Cathal's Journal

05 Jux 45

So today we've been left to our own devices, no impromptu visits arranged at short notice to appease the brat. I managed to get a couple of hours in the pool most of it alone. I was joined for the last 15 minutes by Natsuki, the Japanese girl, and her dog Choki. I can't make up my mind whether its following her about or she's deliberately taking it with her. Anyway she wasn't very talkative, not shy just not talkative.

The mansion grounds are pretty extensive, and obviously setup to support the kitchens as far as possible. Whilst the grounds are walled, and it's a wall more substantive than I've seen at any historical residence I've visited. There are also circular towers 6m in diameter and the same high with a dome on top every 500m around the perimeter all about 6m from the wall. They're obviously there for a purpose, one which I can't fathom as yet. There are also a set of stables, with enough room for 8 horses although there are only 4 present, 2 stallions and 2 mares. One of the stallions is temperamental apparently, Cordelia's horse I would wager if I were a betting man.

06 Jux 45

This may be my last entry. In about half and hour we are due to assemble in the library prior to walking the Pattern. I have memorized my room as best as I'm able. Whether it's good enough to return me here I shall find out shortly, although exactly how much time shortly is I have no idea.

08 Jux 45

Okay so exactly where do I start. Do I start with the Pattern or do I start with the events at breakfast after I woke this morning? Certainly compared to the latter the former whilst an exhausting event is just a non-entity. The latter was sort of a head to head between Cordelia and the Brat. If she's going to bluff then she should at least do it with something other than 5 random cards in her hand, and certainly when Cordelia is not holding all the aces. The bluff was about who her biological father was, not that having walked the Pattern makes it an issue, as he can't be anything other than an Amberite. However she refuses to accept the truth of that simple fact.

That does not mean Cordelia's bluff cannot be called. Her threat to kill anyone who didn't return to their room appears to have been well and truly called. Exactly what she is going to to with the AWOL Renn I haven't the faintest and I suspect neither does she. I'm not even sure how she intends to locate him. She was clear only on one thing, she knows where he isn't and I've no reason to doubt the voracity of that statement.

So breakfast over we all retreated to our rooms to attempt to put our new found abilities in to practice. In you don't know what sarcasm is then re-read that sentence. So we've walked the Pattern. All that actually does is give us a blueprint for what the Pattern should look like once we've walked it with our mind. To make use of it that is what we must do, and assemble it as a physical manifestation. The exact form of that physical manifestation determines what you can do with it. Of course the first thing, as Cordelia so nonchalantly pointed out, you need to do is assemble it. She was not joking when she likened it to building a house of cards in a gale. It has taken me all day, taxed my brain until it feels like it's going to explode in my skull, and made me feel like I've been on a 36hour binge, to actually do it. And now I've done it I haven't the faintest idea how to use it. And here I have to agree with the brat, Cordelia is being an unhelpful bitch.."once you can do it in less than 30 minutes then we can move on to the next stage".. what ever that is. Really helpful NOT!.

09 Jux 45

Okay.. so I got a little emotional last night and may have done Cordelia a dis-service, but I also forgot a salient event. When she arrived for dinner she was accompanied by/escorting another woman in her early 40's. The reason I say escorting is that the woman is blind. Cordelia introduced her as Queen Siobahn, the wife of the deceased King Thorsten of Amber, although she neglected to say where she had been as we've not seen her at either dinner nor breakfast since our arrival, despite the fact that she has a suite on the third floor on the mansion. I have to admit that she is a very affable woman, not at all what I would expect from royalty. In fact she made the effort to engage everyone at the table, ensuring that none of us, even the quiet Natsuki, were left out.

So that was last tonight. Tonight the brat outdid herself. She started by downing several double Gins before dinner, drank wine copiously throughout and then when we retired to the library after dinner drank Bloody Mary's (tripple shots) till she couldn't stand and had to be carried to her room.

10 Jux 45

I really am not sure where to start tonight. It's been a somewhat traumatic day, at least for me. Cordelia has up until now been vague about the exact status of her various Aunts and Uncles. Today, at least I and maybe some of the others found out why. The memory my mother left me explains certain things relating to my birth, one of which is that my Father is Logan. Aside from finding my mother I had hoped that I might one day also find my father. By find I really mean meet and/or talk to. That chance is no longer available to me. Logan is dead, killed by either Raif or Rodian's forces trying to protect King Thorsten.

I've hadd to take a minute here, much like Cordelia did when she found out that he was my father. I saw her ice hard shell fluctuate and waver then. If I did not know better I would have said she liked him, but she coveres her emotions well, even when in direct mind to mind contact.

That was indirectly the purpose of todays lesson, what Trumps are and how to use them. Using them, at least Trumps of people, puts you in direct mind to mind contact with the person you're calling. This can be really bad if the person has a much stronger psyche than you and bears you any form of ill will. Even if they're you're best friend there's stuff in your head, thoughts, feelings, that you don't really want them to know about, and for that you need to be able to shield your thoughts and emotions, much like Cordelia demonstrated. To this end she has installed a set of exercises and techniques in everyone's head for us to go away and practice, as if we don't have enough to do with practicing assembling the Pattern.

The one bonus that did come out of today is that we all got a "Place Trump" of the Interior Entrance hall of the Mansion, so technically were we to use the Pattern to go anywhere we can at least get back. Potentially we may need them tomorrow, well local time that is, as tomorrow is the opening day of the Expo. Now I'm assuming that it's happening on a shadow of the Earth I call home. It will be interesting to see how much different, if at all, it is from my Shadow.

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