It was an uneventful wedding, but interesting, nonetheless.  If
Sky was upset at Eve's departure, or even noticed she was gone, she hid it
remarkably well.  I met yet another cousin, this one named Atreus.  Bleys'
boy.  He has none of his father's charm, however, and needs to learn some
manners.  I expected Bleys to have taught his children better.  At least
Atreus had the good sense to apologize.  Sky certainly does not seem to
lack for men who are interested in her.

	Let us see, what else.  Merlin dances well, but I would expect
nothing less from someone raised in the Courts.  He mentioned that he was
dead, difficult as that is to believe.  Father brought him back by somehow
making his Pattern ghost real.  Which would mean that the original Merlin
is still dead.  But Pattern ghosts are exact duplicates of the original,
so...  It makes my head hurt to think of it.  But I am suddenly grateful
that there is no Pattern in existence now that can produce a ghost of me. 
I do not like the idea at all.  Merlin also said that Archimedes has a
tattoo of a serpent on his arm.  How wonderfully ironic.  I wonder how he
got it?

	Archimedes had many questions about what the Head of House
Halybard does, and he did not look like he liked the answers all that
much.  I will admit the Halybard Head has more responsibilities than most,
but she has more power as well...  He especially did not like it when I
warned him that his children by Laughter will be rather tempting targets. 
What did he expect?  Children of the Crown Prince of Amber and the Head of
Halybard are bound to be considered valuable commodities.  Maybe he should
not be marrying a Head of House if he does not want to deal with the
consequences.  Correction: Laughter isn't the Head of Halybard yet, but
that does not really matter.  Even if she never takes the position
herself, someone could still use her children to make a claim on it. 
Sometimes I wonder if she fully understands the position she is in.

	Sandr and I had a chat as well.  He continues to disgust me with
his pathetic whining.  One minute, he is complaining that he misses
Father, and the next, he is complaining that Father mistreated him.  He
complains that he hates Amber, but he refuses to leave because he is
convinced he will get dragged back.  Why would anyone bother?  Even Bleys
badmouthed him while we were dancing.  I find myself looking forward to
what Shan has in store for him.

	Sandr did let slip one interesting tidbit.  Archimedes apparently
has a rather sordid past, and Sandr has ascertained some of the details. 
In typical Sandr fashion, however, not only did he not use this
information, he managed to let Archimedes discover that he had it.  So he
is now in possession of information which has earned him Archimedes'
enmity, but which he will not use.  How stupid.  I find myself curious as
to what he found, though.  Perhaps someday Sandr will let more of it slip.

	I was right!  Father is still alive.  Maron and Shan found him in
some Shadow, completely out of his mind.  I wonder what Sandr would do if
he knew the truth?  I'm sure he would find something else to feel guilty
about.  I was surprised to find that Maron was unaware of Odemma's
connection to Laughter.  Given the time he is spent harassing Sandr, I was
sure he would have seen Laughter by now.  It is fortunate that I warned
him.  I do not want to think of what it would do to Eve if she saw
Laughter, so soon after her mother's death.

	We should be setting off soon.  The group keeps increasing in
size, which is fine with me.  As long as the key people are still going. 
Besides, the more bodies, the better our chances.  All the same, I am
prepared to Trump out of there, if things go badly.  This campaign is not
worth dying over.  Still, I hope we at least succeed in protecting the
Serpent.  I do not want to think of what it would mean if all of the
Serpent's eyes were lost.  Nor does the universe need any more Patterns. 
Except, someday, for mine.