They head out into the formal gardens at the rear of the palace, where
flower-beds scent the cool night air. Here, the post-Ceremony partying
is far away. For a little bit longer, he can pretend to be wide-eyed
awake and alert. There are things that need to be told. If Tessa is
willing to listen.

He strolls along the path beside his sister, sipping from the goblet
still in his hand. "Better?" he asks after a while.

Tessa nods briefly. "Yes. The hall was very... warm."

Martin nods slowly. "Well, at least that's over with."

Tessa's eyes swing to you. "The warmth? Or his announcement?"

Martin pauses in the act of raising the goblet to his mouth. "The
standing around being polite at a crowd of people you'd rather see at
the bottom of a snakepit," he answers.

Tessa makes a small sound, though not precisely of agreement. "Are most
social functions like this?"

Martin considers, as he sips. "Some. The rest are even more pointless,"
he shrugs again. "But don't take my word for it.

"I try to avoid them as a matter of course," he explains.

Tessa nods. "I see."

Distantly, the cries of birds upon the back of Kolvir drift through the
garden.

"You seem a little... on edge," Martin remarks casually.

"One of the courtiers was staring at me all night." Tessa's shoulders
lift slightly, her gaze fastened on a flower whose petals she touches
gently. "I found it unsettling."

"That's going to happen a lot," Martin replies. "Everyone knows who you
are, and most of them have heard one or two interesting stories about
you. So..." he sips at his goblet again.

Tessa watches you a moment, then nods. "I'm certain I'll become used to
it."

Martin's reply is a nod. "You'd better," he says, matter-of-factly, his
gaze coming round to meet hers. "That situation is unlikely to change
for a while."

Tessa nods faintly. "I know." Her gaze leaves the flower and settles
upon another.

Martin sips at his wine, adding nothing further for a time. Then, "are
you unhappy?"

Tessa frowns, her gaze lifting to you and she stares at you for a long
while. "I am growing accustomed to life here."

In the silence that follows, Martin lowers his gaze to Tessa's, his
features difficult to discern in the darkness. "Will you walk with me?"
he asks quietly.

Tessa nods, and her deft fingers reach out and steal a rose from the
bush. She cradles it, lifting fragrance closer to her. "Certainly." she
says softly.

Martin nods, turning back towards the palace, and offering her his arms
again.

Tessa takes his arm, letting the flower slip to her other hand.

From the pavilion comes a brief trill of birdsong.

Martin says nothing, leading her at a stroll along midnight paths to
where the garden is less open, and hedges bound quiet nooks and corners.
There, he gestures towards a bench in the shadow of a fragrant pear
tree. "Sit," he invites her.

Tessa does so, carefully arranging her skirt.

<5/8/98>

Martin waits til Tessa has arranged her skirts to her satisfaction,
drains his goblet, setting it down on the ground away from the light,
and joins her on the bench, careful to keep his saber from clattering
against the marble.

Tessa watches his motions surreptitiously, remaining quiet, the rose
being twirled between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand.

Martin's gaze takes in the surrounding gardens and the nearby palace for
a minute, silent.

Tessa just waits, her gaze falling elsewhere and even the twiddling of
the rose ends. Instead she runs her fingertips over the bloom and looks
out over the garden.

After a moment, Martin's hand falls on Tessa's, stilling her action of
stroking the rose. He says nothing, gaze apparently fixed on some point
in the darkness ahead.

Tessa's eyes raise as your hand touches hers. "Was it bothering you?"
she asks softly.

A barely perceptible shake of the head follows, and he slips his other
arm around her waist, drawing her close. Leaning towards her, he speaks
softly into her ear. Not whispering, but speaking very quietly, as
though just breathing the words: "Watch, listen, be still."

Tessa tenses a moment, then loosens her frame, sitting within your
embrace. The rose stills, as does she.

Night's shadows lie thick and black, and the garden's trees and lawns
are limned by pale moonlight. Little seems to stir, but for a warm
summer breeze, or the distant, barely heard scurry or flutter of small
wings.

Tessa remains silent, as if stubbornness outweighs impatience. The only
obvious sign of discomfiture the way her eyes search the shadows for
movement.

If Martin notices his sister's discomfiture, he gives no sign of it. He
continues to sit quite quite still, relaxed, waiting, perhaps.

Out of the blackness at the foot of a tall hedge perhaps ten feet away,
the moonlight catches on someting soft and tawny, as it moves stealthily
out over the grass.

Tessa's head turns vaguely away, as if its presence had not drawn her
sight, and her left hand reaches up to her neck and rubs it gently, her
neck moving as if it were sore.

At Tessa's movement, the creature in the shadows hesitates. There's the
flick of a moonsilvered bushy tail, followed at once by the small sounds
of tiny padded feet having it away over the lawns.

Martin continues to face ahead as he sighs, and drops his arm from
around Tessa.

Tessa frowns faintly, then looks away.

He turns to look in the direction of the fleeing fox for a long moment,
the sense of alertness before replaced by disappointment.

Tessa echoes your sigh a few moments later. For a moment her head lifts
as if she would speak but then she seems to decide against breaking the
fragile peace.

"If you had done as I said, it wouldn't have known we were here," he
says quietly then, some moments later.

Tessa says quietly. "I didn't know what it was."

"A fox, probably," Martin shrugs. "The point was that until you gave us
away, it didn't notice us. We were just part of the background from its
point of view."

Tessa sighs again. "I don't like being approached by things that I don't
recognize here." she mutters.

"Tessa," Martin says, rising irritation giving a rough edge to his
words. "For just one minute, do you think you can step outside of your
petty little head and listen?"

Tessa wraps her fingers tightly around the stem of the rose and nods.

Martin regards Tessa coldly, and continues, his voice lowered, his
manner restrained. "It is one thing to fear, and another thing to allow
your fears to ride you. Do you understand that?"

Tessa nods once. "Yes Martin."

Martin narrows his eyes. "Do not mock me, Tessa."

Tessa's eyes whirl towards you narrowed to match yours. "I have -never-
mocked you." she hisses between gritted teeth. "I may not understand
you. I may not know what to think of you. And I may not have a damn clue
what you want from me but I have never mocked you."

"Then listen," Martin snaps back. "And stop playing the tragic heroine.
I need you to be alert and conscious of what goes on around you, and
able to respond in kind."

Tessa takes a deep breath, all stiff and prickly and then releases it
going soft as she does. Even her eyes have unnarrowed and her teeth are
not clenched.

Martin watches Tessa for several seconds before continuing, and his
manner likewise softens, the edge gone for the moment. "Ours is not an
easy life, Tessa," he says softly. "It demands everything we have to
give, and its rewards are everything that we can imagine. But it means
there are no soft options for us."

Tessa nods vaguely.

There's a burst of drunken laughter and giggling from the doors to the
palace as a courtier and his lady lurch out into the gardens, following
a path that takes them towards the Garden of Curiosities.

Martin's glance flickers to the couple, before returning to Tessa. "If
you are going to panic at a hare or a fox, what are you going to do if
it's something that can harm you?"

"Then I'll get away from it." Tessa says softly. "And if I can't I'll
make certain it does not harm me."

Martin shakes his head. "We do not run, Tessa, " he says as mildly as he
can. "The children of Oberon do not run like sheep from the wolf. We
stand, we fight, and if there is no other way, then we retreat. But we
never, never, run."

"I'm not running anywhere, Martin," Tessa says. "But I'm not about to
get defeated here."

"Your actions say otherwise," he answers. There is no reproach in his
voice, just that sense of frustration and irritation. "You defeat
yourself everytime I try to get through to you."

A balmy wind blows, whispering through the trees and the hedges, warm
and scented with camellias and grass. Distantly, the laughter of the
trysting couple can be heard somewhere in the gardens.

Tessa releases a pent up breath. "Martin, you are my brother and I care
for you." she pauses, frowning. "I -want- to learn from you. But every
time you try to get through to me..." she shakes her head. "Forget it.
I'm sorry. I'll try harder."

"Tessa," Martin sighs again, and there's a moment when he it seems he
might laugh instead. "I don't care what you think of me, and some day,
you will realise that what you think you feel for any of us counts for
nothing. This family did not gain its strength from sentimentality and
hopes of happiness. We are bound by duty, honor, pride, and our word. We
act as needs must. And we are what we are. Do you understand that?"

Tessa's lip purse faintly. "Mayhap. You care nothing for me. I'm to care
nothing for you, my father, Vialle or any of you, save your words, your
duty, your honor and your pride." She looks to you for a long moment.
"This is what you wish me to learn?"

Martin considers Tessa. "I want you to learn not to let it matter," he
answers. "That, yes, your duty, honor and word comes before your
feelings.

"Your feelings have no bearing, except where it will be used by others
against you, and our father, and the Throne," he adds.

Tessa's head inclines briefly. "I shall remember such then and implement
it." she says, her voice flat.

"Tessa," Martin says after a long moment. "They will use you against
Random, you know that, don't you?"

Tessa says, "They will try."

In the darkness, Martin regards his sister quietly, and nods. "They will
try," he echoes. "Bleys, in particular," he says then, "And his sister,
when she returns. Be careful what you say to them."

Tessa nods again. "I will."

Martin returns to silence again. Then, "what I wanted to show you
earlier..." he begins. "Do you want to learn it?"

Tessa nods. "Yes." she says softly. "Please."

"What did you think was happening?" he asks then.

Tessa says, "When the fox came?"

"Before, during," he shrugs.

Tessa shakes her head slightly. "I thought you were warning me. You put
you arm around me and I thought we were about to be... accosted."

"During..." she begins, then pauses. "At first I thought you had made it
appear. Then I realized you couldn't. Not with shadows anyway."

Martin turns to Tessa, a brow quirked. After a heartbeat, the beginnings
of a grin follows. "Uh, right," he chuckles. "But your line of thinking,
well, it's part of the reason I want you to learn this."

Tessa nods again, frowning slightly. "Did you make it appear?"

"No," Martin says. "It was already on the grounds.

"Explain what you mean by 'not with shadows anyway'," he asks.

"You weren't moving. And you can't play with shadows here. Amber is too
hard, too solid." Tessa says softly. "So you didn't mold him."

Martin eyes Tessa a long while before answering, "There was nothing out
of the ordinary involved. I did not summon the fox."

Tessa says, "It was a coincidence then?"

"There's no such thing as coincidence," he smiles a brief smile. "Or so
it's said. But you're missing the point."

Tessa nods. "I am."

"And I have told you what it was," he says as the smile fades away
altogether.

"It was a fox," Tessa says. "It was just here, and until I moved we were
part of its background."

"Right," Martin says. "No tricks, no sorceries, nothing fancy. A simple
thing, because here in the heart of Amber, it's the simple things that
work, and that'll work anywhere, even in the wildest of the
shadowlands."

Tessa's head cants gently to the side. "Do you mean that in the heart of
Amber things happen because they can? Things that would be improbable
elsewhere will happen as part of course here?"

Martin considers Tessa's question for a second. "No..." he answers
slowly. "That's not what I'm saying at all. Not entirely."

Tessa nods once. "I'm afraid I don't understand then."

"Alright," Martin says, frowning slightly, as he tries again. "Out
there, beyond Amber, most things that you and I can think of are
probably probable. If you've spent most of your life out there looking,
you'll probably find out."

Tessa's brow crinkles. "Can you make them happen? By shifting them to?"

Martin shrugs a shoulder, "If you know what you're looking for, it's
possible. Out in the shadowlands, most things that you can concieve of
may exist, somewhere. The problem is when you try to do the same here,
within Amber itself."

Tessa says, "because Amber is real?"

Martin nods, and perhaps there is a second's pause before he continues.
"Because it is Amber that casts the shadows. All that is wild is out
there, but not here. Our power is at its strongest, and at its weakest
here."

Tessa nods, quieting for a bit as if to think on this concept a moment.

Martin continues, speaking softly so the words do not carry in the night
air, "The only power we can count on, without doubt, here in the heart
of all that is real, is a sharp blade."

Tessa nods again. "It is a skill I must gain."

"Everyone does," Martin says. "Point the sharp end at your opponent,
stick, and twist. If he doesn't see it coming, all the better. But the
first thing you should learn about that, is not to get caught in a
position where you have to draw your knife at all."

Tessa nods again, taking a slight breath. "Any suggestions for that?"

Martin gestures to their present surroundings. "What do you think this
has been all about?" he grins.

Tessa straightens slightly. "You think that if I learn to listen and
watch I can avoid situations in which I endanger myself?" She says this
with no hint of emotion in her voice, simply stoicness.

"Something like that," Martin says. A pause as he frowns over the next
bit, "It's like, have you ever watched a hunter... no, probably not.
Hmm..."

Tessa shakes her head faintly. "My mother did not hunt."

"Alright," he starts again. "Every place, whether it's a hallway in the
palace, or a corner of the gardens, or a spot in Arden... everyplace has
its own sounds and feel. And when someone intrudes upon that, they
disturb it in small ways, even if they don't mean to, or aren't aware of
it."

Tessa nods once, eyes focused heavily upon you.

"What a good hunter does, when he enters a forest, for example, is to
learn to become a part of that forest's background of sound and feel. He
waits, until the forest no longer notices him, and then he's part of the
forest, and he's aware of other intruders."

"He becomes part of the forest?" she looks around. "Or the garden or the
background." she finishes quietly.

"I'm probably not explaining this well," Martin says after a moment,
shaking his head. "It'd be easier if we were in the field and I had more
time... but, yes, the hunter becomes a part of the background. That's
what you need to learn."

"Nothing attracts the eye like an unexpected movement," Martin adds.
"And for those whose lives depend on it, nothing arouses their
suspicions quicker than a place than doesn't feel, or sound, or smell,
like it should."

Tessa hrms softly. "Martin?" she finally asks. "If I asked to be taught
to hunt would I be allowed?"

"Yes," he answers.

Tessa says, "Would it help me learn, through experience, what you wish
to teach me?" she pauses. "Would it give me a better sense of it?"

"I could," Martin says quietly. "But that'll be a long time coming, I'm
afraid."

"Many of the habits I need may be a while coming. But better that I
start now." Tessa sighs a moment, then raises both hands to her temples
and presses gently for a moment. "I will learn whatever one is willing
to teach me."

"Learn to listen, and to see," Martin replies, after a moment's thought.
"Wherever you are, take a few minutes to be aware of your surroundings.
To watch others, to recognize the shifting moods and foci in other
people's conversations. And question everything that pertains to you.

"A lot of people will be more than willing to teach you, Tessa," Martin
says. "Learn if you will, but be aware of the price of their lessons."

"I will devote my energy to it Martin." Tessa says softly.

Martin doesn't quite answer her for several seconds, regarding her in
the darkness. When he speaks, there is something of concern, perhaps, in
his voice. "Understand this, Tessa, what I give you is a brother's duty.
It asks nothing else of you but a sister's obedience. And for that, I
will do all that is in my power to guard you from harm. But no one else
owes you that duty, whatever they may claim."

Tessa nods once. Then says softly her voice, perhaps sad. "I understand.
Thank you Martin."

There's clearly more, but Martin refrains from pressing the matter
further. Taking Tessa's hand in his, he just nods.

Tessa lets her hand sit easily in yours, but makes no action past that.

"I'm leaving in the morning," he says after a while, turning Tessa's
hand over in his as if to examine it. "On the King's orders. I'll be
gone some time."

Tessa nods once. "Godspeed." she says softly. "And may god keep you
safe."

"God?" Martin asks in surprise, instead of saying whatever he was going
to say.

Tessa shakes her head quickly. "Forget it." she says. "A slip of the
tongue."

Martin cants his head, does not comment, says instead "As you say."
Then, turning her hand over again, he raises it and kisses the back of
her hand.

Tessa stares at you as you do this. Then swallows. "Do you know when you
will return?"

Martin returns the hand to her owner, the words "Thank you" a whisper.
Considering her question, he just shrugs, "Not anytime soon. It'll be a
long journey." A pause and "Stay close to Vialle. If you believe
yourself endangered, go to Benedict. He is, of all his brothers, a man
of honor."

Tessa nods again. "I will."

Martin just nods to that. Then, "Shall I walk you up to your rooms?"

Tessa rises, her head shaking faintly. "No." she says softly. "Just give
me a hug goodbye and let me remember you here." she looks away for a
moment. "I'm horrible at goodbyes."

"Then don't say goodbye," Martin chuckles softly. "But 'see you later'."
He gets to his feet then, a hand extended in invitation.

Tessa gently embraces you, but with none of the exuberance she showed
before. "Very well. Goodbye for now, Martin."

Martin returns the embrace, as gentle as hers, and with a trace of
warmth, and kisses her forehead. "Keep an eye out, Tessa," he says,
drawing back.

Tessa looks away. "I shall." Taking a step back, she straightens her
posture, puts back her shoulders and with great practice she assumes the
look of one who has not a trouble in her life and a pretty smile.
"Goodnight Martin."

"Good night, sister," Martin replies, watching her, his expression
fading back to neutral, tinged with tiredness.

Tessa departs, slipping through the rosebushes, her own flower twisting
amid her fingers. She effortlessly avoids the couple tangling in the
gardens and even manages to avoid the light long enough to slip back
inside the doors with few the wiser. She also, never looks back.

Then, he turns and heads away, following a different path to the palace.

-------
5/13/98