Chapter Sixty-three: "There comes a time when you have to do something
stupid." 

	Bleys, Fiona and Benedict corral Brand and a large conference is
held between them and Random.  It lasts for days.  Brand is rather polite
and quiet afterwards and disappears back into his own lands.

	Isabeux gives birth to a daughter and names her Vivienne.  She has
bright blue eyes and long golden curls.  Gerard spoils her unashamedly. 
Her temperament is rather steady, but look out when an anger hits her, as
she, too, has inherited her father's strength, and her aim with a thrown
object is becoming legendary.  Lyss gives birth to a boy and names him
Darby.  He has dark emerald hair and light green eyes, and is somewhat
nervous and jumpy.

	As the years pass, Foster remains somewhat of an odd man out
around Amber, although he manages to organize a Lacrosse league amongst
the noble's sons.  He reaches a maximum height of 5' 8", and his voice
becomes much lower.  He continues his friendship with Rinaldo and often
disappears with him for a few days at a time.  His sorcery skills remain
viable, and the roller-blades he created while with his father seem to
have more than one shape.  His crush on Laughter does not fade, but
remains steady.  He does not date other women and eventually grows a
beard, which comes in red, although the rest of his hair is black.

	Ariana marries Riftvan close to three years after the removal of
his tumor.  It is spring in Faerie and the trees are in bloom.  The
wedding takes place after dusk when the fireflies begin to dance.  Guest
are seated in a cathedral made up of oak trees.  Present at the wedding
are Jalana, Morgan, Shannon, Vincent, Random, Vialle, Gerard, Isabeux,
Vivienne, Mirelle, Flora, Murine, Felix, Foster, Laughter, Caitt, Beauty,
Driscoll, Eris, Shard, Ahab, Kimdyl, Nicholas, Usires and Bart, along with
many assorted Chaosites and Faeries.  As an unearthly glow settles upon
the company, other denizens of Faerie take seats amidst the blades and
boughs.

	In a private part of the grove, Ariana, Ahab and Laughter watch
the crowd assemble.  Ahab is to give Ariana away and Laughter is her maid
of honor.  Ariana is not happy about Bart or Usires' presence, since she
didn't invite them.  Laughter figures she should be more worried about all
the Chaosites present.  Ariana is quite surprised at the number of them
who are attending.  Final adjustments are made on Ariana's gown and winged
ones arrange petals in her hair before the veil is added.

	All eyes turn to Auberon and Titania as they make their entrance
and claim their seats at the head of the ensemble.  Riftvan is nowhere to
be seen.  At some unseen signal from the Faerie King, music fills the
grove and the procession begins.  Ahab escorts Ariana in, followed by
Laughter.  The bride is admired as she walks down the aisle.  At the foot,
Auberon and Titania rise to greet her.  Titania herself is officiating the
ceremony, which is unusual.  She asks Ariana why she would have everyone
gather here today.  Ariana replies that she is there to be married.  When
Titania asks to who, Ariana names Riftvan Vetch.  Titania asks if Ariana
sees him amongst the assembled.  She does at this time and points him out. 
Titania addresses him as Oishin and asks him to come forth and address the
one who named him.  He steps forward and stands next to Ariana.  Titania
asks what he has to say to the maid's wishes.  He replies that he wants to
see what she hides behind her veil before deciding.  This is Laughter's
cue to lift the veil.  Once this is done, Riftvan is asked what he says
now.  He answers that that's a fine sight and he has no objections. 
Titania asks them to clasp hands and face each other, as they will for the
years to come.  When they do, small Faeries take flight and bind a silken
cord, which has been soaked in fragrant oil, tightly around their clasped
hands.  Titania asks if they approve of the sight before their eyes.  They
say they do.  She asks if they say this of their own free will.  When they
answer yes to this as well, Titania pronounces them truly mad and asks for
wine.  As she slowly pours the amber-colored wine over their bound hands,
she tells them, "The blood of the vine is the blood of the earth, and the
earth is our mother.  She has a good memory, and will so hold this day and
your oaths to her.  Only she will know your trespasses.  Beware, lest ye
be bold, for the earth can be made to talk."  As she finishes speaking,
the last of the wine is poured over their hands and onto the ground.  She
then pronounces them fool and foolish, and wishes them nothing but
pleasure.  A cheer goes up amongst the crowd as flower petals rain down
from above.  Servants see that everyone has wine, and a toast is made to
the new couple.

	After an appropriate amount of time, the feast begins and much
merriment ensues.  There is wine, dancing, and endless food.  Foster asks
Laughter for the first dance.  Bart uses Adam, one of his sister
Constance's suitors, to introduce him to some Chaosites.  Ariana asks if
Riftvan invited Usires.  He admits he didn't, but he did invite Bart, so
Usires probably came with him.  He invited Bart because he's the heir to
House Jesby.  You know, the walking targets.  Ariana is amused.  They
discuss briefly why Ariana still dislikes Usires, but it's not a topic
Ariana wants to pursue at the moment.  Laughter asks Driscoll to dance,
since he's just sitting on the side.  He is reluctant but agrees.  Ahab
spends some time encouraging Foster in his pursuit of Laughter.  A little
later in the evening, Ahab persuades the band to play a Tango and drags
Kimdyl out to dance.  Ariana, Riftvan, Laughter and Foster join in.  The
Chaosites refrain.

	The reception enters its second stage, which is basically an orgy. 
Most of the younger generation participates heartily.  Laughter doesn't
want to hang around for this, but as the maid of honor, she can't leave
until the bride dismisses her.  She eventually finds Ariana and Riftvan,
who are starting to get a little preoccupied.  When Laughter interrupts to
ask if she can be dismissed, Ariana spots Foster approaching Laughter from
behind.  She refuses to let Laughter go, and turns her attention back to
Riftvan.  Foster offers Laughter a bottle of wine and they go walking in
the forest.  She tells him to relax, so he stops processing the wine and
starts to get a little tipsy.  He tells her he's been building something. 
Namely his shapeshifting roller-blades, which he's named Gordon.  Laughter
keeps saying things in innocence that wind up encouraging Foster. 
Sequence asks her psychically if it should stop Foster or stay quiet.  She
says that if it comes to that, it should leave.  Eventually Foster asks if
they're still making small talk.  She says that it's late, so she'd like
to sleep, or something.  Sequence opts to leave and chase the little
Faeries, much to their dismay.  Foster takes a better look at Laughter and
asks if she knows what she's doing to him.  She admits she does.  He
kisses her, she doesn't object, and things proceed from there.

	Dawn comes.  Sequence returns and notes it couldn't find its
scabbard, since it's buried in the clothes somewhere.  Laughter and Foster
go to breakfast and try to look innocent.  Ariana figures it out anyway
and asks Laughter if she had a good time.  Laughter admits it turned out
quite well.  Felix asks if it's safe to eat the food in Faerie.  Foster
points out that he already ate some food at the reception.  Ariana tells
Felix that he's trapped in Faerie now.  Felix is horrified until she
points out that she was kidding.

	After breakfast, the remaining guests disperse.  Ahab finds a tiny
bound and gagged Faerie in Nicholas' pocket and makes him set it free.  He
doesn't find the second one until they are back in Amber.  Ariana and
Riftvan decide to honeymoon in Maui, since Auberon is likely to start
asking Riftvan for advice if they remain in Faerie.

	Two more years go by.  The castle is finally finished, with
private baths for all.  Benedict's men guard the Pattern room and the
dungeons.  Random and Vialle have rooms on the top-most floor, with each
successive generation inhabiting rooms on a progressively lower floor. 
Gerard remains unhappy about Ariana's somewhat revealing style of dress,
and is even less pleased when Mirelle starts wearing nothing but spandex. 
Mother and daughter ignore his subtle and not so subtle hints about their
wardrobe.  Alex is only seen in Amber during state functions, spending the
rest of his time in Shadow with Mebd and her gazillion pets.  Usires sails
with his father, who is visited regularly by Llewella.  He gets along
pretty well with Caine, although he is occasionally the butt of Caine's
twisted sense of humor.  Felix spends some time on merchant ships. 
Nicholas insists to Ahab that Beauty will be his one day.  Ahab tells him
it's nice to have goals.  Nicholas also wants to know why Felix wears a
skirt most of the time.  Darby doesn't like Ariana's sons, and fears
Nicholas, but gets along just fine with Jalana and Vivienne.  Beauty hates
Nicholas and hides when he comes over.  Seems to be a trend developing.

	Foster walks the Pattern for the first time.  Ahab and Felix are
the only ones in the room, although Felix had told Ariana about it as
well, since Foster didn't want to look bad in front of any women.  Foster
barely survives the experience, collapsing at the center of the Pattern
and not moving for fifteen minutes.  Once he wakes up, he teleports out
and seems to be completely exhausted.  Both Merlin and Ariana suggest
letting him rest while his mind adjusts to the two powers.  Merlin says
the Logrus must have really liked Foster.

	Foster Trumps Laughter and tells her what happened.  She's mad
that he didn't even tell her he was planning to walk the Pattern.  He is
much chastened, but she still doesn't want to speak to him and breaks the
contact.  Foster blames the whole thing on Felix.

	Laughter is most upset when she shows up for her sparring session
with Ariana.  Ariana asks if this is about Foster.  Laughter is not happy
that Ariana knew Foster was taking the Pattern while she didn't.  She says
she's going to go into Shadow and kill things for a while.  Ariana tells
her to go easy on Foster.

	Ariana talks to Foster and gives him some suggestions for making
up with Laughter.  When Ahab comes over to play Chess, Foster asks if he
can get some flowers and candy for Laughter.  Ahab says he'll take care of
it and arranges to have them delivered to Foster by a very attractive
woman wearing very little in the way of clothing.

	Alex notices an increase in his contact with the Courts.  They
want to know if anything unusual is happening in Amber.  Eventually, it is
suggested that he move back into the castle.  He goes to break the news to
Mebd, only to find that all of her pets are gone.  She's says she's happy
to be going back.  When asked about the animals, she says she doesn't need
them anymore.  For now.  Alex Trumps Random and informs him that he's
moving back.

	Bart is testing an invisibility spell out in Shadow, when
something starts pulling on his coat button.  He sends a message along it
using magic, and gets a response telling him to stop tugging or he'll lose
the line.  20 minutes later, Bartleby shows up and warns Bart to get his
butt back to Amber, where it's safe.  The Hendrakes, the Helgrams and the
Sawalls, are all active.  Why?  Ask Barnabas.  Who's back in Amber. 
Bartleby makes fun of Bart's research, which involves watching monkeys
fuck.  Bart notes his concern.  Bartleby asks him to work on getting
Barnabas to admit what he saw or heard and suggests using Usires if
Barnabas is not cooperative.  He also mentions that the Hendrakes have
given up on their smaller project, involving some tree in the middle of
Shadow.  Bart Trumps Llewella and asks to come through.  She complies,
once she's sure his hands are clean.

	Foster asks Felix for advice on relationships.  Felix points out
that Murine was his only real relationship, so he's probably the wrong
person to ask.  He thinks this is because relationships in Amber seem to
lead to marriage, and Felix thinks he's much too young to be married
forever.  He also points out that not many of the elders are married. 
Foster figures this means he's on his own.  Felix reminds him of the
Pattern's affect on fertility and suggests he not get too involved with
Laughter for a while.

	Laughter Trumps into the main hall, covered in blood and wearing
some skulls.  Felix and Foster are quite startled when she walks into
Foster's room.  Felix is reluctant to leave them alone, but Foster says
he's ready to take his medicine.  After Felix leaves, Foster apologizes
profusely and asks how long she's going to be mad at him.  She admits that
she's grown rather fond of him.  They are interrupted by the scantily clad
woman that Ahab sent with the flowers.  Laughter slams the door in the
woman's face, yells at Foster, and then storms out, leaving the flowers. 
Foster Trumps Ahab and yells at him.  Ahab Trumps Laughter and apologizes,
saying he thought it would be a good joke.  Laughter is annoyed but agrees
not to blame Foster.  Ahab Trumps Foster and breaks the good news.

	Since it is spring, Ariana and her brood are living at her beach
house.  She goes to work in her garden and discovers that most of the dirt
is missing.  Apparently Mirelle borrowed it to make mud pies with the
children.  Mirelle offers to replace it, but conjures a bit more than
necessary, leaving Ariana with quite a mess.

	Laughter decides to apologize to Foster, and Trumps Ariana for
something to wear.  Ariana picks out something appropriately revealing. 
Foster is suitably impressed.  So impressed that he forgets all about not
having sex so soon after walking the Pattern.  Ooops.  Foster's definitely
got bad stuff.

	Laughter gets a Trump call from Fiona, who wants to talk. 
Laughter changes and makes her way to Fiona's cottage.  She finds Fiona
pacing back and forth in the living room.  Apparently she's been
monitoring Trump over the last few years, and today there was a
person-to-thing contact.  Combine that with Brand's good behavior, and
she's worried.  Laughter hasn't noticed anything.  Fiona figures she
should tell Random.  The contact was from a person out in Shadow to a
thing in the castle.  Laughter mentions that Foster just walked the
Pattern.  Fiona asks if she was just with him.  Laughter admits she was. 
Fiona asks if Laughter at least had the statue she gave her nearby.  Nope,
that's back in Foil.  Fiona tells Laughter that she's most likely
pregnant.

	Laughter Trumps Foster and goes through to him.  She shares the
news of her possible pregnancy, which hits Foster like a brick.  He
figures his dad is going to kill him.  And Mandor.  Laughter doesn't see
why Mandor would only be mad at Foster.  Foster points out that her father
can hardly marry her off now, if he was planning to.  Laughter says she's
not a Chaosite.  Foster figures Mandor may not understand that.  Laughter
doesn't think it's anything to panic about.  Then again, Laughter has an
odd idea of what things merit panicking.  Foster tries to take comfort in
the fact that they don't know for sure that she's pregnant.

	There is a tremor that runs through Amber.  Caine and Usires are
out at sea, and Caine swears as it hits.  He Trumps someone, and when
closing the contact comments that he should have killed him when he had
the chance.  He seems to be at a bit of a loss and figures there will be a
meeting about this, so they may as well head back to shore.

	Ariana checks on the kids, but they all seem fine.  Riftvan makes
a comment about the end starting, but says he's only joking.  Ariana
observes that the last time she felt something like that was when Driscoll
bled on the Primal Pattern.  Riftvan agrees that it's similar.  She
decides to move the family back into town, in case the quake triggered any
tsunamis.  The kids are not happy to be moving.

	Felix goes looking for elders and finds Gerard and Deirdre in the
Great Hall.  Random arrives and tells them that, according to Bleys and
Fiona, the Star has disappeared.  Which means one of the other Patterns
might be next.  Felix goes looking for Foster and finds him with Laughter. 
Foster is still undressed.  Laughter leaves.  Felix tells Foster that the
Star is gone and that he should stay put for now.  Then he returns to the
Great Hall.

	Caine arrives in the Great Hall with Usires.  Benedict enters and
tells everyone that the Pattern is fine, and Corwin has told him the Rose
is fine as well.  Fiona mentions that they have not been able to get in
touch with Brand.  Felix asks if anyone else has walked the Star.  Fiona
thinks Rinaldo has, so Felix suggests talking to him.  She pinpoints
Rinaldo's location, but is unable to Trump him.  She disappears and
reappears soon afterwards with Rinaldo's unconscious body.  She says that
all of the lands the Star created are gone as well.  Felix takes Rinaldo
up to the infirmary and examines him.  He seems to merely be unconscious.

	Ariana leaves the children with Riftvan in town and Trumps to the
castle.  Gerard tells her the Star was destroyed.  This means nothing to
her until he explains that it was Brand's Pattern.  She learns that
Rinaldo was found unconscious, so she goes to the infirmary to take a look
at him.  She comes to the same conclusion about his condition as Felix and
returns to the Great Hall.  When she enters, Bleys, Benedict and Fiona are
preparing to look for Brand.  Usires volunteers his assistance, which
earns him a "you idiot" look from Caine.  Fiona figures the three of them
handled getting Brand before, so they should be able to take care of it
now.  Ariana asks Random if there's anything she can do.  He says he'll
let her know.  Bleys asks if she believes in God.  She tells him she
believes in several.  He suggests she say a prayer to them.  Fiona
mentions that the Keep of the Four Worlds was destroyed along with the
Star's Shadows, so something good has come out of this.  Ariana leaves
briefly to Trump Riftvan and tell him what's happened.

	The tremor is also felt in Rebma.  Llewella Trumps someone and
then says "Oh shit."  She tells Bart that she's going to Amber.  He asks
if it has anything to do with the increased Chaosite activity.  Llewella
is annoyed that he didn't tell her about this.  They decide to find
Barnabas.  Alex arrives in the Great Hall at the same time as Llewella and
Bart.  Llewella heads for Caine and they discuss a Trump call that they
received shortly before the tremor, and their attempts to pinpoint its
location.  Llewella notices that Bart and Usires are listening and sends
the two of them to find Barnabas.

	Rinaldo wakes up and groans.  His hands find his head and he rolls
up into a fetal position.  Then he throws up.  Eventually he asks for some
aspirin.  It is obvious that he has no idea what happened.  Felix asks him
if he can still sense his Pattern.  Nope.  He starts looking for his
mother's Trump.  Felix Trumps Fiona and tells her that Rinaldo is awake. 
She says she'll be right up.  Rinaldo can't reach Jasra and is quite
upset, since she was in his father's lands.  Fiona arrives and puts a hand
on his shoulder.  He asks to be left alone, so she and Felix oblige. 
Felix asks what having the Pattern ripped out will do to you.  Fiona
thinks losing his mother was more of a shock for Rinaldo.  They head back
down to the Great Hall.  Ariana asks Felix how Rinaldo is doing and gets
an update.

	Laughter starts searching the castle for the thing Fiona
mentioned.  She comes across Bart and Usires and decides to tag along. 
They find Barnabas in the library.  He finds out that Llewella is in the
castle and makes to leave.  Bart points out that if Barnabas is going to
leave the Head of House position to him, he may as well outrank him now. 
Barnabas doesn't like this at all.  Bart insists on knowing what caused
Barnabas to flee Chaos.  Barnabas asks to use the john and is refused. 
Bart implies that Laughter's presence is not required.  Laughter is quite
miffed but doesn't leave.  Bart Trumps Llewella and lets her know that
they have Barnabas.  Barnabas attempts to escape and fails.  Laughter
leaves, and Bart and Usires drag Barnabas to a sitting room.

	Ahab pulls up his Pattern map and notices that the Star is
missing.  He finds Kimdyl and tells her the news.  Then he goes to the
Great Hall.  He walks in just as Fiona, Bleys and Benedict prepare to
tag-team Brand.  Fiona invites Ariana to join them.  After the four of
them concentrate for a bit, Fiona invites anyone else who's willing to
jump in as well.  Finally, they manage to bring Brand into focus.  He is
lying on a cot in a barren room.  Benedict pulls him through and hands him
to Felix.  They all troop up to the infirmary.  Felix asks where Brand
was.  Fiona says he was in Chaos, in an area near Sawall and Hendrake. 
Mirelle wanders in and is quite eager to help restrain Brand.  Ariana
manages to distract her with the news about the Star.  Mirelle wonders if
a Pattern could be taken back into the Jewel.  Ariana suggests she ask
Random, so she wanders off in search of him.

	Llewella tells Barnabas that he's going to tell her what's going
on.  When he objects, she "reminds" him that he has balls.  He starts
talking to Bart, so she slaps him to remind him who he should be paying
attention to.  Then she orders Usires to hold him down in the chair.  A
verbal game ensues between Barnabas and Llewella that just boggles the
mind.  Usires is lost from the beginning.  Both he and Bart are very glad
they're not sitting in that chair.

	Laughter finds Foster and tells him that Llewella and Bart are
questioning Barnabas.  Foster says Barnabas could be the key and suggests
she spy on them.  She becomes invisible and checks out the room.  Bart is
standing in the doorway, so she can't get too close.  After 20 or 30
minutes, Llewella asks Bart to get her a syringe.  He does so, and feels
like he almost bumped into something on his way out.  Barnabas can't
persuade Usires to let him go, so he takes over Usires' mind and turns off
his muscular responses.  Llewella simply watches.  Bart walks in as
Barnabas makes a break for it.  Llewella shifts into her Chaos form and
bats him down, then quickly shifts back.  Bart informs her that they have
an intruder, so Laughter reveals herself.  Llewella orders Barnabas to
free Usires and glares at Laughter.  Laughter offers to give Llewella a
secret to match the one she learned, and explains privately who her father
is.  This more than satisfies Llewella.  Barnabas tells them that what
they've seen today is only the beginning.  Next will be Corwin's Pattern,
then theirs, so he suggests they find the real Jewel, and fast.  Bart asks
why he didn't tell them this before.  He says it really wasn't his affair. 
He admits he was hiding in Amber, but won't tell them who he was hiding
from.  Laughter points out that if Amber is destroyed his safety is gone. 
He figures it won't matter if "they" succeed.  Laughter allows Sequence to
nick Barnabas' knee, in an effort to persuade him to be more cooperative. 
Bart suffers a major overreaction and snaps his fingers, causing Sequence
to disappear.  Laughter is not pleased and says he doesn't know what he's
started.  She gives him a solid kick on her way out.

	Laughter cries for a couple of minutes with Foster, then goes
looking for Fiona and explains what happened.  Fiona has Laughter bring
her to hallway outside of the sitting room, where the interrogation of
Barnabas is still going on.  Fiona casts a spell and listens.  Llewella
eventually gets Barnabas to admit that Dara probably has the Jewel, but
only after threatening him with bodily harm.  Then she tells Usires to
take Barnabas to Benedict, so he can be imprisoned in the dungeons.  Fiona
drags Laughter into another room, so they are out of sight when Usires
leaves with Barnabas.  Llewella asks Bart what he did with Sequence.  He
doesn't think it should be harmed.  In theory.  She asks if he has any
idea what will happen if he's destroyed the sword.  His response indicates
he hasn't the slightest clue.  As usual.  She says she can only extricate
him from so deep a hole.  On the bright side, she figures that if Fiona
finds it, she'll give it an attitude adjustment.  Once they've left, Fiona
comments that Llewella knows her better than she thought.  She examines
the room and then takes them to a lava pit in Shadow, where she begins
casting an elaborate spell.

	Gerard and Felix discuss guarding Brand.  Gerard explains that
Brand needs to draw a sketch of someone initially, in order to be able to
Trump them without a Trump card, so the staff should be safe.  He thinks. 
Bleys winds up casting a spell to prevent Brand from leaving, and to stop
Mirelle from hurting him.  Felix asks what the effect of removing Brand's
Pattern is.  Bleys tells him that the Shadow storms are progressing
nicely.  He suggests bringing in any Amberites out in Shadow.  Felix
Trumps Merlin and brings him through.

	Rinaldo Trumps Heather and fills her in on the Star's destruction. 
Heather checks his story out and then tells Mandor about it.  Mandor
humors her and pretends that he didn't already know this.

	Ahab Trumps Lyss and tells her that she's coming through, right
now.  She says she's too close to finding Spider.  Ahab insists and pulls
her through.  Then he explains what happened.  Lyss looks horrified for a
moment as she tries to remember where she left Darby, and then recalls it
was with Llewella in Rebma.  Ahab figures he'd better talk to Corwin next. 
Corwin says he's fine.  Ahab asks if there's anything he can do.  Corwin
asks if there's any men he can spare.  Ahab says he doesn't know the full
situation yet.  It depends on whether this was an attack on Brand or Amber
in general.  Corwin says the Shadow storms will be arriving soon, so he
needs to go.  Ahab tells his men in town to locate every Chaosite in town,
and be ready to terminate them or point them out.

	Benedict disappears through a Trump call.  Then Llewella finds
Random and they leave together.  Shortly afterwards, Usires drags Barnabas
into the Great Hall, but no one in authority is there.  Ariana, Usires and
Bart decide to bring him down to the dungeons, where the guards throw him
in a cell.  Barnabas is dismayed that he doesn't even get to keep the book
he was reading.

	Ahab asks Deirdre what's going on, but she doesn't know what
Llewella had to say.  She plans to join Corwin at the Rose and help defend
it.  Ahab figures maybe he can get the information out of Llewella.  Yeah,
right.

	Fiona finishes her spell, and up from the lava arises a rather
pathetic sight.  Most of the sword is still there, but it has definitely
seen better days.  Laughter wants Bart's spell destroyed.  Fiona thinks it
was ingenious.  Laughter points out that if the situation was reversed,
Fiona would feel differently.  Fiona feels there are more civilized means
of dealing with it.  Laughter insists something must be done to Bart, or
Sequence will kill him.  Fiona says she needs to work on recovering
Sequence's essence.  She asks Laughter to keep an eye on Bleys.  Laughter
opts to go to Foil to evacuate people.

	Ariana Trumps Laughter looking for Shard, since he's one of the
Amberites still out in Shadow.  Laughter says she hasn't seen him.  Ariana
offers to help her with the evacuation.  Together, they manage to
transport Laughter's family and most of her senior staff to Amber.  Beauty
and Caitt wind up staying with Ariana.

	Mirelle walks into the infirmary and observes that Brand is
looking well.  She decides to just watch him suffer, since she knows Bleys
cast a spell to stop her from hurting him.  She sits down and conjures
some popcorn.  Rinaldo is rather unhappy about this.  Mirelle offers to
watch Brand for Felix, but he refuses.  Then she gets a Trump call and
goes through, much to Felix's relief.  He tells Rinaldo that he's worried
about what will happen when Brand wakes up, since he's worried Brand will
use him.  Rinaldo claims Brand's gotten better.  Felix isn't so sure. 
Rinaldo asks him what Foster's been up to.  Felix tells him that Foster
walked the Pattern and that the Laughter thing is still going on.

	Senlin notes Sequence's rather sad appearance.  He goes with
Laughter and Ariana to the forge in Amber to set about reforging the
sword.  Fiona Trumps Laughter and comes through.  She has a glowing object
in her hand which she smacks into the sword.  It regains awareness and
decides that this sucks.  Senlin's sword, Curetana, remarks that it has
looked better.  Fiona asks where Bleys is, but Laughter doesn't know,
since she never bothered to track him down.  Fiona leaves to find him.

	Riftvan Trumps Ariana, saying he's stashed the children and would
like to come through.  She's happy to oblige.  He gets a look at Sequence
and starts laughing.  Given how often the sword has tormented him,
Laughter understands.  Sequence, on the other hand, likes this not at all,
especially since it can't do anything about it.  It and Curetana begin to
argue vociferously.  Laughter seems to have things well in hand, so Ariana
and Riftvan leave after a while.  Ariana checks the Great Hall, but
everyone seems to have dispersed.  Random is still talking to Llewella, so
Ariana has a note delivered to him asking if the place where Sand is
imprisoned will hold up to Shadow storms.  Random's reply tells her that
the place is proof against them.  She and Riftvan return to their house in
town.

	Alex tells his contact in Chaos that Lord Jesby is imprisoned in
Amber.  He's instructed to find out what Jesby knows and get back to
Sawall.  Mebd learns about the destruction of Brand's Pattern and Trumps
Heather.  After getting the details, she heads up to the infirmary.

	Alex grabs the book Barnabas was reading, along with some wine,
and heads down to the dungeon.  The guards bring him to Barnabas' cell and
remain standing there.  Alex offers his gifts and asks why the Hendrakes
are after Barnabas.  Barnabas asks if they need a reason.  Alex points out
that once he leaves, and Barnabas finishes his book, it will get awfully
boring down here.  Barnabas offers to reveal his information if Alex can
get him on the Black Watch.  He implies that it involves treason on the
Hendrakes' part.  Alex says that sounds delicious and leaves.  Once he's
gone, the guards take away the book and the wine.

	Alex Trumps Gramble and explains the situation.  Gramble agrees to
place Barnabas on the Black Watch, since if the information isn't
sufficient, he'll simply change his mind.  Alex lets Barnabas stew for a
few hours, then returns with the book and more wine.  He tells Barnabas of
Gramble's decision.  Barnabas tells Alex that Gramble's wife is trying to
steal the throne from him.  And she's in league with the Serpent, or so
she claims.  Her grand scheme was to gain the Jewel of Judgment and undraw
the Patterns, by placing someone in the center and having them unwalk it. 
Normally this is fatal, so she must be using someone who can't die.  One
of the guards leaves at this point.  Alex suggests to the remaining guard
that he might release the prisoner, now that he's told them what they
wanted.  The guard says they need approval from Benedict to do that, but
he agrees to leave the book and wine with Barnabas this time.  Alex writes
everything Barnabas told him down on a note, which he passes through a
Trump contact to Gramble.

	Bart tries to find Lyss and Martin.  Usires tags along.  They find
Lyss in the castle, holding Darby rather tightly, which Bart knows means
she forgot where she left him.  She complains that she was very close to
finding Spider in Chaos.  Bart tells her that Dara has the Jewel.  Lyss is
quite shocked.  Then Bart tells her the next target will be the Rose. 
Lyss isn't sure what the destruction of the Rose would do to her, since
her father was a Pattern ghost.  Darby is upset by the idea that she might
be hurt.  Lyss reassures Darby that this means she'll have more time to
spend with him.  Bart finds Martin next and fills him in.  Martin really
didn't want to know any of this.  He lights a joint and asks what they
should do.  They hear the clamor from the forge and Martin wants to check
it out.  Bart wants no part of that death culture.  Usires suggests that
this is Bart's chance to apologize.  Martin asks what happened.  Bart
eventually explains his screw up with Sequence.  Martin asks how good he
is at damage control.  Bart claims the sword would never be able to touch
him.  Usires tells Bart that he's dead.

	Ahab lenses the castle for elders and finds a large concentration
of them in the audience chamber.  He goes there and finds Benedict talking
to one of his guards about Alex's visit.  Llewella, Gerard and Random are
also there.  Deirdre is on her way out, so Ahab catches her and asks
what's going on.  She tells him that they have a fake Jewel, and Brand
must have erased his own Pattern, since he's the only one who can survive
the process.  She's going to go to the Rose and shoot anything that moves. 
She actually looks a bit nervous, for once.  This does not make Ahab feel
any better.

	Ahab goes down to the forge and discusses the reforging of
Sequence with Laughter.  The spell requires that she create three swords. 
They eventually decide that the other two swords will be named Source and
Return, the former for Beauty, and the latter for Nicholas, once he's old
enough.  Ahab and Kimdyl will keep it until then.  Laughter begins the
spell, which involves summoning a demon, among other things.  Martin walks
in and asks what happened.  Laughter explains.  Martin isn't so sure she's
made peace with Llewella, but Laughter's pretty sure.  Martin suggests
that killing Bart is not a good idea.  He likes him, and besides, if he
did it to Sequence once, he can do it again.  They argue about this for a
bit, with Sequence joining in on the "kill Bart"  side.  Martin thinks
Sequence needs to loosen up and sprinkles some weed into the melted metal. 
Sequence starts feeling funky.  Ahab notices Martin do this and points it
out to Laughter, who is most annoyed.  Martin asks if she's going to kill
him.  Laughter isn't sure.  She figures that if it happens again... 
Martin takes a turn at pounding the sword and threatens to ding it. 
Sequence reminds him that the demon is real, which gets Martin a little
worried.  He tries to persuade Ahab or Laughter to take over for him. 
After letting him sweat for an hour, Ahab agrees to take a turn.

	Bart is worried about how long it's taking for Martin to get back,
so he gets completely wasted in an effort to avoid the pain he thinks
Laughter will inflict on him.  Martin finds him upon his return and shakes
him until he vomits.  Bart is not happy.  Martin tells him that he squared
things with Laughter, but he can't help him with the sword.  And if he
does that again, Laughter will kill him.  Bart figures if the sword comes
after him, he'll do it again.  Martin observes that he doesn't want to
live long.  He stuffs Bart in a barrel full of water and hauls him away. 
He and Usires get acquainted in a night on the town.

	Ariana paces for a bit, then Trumps Ahab and asks if he's knows
what's going on.  Ahab doesn't want to discuss it over Trump, so she goes
through to him.  She does not react well to the demon in the forge.  Ahab
fills her in on what he learned from Deirdre.  She's doesn't find any of
this comforting.  She and Ahab agree to keep each other updated and she
Trumps back to Riftvan.  When she tells him what she learned from Ahab, he
says there's something he needs to do in Shadow.  Ariana looks worried. 
He kisses her and promises he'll be back.  How can he fail to return to
the presence of such beauty?  She decides she's had enough for one day and
puts the kids to bed.  They make some smart remark about her making them
go to bed early because Dad's gone, which doesn't earn them any reprieve. 
She doesn't sleep very well at all.  She keeps dreaming of demons, then
waking up and looking for the tattoos.

	Foster Trumps Laughter and comes through.  He notices that
Sequence sounds different.  Sequence explains that "That dickhead Martin
stoned me."  Foster arranges for food and water for Laughter during the
forging.  Laughter tells Foster that she isn't going to kill Bart, but she
wants an apology from him.

	Alex tells Random what Barnabas told him in the dungeons.  Random
says he'll see what he can do about canceling the arrest warrant and
figures better quarters can be arranged for Lord Jesby.  He's curious as
to what Sawall has to say about it the information, but Alex doesn't know. 
Mebd seems to be doing better, now that she's in Amber.  Alex brings some
food up to Rinaldo, who is still watching Brand.  Mebd suggests he needs
some time alone, so they go back to Alex's quarters.  Mebd spends most of
the next day unpacking.

	Bart sobers up around two in the morning, but is nailed into the
barrel, so he teleports out.  When Martin gets back the next morning, he's
convinced that he dissolved Bart, until he recalls that Bart is a
spellcaster.  He chain-smokes for a while until he gets over it.  Usires
spends most of the day sleeping.

	Laughter finishes forging the swords around mid-afternoon,
although Source and Return are not nearly as powerful as Sequence.  Some
of the buzz wears off, but Sequence isn't quite as berserker as it used to
be.  Laughter proceeds to crash in Foster's bed.

	Ahab brings Return home and explains things to Kimdyl.  When she
finds out that it's smart enough to teleport Nicholas home when he starts
to get into trouble, she rewards Ahab for his cleverness on the spot.

	The Shadow storm hits by early the next morning.  It's basically
gale force winds and some snow.  Martin does not take being cooped up
well.  Usires Trumps Llewella and asks if she's seen Bart.  She has and
says that he's all right.

	Bart visits Lilith, who says "You're the one I have to marry,
right?"  She shows him her anemone garden and points out her favorite
colors.  Bart makes a note of them.  Then he finds Lyss and they work off
some excess energy.  Ariana gets to watch Darby for a while.

	Clytemnestra has to be brought into the Great Hall for the
duration.  Ahab stops by to chat with her.  She calls his armor "bake-in
foil."  Laughter and Alex stop by as well.  Ahab asks how long
Clytemnestra has known Driscoll and learns it's been 300 years.  He's the
only one from outside their Shadow to be chosen by a dragon.  Clytemnestra
sniffs Laughter and says "interesting."  Laughter recalls Driscoll telling
her that dragons have an incredibly good sense of smell.  She figures
Clytemnestra has detected a baby inside of her, says "Oh no." and leaves. 
Ahab figures out what's happened and is amused.  Score three for the
Pattern.

	Laughter finds Foster and tells him that her original lover was a
Shadow of Driscoll, and one of Driscoll's lovers was a Shadow of her,
which he fed to a dragon.  Foster wisecracks that she was that bad in bed,
eh?  Laughter warns him not to ask what she did to her lover.  Then she
explains that she knows dragons have a good sense of smell, because they
could tell the difference between her and her Shadow.  Foster doesn't
understand where this is going.  She tells him they're going to be
parents.  Foster is quite shocked and asks if she's mad at him.  She asks
if he's mad at her, and wants to know what the repercussions might be from
Chaos.  Foster says he's illegitimate, so technically he's a member of
House Vetch.  Laughter is also illegitimate, so she doesn't belong to
Mandor's house, but no one will stop Mandor if he goes after Foster.  On
the other hand, if Laughter marries Foster, she becomes a member of House
Vetch, and, technically, a Chaosite.  Laughter thinks this is crazy, but
she figures Vetch likes her well enough, and this is all his wife's fault,
anyway.  The other option is for Foster to ask Vetch to be released from
the house, although this is usually done as punishment, and House Vetch
can't really afford to lose anyone.

	Laughter figures she wouldn't mind being a member of House Vetch,
if Foster's proposing.  He is.  She asks him to think about this.  He says
he has been, for the past five years.  Once she's assured that this dates
back to before he woke her up from Brand's spell, she accepts.  She also
mentions that she killed her first lover.  So much for not telling him
about that.  He takes a ring with a large amethyst and two emeralds on it
out of his dresser and gives it to her.  Obviously, he *has* been thinking
about this for a while.

	Laughter asks Foster if he wants to tell her about the House, or
if she should ask Vetch.  Foster figures she'll get a straighter answer
from him.  He explains that House Vetch used to be the King's sword arm. 
It's a house of assassination and intrigue.  With Vetch's marriage to
Ariana, the house is going to be restarted.  It's been defunct ever since
the falling out with Hendrake, but the falling out is soon to be taken
care of.  Laughter figures that's fine, since Foster doesn't think she'll
even know those whose deaths are involved.  Foster says he'll have to be
involved in the house to a certain extent.  As for the child, if they have
a daughter, that's fine, although Foster will have to find her a husband. 
If it's a boy, he'll be trained as Foster was.  As an assassin.  Laughter
doesn't have any problems with this.  Foster figures it will be a while
before things will be settled in Amber, anyway.  Laughter wants to know
how the marriage will affect her.  Foster explains that as his wife, she's
expected to do what he tells her to, but he's not stupid enough to hold
her to that.  She'll have to wear dresses for state functions, though. 
Laughter figures she had to wear one for her coronation, and for Ariana's
wedding, so she'll survive.  Foster also points out that if she marries
him, their children will be a part of the House.  If she doesn't want
that, she shouldn't marry him.  Again, this doesn't bother Laughter. 
Foster figures he'll have to tell Mandor, but first they need to tell
Vetch.  Neither of them has a Trump of him, so they Trump Ariana.

	Ariana pulls them through, and notices that Laughter is hiding one
of her hands.  She asks what's going on.  Laughter eventually shows Ariana
her ring and says that she and Foster are engaged.  Ariana congratulates
them.  They discuss what marrying into a Chaos house involves.  Ariana
asks what prompted the engagement.  Laughter says it's a bow and arrow
wedding.  Ariana makes the connection and congratulates them again.  She
asks when the baby's due and is informed it should be about nine months
from now.  She realizes what must have happened and asks if Fiona didn't
warn Laughter about the Pattern.  Apparently Fiona never bothered,
although Felix did, when Laughter first came to Amber.  He warned Foster
as well, but it kind of slipped his mind.  Foster accidentally lets slip
that Gramble is Laughter's grandfather.  When Ariana asks Laughter about
this, she admits that Mandor is her father, but asks Ariana not to tell
this to anyone.  Ariana asks if Heather knows about this.  Laughter says
she does, and they've even visited.  She reveals that Heather and Mandor
have another child, a son named Jordan.  Apparently Jordan looks a lot
like Laughter, a fact he likes not at all.  Ariana asks if Felix knows
about the engagement.  Foster says he plans to tell Felix after he speaks
with Mandor.  Laughter asks to speak to Riftvan, but Ariana explains that
he's not there.

	Laughter breaks the news of her engagement to Caitt and Beauty. 
Beauty notes that Eris will be pissed, since she's liked Foster for a long
time.  Laughter also gives Source to Beauty, who loves it.  Fortunately,
neither Source nor Return are capable of speech.

	Ahab tells Kimdyl about Laughter's pregnancy.  Kimdyl is amused.

	Constance Trumps Bart and asks if he's all right.  He tells her
that Barnabas is alive but in jail, for hearing something he shouldn't
have.

	Laughter asks if Ariana has a Trump of Riftvan.  She does, but
she's not sure interrupting him now would be a good idea.  She asks if it
can wait.  Laughter wants him to go with them to Chaos when they talk to
Mandor.  Both Ariana and Foster think this is unlikely.  There's that
Hendrake feud, you see.  Ariana points out that Mandor can't technically
stop Laughter from marrying, since she is illegitimate.  Foster reminds
her that Mandor can stop him though, since Mandor is the Crown Prince. 
Ariana decides to Trump Riftvan, figuring if he's busy, he doesn't have to
answer.  Which he doesn't.  She promises to notify Laughter as soon as he
returns.

	Another day goes by.  Martin continues to hang out with Usires,
who learns a lot of card games.  Martin's conjuration keeps them well
supplied with liquor and other substances.

	There is no official word from Chaos, other than the condolences. 
Alex does hear that Sawall is well pleased with his information.

	Bart talks to Lyss, who is very upset about the possible
destruction of the Rose.  Bart suggests they go to the Rose, if it will
make her feel better.  She thinks that's a good idea, and drops Darby off
with Laughter.

	Brand wakes up and starts struggling against Bleys' spell.  Alex,
Ahab, Martin, Usires, Bleys and Fiona show up.  Bleys and Fiona try to
contain Brand, but Bleys says Brand is more powerful than he thought. 
Things start to reach critical mass, and the heat being given off by the
struggle is incredible.  Martin pulls out a cigarette and the heat is
intense enough to light.  Ahab offers to help, then thinks better of it
and teleports to Benedict, who is already on his way up.  Ahab follows
Benedict back up and runs into Alex, who has this crazy idea of asking
Clytemnestra for help.  Ahab opts to find Kimdyl and tell her to get out
of the castle.  Once his family is outside, Ahab checks the infirmary out
with a Pattern lens.  He can see Brand sending a Trump tendril out, and
another one coming to meet it from Shadow.  Brand seems to be drawing
power from out in Shadow.  The tendrils meet, and Brand disappears.  Fiona
and Bleys explain that Brand is not using his normal power source, but
next time they'll be prepared.

	Ahab tells Kimdyl to be careful and teleports to the Rose.  He
finds Lyss and Bart there and hurries to find Corwin, telling them of
Brand's escape along the way.  Lyss makes a beeline for the Rose.  Ahab
breaks the news to Corwin.  Merlin asks what Ahab means by an alternate
power source.  Ahab explains what he saw.  Merlin says that means someone
helped him get out.  Ahab asks if Ghostwheel can find the Jewel, but
Merlin says it's where they can't find it.

	Lyss walks the Rose.  Bart notices that she has a different style,
where she holds out her arms and absorbs the sparks.  Bart starts editing
his misfire spell while she's walking.  When Lyss reaches the center of
the Rose, she sinks into it and vanishes.  Bart Trumps Ahab, tells him
that Lyss just did something, and asks to come through.  Ahab obliges. 
Bart says he needs to be where Brand will appear.  Merlin suggests he go
back where he was, then has Ghost take him there, along with Ahab.  Ahab
addresses the Rose.  Lyss tells him not to worry, she's done this before. 
She figures she'll die anyway, so she's going to defend the Rose.

	Corwin, Deirdre and their guards arrive at the Rose.  Ahab asks
what Bart's going to do.  Bart doesn't want to discuss it, since they
might be observed.  Brand appears and remarks that new plans are always
good.  Bart casts his spell, which releases every spell in the Shadow and
directs the offensive ones at Brand.  Brand convulses a few times and
collapses.  Merlin remarks that that's got to hurt and looks kind of
drained.  Ahab immediately Trumps Fiona and pulls her through, along with
Bleys.  Bart looks winded and notes that Brand will be prepared next time. 
Fiona conjures a large syringe and shoots Brand in the ass.  Then she
removes a red Jewel, examines it, and throws it on the ground.  Apparently
it was a fake.  Bart suggests turning off magic at the Rose, but you need
the Jewel to do that.  Oh well.  Bart collapses.

	Bleys and Fiona return to the infirmary with Brand.  Rinaldo looks
rather shell shocked.  Usires and Martin leave to go drinking and
wenching.

	Ahab asks if Lyss can turn off Trump around the Rose.  She says
she can, if she concentrates.  Ahab thinks this would be a good idea,
since Brand is bound to return.  Corwin says that if Brand is being
controlled by an outside source, he should be allowed to give an
accounting of himself.  Bart wakes up to find himself surrounded by Swiss
Family Ahab.


Quotables:

"I'm not late, I've just been listening outside the window." -- Matt
"Oh, you're in character." -- Sean

"You've got half of Chaos here, and you're worried about a guy in a
bearskin cloak?" -- Laughter to Ariana, at her wedding

"I'm thinking of my reputation." -- Kimdyl
"You married me.  It's too late now." -- Ahab

"I don't know if I'm ready for that, yet." -- Foster
"Foster, there comes a time when you have to do something stupid." -- Ahab

"You two are smooth like legos." - Jason, referring to Laughter and Foster

"Put any Amberite in a skirt and it all goes to Hell." -- Merrie

"Laughter would have a slit in the dress, for ease of access.  For the
sword, for the sword." -- Merrie

"I'm using my head.  Not at the moment, but periodically." -- Ahab to
Laughter

"People still listen to me occasionally.  Not the smart ones." -- Ahab to
Foster

"Well, Fiona said there are esoteric things in the castle, so I'm looking
for them." -- Laughter to GM

"You can't outrank your father." -- Barnabas
"You can if he's presumed dead." -- Bart

"I don't like being put into the position of having to trust people I know
nothing about." -- Llewella to Laughter
"We're cool people." -- Sequence

"There's three sides to my personality: the Amberite who can't cook, the
Amberite with a sword, and the Amberite who fears dragons.  Which of these
would you rather have?" -- Laughter
"I can teach you how to cook." -- Fiona

"I only teleported (Sequence) to a magic destroying pool.  It should be
fine." -- Bart to Martin

"The sword's really mellow now." -- Martin
"Yeah, now I'm happy to kill you." -- Sequence

"OK, sure I'll marry you.  I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a spell
on you." -- Laughter to Foster

"If (Jordan) looked just like me, we'd be identical." -- Laughter to Ariana

"I've gone through life convinced that I have a death wish, but obviously
I'm just a guppy." -- Ahab to Bart