It is a morning late in the fall. Cob has just taken away the remains of
Martin's breakfast and left a clean shirt. He stretches, tucking in the
new shirt, feeling almost human again.

Then he sees Niara's note still on the desk, with its purple sealing wax
and the odd little imprint that looks like a fanged butterfly, and
removes it from sight before company shows. As he closes the drawer, he
glimpses the last line:

---------------------------------------------------------------
...

Am I glad to be back? An interesting question. Ask me it later.

-N.

---------------------------------------------------------------

He pauses to think about it a moment, but as all thoughts on the subject
usually go, he just ends up needing a drink.

A rising wind howls like a trapped beast through the walls of the castle
as Antonio descends the spiral stairs, his coat flailing behind.

Martin stands by the sideboard, pouring himself a generous splash of
scotch. The top of his shirt's undone, his jacket lies strewn across the
back of a chair. Something about his stance suggests a late night and
consequently a later morning. He doesn't turn as the door opens.
"Welcome, cousin. Drink?"

Antonio says, "Scotch." He makes his way over towards the comfortable
chairs saying, "I believe you wished to chat with me?"

Martin finds a spare glass and pours. Picking up both glasses and the
bottle, he crosses to the chairs. "Well, it's been a while since we last
spoke. There's probably a lot to catch up on."

"Considerably," Antonio says as he sits. "I hear that Bleys has been
keeping you busy," he comments casually.

"Here," he says, handing Antonio his drink before he takes a seat.
"Yeah, among others. What've you heard?"

Antonio sips his drink before answering. "This and that. I've been away
though, why don't you update me?"

Martin stretches booted feet out onto the bear-rug before the fire as he
swirls his scotch idly in its glass. "Well, there's been the busines of
getting the festival organized and the small matter of getting our
merchants and your relatives released from Adamas. That's more or less
taken care of now." He sips.

Antonio frowns, "Which relatives would these be?"

"From House Bayle," Martin shrugs. "I said you'd be along to look into
the matter if they weren't released soon. I believe they're on their way
home now."

Antonio nods, "That suggests that my name still carries a modicum of
weight."

Martin allows himself a nod. "Possibly." Another sip, and he asks. "So
how was Tessa?"

Antonio smirks. "Satisfying," he says after a brief pause.

Martin quirks a small grin. "She must be learning," he says with a
chuckle.

"I'm sure she's had some help," Antonio says. "Have you spoken to Gavin
about not letting bad guys into the castle to kill the natives?"

"Yeah," he nods as the smile flades into something grimmer. "The good
news is he found out how the bad guys got in. The bad news is the bad
guys could have done a lot more damage if they'd felt like it."

Antonio nods and takes a sip from his glass.

"If you see any spiders around you don't quite recognize, it's probably
a good idea to kill them," Martin adds from around a mouthful of scotch.

Antonio nods, "I'll keep that in mind."

"They've already killed one of the maids."

"Who is working on removing them?"

"The staff."

"What measures are they taking?"

"They fumigated Tessa's room, but by that stage some had already escaped
into the walls," Martin says. "Beyond that, I don't know if there's much
more they can do. I'm having people look into counter-agents for the
poison. If you've got some better ideas, or you haven't got anything
more pressing at the moment..." he leaves the sentence hanging.

Antonio says, "Have you identified the poison?"

Martin shakes his head, "Not entirely sure. The symptoms sort of
resemble lampblack bites, but..." a shrug. "Tessa's doctors are too busy
arguing among themselves, and all I've got to go on are some books in
the library."

Antonio says, "If they're lampblacks then smoking them out will work.
Especially if wild sage is burnt."

"As I said, I think they've got into the walls," Martin says. "Tell the
staff anyway." He pauses to sip again. "If they're lampblacks, that is."

Antonio nods. He asks suddenly, "Where's Random?"

"With Bleys and Benedict," Martin says, something in his voice
suggesting that he's been giving this answer several times now.

"When are they due back?"

"Soon," Martin answers, in similar tones.

Antonio nods. "Was it your idea to legalize the counterfeit coins?"

Martin hehs. "No, that was the King's. Good idea, wasn't it?" he says,
his mouth twisted into a sarcastic sneer. "That's why I'm declaring them
legal tender only until the end of the Festival."

"Any idea who is behind it all?" Antonio sips his drink.

"No," Martin considers his almost-empty glass, reaches for the bottle.
"Bleys has a couple of theories he's checking out. In the meantime we
keep this to ourselves."

Antonio nods.

"While the King and his brothers look into the matter regarding the
coins, the rest of us," Martin raises his glass to take in Antonio and
himself. "Get to stay home and defend the realm from the more mundane
everyday threats of assassins and uppity Golden Circle princes. Think
you're up to it?" he smiles.

Antonio chuckles, "Like I have a choice." He drains his glass.

"Another round?" Martin offers.

Antonio nods.

Martin pours Antonio another drink, sets the bottle back on a low table.
"Well, since you put it that way," the smile lightens briefly into a
grin. He continues, the deadpan amusement belying the seriousness of the
situation. "Want to take care of the spider business? There may be an
assassin or two involved. Should be plenty of fun."

"How far do you want it taken?"

Martin regards his drink a silent moment. The smile disappears. "Take it
all the way back to its source," he says levelly. "And teach them to
regret their actions against us."

Antonio says simply, "Done."

Martin lifts his glass to Antonio. "Good to have you back, cousin," he
smiles.

Antonio grins, "You're just saying that because nobody else will drink
cheap scotch with you."

Martin chuckles, "As befits the company I keep, cousin."

Antonio chuckles.

After a breath, Martin adds, "You may want to check with Purity or Gavin
about that maid, see if you can still have a look at the body, or get
the reports from the doctors who saw to her."

Antonio nods, "I will. Do you mind if I go through every room in the
castle? I may need to to get rid of all of them?"

Martin quirks an eyebrow, "I don't, but some of our uncles and aunts may
have something to say about it. I'll let you sort out the details with
them and the staff."

Antonio smiles wryly, "Good. Just what my life needs."

"What's life without a little excitement?" Martin returns the smile.

Antonio grins, "Safe."

"Heh," Martin sips from his glass. "I'll drink to that. May we see dull
days again soon."

"Dull days would be bad for us, cousin. It would bore our aunts and
uncles. They are best kept occupied."

"Probably," Martin says. "But a couple of dull days would make a welcome
relief from the current state of affairs."

Antonio smirks, "Feeling a little flustered, cousin?"

"Flustered?" Martin chuckles. "When duty calls there's no time for
fluster and no place for hesitation. Just mountains of paperwork to
winnow through, meals missed and nights spent on the couch. I'll
probably discover later that I was enjoying this, but I was just too
busy to notice."

Antonio chuckles, "All preparations for when you become king isn't it?"

"Last time I looked, the King was in perfectly good health, cousin,"
Martin grins. "I don't think there's any danger of that changing just
yet."

Antonio comments dryly, "Last time I saw Oberon he was in good health
too."

Martin returns his attention to his drink. "Mm," is his only comment to
that.

Antonio smirks and takes a sip of his drink.

"Well, the day drags on," Martin says, downing the rest of his drink in
one gulp. "And I'm running out of scotch." A chuckle. "Guess we should
probably get started on our respective duties soon."

Antonio drains the remainder of his glass, "Agreed."

Martin nods. "Is there anything you need from me?"

Antonio rises, "Getting rid of the dog would be appreciated. If you
don't I suspect one of the uncles will."

"The 'dog' is currently in my sister's keeping," Martin smiles, setting
his emptied glass down and rising as well. "But I'll have a word to her
about it. Or the uncle can take it up with me himself."

Antonio shrugs, "Your choice. Later Martin. Thanks for the drink."

"A pleasure, cousin," Martin says, as he sees Antonio to the door. "One
thing, what's the best way to get in contact with you if the need
arises?"

Antonio says, "Both Bleys and Caine have trumps of me."

Martin nods. "Good. Thanks, cousin, and luck."

Antonio nods and ascends the stairs.

-------
8/30/98