Chapter Five
Investigations in Amber

Deciding to spend some time alone in my rooms handling spell maintenance and sending messages, I left a message with the servants to notify me of the arrival of Timtallagay, Benedict or Random. Other than that, I told them I was to be left alone except for having meals delivered.
My first order of business was to spend some time manipulating the Logrus to find some message birds in shadow. I set my specifications for 4 birds, colored black and green, with shadow tracking, hyped up speed and the ability to handle any environment they ran into. Each of them was given a message to deliver, and sent out. One went to Dara. I swallowed a lot of pride on that one, but I sent her a message reading, "Mother, no tricks, no games. Please help. Send me your trump. Corvina".
A bird went off the Mandor with the message, "Where are you? What's going on? Need your advice, send word. Corvina. One went to Fiona as well, why not? It conveyed, "Need your help investigating bizarre magickal phenominom near Arden. Please answer. Merlin's sister, Corvina, in Amber." Ah, I hate that identity. The last bird I sent to Random himself, for not entirely altruistic motives, "Your Majesty, for give the intursion. People are concerned and looking for you. I don't want to be known as the last person who saw you. I am not getting very polular. Please sebnd the bird back if you need help. Corvina."
Once the birds were on their way, I ordered a large breakfast, and set about maintaining the spells I had hung while I waited for it. I planned on a large meal, a morning into afternoon nap, then a full evening and night of spell setting while waiting for my birds. I had no intention of dealing with that group of misfits until I was good and ready.
I began setting spells, as was my custom, in a multi-use pattern. I racked a shadow gate for my encampment area between Arden and Kolvir, several physcial defensive spells and several physical and mental offensive ones. This out of the way, I started researching the formula to created a stylized mirror based defensive grid for power reflection. That Fiona thing had bothered me. Thankfully, no one bothered me or interrupted me for some time, and I had opportunity to get a great deal done.
An uneventful two days later, just after breakfast, my birds returned to me somewhat less than successful. There was no sign of the birds sent to Mandor or Fiona, and Random's bird returned with no message. Dara was good enough to send the bird back, with a typically sarcastic note claiming that I never needed her help before, so she wasn't about to give it now. Bitch. Ah well, I tried. I spent the rest of the day reading unhelpful books concerning Brand's and Dworkin's historical chronicles. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be terribly insightful or helpful.
Finally, on my fourth day of self-confinement, there was a knock on my door shortly after breakfast. It was Timtallagay, back from his/her recent travels.
"Hello, you wanted to see me?" Timtallagay inquired upon entering.
"Um, yes", I ventured "you do realize that it's difficult to conduct a murder investigation when I can't go to the scene and none of the witnesses are cooperating. You do see that, don't you?"
"Well, I didn't mean to be uncooperative" Timtallagay said, looking vaguely distressed. Somehow, I believed him. Her. Whatever. Geesh, I'm just going to call Timtallagay him until someone tells me I'm wrong or at least offers substantial proof one way or the other.
"What we need to do is get everyone who is involved together, and go to that place" I said to TimT, "can you get them all together?"
"You mean the place where everything was black and white?"
"The one you told me Prescott died in, yeah" I returned.
"Mmmm" Timtallagay murmured "I believe I can. Do you want to do this right now?"
"Yes I ..." a sudden inspiration stopped me in my tracks "wait a minute, Timtallagy, didn't you mention that you walked the Pattern?"
Timtallagay looked uncertain. "Yes, I did, but..."
"That means you have Pattern" I continued blithely on "and I think I'd like to make a little stop on the way back to the rooms."
"Oh" Timtallagay questioned "what sort of stop?"
"Let's stop at the library. There's something there I want you to look at"
"Ok" TimT agreed. We walked down to the library, and I tried to explain my problem in attaining trumps to him on the way. I also explained about the trumps in the library cases, and when we arrived, I told him to take a look at the cases.
Timtallagay looked at them for a moment, then turned to me rather puzzled. "Is there something in particular I should see?" he asked.
"Well, you need to look at it so you can SEE see, like you need to call up the Pattern to look through at it, or whatever it is you guys do with it" I babbled at him, hoping to get the concept across.
He looked confused for a moment, then "Oh, I see" he said. I was greatly relieved, I had no idea how to explain it to him better than that.
Timtallagay walked over to the cases and stared at them for a few minutes. I stayed prudently out of the way. Timtallagay spent some time, working with the Pattern and whatever Pattern-spell was woven about the case. Finally he seemed to be finished, and reached out to touch the case. He tried to open it, but it didn't budge.
"It's locked. We need the key" he said unhappily.
Something about him had been striking me as odd all morning, and I couldn't put my finger on it until then. Looking in the case at his reflection while he was looking into the case struck it home. There was an odd red sparkle in his eyes in the reflection, and it definitely hadn't been there before. It made me distinctly uncomfortable. Now that I'd noticed the reflection, I could see a hint of it in his eyes when I looked, but I rather preferred not to.
After a moment of examination, we determined the type of key needed, but neither of us had the capability to just pick the lock. I have to learn that. A brief but thorough search of the library desk revealed no key, not that I thought it would be that easy. After a few moments consideration, I decided to attempt something both stupid and risky. Timtallagay was maintaining his Pattern sight, or whatever they use, in order to keep the spell off the case, so I moved to a different room nearby. Summoning up the Sign of the Logrus, I extended Logrus tendrils through shadow, reaching for a key that would fit that lock. It took nearly three hours of effort, but eventually I came back with a key. It was a strange key, formed out of chaos, but theoretically it would fit. Returning to the library, I held the key up to show Timtallagay.
"Here's a key to fit." I said.
He seemed tired with the effort he was maintaining, but managed to study the key for a moment. He looked at it rather doubtfully.
"Why don't you put it down" he suggested.
I glanced about. I certainly wasn't about to touch the case, or TimT, so I placed it on the floor near him, then backed out of range. Timtallagay reached down to take the key, but it seemed to cause him great pain.
"Mm-mm" he shook his head, "I can't use that".
I sighed. "I guess I can give it a try"
Timtallagay told me he'd clear all the energy away from the lock and hold a clear spot for me. Tentatively, I reached down and picked up the key. Slowly reaching forward, I lowered the key toward the lock. My hand grew warmer and warmer as I got closer, and I had a bad feeling about this. There was a sudden frantic pulsing, and it felt like my right hand was about to be severed from my arm. Quickly I withdrew my arm. The pressure relieved itself. Suspicious, I felt about my right wrist. Sure enough, my new rope friend was there.
I stared at my arm. "I take it you would rather I didn't do that?" I asked the rope. To my astonishment, it squeezed lightly, once.
"Well" I asked it "do you have a better idea?" There was no answering squeeze, not that I really expected a dissertation. I looked up to notice that Timtallagay was looking at me like I'd lost my mind. I sighed again.
"I'm afraid that key won't do" I told him.
"Well" he said "I didn't want to have to do this." Timtallagay sat down and began drawing keys out of a small sack. He withdrew an amazing number of keys, in fact, he was creating a hell of a brass hill next to him. Now there was a weird enchantment. Finally, a considerable amount of time later, he held up a key. "Here it is" he said. I shook my head, and watched as he applied the key to the lock. It didn't work.
"Oh well" Timtallagay said sadly.
"Um, why do you have all those keys" I had to ask.
"You never know when they could be useful" Timtallagay replied.
"Ah" I said.
We cleaned up and headed down to the rooms, defeated by the library's cases.

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