Chapter Eighty-two:  "I'm not toying with (Vetch), I'm using him."

	Bart gets a Trump of Jesbyways from Barnabas and takes Lyss home. 
In his worry, he kind of forgets to bring Darby along.  Once in Jesbyways,
Bart lays Lyss out on the bed, lays a cold cloth on her forehead, and
ponders what to do.

	Usires observes Bart's departure and then goes back to the party.

	Felix asks Foster what button he pushed.  Foster doesn't get it. 
Laughter decides she can't handle this, and goes over to Ariana, who is
watching Darby.  They both figure this might be an attack on Ahab's line. 
Ariana scans the room for attackers.  She notices that Kimdyl has pulled
Nicholas close to her, and Oberon has left.  Corwin never showed up to the
reception at all, which is odd, since he was invited.  Ariana Trumps Ahab.

	Ahab and Merlin are joined at the Rose by Pari and Oberon, and a
conversation is held over the body.  Oberon names Ahab the new Crown
Prince, although Pari doesn't think that the body is really Corwin's. 
Ahab takes Ariana's call, and says that things are not great, but there's
nothing she can do now.  She offers to tell Kimdyl that he's all right and
breaks the contact.  She fills Laughter in, and has Laughter deliver the
message, figuring Kimdyl will take it better from Laughter.  Laughter does
this thing, while Ariana takes Darby and rejoins Riftvan.

	Usires asks Caine about how to control a Shadow.  Caine tells him
that you bring Pattern to mind and will it what you want the Shadow to be. 
If it doesn't work, find a Shadow where it does.  Could just anyone have
done this?  Depends on what was modified.  Time.  That narrows it down,
since that's beyond the ability that most people have with Pattern and
Logrus.  Caine suggests that if someone's been messing with Usires'
Shadow, he should kill them.  That was Usires' thought as well.

	Bart checks Lyss out psychically, and realizes that she's had a
shock.  He gives her a psychic hand in coming out of it.  She asks what
happened.  He hasn't the faintest idea.  Then Lyss notices that the Rose
is not at full power, and she's running on backup Pattern.  Bart figures
that she's fine, so everything's cool.  Then he remembers that Darby isn't
there.  Oops.  He begins searching Jesbyways for the boy.  No sign of him. 
He Trumps Barnabas and asks if they can come through.  Yes.  They find
Darby with Ariana, and Lyss happily takes him back.

	Ariana tries to Trump Corwin, and finds that his Trump is warm, in
much the same way that Dalt and Sand's Trumps are warm.  She notices that
Deirdre has left the party, but her Trump is still cold.  She frowns, and
Vetch gives her an inquiring look.  She hands him Corwin's Trump.  His
eyebrows raise, and he hands it back.  Then he begins toying with his
serpent ring.  After a while, Ariana asks if it was one of his.  Not to
his knowledge.  Of course, someone could have taken an independent
contract, in which case he's not responsible for their actions.  Ariana
decides that she doesn't want to remain at the reception any longer, so
they return to Vetchways.

	Laughter dances with Driscoll, and asks why he's so skittish.  He
claims that all of Random's children are.  Whatever.  They dance a little
longer, then Driscoll asks how long she intends to torment him like this. 
She doesn't get it.  He tells her that some feelings take a while to fade. 
Maybe he'll get better once she's married.  Whenever that is.  She figures
he'll feel better when he's married.  That won't be for a decade, yet.  So
what would he like her to do until then?  Well, if she could stay at least
three feet away from him...  Laughter gets rather mad at him, and leaves
him in the middle of the dance.  She dances with Foster, and says that
Driscoll needs to find a hobby.  Foster comments that Driscoll already has
one, he just needs to find another.  Laughter is worried that she won't be
able to marry Foster, now that she's a Chaosite.  Well, has Suhuy
recognized her?  He called her daughter at Fiona's wedding.  Foster says
this is not good.

	Ahab takes Greyswandir and searches through Shadow for Corwin.  He
eventually notices that he's being followed by someone wearing black, red
and purple.  He takes the high ground and waits for her to approach.  She
tosses him a scroll, which turns out to his copy of a service contract. 
The woman then pulls back her hood, and reveals that she's Ariadne. 
Oberon has hired her to be Ahab's bodyguard.  She points out that riding
off alone when you're the Crown Prince is rather stupid.  Yep.  He
searches for Corwin with a Pattern lens, but still no luck.  He Trumps
Merlin, who's had no luck with the Logrus, either.  His information
network also came up with nothing, but he doesn't have a very good one in
the Courts anymore.  Ahab Trumps back to Amber with Ariadne, and they
proceed to the Pattern room.  Ahab doesn't get any bad vibes from the
Pattern, but Morglyph feels a little different, having had the Rose traced
into it.  Ahab returns to the reception, but Kimdyl's already retired for
the evening.

	Lyss makes a full apology to Darby.  Bart is still convinced that
they didn't bring him to the reception.  They return to Jesbyways, put the
boy to bed, and test Lyss' recovery in the usual fashion.

	Usires and Bleys, among others, party all night long.

	Felix wakes up the next morning, bathes, and eats breakfast.

	Laughter feeds and changes Haris, then deposits him with his
father, who's still sleeping and a bit hung-over.  That's what he gets for
not using his shapeshifting to deal with the alcohol.  Laughter tells him
to get up, then Trumps to Amber for Nicholas' lesson.  Nicholas is
accompanied by a woman dressed in black, but he doesn't introduce her.

	Ahab asks Ariadne who's guarding his family.  Her people.  There
are six, and while they're not as good as her, they're probably as good as
Ariana.  Ahab decides this is sufficient.  He is told by a page that
Oberon wishes to see him, so he finds the King.  Oberon says that he's
learned to trust Pari's judgment over the years, however, at this point,
he'd like whoever set Corwin's death up to think they were successful. 
So, until Corwin is found, Ahab is the Crown Prince.  He asks if Ariadne
is sufficient.  Yes.  Ahab asks if Oberon has any instructions on what he
should do regarding finding the responsible party.  Don't get killed. 
Ahab asks him to be more specific.  Don't go running off into Shadow
alone.  Ahab smiles a thin smile.  Other than that, Oberon suggests that
Ahab use what information resources he has.

	Nicholas remains after his lesson to watch Ariana and Laughter
spar.  After they do this for a while, Laughter expresses an interest in
trying unarmed combat, and sweeps Ariana's feet out from under her.  Felix
walks in on this, and smiles.  Ariana decides that getting thrown around
is not good for pregnancy, and suggests that Felix take over, stepping out
before he can object.  Laughter whispers to Felix that he had best not
make her express milk.  Felix turns bright red.  Ariana asks Laughter if
Foster knows that she says such things to his father.  Laughter responds
that Foster says those things all the time.  He's the one that brought up
nipple rings, after all.  Oh, no, that was Felix.  Ariana laughs, Felix
looks unhappy, and Nicholas looks confused.  Ariana and Laughter explain
what nipple rings are, and Nicholas likes the idea not at all.  Ariana
asks when Felix got them.  Felix opens his shirt to prove to that he has
no such rings, prompting Ariana to ask if he's hot, or that only happens
when he moves rubble.  Felix opts not to dig himself in deeper, and goes
back to teaching Laughter.  Laughter mentions her concern that she may not
be allowed to marry Foster, since she's underage in Chaos.

	Ahab goes into town and finds Alexi and Cosgrove.  Cosgrove is
instructed to have some of his people pull back to the castle and work
with Ariadne's people.  They wonder what's prompted this.  Ahab explains
about Corwin's death, and the fact that he's now the Crown Prince.  They
both bow.  Ahab tells them to stop that.  Alexi tells him that someone has
collected Dalt's army, and moved them out of Eregnor.  Ahab rounds up some
of his men, and sends word to Oberon that he's heading for Eregnor. 
Ariadne looks like this could be fun.

	Ariana makes her usual morning rounds of the local infirmary, then
drops in on Kira.  They gossip for a while over lunch.

	Lyss can't figure out why she feels so good with the Rose gone. 
Bart has a look of guilty pride on his face, and explains that he gave her
a backup Pattern, with the Unicorn's help.  Lyss gives him a passionate
kiss, then says she'll be back once she's checked the Rose, leaving Bart
hanging.  Or not.

	Theoretically, Julian's wedding should have taken place at this
point.  But it didn't.  Maybe Oberon figured everyone would be too hung
over from Bleys' wedding to face another one so soon.  Or maybe the GM
forgot.  I'd like my character to live, so I'll say the former.  :)

	Ariana spars with Usires.  Topics of conversation include:
Martin's depression, Caine, and the difficulty Usires has been having with
Rimmersgard.  Ariana tells him that something similar happened to her own
homeland, when she returned there after Patternfall.

	While traveling to Eregnor, Ahab receives a scroll via a hawk. 
It's from Arthur.  Guess he took Ariana's advice, after all.  Ahab reaches
Eregnor, and asks to speak to the Prime Minister.  Once this is arranged,
he learns that one of Dalt's old allies showed up, collected Dalt's army,
and left.  There is a rumor floating around that it was Dalt's mistress. 
Ahab wants to look around, and is given permission to do so.  Several
hours later, someone shoots an arrow at Ahab's back, but Ariadne
intercepts it and takes off after the shooter.  Ahab decides that maybe it
would be a good idea to put his armor on, now.  Ariadne returns an hour
later, dragging the assassin behind her.

	Constance arranges the engagement parties for herself and Bart,
since Bart is content to leave it up to her.  Lyss returns in the evening
and says that the Rose is definitely broken.  There's this black area
across it, you see.  She wants to fix it.  Bart is against this.  There's
the child to think of, after all.

	Felix Trumps Foster, who is still lazing around in bed in Foil. 
He tells Foster that he's been sparring with Laughter.  He was good,
Ariana was not.  She verbally abused him.  Foster is amused by this, and
asks why he called.  Felix explains Laughter's concern about being
forbidden to marry Foster.  Foster tells Felix that he needs to talk to
Suhuy and arrange it.  Since Laughter is of dubious standing in the
Courts, maybe Suhuy will be willing to marry her off early.  Felix likes
the idea of talking to Suhuy not at all.  Foster offers to script the
dialog for him.

	Laughter goes to Suhuyways, and talks to Fiona about having Beauty
walk a broken Pattern.  Fiona can't believe that Laughter is going to give
Beauty to a vampire.  Laughter figures she'll wait until Shard is cured. 
Fiona states that you can't cure death.  Laughter points out that he's
better.  Fiona says that's because he stole Ariana's life-force.  Giving
him more probably won't cure him.  Oh, well, in that case...  Laughter
asks if Beauty might be under Shard's thrall.  No, that can only happen if
they've exchanged blood.  They discuss Laughter's fear that she may not be
allowed to marry Foster.  Fiona figures that since Laughter has been
disgraced, the Chaos custom is to marry her off quickly, but Felix and
Suhuy will have to arrange this.  They return to Foil to discuss the
broken Pattern arrangements with Foster.  He's bathing, so Laughter goes
to fetch him, after first learning from a servant just how late he
remained in bed.  Foster plays innocent, although he pales upon learning
that Fiona is there.  Laughter takes the baby to see Fiona while Foster
hurriedly gets dressed.

	Ahab has Ariadne tie the assassin to a rock, and proceeds to
question him.  The man is dressed in black, which means he's from House
Vetch.  He won't say who hired him.  Ahab points out that he used to be
rather close to the Lady of the House, before her marriage, and asks if
the man fears Riftvan.  Yes, but his lord would never require him to
divulge his employer.  It's against their code.  Ahab admits that this is
true, but figures that if Riftvan's wife asked him really nicely, he might
torture the man for shits and giggles.  The man turns a shade paler, and
admits that he doesn't know who hired him.  He was paid well, but not as
much as he'd have asked for if he'd known there'd be a Hellmaid protecting
Ahab.  Ahab isn't satisfied, takes out a coin, and informs the assassin
that heads means that Vetch tortures him, while tails means that Fiona
does.  The man decides that since his employer didn't mentioned the
Hellmaid, he will admit that the person was female, smelled of Amber, and
had her own forces.

	Ahab Trumps Fiona and fills her in.  She comes through with
Laughter, who asks the man's name.  He scowls at her.  Fiona chants a few
words, and a Pattern forms in the air.  It sparks as it comes into contact
with the assassin, and Ahab asks his name.  He says it's Taft.  Fiona runs
the Pattern down his torso, and he screams in agony, but doesn't offer
another name, so they figure he's telling the truth.  Ahab asks him to
tell them who hired him.  A woman.  Not good enough.  The Pattern is run
over him some more, but he says nothing further.  Fiona admits that he's
tougher than she suspected, and casts another spell.  Laughter gets a bad
feeling from the spell, and stands closer to Ahab.  Basically, the spell
puts you in so much pain that you wish you were dead, and Taft quickly
spills all that he knows.  It turns out that his own research led him to
suspect that this job was in revenge for Ahab's execution of Dalt.  Ahab
alters the man's mind so that he can't stand to kill anyone again, can't
kill himself, and wants to tell everyone what happened to him.

	Ahab Trumps Ariana, tells her what's happened, and asks what
Riftvan's recycling policy is.  Ariana says she'll check, and get back to
him.  She finds Riftvan and relays the question.  Riftvan looks rather
surprised by the phrasing.  Ariana explains what Ahab told her.  Riftvan
says that if Ahab wishes to return the assassin, then by all means. 
Ariana Trumps Ahab and relays this, and the man is passed through.

	Ahab thanks Fiona for her help.  As they are leaving, Fiona tells
Laughter that she won't teach her that spell.  Laughter is rather
disappointed, but can't convince Fiona to change her mind.  After they are
gone, Ahab writes up a written report of the incident for Oberon, Ariana
and Alexi, detailing all of what happened.

	Riftvan and Ariana listen to Taft's sorry tale.  He ends it with a
plea to kill him.  Riftvan will not allow this.  Ariana asks why he
doesn't remove the suggestion.  Well, Ahab may be on the throne soon, so
why anger him?  Ariana asks what he means by soon.  He explains that Ahab
would certainly be easier to control than Oberon.  She admits this, but
thinks that Oberon would be difficult to kill.  Riftvan says he can think
of at least ten ways to take Oberon out, and there are others who can
think of at least a few.  If she wants Oberon to live, he'd best stay
close to Amber.  Ariana muses that if Ahab were king, he could end
Jalana's betrothal, and Oberon is a bastard who she wouldn't mind seeing
dead...  Riftvan asks if she's commissioning him for the job.  She didn't
think she could do that.  She could, if the price was right.  No, she's
not quite that desperate, yet.  In 35 years, maybe.  Besides, she'd rather
not bring the trouble that would result down on Riftvan.  He figures that
there are others who could be framed for it, and Gramble certainly
wouldn't mind.  Ariana finds this topic disturbing, so she changes the
subject and asks who Dalt's mistress was.  Most likely, Dara.

	Laughter meets with Fiona, Senlin, Beauty, Shard, Foster and Caitt
about Beauty's future.  She has Fiona explain about the broken Pattern
initiation, and how it will help prevent Beauty from aging.  As for
Beauty's desire to be Queen of Foil, Laughter has decided that she and
Senlin will be co-Regents for Beauty for a couple of years, and then turn
everything over to her.  She also says that she won't dictate Beauty's
personal life.  Shard offers to oversee the armies.  He'd better have good
field commanders, since he can't go outside during the day.  Senlin and
Caitt don't like Shard much at all.

	Riftvan listens to Taft's tale again, and decides to undo what
Ahab did to him.  He is rather annoyed at the sorceries which were used on
the man, and sends him into hiding for a while.  He tells Ariana that
spells like the second one are the reason he never bothered with sorcery,
as he does not believe in such methods.  Speaking of sorcery, Ariana tells
him what she's learned of the demon who tried to sacrifice her during
Patternfall, including its affiliation.  Given that she wasn't involved
with him at that point, Riftvan thinks its connection with Hendrake was
just a coincidence.  She apologizes for disturbing him.  He finds a way
for her to make it up to him, which occupies them for the rest of the
evening.

	Felix is woken up the following morning by a Trump call from
Foster.  Foster tells him that he overslept, and Felix has five minutes to
get ready for his meeting with Suhuy.  Eek.  Felix hurriedly gets dressed,
then Foster brings him to Suhuyways, wishes him luck, and takes off.  It
is at this point that Felix realizes that Foster never told him what he
was supposed to say.  Felix is brought in to see Suhuy, and explains that
he wants his son to marry Suhuy's daughter, since he has dishonored her. 
Suhuy points out that because of the dishonor, Suhuy can legally forgo the
dowry.  That's fine with Felix.  Suhuy assumes that the wedding will take
place in Amber, as soon as they make arrangements with the Priest.  Felix
agrees, then gets the hell out of there and Trumps Foster.  Foster notes
that his head is still attached, which is good.  He pulls Felix through. 
Felix informs him that he's forfeited his dowry, and is to be married as
soon as possible.

	Nicholas has been waiting for a while when Laughter arrives for
his lesson.  She apologizes, and tells him to blame Foster.  The lesson
for today is how to spot ambushes.  When she demonstrates to him what a
crossbow bolt sounds like, an assassin uses this to cover the noise of his
own shot.  Nicholas' Hellmaid grabs the arrow when it's only two inches
away from Nicholas, causing his eyes to get rather large.  She and the boy
vanish shortly thereafter.  Laughter finds no sign of the assassin, and
sends a will-o'-the-wisp spell after him.

	Ahab sends notice to Begma that he will be visiting soon about
Eregnor.  Shortly after he does this, Ariana finds him and tells him the
information she learned about Dara and Oberon.  Ahab quickly leaves to
give this information to Oberon, who seems rather overconfident and
unconcerned about any assassination attempt on him.

	Usires contracts with Miranda for a Takaran blade.  She asks for
quite a bit of metal and precious gems in return for this.

	Laughter Trumps Ahab and tells him about the attempt on Nicholas. 
He comes through, along with Ariadne.  Ariana arrives for Laughter's
lesson shortly thereafter.  Laughter detects magic in the area where the
bolt came from, and Trumps Fiona.  Ariana checks, but finds no secret
passage behind the wall.  Fiona determines that the spell that was used
has been dampened, so she can't tell much about it.  She can trace
Laughter's spell, though, and leaves to research this.  Ariana, Laughter,
and Ahab discuss what to do.  Ahab wants to meet with Vetch.  He plans to
offer a reward for information about those hired to kill his family, and
wants Vetch to distribute the offer.  Ariana says she will arrange it.

	Foster Trumps Laughter and tells her that their wedding is in two
days.  It's Felix's fault.  Felix insists to Foster that it was Suhuy's
fault.  Laughter is not happy, and breaks the contact.  She asks Ariana to
be her Matron of Honor, and Ahab to be her Best Man.  Foster is allowed to
pick the rest of the wedding party.  Ahab and Ariana leave to plan the
respective bachelor(ette) parties.

	Ahab asks Alexi to find out all that he can about Pari.  Then he
asks Trinity (nee Goblet) to help him set up Foster's bachelor party. 
She's to drive him wild, but he can't have sex.  Ouch.

	Foster tells Laughter that Felix wishes to speak to them.  She
comes through and asks his opinion on the wedding dress.  Foster leaves it
up to her, so she decides to get Ariana's advice on the matter.  Felix
tells them when and where the wedding will be, which is in two days, at
sunset, in the Grove of the Unicorn.  Felix Trumps Fiona to ask her to put
him in touch with Suhuy, to give him the final arrangements.

	Ariana asks Viktoria for her help in arranging the bridal shower.
Viktoria is happy to be doing something, and seems to be rather honest and
forward-thinking for a Lady of Chaos.  She's also quite young, having just
recently turned 42.  They decide to have the party in Rebma, and begin
working on the details.

	Laughter Trumps Ariana, who is in Rebma, and asks her who would
make Foster nervous.  You see, Foster claims to have picked someone for
the wedding party that will make her nervous, so she wants to return the
favor.  She's thinking of Jordan, but Ariana doesn't think Heather will
allow it.  Ariana offers to see if Riftvan has any ideas.

	Florian visits Bart and asks for a drink.  His father has arranged
a marriage for him, but he doesn't know when or to whom.  He's not happy. 
Bart offers to give him sanctuary in Rebma.  Florian may take him up on
that.

	Ariana spends the afternoon showing Viktoria around Amber,
especially the various stores.  After she has her usual sparring session
with Usires, she returns to Vetchways and arranges for Riftvan to meet
with Ahab after Julian's wedding.  She also passes along Laughter's
question.  He can't really help, since Foster is involved, and he can't be
involved with them.  He doesn't think Mandor will allow Jordan to go, and
Mandor might not go himself, Laughter's status being a rather sticky
thing.  Ariana asks if he'll go.  No.  He knows that she wants him to
change, but it will take time.  She says she understands, and relays the
news to Laughter.

	Laughter is vexed by the fact that Riftvan won't come to her
wedding.  She arranges a meeting with him to discuss this, although Foster
tells her it's pointless, since there's no way he'll agree to come.

	Ahab Trumps Ariana, and pulls her through to him.  He explains
that at the meeting with Riftvan, he's going to try to convince her
husband to make his people back off of Kimdyl and Nicholas.  And, if it's
necessary, he'll back that up with some threats, which may include
threatening her children.  He asks her not to tell Riftvan that he's
bluffing, and not to hate him for doing this.  Ariana likes this not at
all.  Ahab assures her that he has several more favorable things to offer,
before resorting to threats.  But, if his son is killed, he can't predict
how he'll react.  Ariana tells him that if anything happens to Nicholas,
she'll help him find the killers.  Ahab says this is good to know.  Ariana
asks after Kimdyl, and learns of the difficulties that she is having.
They both figure she would do much better if she was someplace barred to
Pattern, but Ahab doesn't think this would be safe.  They discuss possible
solutions, and Ahab says he'll talk with Fiona and Benedict about them,
but he thinks the only way to be sure is to take out Dara.  Good luck.

	Ariana returns to Vetchways and asks if Riftvan has a Trump of
Tamaryn that she can borrow.  He tells her that he destroyed his.  Ariana
says she thought Trumps couldn't be destroyed, and learns that Riftvan has
a form that is capable of consuming many forms of power, including Trump.
He's pretty sure that Pattern and Logrus are immune to it, though.  He
admits that he destroyed Tamaryn's Trump in a fit of pique, but he isn't
ready to talk about it yet, and won't be until he can think about it
without becoming furious.  Given this, Ariana decides not to push him
about going to the wedding.  Of course, if he doesn't go, she'll need to
find a suitable escort to take his place.  He kisses her hand and says
that he's sure she'll manage.  She proposes Driscoll, since he's
betrothed, so it won't look improper.


Quotables:

"We're just standing there, you can't come up to us and be mean." -- Mer
to Liam

"The plot's getting Ahab!" -- Mer
"Oh, like that's unique." -- Jason

"How are you going to dance?" -- GM
"On my feet." -- Laughter

"Laughter will dance with Foster, and make a snide comment about Driscoll. 
Perhaps a snide comment to be named later." -- Mer to GM

"Well, we could get down on our knees and beg." -- Foster
"You don't even have any knees." -- Laughter

"We should all bow to Ahab." -- Kris
"Are you kidding me?  I've seen this man grow breasts, I bow to him not
until he has the throne of Amber glued to his ass." -- Mer

"Don't listen to (Ariana and Laughter).  Women lie sometimes." -- Felix to 
Nicholas
"And that's how babies are born." -- Sean

"Did I mention that I'm wearing my armor?" -- Ahab to GM, after someone
shoots at his back

"I don't want to talk to Fiona and her husband.  I'm sorry Fiona, I know
you're listening in." -- Felix to Foster

"It would be convenient if you told me how much pain you can withstand
before being broken, so I can skip the intermediate levels of pain." --
Ahab to his would-be assassin

"You have no more need of me, then?" -- Fiona
"Well, I'm sure if we wait long enough, something will come along..." --
Ahab

"It's what has allowed me to live to a ripe old age." -- Riftvan to Ariana
"Yes, it's a vitamin they leave in the water, vitamin evil." -- Felix

"Laughter - fear of your soul.  You're going to have to change your name,
first." -- Foster to Laughter

"I'm not toying with (Vetch), I'm using him." -- Laughter to GM