As far as Vere and Robin can tell, no one has observed them entering Ladystown.

Vere looks around,  making certain they are unobserved.  Then he turns to Robin.  "I say we just walk straight to the temple, making no attempt to sneak.  That should confuse anyone who sees us.  But I defer to your wisdom in these matters, my love."

Robin's expression shows that her usual elation at flying has been somewhat dampened; both by recent events and the rain that falls around them.
            She licks her lips as she considers Vere's statement.  "I'm fine with that.  Just know that I'm not comfortable making any luck considering we're sitting in another weak spot.  You okay, though, love?"  Concern dances through her green eyes.

"Just ready for this to be done with," Vere answers grimly.  He walks to the edge of the roof they are on, and looks out over the flooded city,  making no effort to hide.

Robin nods her agreement and her understanding.  After making a brief check to make sure all her weapons are handy and in good shape, the Goddess skips a couple of steps to catch up and then strides beside him.

"From here, we swim," he says, lowering himself over the edge, and beginning to swim towards the temple.

"Swim?"  There is no disguising the unhappiness in Robin's voice.  But, after a quick look around fails to secure a land route, the girl sighs, ruffles fiercely and then lowers herself over the edge into the.... brrrrr, ick, yuck... water.
            Striking out with a strong, if somewhat under-practiced stroke, Robin follows her love quickly.

Vere swims.  The water seems deeper than the last time he was here.  The temple is, of course, partially roofless, and the water comes up to what was once a high row of narrow windows.  The half-submerged city teems with aquatic life, feasting on insects swept into the water by the ever-present rains.
            As Vere and Robin come around the side of one of the outbuildings, they see a light coming from one of the windows of the temple.  Curiously, none of the other windows is lit at all.

As Vere was all about straightforward before, and Robin is all about getting straightforward OUT of the water as soon as possible now, the Ranger heads straight forward for the lit window with every intention of pulling herself up onto whatever window ledge there is.  She probably isn't even aware of the murmured cussing that accompanies her every stroke.

Vere swims with the ease and grace of someone who has been swimming for as long as he has been walking.  He swims alongside Robin to the window, and the two of them pull themselves up into it in unison.
            He stands in the window of the temple, gazing within.

The room is not under water, not in the normal way.  There is water standing up to the walls, covering all of the windows except the one which Robin and Vere are in.  It's clearly been pushed aside by powerful magic.  The tall, thin room below is lit by some source that neither Vere nor Robin can detect.  Everything looks wet.

The altar stone is still askew on the ground, next to a gaping hole that once was hidden by it.  The hole is still filled with water.

Next to both is a man.  He's older, and of a medium build.  His hair is cropped short and he carries both a sword and a pistol at his side.  He looks up at Vere and Robin, and from where they stand, it looks like he's offering a tentative smile.  "I thought you would come here.  You're her children, aren't you?  What happened here?"

"Well... here I am again."  Robin murmurs sadly under her breath.  The smile she gives Vere is wan as the blackness of the watery hole seems to fill her eyes .  Then she opens the window and jumps to the floor.
            "I am.  And I'm what happened here.  You Huon?"  Her voice is not friendly at all, but at least she doesn't put hand to weapon.

Vere jumps down as well, landing beside her.  His eyes travel the room, taking in every detail, looking for anything out of place (and half hoping, without actually trying to affect probability, that there might me an ocarina lying about somewhere...).  He says nothing for the moment.

The drop is great, but not more than temporarily distracting to scions of the Royal Family.

He nods.  "I am your uncle, Huon son of Oberon, Exiled Prince of Amber.  Can you tell me how my sister died?"

"I am Robin, daughter of Ysabeau, Ranger of Arden.  I have no direct knowledge but those I trust say she died in childbirth."  The girl's lips press together.  Let him make of that what he will.
            And while Robin is not ignoring Vere's presence at all, she also gives him room to make whatever introductions he wishes or not to make.

"You did ill to bring your weapons to this land, Uncle," Vere says.  "Once I learned you were coming I had hoped to meet with you quickly, to seek to avoid misunderstandings.  But your cannon have slain the bonded companion of our beloved cousin, the son of Julian, and I do not know that can ever be forgiven."
            He shakes his head, and lets sorrow enter his voice.  "Your name was not even known to the grandchildren of Oberon, Uncle.  Would that it had not been brought to our knowledge with war and death."

Huon shrugs.  "We do not, generally, tread lightly on the earth.  Is your cousin and his flying dragon squadron different from my canonneers?  Yet the people killed by either are no less dead than those killed by a native rock slammed into a native skull."
            He turns to Robin.  "How did the shadow break?  What have you done to fix it?"

Robin shrugs one shoulder with a wry twist to her mouth.  It's kind of hard to explain.  Instead, the Ranger throws her second best knife as hard and as best as she can at the shoulder joint of Huon's gun-drawing arm.
            Her booted feet leap to follow the knife's course as she rushes forward and she whips her serious knife out of it's sheath.  (OOC - She's not going for the kill, but she intends to truly f*ck Huon up.)

Vere is caught totally by surprise, and wastes a precious tenth of a second processing this new development and considering responses and consequences before he acts.
            He charges after Robin, shouting, "Oberon, Huon's in the trap!  Spring it now!"
            He doesn't draw a weapon, instead concentrating on reaching Huon as quickly as possible and throwing himself at the man's legs, hoping to tangle him up and take him to the ground.

The throw is long, but not out of the question, certainly not for Robin.  Robin's throw is a low, flat trajectory that would have pierced Huon's eye, had his eye been in position to be pierced.  His sidestep is enough to send the blade flying past him and into the wall of water lining the inside of the temple.  It sticks for just a moment, and then there is an awful cracking noise, as if lighting has struck.
            Vere sees Huon make a chopping motion with his hand.  And then--
            The water, once held high against the walls by magic, is collapsing like a wall castle undermined and fired.  Unless he is actually imagining it, Vere thinks he sees blocks of water break as they hit the ground.  Huon dives into the water at his back.
            Vere and Robin are, by happenstance, directly in the middle, in the last dry spot as the water collapses towards them.
            It's about to get wet in a hurry where they are.

With a snarl, Robin charges the oncoming waves, slipping into a long flat dive at the critical moment.  She takes a deep breath as she aims for the spot where Huon cleaved the water.  In her heart, she tells herself over and over "Vere can swim.  Vere can swim," and concentrates on her own situation.

Like a Kingfisher diving for her dinner, Robin crashes into and through the oncoming wave.  The water moves so violently and throws her in so many directions that Robin quickly loses sight of her quarry.  The water is probably pushing her upwards, but Robin isn't entirely sure anymore.
            Her lungs are starting to burn from the effort to hold her breath.  She's been down longer than would be smart for a normal person.  If she's been swept under one of the completely submerged transepts, reaching the top won't even help.

Vere starts to turn towards Robin, then blinks as she leaps into the water.  He drops to one knee, both hands on the floor, head down, eyes closed, and braces himself for the impact of the water as it strikes from all directions.
            He takes a deep breath and meditates upon what he has learned about Robin's approach to diplomacy.

Vere is pummeled from all sides at once, taking as serious a strike as any he's suffered in battle in this war.  The water lifts and tosses him, and in the dark he loses track of the direction he's being tossed.
            Vere may be lost and low on breath and it may be mostly dark here, but he's pretty sure the person swimming just above him is Robin.

Ooooohhhh, shit.  Robin fights back the icy cold fingers of panic that start creeping up her spine.  Drowning.  In the dark.  Almost as bad as being buried alive.  Don't think about it.  Don't think about it.
            Sheathing her serious knife, Robin brings both her hands to bear on swimming.  Okay, stairwell and bbbbrrrr.... tomb already flooded.  That means the water will be flowing toward open air.  Eventually.  Right?  Right.  (Better be right.)  Shit, shit, shit.
            The Ranger starts swimming as strongly as she can in the direction of the currents, hoping that, even though they may bump into airless solid things first, eventually they'll lead her to air.

Robin begins to do so.

Vere swims up towards the person above him, taking the few moments before he arrives to allow his place in the world to snap back into focus.  'Lost' is not a condition that applies normally to Vere; he lets his unconscious mind work out the problem of his exact position as he swims.

Currents flowing so, and such, that means a wall... there.  Angled... so.  Echoes of splashes of the water against the wall... place the surface .... there.  Mostly dark, but patterns of lighter darkness... so, and so.  Correlated with the known windows and missing roof... so....
            And as he reaches the person above him the shattered temple takes its position in his mind.  He is ... here.  The walls of the temple there, there, and there.  A clear way to the surface lies in any of those directions... there.

North Transept, above the Tombs of the Lady for his mother's predecessors.  The bad news is that the transepts are lower, and the current flows, if they are right, indicate that the exit back into the nave is blocked.  The transepts were, as Vere would have seen as he swam towards them, completely underwater.  Vere knows that there's a small door between the sepulchres at what used to be ground level.  If it's not blocked, it's an option. Unless he can break the roof out, somehow, or clear whatever is blocking the way to the nave.

Vere swims beside Robin and reaches out, lightly touching her, waiting to see if her reaction is panicked or murderous before he takes hold of her and continues to the surface.

Robin gets lightly touched.  She is very definitely running out of air.
            The water seems--odd.

The Ranger jerks away from the touch, shaking and pale.  After all, who knows what might be lurking in these waters?
            As she struggles, a wisp of hair drifting in the currents strokes across her cheek, leaving a familiar sensation in its wake.  Vere!  Yes, Vere could definitely be lurking in these waters.  Robin's relief is so great that it's almost blinding.  He's here with her in the darkness, in the water, in the turmoil.  She's not alone.  Fighting back the urge to clutch or hinder, Robin swims closer to her love's warmth, trusting that he knows what he's doing.
            Because for her, she is seconds away from testing if the oddness in the water is breathability.

Confidant that Robin has not given way to panic, Vere takes hold of her tunic to help guide her as he swims.  He had already calculated their chances, based on his knowledge of the temple and his observations of Robin's swimming ability and known reaction to being closed in.  Alone, he would have gone down, towards the doorway.  But with Robin, who most likely did not have his capacity to hold his breath, and certainly not his experience with swimming .... no.  Too risky.  Not to mention the possibility of her panicking at the thought of swimming downwards, instead of upwards.
            Vere swims quickly towards the exit to the nave.  He has to trust that they could reach it quickly, clear whatever blocked it, and pass through to the nave, and a clear pathway to the surface, before Robin's air gives out.
            His mind turns towards the siren song of the Pattern, towards altering probability to ensure that the obstruction is something easily removed....
            No.  He cannot risk it.  Not while there is still a chance to save Robin without endangering the very existence of the Isles.
            Grimly, he swims.

It's the choir screen, jammed against the roof by the water.  If it's this high, there must be an opening below and one of the two sides is likely not completely covered, although Vere can't tell which one.

Vere can tell that Robin needs air now.

Robin is seeing flashes of red in her eyes.

[Note: References to Choir Screens are plentiful on-line, but the only one with a weight listed was from a more modern period.  The one at the NY Met is 52' wide and 42' tall.  The one in Hereford Cathedral is 8 tons (or 'tonnes').  If it gets dislodged, look out...]

Okay, Robin squeezes her eyes and shakes her head, it comes down to it.
            She's going to pass out very soon and then the water gets tested, will she nil she.  But before that, she has to decide.  Tear at Vere's home like Jovian did to survive.  Or let herself drown in the hopes that Vere can revive her afterward.
            The dark part of Robin's soul makes the latter choice seem deliciously apropos.  How romantic.  How perfect for this temple that's haunted her.  Where she died the last time, buried in darkness under the earth.  So similar to now, buried in darkness under the water.  A Goddess sacrificed in the temple of Mothersport...  Dying in her love's arms... Seductive, sweet, dark.
            And if it were just her?  There would be no more struggle and tears and fighting.
            But it's not just her.
            Yesterday, she stood beside her grieving father at Daeon's memorial.  This afternoon, she sent Jovian, broken, back with the King.  Were she to follow her brothers into the darkness... well, it would just kill her father.  To find his daughter and then lose her again within a few weeks.  Besides, despite the fact that Robin hates promises, she did promise Julian she would survive.  No matter what.
            And then there's Vere.  Robin doubts that he would find her dying in his arms 'romantic.'  In fact, her poor beloved has had enough of that kind of thing.  Though Robin knows she's both hurt him and caused him hurt by her actions.  And most likely will again in the future.  He at least deserves the chance to chew her out.
            And so, with the red flashing in her eyes, Robin begins calling on her heritage.  On the blue fire in her veins and the Pattern in her soul.  She has to live.

Frustration sweeps through Vere, followed instantly by fury, which turns immediately to a cold, fierce determination.  He will not risk Robin any further.  They do not have time to swim beneath the screen, or to swim to either side on a 50/50 chance of an opening.
            The silver of his uncle's Pattern leaps to his mind, and he sets his hand against the choir screen.  The surge of the falling water forced the massive screen up here, but he informs the universe that it is resting precariously on a tiny slab of stone, its immense weight poised so delicately that a single push in the right place will send it crashing away from them, and down to the floor of the temple.  He wills it to be so.
            And then he pushes.  He counts on the current from the fall of so many tons of stone to carry him and Robin along, and he counts on that current to speed their movement through the opening and into the nave.  Once through, he plans to use all his strength and skill to fight free of the current, never releasing his grip on his beloved, until they reach the surface.

The universe seems disinclined to the reality Vere projects, but with Robin's assistance, the screen shifts, sucking the pair into the open transept and washing them against the pillars towards the small knight's chapel at the rear.  Robin and Vere find themselves hanging onto the capital of a pillar near the wall, under an overhanging bit of the remaining roof.  They can see the rain fall through the missing roof and hit the surface of the water in front of them.  The air, while wet with weeks of rain, is fresh and smells of summer.

Robin clutches onto both the pillar and Vere for dear life, gasping deeply.  And shuddering.  Which gives way to shaking.  Then sobbing.  Followed by a low dark laugh and a wry shake of the head.  Capped with a quiet moan of shame.  That in turn trails into a croon of worry.
            And Robin looks over to Vere, her green eyes concerned and timid at the same time.

Vere pulls her to himself, holding her tightly, while his eyes watch over her head and scan the surface of the water.  He has not forgotten for an instant that there may still be an angry uncle in the vicinity.
            "Breathe," he tells her.  "Breathe and be calm, my love.  My heart.  My life.  We are well for the moment."
            His head moves back and forth as he watches for any sign of movement, any swell of water, anything that might indicate the presence of another person.

Robin nods and snuggles herself deeper into Vere's clasp, taking heart from his tone, his words and his heartbeat.  Definitely not her best day, but he is right.  They are alive and together.  And from the sounds of him, likely to remain that way.

The water is still agitated from the magic, pattern, and falling rocks.  Vere sees something shining between two rocks in the wall by the eastern edge of the temple.  He can't see what it is, but it isn't something that was there before they went in to the temple.

Vere waits another long minute, then says quietly, "My love.  Are you recovered?  I would have us move from here.  If there is danger, then I want us in a better position to meet it.  If not, then there is no reason not to find a more comfortable place to discuss our next move."
            His eyes remain on the shining object, trying to make it out.  Robin's knife, perhaps, he thinks.  Left as a warning, or a message?  Or a trap?

Looks very much like it could be a knife.

"I... can move, love," she says, even though she really doesn't want to.  "But, but can we go just as far as the roof?  There's... something I want to see if you can see in the sky."  Robin shakes her head in frustration, despite all of that, she's still thinking; about too much, about too many things.  Other than that, Robin doesn't seem concerned about Huon at all.

Vere nods, and makes his way to the edge of the broken roof, drawing Robin along with him to where they can see the sky above.  Then he tells Robin, "Bide a moment, I shall be right back."
            With a strong, quick stroke he crosses to where the gleaming object lies in the wall, regarding it carefully from all angles once he arrives, and not yet touching it.

Robin's knife is point-first between two large stones.  It looks like it has been used to lightly scratch a word in the stone beside it.
            "Rebma"

Vere considers it for a long moments, and then he reaches out and pulls the knife from between the stones.  He waits, treading water, head cocked slightly to one side, as though half expecting something to happen.

Robin nods. But as she watches her love swim so expertly off into the darkness, the girl's eyes roll a little.  She shakes her head again, then her whole self.  Yeah, that's it - shakes herself, not shudders.  She gets her panting under control and stares up into the open air, just drinking in the sweet summer air.
            Dammit!  Dammit, dammit, dammit.  Stupid temple.  She's letting it get to her again.  As her green eyes drift back down into the water-logged ruin, an ironic twitch tugs at the corner of her lips.  Stupid temple maybe.  But the poor building can't seem to catch a break from her.
            To distract herself from the darkness that she can still feel flowing from the tomb, Robin begins to investigate the water as carefully as Vere is investigating the... whatever off in the darkness.  Something odd about it...  Robin sniffs, tastes, sees what she can see.

Robin tastes the water and it's salty and also somehow tasteless.  She leans over and sniffs at it.  A wave pushes the water up and it goes up her nose.  Her intuition was right.
            It's breathable.

Whaaa....??  Robin blinks in befuddlement.
            Just a moment ago, it all made sense.  Dark sense, tragic sense, dangerous sense yes, but sense.  The legacy of the Black Road was closing in around her.  Her connection to the Isles, godhood and her mother was coming into terrible focus.  Uncles, armies and firearms were haunting her yet again.  Echoes of her father were lacing her world with sorrow.
            And... and then she's got a snootful of breathable water.  A bewildered chirrup escapes her.  "V-vere?"

"My love?" he responds questioningly from across the chamber.  He swims back to her, her knife held in one hand.

"Vere?"  Robin's eyes hold puzzlement, and behind those green glimmers the world is shifting and juggling around, assembling itself into new patterns.  But despite that, she smiles to see her brilliant man swimming out of the darkness toward her.
            "The water, Vere.  It's breathable."

Vere's eyebrow rises at this revelation.

A wry chuckle escapes Robin and she shakes her head ironically.  "Just a minute ago, this was all...." a vaguely waved arm scatters droplets off into the depths of the temple, "me and my father.  Now... I'm getting Corwin-shapes everywhere I look.  Why is that happening?"  Her brows furrow with curiosity.

Vere shakes his head, and hands her the knife.  "Our uncle left this for you," he says.  "Along with a message.  Rebma.  Whether it is a warning, or a request that we meet there, I do not know."
            He moves his hand through the water curiously, feeling the texture of it.  "Could he have shifted this entire shadow closer to Rebma, to facilitate his journey there?" he asks her.

"Oo, thanks.  I kinda like this knife."  Robin takes it and vanishes it somewhere about her person.
            "Ummmm,"  The girl runs one wet hand through her hair as she thinks.  Sheepish eyes turn to Vere, "Sorry, love.  I'm having real trouble tracking but I'll try."
            "First, you sure Huon left the knife?  Or the message?  'Cause the minute the blade left my hand, it was like it had a mind of its own or something.  And I don't know if Huon was the architect of the aquathaumetry in here or if he was just dispelling something that was already in place.  Though 'Rebma' would certainly explain some of the Corwin-stuff I think I'm seeing,"  She admits.
            "On the other hand, this... building just weirds me out.  I'm getting so many echoes, possibilities, connections, potentialities and sh!t running through my head that I may need some serious Occam's Razor work in there."  A soft smile is sent to her sweet, sweet man of reason and not-having-one's-head-up-one's-ass.
            "With regards to 'shifting' this shadow 'closer' to Rebma, I don't really think of shadows that way, Vere.  I don't know how the more technical experts do it, but to me? - shadows aren't so much 'located in space with distance between them.'  Sure, I know that it takes motion to move between them, whhhiiccchh would tend to have one thinking in terms of distance, I'll admit.  But honestly, I think the… ways/connections/relationships between shadows are more like mindsets than distances."  Robin's struggling to put something almost entirely
conceptual into words.
            "Oh!  You're a meditator, my love.  Think about how time and activity affect mindset/outlook as compared to how they affect location/position.  See?  Similar and easy to confuse."
            "Now as to whether Huon could blend Danu and Rebma to a closer relationship… I must admit that I was toying with the idea of something similar with Danu and Arden.  Not right away, of course.  Things are too… unsettled in both places right now.  But it *had* occurred to me to investigate it sometime in the future."
            "Could Huon have done it now?  Mmaaaayyybbeee."  Robin allows.

Vere listens to her with a serious expression.  "Shadow as aspect of outlook," he says thoughtfully.  "I shall have to consider that.   I am still just learning how to manipulate and travel through shadow.  But what you suggest is very interesting indeed."  He hesitates for a moment, then adds, "If Huon did do it, then there is the interesting question of whether he did it only to accelerate his travel plans, or
whether the fact that it would save us if we were caught underwater had occurred to him."
            "For now, we need to decide what to do."  He points toward one of the windows, a few feet above water level.  "I suggest we will be more comfortable out of the water.  Then we can discuss what we should do next."
            He begins to swim towards the window, watching to be certain that she follows.

“Okay,” Robin says some reluctantly.  She looks around her once more.  If she leaves this place, she’ll only have to come back yet again.  But as she just told Vere, her mental state is... somewhat less than reliable right now.  First the guns, then Canareth and Jovian, then the temple plus the additional thrill of an Uncle, then almost drowning.  Robin shakes her head sadly and starts swimming after Vere.

Vere reaches the window and pulls himself up into it, then offers Robin a hand.  He sits on the stone of the window ledge, with his back to the wall, and looks out over the drowned city, then back at Robin.
            "How are you?" he asks her.

Robin accepts Vere’s hand and pops up onto the window sill.  Despite the mess going on inside her, there is still some happiness to be out of the whatever-water.  Vere was definitely right about that.  With easy and unconscious grace, Robin settles herself, checking her various sheaths, quiver, pack, etc.
            At Vere’s question, she looks up at him, blinks and sighs.  “Not good.  Pretty rocky, in fact.”  Because even though Robin wishes that she was as strong and durable as Vere, she isn’t.  And a Ranger who acts on wishes instead of reality is often dead, quickly.
            “You?”

"Working on insufficient information, which always annoys me," he answers with a smile.  He reaches out then, and touches one of her hands with his.  "But we are alive, and together, and thus, I am well."
            He looks back into the temple and frowns slightly.  "I am afraid that we do not have a great deal of time to recover before we must act," he says.  "Will you be able to carry through?"  His gaze returns to her.  "Consider the question, my love, and answer honestly.  I need to know what your needs are, before we can decide what to do next."

“Okay,”  Robin closes her eyes, almost in pain.  She shudders, draws her legs up and curls her arms around them, tightly clinching into as small a position as possible.  Dropping her head onto her knees, Robin murmurs into her chest.  
            “What’s happening, Vere, is that... I’m becoming Lost.  I’m losing the ability to differentiate between what’s outside myself... and what’s inside.  Dangerously self-focused.  And overwhelmed at the same time.  The snootful of water helped, kept me here.  But...  my intuition is already off, faulty.  And soon - maybe already - my perceptions will... become unreliable, too.”  The girl’s face crumples in misery.
            “In order to c-carry through, my love.  I-I need to know - really know - that I’m not alone.  That I’m... not b-bad,” Robin smacks her forehead against her knees in embarrassment.  It sounds so childlike, but it’s true and he did ask for honesty.  “An-nd I need to - somehow - stay in this world when my thoughts and perceptions keep dragging me up my own ass!”  She looks up at him, her green eyes filled with anguished tears.
            “But, I... I can’t just trail behind you blindly, Vere.  That gives me too much time to think.  And only makes the self-absorption worse.”

Vere moves to her, kneeling in front of her and taking her in his embrace.  "Never alone, my love," he says quietly.  "Never alone."

A choked sob rips through Robin and she clings to Vere desperately.  And Listens.  Breath, heartbeat, Vere.  Keeping her eyes closed, Robin forces everything else, all the terrors and insecurities, theoretical connections and over-dramatized events, all of it, away.  Slowly, slowly her breathing becomes more normal and her clutch shifts to a hug.
            “Love you,” she murmurs, “love you, wonderful man.”

Vere holds her silently, leaving it for her to decide when she is recovered enough to speak of the matters that they must speak of.

When Robin speaks again, her eyes are still closed and she still holds on to Vere, but she lets reason speak through her instead of hysteria.
            "Sorry, love.  I don't share your sense of urgency, but I'll try.  Mid-to-long term planning depends too much on the decision of the dragons and their riders, so I don't want to go there."
            "Short term?  That depends on what you feel you owe Rebma, my love.  As for me, I don't care at all."  She sighs.  "Though I suppose some courtesy should be paid.  While some of our watery cousins haven't had the time of day for the troubles of Arden, Conner and Brennan definitely did.  Martin too, I guess.  I suppose I can look beyond my own backyard too."
            She gazes up at him.  "That would imply - firstly, calling Aunt Llewella, " Robin wrinkles her nose in distaste.  The minute one gets the stoopid Cards, one starts using them non-stop.  Pfui! "to see if she's in Rebma.  I don't know if your... Docent? has arrived yet.  But the warning regarding aquatectural sorcery and underwater firearms and artillery should probably be conveyed soonest."
            "After that, we can decide if we want to follow the army's trail through here to see if that's where our Uncle scarpered to.  If it is or not, decisions to be made when army is found.  Including whether to call Bleys."  That thought gets a full tongue-stick-out.
            "Ooorrrr, on a completely different track, since the way is not technically blocked right now, I put together a light and go under the tomb."   Robin squeezes her eyes closed and shudders.
            "Was that what you were wanting, beloved?"  The girl looks back up at Vere.

Vere tilts his head to one side, considering her words.  "Rebma is not my primary concern," he confesses.  "I owed them the courtesy of a warning, for their allowance to raise troops for the defense of my mother's throne, which warning I have already sent via the priestess and the tanist of the Children of Llyr.  Once matters are resolved here, then I should lead the Children back to Rebma, to aid in the defense of their homeland."  He looks back to the water inside the temple.  "If this remains as it is, then this is where that march should begin."
            "However."  He makes that word a statement, pausing before he continues.
            "The Isles remain at risk.  It appears our uncle has left, and now might be the time to see if the damage to the reality of this world can be repaired.  Once that is done, I intend to put an end to the Chancellor's rebellion, once and for all."
            "And there remains the question of whether, and if so, when, we should try to raise your mother."

"Huhn."  A little fluff of breath escapes Robin as she changes the tack of her thoughts.
            "K.  On that path, I do kinda agree that it feels like my... vehemence and your brilliant! gambit,"  Robin's eyes glimmer with admiration as she looks up at Vere, "may have convinced Huon to leave.  But I'd like to confirm that before we start anything tooooo involved.  And I *would* like to get the 'By the way, they have guns' intel to Rebma."
            "With regards to repairing the Isles," Robin sighs, "Beloved? That's on the level of a Walk.  I need to be fed, rested, secure and sane before I try that or… poof!"  She makes a little exploding gesture with one hand.
            "Talking with Mom?"  The girl's eyes travel around the inside of her head evaluating what she finds there.  Eventually she nods.  "I might be able to manage that.  And it's probably a good idea to get her input before I start messing with the nature of the Isles."

Vere nods.  "It seems, then," he says, "That our first order of business would be determining whether Huon is still in the Isles or not.  I confess myself unsure of how to determine that.  Do you know of any ways we can increase our degree of certainty?"

“Weeeellll, asking around is how we got our first leads, that might work again.  Ooorrrr, we - meaning you, my love - “ she smiles at him “could try a reading with the partial Card we have.  Maybe I could try a scrying, though I’ve never been much good at that.  Too jittery.”  Robin shrugs, she knows she’s always been on the short end of the family ‘mystic senses’ stick.

Vere tilts his head to one side, considering the question.  "A full reading is not especially helpful with a simple yes or no question such as 'Has Huon left this world,'" he says.  "It becomes a case of too much information.  We should either attempt to rephrase the question, perhaps in the form of, 'Is it safe for us to make our plans without further consideration of Huon in the near future,' or else I should do a simpler reading.  The draw of a single card, perhaps."  
            He smiles.  "My interpretation of the cards has always been that they allow for the piecing together of information, and utilize our natural and unconscious control of reality as descendents of Oberon to, in a sense, extend our perception of the nature of reality to reveal aspects of that reality that might otherwise be hidden from us."

"That makes sense to me."  Robin nods.  She's always been a great believer in the assemblage of unconscious knowledge.  "And probably quickest."
            Drawing the pouch from an interior pocket, she then hands it to Vere with a smile.  "I like that second question, brilliant one.  Up to you about how many cards."

Vere takes the cards and begins to shuffle them, while leaning back and considering.  "Now, how to phrase the question, exactly?  Do we only wish to know whether we can discount Huon in our plans, or should we try to determine exactly what our next step should be, while we are about it?  Whether it would be wise to try to summon your mother now, while we are here at her temple, or whether that would be counterproductive at this time?  Or whether now is the time to use the trumps to contact a variety of our elders, informing them of what we have learned, and asking their advice?  And, possibly..." Vere pauses, watching Robin carefully as he continues, "...whether now might be a good time for you to consider returning to your father?"

Robin drops her eyes and stares away, moisture forming briefly in the corner of one green eye.  She presses her lips together, but hangs on.  Vere asked her to carry on, so.... "I still like that first second question, love. ''Is it safe for us to make our plans without further consideration of Huon in the near future?'  The rest of it is too much like asking the universe to make our decisions for us.  Which never
works out well."
            Her voice grows quieter.  "A-and, if I am becoming too much of a burden or distraction from your work, my love, I will continue on my own.  B-but I have not yet accomplished what my father sent me here for.  And I promised Kourin and her people that if they needed it, I would see them home."

"My love," Vere says quietly.  "I do not wish to send you away from me.  You are no burden.  I worried that you were staying here longer than you wished, merely to aid me in my tasks.  If your own tasks still keep you here, then I must confess that I am pleased by that.  I am not complete when I am not with you."

A muffled croon comes from Robin and she lifts eyes glowing with love to Vere.  "I am, without a doubt, the luckiest being in the entire universe, my love."  Her voice is warm with amazement.  And she gently kisses him with all her soul for a long moment.
            Then reluctantly lets Vere go, so that they can go about their business.

"So," his voice grows firmer.  "No more talk of our separating at this time.  Let us continue with our immediate task."

Robin nods once firmly (but not in a Martin-esque way at all, no sirree.)  Inside her, warmth is finally cutting through the cold darkness that has haunted her since she came to this place.  And steady winds are under her wings once more.  An unconscious smile hovers about her lips.

He finishes shuffling the cards, and holds them in one hand.  "So, we shall make the question, 'Is it safe for us to make our plans without further consideration of Huon in the near future?'  I think I shall use a three card spread.  One card for the past, and the basis of the matter.  One for the present, and the decision we are now making.  And one for the future, and what may come of our decision."
            He tilts his head.  "Any other thoughts, before I draw the cards, my most beloved?"

"I don't know if it will make any difference but you might want to include the two cards in your possession into the possible draws as well."  She shrugs.  "Especially since they're both kind of Huon related in a way."

"Clever," he answers with a smile.  "And see, proof that even I can forget such simple things, and need you to watch for my mistakes."

"Silly man."  Robin bumps him fondly with her shoulder.  "If you were perfect, there'd be no room for me in your life."
            Then she watches her close-enough-to-perfect man work the Cards.

And then he adds the cards back into the deck, shuffles it again, and deals.
            "Foundation.  Present.  Outcome."

The cards slide from his deck onto his impromptu table under the overhanging remnants of the roof.  In the dimness, Vere squints down and sees the three cards.

Winter -- Maturity
The Eagle Reversed -- Thoughtlessness
The Smith Reversed -- Evil Effort

A female voice comes from behind Vere, speaking softly.  "They always speak, but they do not always answer."

Robin hears nothing.

The Ranger leans forward to peek quickly at the Cards and then almost rears back, her nose wrinkled.  “*That* doesn’t look good at all.... “  Curious green eyes turn to Vere to see what he thinks.

"Indeed," Vere says quietly. "The difficult thing is learning to hear what they are saying, without allowing one's expectations to cloud one's perception." He falls silent, and cocks his head to one side expectantly.

Robin blinks at Vere's cryptic statement. But when he cocks his head, so like a dragonrider listening for that interior voice, the girl finds herself smiling. And she closes her eyes and Listens too. Just in case.

Neither Vere nor Robin hears anything else.

Vere is silent for a moment, then smiles slightly and tells Robin, "Someone spoke, making the observation that the cards do not always answer the questions we ask. A good observation."

Robin raises an eyebrow but withholds any opinions on cryptic voices, observations and Cards. *All* of that is Vere's specialty, not hers.

He looks down at the cards, then back at Robin. "I know you are not overly familiar with them, my love, but you have heard what I have said about them being a way for us to realize things we do not know that we know. That being so, before I interpret them, I would be very interested to hear what they say to you."

"Weeellll," Robin flushes slightly with embarrassment, "At first, I thought that they might be chiding me for... you know, that Huon excitement. But then, I thought there's no way that that could be based on a Foundation of Maturity. So that's probably just more head-up-her-own-ass thinking from Robin." She finishes in a wry tone.  "Annndd Voices and Veres say that the Cards might not be answering the question, but saying other things. In which case.... the combination of a raptor reversed in the Present and an artisan reversed in the Outcome.... my love, that really worries me about my intentions toward the Isles. *REALLY* worries me. Especially when in combination with the earlier Cockatrice Reversed." There's a flash of white in the darkness as Robin nibbles on her lip. "But hopefully, I'm still not seeing far enough beyond my own horizon. What are you
seeing?"

He smiles thinly. "Much the same as you, I fear. This is not, in any way, an encouraging reading." He taps the first card. "Winter," he says. "A hard time, demanding dicipline and care. The old age of the year." He tilts his head to one side, then appears to be quoting, "'Like the fish, people wait for the thaw.' It has a less dire meaning, that of Maturity, indicating the right time for action, and the experience and understanding to take the right actions to cope with a difficult situation. In this position, as the basis for the current situation, I take it to indicate the Isles are in their Winter. You are a creature of the Wild, my love, and you know the dangers of Winter. Care must be taken to ensure there is a Spring - with lack of proper planning and careful consideration the herd might not make it through the end of the year. If we make the wrong decisions here, this could be the end of the Isles, their final Winter, with no renewal."
            He taps the second card then. "The Eagle, reversed, in the position of the current situation. The Eagle is the card of the mind's triumph, of the ability to perceive all things and understand them, even as the soaring eagle can watch the world unfold beneath it. But reversed, it is a warning of heedless and thoughtless action, of the mind distracted and acting without proper consideration. When it appears when one is considering a risky endeavour, it is a dire warning indeed."
            "Finally, in the position of the outcome, we have the Smith, reversed." He taps the final card. "Efforts expended for an evil outcome. It can mean the Smith deliberately creates for destructive reasons, or it can indicate well-meaning efforts gone agley. It could mean that there are powerful forces opposing us, who will seek to undermine our efforts. However...."
    He pauses then, and lifts his eyes to look into hers. "However. I am afraid that I believe it means we are not capable of doing this on our own. Our efforts will not be enough. If we seek to save the Isles in the way we have been planning, the likelihood is that we will destroy them."

"Oh, Verde, Vere." Robin squeezes her eyes shut. "I was hoping you'd see something different. I-I-I..." she sighs, "I'm not sure I can face him. I... hate him soooo very much. And to have him *that* close to me, that intimate." Dry gulps go through the girl.

"No." Vere's voice is firm. He leans forward and strokes her cheek with the tips of his fingers. "You will not be put in that situation. I will let the Isles die before I see you forced to do anything that gives you pain. I will kill them myself, before I allow you to be hurt again."

Wonder, awe and love combine in a warm fluff of sound that emerges from Robin as she opens her eyes and looks into Vere's. Her man, *HER MAN* - there are not enough words in this universe to describe the miracle that is Vere. She croons warmly as she presses herself into his embrace, kissing him deeply. And stays there, forever in the truth, light and beauty that is the center of Vere.

Vere holds her tightly, letting everything but the reality of the two of them slip from his mind.