8.       Reckoning.

In the dark car speeding away from the scene of destruction, Deirdre seemed to regain control of her faculties. “Jasra was back in here just the other month,” she turned back toward Akin. “She wanted me to patch up things between her and Fi. Seems there’s been some rivalry way back over some chaos lord. A strange choice of a mediator, isn’t it? I’ve never been close to Fiona. Florimel would do much better, but the wench crossed Flora also, along the same lines.” She giggled. “Dunno how she does it. An elegant bitch, got to grant her that, but take away her gowns and jewelry – not much gonna be left in those places where it counts... Anyway… She was rather desperate, Jasra that is, and was talking weird things… That Corwin drew a new pattern on his way to the Patternfall battle. That part I did believe though, if anyone could draw a new pattern that would be your father.”

Akin nodded silently. What was it that shined in Deirdre’s blue eyes? Admiration? Perhaps much more than that… Sisterly love? Still much more than that… 

“But the rest of it,” she said with a shrug. “That the Pattern is getting ready to fight Corwin’s new pattern, because one kind of order wouldn’t tolerate another one. And it still got to keep the Logrus at bay, so it doesn’t have enough energies left to maintain steady trump connections as it used to… Now, I didn’t have to follow Dworkin day and night like Fi did to know that the trumps work through the Pattern, but whoever heard of them not working properly? And are we to believe that the Pattern is a sentient being? And the Logrus? And Corwin’s pattern? So that’s how one makes life nowadays – draws a bunch of lines?” She laughed softly. “Always thought it takes two.”   

Akin pondered that. The Pattern, a sentient being? Another cult taking roots in some kind of an explosion in the Castle, shortly after the Patternfall war. But no one in Amber took it seriously, except for Merlin.  And to think of it, did not Merlin mention once or twice someone called Jasra? Perhaps he should get a hold of Merlin sometime later to ask him for his thoughts about all this. Akin always respected his brother’s intellect, even though he was a bit of a spoiled ‘sulker.’

“Well, I know there’re all types of life, and not everything needs an opposite sex partner in order to breed. Some can split themselves to make another. For that matter, there’re many forms of life where male and female genders are not necessarily known, amoebas for example.” He refrained from listing other types because of Lucky and his driver.

Allysa was very quiet next to Deirdre, trying to catch every word. She had heard most of it before during endless conferences Fiona had been holding with trump artists lately, the topic being these mysterious “trumps flukes.” Fiona had also assigned it to the growing influence of Corwin pattern, but, as most Amberites, she frowned at the idea of the Pattern being sentient. Jasra seemed to think otherwise and her theory was a neat one indeed… But who was this Jasra? And where to find her?

“I figured she was just playing games to get me to help her. But if she was telling the truth, then… the rest of it might be true as well.” Deirdre was suddenly very thoughtful. “She’s the one who told me of that Elektra creature and what uses the Pattern has for it…”

“Dee, the gate.” Lucky interrupted as the car stopped in front of a tall spiked fence.

“The gate… hmm… not locked, Charlie,” Deirdre giggled. “Well… not any longer.”

“The casino Bugsy never finished, but his own house he sure did.” Lucky sput through the rolled-down window as the wrought iron gate slowly opened seemingly by itself.

Akin sighed. Whatever one thought of the preceding generation, one could not help admiring them. She had never even glanced at the gate… so effortlessly… of course she had had millennia to practice… Did Lucky know his wife’s real age? For this matter, did anyone know, herself included?

The large, two-story, colonial-style house was dark and looked lifeless as their car and two more that followed passed the wide-open gate and started up the driveway. Akin shifted closer to the door and took hold of the handle with one hand, gripping the Tommy gun with another, looking out the window. He felt his heart beating faster, his breathing deeper, his adrenaline flowing. He emptied his mind of all thoughts but of the here and now and his surroundings, concentrating on everything that could hide a person, sending his senses outward for any danger. Suddenly he yanked the door open while the vehicle was still moving and tossed himself out the door, rolling along the grounds to crouch behind a large shrub. He low-crawled to the side and looked around it towards the house. As the cars continued past him up the twisting drive, he sprinted towards the house, keeping in the shadows to flank the vehicles to protect the large targets and those inside.

He ended up behind a flowerbed, quite close to the house, a position offering a rather good view of the front door. He observed the gangsters from the two other cars forming a semi-circle around the door while Lucky, with his driver close-by, loudly knocked. Allysa also got out of the car and was lonely standing somewhat to a side, still clutching the Tommy gun he had given her earlier. Deirdre apparently preferred to stay inside. Nothing seemed to be happening in spite of intense pounding on the door by Lucky. Finally, some of the windows lighted up and shortly thereafter the door opened. A very tall dark-headed woman standing in the door wore a silk red robe over a long nightgown, also red. “Lucky? What’s the matter?”

“I got to see Bugsy, Virginia.”

“Bugsy?  But he left hours ago. He said you sent him to the factory… Is anything wrong?”

Lucky’s answer drowned in the engine roar and screech of wheels as the huge Packard suddenly jumped to life. Over the grass… over the flowerbed… almost over Akin, who was hardly able to roll from under the wheels, but grabbed the still open passenger side door and climbed inside, losing his Tommy gun in the process.

Startled Allysa made a few steps toward Lucky. “What’s that all about?”

“How the fuck do I know what it’s all about?” Lucky apparently was mad as hell. “The woman’s totally nuts!  She’s gonna wreck my car!”

“I suppose I’d stick with you until we find out?” Allysa rested the butt of the sub-machine gun on her hip and looked around at Lucky and his boys wondering if sticking around really was the smart thing to do.

Lucky turned to Virginia and suddenly grabbed a fistful of her hair yanking her head back and slapping her face hard. “Don’t ya lie to me, whore! Search the house, boys!” Virginia’s head jerked from the blow and she slid to her knees with a heartbreaking shriek.

“Don’t kill her, Boss, we want some too,” one of the gangsters said with a chuckle.

“Now, now, that’s no way to treat a lady.” Another woman stepped outside, though Alyssa could have sworn that the lighted hallway, clearly visible behind the open door, had been empty just a second ago. She was somewhat shorter than Virginia, but was still quite tall, with short red hair. In her impeccably white blouse and knee-length blue skirt, she looked a lot like a salesgirl from some department store. There seemed to be even a nameplate pinned to her blouse, though it was hard to read from the distance.

Lucky let Virginia’s hair go blinking a few times at the newcomer. “Jasra? What the hell ya doing here?”

“Oh... they told me at the club that y’all went here, so, thought I’d catch Deirdre.” She paused and looked into Alyssa eyes before continuing in Thari, “But looks like I didn’t waste a trip after all.“

Uh-oh, by the Pattern, how do I get into these situations? Allysa met Jasra’s gaze with a pleasant smile and a slight ducking of the head. “Good eve. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of being acquainted?  Seems to be a night for excitement.”

She let the Tommy gun point down, at rest, one-handed in her right arm. She really did detest weapons though she could get by if need be. “Silly question though this may be, I don’t suppose you know where Scarlett and Elektra are?”

Jasra’s corners-of-the-mouth smile grew broader as she descended the steps toward Allysa. “But of course I do, my dear... hmm... Allysa, isn’t it? Why would you like to know?”

Allysa brightened with a genuine smile, “Capital! I’ve been dispatched by the court to find them. It’d be rather helpful if you could tell me where they were. Then I can deliver my message and be back in Amber away from all this shooting and what not.” She tilted her head a little as she regarded Jasra. Evidently she’s heard of me, a do-nothing trump artist, but I could swear I’ve never heard of her. She looked over Jasra curiously to see if she could discern some kind of intent or motive from her psyche without pushing in on her consciousness too hard.

Jasra laughed incredulously. “You’re looking for Elektra on behalf of Random? It’s widely known that the King of Amber and the Pattern Witch can’t stand each other. And since when does Random send little girls to do his bidding? Has he run out of agents?”

Allysa frowned a bit, realizing she was alone with Jasra in front of the house, all the gangsters having entered and dragged Virginia with them. She was thinking hard. The pattern witch? Did it refer to a slender redhead Scarlett had brought in? Most probably it did. One day I shall make my own Pattern.

“Well, I’m not really a little girl, nor am I an agent. More like a guide. Akin was here just a minute ago.” Allysa looked in the general direction Akin had been last seen driving off. “Right now I’m not sure what I’m doing, I just know the sooner I find them the sooner I can get home and soak this miserable sand away.” She patted at her sleeve brushing some sand and dirt away with a slight look of annoyance. “I guess what you’re saying is that you’re not going to help me, whereupon I should be on my way then?”

Jasra’s smile became truly charming. “Not at all, my dear, not at all. What I’m saying is, that Elektra and Scarlett aren’t going anywhere from where they are now, and I shall take you there the first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, you definitely need some rest and a nice hot bath.” She extended her hand to Allysa.  “Come on, let’s go to my place for now.”

Allysa nodded decisively, “Yes, nothing can be any worse that this gun-toting dust bowl. Someone might get hurt in this macho-ridden Shadow. Where’re we going anyhow? Will I need this?” She waved the Tommy gun, seeming perfectly willing to discard the unwanted weapon.

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