After Miho and Obi have departed, Flora regards Diomedes thoughtfully. "You're playing your cards awfully close to your chest," she says softly. There's a quality to the way that she says it that sounds complimentary.

"Not that I have many, Aunt Flora." Diomedes replies in a murmur.

"It's just you and I, and I'm in no position to blackmail anyone. This has just gone too far for my taste." She sighs and gives him a wounded look beneath long eyelashes. "I know we barely know each other and you have no reason to trust me, Diomedes. I accept that. But.. where do you stand in all of this?" She watches him, by all appearances sincerely interested in what he'll say.

"A wise person once told me that none of us are exactly who he or she appears." Diomedes begins. He stops, rises, refills his glass and offers a refill to Aunt Flora before sitting down and facing his Aunt and continuing.

She murmurs a soft no thank you, watching him as he sits down before her.

"Not Miho, quiet, demure, and absolutely deadly with her sword. Not Drake, who is much more than just an adventurer. Not Obi, who understands the Myth behind who and what he is. Not Uncle Eric, and not you, Aunt Flora."

Flora smiles but without much joy, Diomedes has spoken a truth that can not be challenged.

"And of course." Diomedes continues. "Certainly not me. I'm the only acknowledged sorcerer of my generation, and you don't normally find me locked up in a tower in Castle Amber studying, do you?" Diomedes asks rhetorically, with a smile.

"So forgive me if I don't quite believe that anything we say will remain here, or at least a portion of it won't go to someone else. It might not be even Eric even if he's the likely candidate of the moment. "But that doesn't change the facts on the ground. Secrets and hidden information are often useful not when they are held forever in a death grip." Diomedes takes a sip. "but when they are expended and used, to gain more, to gain other information, to gain power, to gain alliances."

His half-aunt furrows her brow, listening quite intently. "That's true," she agrees.

"Things that my dear cousin Rosalind knows intimately." Diomedes adds reflectively. "And now, of course, to come to the question that you asked. Where do I stand in all this?"

"We're in a strange game of blindfold chess with an unknown number of players. I don't think that any of the players knows just how many there are." Diomedes says. "And so, when I say that I think I stand in the middle, between people who want various things revolving around Amber, for their various reasons, be it my Uncle Bleys, or Uncle Eric, to just name two, I am incorrect, since without knowing all the factions, I don't truly know where I am standing."

"Do you follow me so far, Aunt Flora?" Diomedes asks earnestly.

For the first since Miho so skillfully dissected the 'facts on the ground', Florimel gets some of her old spark in her eye. She looks Diomedes up and down in candid new appraisal. "If you weren't chained to arcane studies, then you should have visited me prior to this," she says in a low voice. "I shouldn't have spoken so sharply to you," she says then, abruptly, decisively. "You are a gentleman."

Diomedes gives a slight nod of his head at her comment about visiting her sooner.

"Visiting my relatives is something that I have not cultivated as much as I might, or should." he concedes.

"If I'm not being too demanding, may I change my mind? Would you pour me another?" she asks holding out her glass to him.

"Certainly, Aunt Flora." Diomedes says with a trace of a smile, rising from the chair and grasping the glass and walking over to the bar set once again, angling his head so that he can listen to her.

"I think I do follow you," she continues as he rises to get her another drink. "Why bother to even entertain such a question or rush to declare an allegiance when not every opportunity has presented itself." Whether that is a statement or a question is difficult for him to discern.

Diomedes offers a smile as he finishes pouring the drink and begins to ferry it back toward the seating arrangement.

She looks up at him with big blue eyes once he returns, and then very gracefully moves slightly down one end of the couch.. leaving more room for someone else to sit down next to her.

Diomedes only hesitates a moment, a hesitation covered by a turning of his body to retrieve his own glass. He hands the fresh glass of Irish Mist to Florimel, and takes his still partially glass to sit down on the portion of the couch proffered by Florimel.

"You do follow me thus far, Aunt Florimel." Diomedes says, taking a sip of the remainder of his drink while he regards her blue eyes with his green ones, and giving the initiative to her.

She watches him over the rim of her glass as she joins him in a small sip of her own. Lowering it, she brushes a bit of her pale gold hair from her face and discreetly glances at the library door, worried perhaps that someone will be standing there.

A moment passes, and she looks down at her hands cradling that glass of Irish Mist, and soft, smooth, and supple are those delicate hands. A ladies face might conceal her age but the wrinkles on the hands won't lie; with a few very special exceptions.

"You're very fond of your cousin, I can tell," she says ever so softly.

A trace of color comes to Diomedes' face at this comment from Flora.

"I.. I can appreciate how she must feel about me, and the way

everything appears." Flora hesitates. "She doesn't understand though, what its like to be a woman in this family when you don't have a man like her father, honest, strong, and loyal, extending his protection no matter what may come."

"I never hurt Corwin, I only just left him be. Compared to what the others-"

"Eric has always promised to protect me," she says tentatively, and then plainly pauses to see what sort of reaction that Diomedes is going to give her to that.

Diomedes pauses a moment, regarding his glass before regarding Flora. His expression is mild as he responds.

"There are many ways to be a woman in this family, just like there are many ways to be a man." Diomedes says with a nod. "However, in a noble family, our own no exception, there are traditional methods for the fairer gender to survive and thrive."

He takes a sip of his drink. "I somehow could never see you in battle armor, Aunt Flora." Diomedes says with a smile. "And politics and influence, wielded while under the aegis of a protector, be a husband, or in your case, Uncle Eric, are as formidable as any tricks of mine, if not more so."

For effect, at this point, hovering a finger above the rim of his glass, still half full, Diomedes summons a quantum,a bare minimum of his power, just enough to create a brief, miniature whirlpool in his drink. He smiles, and then finishes the drink as soon as the whirlpool settles back to calm.

She watches his trick somewhat askance before lifting her eyes to his, searching for something. "I don't feel particularly formidable at the moment," she replies softly.

"I feel set up to take the fall," Flora says bleakly. "And here I was debating on whether I should tell you that if someone would help me navigate my way out of this-" She catches herself in mid sentence.

Diomedes cocks his head as Flora begins to reveal something.

"At least you know how to spare a lady's feelings," she says in a very dry tone. "Playing yourself down like that. Another might have laughed, or.. or worse."

Diomedes makes a sigh and a nod at the apparently lost opportunity.

Flora gets to her feet quickly, almost pulling away from him, and walking briskly to the large windowed wall to stare out over her estate.

Diomedes watches as Flora moves away, and he half moves to immediately follow her. Instead, as she stands there to regard her estate. Diomedes finally does rise from the couch. He walks around the couch and stands against it, regarding his hostess as she regards her domain.

Then a wolfhound can be seen pacing in the hallway outside the library, heralding someone coming or going. Diomedes can tell that Flora takes it as a signal, whether the animal is actually intelligent enough to be doing it on purpose. Eric then abruptly leans his head in the doorway. "I had your woman get dinner started," he says to Flora. She lifts her head and nods. "Good," she says with a quick smile. Eric returns it with one of his own. "I'll get the other two," he says with a gesture in the direction down the hall. Its hard telling for sure, but Diomedes is left wondering if Eric had been able to catch anything at all of his sister's mood.

Diomedes blinks at his apparent invisibility to Eric, but gives a nod as he departs the room.

Eric will give him a short nod in reply, not really ignoring Diomedes apparently, but merely being brisk.

"We all want to be able to follow someone," she says turning to look again to Diomedes.

Diomedes gives a deeper bow at this. "It's very true, Aunt. Everyone follows someone, or something. Even those rare people who are true leaders have something within themselves that they follow. And Individualists follow their own passions or interests."

"Uncle Eric is a leader." Diomedes says. "There are far worse choices in our family. I only hope that he fully appreciates." Diomedes smiles. "the loyalty that you give him. You do not deserve to be ill-used."

Flora stares at him for a moment, and then appears to make a decision. "You asked if I followed you, and I said that I did. What I was really saying was that I 'could' follow you." She shakes her head slightly. "I was trying to be coy and you saw right through it."

Diomedes smiles just slightly, neither to confirm nor deny, and it is not a harsh smile, either.

"I admit it, I can't read you very well, Diomedes" she says simply. "But Dina can be very dangerous if Eric won't keep his word to me. I've heard she is as good as Bleys with a sword. And... Corwin.. you never knew him. He could be the most charming and wonderful man you ever met, and at the same time, he is the most dangerous out of all of us."

Diomedes inclines his head in obvious agreement with Flora.

"I'm concerned, Diomedes, that my loyalty to Eric in this matter can only go so far," she lowers her voice. "You understand the painful position that I'm in through no fault of my own. I think my residence in this Shadow is coming to an end. If you and your Father or your Uncle were to offer me a respite from my duties here, you would find that I bring more than just myself. No doubt you know of my reputation in the Golden Circle, not as colorful as Bleys or as savvy as Eric, but good enough. And if this business with Corwin and Dina should turn unpleasant, then you have a power that no blade can parry. What I've done here with Eric, I've done for the best, but now I feel my duty to Corwin is done. I know this is neither the time nor the place to have this conversation in any depth, but perhaps at some not too terribly distant future, we can continue this discussion at our leisure?"

"The Matter of my father first requires me to determine if he is in a position to make such an offer." Diomedes says, switching tactics and now looking a little nervous and concerned. "I fear that he might be bound, or in some sort of danger, by his own experiments or actions, or without."

"However." Diomedes continues. "Were my suspicions to be unfounded and baseless, and my father in a position to offer an Aegis to someone like you, dear Aunt, then perhaps this discussion should be continued, and soon."

"That's all I'm asking that you consider," she says seriously. "Not that I don't still think very highly of your uncle, I wouldn't have him here otherwise. Just that you convey that my work here has come to a conclusion, that's all I ask. That and your personal discretion, of course."

Diomedes inclines his head in respect to Flora.

"Now, though, I think a wonderful meal from the table of my hostess is in order." Diomedes says with a smile.

For the first time in a while, Flora smiles, and it lights up the entire room. "Eric's not terribly imaginative in regards to arranging a menu. Steak and beer I would imagine."

Diomedes slightly rolls his eyes, good naturedly.

Her smile is a little more nervous for an instant, but it smooths out very quickly. "I'm going to excuse myself for a moment, freshen up.. make sure that the meat at least appears to have been cooked."

Diomedes nods in agreement.

"I'll see you downstairs in the dining room," she adds softly, after giving Diomedes directions on where he might wash up, if he cares. She excuses herself then.

Diomedes does take the instructions, and heads to the washroom to which Flora directs him. He looks around at the polished tile, the spotless bathroom and cleans himself up. Opening a cabinet at random, he pulls out a small vial of eau de toilette, opens it, and sniffs it. An aromatic vanilla scent, but masculine.

"I'm sure Aunt Flora's gentleman caller won't mind." Diomedes says to himself, anointing himself with the vanilla scent before exiting the bathroom, and, straightened up, heads toward the staircase.

At some point prior to heading downstairs, the short, dark complexioned maid approaches Diomedes. "Excuse me, yes?" she says trying to catch his attention.

Diomedes stops his forward motion and turns to face the dark complexioned maid. He smiles, not least because she reminds him of the denizens of the city of Chimara back home in Epirus. "Yes?" he asks.

She smiles briefly, and bobs her head. Her accent is not thick, but Diomedes can tell she is speaking to him in a language that is not her native one- ironic since he might speak in her other as well.

She slips her hand into a pocket of her maid's uniform and steps next to him to show what she's written there. "The tele-phone," she gestures out across the room. "There was a call. When you speaking to Mrs. Flaumel? So I take the message." She looks up at him with her brown eyes, searching his face for understanding. She's not really an attractive woman, but there is a quality of innocence about her Diomedes can sense. She really doesn't know her employer like he does, little as that is notwithstanding.

"Is this you?" she says underscoring the name she's written on a slip of lined notepad paper. It says, 'Doctor Diollamas'. "She give me this number for you," she says excitedly. "She say they had this as the forwarding number?" Carmella looks puzzled, as if only realizing how strange that must be, since she herself was not aware that Diomedes was even in the house. A series of numbers separated by dashes is next to the name.

"Close enough. "It was a woman who gave you this number?" Diomedes asks, taking the note and looking at the telephone number.

"Yes," she says helpfully, "it was a lady."

Aunt Fiona? Grandmere? Someone else entirely? Diomedes thinks as he looks at the number on the note.

After a few moments,he looks back at the maid and cocks his head.

"Did the caller give you her name?"

Carmella pauses to think for a second. "I think she say her name was.. Kathy." She hesitates again, and then nods more confidently. "Yes, her name was Kathy. She could only speak to you." Kathy, that sounds like a particular ordinary name in this Shadow.

"Kathy." Diomedes repeats the name, thoughtfully.

"I have to serve the dinner," she says gesturing back out the library the direction of the hallway where the stairway down is.

"Please tell the mistress of the House and her guests that I am still washing up, and will join dinner shortly." Diomedes says to Carmella. "My reputation for such things should explain matters fully to them."

Then Diomedes has a choice. Right now Eric and Flora might be alone, and Diomedes can join them. Dinner is just about ready. On the other hand, the Manor is a big house, and a telephone shouldn't be difficult to locate.

"In for an Obol, in for a Talent." Diomedes murmurs to himself after Carmella leaves. He turns and goes to hunt for a phone, to dial "Kathy."

Diomedes starts down the hallway, quietly checking doorknobs. Most are unlocked, and opening one door and taking a quick peek, he finds an unused bedroom with a telephone on the nightstand.

Spying a great beast of a dog patrolling the hallway heading right for him with a determined gait, Diomedes enters and closes the door before the wolfhound comes within reach. There is one scratch at the door, and then silence.

Sitting on the bedside, he lifts the receiver, hears the dial tone, and places his call. After two rings, a chipper and pleasant sounding woman answers. "Physicians Answering Service, this is Kathy. May I have your name Doctor?"

"Dr. Diollamas," the son of Brand replies, carefully pronouncing the alternate version of his name.

"Oh!" Kathy exclaims, "Yes, that was me that called you Doctor." She pauses. "I am so sorry for disturbing you while you're on vacation." She sounds genuinely apologetic, and her voice suggests that respect and authority that a Medical Doctor must possess in this Shadow. "We have Dr. Szabo down for covering all your patients right now with instructions not to call you except in absolute emergencies."

Diomedes can almost hear her biting her lip.

"It's all right, please continue." Diomedes offers, bridging the gap.

"I don't know if this is one.. but I was really- uncertain," she continues hesitantly, clearly feeling like she's on shaky ground. "There was a gentleman who called looking to get your number, and of course we couldn't provide it to him.. our policy and all. He asked if we could pass on a message, and I told him that we really had no way of contacting you in except in a dire emergency. That's when he said it was one-"

"A family emergency."

"A Family Emergency." Diomedes very deliberately responds with obvious capitalization in his tones. He seems to consider this for a few moments and then sighs. "Well, that you've gone to all the trouble of reaching me here, and your dedication and customer service skills, Kathy, is something I will have to mention to your manager, you might as well pass on the message to me."

"Who sent it, and what did they say?" Diomedes prompts.

Kathy is not on pins and needles, but he can still hear a soft sigh of relief at his praise.

"Oh, you're welcome Doctor," she says warmly. "Now let's see here.. He told us he was your Uncle." There's a hesitation before Kathy says the name rather incredulously. "..Uncle Randal?"

"Randal." Diomedes says doubtfully at first but then a trace of recognition enters his voice at the end of the second syllable.

"And this is what was really strange," she continues. "We asked him for a number for you to call him back at, of course, and he told us that none of them would work! That you would have to call him, but that it would be okay because you would have the number where he could be reached. Now I tried to insist that he at least give me the number he was calling from, but he wouldn't. Even when I said I wouldn't pass the message if he didn't."

"Oh, Uncle Randal." Diomedes says again, this time in a slightly chiding voice, as if scolding, from afar, an eccentric relative.

Her voice softens. "He got really mad when we told him that. Its our policy, you know, to weed out the frivolous calls- but.. well.. I didn't want to run any risk that this might be legitimate. I hope that's alright? He told us that he didn't want to talk to anybody else in your family."

"Uncle Randal can be like that. He's never used the PAS before, but I can't say that I am entirely surprised. I think I know which number to reach him at. Or at least a choice of numbers."

"Thank you again, Kathy." Diomedes continues. " Now, if you will put me through to your supervisor, Kathy, I think we can conclude our business for the day." Diomedes says, in a voice clearly designed to import that Diomedes' words to her supervisor are not to be dreaded.

"Yes, Doctor," she says sunnily.

Assuming that Kathy does so, and puts him through to her supervisor, Diomedes will provide praise and support for Kathy's customer service to him as a physician and how much Diomedes appreciated her devotion to her job.

Kathy's supervisor comes on, and receives her subordinates praise and promises to make a note of it on her work evaluation. 'Shows good discretionary judgment'. Then she wishes Doctor Diollamas a continued good rest of his vacation.

After that, Diomedes will hang up, and head down to dinner.