Benedict, having woken from his rest, rolled out of bed with little grace. Mechanically, he brushed his teeth, and raked a hand through his hair as he mentally reviewed his situation, and what he had to do. He had to get the rest of his siblings back to Amber...that much was certain. How, he didn't know...but he sure as hell was going to try. After a few moments of deliberation, he decided to try Flora first.

He pulled his Trump deck out of it's pouch, and shuffled out Flora's Trump. She gazed back prettily from the portrait. He concentrated on the image...on her...and soon enough, she answered.

"Yes, brother. You would like to speak to me? I'm all ears."

Benedict looked fairly stern and serious, "You need to come back to Amber, Flora, if you haven't already." Please don't make this hard, Florimel... he mentally pleaded.

Flora gave one of her sweet smiles and gracefully extended her hand. "But of course. All you have to do is pull me through."

Benedict almost blinked in surprise, but extended his hand anyway. Maybe the rest of them won't be so bad, he thought as he pulled her cross the Shadows inbetween them.

"Ben! So nice to see a familiar face!" she exclaimed as she flounced into his arms for a sisterly embrace. He'd gotten used to women throwing themselves into his arms lately, so for once, he loosened up and gave her a hug back. She ended the embrace soon enough, and straightened her dress, "So what news do you have? What's going on?"

"Not too much news. I don't know what you've heard or not..." he shrugged slightly, looking a touch agitated. "Llewella's regent, if you didn't know, and she appointed me Captain of the Guard, after Khyron's absence. To my knowledge, there's been no word of Father, and most of the family is still scattered to the four winds."

He frowned a bit, running a hand through his hair, "You may want to request an audience with Llewella--she'll prolly be able to tell you more."

"Yes, I'll be sure to do that and let her know I'm back," she said almost thoughtfully. "I've been 'hiding' out in shadow, I guess you could say. After being ill, I had tried to get some fresh air by going out for a ride, but I was nearly mobbed by a bunch of angry peasants! (That was rather frightening) Upon returning home I couldn't find anyone about the castle and Bleys was sound asleep. I tried trumping a few siblings and couldn't get in touch with any of them, although when I tried to Trump Julian my card had the strangest reaction..."

Benedict frowned at that, fingering the Trump deck still in hand. Ill? She was ill? And what was wrong with Julian's Trump? His hands itched to shuffle Julian's out, but he schooled himself to patience and gave his sister his full attention.

"Since I couldn't really reach anyone, I really didn't want to be by myself in the Castle,(I was a little shaken up) so I thought it best to leave for the safety of a shadow for a while. You're the first sibling I've talked to in about four days!" She smiled slightly and gave a huge sigh of relief.

Benedict smiled slightly, and patted her gently on the shoulder, "I understand, Flora, but from now on--til we know what's going on--I really think it'd be best to stay in Amber."

"So let me see if I get this right--you've been made Captain of the Guard. I suppose congratulations are in order? But by the look on your face and by the way your clothes look you don't seem all that pleased. Is there something you're not telling me? I wish I could help you better in finding dad. I hate seeing you stressed!" Flora offered generously, giving Benedict a feeling that his family wasn't all bad. With Flora and Llewella listening to him at least, he felt downright positive.

He nodded, "Yes, I've been promoted, I guess you could say." He shrugged slightly at her observations, "There's a lot I'm not telling you, but I've just returned today from a Hellride into Shadow...thus.." he gestured down at himself and his rumpled clothes. "Had to catch up on sleep."

"If you'd like, I can have something hot to eat sent up. Once you're all settled in here, a good meal and a fresh change of clothes does wonders!" she said helpfully with a smile. Unicorn bless Oberon for having daughters, Benedict thought warmly. "Otherwise I'll go and see if I can't find Llewella."

He smiled a touch again, "No, that's alright, Flora. There's a lot of things I need to do tonight before I sup." He ran a hand through his hair again, getting self-conscious around her, "Getting ahold of the rest of our brothers and sisters being one of them." That should about next to impossible..

"However.." he drew in a breath and sighed, "I hate to ask you to leave, but..." He held up the deck and shrugged again, "I've work to do. Promise you I'll join you for breakfast in the morning, tho."

Flora flashed him a beautiful smile. "It's a date!" She gave him a small wave as she flounced out the door, in search of other siblings presumably.

Benedict sighed to himself, gazing at the doorway for a long while. Flora had made him feel a lot better, a lot more positive than he had in days. Maybe this all is going to work out after all, he mused, his fingers sliding over the Trumps in his hand.

After a moment, he turned his attention downwards to the deck. Who next? Random? Corwin? He frowned, thinking of his brothers, and wishing that he'd had more sisters...and upon thinking of sisters, he pulled out Deirdre's Trump. He concentrated on the card and gave up in disgust after a few minutes. Must have her Trump blocker up, dammit. Caine was with her... He shuffled out Caine's Trump and concentrated. He felt Caine's presence in a few moments, but Caine wasn't receiving Trump calls...matter of fact, he was actively resisting Benedict's attempts. Ben kept at it for a while, until he finally gave up on Caine as well. At least I know he's still alive. That's something.

And that left him with only brothers to Trump. He took the first one to come after Caine's...which was Gerard. Benedict smiled to himself--Gerard admired him, looked up to him. Should be easy to get him back here where he belongs.

He lifted the Trump up and concentrated....

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page