After dinner and fencing, I racked the rest of my spells, so I'm 
prepared for whatever other demons end up in the infirmary (in theory, 
but it's nice to dream, isn't it?)  I've got a vicious "boil aqueous 
humor" that will explode eyeballs...  so I was a little bored with what 
was in my grimoire.  I went up after the casting to check on Jubal's 
mom-- no change.  I wondered briefly if she would respond to my Flower 
Open spell I use in the lab from time to time, but I deemed it best not 
to mess with Uncle Gerard's patient.  Then I trumped Ulysses and went to 
Kalyn's party for a couple hours, got drunk, witnessed Kalyn's face 
getting smashed in (Cameron has that look Calamus used to get when he'd 
been up to something) by Gerard for calling him stupid...  It was an 
interesting evening, but I cut it short.  Partying just didn't seem very 
right.  I think I'm a bit depressed lately.
	
	I'd not been in bed long when I heard Sandr screaming.  I got up, 
found Archimedes sitting on Sandr, preventing another exodus of the boy, 
which I thought was prudent.  Sandr had smoked some peyote Archimedes 
gave him (peyote.... tsk, tsk) and had hallucinated well and truly.  Ho 
hum.  The boy is elegantly stupid sometimes...  Archimedes conjured an 
antidote.  We chatted.  I was accused of being drunk.  I would prefer to 
think that I just had a grand buzz...  I was nowhere NEAR smashed.  
Anyhow, I made it back to bed after I made sure Sandr had someplace to 
sleep (Jubal stepped in, thank god; Sandr in my room wouldn't have been 
cool, and Flora would have called it a huge breach of etiquette, I'm sure).
	
	Woke up, refreshed my spells in the garden and did a little busy 
work there.  At breakfast, someone questioned why I fence so much-- I 
explained that I'd been given a sword at an early age and been told to 
prepare for war, and hadn't gotten out of the habit of preparation.  
That's part of it, of course.  What I didn't want to say was what I 
feel.  And what I feel is-- am I the best yet?  No?  Well, I guess I'll 
keep practicing, then.  But I won't say that to any of them.  My first 
day in Amber, I remember, I wanted to wear my sword to dinner, and Uncle 
Bleys told me it was completely unneccessary because *he* was there and 
would protect me.  Which was annoying.  Sure, any of the elders *can* 
protect me, but how do I know that they will?  So, it goes.  I keep 
practicing.  And some day I'll be able to take someone. 	
	
	Cameron agreed to practice with me, and Archimedes volunteered to 
watch.  We headed to the garden together, I'm still not sure how that 
happened...  Cameron presented me with a hard circle of leather and asked 
me what I thought of it.  No sorcery attached.  Though when I cut it in 
half with Sequence, it turned into a knife of Caine's type.  Archimedes 
and I deemed it a suitable time to head to my lab and look things over 
there.  Archimedes also decided to lecture me about my hastiness in 
cutting the circle in half.  He was right, but I hate being told things 
like that.  It does nothing for my self esteem.  Nevertheless, he admired 
my lab set up, and then asked how I made the microscope work.  I showed 
him the spell I use for continuous light source, and how to change lenses 
for increased or decreased magnification, which he seemed to find 
primitive-- which it is, but it's Amber after all!  Archimedes suggested 
we look into alternatives for electricity in Amber, which sounds like a 
good idea, in theory, but I'll probably be Archimedes' age before I get 
anywhere with it, with or without his help.  Whatever.  Fencing soon.  
That, at least, I understand.