Chapter Sixty: "I'm sorry, my mind escapes me."

	Laughter has dinner with Driscoll in an attempt to determine 
why he seems to recognize her.  He doesn't recall, but his little 
dragon, Verdegris does.  It tells her that Libby, her Shadow, slept 
with Driscoll.  Driscoll later fed Libby to a dragon named Ironclaw.  
Further details are not forthcoming.  Laughter finds this disquieting, 
to say the least.  She returns to Fiona's home on the edge of Arden 
and finds many flowers from a secret admirer.  Fiona says they were 
there when she returned.  Laughter finds this disquieting as well and 
goes to sleep.  Her dreams are not peaceful ones.

	Bart decides to apologize to Ariana the following morning.  Kira, 
faithful servant that she is, allows him in, despite the fact that 
Ariana said she didn't want to see him again.  Kira shows him to the 
sitting room and then wisely runs away.  Arn finds Bart standing 
there looking rather confused, and notifies Ariana of his presence.  
Ariana is not pleased at all with Kira.  She asks Arn to keep an eye 
on Bart while she takes care of the children.  Arn makes small talk 
with Bart until Ariana comes downstairs an hour later.  She tells Bart 
that she hasn't changed her mind.  He explains that he was given bad 
advice on how to deal with surface dwellers and apologizes.  Ariana 
accepts his apology and inquires after Lyss.  She seems amused to 
learn that Lyss is still in Rebma.  Arn looks rather interested in Bart, 
which Bart finds disconcerting.  Ariana generously allows Arn to 
show Bart out.

	Felix drops by to say hello to Ariana.  He's been out of touch 
while he was at med. school an is quite surprised to learn that she 
now has four children, two of which are Sand's.  He points out that 
Sand might come back and kill her for raising them.  Ariana says she 
took this into consideration when she made her decision.  Felix tells 
her that she should screw Sand's kids up.  Ariana is horrified and 
says she hopes he's joking.  He says he is, but he wants Sand to know 
that her children are happy and she has no part of their life.  He still 
hasn't forgiven Sand for cutting off Foster's fingers.  He mentions that 
he's concerned about leaving Foster alone in Shadow for the week 
that will pass while he's in Amber.  He's afraid that Foster will speed 
up the Shadow so that he'll be older than Felix and won't have to 
listen to him.  Ariana refrains from pointing out that Foster doesn't 
listen to Felix now and tries to convince him that he won't return to 
find a 40 year-old son.  They also discuss med. school and Felix's 
future sibling for a while.  Felix continues to demonstrate during the 
conversation that this is not one of his better days.  Ariana asks him 
to stay for lunch and Felix, never one to turn down food, accepts.

	Laughter shows up for her fencing lesson and asks to speak 
privately with Ariana.  They find another room and Laughter relates 
what she's learned about her Shadow.  She also mentions the flowers 
she received.  Ariana thinks it's rather nice.  Laughter declares that 
she doesn't like mysteries and wishes this one would resolve itself.  
They rejoin Felix and the three of them fence for a while before 
eating lunch.

	Alex manages to convince Mebd to give him three months to 
make arrangements before trying to have a baby.  They return to 
Amber and start setting up their house.  This spawns another 
argument when Alex claims there is no room for a nursery.  Mebd 
points out that there are any number of rooms that could be used.  
Alex tries to dissuade her.  Mebd threatens to find a sailor and starts 
to leave.  Alex relents and tells her they'll build a nursery in the 
house.  Mind you, he mentions nothing about how long they'll stay in 
the house...

	Bart needs a bodyguard so he goes looking for Usires.  He finds 
the Viking beating on, I mean sparring with, three guards.  The 
guards take advantage of Bart's arrival and get the heck out of there.  
Usires looks rather surprised to see Bart.  Bart observes that Usires is 
not overly fond of magic and adds that several relatives have 
marvelous devices powered by such means.  Usires eyes him 
suspiciously.  Bart points out that their enemies have such weapons 
too, which might be used against them.  Usires argues that's what 
their own devices are for.  Bart suggests it would be nice if their 
enemies did not have that advantage.  Usires decides he's getting 
bored with this topic and asks if Bart wants some lunch.  Bart says he 
wants a device to destroy such objects.  Usires admits such a thing 
would be good.  Bart asks Usires to come along and protect him while 
he looks for a lava pool that eats magic.  I am not making this up.  
Usires thinks this is a great idea, so they decide to leave after 
breakfast the following morning.

	Ariana shows her kids to Felix, since he hasn't seen Vincent or 
Shannon before.  Vincent proceeds to tug on Felix's hair ribbon.  Felix 
eventually gives it to him and he promptly sticks it in his mouth.  
Laughter takes him and watches to make sure he doesn't swallow it.  
He notices her breasts and decides he's hungry, so Laughter hands 
him over to Ariana.  Felix begins to think maybe he was better off 
missing Foster's early years.

	Laughter returns home to find boxes of chocolates waiting for 
her.  She Trumps Ariana and shares them along with the news.  They 
speculate on who the admirer could be.  Driscoll and Foster are both 
considered suspects.  Laughter uses her bones to replay the events 
surrounding the delivery, but the individual who dropped off the 
chocolates was cloaked.  She returns to Foil and learns about a 
wonderful new actor who's playing Benedick in _Much Ado About 
Nothing_.  She goes to see him and is surprised to discover that it's 
Shard and he's quite good.  She talks to him afterwards and asks 
what he's doing in Foil.  He claims he was wandering through Shadow 
and found a place he couldn't get into, so he stopped and figured it 
out.  Once he got in he decided to stay for a while and pursue his love 
of acting.  Laughter starts wondering who this is and what he's done 
with the real Shard.  Shard asks her to join the cast at dinner later on 
and she agrees to do so.  They all play a drinking game which 
involves reciting verses from Shakespeare's plays.  Those who screw 
up are out.  In the end, it comes down to Laughter and Shard.  
Laughter eventually wins, but it's a close thing and they are both 
quite plastered.  Laughter Trumps home and staggers into her study 
to sleep on the coach.

	Within two weeks, Mebd has completely furnished the nursery 
with toys, blankets, clothes and diapers.  Then she starts shopping 
for maternity clothes.  Alex continues working on his spell and 
wishing she would change her mind.

	Felix returns to his home in Shadow and is relieved to find the 
house still in one piece and even cleaned up a bit.  Felix asks if Foster 
did that just to prove he didn't need Ahab to watch him.  Foster 
claims he did it to make Felix happy.  Felix admits he is pleased.  
Foster tells Felix that he passed his finals.  Felix looks confused, since 
Foster wasn't supposed to have his finals for weeks.  Foster admits 
that he sped up the Shadow while Felix was gone.  Felix isn't happy 
about this.  Foster tries to placate him by admitting that it took him a 
while to figure out how to do it.  He also lets slip that he can forge 
Felix's signature and that he got suspended for three days.  This just 
makes Felix's day complete.  Foster refuses to reveal what he was 
suspended for but insists he didn't hurt anyone or damage any 
property.  Felix threatens to call the school.  Foster claims that won't 
help, since he erased his records.  He also mentions that he's planning 
to get together with Rinaldo to continue their attempt to bring 
electricity to Amber.  This does not improve Felix's mood any.  He 
wraps up his affairs in the Shadow and returns to Amber with 
Foster.

	Bart and Usires set off on their journey.  Or rather they try to.  
They've barely reached the edge of Arden when Bart gets a Trump 
call from Random.  Random says he has someone with him who's 
interested in meeting Bart.  Bart explains that he was setting off on a 
rather lengthy expedition.  Random mentions that this man claims to 
be Bart's father.  Bart says he'll talk to Gant later.  Random replies 
that it's not Gant, adding that the man is in no hurry to return to 
Chaos.  Bart gives in to the inevitable and tells Usires that he has to 
return to Amber.  He rides to the inn where Random is staying and is 
taken to his father, who is staring out a window.  Bart is surprised to 
note that he looks a lot like Julian.  The man introduces himself as 
Barnabas.  Bart guesses this visit has to do with a certain brown-
haired lady and explains about his visit with Dara.  Barnabas figures 
this explains much, although she's not the one who told him about 
Bart.  He claims he came to Amber because the trip is beneficial to 
his health.  It seems the normal open season on Jesbys is going 
rather well this year and Amber is safe from the Logrus...  Random is 
no doubt pleased to learn that Amber is turning into the hot spot for 
Chaos refugees.

	Ahab spies on the various Patterns with his Pattern lens.  He is 
only able to find Brand's briefly before being blocked.  Felix Trumps 
Ahab and complains that he didn't keep a good enough eye on Foster.  
After hearing what Foster did, Ahab asks if Felix broke Foster's nose.  
He feels Felix showed remarkable restraint in not doing so and asks 
if Felix wants him to cuff Foster.  Felix tries to be optimistic and 
figures that at least his new sibling won't take advantage of him.  
Then he recalls his time with Ariana's children and changes his mind.  
He warns Ahab of Foster's plans to bring electricity to Amber.  Ahab 
offers to discourage the brat pack with a few strong shocks.  Nicholas 
walks up to Ahab, says "Beauty", and hits him in the shins.  Ahab 
points out that he's Ahab, not Beauty.  This sequence of events 
confuses Felix.  Ahab wishes him luck with disciplining the children.

	Felix goes to his see his parents next and lays his troubles on 
them.  They are much amused.  Isabeux is surprised to hear that 
Felix doesn't know why Foster was suspended.  Gerard gives Felix 
several books on dealing with teenagers.

	  Bart rejoins Usires and they set off again, shifting Shadow 
until they find volcanoes.  Bart warns Usires that there might be 
Chaos parties out searching.  He won't say what they're searching for, 
but insists it's not them.  Honest.  Would he lie?  He suggests Usires 
think of not finding Hendrakes.  Not really knowing what a Hendrake 
is, Usires does his best to comply.  Three hours later, they find a lava 
pool.  At this point it occurs to Bart that they should have brought 
along a test subject.  He tells Usires to keep an eye out while he 
prepares one.  He makes a floating rock, ties one end of a leather 
strip around it, the other end around a larger rock, and tosses them 
in.  They both sink, so he figures that proves this is the a magic-
eating pool.  He tells Usires to remember this place and they start 
looking for a pub.

	Ariana asks Benedict to recommend some fighting instructors 
for her.  He gives her the names of several, but recommends she wait 
until she's stopped nursing before pursuing this.

	Bart and Usires have traveled three Shadows away from the 
pool when the ground begins shaking and the Shadow starts 
disintegrating behind them.  They escape the Shadow and find four 
figures on a hillside bearing a flag with a red dragon on a yellow 
background.  The short guy looks a lot like Barnabas and Bart.  Bart 
yells at the three big guys and complains that he was traveling 
through that Shadow.  They tell him to watch where he's going.  Bart 
ascertains that they are Hendrakes and they level their crossbows at 
him.  Usires gets in the way.  Bart's shell finishes analyzing the magic 
of the Shadow so he casts Xenos on Usires and on the little fellow.  
The Hendrakes fire at Usires but the bolts are stopped by Bart's spell.  
Usires decides he should step away from Bart, much to Bart's dismay.  
The Hendrakes fire more bolts at Bart, who survives only through 
use of a Luck power word.  He moves back behind Usires, Trumps 
Caine, and asks for a crossbow.  When Caine learns that Bart is facing 
Hendrakes he offers to pull him out of there.  Bart doesn't want to 
leave until the little guy's escaped.  Caine thinks Bart is stupid for 
trying to take something away from the Hendrakes.  The little guy 
realizes the Hendrakes can't touch him, so he runs over to Bart and 
Usires.  Bart tells Caine to Trump Usires and help them retreat.  Caine 
does so.  The Hendrakes comment loudly that they'll remember those 
faces.  Bart tries to threaten them with his crossbow, but is less than 
effective since it's unloaded and pointed the wrong way.  They figure 
he must be a Jesby.  The little guy realizes he can use the Logrus 
through the spell and starts smacking the Hendrakes around.  He's 
doing a pretty good job until Bart distracts him with his insistence 
that they leave.  The Hendrakes opt to retreat and get 
reinforcements.  Usires chases after them, but they manage to get 
away.  Usires goes through to Caine, while Bart and the little guy 
Trump to Amber.

	Felix tracks Foster down and tells him that he's not to do what 
he did again.  Foster won't promise never to do so.  Felix asks why he 
was suspended.  Foster asks if it's that important to him.  Felix says 
he guesses it is.  Foster says that's not very convincing.  Felix picks 
Foster up as a more convincing argument.  Foster eventually admits 
that he was caught smoking pot in the bathroom.  It would seem 
shapeshifting doesn't prevent one from getting high the way it keeps 
you from getting drunk.  Felix thinks that taking mind-altering drugs 
is bad for someone with Foster's power.  Foster admits this is true, 
but thinks it helped him figure out how to speed up the Shadow.  
Reminding Felix of this was a bad idea.  Felix says he is not happy 
that Foster did that, since he knew Felix didn't want to leave him 
alone for two months.  Foster insists that no harm came of it, but 
mollifies Felix by agreeing to think about it from his perspective.  Not 
that this will cause a change in Foster's behavior any time soon.

	The little guy Bart rescued turns out to be his grandfather, 
Bartleby.  His father and grandfather seem to have some small 
affection for each other, although it's carefully camouflaged.  Bart 
hides in Rebma for a while, ostensibly to work on a spell, but Dad 
and Granddad find him anyway.  Granddad wants to meet Llewella, 
so Bart reluctantly takes him to her.  Bartleby gives a wolf whistle 
when he sees her.  Llewella unhappily observes that there are Jesbys 
in Amber and asks if this is the only one.  Bart admits that his father 
is around as well.  Llewella figures Barnabas must have come 
through the forest and says it's time to leave the country.  She does 
make conversation with Bartleby for a little while and uses the 
occasion to learn a lot about Barnabas.  Bart is upset to learn that 
Bartleby is the head of House Jesby.  And here he was complaining 
that his future prospects were dull.  After the conversation is over, 
Llewella claims she has a migraine to get rid of everyone.  Bart seeks 
comfort from Lyss, who tells him that she's pregnant.  Yep, that was 
comforting all right.

	Laughter waits invisibly for her admirer at moonrise.  She 
tackles the cloaked figure who arrives and is disappointed to find it's 
only a page.  He looks rather frightened and says he's delivering 
jewelry for a member of the royal family but claims he doesn't know 
who.  He gets his instructions during meetings at a well, but there 
won't be another meeting for three weeks.  Bullying by Sequence 
elicits no further information.  Laughter is interrupted by a Trump 
call from Eris, who is worried about Driscoll.  Apparently he left 
earlier, supposedly on routine business, but she overheard him 
talking to Verdegris and she thinks he's gone in search of his past.  
Laughter offers to help and pulls Eris through.  She questions the 
page further and ascertains that she's the only one this individual 
has sent gifts to.  She asks the page not to tell his lord that they've 
had this conversation.  The page says he can't lie about it if asked but 
he won't bring it up.  He beats a hasty retreat.

	Alex continues working on his spell, which will take him at 
least nine weeks to finish.  He catches Mebd reading an occult book 
which she hides from him.  She says it's a surprise.  Alex asks that 
she not surprise him while he's in the middle of research.  He also 
asks for the book back, but she refuses, claiming that it's not his.  She 
begins feeding him odd things at meals, so he stops eating at home.  
She gets upset that he's not eating her food.  He asks if she's trying to 
speed things along.  She denies this unconvincingly.  He still won't eat 
what she's serving so she starts wrecking things in the kitchen.  He 
waits until the noise stops and finds she's gone out of the window.  
He uses Logrus sight to follow her as she heads down to the wharf 
and finds her in a crow's nest.  He starts to climb up after her, but 
stops when she threatens to unleash all of her spells at him.  Alex 
says he can wait as long as she can and finds a comfy spot on the 
deck.  Morning comes and a sailor tells him they're embarking in an 
hour.  Alex invites him to convince Mebd to leave.  The sailor opts to 
live.

	Ahab Trumps Lyss and asks if she's had any luck finding 
Ariadne.  She hasn't, but asks how things are going with him.  He 
tells her of Nicholas' "Beauty" behavior.  She suggests that Nicholas 
and Beauty play together under supervision.  Ahab is hoping 
Nicholas will grow out of it.  He suggests that she baby-sit Nicholas 
once in a while if she's so concerned.  Lyss agrees, which causes Ahab 
to suggest that she see a doctor instead.  He doesn't turn down the 
offer, though.  Kimdyl would kill him.

	Laughter and Eris discuss want to do about Driscoll.  Eris wants 
Laughter to look for him while she remains behind.  She also wants 
Laughter to keep this a secret from Random.  Laughter asks how to 
find Driscoll.  Eris pulls out a Trump of a Shadow.  Apparently she 
had Emer make copies of some of the Trumps in Driscoll's deck.  
Laughter asks if she'll need armor.  Eris says she thinks the Trump is 
of that dragon Shadow.  You know, the one where Driscoll fed 
Laughter's Shadow to a dragon.  Laughter asks Eris to Trump Fiona if 
she doesn't return in three hours.  Eris looks frightened by this 
possibility so Laughter gives her a hug and sends her home.

	Ahab goes looking for Foster and finds him roller-blading 
through the marketplace.  He gets a bucket of water, adds green and 
orange food coloring, teleports in front of Foster, and douses him.  
Foster looks shocked and then observes that Ahab has talked to Felix.  
Ahab says that it's amusing when Felix is made the dupe, but not 
when he is.  Foster claims he was doing Felix a favor, but admits that 
he knew Felix would be upset.  His warped sense of honor satisfied, 
Ahab leaves.

	Laughter returns to Foil and Trumps her father.  She asks what 
he knows of Driscoll.  He admits that he knows a few things.  She 
explains Eris' request and says she's not sure of her jurisdiction in 
the area where Driscoll is.  Like whether she can go there without 
getting killed.  Then she mentions the dragons.  Mandor tells her that 
if it's the place he thinks it is, she shouldn't go there alone.  He thinks 
Ahab is a good choice to go with her.  He adds that he can't get 
involved, but she can Trump him if she needs help.  Laughter doesn't 
understand why he won't help her.  He points out that both he and 
Driscoll are Crown Princes, so his involvement is a political no-no.  He 
passes a sphere through to her and tells her that if the situation ever 
gets unbearable she should throw it at whatever is causing her pain.

	Felix looks confused when Foster arrives home in his multi-
colored splendor.  Foster tells him not to ask, then adds that Ahab 
felt he needed to be disciplined.  He claims Felix should be mad at 
Ahab for trying to do his job.  Felix tells Foster that Gerard and 
Isabeux have given him a number of books to use on him.  Foster is 
amused by this but insists that Felix is a fine father.  Felix asks why 
Foster doesn't just absorb the food coloring.  Foster threatens to 
share the experience with Felix and leaves.  Felix pursues but can't 
find him.

	Laughter Trumps Ahab, explains the situation, and asks if he'd 
be willing to help.  Ahab suggests she notify Random.  Laughter 
explains that Eris asked her not to.  Ahab goes along with this.  
Neither of them seem to find anything wrong with following the 
orders of an eight year-old.  Ahab considers trying to teleport to Foil 
while reciting poetry, to see if that will get him through the barrier.  
He tells Laughter to Trump him if he hasn't shown up in an hour, 
because he'll be lying stunned outside of her Shadow.  Then he 
breaks the contact and tracks down Kimdyl.  Once he's explained 
what's going on, she asks why he's getting involved.  He figures it 
will happen if he's involved or not, so...  It's Ahab logic, don't expect 
to understand.  He gives her the same "if you don't hear from me in 
three hours" speech.  He also asks her to tell Random at that point.  
She tells him that if he doesn't come back, she'll never forgive him 
for making her raise "that" (meaning Nicholas) alone.

	Ahab's common sense gets the better of him, and he opts to 
teleport to just outside of Foil rather than trying to go directly 
through.  He walks through the barrier while reciting Metallica lyrics 
and arrives on Laughter's doorstep soon afterwards.  They try 
Trumping Driscoll but can't quite reach him.  They Hellride in his 
direction for an hour before trying again, with no more success than 
before.  They ride for another 15 minutes but still no luck.  Laughter 
checks in with Eris, so she won't raise the alarm.  Eris asks if they've 
used the Trump of the Shadow yet.  Laughter isn't sure that's a good 
idea.  Ahab checks in with Kimdyl as well before they continue on.  
After a while, they get the impression that the Shadow is warded 
and they won't be able to reach it by Shadow shifting.  They decide 
to activate the Trump of the Shadow to see what it's like there.  They 
can't tell much, other than the fact that it's raining there.  Ahab 
pushes his Pattern lens in the direction of most resistance, looking 
for traces of Pattern.  He gets a blip right as the pain gets too much 
for even him to bear.  Laughter tries to Trump Fiona but can't get 
through.  Ahab Trumps Kimdyl, who's walking along the beach.  He 
asks for her help, explaining that he's going to puke all over his horse 
if he keeps this up.  He adds that Lyss can watch Nicholas.  Kimdyl is 
annoyed that he didn't tell her Lyss had offered to baby-sit earlier 
but agrees to help anyway.  When she comes through she observes 
that they're far from home.

	Kimdyl uses the Logrus to pull them along and they soon find 
themselves on the hill that they had a Trump of.  Nothing like taking 
the long way around.  While they discuss what to do next, a dragon's 
head appears over the top of the hill.  Ahab draws his sword, causing 
the dragon's eyes to narrow.  Laughter wisely decides to try talking 
first and asks if it speaks.  It admits it has been known to do so.  She 
asks if it's seen Driscoll and shows it his Trump.  It looks at the 
picture and asks why she wants to know.  Laughter says his 
daughter is worried.  The dragon tells her that, to the best of his 
knowledge, Driscoll remains in one piece.  Laughter figures this 
means they can go now.  The dragon looks amused.  Ahab introduces 
everyone.  The dragon looks at Laughter and suggests that she wore 
a different name at one point.  Laughter says that was someone else 
and they shouldn't be confused.  The dragon nods and says it never 
forgets a taste.  Laughter is discomfited by this.  She asks if its name 
contains the word "iron" and learns that it does, which pretty much 
confirms that it's the one who ate her Shadow.  The dragon suggests 
they seek shelter from the approaching storm.  Laughter offers to 
send the storm away, then denies she's a sorceress when asked by 
the dragon.  The dragon laughs for five minutes then says her name 
suits her.  It also observes that she's not used to dealing with 
dragons.  Laughter admits raiding Faeries are more her style.  The 
dragon says Faeries make nice hors d'oeuvres.  Kimdyl decides this is 
an opportune moment to tell Ahab that Lyss is pregnant.  His 
reaction is left for the next session.


Quotables:

"Ooh, there's the left thingie.  And the right thingie." -- Felix to 
Ariana

"It would be like having Eris, but closely related." -- Felix to Ariana

"I never actually went in, I just watched." -- Laughter, referring to 
the bathroom

"And then he told me he can forge my handwriting." -- Felix
"Anyone can forge your handwriting, Felix." -- Ahab

"Did Nicholas grope your chest or something?" -- Felix to Ahab

"Felix talks to himself and loses." -- Sean

"Mind altering drugs are probably not a good thing when you have 
power cosmic." -- Felix to Foster

"It's like, when Rinaldo says 'Let's open the pits of Hell!', it's hard to 
say no." -- Foster to Felix

"I could grow claws and rip the flesh off of your arm." -- Foster
"Yeah, but I'd be peeved with you if you did that." -- Felix

"I know there's a lot of dragons, therefore I am wary." -- Laughter to 
Ahab

"No one's hurting me, so I have to hurt myself." -- Ahab (like I need 
to identify the source of this quote)

"I'm sorry, my mind escapes me." -- Laughter to the dragon