She is across the room and practically kneeling in his bed before he even realizes she’s in his room. She’s dressed in dark grey riding breeches and a white shirt that is probably Corwin’s because it looks too big for her and is revealing a shade more than what one would consider really proper. She smells of jasmine and sweet grass and the very night itself. The moon is just beginning to bow its weary head toward the horizon, and its silvery light causes her blue eyes to glitter like trapped star fire.
She’s grinning like she holds a delightful secret and would just love for him to ask her what it is so she can spill her guts to him.
She perches over him, her eyes twinkling mischievously as she says in a hushed voice, “Come on, sleepy head! I’ve been to Tir and I’ve had a vision that tells of a pirate ship off in shadow that holds a certain artifact that is meant for you. Come now, we must away before the boys know I’m about to run off and raise hell with you or they will surely forbid it.”
He knows by “the boys” she means Eric and Corwin.
He murmurs sleepily, "Come on Flora, how many times do I have to satisfy you in one night?"
She does notice that beneath his pillow, his hand was clenched tightly around a dagger, until she started talking.
He sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed, shaking his head. "Oh, you aren't Flora. Have you been talking to Flora?"
Some lame jokes never die.
She whispers in his ear, the grin obvious in her voice, “Mistake me for Flora again and I’ll remind you in more than one way how different I am from her.”
She climbs out of the bed, tickling his feet as she does so and murmuring, “lazy bones,” teasingly. He notices she has her sword strapped to her side along with a dagger on the opposing hip. And…is that a sling shot she has tucked in her waistband as well? That does appear to be the case.
She turns her back to supposedly give him some privacy, but he notices she’s actually standing in front of a mirror pinning her hair up leaving her with what would amount to quite a reasonable view of him.
He stands and stretches, having nothing to be ashamed of, and blinks, looking for his pants. "Pirate ship, eh? What's the treasure, a bottle of rum?"
He picks up a bottle of rum. Caine's favorite um…brand. "How did this get here?" He grins.
She shakes her head at Bleys’ when he lifts a bottle of what is obviously Caine’s treasured rum and says, “You really are terrible. No wonder I’m supposed to avoid you at all costs. Your scandalous ways are sure to corrupt me one of these days.”
He heads to the bathroom and the shower is heard running. How did Bleys get a shower? Then brushing of hair and teeth. Deirdre realizes that Bleys primps more than she does.
Deirdre rolls her eyes as she waits, keeping an eye on the sun that is beginning to kiss Bleys’ windowsill rosy.
Dressed from the waist down, he stands in front of the closet, looking for an appropriate shirt. "I think I have a pirate shirt here somewhere."
He selects a red shirt, with tight wrists and puffy upper arms, making his arms look a bit like Gerard's.
Sword belt, Trump case and his golden blade, sheathed, are next.
She nods her head in approval once he has finished getting ready, “Very nice, brother. Too bad you don’t have a parrot to complete the ensemble.”
He rubs his hands together, then touches her hair. The static makes a few of her hairs stand up. "Well, that's settled. The line you want is 'shiver me timbers.'"
"Okay. Why am I missing my desperately needed beauty sleep now?"
She taps her chin and gives him a considering look and says thoughtfully, “You are right…you do desperately need some more beauty sleep. Perhaps I should leave you to your sweet dreams and bother someone else.”
She makes as if to leave and then starts laughing, takes his arm and tugs him out the door, whispering in a hushed voice as they enter the hallway, “I saw you speaking with dear brother Random over cards. He was trying to get you to place a bejeweled ring of some sort in the pot. You refused. He asked you where you’d acquired it from. You told a merry story of how you defeated a shipload of Volga Pirates to acquire the item. So it seems the ring should be yours, but by rights the adventure is mine, so let us get to the stables before your dawdling about costs us another day.”
He ignores the beauty sleep comment and he chuckles, but says nothing about the card game with Random. He opens every door for her, ever the gentleman. Then he heads to the stables with her.
"Where to now?"
She does not answer him immediately but instead ignores him and playfully chases the stable lads about clapping her hands and teasing them that they must hustle or she’ll tell Eric about their secret poker games up in the hayloft. The lads laugh but do as they are bid and two horses are ready before one can say Unicorn tails.
She leaps onto the back of a refined black stallion and sets off at a gallop away from the castle. She doesn’t slow down until she gets to where they can begin shifting shadow. She obviously doesn’t want anyone else involved in their little expedition.
With a slight lifting of the reins and a shift of her hips, her mount is suddenly rocking along at a canter in one-tempis looking much like he is playfully skipping. Deirdre begins to gracefully but quickly shift them through shadow as she begins singing.
Her voice has a sweet whimsical quality that reminds one of a perfect summer's day, and it rings through the air as if compelling the world around them to sing along with her. He thinks Corwin has done a fine job with her vocal training.
Away to the westward I'm longing to be,
Where the beauties of heaven unfold by the sea.
Where the sweet purple heather blooms fragrant and free
On a hilltop high above - The Dark Island.
Oh, isle of my childhood, I'm dreaming of thee,
As the steamer leaves Oban and passes Tiree,
Soon I'll capture the magic that lingers for me
When I'm back once more upon - The Dark Island.
So gentle the sea breeze that ripples the bay
Where the stream joins the ocean and young children play
On the strand of pure silver I'll welcome each day
And I'll roam forever more - The Dark Island.
True gems of the Hebrides bathed in the light
Of the mid-summer dawning that follows the night.
How I yearn for the cries of the seagull in flight
As they circle high above - The Dark Island.
She turns and grins at him, her horse still skipping along, "We're headed beyond the Valley of Unrest to Caledonia. There are curious tales about that place. Corwin took me there once, but we finished our business and didn't tarry long. 'Tis beautiful, but holds many dangers. It is my understanding that the pirates we seek are Volgan invaders that are preparing to launch an attack against the Dark Island."
"So it’s like you. Beautiful, but holding many dangers."
She rolls her eyes at his compliment, but he notices her cheeks do color a bit pink.
Clearly, he enjoyed hearing her sing. She remembered that music was always a way to get to Bleys. One of his three weaknesses. The other two being wine and women. So she already had two up on him. He decides that turnabout is fair play, and begins to sing.
Beauty comes with raven hair,
The very paragon of despair.
Her beauty could provoke despair.
Death she will bring to all corsairs.
She could be the Queen of Patagoinia,
Where the natives are eaten by wild begonia,
But she’s going to Caledonia,
To stop the Volgan from pillage and bonin’ ya.
He grins, poetic improvisation being one of his many talents. No Mozart, he, but he could get by.
She laughs and she says, “No wonder your bed is always warmed by one fine lass or another. I swear you could sing the savageness out of a bear. Well done, Brother.”
"Actually, it wasn't a bear, but a tiger…oh, wait, maybe it was Flora after a few too many glasses of Irish Mist."
Deirdre’s always up for a good Flora joke and she laughs delightedly.
They are soon galloping upon a beach of teal sand, the purple waters casting sapphire foam upon the shore with every crashing wave. She moves her horse close to Bleys so he can hear her over the surf without yelling.
“So, tell me Brother, what sort of ring would find you so attached to it that you’d not take a chance in parting with it? That seems a bit out of character for you, my dear Bleys.”
Her eyes are bright with interest, and he knows it is simply curiosity that drives the question and little more. If Deirdre said the ring was to be his she meant it. She was good about such things unlike some others within the family.
Bleys looks at her oddly for a moment when she asks, then he smiles slightly. "I sometimes find myself oh what's the word, sentimental over the oddest things. I think its the one thing Brand and I have in common."
She glares at Bleys and says as she fires a sugar cube she had stashed in her pocket at him with her slingshot, “Oh, so you have an Oriental rug fetish now too?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with people in this family that they can never answer anything straight,” she sighs and says, “Suit yourself, but when you find out that you don’t like whatever toy you’ve pulled out of the cracker jack box, don’t come crying to me about it.”
She looks annoyed enough that she just might mean it, although he knows the chances of Deirdre turning him down if he needed help were about as likely as finding the Serpent and the Unicorn engaged in wild sex in the middle of the Pattern.
He pulls the sugar cube out of his mouth. "Sweet, like you, who, radiates sweetness, indeed, it flies from you in cubes.”
She looks at him blankly for a moment and says, "My, you really are a sexy fiend aren't you? I guess Flora's not wrong about everything then. I shall have to erase that from the bathroom wall when we get back home so I can keep you all to myself."
"Don't erase anything from the bathroom wall please. I had the devil's own time putting it there, you know. Women and their bathrooms. Easier to break into Dworkin's secret…oh, never mind," he grins.
Deirdre smirks as she gives him an appraising glance and says, "I suppose I'll leave it then. I wouldn't want your efforts to go for naught."
His eyes narrow slightly and his smile fades as he gets to business. "So what kind of opposition shall we expect this fine day?"
Deirdre offers him a carefree grin and says, “Why, I have absolutely no idea. You weren’t very specific and your story was cut off halfway through by a cloud deciding to take a turn dancing with the moon at the Celestial Ball.”
Her eyes twinkle and she says, “Are you worried? Ah, perhaps I should have asked Brand, after all….”
She looks like she’s about to burst into a fit of laughter.
Bleys chuckles. "Brand isn't the adventurous type."
“I merely asked about the opposition because I wanted to know if I should tie one hand behind my back or not before we start."
He grins.
"I do so enjoy a challenge, you know."
"A challenge. That's much better. I was hoping I hadn't accidentally grabbed the wrong brother for the job. There's getting to be so many of you, I can't remember which one of you I like to do what with these days," she says with a lascivious grin and a teasing wink.
She is thoughtful and says, "Well, you didn't mention that we defeated a fleet of ships, and heaven knows if we had, you would have been telling Random that straight off. I'm guessing there's just one. But you definitely mentioned they were Volgan, so they'll be deadly with a sword and fight dirty. I suggest you keep both hands free, but if you wish I can blindfold you," she laughs and reaches over to tickle his ribs.
She continues, "You mentioned the ring belonged to the ship's captain. Now, of course, if I knew more about said ring, which of course I don't, and I wouldn't think to ever ask again because I wouldn't want to subject myself to the mortifying rejection I would feel should my little brother choose to keep me in the dark again, I might be able to discuss strategy more properly with you. Soooo…since that's not an option, I suggest we kill them all, you find the captain and get your little bauble, and then we set fire to the bloody boat. Are you in?" she looks like she's ready to light the match as she speaks and he can almost feel the air getting charged by her excitement.
He notices it is getting colder, overcast, and the seas are now emerald colored.
She gives him a serious look for a minute and says softly, "Oh, and if you get me killed because you've opted to keep your redheaded secrets to yourself, I am so taking Caine next time."
Then she laughs again and urges her horse into a gallop, sweeping up on its neck, and giving Bleys a look that clearly dares him to keep up with her as she wheels dangerously through the remaining shadows on their way to the Dark Island of Caledonia.
"You're getting my blood up, that's for sure."
He accepts the challenge and rides hard and fast, so to speak. What his blood is up for, he does not say. One thing's for sure though, someone is going to have their hands full shortly.
Soon enough they are leaving the horses behind and climbing aboard a raft and poling out into a silvery green ocean. Deirdre sings sea chanteys as they begin to shift through the ocean and with every change in song, their boat undergoes a change as well. The raft is gone and for a while they pleasantly sail along on a yellow sailed skiff. Before Bleys knows it, they are flying along through the water at 50 knots per hour on a sleek racing trimaran.
((OOC: Think of something like this: http://yachtpals.com/files/userimages/hydroptere2.jpg))
"All right, Bleys, we're switching to kiteboards next. We can use the loft to get us aboard from the air before they even realize what's hitting them."
A few minutes later, Deirdre and Bleys are skimming along at more than 60 knots per hour, each on their own kiteboard; the silvery blue kites that are dragging them forward are camouflaged by the very sky itself as they hang hundreds of feet in the air above them. Deirdre easily maneuvers the board by pulling on the cords connecting the board to the kite as if she is playing a harp.
In the distance, he can barely see the outline of an island that seems formed out of dark dreams and emeralds. Much closer is a three masted ship, black as night with red sails. It does not need to advertise it is a pirate ship, as the remains of dead bodies strapped to the lower sides of the boat chumming the water to create an army of sharks about it does a fair job of indicating its dark intents.
Deirdre slips a silver disc from her waist and taps it absently on her hip. It telescopes out into a silvery spyglass which she brings to her eye as she assesses what crew she can visualize upon the deck. He sees her pull back as if she's been slapped, look through the glass again, and then laugh. It doesn't sound like a happy laugh.
She deftly tosses the spyglass across the waters to Bleys and says, "Well, Brother, all I can say is that the Captain's all yours," she laughs again and then adds, "This may not be quite as easy as I'd thought it was going to be."
When Bleys peers through the scope, he sees the man who is obviously the Captain pacing about on the deck. Without a doubt, the man in charge, who just happens to be wearing a red silk shirt that makes his arms look a bit like Gerard's, is very obviously a shadow of Bleys himself.
The descent to the deck is easy enough. The lookout doesn't see them until they are very close, and seeing Bleys freezes him until well after Bleys and Deirdre land.
He looks around, making appropriate comments to the stunned sailors as he walks up to the captain. "Trim that sail. Batten that hatch! Hoist the jib, whatever the hell that is."
Walking up to the captain, he smiles mirthlessly, "I believe you have something I want."
The crew stands about in shock as they see their Captain's doppelganger floating out of the sky. Bleys’ ordering them about only seems to create additional confusion as the pirates look back and forth between the two men.
The Captain offers Bleys a jaunty grin, and Deirdre notes he does bear an unusual ring upon his right hand. Even beneath the leaden sky it seems to sparkle and burn with a life of its own. It is almost as if the gold band that embraces it can barely contain the red gem within it.
The man moves with a surefooted quickness that gives both Deirdre and Bleys the impression that the man is not a pale shadow, but one that is close to her brother and seems filled with substance somehow. Perhaps the ring has somehow caused this, or perhaps he was simply carved from the shadows of a world close to Amber. No matter what the cause, he radiates far more presence than any of the others aboard the boat.
"Methinks you are my glass, and not my brother: I see by you, I am a sweet faced youth," the captain quotes with a charming grin in a voice so close to Bleys' own that Deirdre has to look twice to see which of the men is speaking.
The ring glows briefly and Deirdre feels an uncomfortable prickly sensation that tells her that the captain has just loosed a spell of some sort at Bleys. She’s pretty sure it’s probably not a very nice one since the man has also drawn his blade and has commenced launching an elegant but deadly attack upon her brother.
Once the captain attacks, the crew responds in kind, and Deirdre is soon working her way through a flurry of steel and flesh as she assures the pirates are unable to come to their captain's assistance or distract Bleys in anyway.
Bleys does hear Deirdre grumble, "I should have known your shadow would be trouble. Vain, skilled with a sword, and to make things worse, a mage as well."
"Vain?"
Bleys and his double dance around, each seeking an advantage. Bleys is nearly skewered by the captain while doing a complex spin move, and is saved only by his fluttering cape. Which come to think of it, might have been intentional.
"I will say, you are deucedly good-looking and I hate to see anyone with red hair perish, but unless you plan on giving me that ring…"
The double circles around the wheel. Bleys leaps up and swings from a rope across the wheel and takes part of the sleeve off his double as he sails over him.
"There's that blasted three dimensional thinking again," he laughs.
The double stabs at Bleys who barely dodges, and suddenly Bleys' sleeve is pinned to the wall. Stabbing with a dagger for the kill, the Captain realizes that his sword has pinned Bleys' handkerchief and Bleys hits him in the nose, dancing away and laughing.
"Need any help?" Bleys offers.
Deirdre's shirt is as red as Bleys' with blood, and the deck is slippery with gore. The men certainly now recognize her for the very real threat she poses, and as they cluster around her like bees swarming upon a queen, the sound of metal against metal shatters the air explosively.
She catches Bleys outmaneuvering his twin and a dimple flashes his way. She winks at him as she decapitates three men in one quick stroke, and says as the heads bounce across the deck his way, "Finish your business, handsome, you can help me clean up later."
She kicks one man into another's sword and continues cutting a deadly swathe through the remains of the crew. It seems she considers the foe Bleys faces more of a threat than the thirty or so remaining crew members that crowd around her.
She throws something into the horde of men and ten of them catch on fire. They run about in their agony causing nets, ropes, and even part of the sail to spark into flame before they launch themselves overboard into the maws of greedy sharks.
Blood gushes from the captain's broken nose, but he still looks ready for action. He murmurs something and the skies begin to weep in a torrential downpour that snuffs the fires aboard the ship, leaving only hissing smoke in their wake. He utters another word, and a series of tornados begin spinning across the deck - some are headed toward Bleys, and others toward Deirdre. The crew backs away from Deirdre leaving her in sudden isolation as she faces the coming storm of deadly magical winds.
Deirdre pales a bit and pulls up the Sign of the Pattern nervously, and says, "Okay…I guess a little help would be appreciated."
Bleys thinks he hears her muttering something about magic freaks under her breath, but it's hard to hear given the violent winds that are seconds away from assaulting him.
Bleys concentrates for a moment, then turns to make some joke to Deirdre and the Captain strikes. Deirdre sees the Captain's blade flash, and Bleys barely darts backwards as buttons fly. His shirt is shredded and an angry line of blood goes from just below his Adam's apple to his waist.
Bleys exhales, glad the blade didn't go any lower.
Deirdre's eyes narrow when she sees how close Bleys comes to being seriously injured by his shadow's blade. Still, she finds herself impressed…
Oh…he's not bad. Not bad at all. A shame I can't just take him home for a bit…just for training and the like…
The Captain's grin widens, the tornado hits Bleys from behind, and he goes flying past the Captain.
The Captain laughs and laughs, then looks down and sees a dagger stuck in his right knee. It buckles and he falls to the deck, heavily, and yells in pain.
Bleys flies into the rigging, spins awkwardly, and is catapulted over the rail.
She gasps when she sees Bleys fly over the rail, spins around, and finishes off another six of the sailors in a frenzy of complicated swordplay, causing the air to become a red haze of blood born mist.
Dodging the tornadoes, she begins making her way over to the captain, growling, "Now you've gone too far."
Managing to hold on with a single hand, Bleys pulls himself over the rail and shreds the remnants of his sodden shirt.
A dirtbag with a throwing axe sprouts Bleys's throwing dagger from the back of his head and Bleys calls to Deirdre, "You sure know how to show a guy a good time!"
Hearing Bleys' voice, she turns with obvious relief on her face, which she quickly tries to mask with a smirk and a wink, "Oh, you have no idea just how good of a time I could show you."
The tornados, uncontrolled while the Captain writhes in pain, break the main mast, which splinters and falls, crushing the wheelhouse and knocking Bleys to the ground.
"Now I'm mad! My pants are torn!" The bottom cuff on the right side is shredded, and Bleys's blood slowly seeps through the tear.
She sees Bleys get knocked to the ground and instinctively reaches for him crying out, "Bleys!" A second later she pales and mutters, "Oh, shit."
He sees her reaching behind her back which she'd left open to the captain when she was distracted by Bleys, and suddenly she has Bleys' dagger in her hand. Apparently the bastard had yanked it from his knee and buried it deep within Deirdre's kidney.
She wheels around, furious, and throws the dagger at the captain just as one of the damn tornadoes knocks her off her feet. The throw goes high and instead of nailing him in the heart it only punctures his left lung.
Deirdre curses and disembowels a bowlegged man leaning over her, ready to cleave her head in two with an axe. His intestines splatter over her, and she slips as she gets up. The captain is back on his feet again, sword drawn and throwing dagger in hand. A tornado rips through another mast which explodes in a hail of wooden shards that kill two more of the pirates. Deirdre is hit on her bicep and her right hand suddenly goes numb causing her to drop her blade. The boat suddenly lists hard to port as it begins sinking and Deirdre's feet can find no purchase on the intestine and blood painted deck. She skids suddenly into the arms of the captain who gives her an odd look like he might kiss her before he grabs her and holds his dagger to her throat.
Deirdre laughs, her eyes cold and unafraid as she says, "You're playing at taking a hostage? You silly fool. We're not that close. My advice is you give him the ring."
"Nonsense!" the Captain shouts as Bleys walks up to him.
"I'll kill her if you don't."
The Captain laughs in Bleys’ face giving him a disbelieving look. He presses his dagger against Deirdre’s throat causing a few ruby beads to spring from her ivory skin.
Bleys stabs through Deirdre's shoulder, just missing the collarbone and anything more important than muscle, and takes the Captain in the heart.
He staggers back and falls overboard as Bleys catches Deirdre with his other arm. They slide into the water as the boat dissolves beneath them.
"Hmm, I guess the Captain had some control over the….whoa!!"
As they splash into the shark-infested water, Bleys smiles at Deirdre, "You do know how to show a fellow a good time."
Sharks are dismembering the Captain. A shark swims past them, Bleys grabs the fin, and they begin moving out of the area of the boat, with all of its blood. They move through the remnants of the Captain and the shark takes them close to the beach, where Bleys and Deirdre tumble off into the water, next to a deserted sailboat, with an inoperable motor, for now.
Bleys takes a hand out of his pocket with a ring on it. The hand goes overboard.
"Sorry about stabbing you."
"Mmmmm, no worries. You're forgiven since you got the ring," she says with an affectionate smile, as she takes a knife from her boot and pries the giant dagger of wood out of her right arm.
She gently flexes her hand and wiggles her fingers as movement returns to the limb. Her hand working again, she begins applying pressure to the shoulder wound Bleys so kindly gave her, and eyes the ring suspiciously.
"I hope it was worth it, Brother. Make sure you're careful with that little piece of devilry," she says cautiously as she looks at him with genuine concern in her eyes.
She sits, leaning against the side of the boat, strategically managing to place pressure on her back to staunch the remaining bleeding from the puncture wound the captain gave her. Her eyes drift closed dreamily, as if she and Bleys are on vacation and she is just lazing in the sun.
She senses his presence close to her, and with her eyes still closed, she reaches out with her left hand unerringly and pats Bleys' cheek gently while she murmurs, "It was a good time, wasn't it?"