Tahirah tilts her head slightly.  "Rarely does anyone know," she confirms.  "It is doubtful even they truly know one another.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts."  She steps through the doorway, and then aside a bit to let him take the lead again.

Back now in a more heavily populated area of the castle, Kallum suddenly calls out to a man who steps out of a door ahead of them, "Davik!"  The man, dressed in some sort of uniform, but almost certainly not a military one, and looking as if he is aging badly, turns to squint suspiciously at the source of the call.  His expression lightens when he sees who had spoken.

"Kallum.  What brings you into this part of the castle?"

Kallum explains who Tahirah is, and that she needs to speak to a member of the family, "Somebody with a bit authority, mind, not one of those snot-nosed youngsters.  There's  a bottle of brandy in it for you if you can arrange it."

Davik takes over leading Tahirah, while Kallum returns to his duties elsewhere in the castle.  Over the next half hour Tahirah is passed on to two more people, a man and a woman, each with increased level of importance reflected in the quality of their clothing.  And finally she is ushered into a small but comfortable room, where she is instructed to wait.  The woman leaves, and Tahirah is alone...

For about five minutes.  The door opens, and one of the princesses of Amber that Tahirah had seen earlier enters.  Before she closes the door behind her Tahirah gets a brief glimpse of armed men taking up positions outside.  The woman, who wears a blue-green dress, and has dark red hair, pulls up a chair and sits opposite the seer.

"I believe we saw each other earlier, at least briefly.  My name is Florimel.  You are called Tahirah?  Why did you want to see me?"

Tahirah is quiet for perhaps a longer moment than is proper when taking up royalty's time.  Finally she says, "Tahirah, yes; thank you for meeting with me, Florimel.  I have been working with James against the Archons that plague us all, but while they battle them...out there," she gestures broadly, "That is not what I am suited to.  I was sent back here," technically, "To better apply my strengths, which lie more in advice and preparations.  Wandering the castle on my own, however, seems a poor aid to offer; I hope to put myself in service someplace more productive, as I believe James intended."

Or would have intended.  If James, per se, had actually said anything about it at all.

"I see." Florimel leans back in her chair, raising a finger to tap at her lower lip as she studies Tahirah for a little while.  Finally she speaks again, "That is a dangerous offer to make, here in Amber.  There are some among my siblings who would see it as an opportunity to use you to destruction."

"Since James trusts you though, and many of us trust James, I believe I have a task for you that would be a more productive use of your time."

"Random believes that there is a spy in the castle... "  The princess of Amber chuckles, "Ah... let me rephrase that - Random believes that there are more than the usual number of spies in the castle.  He has, of late, been having problems with certain treaty negotiations - information he has been holding in reserve to apply as a little extra leverage in those negotiations has been finding its way into the wrong hands."

"Several nearby kingdoms have formed an alliance, which continues to add member states, and Random believes that a spy is providing that alliance with information which is undermining his own efforts at diplomacy."

"Is it possible that you have talents which might lend themselves to discovering this spy or spies?"

Florimel waits as Tahirah sits in silent thought.

Finally she clears her throat, and glances at her wrist, as if expecting to see something there.  Frowning, she rubs at her bare wrist for a moment, and then makes an obvious effort to stop, "Do you need time to consider?  Or were you thinking of doing something else to help us?"

"I am sorry," Tahirah says, flushing slightly within the safe recesses of her hood.  Ferenc had, quite simply, never rushed her.  "This is perhaps one reason I am ill suited to battling at the edges of the war - I do not like to rush ahead.  But yes, I feel that your suggestion may be precisely what I can offer."  She pauses a moment, looking at Florimel thoughtfully.  "Your talent lies in people, doesn't it?" she asks, suddenly, not as anything she'd heard, but as something she's realized.  "Have you any recommendations on... where to begin?"

"My talent, as you name it, is more like a series of lucky guesses.  But yes, those guesses do tend to be about people." Florimel smiles, before rising and starting to pace, "Unfortunately I believe I may be too close to this to see it clearly."

"My suggestion for where to start would be in the Ambassadorial Quarters.  That would be the obvious place for a spy to hide, among the foreign diplomats here to court our favour.  And being obvious it's probably the least likely.  However, I can arrange a suite for you there, and after a little while our spy will, hopefully, grow accustomed to seeing you there and assume you are just another diplomat."

She stops pacing and turns to face Tahirah again, "This will also explain why you're having occasional meetings with myself and Random."

"Is there anything you think you will need?"

Tahirah considers that a little bit, and then nods.  "As you say, then; if the spy is not there, perhaps it will give me the opportunity to interact with others, where they may be instead.  I would need..." she gestures briefly, "A reason to be."

"I come from Charyk, which is destroyed, but our people were moved to another - if there is no ambassador from them yet, perhaps I might serve as one in actuality," she proposes, or perhaps more accurately, requests.

"Nobody else has requested the position yet, or presented credentials better than your own, so I can certainly make sure you are granted full privileges as the official ambassador for Charyk." Florimel replies, with a smile, "Which, of course, fits in nicely with our plan to make you appear to be exactly that.  Excellent."

"Just one moment."

The princess of Amber moves to the door and opens it to speak quietly to one of the guards that Tahirah can see still waiting outside.  The man nods, "Yes, Highness." and walks away just before Florimel closes the door and turns to face Tahirah again, "I've sent word that you need a suite preparing."

"Do you have any luggage that needs carrying to your chambers?  Or any other requirements?  I assume you don't have any staff of your own, Ambassador... at least none that are here with you... shall I arrange for a secretary, and perhaps some men to stand guard at your door?"

"I do not," Tahirah acknowledges, "But I generally need little."  She considers the offer of a secretary, or even guards, and after a moment, nods.  "Yes," she says.  "It will be good if you have someone of your own watching over, also."

She's not adding to the order - she appears to be assuming that if the Princess is arranging a secretary and guards for her, then at least one of them will be a spy of her own.

"I'll see that you have everything you need." Florimel confirms, "In the meantime, if you would wait here, I'll arrange to have some refreshments fetched for you, and somebody will be along presently to take you to your suite."

"For now I have other matters I must attend to.  I hope to speak to you again, soon, Tahirah.  Good luck with your investigation."

And then she leaves...

A few minutes later, a servant arrives with a tray bearing a pot of tea and some sandwiches.  The seer is left alone again, though at least she now has a little food and drink.

Some time after that, another servant appears, ready to guide Tahirah to her new quarters.

Another maze of corridors and she finds herself being led towards a door where two men stand guard.  The one on the left is Kallum, the other one she has not seen before.

Tahirah is shown into her rooms, which are of more than acceptable quality.  She has hardly had time to acquaint herself with the layout of the suite before there is a polite tapping at the door...

Tahirah rather enjoys the tea and sandwiches, and wonders briefly if the Princess actually knew she'd be most comfortable eating while left alone.  In any event, the tray is left neat when she's done, the teapot and cup set balanced to ease the journey of whoever takes it back.

She nods to Kallum, and steps into the room, letting the door close behind her.  Then she pauses a moment, listening.    So it's a few moments before she starts looking around, and she is therefor a good deal closer to the door than she might have been when someone knocks.

She turns to face it, stepping softly, looking quite as if she had simply been standing there at the right time.  As she almost had been.  Then she calls out, "Welcome."

After a brief moment the door is opened to reveal an ageing woman, dressed all in black, who favours Tahirah with what could barely be described as a curtsey.

"Good day, Excellency.  I am Elisabeth Niyall." The accent is refined, though the tone is somewhat brusque, as if the woman is more used to scolding people than greeting them.

She moves into the room, and it becomes apparent that any inadequacy in her curtsey may have been due to infirmity rather than insolence.  Kallum and his partner (possibly called Jack, judging by a stray remark that Tahirah had overheard) are still on duty outside.

Elisabeth speaks again, "I have been assigned to assist you with your duties as ambassador for Charyk, Excellency.  Is there anything I can help you with today?"

Tahirah is, as she often is, quiet for a moment.  In part, perhaps, just waiting while the door is closed again, but the moment stretches a little bit further than that.  Then she reaches up and draws back her hood, actually pushing it all the way to fall back off of her head.

"Thank you," she says.  "Please, sit.  I will need help in two areas - first, of course, in functioning as an Ambassador.  I've never done it before, and I should hate for Charyk to suffer for my inexperience.  Secondly, to function as an Ambassador while at times being unavailable to do so, or pressing beyond the bounds of what may be... proper."

She walks around the table, drawing out a chair to sit opposite, even should Elisabeth have declined the chance to do so herself so far.  "Today, I think you can help most by teaching me.  I hope you have been here longer than I," she smiles.  "I need to know my way about the castle and the city, and the people with whom we will be dealing."

"Ah... I see, Excellency.  You have been sent here with no knowledge of the castle, or of the city." 

Elisabeth's face  makes it clear exactly what she thinks of people who would send an Ambassador to Court, without the faintest idea of what they should expect.  Only after Tahirah is seated does the Amberite woman sit.  "For the first part of your query, I would respectfully suggest that you go nowhere beyond the walls of the castle without a guard.  While not strictly a necessity - Amber is, after all, a civilised city - a guard will serve as a deterrent to some of the rougher elements which can occasionally be encountered near the harbour.  Foreign sailors, and their ilk."

The barest hint of amusement touches her lips, "Guards will also serve a secondary function.  They provide you with a person you can safely ask for directions, should you become lost in an unfamiliar part of the city."

"Regarding the castle, Excellency; if you go out of the door behind me and follow the corridor to the left, you will pass a number of suites housing the ambassadorial representatives of, I believe, seventeen different nations.  More are located on the floors above and below this one.  If you were to continue to the end of the corridor, you would encounter an iron door, with the arms of Amber painted upon it.  Here is the key to that door."  She slides the key across the table, "The door gives access to the staircase which leads down to the chambers where you can meet privately, and upon neutral ground, with members of the Royal Family, or with the Ambassadors of other nations."

Elisabeth's description of the important areas of the castle, and how to reach them, continues, with occasional diversions into the correct method of summoning servants, the best time of day to walk in each of the three gardens that Tahirah will have access to, and other sundry details.  The woman really does seem to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the castle and its occupants.

Finally her description draws to a close.  She pauses for a moment to draw breath, and gather her thoughts, then asks, "Was there anything in particular you needed to know about the people, Excellency?"

Tahirah listens intently.  As Elisabeth describes different places in the castle, she lays down a card at each one; although they are drawn seemingly at random, at the end, she has a sort of symbolic map of the castle before her, which she studies quietly.

Elisabeth's question is met with lifted eyes, and then a sudden, small laugh.  "Besides everything?" she asks.  She gathers her cards in a practiced swipe, squaring them quickly and then flicking three down onto the table.  "If you were a spy - a saboteur - who would you be?" she asks, softly.

"Somebody else." replies Elisabeth, with the barest of smiles, and even that looks as though it would crack her face.  "Sorry, Excellency, that was just my little joke."

The woman studies the cards, her expression a mix of curiosity and disapproval at the distraction, "I suspect that I would not be one of the servants or officials in the castle.  Yes, they... we... would have opportunities, and can move about without being questioned.  For many of the lower positions, their movements would likely go unnoticed.  The consequences if caught would be serious though.  A servant would be punished, possibly even banished from Amber.  Officials would probably be banished or executed.  Given a choice between a comfortable position here, with a good wage, and banishment or death... well the latter is much less appealing."

She shifts uncomfortably on the chair, "No offence intended, Excellency, but ambassadors, or their own diplomatic staff, would seem the most likely candidates.  If found to be spying, they are simply banished.  Which means they just go home.  Execution is unlikely, even in the more extreme cases, because executing a diplomat might spark a war, and Amber prefers to retain its diplomatic connections to other lands."

Tahirah nods a little at the joke, with a small motion of her hand, looking very much as though she had been expecting it. 

Her nod to the rest of it is more thoughtful, resting her fingers lightly over the cards she laid down.  "And among the Ambassadors," she asks, "If you were an outsider, seeking to turn one, is there one you might choose?  One whose people are already disposed against Amber, perhaps, or who has personal issues that might make them susceptible to influence?"

She lays another trio of cards as she speaks, their top corner touching the bottom left of her first set, all six cards laying upside-down on the table.

"There are a few who would fit that description, I think." the secretary replies, "Though I have to admit that some of them might simply be victims of my own judgmental nature."

"There is, for example, an Ambassador from the Courts.  Qiexz, I think his name is.  Now, I could say that he, or his staff, as emissaries of a recently-hostile nation, would be the most likely to be engaged in activities directed against Amber's best interests."

Elisabeth sighs, "But I'd also have to admit, if pressed, that some of that opinion might be personal bias, due to Qiexz having a tendency to dally with the chamber maids, and to not always treat them as well as he might."

"Personal opinions are not formed in a vacuum," Tahirah points out.  "Old hatreds are hard to set aside, but new alliances are often strongest.  On the far end of the line stand those most loyal - those who lived here first.  You have thoughts about them, also.  I would not suggest that one of their number might be so turned, but they would be greatly tempting targets for anyone willing to take such a gamble.  From an outsiders viewpoint, which of them would you think to be most... approachable?"

She awaits the answer, and as Elisabeta speaks, lays down three more cards, still faced down; the top one tucks just slightly under the bottom right of her first triad, the others similarly lapped, resting as a kind of counter to the second set.

Elisabeth looks a little uncomfortable at this turn of the conversation.  After a little thought, she replies carefully, "If you were to tell me that somebody who works here had been caught spying for an enemy of Amber, and if you were to ask me to guess who it was...  Well, my first thoughts would be concerning those servants who work in the ambassadorial quarters.  Maids, guards, manservants."  A brief pause, and then, "Me."

"After that, the troops.  Their uniforms clearly mark them as being employed here, making them obvious as choices.  And they are often sent out to patrol outside the castle, perhaps making it easier for one of them to conceal a packet or a letter for somebody."

She frowns, watching Tahirah lay out the cards, "However, the family treat the servants and troops well.  It would take a lot to turn one of them."

Tahirah meets Elisabeth's eyes, with a thoughtful nod, as she speaks.  At the very end, her eyes light up.  "Ah.  Thank you.  That is the Question."

With that, she takes the card farthest to her right, and lifts it up and across.  The entire array follows in a wave as she arcs it across and lays it face up on her left.

The cards are turned over, and Elisabeth's frown shifts, to become an an expression of confusion.  "I have never seen cards like those before, Excellency.  They are from your home?"

To Tahirah's eyes, there are patterns.  Patterns on the faces of the cards.  Patterns in the positions the individual cards occupy in their own triads.  Patterns in the way the cards of each triad relate to those in other triads.  Even a pattern in the way the triads relate to the grain of the tabletop (though this last one is probably less significant than the others).

To Tahirah's eyes, lines of energy connect the cards, and to her mind those lines are as clear as her own best handwriting.  They spell a word, and that word is the answer to all of her questions...

Tahirah nods absently.  "Each card bears a symbol to represent a simple concept.  Motion," she taps the one at the top of the central triangle, closest to Elisabeth, "Or confusion," she indicates another, on the left.  "Each triad then offers a more complicated meaning; most of them have names.  This, for example, is Confusion, Forest, and Darkness - Lost in the Wood.  It indicates someone has strayed from known paths, and perhaps is unsure where they are now, and certainly of where they are going.  In the Wood, it is easy to be Lost and not even realize.  Depending what is near it, it may hold hidden dangers, but truly, it can mean death by itself.  Here, though," she tilts her head a little, "It is followed by The Royal Road, which suggests travel, and comfort - a clear path.  And then Eternity...which really doesn't..."  She squints a little, trying to make sense of it all.

Then suddenly she sits back, almost jumping, eyes widening.  "Oh."

She takes a deep breath, blinking.  "Oh," she says, again.  "Oh, dear.  I see.  Lost, indeed, astray upon the high road, caught in the cycles of aeons...sometimes, the readings are subtle, full of inference and guesses.  Othertimes, they simply hit you over the head.  Thank you, Elisabeth.  You are exceptional."

"Me, Excellency?  I'm afraid I don't understand." Elisabeth seems extremely puzzled by Tahirah's comment.  To the extent where, should Tahirah ever lose the card for Confusion, she could simply replace it with a portrait of the secretary as she appears now.

"I have done nothing but answer your questions.  For most of them I have not even been able to provide precise answers.  Have you somehow found the person you are looking for?  If I was, somehow, of some assistance, then I am certainly glad I could help, though I have no idea how."