17.   A Brotherly Visit.

In the bright, mid-morning light, in front of a large opened window of her second floor factory office, Deirdre, dressed in a pantsuit perfectly matching the color of her eyes, observed a long line of cars in the yard. Down below, her army – fifty or so gangsters in black and brown suits and fedoras armed with Tommy guns and shotguns – was taking marching orders from Lucky. Several factory guards in paramilitary uniforms were busy loading boxes with shells onto a small convoy of four trucks while others rolled out small cannons to be hitched to the trucks. There was no reason for her to interfere, hundreds of times Lucky and she had gone over the Castle plans discussing every smallest detail of the invasion. She tensed at the sound of the front door being opened, but did not turn to face an intruder, just her hand slid down to her belt, long elegant fingers clutching the hilt of a dagger.

“You really look like hell, Brand.”

“Thank you, sis. You’re very kind.”

“What do you want?”

“Oh, not much. Just stopped by to see how you’re.”

“He’s not here.”

“Don’t you think I know that? Just wanted to see you. Long overdue I guess… Listen, Deirdre, what happened then, during the battle… it wasn’t personal… You killed many that day with your axe… wasn’t personal either, was it? Just the way the war is…”

Deirdre’s eyes flashed as she finally turned to face him.  “Those were enemies, Brand.  I’m your sister!”

“And Caine was my brother,” a sarcastic smile crossed his face.

“I’ve never tried to hurt you, Brand. The others did... even Fi, but not me.”

“Those were mad times… Perhaps one of these days you’d forgive me, as I’ve forgiven Fi.”

“Perhaps one of these days… But not today… I’m kinda preoccupied at the moment.”

“I can see that,” Brand smirked. “That brings up another thing I wanted to tell you. I’ve no interest in the affairs of Amber any longer. I’ve known of your plans and weapons for quite a while, but you’ve nothing to fear from me.”

“Apparently someone does have interest, and that someone pretends to be you. Any idea who that might be?”

“I’ve learned of this place from Jasra. But if she knows, so does Mandor.”

“Mandor! So it was he who sent a shapeshifter in your likeness… How did Jasra find me?”

Brand’s smile grew broader. “Does Bloody Andy’s ring the bell?”

“Hmm…  It’s a tavern in the Death Alley. I’ve been to the place a few times… but always in disguise…”

“About a year ago, three drunken sailors jumped the proprietor. Some argument about the bill, remember that?”

“Yes, I happened to be in at the time, so I’ve thrown them out. I remember that because Tom, the proprietor, gave me a ring with some blue stone. In appreciation of keeping the place from being renamed Bloody Tom’s, as he put it. But it looked rather cheap so I put it somewhere, don’t even remember where.  Why?”

“Tom’s a Kashfan agent. A maid kicking three sailors’ butts seemed rather uncommon, so he gave you a ring with a tragolith – a crystal stone that may be tracked through Shadow to its bearer. Now, Kashfan agents report to their ambassador in Amber, who’s supposed to report to Rinaldo, but always runs it by Jasra first.”

Deirdre’s eyes opened wide. “Damn! Didn’t occur to me… She did appear about a year ago. So you think the Chaos wants me to attack Amber now?”

“The Chaos, the King of Chaos, the Logrus itself, who knows… But I must be going, there’re things I must attend to.”

“Brand, wait! Let me talk to Gu-Dakk. He’ll return the girl.”

“That wouldn’t matter, sis. He’s Random’s agent after all. Were I to show weakness, Random might get an idea that I can’t protect my daughter either.”

“Can’t the pattern witch protect herself?” Her question remained unanswered as Brand had already disappeared into the wall, not bothering with the door this time.

So things had worked out to the better after all. If Akin did not snatch the girl, Brand would not have come in here to announce his neutrality. She had no reason to doubt him – he could have harassed her much earlier if he wanted to. And being safe from Brand returned her the luxury of time. The attack may be postponed until such time as she would learn more about the Chaos lords’ involvement. Them she knew how to handle, would not be the first time. And the starting point is Bugsy, of course, who must be found and questioned…

That Akin was foolish, no doubt, but still such a nice young man… What a shame that for all practical purposes, he was already dead. Still breathing, moving, talking in wherever his hiding place might be, but only till the lethal weapon called Brand will have caught and struck… There was actually nothing she could do, not to mention she had her own business to take care of.

She turned back to the window leaning over the windowsill and waving at Lucky. “Charlie! Come to the office! There’s been a change in plans!”

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