Chapter 102: "There's not much difference between a waking death and a
sleeping one."
Saturday, July 15, 2994
Vixen is licking Eric's blood off of her fur when Brand appears in
a Trump shimmer and tells her that she failed. Eric Trumped to Amber
shortly after she left. This complicates things. She points out that
Brand left out some critical information. Like the fact that Eric was
faster than her. He argues that he pointed out that Eric was better with
a blade. Yeah, but she didn't engage him with a blade. She figures that
no mortal could have survived those wounds. Brand retorts that Eric is no
more mortal than her. Ah. Brand mumbles something about striking while
the iron is hot, and brings Vixen back to Bramber.
After Lucien leaves, Ariana cries for a bit, much to the
consternation of a page who wanders by. Lucien returns an hour later,
with an unreadable expression on his face. Ariana asks if he's feeling
any better. Some. Ariana apologizes for bringing the matter up. He
figures it would have come out eventually, anyway. They return to their
quarters and spend the rest of the morning with the children. Ariana
notices that Lucien is still a bit quiet, so she tries to distract him by
drawing him into the children's play. He turns it into a lesson, by
playing a shapeshifting game with them. Basically, it's a copy-cat game,
where he does something like grow his fingers longer, and they have to try
and do the same. The children obviously enjoy this.
Vixen takes a hot bath, picks out a new form for her cloth (a dark
green slip dress) and then goes looking for Rinaldo. She eventually finds
him in the library. He brightens when he sees her and puts down his book.
She mentions that Brand isn't too happy with her. There's a touch of
concern on his face, and he asks what happened. She won't say, suggests
postponing talking for a bit, and runs her hands up his chest. He leans
forward slowly and kisses her. They have sex. When they're done, he says
that he likes what she's said, so far. Is he still in a talkative mood?
Oh, yes. Does he live here? Right now. Where did he live before?
Amber, Shadow, a lot of it in Brand's world, before it was destroyed.
Brand doesn't rule in Amber, does he? No. The old king had a lot of
children, and Brand wasn't in the line of succession. Who does rule
Amber? Eric, as regent for Nicholas until he takes the Pattern. Vixen
looks like she just swallowed a furball, and explains that Brand's mad at
her because she failed to kill Eric last night. She doesn't like not
knowing the repercussions of her actions. Rinaldo thinks that if Brand
wants Eric dead, he must be making a run for the throne again. He
explains the history of the monarchy in Amber. Vixen wants to know how
Brand knew where to find her. Rinaldo thinks she may be family. It
occurs to Vixen that Brand could be her father. She mentions this to
Rinaldo, who admits this is possible, but normally Amber parents are more
careful with their children. Is there a way to know for sure if she's an
Amberite? Survive walking the Pattern. She looks confused. He takes her
hand and gives her an image of the Pattern, explaining that only Amberites
can survive walking it. Not that they can get to it, right now. She
figures that's a moot point, since she doesn't think she'll survive much
longer, anyway.
Vixen shifts her clothes back on just before Brand enters the
library. Brand looks at Rinaldo, who only has his pants on, and observes
that Vixen has met his son. He asks Rinaldo to leave, then tells Vixen
that her new mark is in Amber. She shouldn't be as tough to kill as Eric,
but she's a shapeshifter, so Vixen will need to remove her head. Vixen is
to leave tonight. The mark is a trained assassin, although she's been out
of the game for half a century. She's not as fast as Eric, but Vixen
shouldn't touch her, or she'll take over Vixen's mind. She is a sorcerer,
but her will to live has been sapped recently, so she might not put up
much of a fight.
Ariana and her brood eat lunch in the castle. Lucien is rather
subdued. Ariana looks in on Eric after lunch, and finds that he's being
guarded by men wearing Benedict's livery. She finishes healing Eric, and
he wakes up 15 minutes later. She asks what happened. They hit him in
his weak spot. The assassin was a female. Ariana offers to replay the
scene over the talking bones. Eric is more than happy to take her up on
this, and gives her an image of the room the attack took place in. She is
able to show the attack, and thinks Vixen might be faster than she is.
She suggests that Eric get some sleep, then returns to her quarters and
replays the scene for Lucien. He admits that Vixen is good enough to be
one of his. Ariana takes a nap, since she's worn out from healing Eric.
Usires goes out into Shadow in the afternoon, looking for his
Trumps. The climate gets very inhospitable, very quickly, and he soon
finds himself in a driving sleet storm. He concentrates on nice weather,
and the weather clears, but he finds himself in the middle of a firefight.
He tries to avoid the combat. He hears a whistle, dives for cover, and
the tree next to him is hit and begins to fall on him. He frantically
scrambles/shifts Shadow away, and hears a large cat-like growl. He keeps
going and winds up on a beach in front of a vast ocean. He goes to the
next cove to find a boat. He finds it, but it has a hole in it and only
one oar. He keeps looking. He finds a sailboat next, but it's only a
foot tall. He gives up and heads back to Amber.
Foster finally talks to Felix, and they square things between
them. Felix invites Foster and his family to spend the afternoon at the
beach house. This idea is agreeable to all. Much swinging the children
around ensures. Foster tries unsuccessfully to convince Laughter to wear
a bikini.
Laughter returns to Amber at three to meet with Eris. Eris is
waiting for her in the sitting room, and bows. Laughter returns the bow
with one of her own, but thinks this formality is dumb. She asks how Eris
is feeling. Like she's done something terribly wrong. She looks pretty
guilty. Laughter asks if she wants to be part of Pax's life, since he is
her brother. She'd like that. Laughter says she's sorry about everything
that's happened in the past. Eris really doesn't think Laughter has much
to apologize for. Eris isn't proud of her behavior. She figures she
should have outgrown that sort of thing. Laughter says everyone does
things that they later regret. At least what she did seems to be working
out OK. Eris mentions that Driscoll has her assigned to the night shift
for the next month as punishment. Laughter shifts the conversation to
something more pleasant, like army tactics.
Bart sticks his head into the sitting room and asks if he's
interrupting anything. Eris says no, she was just leaving. Laughter asks
if he needs the sitting room for anything. No, he needs to speak to her.
She asks if he ever got the mess with the rabbit resolved. Yes, they just
don't speak to each other, anymore. Bart asks her what she thinks of
Faerie, and informs her that she's been chosen as Amber's ambassador
there. Laughter sits down. She asks why she was chosen. He thinks it
has to do with the fact that they respect her, and everyone else who's
diplomatically inclined is either married to a faerie, or begotten of one.
Laughter doesn't point out that both Foster and Driscoll have faerie
blood. Why is Bart the one who's telling her this? He thinks Nicholas
knew it would be uncomfortable, and is trying to teach him something.
Apparently, he objected to some of the actions Nicholas is taking. Bart's
been trying to get Nicholas married off to Beauty, you see. In that case,
Laughter figures they're in league. She leaves to find Nicholas.
Alex practices one-handed sorcery in his quarters in Amber.
Laughter tells Nicholas that her meeting with Bart took place, and
he learned whatever lesson he was supposed to learn. Nicholas doubts
this. Does she accept the position? She wants to know why he chose her.
Well, in her, both he and the faeries know what they're dealing with. She
hopes he's right. He's discussed it with Auberon. She points out that
Foster and Driscoll have faerie heritage. True, but they don't have close
ties to Faerie. He asks if she has any other excuses. Can she leave
whenever she wants? She'll be given an artifact to facilitate this.
When? Not for a few days, yet. She's thinking of leaving and having her
kids grow up first, since she doesn't want to raise her children in
Faerie. Why? Faeries don't hold the same value on honesty as she does.
He'll leave it up to her. How is Kimdyl doing? Not well.
Ronan chews out the captain of the guard for letting Eric get cut
to pieces. The guard assures him that no one entered the castle. Ronan
is sure someone must have seen something, and asks who was on duty in that
part of the castle. Hamish. Ronan seeks him out. Hamish says he saw a
scullery maid enter Eric's room. Ronan questions the matron about this
scullery maid. She informs him that the maid came highly recommended by
someone who'd had her on staff for four years. Eric Trumps Ronan. Ronan
asks what happened. Eric says he was attacked by a scullery maid, who he
had been flirting with all day, but didn't otherwise know a thing about.
Eric gives Ronan a Trump of himself. Ronan says he'll look into the
matter, but Eric cautions him that someone that good at swordplay probably
isn't from Ronan's shadow. Ronan says he'll clear up stuff in Caledon and
then will join Eric in Amber. Eric says to look for him in the infirmary,
since he'll be there for a while. Ronan rides out to look into the person
who gave such a glowing recommendation of Vicky, the treacherous scullery
maid. Ronan finds that she was a wonderful, hard-working, and *chaste*
scullery maid. This chaste part doesn't jibe too well with Eric's
experience with her. Ronan goes to talk to the king, and asks why he was
replaced so soon. The king reminds him that he had dropped off the face
of the earth, so they had to replace the warlord.
Laughter goes back to the beach house. She and Felix pair up with
Foster and Driscoll for a mean game of volleyball. Foster takes his shoes
off, but his metal feet have no traction, so he slips and falls on his
ass. He grows spikes on his feet to avoid repeating this performance.
Driscoll only tries to return one of Felix's spikes, then decides to leave
that task for Foster. Ouch. Felix keeps aiming at Driscoll, though,
still feeling annoyed at him. Driscoll eventually starts blocking the
spikes right at the net. He's good at planting the ball right between
Laughter and Felix. Laughter decides to cheat in her own fashion, and
Trumps Ariana for a bikini during a break. Ariana hands her a rather
skimpy one, basically a thong and brief top, and comes through to watch
the results. Laughter in her bikini manages to distract her men enough to
win the day. She tries to change after the game, but Foster and Driscoll
quickly nix this idea. Ariana tells Laughter to keep the bikini, since
she won't be able to use it for another four months, and Trumps back to
Amber.
Evening in Bramber. Vixen and Brand go over details of the
assassination attempt. Brand will be inserting Vixen right into the
target's room. Once she's ready, he opens up a Trump gate into a dark
bedroom. Vixen steps through quietly, and the gate closes behind her.
She finds herself standing at the foot of a bed. There is a woman curled
up on it. Two more women step out of the shadows and begin to draw
weapons, but then freeze. Vixen steps around to the side of the bed. As
she does so, the sleeping woman's breathing alters, and she says, "Who's
there?" Vixen quickly severs her head and tosses it to the other side of
the room. Then she lops off the Hellmaids' heads, wipes her sword on the
bed, and sheathes it. She dresses herself in Amber attire and leaves the
bedroom. There's a woman in the next room who looks like she fell asleep
in a chair. Vixen ignores her and steps out the door into the hall. The
guards standing there look oddly at her. She smiles at them and keeps
moving. One of them goes into the room to check. She hurries down the
hall and looks around. She hears a shout go up, turns the corner, and
runs into Nimue. She smiles and keeps going, looking for a page. When
she finds one, she tells him that she has a message for Eric, and asks if
he can tell her where Eric is. He brings her to the infirmary, just as an
alarm goes off. She leaps back from the door, right before it opens.
Eric sees her and draws his sword as she tosses three poisoned throwing
stars at him. He knocks two of them aside, but the third hits. His sword
swings at her head. She shifts to her fox form and runs away, leaving her
weapons in a pile on the floor. She finds a dark corner, shifts back to
human, and tries her escape Trump. It doesn't work. Doh!
Ariana hears the alarms and runs for the infirmary. She finds a
pile of weapons on the floor, and Eric leaning on the wall. He feels cold
and clammy. She suspects he's been poisoned and checks. Yep. Removing
the poison takes almost all of her energy. Eric tells her to find the
fox. She gives a description of the fox and the woman to the guards, then
Trumps Lucien and tells him that the assassin is in the castle. He comes
through and asks her to take him to where she was last seen. She takes
him back to the infirmary. He shifts to a fox form and takes off.
Vixen runs into Usires, shifts to her fox form, and runs for the
basement. Usires is startled, to say the least. He pursues her, but she
manages to lose him. After a bit, she realizes that she's being followed
by another, larger fox. He's faster than her. She realizes that he's
going to run her down, so she shifts to her human form and tries to
garrote the fox as he comes around the corner. She manages to accomplish
this, but as she does so, the fox sinks his teeth into her arm and she
feels a presence in her mind. It says, "Good night," and she loses
consciousness. Usires arrives in time to see Vetch shift into his faerie
form and step through a wall carrying Vixen. He informs the appropriate
authorities.
Ariana heads towards the source of the alarm to see what happened.
She runs into Nicholas, who looks rather stony. He tells her that she's
too late. Kimdyl is dead. And he's been informed that her husband left
with the assassin. She thinks he's probably trying to figure out if she's
from his former house. And why couldn't he do this in Amber? Old,
paranoid habit? Nicholas says he wants to speak to her husband when he
returns, then hurries off. Ariana returns to her quarters, checks on her
kids, and puts on her armor, just in case there's more trouble. She tries
to Trump Lucien, but he's not answering. He doesn't respond to the ring,
either, other than to give her a feeling of "not now." She winds up
falling asleep, since she's too exhausted from healing Eric to stay awake
any longer.
Vixen wakes up tied to a chair. Lucien is standing in front of
her, in his true form. She tries to shift to her fox form, but can't.
Lucien says she's been a naughty girl, and giving up her employer might be
the only way to save her. It would help if she hadn't been successful.
Killing the King's mother was not a good idea. The victim was a relative
of his, as well. Vixen wants more assurances that she won't die if she
helps him. Well, admittedly, he's not loved in Amber, but he can help her
disappear. He's sure she's not of Chaos, but she is of Amber. That might
also save her. She considers this, then says that she's sure he
understands professional discretion. He nods. Then she adds,
"However..." She explains how Brand dicked her over. He tells her that
story's going to have to be changed if she wants to live. If he helps
her, she owes him half her life. What does he want to do? Alter her
memories, so that it looks like she did what she did because Brand
psychically dominated her. She doesn't like the idea of anyone changing
her memories. Lucien shifts to his faerie form and leaves.
Ariana is pulled through the floor by her ankle, which wakes her
up rather abruptly. Lucien brings her into the room where Vixen is tied
up, and explains the situation. Ariana asks if Vixen is an Amberite or a
Chaosite. Lucien thinks she's an Amberite, but he can't tell whose.
That's not his area of expertise, you see. Ariana asks if that's why he
brought her through. That, and he wanted her advice. She points out that
she'll need to borrow some of his energy in order to scan Vixen. He takes
her hand, and she feels greatly energized. She kisses him in thanks, then
asks Vixen for her name. She smiles a bit at the answer. Vixen notices
all the concealed weapons that Ariana is carrying and smiles herself.
Ariana touches Vixen's hand and scans her. All she can tell is that Vixen
is distantly related to Oberon. The closest relation she can find among
those that she's been in contact with is Bridget. She tells Lucien this.
Lucien thinks he'll need to keep Vixen on ice for a bit. Ariana frowns.
Lucien asks if the dungeons of Amber would be better. They would if he
wants to be able to set foot in Amber again. He sees the logic in this.
They Trump back to Amber, and Vixen is turned over to Benedict. As she is
being led away, she asks if she managed to kill Eric. Ariana tells her
she didn't.
Ariana asks Lucien psychically why they're trying to help her.
Lucien says that he understands her. Ariana relays Nicholas' message.
They go to see Nicholas, but Ariana is made to wait outside. There is a
loud discussion inside; Nicholas is venting. Nicholas yells that Vetch's
head could easily joins "hers." Ariana does not look happy about this.
It is spread around the castle that the Queen is dead. There is
also a rumor that the assassin has been apprehended.
Vixen is brought to a cell in the dungeons, where her hands are
separately manacled and her chains fastened to a table that is bolted to
the floor. Her legs are left free, however. The guards leave, and she is
alone. Since it's been a while since she last slept, she decides to take
a nap.
At the summer house, Laughter announces that she has accepted the
appointment from Nicholas to be the ambassador to Faerie. While everyone
is mulling this news over, Felix gets a Trump call. It's Gˇrard. He
suggests that everyone should come back to Amber. Like, now. Pack up,
and he'll pull them through. Felix relays this information. They all do
this thing. When they go through to Gˇrard, he tells them that Kimdyl has
been assassinated. It just doesn't get any better. Gˇrard explains some
of the circumstances, and says that she died quickly. Nicholas is
speaking with Vetch, and Nimue is comforting Flora, who was asleep in the
next room when it happened. The bodyguards were killed in the same
fashion.
Felix gets a hold of Murine and tells her about Kimdyl's
assassination.
Usires fails to get a hold of either Martin or Caine.
Laughter leaves to find Beauty, who is in Laughter's quarters,
crying. She voices her dismay and says that Nicholas sent her away.
Laughter tries to comfort her. Beauty winces and places a hand on her
abdomen. Laughter asks what's wrong. She says she feels a twinge, "like
a cramp." Laughter immediately Trumps Ariana. Ariana comes through and
runs a diagnostic spell on Beauty. She finds that the placenta is
separating from the wall of the uterus. She tells Laughter this, and
explains that she doesn't really have the skill to fix it, but Lucien
does. Laughter asks where he is. In the middle of a fight with Nicholas.
Laughter says she'll go take care of that. She marches down to Nicholas'
office, straight past the guards at the door, and interrupts the fight.
She tells Nicholas that Beauty is in fetal distress, and she needs Vetch.
Nicholas tells them to go. They do. Lucien assesses the situation and
tries a few things before saying he needs to approach the problem from the
inside. Ariana agrees to be the tool for this, since Beauty isn't likely
to let a man do what is essentially a pelvic exam. Beauty is mortified at
the idea of even Ariana doing this, but is eventually talked into it,
since it's the only way to save the baby. Lucien fixes the problem, while
Beauty cries in embarrassment. Laughter tries to relay an embarrassing
story of her own to make her feel better.
Ariana relays the fact that since the pregnancy was unnatural
(magical), it won't be easy to carry the child to term. Beauty will need
to stay off of her feet for the rest of the pregnancy, in order to lower
the risk of the placenta separating again. Ariana goes into the other
room and finds Nicholas looking worried. She explains the situation to
him, adding that it would help if Nicholas spent time with Beauty.
Nicholas gives a long, suffering sigh. Ariana says he can see Beauty now.
He passes Lucien as he goes in, and says they're not finished yet. Ariana
sighs and fetches Caitt.
Laughter suggests to Nicholas that they go to a fast Shadow and
have the kid tonight. It will also give Nicholas time to adjust to his
position. All right. Laughter asks if Beauty wants to keep Ariana on as
midwife. Nicholas thinks that would be wise. Laughter points out that
Ariana is also pregnant, so she's not likely to leave her husband behind.
That's fine with Nicholas. They have unfinished business to discuss,
anyway. Laughter insists on coming along as well. Again, this isn't a
problem.
Ronan wraps up his investigation, then tells the King of Caledon
that there was no Feyan invasion. The King looks relieved. Ronan
officially gives notice and Trumps Eric. The Trump animates slowly and
Eric looks tired. He pulls Ronan through to the infirmary, mentioning
that he was poisoned recently. Ronan is understandably surprised. Eric
explains about his second encounter with the assassin, who's now in the
dungeons. Ronan makes to go down there, but Eric suggests he not
interrupt Benedict. The man takes his work seriously, you see. Eric
summons a page and tells him to find quarters for Ronan. This is done,
then Ronan seeks out Felix.
Vixen wakes up when Benedict enters her cell. He scrutinizes her,
causing Vixen to pose and make a smart remark. This gets her slapped,
hard. After studying her further, Benedict asks who hired her. Brand.
Did she see a large ruby on his person? Yes, he was wearing it around his
neck. Benedict asks how Brand approached her, and she supplies him with
the details. She claims that once Brand had her in his power, she was
afraid that he would kill her if she didn't obey him. Why did she attack
Eric again after killing the Queen? She says she'll talk to Eric about
that. Benedict Trumps Eric and says that Vixen is ready for him, then
puts the card away and says it'll be some time before Eric joins them.
Vixen suddenly loses her composure, and rants about Brand, calling him a
bastard and cursing him. Then she calms again and mentions that Brand may
have sacrificed her as a distraction, to turn their attention away from
another target. He had originally intended for her to assassinate a Lord
Cadfan, who's blind and sees through the eyes of a crow. Benedict
immediately Trumps someone and orders that Meander be watched closely. He
tells Vixen that warning was a point in her favor. He questions her more
about her time with Brand. He's especially interested in the castle Brand
brought her to, and requests that she share her memories of the place with
him psychically. Vixen dislikes this idea greatly, but she really doesn't
have any choice in the matter.
Ronan tells Felix that Eric was accosted. Felix asks if he's OK.
Yeah, but when he returned, the same assassin followed him to Amber and
tried to kill him again. Felix wonders if it was the same woman who
killed the Queen. Ronan asks who was in charge of protecting her.
They're dead, too. Does this happen often? Not until recently. Is he
sure they're not still at war with Chaos? Well, the past two monarchs
that died recently were killed by agents of Chaos. Felix takes Ronan into
a sitting room, pulls out his Trumps, and begins going through them,
explaining who they are. He also describes the relatives he doesn't have
Trumps of. Then he gives Ronan the history of Amber.
Eric arrives at Vixen's cell and asks why she was trying to kill
him. She claims she let him go, the first time. Eric doesn't buy it and
repeats his question. She says that Brand wanted him dead, and she just
happened to be his tool of choice. Benedict doubts Brand is still at the
castle he showed Vixen. The question is, what is to be done with Vixen?
Eric figures she's in more trouble with Nicholas than him, since he's
still alive. He asks Vixen what they do to failed assassins in her world.
She never had occasion to find out. She repeats that he only survived her
first attack because she didn't really want to kill him. Otherwise, she
would have made the attempt after she'd slept with him. Or during, for
that matter. Eric concedes her point, and asks why she changed her mind.
Because he asked her if she was willing, and she realized that she hadn't
truly chosen her mission. She was simply being used by Brand. So she
decided to give Eric a chance to talk his way out of it, or at least die
with his eyes open. Eric says he can respect that, but she's still in
deep shit for assassinating the Queen. The fact that she was simply a
pawn of Brand's might spare her life, at least. Especially since she's
family. She will be punished, however. Vixen shifts her clothing back
into its orange collar form, then tilts her head so Eric can unbuckle it,
explaining that it's Brand's and she doesn't want it near her. This
leaves her completely naked, save for her nipple rings. Eric fumbles with
the buckle a bit before he manages to get the collar undone. He says
he'll have it checked out for her, looks her over once more, and leaves.
Benedict says that he'll see that she's brought a cloak before he follows
Eric out. A char woman enters a short time later and places a cloak
around Vixen's shoulders so that she is covered.
Laughter sets her men to packing for the trip into Shadow, then
talks with Beauty, and tries to convey to Beauty how important she is to
her, etc.
Ronan finds Eric and asks him for a Trump deck. Eric turns him
over to Random for this. Random notices his kilt and tells him that Felix
shares his taste in clothes. He leads Ronan to the library, unlocks the
case, and hands him a deck.
Nicholas Trumps Ariana and says that her presence is required and
requested on a jaunt they will be taking into Shadow until Beauty comes to
term. He doesn't want to order her to come, but he will if he must.
Ariana points out that she needs to take her family with her. That's
fine. In that case, he doesn't need to order her. She packs up her
family.
Alex spends the evening not interrupting Benedict.
Laughter, Beauty, Nicholas, Ariana, and their families travel to
Rath, then Fiona speeds the Shadow up. The first four months pass
relatively uneventfully. Ariana asks if Nicholas wants to know the sex of
the child. Yep. She tells him it's a boy. Ariana learns from Vetch that
Kimdyl was pregnant when she died. Nicholas and Vetch resume their
argument. Amazingly, Vetch loses, although he doesn't seem bothered by
it. He tries to establish contact with Foster, but every time he tries,
Foster looks down and adopts a subservient pose. Driscoll and Laughter
try to comfort him. Laughter is rather frustrated by his unwillingness to
talk about it. Laughter also gets more and more edgy as Beauty's
pregnancy progresses.
Mirelle continues to deny that she's pregnant, despite the growing
evidence to the contrary. Ariana is worried that she'll change
personalities again once the baby is born. Lucien suggests that they go
into her mind and try and meld the personalities back together, pointing
out that they can't really make things much worse. True. Lucien puts
Mirelle to sleep and they slowly and carefully fuse all of the splinter
personalities back into one. Once it is over, Lucien mumbles something
about Brand being even more heartless than him. Apparently Brand utterly
tormented Mirelle since she was a small child, and abused her sexually as
well. They also learn that Mirelle was working as a counter-agent for
House Borge during Patternfall. Her job was to keep an eye on Brand,
since his allies didn't trust him. When Mirelle wakes up she is quiet and
thoughtful for a long time, content to simply observe as she adjusts to
the fusion. Her sense of humor does not return while they are in Rath.
A couple of months after their arrival, Laughter finds Ariana and
brings up the tension between Foster and Lucien. Ariana thinks they need
to talk to each other, but Lucien's efforts to do so aren't meeting with
much success. Foster is still afraid of him. Ariana asks if Laughter's
told Foster that Lucien has retired. Um, no. Ariana thinks it might help
if he knew. They discuss Foster's training. Ariana learns that Foster's
lover was named Haris. Laughter learns that Haris was Foster's lover and
that Foster's training took 50 years. Laughter goes and breaks the news
to Foster. He's obviously stunned, and isn't quite sure what to do.
Laughter wants him to talk to Lucien. He warns her that this could get
ugly. She offers to go with him, but he thinks he needs to chase his
demons alone. He goes looking for Vetch, while Laughter finds Driscoll
and Ariana and fills them in. An hour later, they hear yelling from
inside, then crashes. When they investigate, they find an all-out battle
raging between two shapeshifting figures, one of whom is attacking while
the other is mostly soaking up damage. Their fight carries them out a
window to the outside. Laughter and Ariana follow them, but it quickly
becomes obvious that the combatants are trying to get away from their
audience. Ariana stops following them once she realizes this. Laughter
tries to continue her pursuit, but Driscoll restrains her. Laughter is
afraid they'll kill each other. Ariana and Driscoll assure her that this
won't happen.
Foster stumbles back in during dinner and plops down into a chair
by the fire. He looks utterly exhausted. Ariana uses her ring to locate
Lucien, and determines that he's about three miles away. He sends her
back reassurance. Laughter makes Foster eat some soup while Ariana tries
to restore some of his energy. Unfortunately, due to her advanced
pregnancy, she can't spare enough to make much of a difference. Foster
falls asleep as soon as he is done eating. Laughter puts a blanket over
him and goes back to dinner. Ariana does likewise, checking Lucien's
position periodically. It doesn't change, and she gets no further
response from him.
After dinner, Laughter brings Foster to their quarters. Ariana
uses talking bones to check on Lucien, whose position still hasn't
changed. She finds him curled up next to a tree, sound asleep. Ariana
asks Driscoll to lend her a hand, and teleports with him to Lucien's
location. Driscoll picks Lucien up and Ariana teleports with them to her
bedroom. Driscoll places Lucien on the bed and then leaves to rejoin
Laughter. Ariana examines Lucien and finds that he is covered in welts
and bruises that aren't healing. It appears that his shapeshifting got
that far and then run out of energy. Ariana uses one of her healing
spells to finish the job, causing him to stir slightly. Ariana tells him
that he's home, and he needs to rest. He goes back to sleep and doesn't
wake up until early the following afternoon. Foster is missing from
breakfast and lunch as well. Ariana conjures food and water for Lucien
when he finally wakes up. He consumes large quantities of both, then
sleeps until dinner. Ariana notices that he seems to be favoring his
groin, and asks if he's still in pain. He tells her not to worry about
it. Apparently when Foster was venting, he focused his anger on that
which had caused him pain in the past. Ariana is proud of him for
allowing Foster to get it all out of his system. They head down to
dinner, where Foster is present, as well. He seems to have completely
recovered, and the tension between him and Lucien is now gone, much to the
delight of their wives.
Ariana goes into labor a week early, very early in the morning.
Caitt acts as midwife. Jalana, Laughter and Lucien, are present as well.
Ariana is in labor for only four hours before giving birth to a girl.
She's a very small baby, weighing only a little over six pounds. Jalana
is very excited. Laughter asks what the baby's name is. Ana. She's born
with almost no hair, and the same pale blue eyes as Hary.
One week later, Jalana asks Ariana if she and Lucien are her real
parents. She can't figure out how Ariana could have had four babies at
once. Ariana admits that it can happen, but it's rare. She gathers all
the children together, and gently explains that she didn't give birth to
Shannon and Vincent, although that doesn't mean that she's not their
mother. Vincent asks who their mother was, and if Lucien was married to
her. Lucien admits that he wasn't, but claims that he was very fond of
Sand when they were conceived. He echoes Ariana's assurance that they
love all four of them equally. Vincent asks if they can stay. Ariana
says she'd be terribly hurt if they didn't. Shannon asks if they can
still call her mother. Of course. Vincent asks what happened to Sand.
Ariana reveals that she's dead. Shannon asks how she died. Ariana
hesitates, then reluctantly admits that she was executed by Oberon. The
boys are shocked by this, and they begin to cry. Ariana hugs them and
Jalana, who is also crying. Shannon asks if this is why they're bad.
Jalana doesn't see how it could be, since Morgan's always getting into
trouble too. Ariana assures them that their behavior, good or bad, has
nothing to do with Sand, since Ariana raised them from the day that they
were born. She hugs the children until they seem to have calmed somewhat,
then tells them about how she learned she was adopted, when she wasn't
much older than them. This seems to help, and they look greatly
reassured, although they still want to sleep in their parents' bed for the
next couple of nights. They appear to have completely adjusted within a
couple of weeks.
One week after Ariana's revelation to her children, three weeks
ahead of schedule, Beauty goes into labor in the middle of the day. She
doesn't want any men in the room, so only Laughter, Ariana and Caitt are
present. Laughter holds her hand, while Ariana monitors the progress of
the labor and blocks the pain. Beauty turns out to have a low pain
threshold. She has a long labor, lasting over 20 hours, and Ariana has to
feed her energy at the end to give her the strength to push. When the
baby crowns, Ariana feels something tear, and Beauty begins bleeding
profusely. Caitt takes the baby while Ariana begins trying to heal the
damage. This takes all of her concentration. Laughter sees the blood,
and asks Ariana what's going on. When she gets no response from Ariana,
she screams for Vetch. He and Nicholas come in. Caitt gives the baby to
Nicholas to keep him busy. Vetch places his hands on Ariana's temples,
and they combine their efforts. Beauty passes out from blood loss before
they are finished. Once they have finally managed to repair the damage,
Ariana transfuses Beauty. Vetch recovers first, having been far less
drained by the effort, and tells Laughter that Beauty will be all right.
Laughter bursts into tears and runs out of the room. Her men comfort her,
and she eventually returns. Beauty wakes up with no idea that anything
went wrong. She is given the baby to feed, while Laughter takes her hand.
Ariana hugs Laughter. Laughter shares psychically with Ariana that this
is how Elizabeth died. She thinks they should discuss birth control with
Beauty. Ariana agrees, since Beauty's makeup is such that she is likely
to have the same difficulty delivering any future children.
Three more weeks pass. Nicholas and Beauty don't name the child
for the first week or so, which drives Laughter to distraction.
Eventually, they settle on Corbin. Once Corbin is three weeks old, they
decide everyone has recovered enough and return to Amber, arriving in the
morning about 12 hours after they left.
Sunday, July 16, 2994
Nicholas announces at breakfast that Kimdyl is dead. Services for
her will be the day after tomorrow. Eric introduces Ronan as his son.
Ruepert is chased around under the table by the various small children.
Usires takes a drink after meeting the talking rabbit. He asks
Martin about the problems he ran into in Shadow. Martin confirms that
it's pretty wild out there, right now. Still, he should have been able to
find the deck, so someone must have it.
The children continue to chase Ruepert under the table until
Jalana rescues him. Usires glares at Ruepert, figuring he's the one who
has the missing deck. Ariana thinks he's glaring at Jalana and glares at
him. She calls Jalana over and has her sit next to her. Ruepert looks at
Ariana's chest and says that she smells like lunch. Ariana takes him out
of the room and drop-kicks him down the hall. Jackie nods in
satisfaction.
Laughter and Ariana talk with Beauty after breakfast about casting
a spell to prevent her from accidentally conceiving. Beauty doesn't want
it. She doesn't think there's any point to it, anyway, since Nicholas
hasn't touched her since Corbin's conception. She mentions that he still
hasn't discussed marriage with her. Oh really? Does she want to marry
him? Yes. Ariana leaves the two of them to discuss this.
Ariana, Usires, Felix and Ronan all spar together. Ariana is
still the best fighter. Ronan is stronger than her, but not as strong as
Felix. Ronan isn't happy about being bested by a woman. Ariana also
fights him hand to hand, so he can beat her and feel better.
Alex fetches Mebd from Faerie and uses the anti-faerie spell on
her. She suddenly notices that his hand is missing, and screams. Alex
manages to calm her down, and they begin making up for lost time. Teresa
interrupts them and says that's disgusting. Then she says she won't share
the information she has, and leaves.
Laughter goes to see Nicholas, who's talking with Random, and asks
to speak to him. He dismisses Random. Laughter says she's here for a
friendly chat, and wants to ascertain his intentions towards her daughter.
He tells her that his intentions towards Beauty have changed recently. He
doesn't want to put Beauty in harm's way, right now. Laughter asks if he
explained this line of thinking to her. Not really. Laughter points out
that the child will still be in danger, whether he marries Beauty or not.
He says she sounds like Bart. She discusses why she and Bart don't get
along, due to what he did to Sequence. Although it doesn't bother her as
much, now. She reminds him of her advice not to shut Beauty out. Beauty
is the sort who needs demonstrations of love. Nicholas asks if he can go
see her now. Laughter tells him that Beauty won't take the contraception
spell. Nicholas points out that it's not like he's walked the Pattern,
recently. Why? His mood darkens as he tells her that he can't. She
harasses him until he explains why. She thinks he should order Vetch to
undo it. He claims that the one time the matter came up, Vetch showed no
interest in doing so. Laughter thinks that maybe Vetch could undo the
physical aspect of it, and Fiona the mental. Maybe his mind could be
convinced that he walked the Logrus. But he shouldn't wait. Nicholas
scribbles a note and tells a page to take it to Lord Vetch. Laughter
apologizes for overstepping her bounds. Nicholas' mood seems to have
lifted, though. He'll see what Vetch has to say.
The sparring group is heading out when Eris enters the practice
room. She is introduced to Ronan, who isn't sure what to make of her
dragon tattoo. He's astounded to learn that there are dragons in Amber.
Eris and Ariana take him up to introduce him. They run into Laughter
heading down to spar, but she's not interested in coming along. Ariana
shows Ana to Clytemnestra and Mercury. They also sniff at Ronan and are
introduced. Ronan's a bit nervous about this. Then Eris mounts Mercury
and rides off. Ronan becomes even more confused. Ariana notices this,
and says she knows how he feels. She explains how she came to Amber, the
Pattern, etc. Apparently Eric hadn't gotten around to telling Ronan about
the Pattern, yet. Ronan expresses concern about Amber's safety, given the
attacks on his father, Kimdyl, etc. Ariana says the assassin was strongly
backed, but can't say more. Ronan asks who's in charge of Amber's
defense. Benedict. Ronan wants a job. Where he came from, he was the
warlord, you see. Ariana tries to take him to see Benedict, but he's
busy interrogating Vixen.
Laughter goes to see Bart, missing the role Pari used to play as
her confessor. She tries explaining this to Bart, but he doesn't
understand the need she has to confess. He's happy to listen to her,
though. He finally understands that it's the expiation of guilt that's
involved. She tells him of her conversation with Nicholas.
Usires talks to Caine about the problems in Shadow. Caine doesn't
think it's going to go away any time soon.
Ariana returns to her quarters to find Lucien frowning over a
note. He's been summoned by Nicholas. Oh well, he liked having a head.
He figures it's about the Pattern thing, but there may not be anything he
can do. Ariana walks down with him. He kisses her at the door and says
goodbye, which only serves to make her nervous. Much yelling ensues,
while Ariana paces and worries. Then Fiona enters the room and everything
goes quiet. Ronan comes by and asks to see Nicholas, and is told that
he's otherwise occupied. He notices that Ariana seems kind of tense, and
asks if everything's all right. She'll let him know. He decides to come
back later.
Felix visits Foster, who's with the kids and Driscoll. Driscoll
makes an excuse and leaves shortly after Felix arrives. Felix mentions to
Foster that he saw Eris. Does he want to talk about it? Not yet. It
only happened a few days ago, for him. Foster and the kids do their best
to cheer him up.
Ronan talks to Eric. He mentions that Ariana told him that the
assassin was strongly backed. Eric says that still doesn't clear up
whether the backing came from Amber or Chaos. Ronan says that Ariana also
told him a lot of other things. Like about the dragons. Eric figures
fire-breathing dragons have a place in defense. They breathe fire? Yep.
Ronan also mentions that he's concerned about his fighting skills. He was
the best fighter in his Shadow, but that doesn't seem to be true in Amber.
Who did he spar with? Felix. Usires. Ariana. Ah, she cleaned his
clock? Yep. Eric laughs, then points out that she's been known to give
lessons. And when she's taught him all she can, Eric will take over. He
figures Ronan should walk the Pattern, and asks if he's free right now.
Sure. They go down to Nicholas' office. Ariana is still there, and asks
how Eric is feeling. Fine, but she how is she doing? She'll let him
know. She tells him that Nicholas is busy. When Eric hears that Vetch is
in there, he tells Ronan it'll be a while. Ronan leaves to explore the
castle.
Laughter talks to Tamaryn for a bit about Faerie, then takes the
kids down to the practice room for a sparring lesson. She teaches Iseult
while Felix pummels Foster. Then she visits Beauty. She eventually
manages to get Beauty to agree to the contraception spell, after telling
Beauty how afraid she is of losing her like she did Elizabeth. They
discuss Nicholas, and Beauty admits that she's never told Nicholas that
she loves him. Laughter is amazed, and suggests remedying this, quickly.
Ariana chats with Bridget for a bit, and convinces her to attend
dinner with the family. She tells Bridget that she is nobility, but
Bridget doesn't believe her.
Alex and Mebd spend the morning together. He contacts Teresa in
the afternoon. She gives him a ring of Drumm's, which should make it
easier to summon him if things don't go their way. They never swore to
abide by the decision, after all. Teresa leaves. Alex asks Mebd how her
time in Faerie went. What time in Faerie? Never mind.
Ariana contacts Drumm with the talking bones and asks to speak to
him. He comes through her wall. She asks how difficult it is to retrieve
memories of a past life. Not too difficult. It involves a combination of
spellcasting and hypnosis. It mostly retrieves the highlights, though.
Does he know someone who can do it? He can. He asks why she wants to
know. She'd like to retrieve the memories from her past life. He
mentions that it might be difficult, since no one's ever tried to do this
with an Amberite. And if the soul was faerie? That would make it easier,
although it would distress the theologians. Does she have a faerie soul?
Perhaps. He studies her, then guesses she has Loryn's soul. She admits
that this is true. He figures this explains Oishin's behavior. Has she
told Auberon, yet? No, she wasn't sure how he'd react. Drumm thinks he'd
be happy. Titania's the elitist of that marriage. Drumm checks and
confirms that it really is Loryn's soul that Ariana has. Will Drumm cast
the spell for her? Well, he's busy with Alex and Teresa, but he can
recommend someone for her. She tells him that Vetch offered his
assistance in regards to Alex and Teresa. He'll take all the help he can
get. She asks why he guessed that she has Loryn's soul, out of all the
possibilities. Because Oishin never loved anyone else. As Drumm is
preparing to leave, she asks why he picked her instead of Laughter to go
after Zane, when he didn't know her. Because she's a better fighter than
Laughter. He admits, it was a bad idea, but he was rather stressed at the
time by the Unicorn's death.
Benedict finds Ronan and asks what he wanted to speak to him
about. Ronan wants to know more about Eric's assassin. Benedict decides
he should get it straight from the horse's mouth, and takes him down to
the dungeons. It takes 45 minutes to descend the stairs. When they reach
Vixen's cell, Ronan sees a smallish, red-haired woman, 5'2" tall, with
yellow-brown eyes, red hair, and sharp features. She has a purple bruise
on her cheek and is wearing only a cloak.. Vixen sees a 6' tall man,
with sharp features, black, flowing hair, a goatee, and green eyes. He's
wearing plaid. Ronan asks what prompted her to try and take Eric's life.
It's her job. Great, she's an assassin. Who sent her? She comments that
his people apparently don't talk to each other, then says she was paid to
kill his father by his uncle, Brand. Brand is not a particularly savory
character. Ronan observes that assassination isn't savory, either. She
says there are always extenuating circumstances. He calls her a coward.
He won't hurt her, but if she comes near his father, he'll kill her. What
if she's there with Eric's permission? He asks if she always buries
knives in the backs of her lovers. She begins counting on her fingers,
which reveals to Ronan that she's naked under the cloak. Ronan says he's
finally found his family, and he doesn't intend to lose them. Vixen says
she's finally found her family, too, and they're even stranger then the
last. As Ronan leaves, Benedict informs him flatly that Vixen is family,
too.
As they climb the stairs, Benedict observes that Ronan was
complaining of not having a job. He offers him the position of Captain of
the King's Guard. It was honorary, but not anymore. There are currently
four members of the guard: Herse, Manto, Tatia and Zena. They are
Hellmaids. The small woman in the cell below killed the other two. Ronan
will be gathering the rest from the lords of the land. Ander Arion,
Benedict's second, will help him with this. Ronan is excited to have
something to do.
Lucien returns in the evening, after dinner. He looks tired. He
explains that he and Fiona were not able to remove Nicholas' Pattern
phobia. Nicholas is not pleased, but he has bigger problems occupying his
attention. Like what? Well, Bartholomew has been arguing with Nicholas
about why he hasn't married Beauty, and now he is championing Vixen's
cause, as well. Ariana isn't surprised. She conjures Lucien something to
eat and tells him of her day, including her conversation with Drumm.
She's not sure why Drumm seemed surprised by her revelation. Lucien says
that, to the best of his knowledge, hers is the first faerie soul to be
reborn in a human. Ariana mentions Drumm's offer to recommend someone to
cast the regression spell for her. Lucien would rather Drumm did it,
since it's a rather delicate spell. He can always play lookout for Drumm.
Ariana decides to hold off on the regression until after the attempt to
rescue Miranda.
Monday, July 17, 2994
Laughter has a dream involving Sequence that is identical to the
one she had before, except that when the climax starts, it feels like
there really is a sword ramming into her, and this hurts quite a bit. She
sits up rather suddenly, and checks to make sure it wasn't real. Driscoll
wakes up with her, although Foster doesn't. He asks what's wrong.
Laughter runs for the bathroom and throws up, which manages to wake Foster
up. The men eventually convince Laughter to tell them what happened.
Driscoll, being the suspicious sort, thinks faerie magic may be involved.
Ariana dreams that she's making love to Lucien when he pins her
arms and turns into someone else again. This time it's Benedict instead
of Oberon. As in the first dream, she finds that she's enjoying herself.
She wakes up with a start, and finds this rather disturbing. Lucien wakes
up as well, and she tells him of her dream. He jokes that she's working
her way through the family, but she fails to see the humor in this.
Lucien massages her neck and back to help her relax. He still doesn't
think there's any reason to worry, since the dream isn't particularly
terrifying. Ariana isn't so sure. Lucien offers to take her mind off of
the subject, an offer Ariana is more than willing to take him up on.
Quotables:
"Well, I got through the first two things on my to-do list. Survive
meeting Brand. Seduce Rinaldo." -- Vixen to GM
"Other than severe resistance, is there any other pattern to the direction
I was going?" -- Usires to GM
"It was a mean and spiteful thing, that I should have outgrown a long time
ago." -- Eris
"Well, you're an Amberite..." -- Laughter
"You know, if I were Queen, I'd be opening up universities, brothels,
casinos..." -- Laughter to the group at large
"It's probably beneath your dignity to talk to a rabbit, after all." --
Laughter
"I was not aware that my position came with dignity." -- Bart
"Well, the rabbit's certainly doesn't." -- Laughter
"There's not much difference between a waking death and a sleeping one."
-- Vixen to Lucien
"(Kimdyl's) guards were dispatched as well." -- Felix
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" -- Ronan
"Well, we had a good track record until recently." -- Felix
"You can always trust a man with pleats." -- Ronan to Felix
"I'm slow but amiable." -- Felix to the group at large
"Wow, I was almost effective this session." -- Mer to the group at large
Back to the
Log list