Chapter 107: "There's no sex involved in tea, right?"

	Felix drops by to see Laughter after dinner.  Laughter's just
woken up, but she's still in the bedroom, so Driscoll says she's still
sleeping.  Foster is just sitting in his chair.  Felix is amazed that
Laughter's been sleeping all day.  Driscoll explains that she walked the
Pattern twice.  Laughter gets up and takes a bath, keeping Sequence with
her.  Felix gives Foster a concerned look.  Foster says he's not a zombie.

	Felix Trumps Tamaryn and goes back to the summer house.  Tamaryn
asks him to get something for her.  When Felix goes into the room for it,
a bucket of water lands on his head.  He removes the bucket and stomps
back out.  The children laugh.  Vivienne looks smug.  Felix glares at her. 
She looks innocent and goes back to her book.  Felix corners her, picks
her up, and walks outside, towards the sea.  The children follow.  Felix
dunks Vivienne.  She splashes the other kids, so everyone's soon wet.  A
water fight ensues, followed by a bonfire on the beach.  Isabeux only
comes out once they agree not to splash her.

	Alex estimates it will take a week for Mebd to recharge herself.
A page knocks at the door and hands Alex a wrapped package.  It's from
Caitt.  He opens it and finds a book of faerie lore, with a pressed flower
bookmark.  Alex goes back to working on the locket.  When he finishes a
couple of hours later, he begins reading the book.

	Gavin, yet *another* new character, sends Angel, his cat, looking
for his parents.  Angel returns saying she's gone as far as she could go. 
She doesn't like the place where she wound up.  Too many dogs.  Big dogs. 
For those who pay attention to such things, Gavin is 5'10" tall, with
blond hair and purple eyes.

	Ariana spends the day being depressed and not eating.

	Ronan reads until it's dark, then goes to dinner, noting that Eric
and Vixen are absent.  Ronan goes back to reading Benedict's books after
dinner.

	There is a knock at the door.  Eric isn't quite done yet.  The
knock is more insistent.  Eric hurries up and finishes.  Vixen switches
back to her clothes and answers the door.  It's Mona and Lisa, looking
amused.  Vixen thinks they should Trump back to Amber.  Eric gets dressed,
then tells them to join hands, and Trumps them to the main hall.  Vixen
brings the women down to the brothel and introduces them to Oscar.  She
leaves them there for the night.  Eric Trumps back to the castle with
Vixen.

	Laughter waits until the kids have gone to bed, then gets
something to eat and trashes all the practice dummies.  When she returns
to her quarters, she finds Foster and Driscoll waiting for her, with
expectant looks on their faces.  Laughter doesn't like being cornered. 
Does she want to talk about it?  Maybe.  Will she be all right?  Even
before Brand is dead.  But he will be.  As will Zane.  As long as she
isn't reckless in attaining those ends.  She won't be.  They look
relieved.  Driscoll conjures her some warm cocoa.  He rubs her shoulders
and Foster rubs her feet.  Then she goes to sleep.

	Ariana dreams about sleeping with Julian.  She wakes up and goes
up to the battlements, where Shard continues to try and convince her to
sleep with him.  Apparently, losing her soul has only increased his desire
for her.  She tells him she won't do it until she can find a way to
present the idea to Lucien without hurting him.

	Laughter gets up early and takes the kids with her to Rath.

	Felix Trumps Foster and wakes him up.  How is Laughter?  She's
here.  Felix offers to take the kids.  Foster says he'll get them.  Ten
minutes later, he Trumps Felix back and says he can't find them.  Felix
suggests asking his spouses.  Oh, yeah.

	Foster Trumps Laughter and asks if she has the children.  Yes. 
Felix offered to take them off their hands.  Laughter wants them with her,
since she hasn't seen them in a while.  Foster goes through to her, then
Trumps Felix and says the family's staying in Rath.  Well, Foster's
brothers would have liked to see him, but Felix understands that Laughter
is more important.  Then he apologizes for making Foster feel guilty. 
Laughter takes the family on a picnic.

	Vixen wakes Eric up in a fun way, and they miss breakfast.  Then
she tells him that he'll have to get information from Bleys about where to
find some brothel employees.  Eric doesn't think that's a good idea. 
Fine, she'll do it, but he may have to suffer the consequences.  He'll
come along, then.  She Trumps Bleys and asks for his recommendations.  He
passes the list through and says it would be fastest if he downloaded the
routes to the Shadows to her mind.  OK.  Her brain hurts a bit when he's
done.  Is his wife available?  She's very rarely unavailable.  Vixen ends
the contact and sends Eric to talk to Viktoria.

	Alex gets another package from Caitt in the morning.  It's signed
"Love, Caitt."  It's raspberry muffins this time.  Alex shares them with
Mebd and then takes her down to breakfast.  Alex smiles at Caitt and asks
if they're still on for tea.  This only encourages Caitt, of course.

	Vixen Trumps Ariana late in the morning, and asks if now's a good
time to do the infertility spells on Mona and Lisa.  OK.  Mona pulls her
shirt off for this, which gets Lucien's attention.  Ariana checks her for
disease, then does the infertility spell.  Lisa pulls her shirt up and her
skirt low for her check.  Lucien crosses his legs.  Vixen discusses
teaching the women Thari.  Ariana says the information can be downloaded
to their minds.  She can do it, if Vixen likes.  Sure.  Ariana does so. 
Mona and Lisa say they owe her a favor.  Ariana will keep that in mind. 
They leave.  Ariana asks what Lucien thinks of Vixen's staff.  They're
adequate.  He keeps her busy for a couple of hours.

	Gavin asks Angel to describe the Stormhounds.  White with red
eyes, and big.  Their shoulders reach up to his chest.  Gavin buys a
baseball cap, gathers up all his toys, and pedals off on his mountain
bike, heading for the place Angel found.

	Vixen brings Mona and Lisa back down to the brothel, then Trumps
Eric and asks if he's found Viktoria.  Yes, he has a few prospects.  She
comes through, and they go out for lunch.  Then they go into Shadow and
start rounding up staff.  They manage to acquire about one a day.

	Laughter stops by after lunch and asks to see Ariana.  Lucien
shows her in.  Ariana asks what happened.  Laughter explains about her
talk with Brand and her imprisonment by Zane.  Ariana feels badly for her. 
How is she doing?  She isn't sure that she's here.  How did she get
released?  Suhuy agreed to do something.  Ariana thinks he probably
promised not to help overthrow Zane.  Laughter thinks Zane would have kept
her to ensure this.  Not if Suhuy is a man of his word.  Laughter would
never keep her word if it was given under such circumstances.  Ariana says
that Suhuy may define his honor differently.  What is Laughter going to
do?  She doesn't think there's anything she can do.  If there's anything
Ariana can do to help...  Don't spread this around a whole lot.  She
hadn't planned to.  Does Nicholas know about Suhuy?  Yes.  Ariana tells
her to be careful.

	Laughter goes to her boat, Trumps Felix and pulls him through. 
Then she cries on his shoulder for a while.  She really wants to know what
Suhuy agreed to do.  They decide to sail the boat to the summer house. 
Laughter does a lot of pacing, but not farther than ten feet, since that
was the length of her cell in Chaos.

	Ariana tells Lucien that Laughter did something rash.  Lucien
looks unsurprised.  Ariana tells him the story.  He agrees that Suhuy
probably promised to stay out of any fight with Chaos, not to return to
Chaos, or something like that.  Ariana mentions Laughter's refusal to
believe Suhuy would honor such a promise.  Lucien says that Suhuy is a man
of honor.  Ariana's really glad she never went after Zane with Drumm. 
Does Lucien think Brand will leave Laughter alone now?  Maybe.

	Caitt shows up for tea with Alex wearing her best dress, and sits
next to him on the couch.  It's a very low-cut dress.  Alex thanks her for
the book and the muffins.  She smiles.  Alex invites her on a picnic
tomorrow.  She happily accepts.  He kisses her on the cheek, but she turns
to make it a proper kiss.

	Alex asks if Mebd would mind if they invite Caitt to a picnic.  A
picnic, or lunch?  He thinks Caitt would like a picnic.  Does Alex?  He
wouldn't mind.  He'll still want to have picnics with her, right?  Of
course.  Does he want both of them to picnic with him together?  Yes. 
Mebd thinks he should picnic with them separately, at first.  Is Mebd all
right with this?  As long as he promises to keep having picnics with her. 
And Caitt can't have a lot of picnics.  Of course.

	Felix and Laughter arrive at the summer house.  Felix notices
Tamaryn smack Briana on the back of the head, after she says something to
him.  Then he notices her do that to Briana again, when she's goading
Gideon, and he makes the connection.  Tamaryn says a lot of her sisters
are like that.  Felix is glad Tamaryn didn't turn out that way.  He feels
bad that he needs Tamaryn to explain the insults of a five-year-old. 
Tamaryn says Briana seems to be channeling not only her father's
intelligence, but her mother's as well.

	Felix Trumps Ariana and asks how long she wants to be away from
her children.  She gives him an odd look.  Well, he's sure that she's
enjoying her vacation.  Oops, wrong thing to say.  Felix says he'll break
the contact and start over.  He does this thing, and asks how long she's
going to leave her kids there.  Well, since she can't leave the castle,
she thought they could stay at the beach until they're tired of it, unless
they do something to get them kicked out.  But, she has to go now.  Her
vacation is keeping her busy, after all.  Felix looks awful and breaks the
contact.

	Laughter brings her family to the summer house.  Felix sits around
and feels guilty.  He spends much of his time trying to keep Foster and
Laughter from falling into a funk.  And breaking up Iseult and Briana. 
They fight at least once a day.  This really bothers Laughter, since it
reminds her of Brand and herself.

	Lucien and Ariana get into a fight over the fact that she's not
eating enough.  Seeing her like this is driving him crazy, and he'll go
after Brand, if that's the only way to stop it.  Ariana thinks he'll be
killed.  He points out that her current eating habits aren't exactly
healthy, either.  Ariana agrees to eat better if he'll stop walking out
whenever they argue.

	Ronan checks out his volunteers and also checks on Jamie.  Jamie
seems to be soaking up the local culture quite well.  They go to explore
the town together, and notice all of the work being done on Vixen's
brothel.  One of the women waves from a window.  Jamie waves back.  Ronan
drags Jamie down to the docks for the evening.  Since they're wearing
kilts, some drunken sailors ask if they're looking for company, dressed up
as pretty as they are.  Ronan asks if the man is the first member of his
family to walk upright.  They don't get it, but realize that they've been
insulted.  A fight ensues, of course.  Ronan beats the shit out of them,
then goes into a pub.  45 minutes later, another fight breaks out on the
same topic.  Eventually, men wearing Benedict's livery show up.  Ronan
tells Jamie not to touch the men wearing the big flowers.  He explains
things to Benedict's men.  They mention that Duke Felix had trouble with
this at one point.  Does he want to press charges?  Heck no, he'll buy
them a drink.  Right, they'll leave matters in his hands.  It's a long
night.

	Alex explains to Caitt that Mebd is willing to share.  At her age,
Caitt will take it where she can get it.  It's a fun picnic.

	Ariana contacts Tamaryn to check on her kids, and is told that
they're all fine.

	Laughter Trumps Lucien, after a day of watching Iseult and Briana
go at it, and asks if there's some reason he's allowing a young version of
Brand to grow up in his household.  He asks if she'd like a break.  She'd
like Briana to stop goading everyone.  Lucien comes through.  Briana
modifies her behavior as soon as she sees him.  Lucien tells her that he's
disappointed in her behavior, which causes her to wilt a bit.  Then he
says they're going to spend the afternoon together.  She pales.  Her
behavior is much improved after that.

	Ariana dreams about sleeping with Gerard.  He is very tender and
loving.

	Laughter brings Beauty to Ariana to have an infertility spell cast
on her.  This goes off without a hitch.

	Four days after her return, Laughter goes to see Nicholas.  Has he
thought of her punishment?  Yes.  For the next few weeks, he's going to
postpone her departure to Faerie, to give her a chance to get her footing
again.

	Laughter goes to see Fiona.  Alexandra hugs her and tells her not
to do that again.  Laughter asks if Suhuy is there.  Alexandra nods.  Is
she sure she wants to do this?  Yes.  OK.  Alexandra brings her to Suhuy's
study and shoves her in.  Laughter asks what he agreed to do.  He can't
say, but suffice it to say that it is large.  Why did he do it?  For
Fiona.  However, if she ever does something like that again, he'll wring
her neck.  She was prepared to not be rescued.  Suhuy wouldn't have done
it if what Zane asked was completely outrageous.  Laughter is grateful
that they rescued her, but if she made a mess of things, she'd rather go
back.  He suggests she remember that when she thinks of doing something
foolish again.  He did not agree to anything that will bury either realm. 
There's no way to adequately thank him.  Yes, there is.  Think, in the
future.  Laughter bows and leaves.  Alexandra observes that Suhuy let
Laughter live, but she thought he would, since he went through all that
trouble to get her back.  Yep, but now she's going to see Mandor. 
Alexandra asks if there's anything Laughter would like Alexandra to tell
her family?  Just where she went.

	Laughter finds Mandor and hands him her dagger.  He says he'll add
it to his collection.  Does she come seeking forgiveness or punishment? 
She's there to see her father.  It's been a year.  He hugs her fiercely
for a moment, then says that if she ever does anything that stupid again,
he'll lock her up himself.  And she won't be bored.  That's good.  Heather
enters and says she doesn't think Mandor meant that in a good way.  Mandor
points out that Laughter could have cost him his life.  Laughter points
out that they would not be equal exchanges.  Mandor points out that
parents go to extreme lengths for their children, and asks what she would
do if it were Hary.  That's not the same.  Right.  He gives her back her
Trump of Brand, since taking it didn't help.  Laughter says that Fiona
taught her how to draw them.  He figured that out.  Laughter leaves, and
hears crashing from Mandor's study afterwards.  Laughter returns to the
beach house looking white as a sheet.  Foster looks her over for damage. 
Laughter begins to feel more sane, although she still spends her night
planning how to kill Brand.

	Gathering the prostitutes in Shadow goes pretty well for Vixen. 
All of Bleys and Viktoria's recommendations pan out.  Vixen continues
bringing them to Ariana to be examined and taught Thari.  Lucien tends to
excuse himself when this happens.

	Ariana continues to visit Bridget and fuss over Brendan.  Brendan
is always happy to see her.  Bridget notices this, and begins paying more
attention to him.  Ariana dreams about sleeping with Delwin, who seems
distracted, at best.

	At the end of the week, Ronan's meeting with the nobles takes
place.  There's a good turnout, with representatives from every house. 
Ander and his two sons Kimdin and Bittor, from House Arion; Vittorio and
his eldest sons Dante and Lorenzo, from House Bale; Elias and his eldest
sons Klement and Simon, from House Bolsena; Neville and his only son,
Landry, from House Chantris; Tierney and his only son, 12-year-old Teague,
from House Feldane; Dagan and his son Asrael, from House Hersey; Tevfik
and his two sons Erol and Ayden, from House Karm; Peter and his two sons
Jacob and Hubert, from House Loretto; Walther and his sons Walden and
Brendan, from House Nilus; Ilarion from House Orsola (no wife or
children); Samuel, from House William; the Marquis of Solon; the Marquis
of Tullia; the Marquis of Zeno.  Some of them look uneasy, some doubtful. 
Ronan thanks them for showing up, and for sending their people to serve on
his Guard, and for their fealty to the land of Amber.  He realizes that
some of them have expressed displeasure with the recent actions of the
crown.  The Marquises of Nilus and Tullia raise their eyebrows at this. 
Ronan apologizes for the instability of the monarchy of late.  He assures
them that their people in the Guard will be well paid.  Ilarion asks if he
has a point in bringing them here.  Ronan steps down off the table and
asks what Ilarion thought the point might be.  Well, since Ronan's so long
winded, he thought it might be a while before he got around to it.  Ronan
says there are people in the room who put his long-windedness to shame,
but he'll get on with it.  Good.

	Meanwhile, after traveling for several days, Gavin arrives in the
outskirts of Amber.  He pedals through farms for a while, then comes
across a large house.  He's pretty tired, so he stops and sends Angel
ahead to check it out and find out what kind of currency they use.  What's
going on inside?  You guessed it - Ronan's meeting.

	Ronan says that it's not necessary for the nobles to take what
they've been given.  They know what they want and how to get it.  So, if
some of them are displeased with how things have been going, all they need
to do to effect change is to rise up and proclaim their intentions with
one voice.  The Marquises of Nilus and Tullia frown and ask what he's
talking about.  Simple.  Right now, they're at the beck and call of the
royal family.  He's part of the royal family, and that's not a good thing. 
The nobles don't need to discuss pertinent issues only when the King calls
the council.  They should convene on their own to discuss and propose
changes in policy, and then bring the results to the King for his
approval.  Nilus asks how he proposes they do this?  Simple, talk to each
other.  They're doing it now.  Nilus and Tullia say they will do it no
longer, and depart.  Ilarion applauds and says bravely done, and tells
Ronan to stop structuring his words in a circle.  Ronan says he's not
advocating a radical change in rule or government.  Tevfik asks how long
he's been witnessing the way Amber's government works.  About a month. 
Some of them may see what he's discussing with them as in conflict with
his station, but he does not, since he will not tolerate any notion that
will endanger the safety of the King.  However, preserving the monarchy
and preserving the status quo are not the same thing.  He assures them
that he won't be involved, he's just making suggestions.

	Ronan pauses for questions, and checks out the reactions of the
nobles.  Orion's been observing silently, Bayle is visibly bothered by the
discussion, Bolsena doesn't comment, Chantris wants no part of it, Feldane
is interested, Hersey is confused, Karm is questioning, Loretto doesn't
like the idea at all, Orsola is just being an asshole, Solon doesn't want
a part of it, William doesn't seem to have thought of this before, and
Zeno is just watching quietly.  Suddenly, Bruce's head snaps up and he
looks at this cat that just jumped up on the table.  The cat pauses and
blinks at Ronan.  Ronan tells Bruce to keep it quiet until after the
meeting.  Bruce whines and begins edging towards the cat.  Angel tells
Gavin that there seems to be some kind of meeting going on.

	Tevfik points out that they must speak to each other as a matter
of course, as part of their normal business actions.  True, for some. 
Ronan just thinks they should include other issues besides those they
normally discuss with each other.  Tevfik notes that Ronan doesn't wish to
lead anything, so what's his interest?  He just wants the family to
realize that its actions in the castle effect people outside the castle. 
What, in his month of experience, leads him to conclude that the royalty
is not aware?  He's noticed a lack of concern for the running of the realm
themselves.  They're more concerned with what they're having for dinner. 
Tevfik suggests that perhaps Ronan is unaware that the day to day running
of things is left to those who participate and benefit from that kind of
thing, and the royalty is there for when things go wrong and to settle
disputes.  Peter says that he hasn't ever really had a problem with the
royal family.  Tierney mumbles something about Peter not having seven
daughters.

	Suddenly, Angel swats Bruce on the nose and takes off.  Bruce runs
after her, knocking over tables.  Ilarion laughs his head off.  Ronan says
the success or failure of the nobles' collective dealings from now on is
entirely up to them.  Is he suggesting that the monarchy is there to serve
them, and not the other way around?  Partially.  It's more of a social
contract.  Just expand the process so that all of them deal with problems,
not just some.  So yes, the monarchy is there to keep them safe in matters
they can't handle.  Tevfik asks what makes him think they're any more
qualified to dictate matters dealing with realms they've never seen, than
he is qualified to speak on things he's only witnessed for a month? 
Should they worry about things over which they have no control?  Ronan
thinks they should have a voice, since it will affect them.  After all,
shouldn't they have a voice in whether Amber goes to war with Chaos? 
Tevfik thinks the royalty is well aware of the disadvantages of a war with
Chaos.  Ronan says it was just an example.  Has he another?  Peter says
there are things beyond Amber that they don't have knowledge of.  True. 
Ronan isn't suggesting that they need to approve every decision the Crown
makes.  Feldane suggests that the royalty shouldn't be marrying themselves
off to their enemy.

	Angel runs straight up Gavin and sits hissing on his shoulder. 
Bruce continues running at Gavin.  Gavin draws a hand-and-a-half sword
from nowhere.  Bruce stops and asks him what the hell he's supposed to be. 
Gavin figures he's come to the right place, since he's facing a talking
dog.  Bruce tells him that he's trespassing, and he should run now, or
Bruce is going to enjoy this.  Gavin doesn't move.  OK, his funeral.  This
doesn't seem to bother Gavin, although the cat is very nervous.

	Ronan spots Gavin through the window.  Gavin looks pretty odd to
Ronan, since he's wearing a baseball cap, faded blue jeans, a T-shirt and
a jacket.  Bruce's hackles are up.  Ronan decides that leaving the meeting
now would be bad, so he decides to ignore it.

	Gavin manages to keep his sword for about ten seconds after Bruce
attacks him, then finds himself with the dog sitting on him.  Gavin puts
Bruce to sleep.  Unfortunately, the dog is still on top of him, and he's
pretty heavy.

	Ronan tells the nobles that he's said all he intended to say, so
he'll leave them to discuss things.  Thanks for coming.  There's a small
bit of discussion, but the nobles seem to mostly be dispersing.

	Gavin finally heaves Bruce off of him and checks him for tags, but
finds no collar.  Gavin sees Ronan heading towards him and grabs his
sword.  Bruce starts to wake up, then Gavin does something that puts him
to sleep again.  Ronan asks if he's lost.  No.  Then put away the sword. 
Gavin grounds the point and leans on it.  Ronan asks what he's doing
there.  Looking for something.  Right.  Ronan says he doesn't care who
Gavin is, where he came from, or why he's there.  He adds that Gavin is
coming with Ronan.  And why should he do that?  Simple.  He just put Ronan
in a very awkward situation, and Ronan is the local authority.  Gavin asks
Angel psychically if this is the man she was talking about.  Yes.  Well,
since he's looking for the local authority, he can go with Ronan, for now. 
He gets his mountain bike.  Ronan wakes up Bruce.  Gavin has a little
trouble with the sword, and winds up laying it across the handlebars,
which leaves the blade sticking five feet out to one side.  Ronan mounts
his horse, and when he turns back, the sword is gone.

	Ronan takes Gavin to Amber and turns him over to Benedict's men. 
He tells them to keep Gavin secure but comfortable, since he hasn't done
anything wrong, yet, and heads back to the castle with Bruce.  Gavin asks
if this is necessary, since he was just passing by.  The guards say that
if he's pissed off the Duke, it's necessary.  Gavin thinks he interrupted
something sort of shady that Ronan was involved in, since a lot of
important people seemed to be there.  He instructs Angel to explore the
town.  She relays back that it's pretty medieval, which is fine with her,
because that means more mice for her to eat.

	Ronan meets with Benedict and explains about the new arrival. 
Benedict agrees to come see him.  The guards release Gavin when he
arrives.  Benedict impresses Gavin.  Benedict asks if he intended to come
to Amber.  Gavin hesitates, and asks Angel if this is the same dimension
she noted earlier.  Yes.  Gavin says this appears to be where he intended
to wind up.  And his purpose?  That's personal.  These are dangerous
times, so Benedict will have to insist on an answer.  Gavin says he came
looking for someone.  His parents, to be specific.  Benedict tells Ronan
to escort Gavin to Lady Ariana's quarters.

	Ronan takes Gavin to see Ariana, and explains the situation. 
Ariana tells Gavin that she's going to be doing a genetic scan of him. 
He's surprised that she can do so without any machines.  She warns that it
may feel odd, and asks him not to resist.  She determines that he's
related to Vixen and Bridget, but although they are probably first
cousins, Gavin's connection to them is a bit more remote.  Like them, he's
also related to Oberon.  Ariana also notes a connection between the three
of them and Fiona, Bleys and Brand, that doesn't come through Oberon.  She
suspects it may come from Clarissa.  She also determines that he doesn't
have Pattern, that he has a much larger mind than hers, and that he seems
to be scanning her intentions.  Ariana asks how he came to Amber.  He was
looking for his parents.  When did he figure out he could travel like
this?  When he was young.  He went to a doughnut shop when he was hungry,
and later realized that the shop shouldn't have been open.  Ariana reports
what she has found to Ronan.  They leave.

	Ronan reports Ariana's findings to Benedict.  Benedict frowns.  He
asks what Gavin's intentions are, and says the answer is important.  Gavin
insists that he's just looking for his parents.  Benedict says that, as
family, Gavin is welcome to stay in Amber.  Then he Trumps Bleys and pulls
him through.  Bleys Trumps with Gavin to Fiona, who Gavin is surprised to
find he can't read.  Fiona and Bleys educate him on Amber.  They also warn
him that throwing his mind out and scanning people is a bit of a faux pas,
and most family members would react badly to it.  Gavin remains in
Middlecourt for a few days while he's brought up to date.

	Ariana discusses Gavin with Lucien.  He thinks Gavin is using a
device of some kind to shift Shadow.  Ariana thinks it's odd that so many
Amberites are turning up all of a sudden.  Lucien attributes it to the
strangeness that always occurs near a millennium.  Ariana dreams about
sleeping Random that night.  Let's just say that strip poker was involved,
and leave it at that.

	At the beginning of the next week, Felix checks in with the fleet
and puts a couple of days in.

	Laughter notices that Caitt seems happy and asks what's up.  Caitt
asks how blunt Laughter wants her to be.  Laughter suspects that she's
taken a lover and asks if she wants to talk about it.  Caitt asks if she's
recovered, since she doesn't want to give her another shock.  Laughter
pales.  Caitt says it's not that bad.  She's sleeping with Alex.  Laughter
is shocked.  Caitt says that he's handsome and they have similar
interests.  She's pretty happy with her choice.  Laughter hugs her and
says she's happy for her, then hurries off to see Bart.

	Laughter asks Bart what he thinks of older women.  He thought
she'd never ask.  No, she wants him to seduce Caitt.  Why?  Because she's
sleeping with Alex.  So?  He's bad.  Is Caitt happy?  It's not real
happiness.  So, she basically wants him to manipulate her mother, which is
what she just accused Alex of doing.  Laughter is very distraught over the
whole thing.  Well, Bart would have no objections, if Caitt was willing. 
Laughter decides this was a stupid request, and she'll just have to kidnap
Caitt.  Bart offers to see if Caitt's being manipulated, and tells
Laughter to go back to her husbands and relax.  Laughter goes and spends
some time with her army.

	Caitt warns Alex that Laughter knows, and she's not sure how she's
reacting to it.  Does she want Alex to do something about that?  No, she's
sure it'll blow over.  There's a knock at the door.  It's Bart.  He asks
to speak to Caitt.  OK.  Bart "ums" a lot.  Alex guesses that it has to do
with Laughter.  Caitt looks horrified.  Alex tries not to smile.  Bart
squeezes Caitt's hand in a consoling fashion.  He thinks Laughter's rather
confused, and not used to thinking about Caitt as being sexually active. 
And she's concerned about Alex's dealings with the family.  Bart suggests
that Caitt walk around with a bodyguard.  Why?  Well, Laughter wants to
kidnap her.  Alex stands up.  Bart assures Alex that he thinks he's talked
Laughter out of that.  Why was she going to kidnap Caitt, and where was
she going to take her?  Bart doesn't know.  He thinks she said it in the
heat of the moment.  Oh great, that means she'll probably do it.  Bart
inquires after Mebd, then leaves.

	Bart goes over with Ariel what he picked up from touching Caitt,
and concludes that she genuinely loves Alex.  Bart Trumps Laughter and
asks her to sheath her sword, then tells her that Caitt loves Alex. 
Laughter is very surprised by this and asks what's to love about Alex? 
Bart suggests not bringing that topic up with Caitt, and urges Laughter to
accept it, for her mother's sake.  Right.  Bart departs.  Laughter goes
back to doing pike work with her army.

	Vixen continues finding prostitutes and working on her plans for
her brothel's opening.

	Ronan waits for something to happen as a result of his meeting,
but nothing does.  That he notices, at least.

	Laughter spars with Ronan.  He's stronger, faster and has more
endurance.  Laughter takes him drinking, afterwards.  Laughter spills the
beans about her trip the Chaos.  She also tells him that Vixen killed the
Queen.  Ronan adds this to his list of reasons that Vixen is not to be
trusted.

	Ariana dreams about sleeping with Dalt.  This dream, like the one
about Oberon, is another rape.  Ariana is rather upset by the whole thing,
but Lucien manages to console her.  Ariana takes comfort in the fact that
the dreams should be over, although it still bothers her that she doesn't
know what their purpose was.  They decide that since she's still confined
to the castle, and the kids are still with Tamaryn, they may as well use
the next couple of days creatively.  This goes a long way towards cheering
Ariana up.

	Felix returns from sea on the third day of the week.  He's
relieved to note that things seem to be calming down in Laughter's
household.

	Vixen sends out invitations for the opening of her brothel.  All
of the royals and nobles are invited in groups on various days during the
opening week.  Laughter is invited on the second night, Ronan on the 3rd,
Alex on the 4th, Ariana on the 6th, Felix on the 7th.  Foster and Driscoll
leave the decision on whether or not to attend up to Laughter.  Laughter
thinks they should go just to see, but not sample any of the wares.  The
first opening night will be in three days.


Quotables:

"Yes, (Laughter) walked the Pattern twice in one day.  Twice." -- Sean
"(She'd) better not get within ten feet of a sperm." -- Kris

"Hello, I am Dworkin, I am the boyfriend of the Unicorn." -- Matt,
pretending to be Dworkin

"Everyone speaks pigeon.  It's the most popular bird." -- Mer to the group
at large

"What are you upset for?  (Inspiring guilt) is a major talent." -- Eric
"Because I'm becoming a Jewish mother." -- Liam

"I went to the Ahab school of tactics." -- Laughter
"This is why you keep getting in trouble." -- Sean

"I'm the dad that can't do a thing." -- Felix to GM

"I can't believe my mom is whoring for the Alex-guy." -- Laughter to the
group at large

"Urine makes everything cooler." -- Liam to the group at large

"(Bleys) is a gentlemen." -- Eric
"He's your brother." -- Vixen

"There are certain areas where Bleys in not a gentleman, my dear." -- Eric
to Vixen
"I'd like him to touch those areas." -- Mer

"There's no sex involved in tea, right?" -- Mebd
"No, only scones." -- Alex

"Hey, now Alex is Laughter's fifth father." -- Matt
"High-fiver man, you have worked your way into this tangled web of
sickness." -- Mer

"I spent the last year being bored in a bad way, so that's not so bad." --
Laughter to Mandor
"You got to masturbate." -- Liam

"I merely took it upon myself..." -- Ronan to the nobles
"To change the entire social structure." -- Jen

"You've just created a civil war, asshole." -- Sean
"Great, I'm in charge of the castle guard, now I have a job to do." -- Ronan

"What do you think of older women?" -- Laughter
"I thought you'd never ask." -- Bart
"No, I want you to seduce my mother." -- Laughter

"Even with your enormous you-know-what, Benedict impresses you." -- GM to
Gavin