Jade looks sad her eyes slightly wet.

"I suppose there are some things I would get mad about, like theft of my parasol, or if someone tried to kill me. We do like to give people a chance to make up for things in Rebma. We don't have stocks or anything like that."

Jon rests a hand on Jade's shoulder to offer comfort. "My home is similar, especially in the Seelie and Unseelie Courts to Tanus. The Severed Court, where my mother and father made our home, is closer to the style of Amber from what I've seen of Amber's Justice."

Jon nods to Laurence "While we might not agree with their customs, Laws and Justice, we have to remember that we are guest and must accept things that we would not if they occurred in our home." he steps back so he can see everyone "Unfortunately, that is the very core of Diplomacy, often needing to compromise on principles to achieve a better result for all.  Otherwise, you must go to war and subjugate those who do not see as you do.  And I think we've all seen that War seldom brings long lasting stability and prosperity to all."

"True, it is their world and we are guests. Speaking of war though we should watch out for one another. This may be a trip to a new and unique culture but to those Graymen we are still victims. What if we run across them? We should be able to defend ourselves even with local customs and laws correct ?" She looks to Laurence.

Ariadne smiled at Jon wryly.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves.  No need to get too stressed out before anything happens.  Let's take things slow and work as we go."
But Jade's words made her frown and almost scowl.
"I can appreciate local customs to behave, but if one of those grey jackholes comes at me, anywhere, he'll be grey cutlets, local laws be damned.  I'm good at sneaking out of town, if need be.  I can do it again.  I'm not risking my life, or yours, so some local dignitary feels more in control of his town."

Jon nods in agreement with Ari, "I agree with you.  We will not give the Greymen any quarter, regardless of local customs or laws."

He smiles and turns to Jade, "Ari is also right, we can't worry too much now about something that may or may not happen.  For now, let's get ready and we can try to Shadow Walk together to get to Tanus."

"I wouldn't think that that would be any problem. As part of the Golden Circle, the broadest strokes of the Black Road War are no secret to Tanus, and I think that the Gray Men would have been mentioned-- after all, for a short time, it was believed that one of them killed Prince Caine, though later it was understood that he'd faked that himself. However, I also feel certain that Prince Julian would not have suggested that you visit Tanus if he thought that the Gray Men might be there. The Black Road, as far as anyone has ever heard, did not touch Tanus."

"Well that is good. I am glad they know of the peril we are under and that we will defend ourselves if need be. Thank you for all your help, Laurence." She smiled kindly at the librarian.

She looked to her cousins then.

Ariadne nodded to the Librarian, happy for the information.  She'd always had a great respect for librarians.  The librarian at her Catholic school in Boston had been very cool, an older nun that, in her own way, was a bit rebellious and supportive of young Ari's questions and attitude.
And the researchers on her various movies, especially the different period pieces, were almost invaluable, though many times they ended up slowing down production.  The wait was almost always worth it, though.

"Okay, Jade, when should we head out?"

"Let's check with Odile, usually I can find her by my rooms."

"Thank you Laurence. Your insights are invaluable. They have helped me many times since I've arrived."

Jon nods to Ari, Jade and Janessa, "Let's finalize our traveling gear and meet up out by the stables."

Jade nods to Jon, "Sounds good to me. See you there Jon. We shant be long."

Ariadne went to pack and joined the others.  She brought a small variety of clothes, both casual and fancy. And many of her Earth possessions,  and most of her weapons, but left her mother's axe behind this time.

Odile is spotted running full-tilt down a hallway. She comes to a hurried halt when she sees that Jade seems to be looking for her, and runs over and salutes (adorably. Saluting seems to be her new thing, or at least it is today). "Everything's just about ready! Any last-minute changes or anything?"

"No everything is fine. Thank you so much for arranging everything."
Jade smiled happily.

"We just want to have a good outing and know that it will be so with your help."

She salutes, smiling. "Excellent! Report to the stables when you're all ready!"

Heads off to the stables with a big smile thinking about Odile.

"She is such a great person."

As Jon leaves Jade and Ari to investigate Hless, he heads towards the throne room to start looking for Random.
He stops and nods at the Guards "Is the King in and available for a quick audience?" he asks.

"He's in his personal chambers, your grace, as far as I know. He likes to attend to inter-Shadow paperwork around this time of day... weekdays like this, anyway."

Jon nods "Thank you. Sir. Stay Safe!" and turns to head to Random's quarters.

When Jon arrives and knocks, a call from within bids him enter. "Ah, Jon. What do you need?" asks Random, looking up from some paperwork.

Jon enters and gives a partial bow to the King, "Your Majesty, thank you for time.  I want to see if it is OK to delay our trip to Weirmonken a short time.  Princess Jade has found a refugee from a different shadow while we were in Tanus and would like to return him to his home shadow before we head to Weirmonken."

"What? Oh, no, absolutely. I agree that Weirmonken should be investigated sooner or later, but I certainly don't want any of you going there until you feel absolutely ready for it. ...Anything I should know about the refugee...?"

Jon nods "Thank you." smiles "The refugee is basically a horned rabbit named Hless. He apparently was transported to Tanus via storm of some type, then captured and sold repeatedly by an unscrupulous merchant. He seems to be telepathic."

"What?! That's... unusual. I mean of course there are all kinds of sentient folk in the Shadows... but they're usually human-looking close to Amber, or at least humanoid. I wonder if there's another, humanoid species that lives in the same Shadow. ...I'd like to hear the story of Hless sometime... but I don't want to detain you now. So, if there's nothing else...?"

Jon shakes his head, "No nothing else that I'm aware of." and smiles "Thank you Your Majesty."