We continued to travel as I sought Merlin, Saivu entertaining us at the end of each day. Finally we came to a place that was filled with activity. We entered a stone hallway, immense, with tapestries as large as houses lining its walls. Construction workers hustled all over, the place still in the process of being built.

We walked down the hallway and through the archway at the end, into a room with a table long enough to comfortably seat about thirty people, all of whom were there. I scanned the room quickly, figuring that Merlin had to be here, and frowned slightly when I realized he wasn't.

A tall blond man paced along the length of the table, ranting about the construction. "How can we possibly have run out of bricks?" He stopped to look at the woman sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. "We went through exactly what we needed and…"

His voice trailed off as he spotted us, standing there still in the archway. His eyes widened, and his hand fell to his sword, drawing it. "You!" Eight more likewise stood and drew their blades, ready to join him.

Even as he charged across the room towards Saivu, my sword was in my hand and I stood in front of my charge, reaching one hand to shove him behind me. "Stop!" I shouted. I was more than willing to do my job, but I wanted at least an idea what we were up against before I started carving. "Who are you and what is your complaint with Saivu?" My words were drowned out by the stranger's battle-cry, and I raised my sword, ready to meet him.

Underneath my breath I muttered, "I take it this is what you were talking about?"

I could hear Saivu's soft answer, "Aw, not again." There was a shink of metal against his scabbard as he drew his ornamental sword, and I wondered if it was useful enough to do any good here. "Keep out of this!" he yelled at the others who were getting ready to come to the blond's aid. "This is between him and me!"

I don't think he saw the irony of his statement, as he remained behind me, keeping me between him and the charging onslaught.

I met the blond man, turning to cut him off as he tried to charge around me to reach Saivu. "Out of the way!" he yelled, attacking me in earnest.

It seemed I was going to definitely earn my keep. "I'm his bodyguard," I said calmly, not bothered in the least by his rage. It would be far more likely to get him in trouble than me. "You want him, you go through me. And you don't want to do that." I couldn't keep from grinning. I was still on the defensive, keeping him away from Saivu but not trying to damage him. I still wanted to know what I was up against… how good he was, whether I could disarm him. I wanted to get out of this cleanly, if at all possible.

And even though everyone else was still standing in shock, I was wary of them as well.

He was quick, I'll give him that, and most certainly furious. I could have sworn he didn't want to attack me, although he did make a valiant attempt to disarm me. But I was good enough to use the maneuver to my advantage, my response pushing him back a few feet with a shove that nearly knocked him down.

There was a moment's pause while the shock against his sword arm seemed to travel up to his mind, and then he yelled, "Get them! I want them alive!"

The rest of the room reacted. All of a sudden I was facing a semicircle of a half dozen or so opponents, all with swords drawn to shield the blond guy. I could hear shouting coming from the hallway behind us as well.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…"

"No, it wasn't!" I snapped. I don't know if Saivu was talking to me or himself, but he deserved the reaction he got. "Who are these people and where are we?"

"How should I know?" he replied indignantly. "You brought us here!"

"They know *you*!" I snapped back, feeling completely justified in my anger, before my attention was reclaimed by the attackers. Trying to defend against six people at once took most of my concentration. We were pushed out the door back into the hallway, and with a glance I could just barely see figures running down that long hallway towards us.

Then suddenly the area in front of me went translucent, and my attackers beat their swords against some sort of barrier in the doorway.

Helpful, very helpful. I took a moment to breathe.

Saivu, on the other hand, leaped in front of the barrier and yelled at it, "Yeah, face the awesome power of the Logrus, suckers!" He had a good laugh for that brief moment, before turning to me. His expression shifted rapidly as a crossbow bolt zipped past his nose, into the wood of the wood of the doorframe next to him.

That, on the other hand, was *not* so helpful. I made a mental note to talk to Saivu about tactics later on. Lack of tact I understood completely, but that outburst was just not brilliant right now. Don't antagonize the enemy unless you're ready to take advantage of their anger.

The men rushing at us from the other direction were now attacking. There were only four of them, two armed with polearms and the other two with crossbows, although swords rattled undrawn at their sides as they ran.

"If I leave this doorway, the shield comes with me," Saivu said worriedly, glancing back at the crowd of people pounding on the barrier. Then he seemed to change his mind, pulling himself up straight and saying in a firmly quavering voice, "You go. Shift Shadow or whatever it is that you do. I'll stay here and hold them off."

"Like hell I will." There were doors all along the hallway, and I grabbed him and leapt for the nearest one. I pulled it open and heard a thunk of a crossbow bolt as we jumped through, slamming the door shut behind me. We were alone, then, in a room full of huge empty bookcases which lined the walls. It was lit, at least, by oil lamps set into the walls, but there were no windows. Only one other door on the other side of the room. And a glass case, displaying a deck of cards.

Saivu spun to face the door we came through, his face creased by lines of concentration. And a moment later the air in front of the doorway went translucent. "That should hold them for a while," he told me.

"Good." I turned away from him, walking over to the glass case. "You talked about cards… those Trump, that could be used for conversation and transport. D'you think these might be some of those? They look pretty much like someone thinks they're special." I ran my hand over the glass of the lid, examining the case to see if it'd be safe to smash the glass, or if I'd be better off trying to get through the iron padlock that hung on it. The cards just sat there, on display, their back turned towards me -- a unicorn rampant.

"Maybe." Saivu glanced over at me, but didn't seem certain. "I don't know what *other* kind of cards you would have a case for like that. Take a look."

His advice was punctuated by the door behind his barrier starting to splinter as the polearms were used against it from the outside. I must have winced, because he reassured me, "Don't worry. They may get through the door, but they won't make it through the barrier. Take your time."

I was reluctant to just smash through the glass, and while I considered it, I continued asking questions. "While we're at it, who the hell are those people?" I knew I'd asked it before, but damn it, Saivu hadn't given me an answer that made me happy. "It looked like they knew you, whether you know where we are or not."

"I don't know!" he protested. "Maybe its just a case of mistaken identity?" It sounded like a hopeful question, and he took a step in my direction as the door fell. The guards started chopping at the shimmering shield that wasn't all there, to no apparent effect.

"Mitaken identity?" I laughed sharply. "He sure seemed to know you. He was trying to get to you through me, and seemed pretty damned convinced that he wanted to kill you."

I didn't have any more time really, and had to act. I shifted my sword in my hand, butt first, and shattered the glass quickly. I wiggled the hilt around, ,making the hole large enough to reach into safely, and drew out the cards. As I glanced through them quickly, I asked, "Okay, Saivu, now what do I do with these things?"

"I've used them before. You just look at their eyes and concentrate, and then, if they want, you make contact." He fell silent then, placing his fingertips to each side of his temples, staring at his shield intently. I tried to watch three places at once… Saivu, the door on the opposite wall, and the cards, and almost lost my grip on the cards.

I slowed down, concentrating more on the cards and paying more attention as I flipped through them. I was looking for anything that seemed even vaguely familiar, as faces flashed by me. But I wanted to find one that seemed right… especially if I had to talk to whoever it was.

My hand stilled as I found one that incredibly enough did seem familiar. Blond hair, green eyes, dressed in a black shirt and a brown vest. I remembered his name as Delwin, from the place of the mirrors where I first walked the Pattern. I stopped on his card and concentrated for a while, but nothing happened.

Saivu's voice seemed to come from a long way away, as he tried not to disturb his concentration. "If it hasn't worked by now, it probably won't. Try another one."

I made a face at the card, vaguely annoyed that that particular person wouldn't answer. He hadn't said enough back then, and I'd been in too much pain to ask any more questions. And now, well… now I could really use those answers. But I could always try again later.

I still had to get out of here. I hated the idea of depending upon a complete stranger for the escape, but hopefully a quick thank you and we could run out of there as well and be on our way. I started separating the cards, men from women… if I had to pick one at random, I knew the type I'd pick. Some guy who looked like he'd had my sort of life. Someone I could at least understand, and who might understand where I was coming from. I didn't want to try to talk to someone who wouldn't even know what I was talking about.

Then my hand stilled in surprise. Merlin. There was a card here who was exactly who I had been looking for before we got into this mess.

Perfect.

Again I concentrated on the card, and this time I moved within reach of Saivu, concerned I might have to back him up if he let that shield fall.

It didn't take long this time, and the card came to life in my hands. A face appeared in front of me. The tall guy… the one with blond hair and a beard… the guy who just a bit before had been trying to crawl through me to get to Saivu.

That was *Merlin*?

He was jogging down the long hallway, and I could see at least a dozen people behind him, on the other side of Saivu's barrier, trying to force their way through. "What is…" he started to ask, his voice trailing off as he looked at me. Then he stopped. "You!" The contact we had was broken, and the card was just a card in my hand again.

"Well?" Saivu asked, "did you get anyone?"

"Do you know Merlin?" I snapped rapidly, no nonsense and seriously ticked. "Because *that*'s who's attacking us. Who attacked you. At least, you said this was him." I turned the card to show the picture to him, "and that guy is who started talking when I tried it. Does he have a reason to hate you? Or should we be trying to turn this around."

Saivu hesitated for a second, as if he didn't want to explain. "Yes, I know him. Remember how I said we weren't exactly friends?"

I remembered that, but I'd thought that if they were enemies, Saivu never would've suggested we come here. Apparently I'd been wrong. Or else Saivu hadn't thought they were exactly *enemies*.

He shook his head slowly. "But if that blond guy is him… I've never seen him like this before. Except maybe that time at that Ball. Believe me, if I'd thought he was going to go off like this, I never would have let you bring me here."

I had a flash of memory of one of our conversations along the trip. "Him?" My expression was incredulous. "Is that the guy who's girlfriend you stole? And you came here on purpose?"

"It was a long time ago!" Saivu protested. "How could he still be ticked off about that? Are you sure that blong guy is Merlin?" His expression was pure suspicion.

"Apparently he is," I said dryly. Admittedly, I was no expert, but, "You said those cards connect to the person pictured. I found on that looked like the picture you showed me of Merlin, and it seemed to connect to the blond guy."

The door on the opposite wall burst open, and three heavily armed and armored guards filed in. I could see even more behind them. I groaned inwardly. Either this was about to get out of hand, or something needed to be done.

"Let me try to get this under control," I muttered to Saivu. Then louder I said, "Bring Merlin in here. I want to talk to him."

Two more guards entered the room, and behind him an older man with a salt and pepper mustache. His breastplate was red, different from the rest of the guards who wore unadorned steel. He stepped forward and spoke loudly enough for us to hear across the room. "I am Grustive, Captain of the Guard. *Prince* Merlin is not in the castle and is not expected to return any time soon." I took note of his emphasis of the title, and tried not to mentally discard it. I've never been one for titles myself.

"Now, throw down your weapons and surrender," he instructed us. "There's no way out."

There was, perhaps, a good thirty yards between us and those guards, but the only thing that lay there was open floor. There was no place to go, no place to hide. Still, I considered my options as the guards prepared to advance.

For the moment, I put my sword up, shaking my head. "I didn't come here to fight. And I wouldn't have, if Merlin hadn't jumped Saivu." I spoke plainly. I knew from experience that fighting wasn't always the best way out of anything, especially not if I had something I needed to accomplish. And pissing Merlin off more wasn't going to get me any useful information.

"As for Merlin himself, he's here. I tried to contact him, and even though he didn't look it, he's the guy who attacked us." I stood my ground as I tried to explain. My sword was still up, but if they got any closer or looked like they were going to attack again, I'd be ready to use it. "I just want to talk to him. I didn't plan a fight. I just heard he might be able to tell me a few things."

The hand with the sword was busy, holding it stiffly there, but I spread the other one, asking, "Well?"

Grustive remained as calms as I was. "Miss, my job is to disarm you and detain you, and that's what I tend to do, one way or another. I will you one thing. *Prince*," the stress on the word was harder now, gritting his teeth together in emphasis, "Merlin has not been to the castle in over a month. Regardless of this or anything else, I want you to understand that I don't particularly care about the circumstances that might have brought you to this juncture. I don't care who you think is here or there, or who attacked you, or anything else. I care about disarming and detaining you, as I was ordered. *After* I disarm and detain the two of you, I will be quite pleased to converse with you at length, but until then, drop your weapons and come with me." His tone shifted, becoming menacing, as he added, "*Now*."

It was an impressive speech. But it all boiled down to one thing, and I shook my head. "I don't give this sword up to anyone. I give you my word of honor that I'm not going to attack, as long as we aren't attacked again." And with that, I sheathed the sword, dropping my hand away from the hilt.

"Like I said, I came here looking for *Prince* Merlin." I emphasized the title myself this time. "Because Saivu thought he might be able to talk to me about Amber." My chin slid up a notch, unconsciously defensive as I wondered what trouble I might have from invoking *that* name. I wasn't so sure I understood everything I'd learned from Saivu. "That's the only damned reason we're here. And I'm more than willing to leave since you say he isn't here."

I don't think he heard anything past my first sentence. I was talking, but the Captain was already shaking his head, speaking to his men with a touch of regret in his voice. "Disarm and detain them. Try not to kill them. Go."

The men began marching across the room towards us, more filing into the room behind them. And Saivu glanced at me with worried eyes. "So, got any new battle plans I should know about?" He sounded nervous. I couldn't blame him.

"Hells," I muttered. "Remind me to ask for more details next time you say you don't get along with someone." My eyes were darting around the room, trying to take in anything, hoping against hope that something would have somehow changed. That all of a sudden there would be a way out. I shoved the cards into my pocket -- this was no time to be playing with them. And nothing came to mind.

The decision, once made, was abrupt. I turned the sword hilt out and held it out from my body. "I'm stubborn, but I'm not stupid in the fact of these odds. Saivu, we're giving up for the moment. Take the damned sword, Grustive, and then let's go somewhere and talk." I glared briefly at Saivu. "You, I'm pissed at."

Saivu pointed a finger at his chest, his eyes open wide in a seemingly genuine surprise. He looked back at the men trying to force their way through the barrier and abruply it disappeared, sending a handful of guard sprawling upon the ground. He ignored them, looking at Grustive as if he were about to speak, and then wisely remained silent instead.

I turned my attention back to Grustive. "I want my sword back when this is over. I just want to leave."

He didn't answer that, instead saying, "You've made a wise decision, miss. You as well, sir," he added to Saivu. "You've already given your word that you won't try to escape, so I won't put you through the indignity of binding you. Follow me if you please."

He turned and we were surrounded by guards who first took our weapons, and then escorted us from the room.

And that was our arrival in New Avalon.