Robin looks around the hallway, white teeth chewing on her bottom delicately on her bottom lip.  She figures she's done better this time, there's actually people passing to and fro in this corridor.  And an amazing lack of dust and cobwebs.
            The Ranger's nostrils flare slightly, she can smell breakfast and she knows it's somewhere around here.  But the air in this place!  It's either absolutely still and stagnant or it's trailing in strange misleading patterns that end up in walls as far as the Ranger can tell.
            Ah well, nothing for it.  Robin flags down a passing page.  "Excuse me?  Can you tell me where the Cinnamon Nook is?"
            The page, a young man of coffee complexion and tightly curled black hair, stops for a moment.  He blinks his brown brown eyes a couple of times at the sword-bearing female Ranger.  Robin can almost hear the gears grinding in his head as his expression changes from 'Duh!' to 'Royals, go figure.'  Obviously the staff is starting to recognize Julian's perennially lost daughter.
             "It's the door directly behind you, Your Ladyship."
            "Oh!  Thank you."  Robin chuckles ruefully as she turns around toward the large cherry-wood double doors behind herself.
            As the girl opens sets her hand to one of the handles, she guesses she's got the place right, but the hour?  Robin figures she's either early, on time or late.  It'd be up to Jovian to let her know which.

As the door opens, Jovian is pouring his th-- uh, fou--...well, however manyth cup of klah from the second pot found to contain that substance in the history of Amber. He glances up and smiles, finishes pouring and hands the cup to Robin. "Try this," he urges with his first genuine smile of the morning.
            It is, as elsewhere noted, predominately cinnamon flavored, with a base note of chocolate and the barest hints of coffee. It is already mildly sweetened, and there's a creamer on the table. There are also two place settings, a carafe of cranberry juice, and a serving plate loaded with biscuits, sausage and bacon with appropriate accoutrements. Likewise a bowl of fruit, though that may have been here before.

"Hey, Jove."  Robin greets her brother with a happy grin and a kiss on the cheek as she accepts the cup from him.

Second genuine smile of the day.

Holding the cup under her sensitive nose, the Ranger sniffs with eyes closed.  As the steam from the cup curls up around her cheeks, the girl raises a curious eyebrow.  Well, now.  If it tastes as good as it smells...
            Opening sparkling eyes, she takes a sip from the cup.  A look of delight washes over her face and she kicks back a huge slug.  Robin laughs as she wipes off her klah-mustache.  "Okay.  This is *not* what I had in the cave that morning."

"Not close," Jovian chuckles. "It doesn't travel well - especially in the wet, extremes of temperature and Chaos." That he can joke about traveling in Chaos may be a good sign, or he may be sublimating hard. He's Julian's son, so it's hard to be sure.

He is at the place beside the head of the table. He gestures to the seat at the head, pours himself a cup of klah and sits without waiting for Robin to do so.

Robin plumps herself down into the head chair and looks over the spread.  Nice!  Setting down her nearly empty klah cup, Robin sets to work.  Ignoring the flatware, Robin whips out her eatin' knife and splits a biscuit.  With a lifetime's expertise, she snags more than a few strips of bacon along the flat of the knife and a sausage with the tip.  In economical practiced moves, the whole mess is then sandwiched into the biscuit.

Third genuine smile - or maybe the first just never gave ground - for the zest with which she attacks life. He helps himself similarly, pausing for a little maple butter on the biscuit.

"How's our fine Danu this morning?" Jovian asks, with a teasing little grin.

A big white grin answers her brother.  "Deep Green," she croons happily, "He's... fine!"  Robin's eyes flash.  She shakes her head in amazement as she chuckles ruefully.  "I tell you, Jove.  I *had* to be dead not to notice *that* walking around the Castle.  Oh my!"
            The girl is practically incandescent with happiness, love and fire.

The serious, duty-bound dragonrider has probably never met his sister's eyes with such joy as this. Learning she was lost on the Black Road, it became a wondrous thing to see her alive at all. But to see her *this* alive....

Robin wrinkles her nose playfully at her brother as she takes a big bite out of the biscuit-sandwich.  If she's all twinkly-eyed at breakfast, it's only because Jovian decided to pull her ashes out of the fire back in Danu.  So really, it's all his fault.

If there's one Troy ounce of wistfulness in there somewhere, it would take a particularly skilled refiner of souls to pick it out. And do Amberites really have souls, anyway?
            "So he's going to be away, what? Two, three weeks?"

One shoulder shrugs casually as Robin swallows.  "Dunno.  We'll be in different places, so there's no knowing how things will go.  That's why we had to get the important work done before he left."
            The girl's not thrilled by the prospect of the two of them splitting off into different shadows, but the important work *did* need to get done.  So whether it's a day, a year or a century before she and Vere meet again, they're bound.  Though Robin's well aware that she's going to get very... cranky if the her-time starts creeping past a month or so.

"I know what you mean," Jovian commiserates. "So much to set straight. I have trouble saying where to begin." It's not quite a thousand yard stare, but his smile slips into a wistful regard for a knee-high patch of the opposite wall.

A sympathetic pout pulls at Robin lips as she looks at her brother, the Calusan.  She reaches out the hand not holding the biscuit and pats him gently on the hand, a gentle croon pushing through her lips.  "Ah, Jove... Listen, I owe you more than one.  Is there anything I can do to help?" _Even if it's just listen._

"Hey, quit it," he answers, holding the offered hand. "We don't count like that. If *they* want to," and by this he means the rest of this screwed up family, "then they can, but we don't, OK? You need, I'm here. Because I want to be."

A beautiful smile spreads across Robin's face.  She just wanted to give her brother the out if he needed it, after all the Ranger suspects that she's more than a little high-maintenance.
            "Thanks, Jove.  Me too."  She chuckles, "I mean, I'm here for you too.  And no, I don't 'count' on family."  Meaning Dad and Jove.  And maybe, maybe Gerard and his brood too.  Time will tell.

And then Jovian sighs, knowing he's ducking the question. "I don't know if there's a lot you can help with, Robin. Some of it is me doing it to myself. Some of it's the nature of the beast...Kourin will get used to the idea of our lifespan or not and there's just so much I can do about it. And some of it I don't know what to do with - as screwed up as flowers sprouting fire," he concludes with a wan chuckle.

"Hmmmm."  Robin takes another bite and chews ruminatively.  "Well.  From just recent experience, I know that it helps a whole lot just saying some of it out loud.  Relieves some of the pressure, the icky overwhelming feeling of it."  A wry grimace dances across her face as the girl remembers last night's hysterics.  And Jovian's wonderful listeningness.
            "And if you – and Kourin, and of course, Hoshith and Canareth – want I can talk to Kourin, maybe.  After all, I sometimes count as a girl too.  I might be able to help."

Jovian chews on that thought and a bite of biscuit for a moment, settling on a safe answer. "Thanks, Robin. I'll let you know. She's supposed to meet me in an hour to go to the encampment. I'll see how she's doing then...." He trails off, evidently not looking forward to his afternoon very much.

"Ah Jove..."  Robin squeezes his hand sympathetically.  "Listen, girls are easy.  Take her a present.  Tell her you were wrong – no specifics mind you – just wrong in general.  Tell her you love her and will do anything you can.  That should at least get her talking again."  A hopeful little smile lines Robin's lips.  It hasn't escaped her attention that there are only two place settings here.

"I'll do something to make her dragon happy, that usually works," Jovian adds with a wan chuckle.

"Aw, Faranth shat a brick," he groans. "I almost forgot. Ossian. He needed to talk with me about a trump today."
            Aside, mentally, to Canareth: //Please ask Hoshith if she and her rider will be going down with us today. Tell her there's a bath and oiling in it for her, but she's got to help carry the oil.//

//They will.//  He sounds worried.

//What's the trouble?// Jovian carefully schools his expression, keeping consternation out of the face he shows Robin.

//Last night.  The weyr is unsettled over it.// the dragon explains.

//We'll have a wingleaders' conference today, make sure no one's getting crazy ideas. For now we keep cool and don't do anything sudden, make sure they know.//

//I have done so.//

As Jovian gets that I'm chatting with my bonded look, Robin sits back and consciously decides to turn the conversation away from the unhappy-jovian topics.

"As far as those flowers... some of that will be dealt with when we get the final diagnoses and treatment plan in on Heather Vale."  Robin says matter-of-factly.  "And I expect the rest will get settled when we make our final approach on Daeon."  She shrugs, that one's still a little up in the air, but Robin has confidence in herself and her father in concert as Arden-managing masters.

"Got your work cut out down in Arden, huh? Well, it's good to be busy. Between reintegrating the veterans and tightening the border with Arcadia - how long is that border anyway?"

"It varies."  There's another of those shrugs.  "With the Warden back in residence, I suspect it's going to shrink pretty rapidly.  We'll probably be looking at holding a long stretch.  Course that include some winding.  We'll see."
            The thought of the upcoming war brings a feral green gleam to Robin's eyes.  After the Unicorn only knows how long of very, very carefully *not* doing anything, the Ranger is more than ready for some action.

"Dad's still planning on not taking sides, right? We're just interested in keeping the mess from spilling over?"

"No, no sides.  That'd be messing with the natural order in Arcadia.  Rather avoid that if we can.  Too much going on as it is."  Look innocent.  Bite, chew, chew.  No covert missions planned here, no sirree.

"Especially with Dad's intention to raise our new sibs himself,"  Jovian replies with a Julianic eyebrow and quirk at the corner of his mouth - walking right through Robin's blank wall. "Which should make Calliste all happy. You're going to need to secure the *hell* out of that border, little bird," he adds, gesturing with his cranberry juice glass.

An evil grin reveals Robin's white teeth and her eyes flicker with green impish-ness.  That's what her life is and she's looking forward to getting back to it.

He swallows contemplatively (a neat trick if you can do it), with a pondering distance in his eye. "By the way, have you thought about what we're supposed to do if Daeon doesn't *want* to come back with Dad?"

"Uh, yeah.... I've thought about it."  She looks contemplatively over at her brother, raising an eyebrow at the 'we're.'  So, Jovian wants in on this one.  Robin presses her lips together and nods to herself as she pours herself another cup of klah.  Fair enough.  Jove knows Daeon, fought beside him.  She doesn't and didn't.
            "Jove.  You and Dad got issues enough without me stirring up the mud.  I... it's *really* important to me than that you two get along and honestly?  I never want Dad to even suspect that his kids are ganging up on him behind his back."  The girl swallows nervously, her eyes dropping to her plate.
            "But yeah, if Dad's handling Daeon the way he's handled you... I'm not sure... He might be... a little off-track..." It costs Robin a lot to admit that she might think her beloved father may not entirely 100-percent correct.

"Don't know about that, kiddo. There is a similarity there - I gather Dad let each of us choose the life we wanted to lead early on, and each of us in turn chose the life our mothers preferred. And whether he'll admit it or not, I'm sure he resents our choices." Jovian covers an uncomfortable moment's pause by reaching for a biscuit. "But I've lived my outside life for fifty years - Daeon for a couple hundred anyway. And I've come back to the fold more or less willingly. Might make a difference."
            He looks a thoughtful question at Robin, then decides to voice it anyway. "I wonder where you'd have ended up in turn, if he hadn't let us go."

"What do you mean?"  Robin's brows knit in puzzlement, though something nervous dances in her green eyes.

Jovian pauses to consider. "Daeon is Daeon. The more he changes, and all that rot. But Dad could have brought me home to Arden, taken on my early education. Maybe made as much of a Ranger out of me as he has with you. But I disappointed him. If I hadn't, maybe you would have had more choices before you. I'm not saying that's bad - you turned out pretty damn good and you're happy with your life. That's what matters."

Green eyes blink blink at Jovian.  Then like sunlight she breaks into delighted laughter.  "Oh, Jooo-ve!  Aren't you sweet?"
            The girl bounces up out of the chair and plops a big kiss on the crown of her brother's head. "Silly.  Now you listen to me."  Robin gives Jovian's chin a fond shake.
            "Dad didn't 'make me a Ranger', Jovian.  I'm a Ranger because it is truly and really what I want to be.  See, Jove -- I'm Pattern-initiated.  I've been Pattern-initiated for decades.  If I wanted to be anything else, *believe* me, I would be."  In the green of her eyes flashes – for just a moment – the arrogance of Oberon's line.  "All of Shadow is my playground, Jovian Shadow-flyer.  And I have made my choice.  It is Arden.  And Prince Julian's rangers."
        But Robin can't maintain it and breaks down into giggles.  "So everybody else is just stuck with it."
            "By the way, just so you know -- Dad is hardly disappointed in you.  He's so proud he's fit to burst.  You should've been standing next to him when you were knighted."  A big happy grin lights Robin's face as she returns to her seat.
            "But that's just what I mean." She grows contemplative.  "I've got to find some way to get that across to Daeon too. That he loves both of you and that he desperately wants you both to live."

The eyebrow is distinctly filial, but at least this time the ironic quirk at the corner of Jovian's mouth is gone. He holds his peace for now.

She ruffles her shoulders sadly.  "I'm not really sure what I'm going to do.  I don't know Daeon at all.  And a lot depends on whether Dad's there or not."  She looks up at the bronze-rider.
            "I still trust Father absolutely.  If he says conk the guy over the head and let's go.  Then that's what I'm going to do.  Buuuutttt, if Dad gives me room to maneuver, I'm hoping to see if there's something I can do to reach the uber-goal of the guy not dying.  As opposed to dragging him back to this little paradise."  She waves her hand at the room and the whole horrible Castle/Family that it implies.

The dragonman nods contemplatively. "I don't know if this place would kill him. I don't know whether he can evolve. But I hope you'll keep me posted, anything you find out about him. I won't get in your way about it, but I sort of need to know so I can keep the other Rubies out of your way too." He twiddles his new signet ring where she can see it, ruby catching the morning light, for emphasis. For some reason the idea doesn't seem to thrill him as much as it ought.

"This place would be horrible for him, Jove.  And it probably *would* kill him.  It's going to be a damn near thing with me and I gather that Daeon is even... wilder.  People like us shouldn't be kept inside walls where civilized behavior makes the difference between life and... being manipulated into an ugly death."  Robin tchs her tongue disgustedly.
            "Don't worry, mon frere.  I will definitely keep you posted.  You're family.  Though yeah, I'd appreciate it if you intermediate with your club buddies."  She smiles wryly, then looks at Jovian more closely.

"Good," the veteran nods. "We'll share information - I should tell you, all of us who went to Chaos are concerned about where those damn fire-lillies came from. What they can do, and what can be done with them. It would mean a lot if you could keep me in the loop with anything you find out."

Robin nods distractedly as she tunes in more closely on Jovian's mood.
            "Trouble in the Red Room?"  Concern hums through the girl's voice.

The wingleader actually winces at being found out. "What gave it away?"
            He takes a deep breath, composes his thoughts and feelings, but does not meet Robin's gaze. "We spent some time this morning debriefing our former Chaosian spy. It was...an ugly time." It plainly hurts him to say even that much, though he holds his tone even.

"Awwwww."  Robin fiddles with her knife against the plate, making little scritch-scritch noises.  "Poor Aisling.  It's so out of its element here."  A sympathetic croon lifts out of the girl.  She knows how it is to be thrown into an alien place where everything is so strange and so hostile.
        "I... I wish there was some way we could make it feel more comfortable.  Safe.  Welcome."  The Ranger shrugs her shoulders, she knows what she means but she's not sure how to achieve it.

It will not escape Robin's notice that every time she uses the pronoun 'it' to reference Aisling, the tension in Jovian ratchets up. The flinch of a man suppressing a pained reaction - like having a wound sutured without painkillers - is almost visible but not quite.

"Okay."  Robin says in a small voice.  And sets the knife carefully down on the plate.  "That was wrong."  She looks down and folds her hands into her lap.
            She sighs and looks over to Jovian with bbiiiigg green eyes.  "How 'bout I don't try to 'help' and just listen?"  She smiles at her brother with a swell of warmth and support.

"It wasn't wrong," he manages with a sad smile. "We want the same thing. It's just...shit and crackdust, Robin, I'm having to watch so many people treat her like some kind of monster. Like an IT. I've known a lot of creatures less human than she is who never walked on more than two legs."
            He turns his face down and away, closing his eyes tight, jaw muscles
bunching. It just might occur to his sister that it's hurting him out of proportion to simple defense of an ally.

A soft croon of sympathy lifts out of the girl.  Gently, so she doesn't startle her him, Robin slips from her chair.  Like a light breath of forest air, she slides around behind Jovian.  And enfolds her brother in hug that is warm, enfolding and alive.
            The girl rest her cheek on top of his head and just is there.  His sister who loves him.

He leans into her, silent for a moment as tension slowly drains from him. "It was pretty fardling horrible," he admits in a small voice. "I wanted to stop it, but that would have been wrong. Still, they could have *tried* to keep some human decency about it." His eyes still haven't opened, but at least his fists have unclenched.
            "So now you know, too," he concludes after a pause, and by that he seems to mean more than what happened in the Red Room.

"Mmmm-hmmm."  Robin confirms gently.  She might not know the whole shape of it yet, but yeah, she's got the gist.  The girl nuzzles the top of her brother's head sadly.  Poor Jovian.  A sympathetic croon fluffs his hair gently, and Robin's hug becomes a strong accepting squeeze.

"Only adds to the stress with Kourin too, though I'm not sure she's picked up on it. But that's such a mess anyway...shells, it is on both sides." He opens his eyes at last, to reach for his klah and have a long draught of the cooling brew. "Hell with it. I'm going off somewhere to be a crazy recluse. Want to come along? We could open a florist shop, sell cut firelillies to society ladies. Good way to thin the herd of society ladies...."

"MMMMmmmm. Barbecue."  A deep chuckles accompanies Robin's contribution to the plan.

Jovian grins crookedly at his sister and the idea for a moment, then lets it go. "Too long a day already, I'm getting punchy. And it's just begun."

"Jove."  Robin's voice is full of warmth and confidence as she loosens her hug, moving her hands up to the back of the dragonrider's neck.  Strong fingers begin to rub Jovian's neck and shoulders.  "You have a good heart, a strong soul and fine mind.  Not to mention a hell of a bond-mate.  You will find your way through this.  Even if it seems all muddy and horrible right now."
            She smiles at him, absolute faith in him shining in her eyes.

"We'll do what we can with what we can control, little bird," he smiles back. "Just like always. And what we can't control will keep us from getting bored." Jovian shakes his head, chuckling at himself.  "Out of this whole cast of crazy characters, leave it to your brother to fall for the Chaosi spy."

Robin chuckles back, a twinkle in her eye.  And drops a kiss on her brother's cheek.  Then continues working on his shoulders and neck.  Behind Jovian, she shakes her head with a little laugh.  Robin herself has never been the 'control' type.  Influence, yes, but control?  Not even of herself. Loose, limber reactions -- *that's* Robin's style.  And she hopes it will be able to help Jovian, now and in the times that come.

"So," he starts again after a few minutes. "Have you talked with anyone about a trump? I'll be catching up with Ossian, I can mention it to him if you haven't."

"Reid... I gave him my permission to make a sketch."  Robin wrinkles her button nose at the thought, of the sketch not of Reid, as she finishes up with her brother's shoulders.  Patting him lightly, she returns to her seat.
            As the Ranger drops into the chair, she folds her legs comfortably under herself and takes a slug of her lukewarm klah.  "He and I are going to be in contact regarding the important, right-now Arden project.  From what he said though, it takes serious time to make a full-out Trump.  I don't think I'm going to be around enough for Ossian to manage.  Unless he's a *lot* faster than Reid."  Which, somehow, Robin doubts.

Jovian nods. "I gather Merlin had to make a sketch of Aisling to get us out of Chaos. Didn't seem to take a long...urrr...arbitrary parcel of non-time. Maybe I can get Reid to do an extra you, and Ossian to do a spare me."

A rueful – and sympathetic – chuckle shakes Robin at the non-time.  Yep, she's been there too.  And it was probably harder on her brother than her.
            "As long as it doesn't take too long, mon frere.  I need to leave the Castle.  Today.  Hopefully before noon.  Daeon and his flowers are waiting.  So is the Reid business.  Reintegration without Brita."  She ticks her tongue at that.
            "And... and Prince Bleys already cornered me this morning.  I've got to get out before any of the others get a read."  Robin scrunches up her nose as though smelling something nasty and shudders dramatically.

"I presume Bleys wanted your first-hand account of Brita's abduction, but what's the Reid thing?"

"Well, yes.  That's what Bleys *said* he wanted.  And it might even have been in the top five things on his mind."  Robin allows.  "But you can bet your sweet bippy that's not all he went away with."  The girl pulls an extremely sour pout.
            "The 'Reid thing' is that Reid ran into some trouble the last time he was in Arden.  Dad asked me to investigate the Green side of it.  And to stay in touch with Reid regarding the paved side of it.  So I will be."  Robin smiles at her brother.  _Love you, Jovian.  But that's all I can say right now._

Her brother nods, mybe not satisfied, but accepting. "It would be good if you could mention to Reid, then, about making a sketch for me since he'll already be working on one. And I'll hook up with Ossian before I leave the Rock for the day."

Robin smiles her gratitude to her brother for not pushing and reaches over to pat his hand.  "Thanks, Jove.  When  I talk with Reid again, I'll mention it."  She nods her assurance that she won't 'forget.'
            "Oh, will you say hi to Ossian for me when you see him?"  A fond smile dashes over Robin's lips as she reaches for another biscuit.

"Sure, I'll do that," Jovian nods, smiling again, snagging a bit more bacon.

"Thanks, Jove."  Robin grins happily.  And with quick practiced gestures arranges another biscuit cum bacon for herself.  "Oh!  And please say good morning to Canareth for me."
            Otherwise, happy munching sounds and the occasional shared laugh with her brother constitutes the rest of Robin's second breakfast.