Chapter 104: "I don't think genocide is a felony."

Tuesday, July 18, 2994

	Laughter asks Nicholas' permission to marry Driscoll.  He grants
it.  Now she just has to face Mandor.  Nicholas wishes Mandor luck.
Laughter mentions that Mandor tried to arrange this before.  Everyone
looks surprised, except for Driscoll, who looks at the ceiling.  Foster
elbows him in the ribs.  Laughter gets them out of there before they
embarrass each other.  

	Laughter meets with Nicholas a little while later, and asks if she
can try to attune herself to one of the Unicorn's eyes.  He'll only allow
this if someone is present who is attuned to the Jewel of Judgment.  Can
she bring Random with her to Bedlam?  She's welcome to try.

	Laughter finds Random and explains about the time she's going to
be passing in Shadow, and who's going.  She asks if he wants to come
along.  He assumes this is because of Driscoll?  Yes, but she also needs a
favor.  Nicholas won't let her play with the jewels unless Random is
there, you see.  Random falls out of his chair.  Laughter tries not to
laugh.  Random says she'd better not laugh, if she wants him to come
along.  She explains that she wants to use the Unicorn's eye that would
put her in opposition to the one Brand has.  Random says he'll come.

	Laughter tells Nicholas that Random has agreed to come along.  She
also wants Ariana, Foster and Driscoll to watch when she tries to attune
herself.  Nicholas warns that she's doing a dangerous thing.  She doesn't
think she'll blow herself up, but something has to be done about Brand.
Nicholas gives her his permission.  He stands, opens the panel to the
Pattern room, and returns in five minutes with the Jewel of Creation.
Laughter walks the Pattern with it, looks into it, and...nothing happens.
She teleports to Suhuy, who looks startled.  She says it didn't work.  He
calls Fiona in.  Fiona studies the eye and says it's a fake.  Laughter
Trumps Nicholas and brings him through.  She tells him it's a fake.
Nicholas scowls, and asks Fiona and Suhuy to come back with him to verify
the remaining two.  They are all sequestered in his office for a time.
Fiona can't find any trace of who took the Eye of Creation.  She thinks it
was replaced before Brand took the other one, which is, of course, the Eye
of Destruction.  Only people with Amber blood can use it.  Chaosites and
faeries can't.  They don't know of any family who could have taken it.
Laughter points out that there are two family members of unknown origin.
True.  Laughter also mentions that she's had two interesting nightmares,
and she was wondering if faeries were doing it in retaliation for her new
position.  Fiona says that a charm could be devised to prevent them from
influencing her mind, if that's the case.

	Nothing unusual happens at dinner, except that Vixen seems to have
dressed up for the occasion.  She meets Martin, but spends most of the
dinner talking to Eric again.  Ronan continues to be disgusted by this.
Ariana talks with Isabeux and Bridget about her trip into Shadow.  Isabeux
reveals that she and her family are coming along, too.  Bridget thinks
they're all daft.  Ariana explains her reasons for going.  It's obvious
that Shard hasn't talked with Bridget yet.

	Ariana attempts to talk to Shard after sunset, but he's nowhere to
be found.  She leaves him a note explaining that there may be a way to
make him human again.  She also says that she's willing to give him a
piece of her soul again, if their attempts to make him human fail.

	Driscoll's marriage to Laughter and Foster takes place in the
castle chapel after dinner.  Bart officiates the wedding, adapting it from
a Rebman ceremony in which those to be wed come forth from those gathered.
Present are Mandor, Fiona, Suhuy, Alexandra, Caitt, Ariana, Vetch,
Laughter's and Ariana's children, Eris, Nicholas, Random, Vialle, Martin,
Lyss, Felix, Tamaryn and Meander.  There is a small gathering afterwards,
so that those from the attendees who are leaving can say goodbye to those
who are staying behind.  Fiona gives Laughter a hug and wishes her luck.
Caitt and Beauty are in tears.  Nicholas tries to comfort Beauty, and
wishes them all the best of luck.  He seems to have something on his mind
that he is not sharing.  Mandor says a few words to Driscoll at one point.
Eris is rather quiet.  Ariana hugs the newlyweds and seems happy for them,
although something seems to be weighing heavily on her.  Felix seems both
happy and uncomfortable.  He hugs Laughter and Foster, then walks over to
Driscoll and stands there for a moment, looking unsure of what to do.  He
finally offers his hand, then changes his mind and gives Driscoll a
somewhat short and awkward hug, as he bids him welcome to the family.
Driscoll says that means a lot to him.

	Vixen plays some dominance games with Eric, which includes her
punching Eric in the kidney.  Eric likes this not at all.  He easily
subdues her after this, and they proceed to engage in some moderately
kinky sex.  Eric decides not to mention the Pattern's effect on fertility
to Vixen before they do so.  Doh!

	Driscoll speeds up Bedlam, and Laughter and her family, Ariana and
her family, Anne, Mirelle, Random, Vialle, Gˇrard, Isabeux, Vivienne,
Felix, Tamaryn and Eris all pass six years there.  Bedlam is basically a
high-tech, Celtic Shadow, where Ireland wasn't conquered by England.
There are lots of electronic conveniences, like data jacks.  There are
also a number of fine universities.  The style of dress is mostly modern,
with a touch of Medieval thrown in for good measure.  Driscoll lives on
the top four floors of a skyscraper, which is kind of like a posh hotel,
with a greenhouse and a forest in miniature on the top of the building.
His family stays there, but he offers to setup any sort of living
arrangements that people want.  Ariana's family stays at the skyscraper,
except for the summers, when they have a place by the ocean.  Felix and
Tamaryn wind up living in a brownstone in town, while Gˇrard's family
lives in Driscoll's country estate.

	Driscoll is pretty famous in Bedlam as a rock star, and he
restarts his musical career when they arrive, although he keeps touring to
a minimum.  His family is kind of regarded like Bedlam's equivalent of the
Kennedy's, and is followed a lot in the press.  While Laughter isn't
completely comfortable with this, Ariana seems to enjoy the attention.

	Random is surprised to discover that Mirelle seems to be sane.
Ariana explains what she and Lucien did.  Mirelle gives birth to a boy
about two months after arriving in Bedlam.  He is small, with curly black
hair and brown eyes.  She and Ariana fight over the fact that she wants to
name him Misery.  Mirelle believes there should be meaning in a child's
name.  Ariana was named Mercedes because she was conceived in one.  This
child was conceived in misery, so...  Eventually, Ariana suggests naming
the baby Devlin, since it's an Irish name that means "misfortune."
Mirelle loves the idea.

	It becomes obvious to all that Isabeux is carrying another boy,
judging by how large she gets.  At the end of her seventh month of
pregnancy, about five months into the stay in Bedlam, the baby is already
the size of a normal child at full term.  Ariana expresses concern over
this.  Given that the child still has two months of growth ahead of it,
she's certain that if Isabeux gives birth normally, the baby will get
stuck and Isabeux will bleed to death.  Isabeux refuses to even consider
having a Cesarean, however.  When Ariana can't talk Isabeux into it, she
explains matters to the big guns, namely Gˇrard and Felix.  They both
agree to talk to her about it.  Ariana also suggests that Gˇrard and
Isabeux move into the city before Isabeux enters her last month of
pregnancy, since the size of the child makes it likely that she'll go into
labor early.  Or cause other complications.  Gˇrard and Felix eventually
persuade Isabeux to use the available technology, unnatural though it may
seem.  At the beginning of her ninth month, Isabeux begins bleeding
heavily.  She's rushed to the hospital and into emergency surgery.  The
baby is removed by Cesarean, then a hysterectomy has to be performed to
stop Isabeux from bleeding to death.  Fortunately, both mother and son
survive.  The boy is named Gideon.  He has dark brown hair, and his eyes
eventually become green.

	Shortly after Isabeux gives birth, Random and Vialle have a son,
who they name Vaughn.

	Laughter gives birth to Isaac nine months after arriving in
Bedlam, after 13 hours of labor.  He has blond hair and blue-violet eyes.
He looks kind of like Gramble.  He lives up to his name and is very
cheerful.  His sister Elsbeth is born two years later, with curly red hair
and brown eyes.  She looks kind of like Fiona.  Isaac is Driscoll's child,
Elsbeth is Foster's.

	Ariana gives birth to Briana a week or so after Isaac is born,
after laboring for 10 hours.  Briana has strawberry blond hair and dark
blue eyes.

	Tamaryn and Felix have two sons over the interim.  The first one
they name Crispin.  He has sandy brown hair and blue-gray eyes, and is
born a week or so after Briana.  The second boy is born two years later
and named Donal.  He has auburn hair and blue-green eyes.

	Lots of miscellaneous stuff takes place.  Laughter tells Ariana
she can draw Trump.  Ariana tells her about the vampire she encountered in
Brand's castle.  She also mentions that Shard had a piece of her soul
until she walked the Pattern, although she chooses not to mention the
incident where Shard bit her.  She also tells Laughter that she has
Loryn's soul.  Laughter mentions the two disturbing dreams she had in
Amber.  Ariana tells of the two she had, and they soon realize that they
had these dreams on the same nights.  Laughter thinks the faeries were
doing it because she was named ambassador.  This doesn't explain why
Ariana was having them, though.  Ariana thinks that Brand may have been
responsible in her case, since he was apparently in her mind.

	Ariana and her kids get data jacks.  Laughter and her kids do not,
since Laughter doesn't like them, and her kids' interests are more
physical than mental.  Felix doesn't like them either, saying that they're
unnatural.

	The family continues its interest in swordplay, which is not seen
as unusual in Bedlam, since (conveniently) there is a swordplay revival
going on.  Laughter, Iseult, Eris, Ariana and her sons spend the most time
at this.  Iseult takes it all very seriously.  Eris manages to become a
slightly better fighter than Laughter.  Jalana doesn't like fighting all
that much, although she seems to have a talent for it.  She learns enough
to defend herself, but only at her mother's insistence.

	When the older children are taught how to ride, it becomes obvious
that Shannon has a fear of horses.  Shannon asks Laughter why Ariana keeps
insisting that he learn how to ride.  Because she thinks he needs to know
it, since it might save his life someday.  He doesn't see how, since he
can just shapeshift into a horse if he needs to move fast.  He won't
believe that there's anything that can turn off his shapeshifting.  Ariana
tries to explain that there may be times when he's too exhausted to run
himself, but can still ride.  Nothing anyone says seems to make a
difference, though.  Shannon thinks horses are stupid and is petrified of
what they'll do if he's riding one.  When placed on one, he simply
stiffens up until he falls off.  Everyone is pretty much at a loss as to
the source of this.

	Lucien sets up a special room where he spends a lot of time
tinkering with things.

	Ariana and Laughter spend some time familiarizing themselves with
the high-tech weapons available in Bedlam.  In addition to how to use
them, Ariana also studies how they work, so that she can conjure them.

	Mirelle's sense of humor returns after a couple of years.

	Laughter learns Trump ID from Random, in exchange for teaching him
Trump sketches.  She also gets a doctorate in botany/bio-engineering from
the local university.

	Ariana studies advanced medical techniques for a couple of years,
then spends some time working at one of the hospitals.

	Laughter and Ariana insist on spending some time with their
families out of the high-tech environment.  While Laughter's kids have no
problems with this, Ariana's kids hate it and put up more a fight about it
each year.

	Iseult picks up the nickname of Izzy.  Five years after arriving
in Bedlam, she figures out how to shapeshift into a boy, and stays that
way for about six months, until Haris and Foster talk her back into being
a girl.  It frustrates Laughter to no end, in the meantime.  Eris plays
big sister to all of Laughter's kids, but is really tight with Iseult, so
Laughter talks to her to try to figure out what's going on with Iseult.
Eris reveals that Iseult is very angry that she's a girl.  It seems to
have its roots in an imagined limitation she picked up while taking health
class in school, and no one is able to convince her otherwise.

	At the end of the six years, Haris and Ariana's eldest four
children are already as tall as their mothers.  Iseult and Pax are a head
shorter.  The older children are still all very close.  Hary and Ariana's
boys are all into sports and video games, as is Foster.  He and Felix play
amateur rugby on opposing teams and have fun beating each other up.
Ariana's kids, Hary, and Iseult all seem to have inherited the Vetch
legacy and are gifted shapeshifters.  Ariana's boys calm down from their
wilder youth, although their basic personalities remain the same.  Jalana
and Morgan are interested in biology, while Shannon and Vincent are more
into the physical sciences.  They all love computers.  Jalana is
constantly with Ana and Briana.  Hary continues to be as friendly as he
was when he was younger, and kind of becomes an unofficial big brother to
the other kids.  At age ten, Iseult still continues to prefer playing with
boys, etc., and is constantly engaging in battles of will with her
parents, managing to exasperate even Foster.  She is given to angry
outbursts, but can usually be calmed down by Hary, Isaac or Foster.  Pax
is a lot like Driscoll, but without the brooding.  He's definitely
inherited Driscoll's musical talent, and spends a lot of time fooling
around with various musical instruments.  He's also a bit frailer than the
other children.  He adores his family, but seems to prefer spending time
with Hary over Iseult.

	The nine youngest kids are all very close to each other.  Devlin
turns out to be chock full of mischief and daring, but he has a good
heart, and Mirelle adores him.  He has a small build, much like his mother
and sister.  Crispin is very compassionate, but has a strong obstinate
streak in him and tends to fret over things.  He favors his mother's
build.  Donal is also compassionate, easy going and jovial, but favors his
father's solid build.  Isaac is almost always in a happy mood, and is
highly perceptive of the feelings of those around him.  His build seems to
be a good blend of Driscoll and Laughter.  Elsbeth is lively, energetic
and eloquent, but is given to wistful looks.  Ana's temperament seems to
be a complete blend of her parents.  Despite being ten months older than
Briana, they are about the same height, and Ana seems to have inherited
her mother's small build.  Her hair lightens from red-brown to auburn.
Briana is virtually a carbon copy of her father in temperament.  She is
the only one of his children to sass him.  Gideon is inquisitive,
gullible, curious and adventurous, i.e., he is quite a handful for
Isabeux.  Vaughn is a good blend between his parents, with his mother's
wisdom, sensitivity and gentleness, and his father's propensity for
showing off.

	Ariana's kids all pitch a fit over returning to Amber, since they
don't want to leave all the technology behind.  Vincent is also upset
because if Laughter goes back for another six years, then Iseult will as
well, and he doesn't want her to be older than him.  He has a crush on
her, apparently, although she isn't aware of it.  Ariana says she'll see
if she can't persuade Laughter to stay in Amber for a little while.

	Ariana talks to Laughter about remaining in Amber, instead of
going right back out into Shadow.  She thinks it's better for the children
to spend some time living in Amber before they're fully grown.  Plus,
Laughter did want her kids to spend some time in Middlecourt...  Laughter
decides to postpone the return to Bedlam for a while.

Wednesday, July 19, 2994

	The Bedlam contingent returns to Amber in time for breakfast.
Ruepert is dismayed by the prospect of so many small children.  Bridget
crosses herself at the sight of them.  Ariana attempts to talk to her,
reminding her that she warned her this was going to happen.  Bridget
knows, but it still makes her nervous.  Ariana tells Vincent that
Laughter's family will be staying in Amber for a while.  He's overjoyed at
the news, of course.

	Vixen wakes up next to Eric and takes a bath.  Then she gets
dressed and goes looking for breakfast.  She sits next to Usires and
observes that there seem to be a bunch of new children at breakfast.
Usires says they must have gone to a fast-time Shadow.  What does he mean
by that?  A Shadow where time is faster.  She asks if he's walked the
Pattern.  Once.  He thought he was dreaming at the time.  What can you do?
Shift Shadow.  How?  He just does it.  She convinces him to take her out
and show her.  When they reach Arden, he realizes that this is a bad idea,
given the trouble he ran into the last time.  He explains this to Vixen,
who says she wants to hunt, then.  Usires goes with her.  She catches a
rabbit.  While she's snacking, her hair stands on end, and they hear dogs
barking.  Vixen goes up a tree.  The dogs make a beeline for the tree and
stand barking beneath it.  Then Julian rides up on Morgenstern.  Usires
asks if it's necessary for Julian to hunt his niece.  Julian notices
Vixen, who's aiming at one of the Stormhounds.  Julian says that's not
necessary.  She tells him to call them off, then.  He says a world, and
they return to him.  He looks at Usires and says he assumes they have a
purpose for being in Arden.  Just passing through.  Usires begins teaching
Vixen how to walk through Shadow.  This takes most of the morning.

	With the help of the Disc wizards at the university, Alex
eventually realizes that his true form has been reprogrammed.  He
shapeshifts back to his human form, but it will take a while to relearn
his true form.

	Laughter hugs Beauty, who's astonished by all of the new children.
Laughter commiserates about the problems she's had with Iseult.  Beauty is
sad about missing so many years of her foster-siblings' lives.

	Ariana tries to find Fiona, to see if there's a way to keep Brand
out of her head, but Fiona's not around.  Ariana leaves her a note, then
goes with Laughter and their kids to look at Laughter's army.  Dead Oaks
is introduced to all of the kids.  Ariana is impressed that Dead Oaks
allowed himself to be shoed.  He blames Laughter.  After an hour or so,
Ariana takes her kids to see the dragons, except for Vincent, who remains
behind with Iseult.

	Usires and Vixen return before lunch via Trump.  Vixen receives a
message to report to Benedict to walk the Pattern.  She complies.
Benedict takes her down to the Pattern room and walks it close behind her.
It sucks just as bad as it did two days ago.  He takes her wrist when they
reach the center, and they teleport back to the edge, then walk the long
trip up the stairs again.  She asks if he's thought about letting her
train his staff in interrogation.  He'll allow her to do so, but she'll be
supervised.  She returns to her quarters to rest.

	Usires is also notified that he has to walk the Pattern.  He
decides to wait until after Kimdyl's funeral.

	After catching up on the army, Laughter sends Vincent back to his
mother and takes her kids to Middlecourt for lunch.  Mandor does a double
take when he sees Isaac, then seems quite pleased with the resemblance he
bears to Gramble.  He kneels down so that he's on Isaac's level and
introduces himself.  Isaac seems to think Mandor is a giant Pax.  Laughter
stays in Middlecourt until Kimdyl's funeral.

	Lunch takes place in Amber.  Nothing much happens.

	Ariana asks Lucien when he's planning to go to Middlecourt.  Soon.
Ariana takes the kids to see Kira.  She's rather surprised by how much
older they are.

	Kimdyl's funeral takes place at three in the afternoon.  Bart
officiates it.  Most of the family is present, with the exception of Brand
and Vixen, of course.  Nicholas looks stoic.  Nimue looks strained and
pale.  Flora's eyes are red, and there's a stab of agony when she sees
Isaac, given his resemblance to her dead husband.  It is learned that
Nicholas has started a crypt deep in Kolvir and moved all of the family
remains there.

	Usires walks the Pattern and asks it to take him to his Trump
cards.  He wakes up in a hedge wizard's hut far to the north of his home
in Rimmersgard.

	Laughter invites Beauty to spend the evening with her, if she's
not doing anything else.  She isn't.  She complains that she doesn't think
Nicholas will ever marry her.  Has she had that talk with him?  Not yet.
He was busy.  She thinks he's avoiding her.  Laughter resolves to talk to
Nicholas again.

	Vixen talks to Ariana at dinner.  She mentions the theory that
Brand was in someone's head.  Ariana says she's heard that theory as well,
and walked the Pattern to try and get rid of him.  Vixen asks if Ariana
knows more about her parentage.  Ariana says the closest relation to Vixen
that she's been able to identify is Bridget.  Vixen wants Ariana to scan
her again.  Ariana does so, and realizes that she's pregnant with Eric's
child.  She mentions this to Vixen, and explains about the Pattern's
effect on fertility.  Vixen says no one told her of this.  Ariana tells
her that Eric likely knew and slept with her anyway.  This does not sit
well with Vixen.

	Ariana introduces Vixen to Bridget, and asks about their
backgrounds, trying to find something they have in common.  Vixen explains
that her mother appeared in the village and everyone thought she was a
peasant.  She got work at the castle and wound up marrying the Duke.
Eight months later, Vixen was born.  It was uncertain who the father was,
although the Duke claimed Vixen as his own.  Vixen's mother disappeared
when Vixen was six months old.  She appeared to have been lost in a
hunting accident, but there was no body, only a lot of blood, so Vixen
thinks she took off.  Bridget grew up in a primitive Shadow with a farming
family.  Her father died, which is why Bridget was working at the tavern.
She was always much stronger than her siblings.  Since she had a child out
of wedlock, she can't really see her family again.  Vixen pretends to be
friendly, but Bridget gets uneasy when she learns that Vixen is a werefox.
Matters get worse when Vixen asks after the father of Bridget's baby, and
Bridget says he's the walking dead.  Apparently, she saw Shard roaming the
halls at night and recognized him.  This knowledge seems to have distanced
her from the baby.  Ariana tries to reassure her, explaining that Shard
was still living when he fathered Brendan, and she shouldn't blame the
baby for what happened to him afterward.

	Laughter arranges a two hour meeting with Nicholas, then brings
Beauty to a hotel room in town.  She arranges with Ronan to have Nicholas'
guards there, then Trumps Nicholas at the time of the meeting and says he
has to come through.  He does so with a great deal of suspicion, then
looks at the hotel room and says they'll talk later.  Laughter locks him
in and gives the key to the guards.  The guards are nonplused, to say the
least.

	Ariana writes a note to Nicholas informing him of Vixen's
pregnancy.  She also suggests that it might help Bridget to assimilate
into the family if she walks the Pattern.

	Usires talks to the hedge wizard for a while, then goes to Zenin,
the nearby Roman garrison.  He checks it out and then goes back to hedge
wizard.  He thinks the wizard knows where his Trumps are.  The wizard
demands that Usires bring back his goddess before he'll tell Usires what
he knows.

	Alex hides in his quarters and works on recovering his true form.
Then he works on a spell to drop a guillotine on the next faerie that
comes through his wall.  Mebd comes into the room and begins to play with
him in a sexual manner.  This distraction causes him to return to his true
form.  Which is still a fox.  Mebd screams and runs into the hall.  This
attracts quite a crowd.  Mebd keeps repeating that Alex turned into a fox,
and is quite hysterical.  Ariana reminds her that Alex is a shapeshifter.
Yes, but he's never done it when she touched him there before.  Everyone
tries not to laugh upon hearing this.  Alex shifts back to human and calls
Mebd back inside.  Mebd refuses.  How does she even know he's him?  Ariana
says there's a way to tell.  Mebd asks her to use it.  Ariana casts Resume
True Form, and Alex turns into a fox again.  This causes Mebd to scream
again.  Alex noses the door shut and begins to get dressed again.  Vixen
slips into the room, catching him as he's pulling up his pants.  She
mentions that she likes his fox form.  She used to be able to do that, but
Vetch did something to her that prevents it now.  Alex offers to help her
with that, in a couple of days.  Ariana comforts Mebd and uses her ring to
summon Lucien.  He arrives as Alex and Vixen emerge.  Ariana explains what
happened.  Lucien says magic has been known to alter a true form.  Oh.
Ariana tells Alex that she thought Mebd would be reassured by the spell,
since she didn't know his true form had been altered.  The crowd disperses
again.

	Ariana has another dream in the middle of the night.  It's the
same as the previous two, except the subject is now Eric, and it's more
erotic than the last.  Ariana wakes up with a start at the end, waking
Lucien up as well.  She tells him what happened.  Lucien looks thoughtful,
and wonders if the dream will include the women in the family, or just the
men.  Ariana Trumps Laughter, but she hasn't had another dream.  Ariana
checks for faerie magic or sorcery, and finds no trace of either.  She
spends the rest of the night warding her quarters.

Thursday, July 20, 2994

	Vixen doesn't sit next to Eric at breakfast.  Ariana notices that
Laughter has Corbin with her and inquires as to why.  Laughter explains
where Corbin's parents are.  Ariana tells Laughter about her latest dream.
Laughter wonders how close to reality they are.  Ariana says she'd have to
sleep with Benedict or Eric to tell.  Or maybe compare notes with Vixen.
Did Eric sleep with Vixen?  Oops.  Ariana pretends not to be sure,
although they've been awfully chummy until this morning.  Vixen talks with
Martin, trying to get more information from him.  Vixen thinks he's kind
of odd, though, and this prevents her from talking with him for long.  He
smells of metal, which she finds very disturbing.

	Vixen arranges to meet Alex in an hour, then heads down to the
practice room.  Laughter, Hary, Iseult, Paxon, Ariana and Vincent all show
up shortly after Vixen arrives.  Ariana instructs the kids, while Laughter
offers to spar with Vixen.  She wants to match weapons.  Vixen points out
that she doesn't have a long sword.  Laughter hands her one.  Laughter
does her best not to break Vixen's sword with Sequence, but the sword
still gets awful notched, awful fast.  Laughter also takes some full hits
to her body in order to make some strikes of her own, since she's wearing
her protective gloves that prevent Vixen from damaging her.  They fight
for 20 minutes in this manner, then Vixen suggests switching to short
swords.  They do, and Vixen proceeds to beat the snot out of Laughter.
They spar this way for another 20 minutes before Vixen leaves to clean up.
Ariana spars with Laughter once Vixen has left.

	Alex works on a spell to change Vixen into a fox.

	Ronan spends the morning going from house to house, looking for
men for the King's Guard.  He is able to scrounge up 20 men.  Then he
visits House Feldane and asks to speak to its Lord.  When the butler
learns that he's a Duke, he scurries off.  20 minutes later, the Marquis
of Feldane arrives.  Ronan asks why he didn't send anyone who represented
his estates to try out.  Feldane says that he didn't realize the
invitation extended outside of his immediate family.  Ah.  Ronan inquires
as to whether Feldane didn't send anyone due to a lack of resources, or a
lack of respect.  Both.  What will it take to amend that situation?  Well,
does he have any sons?  No, but a great number his kin do.  Feldane has a
lot of daughters, it seems.  Ronan suggests that if Feldane enters into a
dialogue with the other houses, then Ronan will speak to him further on
this matter, after the waters have calmed.  He'd just like Feldane to send
someone the next time he sends a summons.  Feldane will see if he has
anyone worthy.

	Usires wakes up in the morning in the woods, with no sign of the
wizard's house.  He has a Sif medallion.  He goes to the clan that was
loyal to Thor, walks into a small encampment, ignores their blustering
leader, Thorvold, for a while, then knocks him out.

	Vixen goes to Alex's quarters.  Mebd makes Vixen's hair stand on
end.  Vixen explains that she was born human, but both forms are natural.
Alex says this makes things more complicated, since the spell is
permanent.  Basically, he can make her a fox, but she can't change back.
He could give her an item that will turn the spell on and off, in exchange
for a favor to be named later.  Vixen wisely decides to pass on this, for
now.

	Ariana looks for Fiona, but she's still busy.  After pacing for a
bit, she decides that she's going to investigate Bridget's parentage.
Lucien insists on going with her, although Ariana says that's not
necessary.  She has no difficulty finding the Shadow or Bridget's home.
Since the house still seems to be inhabited, Ariana sneaks up on it
invisibly to get a sufficient look at it for the talking bones spell to
work, then moves some distance away and casts the spell.   Eventually, she
learns that Bridget's father just came home with Bridget one day.  She
seems to have been a foundling.  Unfortunately, Ariana is unable to
determine where she was found, other than the fact that it was in the
direction of a forest.  Lucien asks if she's ready to deal with what's
really bothering her.  Ariana says Fiona is busy with something.  Try
making an appointment.  She has.  Maybe if she mentioned Brand.  She did.
Lucien shifts to faerie form, takes her hand, and leads her through a tree
back to Amber.

	Vixen asks Benedict what happened to the Trump Brand gave her.  He
says it wasn't among her belongings.  She insists she had it when Vetch
captured her.  Benedict can't guarantee it will be returned, but he'll
look into it.  Vixen wants some Trumps, pointing out that most of the
family have them.  Most of the family haven't killed the Queen.  True, but
she doesn't see how it will hurt for her to have a few.  He'll see.

	Beauty comes to see Laughter with a dreamy look on her face.  Then
she remembers Corbin, and feels terribly guilty for forgetting about him.
Laughter says he was well taken care of.  Beauty asks if she can get
pregnant while nursing.  It's possible.  Oh.  Laughter says they'll take
care of the birth control spell in the afternoon.

	Laughter receives a summons from Nicholas 30 minutes after
Beauty's return.  He asks if she's ready to go to her cell.  For what?
Just a whim.  For how long?  Until they behead her.  She backs up and runs
into a guard.  Nicholas is much amused.  He strings her along for a bit
before saying that he isn't serious, although he does have an apt
punishment for her.  She gets to plan the wedding...with Bart.  Ack!  He
warns her to think about that in the future.  She claims that what she did
was the least desperate of the measures she was considering.  Oh?  And the
others were...?  She has no intention of telling him.  She leaves to call
off the dogs.  In other words, she Trumps Mandor, goes through, and asks
him not to talk to Nicholas about Beauty.  Then she fills him in on the
story.  Mandor thinks what she did was Fionaesque, but not bad.

	Bart gets a note from Nicholas saying that Laughter's going to
help him plan the royal wedding.  She'll be there in about five minutes.
Ack!  Laughter arrives and informs Bart that she's there to help.  Bart
pretends not to know what she's talking about, until Lyss pulls the royal
summons out of his pocket.  Oh yeah, that was the message telling him to
expect her.  They decide to have the wedding in three months, and divvy up
responsibilities.  They'll meet again in a week to discuss it.

	Ariana writes another note for Fiona, asking to meet with her.
Lucien insists on delivering it personally.  She asks why.  He claims
she's caused him enough angst this morning, already.

	Alex goes through the Spikard book again.  He figures that a valid
ring recovery spell can't have been in the book even when the faeries got
their hands on it, since if it had been there, the faeries would have used
it to retrieve the rings they didn't have, including Teresa's.

	Vixen goes to Ariana's quarters and asks her questions about
pregnancy.  Ariana fills her in on the proper diet and exercise, and gives
her some of books on the subject.  Vixen asks if Ariana has told anyone
about her pregnancy.  Only Nicholas, since he's the one who decides what
missions Vixen goes on.  Plus, she thought he should know that Vixen is
already fulfilling one of the terms of her punishment.  Vixen is
considering becoming a fox and having the child quickly.  Ariana isn't
sure if the child will survive if she shifts now.  She wants to ask Vetch,
since she's pretty sure he'd know.  Vixen reluctantly consents to this.
Ariana says she'll have to examine Vixen regularly, to make sure
everything is going well, but it won't feel any different than the
genetics scan.  Vixen leaves with the books.  Ariana takes a nap while
waiting for Lucien to return, since she stayed up most of the night
casting spells.

	Lucien eventually returns with Fiona.  Ariana asks if there's any
way to keep Brand out of her mind.  Fiona examines her and says that he
isn't in her head at the moment, although if he's reaching her through
Trump, he wouldn't leave any traces behind.  Sand was quite good at
sending dreams over Trump.  Brand could be doing something similar.
Ariana doesn't find this reassuring, and asks if there's any way to stop
this.  Sleep someplace where Trump doesn't work.  Are there any locations
like that in Amber?  Nope.  Even if there were, now that Brand has the Eye
of Destruction, that might not stop him.  Ariana asks what it does, but
Fiona says no one knows.  Can't they counter it with the Unicorn's other
eye?  They could if they had it, but the Jewel of Creation is missing.
Ariana asks how anything can be kept secret from Brand, given all of this.
Fiona admits that's the crux of the current problem.  Ariana doesn't
understand what Brand gains by sending these strange dreams to her.  Fiona
points out that he always liked torturing Mirelle.  Lovely.  Ariana asks
if anyone with Amber blood could use the Jewel of Creation.  Yes.  It
occurs to Ariana that perhaps it was stolen by the inhabitants of Avalon.
She tries to conceal this from Fiona, but Fiona notices that she's hiding
something and asks what it is.  Ariana pretends not to understand.  Fiona
doesn't look like she's buying this, but she leaves anyway.


Quotables:

"Nicholas won't let me play with one of the jewels unless you watch." --
Laughter to Random

"You're not really Brand in disguise, right?" -- Laughter to Fiona

"I don't think genocide is a felony." -- Laughter to GM

"I don't think they're going to give me the Jewel of Judgment." --
Laughter to the group at large
"First you'd have to display some." -- Sean

"So Laughter's like Cthulu.  In talking to her, you lose sanity points."
-- Mer to the group at large

"Did Brand show up?  Because I was going to kill him, see?" -- Laughter to
GM

"I see you've recovered yourself." -- Vixen
"Yes.  Almost." -- Alex, while pulling his pants up

"Well, until recently, I was a fox myself." -- Vixen to Alex

"Vixen is going to be nice and friendly.  In other words, she's going to
mask her natural personality." -- Vixen to GM

"Your Majesty, don't joke about that, A, and B, tell me that you're
joking!" -- Laughter to Nicholas

"I have thought up an apt punishment.  You get to plan the wedding with
Bartholomew." -- Nicholas
"I'm not marrying Bartholomew!" -- Laughter

"Good morning, your Eminence." -- Laughter to Bart
"What is he emitting?" -- Lyss

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