Sandr should be all set.  Money, a place to live, I even found him
a piano.  Now if only he will actually go to the shrink I found for him. 
I picked the man most carefully, after all.  With luck, he will be able to
free Sandr from Father's shadow, while binding him closer to me.

	Maron can be so ungrateful sometimes.  I find him someone who is
just as real as Laughter, and he looks like I just offered him some
Shadow.  Lady may not be Odemma, but she is no less so than Laughter. 
Lady is actually a better choice for him.  For one thing, she is coming to
him willingly, which Laughter seems unlikely to do, and she has no husband
to pursue her.  At least, for all his lack of enthusiasm, he was willing
to take her, and Jubal's mother as well.  With luck, he will forget all
about Laughter, and maybe he will even start smiling again.  Poor Eve.  I
really should visit her, when things are less hectic.  Maybe I will bring
Balin to meet her.

	At least I gained some useful information from Maron.  Benedict
was responsible for the destruction of the Hendrake universe, and he has
targeted Atherton next.  Why did it have to be Atherton?  At least it is
not Halybard, but still...  It would have been much more convenient if he
had chosen one of the other universes.  So, what to do?  I do not really
need the Atherton Pattern, now that I am attuned to the Eye.  But, it is
an additional power that I can access, a place where I can go that most
Amberites may not.  That may prove useful at some point.  I think it is
time to fill Archimedes in on Benedict's whereabouts.  With luck, he will
take care of the problem.

	Stupid, stupid, stupid!  I should have foreseen this.  What was I
thinking, bringing the Eye to Amber?  What was I thinking by leaving it at
Ygg in the first place?  Father taught me better than that.  But there is
no way I could have anticipated what happened.  The two objects were both
eyes of the Serpent at one point.  They shared proximity to each other for
centuries.  It cannot be their proximity to each other that caused the
reaction, or the Serpent would have burned up long ago.  Could it be my
proximity to Archimedes, both of us attuned to different eyes?  No, I have
been near him on several occasions since we both gained our attunement,
and I suffered no ill affects then.  Maybe a combination of the two?  My
proximity, along with the Eye, to Archimedes and the Jewel?  Or perhaps
only one of them needs be present.  Well, it should not happen again.  I've
buried the Eye in a place where Archimedes is unlikely to go, especially
with the Jewel.  What remains to be seen is if the same thing occurs if I
approach Archimedes while he has the Jewel.  We shall see.

	Perhaps I should have killed him after all.  He has the nerve to
betray me to Archimedes, and then lie to my face about it?  This is not
acceptable.  Who does he think he is dealing with?  Either he will bend to
my will, or I will destroy him.  If only the bratling had talked to me
first.  What sort of fool would turn down the power of a second Pattern? 
Sandr, that is who.  He regards the Amber Pattern with an almost fanatical
loyalty.  We are going to have to break him of that, or he is not going to
be happy at all when I draw mine.

	Balin is a most pleasant companion.  And readily manipulated as
well.  To think, he was actually willing to fight Ulysses, merely because
he called me a bitch.  Even if it alienated him from his father.  I love
chivalry.  Pity I could not let him do it, but Ulysses cannot be harmed,
after all.  Not in Amber, at any rate.  I will repay Ulysses for his
insult in good time, never fear.  He is a fool.  He actually had the nerve
to condemn me for *not* keeping information secret.  He is obviously still
upset that I know his background.  Perhaps letting him know that I knew
this was a mistake, but after all of the remarks he has made about
Chaosites, how could I pass up the chance to remind him that he is what he
has always despised?  Well, if he is going to have that attitude about it,
I see no reason why I should not spread the information around.

	Ugh.  Mother is sleeping with Ulysses again.  This is not good. 
It is downright repulsive is what it is.  Why on earth did she have to
resume relations with him?  Anyone else would be better, even Father. 
Ulysses is just so annoyingly sanctimonious, and such a hypocrite.  I
wonder if Beauty knows that he is sleeping with Mother, and if I should
tell her if she does not?  I do not know the girl well enough to know if
it would bother her.  I hope Mother regains her sanity soon, so she comes
to her senses in this matter.

	So, Father chose to visit Sandr first of all of us.  Well, I
suppose he may have visited Maron.  Sandr's fear of him would seem to run
very deep.  I fear him too, but not to the point that it paralyzes me. 
Not that I particularly desire to encounter Father, but I certainly will
not faint at the sight of him.  What must he have thought of Sandr?  I am
forced to wonder, once again, how Sandr could possibly his son?  If it was
not for his strength of mind, and his facility with the Pattern, I would
be convinced he was the child of some weak Shadow of Father's.  Ah yes,
that strength of mind...  He should know better than to force a contact
with me.  Fortunately, Sylvie was there to help me hold him off long
enough to determine who he was.  She seems to have picked up some skill
with Trump, and could almost follow what I was doing.  Interesting.  She
must be learning from Ulysses.  Sandr should not have ordered her out of
my room.  That was a mistake, and if I know my sister, he will be paying
for it soon enough.  If she shares one trait with those cats of hers, it
is her fondness for toying with her prey.  Assuming Father leaves her
anything to toy with.  Sandr plans to Trump him.  I find myself curious as
to the outcome of this.

	I knew that if I was patient, Ulysses would finally leave on some
errand or another.  I have the blood sample now.  A few hours more, and
all will be in readiness.