Chapter 101: "I wanted to help, until I remembered that I wasn't a
genocide."
Friday, July 14, 2994
Benedict tells Usires to dispose of Maxim as he sees fit. Usires
takes the guy to a high-tech Shadow and dumps him in mental hospital.
Alex Trumps Teresa and tells her he has a lead. She comes
through, and he explains who Laughter identified the figures as. He
thought Teresa would like to be there for the questioning of Drumm. Oh
yes.
Laughter meets with Alex and Teresa after lunch. They want her to
get them in touch with Drumm. Laughter contacts Drumm and asks him to
come to Amber. She says she wants to talk to him alone. Really? Drumm
is skeptical. Laughter lies poorly. Drumm looks like he's weighing his
options. Laughter mentions that she'd also like to talk to him about a
missing object. Which object? One of the four she took. Drumm assures
her that the faeries don't have it. Laughter isn't sure she can believe
him. He asks who else knows it's missing. Benedict and the King. He
suggests they meet on neutral ground. Foil? He's agreeable.
Teresa gives Alex a look, wondering why Laughter's in charge.
Because Drumm trusts her to lead him into their trap. Laughter tells them
they'll need a poem to enter Foil. Teresa thinks this is quaint. They go
to Foil and wait for Drumm at the manor. He steps through a wall.
Laughter introduces him to Alex and Teresa. He knows who they are. She
says he has something of theirs. He says he's not playing this game and
steps back through the wall. Laughter grabs his arm and goes with him.
She winds up in Faerie. Drumm explains that he doesn't trust her
companions not to do him great bodily harm. Laughter says she'd defend
him. He thinks that either of them is a match for her. Laughter is
disappointed by this.
Teresa figures Drumm's sudden departure indicates he was involved
in removing the book. She asks whether one of Alex's personalities might
have a spell that can help. He doesn't know. She suggests he ask. Alex
lets Reeshau out. Teresa asks if he has anything that can be used against
faeries. Fireball. Something that would summon and hold them while still
leaving them able to talk. Ah, a pentagram. He'll need chalk.
Laughter questions Drum about the book he took. He says Alex and
Teresa can't have it. Laughter guesses that it relates to the Spikards.
Oh yes. It's becoming clear to Laughter that they picked her to house
their glamour against the Serpent because of her reputation as a genocide.
He tells her that her past crimes have been forgiven. She says she had a
thought about the faerie bones on the field by London. She wants him to
convey to the King of Dexter that he's welcome to have them back. Drumm
thinks this is a good-will gesture, and asks what prompted it. Basically,
she walked through the field the other day, and thought, "Well, this is
stupid." Drumm sends her back to Foil.
Laughter finds Alex and Teresa drawing a pentagram on her floor,
and asks why they didn't do this outside. She also tells them that Drumm
doesn't want to give the book back. Teresa says he doesn't have a choice.
Laughter points out that according to Drumm, the last time Teresa tried
this, she came back less than whole. Teresa flares a bit with power at
that remark. Laughter brings Pattern to mind and says that much as she'd
like to help, she doesn't want to piss off the faeries now that she's not
on their shit list. So she wants them to leave. Now. Teresa casts a
spell, and Laughter finds herself in the garden. She Trumps Beauty, goes
through, and tells her there are people trashing the mansion, so Beauty
needs to stop Foil. Beauty concentrates, and says she thinks she stopped
it. She's never done this before, after all.
Ariana returns from her picnic, puts the kids down for their nap,
and goes looking for Beauty. She finds her in the sitting room with
Laughter, and manages to find out what happened in Foil. She suggests
that Laughter link with Beauty to verify that Foil has stopped, since
Laughter is much more familiar with Shadow manipulation. Laughter does
this thing, and confirms that Foil is frozen. Ariana thinks Laughter
should tell Drumm exactly what Teresa is trying to do, so he can prepare
for it. Laughter contacts Drumm via the talking bones, while Beauty
Trumps Fiona. Drumm swears when he hears Alex and Teresa are trying to
bind him, and breaks the contact. Beauty hands Fiona's Trump to Laughter,
who gives a rather incoherent explanation of what's going on. Fiona
smiles as though she's missed this, and comes through.
Back in Foil, a hand snakes up through the floor, grabs Reeshau's
ankle, and pulls him through the floor.
Beauty has to speed up Foil again before they can go there. This
gives Teresa enough time to react to Reeshau's sudden disappearance. She
swears and Logruses out just before Laughter's group arrives. Ariana
smells the Logrus, and figures that Teresa and Alex are gone, now. She
breaks the pentagram. Laughter finds her servants and tells them to clean
up. Fiona takes Beauty out of the room to teach her about Shadow
dynamics. Laughter asks Ariana if she can check on the efficacy of her
birth control spell. She has one on Sequence, but, unfortunately, she
didn't have her sword with her at least once, so she wants Ariana to see
if she's pregnant, and if not, cast a birth control spell on her. Ariana
checks, and confirms that she's not pregnant, then casts the spell. She
tells Laughter that it will last until she removes it. Laughter asks her
not to tell Driscoll and Foster about this, since it would spoil some of
the fun if they didn't at least think there was a chance of getting her
pregnant. Ariana agrees. Laughter says she has errands to run and
leaves.
While Vixen is sniffing at one of the forbidden doors, it opens
and Brand steps out. He tells her to change into a form he can converse
with, so she shifts back to her human form. Sans clothes, of course.
Brand leers a bit before he conjures her a cloak. He tells her that her
mark has changed. Her new target is Eric, Prince of Amber. Brand pulls
out a Trump of Eric, and pushes it across the table to her, while
explaining that Eric has traveled to a Shadow called Caledon with his son.
Caledon is an excellent place to kill him, since he's far from Amber and
his power source. Vixen brings up the difficulty of using her fox form,
since she's naked when she shifts back. If he wants her to use her
tracking abilities, she'll need to be less conspicuous when she changes.
Brand thinks he can come up with something, but in order for it to be
connected to her, he'll need some of her blood. After some hesitation,
she gives him some. She'd also like some weapons. Maybe, if she's good.
He tells her about Caledon, which is like 17th century Scotland, except
they've successfully kicked out the English. In order to kill Eric,
she'll have to take him by surprise, since he's stronger and better with a
blade than she is. He isn't a sorcerer though, he just has some paltry
magics. No defense against a knife in the back. Brand warns her to stay
out of reach of Eric's sword, since it can cut through stone. He gives
her a card of a landscape, and tells her it's for a quick escape, if
necessary. She only needs to stare at it until it grows cold, then dive
through it. He tells her to do so now. She does. The card gets cold,
the landscape animates, then it expands. She moves forward, and finds
herself in the place depicted on the card. Then she hears a buzzing in
her brain, and Brand's voice says that she'll have to open her mind to him
if she wants to get back. He tells her to think of an image of him. When
she does so, he offers her a hand and pulls her through. Vixen wipes her
hand surreptitiously on her cloak when he releases it. Brand tells her
that the castle Eric is staying in is in need of a scullery maid, and they
do have access everywhere, so that will be her cover. Vixen doesn't like
this idea much. Brand doesn't care. Eric will be arriving in Caledon in
a day, so she has that much time to prepare.
Felix spends the afternoon with Foster, Hary and Iseult.
Laughter Trumps Foster and asks if he's up for a shopping spree.
Sure. What is she shopping for? Clothing, pets for the kids, and a
house. The house will be in Amber. She figures Foster and Driscoll could
come with her. Is she going to model the clothes? Yeah. Foster gives
his regrets to Felix and goes through, then Trumps Driscoll, who leaves
Pax with Vialle for the afternoon. They appreciate Laughter's change in
clothing style, since her new outfit is much more revealing. They're so
appreciative, in fact, that they never do get around to shopping for the
house.
Reeshau shrieks at finding himself in Faerie, and complains that
he's not where he was. Drumm observes that Reeshau wanted to talk to him.
Reeshau lets Alex out. Drumm says he'll have to send him back now, adding
that Alex can't have the book. Why? It doesn't belong in his hands. The
Spikards are faerie artifacts, they were not made to be used by those not
born to it. As Alex has learned. Alex wants the book back since it
belonged to his father. Besides, he doesn't have a Spikard. Drumm will
give the book back if he can remove the information not meant for Alex's
eyes. Nope, Alex wants the whole thing. If he can't get the book through
conversation, he'd rather just go. Drumm points out that although Alex
doesn't have a Spikard, Teresa does, and if Alex gets the book, she's sure
to get a hold of it. Now, if Alex gives Drumm her Spikard, they'll give
him the book. Alex asks about the four missing objects, pointing out that
although the Spikards are the faeries', the eyes are not. Drumm agrees,
and says the faeries can't do anything with them. He points out that
Teresa's Spikard is Alex's anyway. All he has to do is get it back from
her, and they'll give him the book. Uh, no. Drumm is amazed that he
doesn't want it back from Teresa, since she stole it from him. Alex
doubts he could get it away from her. Drumm transports Alex to Ygg. Alex
proceeds from there to Middlecourt, arriving in the evening.
Ariana finds Beauty getting a Shadow physics lesson from Fiona.
She listens to the lesson for a while, until Fiona asks if there's
something she needs. She wants to examine Beauty. Fiona suggests she go
ahead, since this could take a while. Ariana determines that the child is
healthy, and it's a boy. She relays the information on the baby's health
to Beauty, and asks if she wants to know its sex. Nope. Ariana gives her
some nutritional information, along with what exercises are OK for her to
do, and says she'll need to examine Beauty again in about a month,
Beauty's time. Beauty will contact her. Ariana goes back to Amber and
takes Lucien to Rebma for dinner.
Vixen is woken up by Brand at about 11 in the morning, which means
she's only had about three hours of sleep. Brand has her clothing. He's
taken the liberty of making it capable of assuming 12 different forms. He
explains how she can set the forms, and says she'll have to practice them,
since the cloth isn't very intelligent. She holds the cloth at arm's
length. It smells like her, which she finds even more disturbing. Brand
tells her that the cloth is resistant to damage. It would be best if she
was ready to leave for Caledon by evening. OK. She sleeps for another
four hours, then begins working on her clothing's forms. She touches the
cloth and thinks of a collar, and it becomes one. She also chooses a
black two-piece body suit. She decides to pick the rest of the forms
later.
Fiona, Suhuy and Alexandra appear at dinner in Amber. Alexandra
is formally announced by Random. She is 18 at this point, 5'8" tall, with
dark gray-blue eyes and silver hair, a red streak on one side and a black
streak on the other. Suhuy made Alexandra wear court dress, a fact that
annoys her, especially when she sees Laughter's new garb. Suhuy points
out that Laughter is only his daughter by marriage, so he can't tell her
what to do. Laughter sits next to Felix, who comments on her new clothes.
She's nervous about exposing her neck. She asks if he'll be Pax's
godfather. Has Driscoll agreed? Well, she hasn't asked him, yet. Felix
will do it whether Driscoll likes the idea or not. It's even better if
Driscoll doesn't like the idea. He's still mad at Driscoll for what he
did to Laughter. Laughter notices that Eris is glaring at her. She asks
Felix what he thinks of Alexandra. Well, she's colorful. Aged fast.
Must run in the family. Laughter brings up Foster's breakfast Trump call
to Felix, and what he interrupted. Felix turns red. Tamaryn squeezes his
thigh, which doesn't help matters any.
Everyone mingles after dinner. Laughter asks Flavia how she's
been. She and Julian have set up supply lines to get food to those in
need from Shadow. Flavia's actually wearing a skirt, apparently to repay
Julian for an engaging afternoon by a stream.
Felix asks Eris about the look she was giving Laughter at dinner.
Well, Laughter isn't her favorite person. Maybe she'll just feed her to a
dragon. Felix comments that he doesn't need both of his children eaten by
dragons. Laughter is his daughter-in-law, after all. Eris comments that
Laughter hasn't exactly been faithful to her marriage vows. Felix bites
his tongue until Eris encourages him to go on. He says that Driscoll took
advantage of Laughter. Eris says it takes two to tango. Felix argues
that Laughter wasn't in her right mind. When is she? Eris blames both of
them, but, if that's how they want to settle things... What? Eris
explains that Laughter and Foster have brought Driscoll into the marriage
with them. They're a threesome. Felix thinks she's spreading rumors.
Alas, it's the truth. Driscoll hasn't slept at home since they returned.
Felix asks if it's OK with Foster that Laughter is sleeping with Driscoll.
She assumes so, since Foster is sleeping with Driscoll as well. Felix
excuses himself and leaves. Eris smiles.
Laughter sees Felix leave and tells Driscoll that apparently his
daughter just enacted her revenge on Laughter for stealing the men in her
life. Driscoll looks at Eris, who saunters out. Driscoll follows her.
Laughter finds Foster and tells him he needs to do damage control. When
he figures out that Felix knows the truth, he tells her that he's not
going to go near Felix right now. Fine, then she'll do it. She adds
psychically that Suhuy suggested that the key to what Foster did to
Driscoll lies in his past. Foster faces the wall, and is amazed that she
wants to discuss this now. She thinks it would help with the damage
control with Felix. Alexandra comes up at this point and asks if she's
interrupting anything. Laughter introduces her to Foster, and vice versa.
Alexandra apologizes for not warning Laughter about the ceremony. Foster
looks confused. Laughter says she'll explain later. She leaves to find
Felix. Alexandra asks Foster where he got the idea of using sex as a
punishment. Foster pales and then says he must be going. He leaves.
Laughter can't find Felix in the castle, and can't Trump him, so
she uses talking bones to see where he is, then teleports to him. She
asks what Eris told him. He explains. Oh, well, that's true. Felix
stalks off. She follows, and tells him that Foster grew up in Chaos, and
they have strange ideas there. She eventually manages to explain that the
way Foster was raised, sleeping with men is no big deal. His own mores
are much looser than hers. Felix observes that this doesn't seem to
bother her, since she's sleeping with them. She tells him that Elizabeth
used to sleep with both men and women, so the concept wasn't foreign to
her. She explains how Foster was punished in Chaos, and that she suspects
he did not always do this as a punishment. She also explains how
Driscoll's relationship with them changed over the two years, and how, at
the end, Laughter gave Foster the choice of shutting Driscoll out, except
as Pax's father, or allowing him in fully. So this was Foster's fault?
Well, it was her idea. Why isn't Foster telling him? She thinks he's
afraid of Felix's reaction, of losing his respect. He puts a lot of stock
in Felix raising him, even though he was already 70. She thinks Felix is
the best thing to happen to him, after Tamaryn. Felix thinks he should be
having this discussion with Foster. Laughter thinks Foster's putting it
off, because Felix can't disown him if he never talks to him. Felix
excuses himself. Laughter walks back toward the castle.
Martin tells Usires after dinner that he can't find Usires'
Trumps. Whoever has them has them protected or warded such that he can't
retrieve them. Wonderful. Martin says he could always ask the King for a
new deck, and attach the pouch to his sleeve. Usires doesn't think that's
a good idea. Well, he could always get Laughter or Ariana to cast their
talking bones spell to find out who took them. Usires is sure that
someone knows. Martin suggests he talk to that person. Can Martin draw
another Trump of Rimmersgard? He's willing to barter for it. Usires
offers him a drink. Martin thinks drinking in Usires' room sucks, because
there's no women. Usires doesn't want to go out. Martin can't believe
losing his Trumps is bugging Usires enough to pass up women. He leaves
and goes into town. Usires remains in his room and drinks a lot.
Alex Trumps Teresa, who's impressed that he's still alive and
pulls him through. Alex explains Drumm's offer. Yeah, right. Can she
try the summoning again? Yes, but it's not likely to work know that he's
prepared for it. She's not sure how he found out in the first place.
Well, who knew about it? Her, Alex, and Laughter. Does he think
Laughter's capable of being that clever? He's not sure. Teresa wants to
question her. Alex agrees, so long as Teresa doesn't punish her and puts
her back. Does Alex have a Trump of her? No. That means sorcery.
Laughter is walking in Amber, then there's a wind and she's
elsewhere. She draws Sequence. Teresa snaps her fingers, and the sword
flies out of her hand. Laughter draws her dagger but doesn't throw it
when she recognizes Teresa. Teresa asks if she's the one who told Drumm.
Yes. Teresa wants to punish her. Nope, Alex thinks that's unwise.
Laughter says that while this is all fascinating, she's in the middle of a
family crisis, and she'd like to go home. Her father-in-law found out he
has a new son-in-law, you see. Teresa wants to keep her, since she's so
amusing. Alex insists that Teresa has to put her back. Darn. Teresa
dumps Laughter in a garbage bin. Laughter Trumps Alex, and hands him a
pile of the garbage to give to Teresa. Alex says he tried to restrain
her. She says Alex will be on her happy list when she talks to her
father. Laughter Trumps back to the castle and storms around.
Laughter Trumps Foster, who pulls her through. She tells him not
to touch her, since she's covered in garbage, and it's all Teresa's fault.
Why is he sitting in a dark room? It just seemed right. She thinks he
should talk to Felix. He can't right now. He tells her what Alexandra
asked him. Laughter begins changing, and explains that Felix seemed more
upset about not being told then anything else. Foster says he intended to
tell Felix eventually that they were adding Driscoll, but not how it came
to happen. Well, she told him everything. Foster groans and rolls over.
Laughter thinks Felix will forgive Foster, since he's forgiven him so many
times before. Foster just looks depressed. Laughter pushes him until he
rolls back over, sits on him, and asks if there's anything Haris could do
that could make Foster not love him. No, but he raised Haris. Felix
didn't raise him. Laughter points out that Felix thought he did. Oh
great, so this is just another deception in a long line of them. He's
such a wonderful son. Laughter knees him in the ribs, but gets no
response. Eventually, Foster remarks that he didn't think of Felix when
he started this whole thing off. Laughter responds that you can't live
for your parents. Foster's still convinced that Felix's hang-ups will
keep him from understanding. Laughter thinks he'll eventually understand.
Foster can't believe that. He's done too many horrible things to Felix.
When Felix is ready to think about it, he'll come to Foster. No, Felix
said Foster would have to come to him. Foster rolls over, throwing her
off of him, and buries his head in a pillow. Laughter bounces up and down
on the bed until he pulls her leg out from under her. She says she's
going to go talk to Eris, even though she doesn't want to as much as
Foster doesn't want to talk to Felix. Foster reaches out an arm and pins
her to the bed. He says he'll wait until morning, then lets her go.
Laughter leaves the room and Trumps Tamaryn. She wants to talk.
Tamaryn pulls her through to the skeleton of her house. Laughter attempts
to explain the situation. Tamaryn says she'll talk to Foster, first.
Laughter asks her advice on how to handle the Eris thing. Well, if
Driscoll went after her, she'll probably be softened up enough to talk by
now. Laughter figures she'll ask Driscoll, first. She thinks she
understands why Fiona raised Alexandra the way she did. No hang-ups.
Sounds a lot like Faerie to Tamaryn. She leaves to talk to Foster.
An hour after Felix speaks to Laughter, Tamaryn joins him. She
asks how he is. Angry. Is there anything she can do? What kind of crazy
place was she born? House Vetch. She witnessed the deterioration of the
house and her father, and when she tried to oppose the changes she saw,
she was banished into Shadow. He was raised in Amber, correct? She
points out that there are a few members of his family that have done a
fair amount of experimentation. Felix argues that it's not where you were
raised, it's what you were exposed to, and what customs you chose to
adopt. Don't they have parent-teacher conferences in Chaos? Tamaryn
explains that if your teacher reported a problem to your parent,
punishment was usually swift and severe. So, who was Foster's teacher?
Foster was a special case, so she's not sure. Did she know that Foster's
teacher used to rape him? It's not unheard of in the house, only used in
the most hopeless cases. If he's anything like Tamaryn or Felix, he might
have been such a case. Felix thinks he learned to lie pretty well.
Tamaryn says he was abused. He could have turned out much worse. He's
young, he tends to follow his gut instinct. Felix points out that he's
young, as well. She says that's why they're having so many problems, they
tend to react without thinking things through. Felix is mad that Foster
promised no more secrets, then did this. Tamaryn asks if Felix would want
people to know if he had something like this in his past? Felix doesn't
see how people wouldn't know about Foster marrying a guy. Tamaryn offers
to help. Felix says he and Foster need to work this out with each other.
Tamaryn thinks Foster was afraid of disappointing Felix. She offers to
walk with him, since he's not paying attention and in a bad part of town.
Laughter Trumps Driscoll, interrupting him in mid-shout. Eris
takes the opportunity to duck out. Laughter comes through, and uses
talking bones to find her. She's on the battlements. Driscoll asks
Laughter to transmit his voice, and then yells something in a language she
doesn't understand. He explains that he was telling the dragon not to
leave. They arrive on the battlements to find Eris glaring at Mercury,
who's looking rather meek. Laughter apologizes to Eris for whatever she's
done. Eris says that takes all of the fun out of it. Laughter asks what
she did. Stole two people that Eris loved. Laughter asks if Driscoll is
still Eris' father, and still loves her. Yes. Eris thinks taking
Driscoll was adding insult to injury. But she figures they're square now.
Laughter thinks that while Eris doesn't owe reparations to her, she does
owe such to Foster and Felix, since they were innocent parties in this,
and never intended any harm. Eris concedes she may owe them an apology.
Laughter offers to duel with her, if it makes her feel better. Eris
smiles, steps away from the battlements, and draws Cristilweir. She comes
in hard and fast, but Laughter fights defensively and holds her off.
Driscoll calls Clytemnestra over and says something to her. Eris is as
fast as Laughter, but Laughter is stronger and doesn't tire as fast.
After three hours, when it becomes obvious that Laughter will outlast her,
Eris throws Cristilweir over the battlements, sits down and cries.
Driscoll crouches down next to her. She throws her arms around him, sobs,
and says she's sorry. Laughter looks uncertain. Driscoll gives her a
reassuring nod. Laughter goes back to Foster and collapses in bed. He's
in the same position as when she left. She says that Eris is a good
fighter. He suggests she get some sleep. She does.
Ariana and Lucien spend some time exploring the area of Rebma
outside of the protective barrier, when they aren't making love. Lucien
finds a jade necklace near a shipwreck and presents it to Ariana as a
gift. They eventually fall asleep in a coral cave.
Brand collects Vixen in the evening and provides her with a
scullery maid dress. Then he holds out his hand, she takes it, and they
appear on a hill over a keep. It's evening. He points out the servant's
entrance and says they're expecting her. How will she let him know when
she's done? Go through the Trump he gave her. He's monitoring the Shadow
with magic, so he'll know when she arrives. Vixen goes to the castle, and
is introduced to her new duties. Brand has told the matron that her name
is Vicky. She is shown her room and told she starts in the morning. She
spends the night hunting and cat-napping.
Saturday, July 15, 2994
In the middle of the night, Ariana dreams that she's making love
to Lucien. They are above water, and she's not pregnant. Suddenly, he
pins her wrists to the bed and his features shift to Oberon's. He grins
evilly and continues. Much to Ariana's dismay, she enjoys it. At the
climax, she wakes up with a start, which wakes Lucien up. He asks what's
wrong. She claims she just had a bad dream. She looks around and assures
herself that she's still underwater, then says, "Oberon's still dead,
isn't he?" As far as Lucien knows. Good. Is she sure she doesn't want
to talk about it? Actually, she'd prefer to forget the whole thing. He
wraps his arms around her and she eventually falls back to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Foster rolls Laughter over, blindfolds
her, and binds her hands to the bed. She feels someone begin making love
to her, and assumes that it's Driscoll, until she hears both he and Foster
laughing in the distance. She manages to peak around the blindfold and
finds that Sequence is what's making love to her, burying itself in her up
to the hilt. She wakes up with a start, then begins to pace, touching her
abdomen. Foster asks what's wrong. She explains that dreamt she was
having sex with her sword, and Foster and Driscoll were making her do it.
He assumes it was a dream. She hopes so. He points out that she'd be
bleeding profusely if it had really happened. Laughter thinks the dream
was sent to keep her from playing with her sword. Foster asks why she
thinks it was sent. Well, because Sand sent her bad dreams that one time.
Then she realizes that the dream was similar to Alexandra's ceremony, and
feels relieved. Bad subconscious. She apologizes to Foster for asking to
bring Driscoll into the family, since this is what caused the whole mess
with Felix.
Vixen starts the day off cleaning up after breakfast. She learns
from the other servants' gossip that the old warlord (Ronan) returned
after a new warlord (Liam) was named, and now neither Ronan or Liam knows
how to react. Eric is at breakfast as well. Ronan spends much of the
meal yelling at Liam, although they don't come to blows. Vixen spends
some time skulking around the castle, checking into what Eric is doing.
He's shadowing Ronan, but staying out of his affairs. Later in the day,
Eric notices that he's been seeing Vixen an awful lot, and smiles. She
flirts with him a bit at this. At dinner, she arranges to serve him and
brushes against him. Eric doesn't flirt with her when Ronan is watching
him. Fortunately, Ronan spends most of the evening fighting with Liam, so
there's plenty of time for flirting.
Alex and Teresa discuss the Drumm situation. Teresa doesn't think
they can get Drumm, now that he knows they're trying. He's a good
sorcerer. He wouldn't have gotten her hand, otherwise. And don't believe
him when he says it was self-defense. Alex asks if she thinks the spell
would be more effective from the Disc. It just might. Alex lets Reeshau
out and he takes them to Tallefellow's. She reassures Reeshau that she
doesn't like men. Oh, that relieves him. She wants to summon Drumm now.
He wants to sleep on it. She says Alex won't want to wait. All right.
But they're going outside this time. They do so. Reeshau draws the
pentagram and casts the spell, and a figure begins to materialize. He's
obviously fighting it, but after 5-10 minutes, Drumm appears with an "Oh
shit!" look on his face. Teresa tells Reeshau to let Alex out. No. She
kisses him, and he casts his cold shower spell before Alex manages to
emerge. Teresa is drenched, and slaps Alex for allowing that to happen.
Vixen arranges to be in Eric's bedroom when he retires for the
evening, tidying up as he arrives. He comments that it's a bit past her
shift. No sir, she works nights. Eric flashes her a winning grin and
repeats her answer. She giggles. He says he seems to be picking up a
certain signal from her. She continues to giggle and look stupid. Eric
seems to be in a moral quandary. She curtseys and sidles towards the
door. He opens the door for her. She looks hurt and pouty as she slides
out, giving a wiggle as she goes. He says he's sorry, but the last couple
of days have been difficult. She cries. Eric touches her sleeve and says
it's not her, she's really very pretty. She looks distraught and clings.
He brings her back to his room, since she's causing a scene. He sits her
down on a chair and brushes the hair out of her eyes. She says she was
sent to entertain him, and she'll be in trouble if her mission isn't
carried out. He asks if she's doing this willingly. She says she's not
unwilling. Eric smiles at that and says he can't have her getting into
trouble. He removes his sword belt, followed by his boots, then pulls his
shirt out and lays a velvet pouch on the dresser. He tells her to come to
him so he can take a look at her. She drops her dress, grabs the crossbow
she stashed under his bed, and shoots at his gut. He moves blindingly
fast, and the shot misses the target, hitting him in the side, instead.
He reaches for the sword that he's no longer wearing, then shouts for help
and asks who sent her. She won't say. He rolls for his sword belt. She
throws her dagger at his throat and dives for his sword as well. The
dagger misses Eric's throat, but takes him in the shoulder, and Vixen
reaches the sword first. Eric stops his forward motion and reaches for
the dagger in his shoulder. Vixen backs up, as does he. He asks her
again who sent her, as he pulls the dagger out of his shoulder. She says
it would be a breach of professional courtesy. He readies the dagger to
throw. She goes in for a downward slash with his sword. He holds for a
beat, then moves into the sword so that it impales him, grabs her sword
hand, and tries to punch her. She turns into a fox, which startles him
sufficiently enough to make him release her. She runs under the bed and
out the other side, then turns human, pulls the Trump, and concentrates.
She finds herself in the meadow.
Drumm says he will not bring the book to Teresa of his own free
will. Teresa figures they can always pluck Drumm out of the pentagram
with the Logrus. The better to torture him, you see. Alex figures it's
her field of expertise. Drumm goes *urg* as Teresa wraps a Logrus tendril
around him.
Laughter's getting ready for breakfast when a faerie walks through
the wall. She explains that her master, Drumm, is in trouble, and sent
her to Laughter for help. Laughter tells Foster to watch the children,
and asks why she's involved. Because Drumm is being tormented by members
of her family. She wouldn't want an international incident, after all.
Laughter Trumps Tamaryn, pulls her through, and explains the situation.
Then the three of them step through the wall.
Laughter, Tamaryn and the faerie maid step through the outer wall
of Tallefellow's. Laughter observes that Drumm appears to have gotten
himself in a bit of trouble. Teresa tells Alex to drop the spell. Alex
says they want the book back. Laughter wants to bring the matter before
the King of Amber. Teresa would rather not. It's personal. She figures
they don't have to stick around, now that they have Drumm. Alex doesn't
think that would be a good idea. Laughter gives Nicholas a wake-up call
via Trump, and explains the problem. Teresa looks like she's going to do
something with the Logrus, but Alex convinces her not to. Nicholas gets
dressed and comes through with his Hellmaids. Laughter begins by saying
that there is a book of a magical nature. Drumm looks like he's going to
say something at this point, but Teresa squeezes the air out of him.
Laughter continues that the book was authored by Delwin, but the faeries
took it after Delwin died, because it has stuff humans aren't supposed to
know. She adds that she presented this impartially, despite the fact that
Teresa dumped her in a garbage bin. Nicholas looks at Teresa and says he
assumes she'll let Drumm talk now. She loosens her grip, and he spends a
minute just inhaling again. He explains that Delwin may have written the
book, but the means of gathering the information was questionable. The
book is about the Spikards, which are faerie in origin, and not meant to
be used by humans. Alex says that others have Spikards. Faerie is
working on getting those back. Alex points out that the book was still
Delwin's. He also implies that his loss of a hand was the faeries' fault.
Drumm says Faerie had nothing to do with the loss of Alex's hand, and
Teresa was trying to kill him when she lost hers. Laughter asks if Drumm
was trying to steal Teresa's Spikard. No, she was trying to steal
knowledge from Faerie. Laughter suggests that Nicholas talk to the King
of Faerie. He was just thinking that. They get Drumm to swear on cold
iron that he will abide by the decision reached by the Kings of Amber and
Faerie regarding the Spikards and the book. Teresa drops Drumm on his
head and Logruses off. Tamaryn Trumps out. Drumm departs with his
servant. Alex Trumps to the main hall.
Laughter leaves with Nicholas and explains that she needs to tell
him Ahab's last words. Nicholas isn't sure he wants to hear them. She
insists on telling him, anyway. For those who don't remember, they were:
"Thus do I give up the spear. My son will set things right." Nicholas'
jaw sets as he hears this, and he says that's only because Ahab didn't
have the guts to carry them out.
Ariana is very quiet in the morning, even after she and Lucien
return to Amber. Lucien notices her lack of appetite at breakfast and
comments that she's going to make him doubt his skills, if this is her
reaction to a night like they just had. She assures him that isn't it.
Is she sure she doesn't want to talk about it? She hesitates, then
explains that she dreamt he was making love to her, and turned into
Oberon. He thinks she may still be feeling guilty over letting Oberon
die.
Tamaryn returns to Felix and tells him what happened. They eat
breakfast in town. Felix's appetite is off. Tamaryn tells Felix that
Foster does love him, even if he doesn't always make the right decisions.
Why hasn't Foster spoken to him? He's afraid that Felix will reject him,
and wasn't willing to face that last night. Felix says he doesn't know
Foster. There's always a secret, something hidden. Tamaryn says everyone
has secrets. Foster just had more of an opportunity to accumulate them.
Foster was afraid to talk to Felix because of how Felix would react, and
it looks like he was right. Felix is still upset over what Foster did to
Driscoll. Tamaryn tells him that Foster has become ashamed of his past.
Felix says he keeps reenacting it. Tamaryn points out that Foster only
confronted Driscoll once, and he thought he was going to lose Laughter.
Felix repeats that it's the secrets that bother him. He doesn't feel the
same way about men that Foster does, but he's been exposed to it. But the
fact that they accepted Driscoll as an integral part of the family, and
weren't going to tell him... Tamaryn tells him that Foster said they were
going to tell him, although not the part about Foster and Driscoll. Felix
figures Foster will come up with something else disturbing in a year.
He's convinced that Foster doesn't trust him. Tamaryn says that he does,
but he's afraid that he's already hurt Felix too much. She suggests he
give himself a chance to relax and calm down. Felix repeats that Foster
will have to come to him. Finding out from Eris in a fit of jealousy was
not the ideal way to learn of this. He thinks Eris has grown up to be a
venomous bitch, and hopes Laughter and Foster are a better influence over
Pax than Driscoll. Tamaryn thinks all Driscoll did wrong was be too kind
and loving. Eris thought she was losing him to Laughter, like she lost
Foster. Felix says Foster's lost a lot of his trust, and it'll be a while
before he regains it. Besides, now he feels like he doesn't know his son
or his family. Tamaryn asks if he wants her to convey any of this. Felix
figures she'll have to, or Foster will never come to him. He's definitely
inherited Felix's stubbornness. Tamaryn kisses him on the cheek and
leaves.
Ariana gets a Trump call from Gerard, who says he needs her in the
infirmary. She comes through and finds an unconscious Eric. She manages
to heal the major sword wound, which cut completely through his shoulder
bone, and stops the minor wounds caused by the dagger and crossbow quarrel
from getting infected, but she doesn't have enough energy to do any more.
Gerard doesn't know what happened, since Eric was incoherent when he
Trumped him. She asks to be notified when Eric wakes up, then Trumps
Lucien and asks him to pull her through. He looks concerned by her
exhaustion and asks what happened. She explains about the attempt on
Eric. Lucien touches her forehead and transfers some energy to her.
Ariana is grateful that she won't need to rest, and admits that the dream
she had is making her a bit nervous. It disturbs her that she enjoyed the
sex in the dream, since she despises Oberon. Lucien suggests waiting to
see if she has any more dreams before worrying too much about it. She
asks if he's still upset about what happened between her and Shard. He
assures her that he isn't, saying that he knows she loves him, and is
secure in that knowledge.
Lucien suggests getting food, to replace the energy they've both
expended recently. On the way down to the kitchen, Ariana asks Lucien how
he manages to keep from losing himself when he shapeshifts. He explains
that he's programmed his body to only recognize a few forms as familiar.
With the rest, there's something that reminds him not to stay that way
indefinitely. Once they reach the kitchens, Michael provides them with a
small table to eat at. Lucien brings up the subject of the children's
education. Ariana had assumed they would be the children's instructors.
Lucien suggests using tutors, since this would give them more time to be
with each other. Ariana likes this idea, as long as it doesn't involve
sending the children away to boarding school. Lucien plans to find some
tutors when they go to Middlecourt, which won't be until after she's given
birth to Ana. Is Middlecourt that dangerous? No, but he's not inclined
to run any sort of risk with her, right now. Ariana tells him he's being
overprotective, but doesn't argue. Lucien also wants to wait to go after
Miranda until Ariana is no longer pregnant. Ariana doesn't like the idea
of letting Miranda remain imprisoned that long, since time could be
flowing faster in Chaos. Lucien argues that Miranda is in no real danger
right now, whereas Ariana could be, given her current condition. Ariana
reluctantly concedes this and suggests that the rescue mission should go
ahead without her, although she hates the idea of other people risking
their lives on a mission that she created. Lucien points out that she has
to think of the baby, and does his best to reassure her.
Ariana and Lucien go for a walk in the gardens. Ariana winds up
napping beneath a tree in Lucien's arms for an hour or so before they
decide to head back inside. While they are walking towards the castle,
Ariana asks where Zane came from, and how he managed to topple Gramble.
Lucien tells her that Zane was a member of House Gadlan, the servant
house. Since every house has members of Gadlan in it, he used them as
spies until he was ready to move. He's insane, but has managed to hold
the throne through a combination of cunning and a strong genetic claim.
He's one of Swayvill's bastards, which appeals to those who prefer the
days when Amber and Chaos were enemies.
Ariana brings up the fact that with Ana's birth, Jalana is likely
to question how Ariana could have carried four children inside of her.
Lucien thinks the children are old enough to know the truth about Shannon
and Vincent's parentage. Ariana is reluctant to tell them all of the
terrible things that Sand did. Lucien suggests she not worry about it
until she has to. They discuss how Sand wound up pregnant in the first
place. Lucien is convinced she walked a Pattern to do so, although what
she hoped to gain by having his children is something he's never figured
out. He's amazed that both she and Ariana were able to have sons by him.
He'd intentionally been having daughters, since they wouldn't have to
undergo assassin training, and if they did, well, women make better
assassins. Why? They seem to have a better understanding of their
situation, so they don't fight as hard. Were women trained in the same
way as men? No. He just couldn't do that to the women. Ariana hugs him,
and he holds onto her for a long while. She apologizes for bringing up
such a painful subject for him. He says there is little about his past
that he doesn't find painful now, but that isn't her fault. He'd rather
she heard it from him, than someone else.
Ariana asks if there are likely to be anymore revelations from
Laughter. That depends on Foster. Does he want to talk about it? He
thinks maybe he should. He explains that Foster's conception was brought
about by his belief that ultimate survival was bound to Chaos and Amber
returning to each other, and that only half-breeds would ultimately
survive. Tamaryn had always wanted children, and he had rendered her
infertile when he imprisoned her, just in case he would have use for such
a thing in the future. When Felix went into Shadow for schooling, Lucien
made sure Felix and Tamaryn's paths crossed. Ariana is surprised Lucien
thought their offspring would be a good assassin, given their natures.
Lucien admits that he had too much confidence in his abilities. He also
left Foster with Tamaryn too long. He should have taken Foster away at
birth. Instead, he put off taking him for eight years. It was far too
late by then, but he couldn't abandon the experiment, convincing himself
that it would be a good test of his abilities to command. He took Foster
away in the night and trained him for fifty years, which is the standard
training period in Chaos. Then Foster was put to work. He could be quite
good or completely horrible, depending on whether he thought the target
deserved to die. Lucien was never able to beat this out of him. Since he
was inadequate at killing, Lucien sent him to Amber as a spy when the
option became available. Unfortunately, he was less than cooperative in
providing information, and he became immediately attached to Felix.
Ariana thinks Lucien should have expected that to happen, since Felix was
the father Foster had never known. Lucien says Foster's training was such
that if he told Foster to kill Felix, Foster should have done it without
hesitation. Is this what he wanted their children to grow up to be like?
At one point, yes. Did he obey his father that way? Eventually. He
didn't go through formal training until his elder siblings were killed.
His father broke him shortly after Loryn's death, which had left him
vulnerable. Does he think his father had anything to do with her death?
Yes. He thinks he gave in to the training in the end because he needed it
to kill his father. Which he did. Ariana admits that she had suspected
as much, and is surprised Lucien's father didn't expect him to try.
Lucien thinks his father's fatal mistake was not expecting him to succeed.
Ariana asks if Lucien originally imprisoned Tamaryn in Shadow to
keep her safe from his father. Yes. His father wasn't able to torture
the information out of him, and pride wouldn't let him look himself.
Lucien thought his father was going to kill him, but he never revealed
Tamaryn's location. Ariana thinks his father would have killed Tamaryn if
he'd found her, and that he was a thoroughly evil man. Lucien thinks that
he's no different than his father. Ariana tries to convince him
otherwise, pointing out that it took him eight years to take Foster away
from Tamaryn, and that he sent Foster to Amber when he realized he wasn't
cut out to be an assassin. His father would have take Foster at birth and
kept at him until he broke him. Lucien thinks she's grasping at straws.
He tells her that in a last ditch attempt to turn Foster into an assassin,
he tried to make Foster kill his lover. Foster tried, but he couldn't do
it at the end. Unfortunately, the boy had fled to the Logrus in an
attempt to escape Foster. Foster went after him and they wound up walking
the Logrus at the same time. The boy never recovered his sanity. Given
everything he's done to Foster, Lucien expects Foster to kill him,
someday. Ariana doesn't think he will, unless Lucien hurts him again.
They need to talk to each other about it before either of them can heal,
though. Lucien doesn't want to talk about it anymore, and says he needs
to be alone for a while. Ariana psychically reassures him that she still
loves him, despite all she's heard. He says he loves her too, and then
walks away.
Quotables:
"The title of the game is 'Distant Thunder.'" -- GM
"That just means that the lightning isn't going to hit our heads yet." --
Mer
"I have a lead. Would you like to come through?" -- Alex
"As long as there's nothing nasty prepared for me when I arrive." --
Teresa
"Hmm. I hadn't planned anything. I could if you like." -- Alex
"(Teresa) has the air of plotting against you, but you don't know why." --
GM
"Does she have the air of plotting against her brother?" -- Laughter
"Yes." -- GM
"Well, that's OK, then." -- Laughter
"What's the good of being who I am, if I'm just not any good at what I
do?" -- Laughter to Drumm
"You're just not good at anything useful." -- Matt
"What were you doing in Foil?" -- Ariana
"We were hunting Drumm in a neutral fashion." -- Laughter
"I wanted to help, until I remembered that I wasn't a genocide." --
Laughter to GM
"It's one thing to take (Brand's) money, it's another to give him blood.
On the other hand, I'm real tired of being naked." -- Vixen to the group
at large
"What can I do for you?" -- Felix
"Well, I had a thought." -- Laughter
"Good for you?" -- Felix
"I've just been dumped in garbage by Teresa, I'm going to go kick Eris'
ass." -- Laughter to GM
"(Eric's) bonding with his son, no one wants to interrupt him." -- GM
"No one wants to see it, there's a difference." -- Laughter
"I just make big eyes, look stupid, and giggle. Which is easy, since I
have no idea what I'm doing." -- Vixen to GM
"I don't know what I'm doing, but I figure I'm being very distracting." --
Vixen to GM
"What else is (Foster) going say? That he sleeps with dead dragons? That
he likes food in the wrong sort of way?" -- Felix to Tamaryn
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