Chapter Seventy-nine: "You gotta learn to think."

	Ahab decides to help bury Dalt, as a sign of respect.  It's Ahab,
don't ask.

	Ariana talks with Random and Vialle.  Random doesn't think that
Oberon ever intended to harm them, but is annoyed at how smug the bastard
was about the whole thing.  He offers his condolences about Jalana's
betrothal.  Vialle can't figure out why Ariana is so upset about it.  A
page walks up to them, and hands Random a scroll.  Random frowns as he
reads it, and says, "That son of a bitch."  He and Vialle then head for
the castle.  Ariana tries to talk to Bart, but he's still shaking over his
near-rescue attempt of Arthur with Llewella and Lyss.  She decides to talk
to him later, and seeks Laughter, who's walking with Foster.  Ariana asks
how Shard is doing.  Fine.  Laughter isn't happy that he's involved with
Beauty.  Ariana suggests that she talk with Beauty about this.  Laughter
doesn't want to do that, for reasons that neither Ariana nor Foster can
fathom.  Ariana explains that she lost a piece of her magic to Shard in
helping him survive the Pattern's return, and she would like to speak with
him, to see what effect that has had on him.  Laughter tells Ariana to
Trump her at three, when it will be night in Foil.  Ariana then makes an
appointment to see Bill Roth.  He's rather busy, what with Oberon's return
and all, so the earliest she can see him is the day after tomorrow.

	Felix talks to Flora, then Eric, then Tamaryn.  This all took
place over e-mail, so there are no further details, other than the fact
that Felix tells Tamaryn of Jalana's betrothal to Caine.

	Laughter goes to Fiona's quarters.  Fiona is sending a trunk
through a Trump portal, and her quarters are rather bare.  Laughter offers
sympathy, and asks if there's anything she can do.  Fiona says Laughter
can always shoot her.  Laughter asks if she's considered running away from
home.  And face Oberon's wrath?  No.  So what is she going to do?  Serve
her purpose and have babies.  She figures the wedding invites will be sent
out soon.

	Bart gets over the shakes, and celebrates by fucking Lyss.  Again,
this took place over e-mail, so details are thankfully lacking.

	Ariana finds Felix talking to Tamaryn.  Felix ignores her subtle
hint that she would like to speak to Tamaryn alone, so Ariana gives up and
asks if Tamaryn minds if they name the baby Bryan, if it's a boy.  That's
fine with her.  Felix connects this to how often Ariana's been throwing
up, and finally figures out that she is pregnant.  Ariana leaves the happy
couple and goes into town for lunch.

	Laughter wants to find a box of ever-refilling chocolates for
Fiona's wedding present.  Foster wants to go with her, so he Trumps Felix
and asks him to baby-sit.  Felix is not thrilled with the idea, but agrees
to watch Haris anyway.  Tamaryn immediately begins to coo over the baby. 
Felix takes her to a nice place in town to eat lunch.  Haris sleeps most
of the time.  Felix asks if Foster was as agreeable as a child.  Yep.  She
proceeds to tell him stories of Foster as a child, like how frustrated he
got when he couldn't figure out how to crawl.  And how he tends to choose
odd battles.  And all the trouble he had with little girls, when he was
eight.  They used to beat him up.  Foster would no doubt be mortified, if
he was there.  Felix tells her about the Eris affair.  Tamaryn suggests
that Eris might feel better if she knew how old Foster really was.  Felix
figures that's Foster's affair.  Tamaryn will talk to him about it, then. 
Felix asks about Ariana's question, and learns that Bryan was the name of
Tamaryn's late husband.

	As Foster and Laughter travel through Arden, they encounter the
procession of the Chaos brides.  Represented are House Hendrake, Chanicut,
Bances, Dhurba and Borge.  Foster and Laughter move off of the path and
let them pass.  Laughter glares at Chameleon as he rides by, but he
doesn't notice her.

	Bart and Lyss help Llewella pack, and bring her luggage down to
the courtyard.  Gant is going along as one of her servants.  Fiona appears
to have been the only one to have Trumped her luggage ahead.  Ariana says
goodbye to Mirelle, who insists on calling her Mercedes.  She attempts to
convince her to stop this, but is unsuccessful.  She wishes Mirelle a safe
journey, and tells her about her pregnancy.  Mirelle mentions that she's
always liked the name Porsche for a girl.  Not a chance.  Ariana notices
that Bart and Lyss look rather pleased with themselves, but chooses not to
comment.  A page approaches Bart, and gives him wedding invitations from
Benedict, Fiona, Llewella, Bleys and Flora.  Ariana, being somewhat less
popular, only gets invites from Mirelle, Bleys and Flora.  No one really
cared which weddings Lyss was invited to.  The Amber brides depart, along
with Bart, Lyss and Darby, who are accompanying Llewella.

	Ahab gets invites from Deirdre, Fiona, Julian, Bleys and Flora. 
Felix gets invites from Bleys, Eric, Fiona, Flora and Julian.  Fiona's
wedding is taking place tomorrow at three, so people need to be at the
castle at 1:30.

	Usires and Martin go out to lunch.  Martin suggests a few places
in a nastier part of town.  He's obviously looking for a fight, and breaks
his nose in the one that he finds.  Afterwards, he breaths a sigh and
notes that didn't help, either.  He doesn't feel like drinking, and asks
what passes for bloodsport in Usires' Shadow.  Usires offers to take him
there.  They return to the castle, where they get their wedding invites. 
Usires' invites are from Julian, Bleys, Flora and Llewella, while Martin's
are from Fiona, Bleys, Flora and Llewella.  Martin retrieves the Trump he
made for Usires of Rimmersgard, and they go there.  Then Martin begins
shifting for someplace that flows fast and has lots of bloodshed.  They
wind up in a generic Viking Shadow, and are quickly embroiled in battle. 
Usires notices that Martin fights dirty, but is not as good as him
overall.

	Ariana Trumps Laughter at three, and Laughter hands her a Trump of
Foil.  Ariana uses it, arriving at stately Sponcc Manor just as the last
of the sun dips below the horizon.  This excites her, which, in turn,
disturbs her.  She hears laughter coming from the dining room, and finds
Shard and Beauty there.  Ariana feels a little jealous of Beauty, but
pushes it to the back of her mind, along with the memory of multiple
orgasms that she experienced when she was helping Shard survive the
Pattern's return.  Shard looks a little paler than a normal human, and has
a glass of wine.  He also keeps looking directly at her.  She asks about
the wine, and he tells her that some of his appetites have returned.  He's
also able to be awake during the day, and requires less blood.  Enough
less, in fact, that he no longer needs to kill his victims.  He and Beauty
invite Ariana to eat with them, and she accepts.  While they are dining,
Ariana thinks about the missing piece of her magic, and begins to hear
Shard's heartbeat.  He looks up at her at this, and she stops focusing on
it.  She spends the rest of the meal telling Beauty about what's been
happening in Amber since Oberon returned, since Laughter never got around
to filling her in.  Beauty is very interested in hearing about the
weddings.

	Ariana returns to Amber and Trumps Laughter, to return the Trump
of Foil.  Laughter, having found her magic chocolate box, decides to Trump
back to Amber before taking the call.  She appears next to Ariana in the
main hall, at which point Ariana returns the Trump, and tells her of
Shard's changed condition.  Laughter shows off her gift.  Ariana thinks
it's a neat idea.  Foster offers her a bar of chocolate.  She eats it, and
conjures another.  Foster looks surprised, and asks where she learned
that.  Ariana explains that Driscoll taught her.  Now that they are back
in the castle, Laughter and Foster receive their wedding invitations from
Bleys, Eric, Fiona, Flora and Julian.

	Laughter Trumps Felix, since it's time to feed Haris.  Felix and
Tamaryn come through with the baby.  Foster and Laughter leave with Haris,
while Felix, Ariana and Tamaryn discuss the weddings.  There will be one
wedding each day, with the order being Fiona, Deirdre, Llewella, Flora,
Mirelle, Eric, Delwin, Julian, Bleys, Benedict.  Tamaryn observes that
Corwin, Brand and Caine aren't mentioned.  Ariana explains that Brand
hasn't been seen for a while, and Corwin gets to choose his own wife,
since he's the heir.  She avoids mentioning Caine, although she gets a
rather set expression on her face when his name is mentioned.

	Constance Trumps Bart, and asks him to convince Llewella to go
easy on Barnabas.  There's a road trip in it for Constance, if he
succeeds.  Llewella, still scowling, looks up and tells Bart to tell
Constance no.  Constance convinces him to try anyway.  He asks her to have
the infirmary ready.  The trip continues, with Llewella still scowling out
of the window, and Lyss playing with Darby.  Bart finally brings the
subject of Barnabas up with Llewella, who eventually agrees not to break
both of Barnabas' legs, provided that Gant can stay.  Bart relays this to
Constance, who relays this to Barnabas, and this is agreed to, although
Llewella has to promise to leave both of Barnabas' legs alone.

	The procession of Chaos brides arrives at the castle in Amber. 
The first to disembark are Duchess Flavia Bances, and her brother,
Chameleon.  Flavia is 5'5" tall, and of medium build, with a sprinkling of
freckles across her nose, green eyes and red- gold hair that is straight
and falls to her shoulders.  Next is Countess Leto Dhurba, who is 5'9"
tall, sleight of build, with large gray eyes and shoulder-length black
hair.  She is carrying a lute.  Then comes Baronetess Lucretia Borge, of
medium height and slight build, with dark blue eyes and long silver hair,
which she is wearing in an elaborate braid on her head.  She appears to be
a little nervous.  Next is Duchess Magdalyne Hendrake, who is very tall
and very thin, with brown eyes and dark brown hair, which is braided and
falls to the middle of her back.  She seems to be waiting for Amber to
show her something before judging it.  Last is Countess Viktoria Chanicut,
5'5" tall and appropriately built, with pale blue eyes and black hair as
long as Ariana's, which she wears in a pony-tail.  She gets out of her
coach and begins flirting with the first man she sees.  Must be Ariana's
Chaos twin.

	Laughter asks Foster when they start teaching children
shapeshifting in the Courts.  As soon as they begin speaking.  And the
Logrus?  Well, he'd suggest later than he did.  She asks what she should
wear to Fiona's wedding.  He suggests something tight around the waist,
uplifting around the chest, and matching the color of her eyes.  This
sounds much like the dress she wore to Ariana's wedding.  She hands him
Haris, and they go dress shopping in town.  This takes most of the
afternoon.  When they return, she models her new purchase in her quarters,
and Trumps Fiona.  Fiona is still in transit, so Laughter can't come
through.  Laughter hands her the vials that she took from the sorceress
Felix captured during the final battle.  She figures Fiona will find
something to do with them, and hopes it will cheer her up.  Fiona views it
as a puzzle, and thinks it's sweet.  She says the dress looks lovely, and
notes that Foster must have helped her pick it out.  Laughter gives Fiona
the wedding present.  Fiona smiles when she sees the chocolates.  Her eyes
sparkle even more when Laughter explains how the box works.  She's quite
pleased with her gift.  Laughter asks what she should get for Suhuy. 
Fiona suggests spending time with them after the wedding.  Laughter is
agreeable.  Fiona says that Mirelle is the only one of the brides who
seems to be enjoying the trip to Chaos.  At least she was before she went
to sleep...

	Ariana spends all afternoon packing up her belongings and closing
down her two houses in Amber.  She returns to Vetchways for dinner, and
tells Riftvan about the piece of her magic that she lost to Shard. 
Riftvan wants to her to be examined by a sorceress named Jasmine, from
House Borge.  This is done, and after the exam, Jasmine confirms that
Ariana has been visited by a vampire, but it's drained her life-force
instead of her blood.  The child is fine.  Ariana explains that she can
hear Shard's heartbeat.  Jasmine thinks there will be other signs as well. 
It's hard to say what those will be, since the only other person who had
their life-force drained withered away and died within a month.  Ariana
points out that it's only been a day, so that could still happen to her. 
Riftvan scowls.  Ariana asks for more information about the other
incident.  Apparently it was caused by a vampire who is still at large in
the Courts.  Ariana mentions that she can sense vampires.  Jasmine thinks
Shard has taken the first step towards making Ariana a vampire, but she's
not sure how he did it, seeing as how Ariana never gave him any of her own
blood.  Of course, they've never encountered a vampire with Pattern
before.  Ariana asks if there's any way to cure a vampire.  Nope.  What
about preventing someone from becoming one?  There are things that can be
done, mostly involving purging, but that must wait until the baby is born. 
Jasmine suggests that she stay away from Shard in the meantime.  Shard's
improvements are no doubt due to the life-force he stole.  It's not likely
to go away, but neither will Ariana's lost life-force return.  If she
survives the next month, she will live without it forever.  Jasmine asks
to be kept informed of any developments, and leaves.

	Ariana asks Riftvan if he thinks that Shard knows what he did.  He
figures that she'll have to ask Shard, but he doesn't want her going there
alone.  Ariana realizes that there is a part of her that doesn't want to
shut off contact with Shard.  She says that she's worried about Beauty. 
Riftvan observes that the mortal are always more at risk from vampires. 
Ariana is confused, since she figured that everyone dies eventually, and
are therefore mortal, Amberites and Chaosites just live a lot longer. 
Riftvan says that, barring outside factors, those of Amber and Chaos can
live forever.  Ariana notices that he seems not to be hiding anything from
her, for the first time since she's known him, and is puzzled by this.  He
excuses himself to attend to some business.

	Ariana Trumps Laughter, catching her right after she finishes her
conversation with Fiona.  Ariana comes through, and notes that Foster
helped Laughter pick out her dress.  Foster protests that it's not as
low-cut as the last one.  Laughter says that one was all Ariana's doing. 
Foster notes that Ariana has some skill in that area.  He goes into the
other room with Haris, while Ariana explains what she learned from
Jasmine.  Laughter decides to get to Foil, pronto.

	The Amber brides arrive in Chaos, and are delivered to their
respective future houses.  Llewella forces herself to be cordial with
Barnabas, and goes off to her own space as soon as possible.  Constance is
happy to see Bart, and is introduced to Lyss and Darby.  Bart is relieved
to hear that Barnabas has arranged for water access for Llewella. 
Constance is quite happy that she's no longer in line for Head of House,
since this means her betrothal to Adam is progressing nicely.  The
invitation has been made, and she's going to accept, once all of the
Amberite weddings are out of the way.  And, by the way, Florian wants to
see Bart again.  This is inconvenient, since Bart has no desire to sleep
with Florian again.  He and Constance spend the rest of the afternoon
settling Llewella in, with Constance on her best behavior.  Then Bart
explains to Llewella the details of how he knocked Lyss up.  She asks if
Lyss is aware of what she's agreed to.  Bart isn't sure.  Llewella insists
that he go tell her.  Right now.

	Laughter Trumps to Foil, and greets Beauty, who looks tired. 
Laughter is disturbed by Beauty's reluctance to go out in the sun,
although Beauty claims she just doesn't want to get burned.  She
eventually complies, after fetching a hat to shade her face.  Laughter
tells Beauty about the wedding, and expresses her worry about Beauty's
involvement with Shard.  Beauty is convinced that Shard would never hurt
her.  *sigh*  They discuss courting procedures.  Beauty doesn't want to
waste much time on such things, since she doesn't think she has that long
to live.  Laughter thinks Beauty's Faerie blood will give her longer life. 
Beauty isn't so sure.

	Bart finds Lyss playing with Darby, and explains that he has
something delicate to tell her.  She sends Darby off to his room.  He
goes, but not before ascertaining that she'll be joining him there
shortly.  Bart proceeds to explain that the way they had sex that
afternoon happens to have paralleled a Rebman betrothal ritual. 
Essentially, by having sex with him in the way she did, she's asked him to
marry her.  This is fine with her.  She doesn't want to publicly have a
wedding ceremony, since Ahab's never been fond of Bart, and figures they
can do a long betrothal.  Bart is still worried that Ahab will kill him. 
Lyss figures the more time he has to get used to it, the better.  He'll be
nice in 40 years.  She thinks.  Her dad was.  She'll protect him until
then.  Bart tells her of his wedding gift for Llewella, which is a giant
pearl with the following phrase inscribed on it: "A pearl.  An irritant
grown valuable through time."

	Laughter goes to Shard's room, and finds a coffin.  She knocks on
it.  No answer.  She pounds harder on it, using Sequence's hilt this time. 
Shard emerges looking rather groggy, his eyes almost glowing in the
twilight.  Laughter explains that he seems to have the ability to suck the
life-force out of someone, since he's done it to Ariana.  He looks
surprised, then says that those were unusual circumstances.  She agrees,
and asks him to be careful around Beauty.  He doesn't remember how he did
it to Ariana, only that he was wishing for the pain to end.  They go to
the dining room.

	At some point, everyone receives invitations from Oberon to a ball
that is being held in honor of the brides from Chaos.  Even Riftvan is
invited, although his name is listed below Ariana's on their invitation.

	Felix spends the late afternoon, evening and early morning looking
for wedding presents for all of the weddings that he's been invited to.

	Martin manages to get skewered in the back during one of the
battles he's fighting in, so he and Usires return to Amber.

	Ariana Trumps Bart, and asks him to let her know when he returns
to Discworld, since she has unfinished business with Meander.  Bart claims
that he won't be going back there until after the wedding mess is over. 
Ariana asks him to get back to her soon, as she doesn't have much time. 
He looks puzzled.  She also thanks him for retrieving Mirelle, which seems
to surprise him.  She spends the rest of the evening playing with her
children, and putting away the belongings that she brought back from
Amber.  She covers up the gargoyles in her bedroom before going to sleep. 
Riftvan returns and slips into bed early in the morning.  When Ariana
wakes up, all of the cloths covering the gargoyles have smiley faces on
them.

	Ahab finishes his present for Fiona, and returns home at about
eight in the morning.  There is a rather alluring surprise waiting for
him, in the form of Kimdyl, and he finds himself well-occupied until it's
time to leave for Fiona's wedding.

	Beauty, Laughter, Foster, Haris, Swiss Family Ahab, Driscoll,
Eris, Rinaldo, Martin, Merlin, Bleys, Swiss Family Gerard, Felix, Random
and Vialle meet in the Great Hall, in Amber.  Bleys looks rather pleased. 
Random is wearing an interesting medallion around his neck, proclaiming
him the Lord High Chancellor.  There is a gentleman there, wearing the
colors of Helgram, who asks if they are ready.  When they are, he opens a
Trump gate, which they all go through, and find themselves in Helgramways. 
The wedding is a small affair, with mostly Helgrams present, although
Mandor, Heather, Emer and Jordan are there.  Heather is obviously
pregnant.  Jordan sees the dress Laughter is wearing, and wonders where
his real sister is.  Suhuy admires Haris.  He is very graceful and
sophisticated, and it's obvious that Mandor learned most of his charm from
him.  Foster is in awe of the man.  Laughter gives Haris to Foster, then
takes Beauty around to meet all the young, eligible men, starting with
Jordan.  Jordan does not show any interest in Beauty, since she's a Shadow
dweller, and, more importantly, Heather will kill him if he does.  Ahab
bullies Nicholas into fetching punch for Beauty, taking her along, of
course.  He's a perfect gentleman, but finds the whole thing rather
uncomfortable.  Bart introduces Lyss to Florian, who offers her a tour of
Chaos.

	Everyone is seated, and the ceremony begins.  Red is the wedding
color in Chaos, and Fiona has gone all out, wearing an off-the-shoulder,
low-cut, push-up burgundy dress.  Suhuy looks delighted.  Oberon walks her
down the aisle and hands her over to Suhuy, who accepts her to the
applause of everyone.  The ceremony is officiated by a Priest of the
Serpent, and is rather one-sided.  Fiona must promise to love, honor and
obey Suhuy.  When the ceremony is finished, Laughter removes her pin of
Amber, and replaces it with one of Helgram.  Her other two pins are those
of Sawall and Bances.

	There is a small reception after the wedding.  Ahab relieves
Nicholas of escorting Beauty, since he still finds it rather awkward,
seeing as how she's older and taller than him.  Laughter distracts the boy
by asking him to pick out the weapons being worn by various attendees.

	Oberon is first on the receiving line.  He takes both of Fiona's
hands and talks psychically with her for a while.  There is the briefest
hint of anger on her face afterwards.  The line is rather lengthy, but
eventually Laughter greets her mother and her new stepfather, and they
chat briefly.  When Bart greets them, he presents them with a vial
containing two sparkling grains of sand.  It's octarite from the
Discworld.  Fiona looks quite pleased with this gift.  Ahab congratulates
both of them when it's his turn, and they bow and curtsey to him, since he
technically outranks them.  Ahab subtly lets Fiona know how ridiculous he
thinks that is, and presents his gift to her.  It's a pendant containing
Fiona's pentagram, with a section of the Rose inside of it, wrapped around
an onyx stone.  The metal is an alloy of copper and gold.  Suhuy finds the
image of the Rose slightly disturbing.  Fiona has Suhuy put it on her, and
tells Ahab that she'll be sure to never take it off.  Ahab gets the
feeling that she was telling Suhuy something subtly by this, but can't
quite grasp what.  Felix presents his gift next.  Fiona tells him to take
care of her grandson.  Felix says he'll miss her around the castle.  She
says that she almost believes him.  He wishes them the best.  Most of the
house leaves, with only the ones who know them best remaining.

	Bart finds Florian, who tells him that he is now technically a
shapeshifter.  Bart is confused.  So what else is new?  Bart adds this to
his list of things he did without knowing.  Florian would still like to
sleep together again, but Bart says he's just gotten engaged, and it would
kind of be tacky without talking to Lyss first.  Florian is surprised that
he's actually informing the woman.  It's that Rebman upbringing, you see.

	Laughter asks if she and Foster can stay on with Suhuy and Fiona. 
Sure.  The newlyweds won't be coming to the ball for the Chaos brides,
though.  What a surprise.

	Pretty much everyone else attends the ball, except for Beauty, who
goes back to Foil.  Laughter changes from her dress to a blouse and
tights, despite Foster's efforts to convince her not to.  Riftvan gets
quite dressed up for the occasion, and is not outwardly armed.  Right. 
Laughter sets Nicholas to counting how many weapons he can spot on
Riftvan, which keeps him busy for a while.  Random, as part of his new
job, has to announce everyone as they enter.  He does not look like he's
having fun.  Viktoria flirts with everyone.  Bleys does his own fair share
of flirting initially, but Viktoria doesn't seem to notice, and Bleys is
not happy.

	Caine walks over to the table where Ariana is sitting with her
family.  Ariana tenses when she sees him approach.  Riftvan squeezes her
arm, hard, and whispers that he loves her, but he'd rather she didn't
force him to do anything against her.  Ariana manages to be civil, and
Caine gives Jalana a toy sailboat.  Riftvan breathes again once he leaves,
but Ariana's mood is pretty much ruined for the rest of the evening.

	Ahab and Bart circulate among the notables after dinner.

	Laughter asks Foster quietly what will happen if you kill a Head
of House.  Foster coughs a bit, then discusses this with her psychically. 
He manages to convince her to just stalk Chameleon, for now.  She proceeds
to speak with Bart, as an excuse to get near Chameleon.  She claims she
just wanted to thank him for his help in the Discworld.  Bart is confused
over all the thank-you's he's been getting lately.

	Felix tells Caine about Jaquee.  Caine looks like this complicates
things, but grins when he hears about Meander.  Felix can't understand why
Ariana cares about Caine marrying her daughter, since she married Vetch. 
Caine laughs.  Ariana hears this, and begins reading Felix's lips.  Caine
hopes Ariana will try to kill him.  Felix looks surprised, and finds this
an interesting hang-up.  Ariana frowns.  Felix's good stuff allows him to
figure out that she's watching him, and he turns away from her.  Ariana
decides she's had enough, and it's time to leave.  Riftvan tries to
persuade her to stay for at least one dance, claiming that nothing would
make him happier than having her on his arm.  She figures he's trying to
cheer her up.  He admits that he's trying to make up for what he was
forced to say earlier.  She agrees to stay, but sends the kids back to
Vetchways.

	Ahab uses his influence to get the band to play a tango.  Laughter
chooses Chameleon as her partner.  He claims he didn't know who she was
when he first began attacking her, and stopped once he did.  What does she
want?  His head on a platter, and if not that, his balls.  But she'll
accept an apology.  In front of her, her fathers, and her grandfathers. 
He pales at the mention of her grandfathers, but accepts.  He doesn't
understand why she isn't making him apologize publicly, but decides to
count his blessings.

	Laughter approaches Oberon, and bows.  He says "Nice pants."  She
points out that they are tights.  Then she explains the situation with
Chameleon, including how he nearly raped her, and the apology that he's
agreed to give.  Oberon says he will talk with Gramble, and arrange a time
for the apology.

	Felix dances with all of the brides-to-be, and gets in their good
graces.  Viktoria dances very close, and he gets her for the tango.  Felix
tries not to smile when Bleys is watching.  Ahab dances with a few of the
other women, but Kimdyl claims most of his attention, since she'll rip his
balls off otherwise.

	Usires keeps leaving the room and re-entering, forcing Random to
keep announcing him.  Random eventually hits him with a scepter and tells
him to say put.

	Laughter gets Ariana's attention after one of the dances, and asks
her what she knows about House Chanicut.  Ariana tells her that they are
known for psyche, warfare, Trump and sorcery, and have no obvious
weaknesses.  Laughter wants to scare Viktoria, by telling her that Bleys
killed his last three wives for fooling around.  Ariana asks why she wants
to do this.  Because Viktoria is flirting so much.  Ariana thinks this is
rather unlike Laughter, and wonders what's prompted this mood.  She asks
how the talk with Chameleon went.  Laughter says she just wants to hurt
all the assholes.  Bleys and Viktoria start dancing together, and dance so
well that most people stop and watch.  Ariana figures Bleys can handle
things on his own.  Laughter reluctantly agrees, and hints at what she
settled for from Bances.

	Laughter notices that Foster is dancing with Eris, so she dances
with Driscoll.  They discuss Foster, Eris, Nicholas, and the difficulties
imposed on children when they age at different rates.  Driscoll figures
that Vivienne and Ariana's children are the only ones enjoying their
childhood.  Laughter asks what he thinks of no longer being Crown Prince. 
He says it's like a weight's been lifted, but it's left an impression.  As
the dance continues, he admires her legs.  Guess he hasn't gotten over
her, yet.  She ends the dance quickly, and he leaves the ball soon
afterwards.  She resumes dancing with Foster.

	Ariana notices that Martin is injured, and that he seems to be
avoiding his relatives.  She eventually corners him, but he doesn't want
to be healed, and claims that nothing's wrong.  Usires approaches her
afterwards and asks if Martin told her anything.  Nope, but she suggests
he keep an eye on Martin, as something is obviously troubling him.

	Ahab Trumps Corwin, who left the ball after dinner, and says he
has a rather sensitive question.  Corwin brings him through to the
battlements.  Ahab asks if Corwin's given any thought to Oberon's offer. 
He's still thinking about it.  Ahab isn't happy with how Deirdre's come
out of all of this.  He wants her to get some recognition, but Oberon will
never do so officially.  Corwin agrees, but doesn't have any good ideas on
how to help.  Ahab tries to convince him to come down and dance, but
Corwin prefers to be morose.  Then Ahab mentions Viktoria, and that she
seems to have outran Bleys.  Corwin decides to return after all, and tells
Ahab to have the band play another tango.

	Laughter dances with Felix, and asks him to move to Foil for a few
days, to keep an eye on Beauty and Shard.  She doesn't want to leave
either Fiona or Beauty alone.  Felix eventually agrees to do this.

	The band strikes up the second tango.  Corwin dances with
Viktoria, Ariana with Riftvan, Ahab with Kimdyl, Felix with Tamaryn, and
Bart with Lyss.  Laughter eventually gets Foster out there, after
threatening to do the dance of seven veils in front of everyone.  He
manages, for a while, until she asks how his flirtation with Viktoria
went.  He stumbles, and admits that she dances rather close.  She pouts. 
He points out that he saw how Driscoll danced with her.  She's still not
happy.  She tells him that Ariana wouldn't let her go through with her
plan, and explains what it was.  Foster asks what's gotten into her, and
suggests that she not act on any of those impulses.  She's still not
happy.  He asks if he has to take her upstairs and show her how much he
loves her.  She looks uncertain, so he kisses her passionately.  She
enjoys the dance much more after that.  As for the others, Corwin does
well with Viktoria, but not as well as Bleys did.  At one point, Kimdyl's
straps slip off her shoulders, so Ahab dips her, and gives the men a
treat.  She calls him a bastard, but doesn't seem to mind.  Felix and
Tamaryn are a little more sedate at first, but get more amorous as the
dance progresses.  Even Ariana seems to lighten up a bit.  Oberon seems to
note the affect of the dance.

	Laughter and Foster retire after the tango, along with Ahab and
Kimdyl, Bart and Lyss, Tamaryn and Felix, and Riftvan and Ariana.  Riftvan
and Ariana return to Vetchways.  Felix takes Tamaryn back to his room, but
remembers to ask her to take care of things so that she won't get
pregnant.  She looks disappointed, but agrees to do so.  Foster and
Laughter go to Foil.  Later on, when Laughter is feeding Haris, Fiona
Trumps her and warns her not to trust the statue to keep her from getting
pregnant anymore.  A little late to be telling her that.  Ahab gets a
similar warning, and wilts.  This gets Kimdyl's immediate attention.  Ahab
positions himself so that she can't kick him in the balls, and tells her
how they lose.  Kimdyl isn't real happy, but figures that as long as
they're screwed anyway...

	Ariana asks Riftvan if he has an answer for her yet.  He admits
that he can't bear the thought of losing her, but if he shares his life
with her, he might cause her death unintentionally.  She points out that
she might die anyway, and wants to be a part of his life.  He says she
will, and kisses her.  When she responds, he picks her up and carries her
into the forest that is visible from their bedroom.  They proceed to do
their best to make up for his year-long dry spell.  Before she drifts off
to sleep, Ariana tries to sense for the baby, and succeeds, but notices an
almost Pattern-like essence around the child as well.  When they wake up
later on, she tells Riftvan of this, and he reveals that he thinks the
child will be a girl.  Apparently he was thinking that Jalana needed a
sister on the night Ariana conceived, and his shapeshifting is advanced
enough that his body may have responded to that thought.  He also mentions
that nothing is safer than his Ways, now that he's reclaimed them.  Ariana
seems worried, so he asks if she's still concerned about what she lost to
Shard.  She admits that she's afraid that she's dying, or becoming a
vampire.  He assures her that he'd know, if that was the case, but she
remains unconvinced.

	Ahab speaks with Oberon in the morning about his reluctance to
redescribe his childhood.  Oberon says he can't officially recognize Ahab
as Deirdre's son.  Ahab asks if Oberon can do anything unofficially. 
Oberon tells him to think about something that might please Deirdre, and
get back to him.  Oh, BTW, if Corwin passes on the throne, Oberon's
passing it on to Ahab.  Swell.


Quotables:

"You don't need soft-porn, you had 45 orgasms." -- Liam to Kris

"Oberon is going to invite everyone (Fiona's) ever dealt with (to her
wedding)." -- Kris
"Especially her enemies." -- Jason
"Everyone she's ever dealt with." -- Sean

"Laughter has no clue!" -- Mer
"We know this." -- Kris and Sean, in unison

"Nine Princes in Amber, part two, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." --
Jason to the group

"Give me the boob.  I want the boob." -- Jason, speaking for Haris

"The King of Endurance rises again." -- Mer, referring to Ahab's response
to Kimdyl

"I'm morally convinced that Bleys would fuck anything, if he thought it
might be fun." -- Jason
"He takes after Dworkin." -- Mer

"Bart may be a Jesby, but he does have a survival instinct." -- Sean to
the group

"I have to confess, Mother, I'm a bit confused." -- Bart to Llewella
"She looks at you as if to say, 'This is different, how?'" -- GM

"Why don't you take down that damn portrait (of Calamus)?" -- Kris
"I don't know, Caitt won't let (Laughter).  Actually, I've never asked."
-- Mer

"You gotta learn to think." -- Jason to Kris

"(Beauty's) three heads taller than me.  This sucks!" -- Nicholas
"So does life." -- Ahab

"I don't think Caine could ever envision a scenario where his
mother-in-law didn't hate him." -- Jason to the group

"(Laughter's) wearing pants, it'll look like two guys dancing." -- GM
"Foster can wear a kilt." -- Jason

"Ahab." -- Fiona
"In the flesh." -- Ahab, the very naked