what she can do with it and how to possibly treat with this Power is a sound approach."
"Aye, it seems nothing like the Door ability," Brandeigh said, nodding. "From what I've observed in Marguessan's memories and from a remote viewing of a region of space near here affected by Xavier's son, his power is nowhere near as......" She paused as if searching for the right choice of words. "....subtle. It's rather more, well, forceful. More like a storm than anything else really."
Dismay passed over me as my Mother's words sunk in. Tyler was a....a....."vegetable." It was strange to think that he would never again make a bungled attempt on my life or call me "girlie witch." Even more dismaying was the fact that I had given him my word that he would be safe if he cooperated with us. True, he had not told us everything, but he had told us far more than he had to. Inadvertently, I felt as if I had gone back on my word........
Kyle noted my dismay and turned towards me. "Don't despair," he said in a gentle voice. "There may be something we can yet do." Then, to the astonishment of all, my self included, Kyle said, "Shannon, I am sorry, I did not intend to do such harm to your Tyler."
I was stunned. Kyle had apologized and he knew damn well what that meant. True, he had not been in Amber long, but he had studied with my Mother and he knew the way the family game was played. Brand's son had just apologized in front of a large group of relatives........
"I.....I accept your apology, Kyle. Thank you." I stumbled over the words, shocked.
Brandeigh watched the interaction between the two of us with a curious look in her eye. She shot our mother a knowing glance, while winking at Percy once again.
Kyle turned away from me, his face once more becoming a fine porcelain mask. Turning to Brandeigh, Kyle said, "I doubt if your lockdown will stop your cousin's gateway Power. The effort may be a bit premature."
"That may be true," she replied. "But then again it might not. The phrase 'My world, my rules', though I like the implied ownership not, seems very appropriate here. Xavier's son has broken through the barriers I raised here before. And though he is not present in this Shadow at the moment, I do not want him learning that I have captured his agent here. I do not want him attempting a rescue or elimination of that agent," she said firmly. "At least not until I am ready for him to do so." The last part was delivered in a tone that was deathly cold and serious.
The moment passed, however, and she smiled at Kyle. "Therefore the blocks. Nothing gets in or out of this place without my knowledge and permission.
"I know enough about this power of his and my cousin's to block it, only on a temporary basis right now though. Therefore, I will make it hard for him to do anything here."
Kyle nodded thoughtfully, "Sound reasoning, Brandeigh. Your wards will certainly block casual scrying by magic, and though it's not my field, by Trump, I'd wager."
Brandeigh smiled briefly at him. "Among other things, aye it does do that."
"Well," my sister said after a moment. "Shall we begin?"
"Tell us all what you already know about this power," she ordered, her gaze passing over Kyle, Lorius, Mother, and myself in turn. "I will do the same. We can then compare observations and formulate a working theory or two and attempt to confirm them with Marguessan's unwilling assistance."
Kyle shrugged. "I haven't had the time to sift through Tyler's memories...Other matters distracted me."
Brandeigh nodded again and frowned, deep in thought. "Perhaps you should sort through those when you have a chance. They may contain something of interest."
"Yes, I shall begin, since I believed I studied Tyler the most recently," Fiona said, assenting to Brandeigh's earlier plan of operation.
"After poor Tyler was left in our loving care, I had some other business involving Clarissa that merited attention first, but I did manage to visit him this morning, before I tried and nearly failed to contact any of my loving, dutiful children.
"What I could learn from the poor dregs of his mind was this......."
It was then that we all saw, first hand, just why Fiona was called by the Golden Circle The Sorceress of Amber and not anyone else, dead or alive.
Before us, a three dimensional image, a "hologram" I believe they are called, appeared......cast by Fiona's magic.
Tyler, lanky, uncombed, and un-shaven was walking down a dirt road in a wilderness somewhere. He pronounced something in my language which I failed to comprehend then ripped the very fabric of the world. Beyond the vertical tear was a paved highway somewhere in another forest. He stepped through and continued walking as the vision ended.
Brandeigh nodded thoughtfully.
Quietly, Taliesin said, "Quite impressive, Lady Fiona."
Mother, after actually smiling to Taliesin, explained, "I believe he used a series of this rips in space to get to the Primal Pattern. It seems rather functional rather than an iconic power. No Pattern, no Logrus...rather basic, actually. Yet, it seems to work."
Brandeigh nodded in agreement. "That was my assessment of it as well after watching what I could of it through Marguessan's mind and seeing the results of it's use."
"But how could that get him to the Primal Pattern. Shouldn't the nature of the place bar him?" Percy asked, showing his ignorance of those things magical.
"A common misconception for someone unused to power like yourself, cousin," Lorius said, shaking his head. "Merlin, or another Lord of Chaos might not want to try to use a Logrus tendril to get to the Primal Pattern, but while it is difficult to get there with Pattern itself, Trumps work. A sorcery spell of mine will take me there. So, apparently will this power of Tyler's. From what I gathered from my analysis of him before turning him over to Kyle, he wasn't even trying for the Primal Pattern. He was after my dear sister for reasons still murky. I am not sure I buy the reasons he gave. Or buy a used car from him for that matter."
Once more, Brandeigh nodded in agreement. "Aye, I agree with you there, braud." She looked to Percy. "I can trump to just about anywhere I want to, I just have to know where I'm going so that I can craft the card beforehand. Mayhap, this Tyler heard Shannon mention Amber or the Pattern a time or two. And then with that little information began searching for it and her. If he was simply striving to reach someplace called Amber and following..." she frowned for a moment, "power signatures or trails, not knowing what Amber really is, he would end up at the Primal Pattern."
She gazed at Mother. "It is the real Amber after all, correct?"
"Tyler gave me his own series of reasons why he was after me and while I am sure they were at least partly legitimate, I could easily believe he had an ulterior motive." I frowned. "He knew I was at a point of power."
"To quote Tyler," I continued, "'My new power only works if you have a strong recollection of a place.' He said that he determined my location through a tarot reading from which he divined that I was at a pole of reality. He chose the obvious one and started towards it, using the description from Uncle Corwin's book. He called his 'rips' through shadow 'Gateways' and told us that the power did not normally allow him access to such a place." I paused, considering how much to tell them. "Tyler claimed he was after me to take back a trio of trumps I obtained from him a while back. He said that one of the places depicted was unreachable through his new power and guarded against his Broken Pattern."
"You have raised a good point about the possibility of Xavier's son reaching his pawn, here," said Kyle, gazing at Brandeigh. "I haven't gotten the impression that this new power is capable of anything besides travel. But, if it can be used to travel into realms barred by someone as formidable as yourself, cousin, may I suggest we examine your captive to ensure that the power does not have a communication component that can be exploited? A simple scan of her memories should suffice, say a look at her mentorship and training in the ways of the power?" He motioned towards Marguessan with an elegant gesture. "May I?"
My sister nodded in agreement. "I've blocked everything from getting in or out at the moment, and whilst I'm here, that barrier should work even against Xavier's son."
She looked towards Marguessan. "There is a block of some sort around her memories concerning her time spent with Mac Xavier. I've done a bit checking already. 'Tis why I called me mother."
From her pocket, Brandeigh withdrew a sketch. "This is the man we're looking for. He was in my warning dream and I've seen him in Marguessan's mind."
Kyle studied the sketch, memorizing every detail. Secretly, it seemed as though he was trying to make a psychic impression of the illustration, though I could not be sure.
I held out a hand. "May I see the trump?"
It was passed to me and I studied it. He was tall, possibly 5'10" my artists intuition told me. Dark hair, worn collar length. Maybe 175 pounds. Muscle was defined, but he was not overly strong. He was wearing a simple high collared shirt and pants, with soft shoes.
I frowned. He was not tall or particularly well muscled. Nothing like his father.
"It seems that we have a bit more to go on than we did a few minutes ago, but there is some detail, and some history lacking," Kyle said. "Shall we proceed with the interrogation?"
Looking to Fiona, he asked, "Do you wish to lead, or shall I?"
"With the assent of Brandeigh of course," Mother said sweetly, her gaze passing between Marguessan and my sister. "I shall lead our probe into her brain to learn more about this power of Tyler and hers and possibly more about the doings of this unknown son of my older brother in the process."
Brandeigh nodded her head. "Please begin, mother. Afterwards, I can show you an area of space affected by this power."
Her sweet smile mimicked Fiona's. "That is if anyone wishes to see such a thing of course." It was a needless question and she knew it, as did the rest of us.
Slowly, softly, silently the magic was cast and we where inside Marguessan's mind.

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