Amber, year three, day 276 continued
 
Late evening
 
        I told Ahab some of what I learned from Vetch.  He didn't look 
any happier to find out that the Hendrakes might be behind the 
kidnappings than I was.  I suggested that Kimdyl might be able to 
corroborate Vetch's information, but Ahab doesn't want to test her 
loyalties any more than he has to.  I suppose we could ask Alex, but I 
don't trust him at all.
 
        Ahab pointed out that Random should be informed of this 
information.  I was afraid he'd say that.  I agree that Random needs 
to be informed.  I just don't want to be the one to do it.  I haven't 
been on the best of terms with him, and I need him to help Mother.  
Plus, I'd rather not say where the information came from.  Maybe if I 
keep my conversation short and to the point, I can do this without 
making things any worse.
 
        Ahab offered an apology for hiding the truth about Vetch from 
me.  He didn't state outright that it was an apology, but he admitted 
he was wrong and said it wouldn't happen again.  That's good enough 
for me.  He also said he'll tell Alex that he no longer wants to kill 
Vetch.  Hopefully that will end this, but I have my doubts.
 
        I made an appointment with Random for tomorrow morning.  
The sooner I get this over with, the better I'll feel.  I'll have to check 
with Gerard to see if he's talked to Random yet.  If not, I may as well 
use the opportunity to ask for his help with Mother.
 
        I had dinner in Amber, since I missed most of the meal at 
Gerard's.  I wish I hadn't.  I met Lyss, very briefly.  She came down 
to dinner late, just as Ahab was leaving.  Unfortunately, Dworkin was 
there.  He spotted her immediately and asked Ahab to bring her 
over.  They probably should have run for the door.  Ahab left soon 
afterwards, and Lyss looked pretty nervous, so I went over to say 
hello.  I tried to give her an excuse to leave, but she didn't take it.  
Then Dworkin looked at me.  Words cannot describe the way he 
looked at me.  It's like he could see inside of me, somehow, and see 
the child I'm carrying.  And I was afraid.  Not just for me, but for my 
child.  It's silly, I know, but that's how I felt.  I've seen what he did 
to Deirdre.  What if he doesn't approve of Amber-Chaos 
interbreeding?  He asked me to leave.  I didn't want to, but I couldn't 
think of any excuse to stay.  Lyss didn't object, but she looked so 
frightened.  I watched them for the rest of the meal, and it looked 
like they were just talking.  Then they went to his lab.  I told Ahab 
about this, but he already knew and he didn't look concerned.  
Maybe I'm just overreacting.  I hope so.
 
        The rest of the evening was a lot of fun.  I returned to the 
summer house, and we all built a bonfire and made S'mores.  Eris is 
still ignoring Foster.  I wonder how long she's going to keep it up?  
Much of the evening was spent trying to keep Rinaldo from setting 
himself and everything else on fire.  He's quite good with verbal 
insults.  That's to be expected, given his parents.  I don't think he has 
much opportunity to simply play, though.  Jasra never struck me as 
the type.  At least he seemed to have a good time tonight.  Although 
next time, I'm going to keep a better eye on Ahab.  He kept sneaking 
Rinaldo chocolate, when he was already quite hyper enough.
 
        I've missed having children around.
 
        Ahab had a talk with Foster.  It's hard to say if it did any good.  
Judging by the comments that came drifting our way, it was certainly 
an interesting conversation.
 
        No more roses tonight.  I figured they'd stop, but it was a sweet 
gesture.  I put the three I have in water.  Hopefully they'll last for a 
while.
 
Amber, year three, day 277
 
Morning
 
        There's never a dull day in Amber.  I finally managed to get a 
good night's sleep and woke up early to go workout.  It's so peaceful 
in the early morning, when most people are still asleep.  Then Felix's 
yell echoed through the house.  Apparently Murine had opened her 
eyes and he decided the proper way to notify Gerard was to bellow 
for him at the top of his lungs.  I do wish he'd learn to be a little 
quieter.  Fortunately, Driscoll dealt with the children.
 
        Murine has become dehydrated, so we've set up a GI tube to 
feed her.  She is currently in a comatose state, which is an 
improvement over her previous one, but not by much.  Foster still 
looked unhappy this morning, but it's hard to say if it was over the 
previous day or these latest developments.  This must be hard on 
him.
 
        I talked to Gerard, and he's already spoken to Random about 
Mother.  I'll have to stop by after my appointment to see how she's 
doing.  I doubt she'll be happy to see me.  Maybe she'll understand, 
some day.
 
        My appointment with Random did not go quite as expected.  
Something happened to put him in a bad mood before I got there.  At 
least it wasn't me this time.  He didn't volunteer the problem, so I 
didn't ask.  If there's anything I've learned about Amber it's that 
most of my aunts and uncles won't tell you what's going on even 
when you ask.  So why bother?  I told him the Hendrakes were 
probably responsible for the attempted kidnappings, due to their 
feud with Foster and Kimdyl's house.  Fortunately, Random didn't ask 
how I got that information.  He probably knows.
 
        I was just preparing to leave, thankful that this meeting had 
gone better than expected, when Random suggested I look in on my 
mother.  I guess he's already talked to her.  Whatever he did must 
have worked, because she's apparently been released from her cell 
and has moved into a room on the third floor.  I am surprised that 
she could recover so quickly.  I doubt she's recovered completely.  It 
goes against everything I learned in school.  I guess I'll find out.
 
        I hope she's forgiven me.