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If Lucas can borrow a trump, he'll walk down to the town and start to explore. If not, he forgoes the walk and hangs around the Castle.
He'll also be willing to accept company on the trip, although not particularly inviting - The words, "I'm going into town," may be heard ... the words, "Hey guys! Anyone want to hit the bars before dinner?" remain unuttered.)
Martin will walk down with him. While there are no trumps of Xanadu in his deck, he does have cards of several people present, and a couple of people (Folly and Random) have cards of him.
For the first part of the walk, Lucas is uncharacteristically silent, concentrating on looking around at this new lands, and assessing the size and nature of the town they are approaching.
It's a tent city right now, but some wooden buildings are starting to come up. Stone buildings will take a while, Lucas thinks, but they will come.
When they are about halfway down, Lucas stops at a gleaming white stone belvedere, of a kind that could be easily fortified if necessary (is this ok?), and moves on to the rampart to look at the view below while taking out his cigarette case. He offers a cigarette to Martin.
Martin takes it and lights it with a Zippo that he has in his pocket, which he also offers to Lucas. It's chrome, with a logo that Lucas doesn't recognize on it.
"Enjoy," he says. "It may be the last I'm in a position to offer for a while. Prudenter's cover's been blown. A dead groom was shoved into his shop - a rather graphic billet doux in response to your own."
He takes a long draw on his cigarette. "Hard to say how much of my network has been compromised. Or yours, for that matter. We're into damage limitation here. Eyelet was removed from our ken - before we were able to grab her.
"There is information gathering, and there is message sending. Normally I would hesitate to suggest that you might have confused the two. On this occasion ... " He shrugs. "I've ratched up security. Violet is as safe as I can make her in Amber, but you might want to move her into Shadow."
Martin stares out into the lagoon. "I'm going to move her here as soon as there's enough of a Xanadu to move her to, but an intermediate stop may be in order. You need to get your man out of Amber, too. If they've decided he's mine, he'll be the next target, after I do what needs to be done next. This was a love-tap by Rebman standards. Now things get messy."
"I'm less worried about Prudenter, useful though he is, than I am about Solace and the children," says Lucas frankly. "I plan to bring them all through as soon as possible."
Martin turns his attention back to Lucas. "I had thought it would be here or Paris. Are we any closer to establishing what happened to Solace?" Lucas does not feel that Martin perceives this to be entirely a change of subject.
"No," says Lucas. "And you know more than most." He shakes his head. "I realise I'm not without enemies, but I wouldn't have put the Rebmans particularly high on the list. Until now. I think it came from another source."
He stubs out the cigarette against the wall with particular intensity.
Martin nods, once. "I'd rather rule it out than not."
"Shall we see what the town has to offer?"
"Let's do that. You'll find it uncivilized at this stage of its development, I think, based on my brief observations this afternoon. I was somewhat preoccupied, so I may have missed something. In fact, I know I did." Martin frowns, and his attention moves down to the harbor for a moment.
"Oh?" says Lucas.
"I want to check out that supply ship." Martin's eyes narrow. "I think I recognize that flag."
"Certainly," says Lucas obligingly.
"Do you know how your father is distributing land?" Lucas says. "Rent, leasehold or freehold? My own preference would be the long term lease. Nine hundred and ninety nine years of peppercorn rent makes for stability, and commitment to the land. And the King needs to build that quickly - more than he needs the income from ground rent, I'd say."
"He hasn't said anything yet. There's to be court tomorrow at noon to handle market disputes. I suspect some sort of arrangement will come on the table by then. They already know who the king is," Martin says. "They mistook me for him when we rode in."
"Interesting," says Lucas, thoughtfully. "Not many natives of Amber, then? I was wondering if some of our Missing would be turning up here."
"The other ship in Harbor is the Swan. She was on the list of missing ships from the Sundering," Martin says, looking at Lucas significantly.
"I'd be interested in learning the route she took," says Lucas slowly. "Let's hope they've a better shadow map than, 'Well, we ran into the most enormous storm and then woke up and found ourselves here.' We're going to be looking for good trade routes soon."
Martin nods.
As they walk into the town, Lucas makes a point of talking to the new Xanadians. He uses his considerable powers of charm to talk about their lives, hopes, plans in this new world. His ready interest and sympathy should win him friends, as in the city in Amber. His manner seems unhurried, but he covers a good deal of ground, and he asks a great man questions.
He's interested more in issues of civil engineering and infrastructure rather than architecture - which might seem unexpected to those who see Lucas as primarily interested in surface things. However, the creator of fashion knows that appearance is nothing if seams are badlt set, or one's high collar wilts through lack of starch halfway through the ball.
At this point there's not a lot of architecture or civil engineering. Most of the "buildings" are tents and makeshift stalls, although there are some partially constructed wooden buildings and the beginnings of a street layout.
Therefore he's interested to learn who is looking after such municipal matters as drains and sewers, what power systems and sources they are able to deploy (i.e. is electricity going to be the reseve of the Castle?), whether there is a town planning system in place that will allow zoning, or whether people are just building higgledy piggledy. If there are civil engineers and town planners around, he'll happily talk to them.
Drains and sewers are barely on the agenda. There is no planning yet, although some of the citizens expect the King to take that up in court tomorrow. While there are no official town planners, Lucas encounters a few people who seem to have Ideas, whom he suspects will be movers and shakers in the city's future.
Lucas unobtrusively notes their names. This might be in a notebook - however, he is equally likely just to commit them to memory.
Martin introduces Lucas to Bulwark, a stout older fellow who seems to have the job, if not the formal office, of mayor. While Lucas is chatting with him and some of the other local notables, Martin wanders off to take a look at the supply ship.
If the opportunity offers, [Lucas will] look out a site where he might site his own townhouse.
"The better end of town," he observes to Martin, looking over the howling wilderness. "At least, it will be once I stake my claim - as I believe the expression has it."
And, being Lucas, he will also be interested in checking out the incipient inns, cafes and brothels.
"Not that I think Silken will wish to take up residence in any such hostelry," he observes to Martin. "Clearly, there are fortunes to be made for any one with an entrepreneurial spirit and half a brain. And Silken has far more than that."
"The place is a little raw for the ladies yet," Martin agrees. "I think a midpoint shadow would be a good place for them to take up residence in the meantime."
"I'll leave the choice to Silken," says Lucas. "My belief is that she'll be making her way here on her feet rather than on her back. And she might want the advantage an early start can give her. And Madame Golightly will certainly see the advantages of heading here with a small stable of her more entrepreneurial girls. D'you have any idea when your father is planning on starting the evacuation?
"Did you find anything out about the ship?"
"Yes," Martin says, "but keep it to yourself, please. It's from where Benedict was living when I stayed with him as a boy. They were lost, like the Swan. Keep that to yourself, please: Lilly's family is from there and I don't want the news to come to her until afterwards."
"You may trust my discretion," says Lucas. "Do they have any news of Benedict?"
Martin shakes his head. "None more recent than the Swan has of Amber. I'm beginning to worry about Ben. With Lilly about to do what she's about to do, you'd think he'd want to be there. But I tried him this afternoon, before you arrived, and got nothing. Either he's not answering or he can't."
Lucas nods thoughtfully, but does not speculate aloud.
Lucas and Martin do a little more exploring, and when they have looked the town over to their satisfaction, Martin trumps his father for a lift back to the castle.
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XXXVII: A Tour of the Castle | Index | XXXIX: Patternwalk in Xanadu
