Chapter Forty-five Ariana suggests that guards be placed in Murine's room, just in case whoever tried to kill her decides to finish the job. Gerard agrees this is a good idea. Ariana also passes along news of Mirelle's current condition. She spends the rest of the evening reading the book she borrowed from Bill Roth. Before going to bed she tries to see if she can psychically sense her child. Much to her surprise, she senses two minds. Heather Trumps Vetch and warns him that she's going to be out of Trump contact for a while, so he's on his own. Vetch reminds her that he's been on his own for centuries. Heather says she just wanted to make sure they were clear on the concept. Ahab goes to sleep. Alex arrives at the castle close to midnight. He gets a snack and goes to sleep. Felix is not at breakfast at the summer house. Foster is gone as well. Ariana asks Gerard where Felix is. Gerard says Felix is on a mission. Ariana spends the morning reading under a tree. Ahab wakes up and is relieved that Kimdyl and Nicholas are still there. They all go down to breakfast. Alex, Mebd, Benedict, Brand, Deirdre, Flora, Julian, Mirelle, Random and Vialle are present. Benedict and Julian talk quietly for a while and then leave. Mebd asks Alex how his trip was. He says it was informational. She asks what he means by that. He says he learned some uncomfortable things. She asks what they were. He points out that it's hardly breakfast conversation. She tells him to whisper it in her ear. He refuses. Ariana rides to Amber and returns the book to Bill. She makes an appointment with Random and is rather surprised when she is told she can see him immediately. She fills him in about her pregnancy and the chance that Hendrake may try to kill her. Random suggests she not stray far from Amber. Ahab brings the Pattern to mind and tries to look at his shadow map, but the Pattern's close proximity is too blinding for him to see much. He decides to look up Brand. Brand turns out to be in his quarters. Ahab asks for the book on shadow that Brand borrowed two years ago. Brand asks if this has anything to do with the experiment he sensed earlier. Ahab denies this rather sarcastically. Brand asks how Ahab learned to do this. Ahab explains that he thought of trying it and it worked. Brand asks when he walked the Rose. Ahab says it was when the Pattern was inoperative. Brand asks what other tricks he's learned. Ahab admits teleportation is one of the tricks. Brand says he's fishing for something a bit more powerful. Ahab asks if he's never failed at fishing. Brand says he doesn't, usually. Ahab points out that Brand's probably never fished such an insufficiently stocked pond before. He asks for the book. Brand asks why he wants it. Ahab says he's interested in learning some of the things that the red-heads have picked up. Brand thinks he's being awfully ambitious. He asks how many people Ahab has used his power on. Ahab says only one, intentionally. Brand asks how many people he plans to use it on in the future. Ahab claims he's not planning to use it on anyone. Brand knocks three times on a cabinet, opens it, and pulls out the book. Ahab takes it and gets the Hell out of there. Mebd tells Alex that she'd like to go riding. He asks if she's going to create any more gates to Chaos. She gives him a hurt look. Alex apologizes. He asks if she knows how to form the gates. She says that someone was casting the spell through her. She wants to ride through Arden. Alex is a little hesitant. Mebd asks if he's afraid of the woods. Alex says he's nervous about being in Julian's domain. Mebd says they'll stick to the traveled paths and rides off. Alex follows her. After they've been riding for a while, Alex asks Mebd how he should introduce her. Mebd refuses to tell him her real name. He asks her to marry him. She accepts. They return to Amber and discuss how to break the news to their mothers. Alex mentions his concern that Hendrake may be unhappy because Mebd was freed. Mebd doesn't think she's that important to them. Alex advises her not to become complacent. Heather has Mandor take her to a place where all four powers have equal influence. They find themselves at Ygg. They go to the nearest shadow, in the direction of Chaos, where Trump doesn't work. They arrive there in a matter of seconds. They map the next one, and the next one, etc. This takes several days. They never reach any of the major powers. When Heather plots these shadows, she realizes they progress in a circular fashion. The circle seems to have no effect on the other powers. She's goes home and ruminates. Ahab is Trumped by Foster. Foster looks like he's been through a pasta maker and is obviously panicking. Ahab asks what's wrong and reaches out a hand. Foster flinches away and breaks the contact. Kimdyl asks what happened. Ahab explains. He tries to Trump Felix, but the Trump doesn't animate. He asks Kimdyl if she has a Trump of Foster. She says she doesn't, but she knows where they can find one. She asks him to take them to Murine's room. Ahab Trumps Gerard and explains what's going on. Gerard pulls him through. Ahab and Kimdyl rush up to Murine's room. Ariana follows and asks what's going on. Ahab explains. Ariana offers her help. Kimdyl doesn't look happy about this, but Ahab is more than happy to accept the offer. Kimdyl finds Murine's deck and pockets all but Foster's Trump. She hands that Trump to Ahab. Ahab transports Ariana and Kimdyl back to his room. Ahab and Ariana force a Trump contact with Foster. Foster shifts to his Chaos from (the Tasmanian Devil with spikes) and growls at them. Ahab notices he's primarily focusing on Ariana, so he asks her to drop out of the contact. She does so, and Foster immediately breaks the contact. Kimdyl focuses on Foster's Trump for a while, and tells Ahab that Foster has Logrus madness. They decide that Ahab will go after him, while Kimdyl watches Nicholas. Kimdyl asks if Ahab is going to take Ariana. He tells her he wouldn't do that in front of her. Kimdyl is not amused. Ahab gets his armor and grabs some maces from the armory. Ariana Trumps Gerard who looks rather surprised when he answers. He pulls her through and explains that he was talking to Caine. She tells him that Foster has Logrus madness and she and Ahab are going to get him. She asks if he'd like to help. Gerard says he's waiting for Felix to be brought back. He tells her that Felix has been frozen in place by a spell. Ariana finds Driscoll and tells him what's going on. She knows he has to stay with Eris and Rinaldo, but wants to know if he can think of anyone else who could help. He gives her his Trump in case of an emergency. Ariana puts on her armor and Trumps Ahab. He pulls her through. Ariana asks Ahab what the plan is. He figures they'll have to bludgeon Foster unconscious. Ariana wants to try pinning Foster down first. Ahab asks if she could psychically dominate Foster. Ariana points out that they're uncertain of how the Logrus madness might affect her. They Trump Foster and try to persuade him to come through to them one more time. Foster seems to be running and will only growl at them. Ahab notes a point ahead of Foster and transports Ariana and himself there. Alex Trumps his mother. She's in her garden. He asks if he's interrupting anything. She says she and Eric are a little more discreet. Alex isn't happy about her relationship with Eric. She points out that marrying Eric will increase her station quite a bit, and that he should do as well. Alex looks uncomfortable. She asks what's the problem. He tells her that Mebd is only Heather's adopted daughter. She asks what Mebd's title is. He tells her Mebd is a demon. She tells him that's worse than the situation she got herself into at his age. She says that she's hardly the one to tell him no, but points out that he'll be a laughing stock in Chaos. She figures they'll probably both be moving to Amber soon, since he can't exactly marry a demon in Chaos. What he's proposing has never been done before. She tells him that what's most important is for him to be happy. Alex says he's going to brood some more. She tells him he's so like his father. Alex asks if she thinks his father would be able to help. She says it's been a while since she's seen him. After all, they were never married, so she's owes him nothing. He asks if she'd ever want anything to do with his father again. She says her wishes don't affect whether he should contact his father. She adds that while she won't welcome his father with open arms, she will be civil. She does ask Alex to give his father a good swift kick for her. Alex is afraid his father will be upset. His mother figures that if his father is anything like he used to be, he'll take his punishment like a good little boy. Alex asks if she does that to Eric. She says she'd never harm anything so perfect. Having learned more than he wants to know about their relationship, Alex ends the conversation. Mebd asks how it went. Alex tells her that his mother doesn't object, since she's pretty laid back anyway. He tells her the marriage will ruin his station in the Courts. She starts crying and runs out of the room. Alex goes after her, but she reaches her quarters and locks the door. Alex bangs on the door until the sobbing stops. Then goes to his room and broods. While Alex is pounding on the door, Mebd Trumps Heather and asks to come through. Heather pulls Mebd through, then waits for her to calm down and explain the situation. Mebd eventually tells Heather that Alex proposed to her and she accepted. But when he Trumped his mother for permission, she told him it would ruin his station in life. So Mebd called off the wedding. She doesn't want to destroy Alex. Heather says there are plenty of ways to destroy a man. She advises Mebd to think this through. Mebd asks if she can stay for a while. Heather agrees and shows her to a guest room. Foster sees Ahab and Ariana appear and runs away from them. He begins outdistancing them, since he has four legs to run on. Ariana throws her mace at him and knocks him over. Ahab slams into Foster and wrestles with him for a moment or two. Foster squirms lose and runs again. Ariana repeats the mace trick. Ahab and Foster wrestle some more. Ariana forces another Trump contact with Foster, which brings Foster up short. Ahab uses the opportunity to beat Foster senseless. Foster reverts to his human form. Ariana Trumps Gerard, but gets no response. Same result with Driscoll and Amber. She tells Ahab they're too close to Chaos to get through to Amber. Ahab Trumps Corwin and gets through. Corwin brings them through to the Rose. Lyss is currently walking it. They tell Corwin what's going on. Ahab Trumps Kimdyl and has her pull them through. She tells them they've been gone for a day. Kimdyl suggests they find some chains for Foster. Ariana leaves to do so. Ahab asks Kimdyl if Ariana's presence is really that bad. Kimdyl says Ariana rubs her the wrong way. As Ariana walks in with the chains, Foster starts to wake up. Ahab belts him unconscious again. Ariana asks Kimdyl how long Logrus madness lasts. Kimdyl says it can last for a month or so. She adds that she's never seen anyone as young as Foster take the Logrus, so she's not sure if he'll even recover that quickly. Ariana asks if psychically controlling someone with Logrus madness is dangerous. Kimdyl says that's only true for small minds. Ahab remarks that he suspects Ariana and Kimdyl are better at chaining men than he is, so he'll let them do the honors. Kimdyl glares at him and storms out. Ariana tells Ahab that he's not helping matters. They shackle Foster and wrap a blanket around him, since he's naked in his human form. Ahab points out that they can't keep Foster in his room. Foster wakes up and begins to sob. Nicholas joins in. Ariana psychically calms Foster down. Ahab tries to calm Nicholas down, but he's less successful. They move Foster to a sitting room. Ahab goes to see Flora about arranging for a better place to keep Foster. Heather wants to do some more experiments. Mandor disagrees. He wants to wait until morning. Heather has little choice but to go along with him. She probes Jasra's mind for all she knows about Brand's power source. It takes several hours, but Heather eventually learns the operating instructions for the Fount of Power. Flora is delighted to see the baby. She takes Nicholas and calms him down. Ahab explains what he needs. She tells him he can use one of the storage rooms on the fourth floor. Ariana manages to rock Foster to sleep. Ahab tells her about the arrangements he made with Flora. She asks him to send up some food. Ahab arranges for some food to be sent up to Ariana and then goes looking for Kimdyl. He finds a note on the door to their quarters, telling him there's milk in the fridge and she'll be back eventually. Ahab spends the afternoon sharing some quality time with his son. Foster wakes up when the food arrives, so Ariana feeds him. She has a page bring her some books from the library and reads to him. This calms him down for a while. Lyss knocks on Ahab's door. He invites her in and asks what's going on. She says she figured she'd drop in and see how he's doing. He asks what her plans are. She tells him that if she's going to be stuck with Jewel, she may as well learn how to use it. She's worried that Brand may come after the it. Ahab thinks the Star might stop him. Lyss tells him that, according to the Star, Heather is in charge. Ahab figures they'll ask her to deal with Brand then. He suggests that Fiona is the most likely person to know about the possible affects of the Jewel. Lyss is nervous about being around Fiona. Ahab suggests having others present. Lyss doesn't think this will help. They discuss whether Fiona's taken her revenge on Ahab for shooting her. Ahab hopes he apologized with sufficient thoroughness. Lyss excuses herself soon afterwards, since Ahab reminds her of her father too much. Ahab asks her if he ever gets over his tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Lyss smiles and says he doesn't. She wishes him luck and leaves. Foster pleads to be set free and starts struggling. Ariana moves him off of her lap. Foster shapeshifts out of his chains. Ariana barely manages to establish psychic contact and keep him from escaping. She manages to figure out a way to use the Pattern to help Foster's mind accept the Logrus. It takes her four hours to do this. When it's over, Foster slumps into an exhausted sleep. Satisfied that he seems to be OK, Ariana quickly follows suit. Ahab feeds Nicholas and then heads down to dinner. Brand, Random, Vialle, Lyss and Deirdre are there. Alex and Ariana are not. Brand eyes Lyss all throughout dinner. Random asks to talk to Lyss afterwards. Lyss actually looks relieved. Ahab checks in on Foster and Ariana and notes they are both deeply asleep. He gets some snack food and some clothes for Foster. He also leaves a note that reads: "Ariana, thanks. Foster, sorry about the head injuries, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Enjoy the pretzels." Alex uses the Logrus to look for his father. After eight hours he finally locates the man. Alex notes that his father is pretty far out in shadow, about equidistant from the Logrus and Amber. Suddenly, something slaps him silly. He doesn't wake up until the next morning. Ahab puts Nicholas to bed and stays up late reading, waiting for Kimdyl to come back. When she still hasn't appeared by four in the morning, he goes to sleep. Nicholas wakes him up a few hours later. Ariana wakes up to the sound of paper being crumpled up. She sees that Foster is already awake. She leaves the room to let him change and Trumps Gerard. Gerard asks her to keep an eye on Foster. He also tells her that Felix has been brought back to the summer house, but he's still frozen. Ariana arranges to have some food sent up and re-enters the room. Foster isn't happy to have her hanging around. He sits by the window and broods. Ahab drops by a short while later. He and Ariana try and talk Foster out of his depression. Foster hints that he set Felix up for a fall. He won't go into any other specifics. He starts raising the Logrus. Ariana tells him not to do that. He asks if they'll leave him alone if he gives his word not to leave. Ariana agrees, after making him look her in the eye. Ahab stays behind and talks to Foster some more. Eventually he learns that Foster was responsible for what happened to Felix. He was tired of feeling helpless. He and Riftvan arranged to lure Felix out to a bluff near Chaos, and Foster cast the spell that froze Felix. Riftvan was supposed to help Foster deal with the Logrus madness. Alex wakes up with a headache. He feels the attack was a sorcerous one. He eats breakfast and plans how to approach his father. He travels to within a few kilometers of his father's location, and finds himself in a desert with an oasis city not far off. He notes that there is a high tower in the city, and there seem to be people heading in his direction. They appear to be preparing to cast some spells at him. He senses that magic is very powerful in this shadow. He tries to Trump out, but that fails. He tries to cast a shield spell, but is nailed by a lighting bolt before he can. He falls unconscious. Heather looks in on Mebd in the morning. Mebd is still asleep with puffy eyes. Heather spends the day studying Trump. Ahab gives Foster advice on how to handle the situation. He asks if Foster knows how to lift the spell. Foster admits Riftvan was supposed to do that. He might be able to lift the spell if he studied it. Ahab says one option would be put together a commando team and bring Felix back. Unfortunately Felix was left in an area where Pattern isn't very powerful. Or they can get an advanced Pattern person to help. Once they bring him back, Foster can study the spell and try to remove it. Then Foster can explain what happened. Ahab yells at Foster for not being honest with his father. Foster points out that Felix would never have let him do it. He adds it wouldn't have been necessary to freeze Felix if Felix hadn't Trumped Eric. Felix was telling Eric about the plan, which supposedly was to find a plant to help Mirelle, and Foster was afraid Eric would see through it. So he froze Felix in the middle of the Trump contact. Ahab figures it was an understandable panic reaction. Foster says he's afraid to come clean. He thinks Felix will blame himself for being a bad father. He notes that Felix almost killed Riftvan. Ahab points out that he didn't. He adds that he was the one who wanted to kill Riftvan. Foster asks why. Ahab says he dislikes Riftvan's ethics. Foster asks how long it will take Felix to forgive him. Ahab figures Felix eventually will, since he's pretty tolerant. Ahab tells Foster that he can either spend all of his life running away, or he can face up to the consequences of his actions. Foster reluctantly admits they should contact Gerard. Ahab does so. Gerard tells Ahab that Felix is in the living room at the summer house, but he's still frozen. Ahab tells Gerard that Foster may be able to remove the spell, and he thinks they should let him try. He adds that it's not his place to tell what happened, but advises Gerard not to let Felix and Foster get away without explaining. Gerard pulls them through. Alex wakes up to find that his captors allowed his shapeshifting to heal his burns before turning it off. He is chained to a wall in his underwear. A woman calls him nephew and tells him it was a naughty thing he did. He asks if he's not allowed to travel. She replies that he's not without her permission. She asks how he's feeling. He tells her he's been better. She points out that Chaos blood is such a weakness. He asks why he's there if she knows his identity. She tells him that his finding his father would be costly in a cosmic sense. She has told his father that he's there. She tells him that if he's good, she'll feed and water him. Heather obtains some information about Alex's parentage. He is a Chaos bastard. His mother was Lucretia, formerly of House Borge. She was kicked out due to Alex's birth. Heather inquires as to who the Amber parent might be. Mandor tells her it's probably Delwin. He warns her that the Spikards and Sand and Delwin don't get along. Heather formally invites Lucretia into her presence. Ariana Trumps Ahab, which cuts off Ahab's contact with Gerard before Foster can come through. Ahab explains what happened. Ariana gets Foster, and they Trump through to Ahab. Foster starts examining Felix.