Chapter Eight-six: "I didn't use you as a pawn.  You invited me to use you
as a pawn."

	Felix duels with Eris, who he notices has a winged dragon tattooed
on her back, with the wings going down the arms.  He's stronger, but she's
faster.  At one point, he knocks her sword out of her hand, and she
somersaults over to catch it.  He eventually yields and apologizes.  They
go out to lunch together.  Felix asks how things are going with Hope. 
Apparently Driscoll turned off science in Lazarus, which helped the
Lazarians a lot in the war.  Hope is drafting the new treaty.  Driscoll
was more lenient on the humans than any emperor has been in the past. 
Felix isn't real eager to visit the humans in Lazarus again.  Eris figures
that he'd be more wary of visiting the Lazarians, but whatever.  Felix
mentions that his parents and Laughter are expecting.  Eris is amused. 
Felix tries to convince Eris that he only yielded to avoid embarrassing
her.  She isn't buying it.  Felix realizes from the conversation that Eris
is blunt but flowery, a bit suspicious, and a romantic.  Yes, it's an odd
combination.  What did you expect from Driscoll's kid?

	Felix also observes Ahab's children throughout the week.  Nimue is
very polite and asks him a lot about Ahab.  Nicholas hasn't changed all
that much.  Felix spars with Nimue, who isn't even as strong as Eris, but
is about as fast and with the same style.  Nicholas, on the other hand,
quickly disarms Felix and places his sword at Felix's throat.  Then he and
Nimue tag-team Felix, who begins throwing things at them.  They avoid the
objects, Nimue casts a spell, and all the stuff goes back at Felix.  He's
buried, but manages to throw a mat at Nimue, which pins her against the
wall.  While he's lobbing something at Nicholas, she casts another spell,
and levitates him off the ground, away from anything he can throw.  She
leaves him there, dragging Nicholas off with her.  Nicholas gives Felix an
apologetic look as he goes.

	Eventually, a page wanders by and tosses Felix his Trumps.  Felix
Trumps Foster and tells him to come through.  Foster is suspicious.  Felix
says he needs Foster's help, but not over the Trump.  Foster shows the
scene to Laughter.  Laughter asks who did that, notices Felix redden, and
guesses that it was a woman.  She goes through and falls to the floor.  He
asks if she knows magic.  Yes, but none that will help.  She tells him to
bring Pattern to mind.  While he is doing so, Foster Trumps Laughter,
learns of Felix's predicament, and wants to come through.  Nope, sorry, he
didn't come through before.  Felix eventually succeeds in bringing Pattern
to mind, and lands on the mat Laughter placed beneath him.

	Laughter tries Trumping Foster, but he won't answer, so she Trumps
Fiona and asks her to make Foster Trump her.  Fiona asks what she gets out
of it.  Um, Foster's scared expression?  Fiona will think of something
later.  Foster Trumps Laughter shortly thereafter, with a pained
expression on his face.  After some bickering, he pulls her through onto
his lap on the horse, puts his arms around her so that she's pinned, and
conjures a golden paddle.  She tells him not to do that in front of the
sword.  He finds a soft place in the ferns and punishes her for about half
an hour, at which point Sequence begins bitching that it's bored.  Foster
tells it to kill something, and it quickly takes off.  Hope they weren't
fond of the Shadow.

	Nicholas offers to take Felix out to lunch as an apology for what
Nimue did.  Plus he'll give Felix pointers on how to deal with Nimue. 
Felix accepts.

	Foster and Laughter finish with their, um, business, and Laughter
tracks down Sequence.  They proceed to set Laughter's new Shadow up.  Its
primary purpose will to be to house the army she's raising for Ahab.

	Ariana spends the rest of the week riding herd on her children. 
The boys are getting to be real hellions, especially since their
shapeshifting has reached the point where they can and do imitate each
other when doing something wrong.  Morgan decides it's cool to imitate
plants and try to scare his mother.  At first, Ariana is able to recognize
him, but pretends not to, getting him to reveal himself by watering him,
threatening to trim him, you get the idea.  Morgan does eventually fool
her, causing her to draw a knife before she realizes it's him.  The kids
get a strong lecture on why this sort of thing is a bad idea around their
trigger-happy mom, and move onto somewhat safer pursuits.  Mirelle remains
at Vetchways and begins teaching Jalana conjuring.  It becomes apparent
that Mirelle despises her husband even more thoroughly than Ariana does.

	Laughter invites Felix to tag-team Nicholas with Foster.  Nicholas
takes his lumps gracefully.  Later on in the week, Laughter takes Nicholas
to the Globe and shows him Beauty's main passion in life.  Nicholas asks
to borrow Elizabeth's works.  Laughter also tells him about Beauty's
curse, the history of Foil, and her bachelorette party.  That last
involves more information than Nicholas really wanted to know.

	Lyss is determined to remain in Amber for the duration of her
punishment, much to Bart's dismay.  Bart hangs out in Rebma, and learns
that Moire is back on the throne.  Arthur is rather relieved.  Bart works
on finding the flaw in his Domino spell, and determines that if the person
it is cast on has enough stamina, they can last until their counterspell
is set off.

	Usires mopes for much of the week over the temporary loss of his
ax.  During one of his sparring sessions with Ariana, he asks how she got
the Takaran dagger she showed him.  She claims it just found its way into
her possession.  Really.  He asks how the Takaran blade makes her feel. 
She explains, then shows him psychically.  He's edgy, so she assures him
that it's not magic, explaining how psychic contact works.  He still
doesn't find the blade nearly as disturbing as she does.  They talk about
technology vs. magic, and she suggests that he might find it helpful to
get an education in Shadow.

	Ahab wipes his shoes on Random's ego.  Random takes it well. 
Actually, Ahab just tells Random that he's delegated the job of the
coronation to someone else.  You can imagine Random's disappointment. 
Ahab also asks Eric to take a grand tour of the Golden Circle. 
Apparently, Bill and Ahab have been discussing widening the Circle, and
Ahab wants to know who might be involved.

	Sometime during the week, Laughter tells Foster to tell Tamaryn
that she's going to be a grandmother again.  Foster does this and says
she's delighted, and wants to be told when the time comes.  She's
wandering Shadow, right now.  Foster isn't sure where she came up with
that idea.

	Towards the end of the week, Ariana receives a Trump call from
Ahab, and goes through to him.  He wants to convey, informally, his
displeasure at the assassination of an Amberite that her husband
performed.  He turned out to be nobody, but still...  After much back and
forth, and without ever coming out and saying it, Ariana manages to imply
that Laughter was, in the end, responsible for that.  Ahab thanks her, and
remarks that he's sure she would prefer that he and her husband don't come
to odds.  Of course.  He thanks her for speaking to him on such short
notice.  She bows and returns to Vetchways.

	Ahab Trumps Laughter and pulls her through.  He asks why Riftvan
was at her wedding, since it broke Chaos custom for him to be there.  Um,
it's her father's fault.  Vetch killed Oberon, didn't he?  Ahab just
stares at her.  Laughter corrects herself, saying that she knows that
Vetch didn't, but he could have.  He's sneaky.  Ahab asks her to tell
Mandor, informally, of course, that he'd rather that sort of thing didn't
happen any more.  Uh-huh.  Laughter brings up Nicholas' lack of knowledge
in dealing with women.  Ahab suggests she start pointing out what Beauty
sucks at.  That's tough, since she's never tried anything she isn't good
at.  Maybe Nicholas could teach her soccer.  Getting back to the original
topic, Laughter asks if it would help if someone from Amber's side
assassinated one of Chaos' nobles.  No, that would be inappropriate. 
Actually, the death did Ahab a bit of a favor, but don't let it happen
again.

	Laughter Trumps Foster and goes through.  He asks if she's in
trouble.  No, she shunted it off onto her father.  Then she's in trouble. 
Yep.  She Trumps Mandor and goes through.  She tells him that she has this
first cousin of hers in Amber, but since this is unofficial, they don't
need to say who.  Hypothetically, if Mandor had sent Riftvan Vetch to his
daughter's wedding....  That was sneaky, by the way.  Mandor bows. 
Laughter blurts out that Ahab would prefer to be informed in the future so
he could deal with it internally.  So much for hypotheticals.  Mandor
points out that it was a Chaosite, so it wasn't technically Ahab's
jurisdiction.  But, since she is the messenger, she may inform Ahab that
he will take the matter under advisement.  But she might want to remind
Ahab that he can take action on his own much more swiftly than he can get
word to Ahab.  The precedent of direct communication between the two
realms has not actually been set, yet.

	Ahab and Bill draw up the official proclamation that Amberites
don't give up their titles when marrying Chaosites.

	Suhuy and Fiona meet with Ahab in Amber the following morning. 
Ahab greets them appropriately for a Princess of Amber and her consort,
and gives Fiona the proclamation scroll.  She reads the scroll, while Ahab
asks Suhuy for a favor.  Nimue is ready to begin training for the Logrus,
you see.  She'd like to begin as soon as possible, depending on Suhuy's
availability, of course.  Suhuy figures he can accommodate the Princess. 
He'll see her tomorrow morning, around 11.  Naturally, Ahab will
compensate him.  Suhuy will quote him the standard price, but their
scribes can deal with the matter.  Ahab takes him on a tour of the realm. 
Fiona is quite pleased by the scroll, and opts out of the tour. 
Naturally, the tour involves dropping in on Nimue, since Ahab thinks she
needs to be taken down a few pegs.  Suhuy says he's looking forward to
their lesson tomorrow.  Nimue looks a little pale.  Nicholas doesn't look
nearly as shocked, since he's not going to be training with Suhuy.  Ahab
brings Suhuy around to see Lyss and Bart, next, and they make small talk. 
Fiona drops in on Bart a little later on.  Bart spends most of the
conversation trying not to recall that he's seen Fiona's breasts, and
drawn them.

	Later that afternoon, Bart is playing in the garden with Lyss and
the children when Ariel warns him of danger, and he suddenly finds himself
on a barren and rocky plain.  He says Betazoid.  Brand finds this
interesting.  Bart assures him that he relayed the message to Gramble. 
Brand asks if he's a sadist or a masochist.  Bart asks Ariel to get them
out, but Ariel is being blocked from the Disc.  The magic has an odd
flavor here.  Bart says he thought they were even.  Actually, this is for
the drubbing Bart gave him earlier at Corwin's Pattern.  Bart points out
that he was defending the woman he loved, who would have died if Brand had
hurt that Pattern.  Brand points out that if he'd intended to damage the
Rose, he wouldn't have announced his presence.  So, does Bart want it fast
or slow?  Bart chooses fast.  Brand begins his spell.  Bart focuses on
doing something, anything, to avoid this, and suddenly does some wild
shapeshifting, which disrupts the spell.  It takes him five minutes to
change back.  When he's done, Brand tells him that wetting himself would
have been less dangerous, makes psychic contact to prevent him from
shapeshifting again, and paddles the hell out of him.  Ouch.  Brand stops
after he's raised a few welts, and says that now they're square.  Bart's
shapeshifting won't heal the damage, either, thanks to a suggestion from
Brand.  Brand sends Bart home.  Just as the contact from Brand fades, Bart
senses what almost feels like a wave of panic from Brand.  Bart arrives
back in the garden, and notices that no time appears to have passed while
he was gone.  He tells Lyss that he needs to visit his mother's estates in
Rebma.  When will he be back?  When he's feeling better.

	Bart arrives at Llewella's estate, and finds Brand tied and gagged
in the living room, with Vetch standing next to him.  Vetch shakes his
head and remarks that it was a terrible show, but he does need Brand
alive.  Bart just wants to let bygones be bygones, which gets a smile from
Brand.  Vetch figures the offer was the least he could do, since Bart's
distraction provided him with all the time he needed.  Since they are all
gentlemen, Brand excluded, he won't forget what he saw, but neither will
he mention it to anyone else.  He asks Bart not to mention that he has
Brand to Ahab for the next day or so.  Bart figures he's not going
anywhere soon.  Vetch picks up his captive and leaves.  Bart goes looking
for Florian to see if he can do anything about his injury.  Florian is
able to repair it, but takes a rain check on the reward.

	Ahab notifies the family of the assassinated dude of the
circumstances surrounding his death, and therefore how it is not to be
discussed.  Driscoll is officially announced as the Amber ambassador to
Chaos.  Laughter delivers Mandor's message to Ahab, and also tells him
that Beauty's gone to Suhuyways.  She intends to stay there until she's
taken the broken Pattern.  Ahab tells her that Nimue will be training with
Suhuy.  They speculate on the nature of a friendship between Nimue and
Beauty.

	Ariana is about to yell at Shannon and Vincent for something they
did, when she hears Riftvan's voice behind her, saying what she was going
to.  They listen rather better to him.  She kisses him hello and observes
that he's in one piece.  He asks if she's been good.  Well, she hasn't
killed the children, yet...  In that case, her present is in the parlor. 
She asks Mirelle to watch the children, while she checks this out.  She
finds Brand in the room, tied to a chair and blindfolded.  She wants
Ahab's assistance in ensuring that Brand releases the block, so Riftvan
Trumps Ahab and asks to speak to him.  Ahab tells his guards that he's
bringing through a master assassin, and pulls Riftvan through.  Ahab's
guards don't find this to be very funny.  Riftvan explains the grievance
that Ariana has with Brand, and suggests that Ahab might be able to ensure
that the block is removed without anything else being left in its place. 
Ahab isn't eager to go to the furthest extent, but he could always
practice his bluffing skills.  Riftvan gives his word as a gentlemen that
Ahab's passage will be safe, but Lander still looks unhappy.

	Riftvan brings Ahab back to Vetchways, where Ahab speaks privately
to Brand.  He mentions that at some time, he and Brand will have to have a
long chat over his future relationship with Amber.  Perhaps now is not the
best time, however.  Tends to breed resentment.  Brand points out that
Ahab could overcome this.  Ahab suggests that this isn't strictly
necessary, if one were inclined to do something already.  He brings up the
matter of the block in Ariana's mind.  Brand claims he might have said
yes, had he been asked nicely.  Ahab points out that he didn't contract
Riftvan for this.  Brand appreciates the clarification of the power
relationship between Ahab, Ariana and Riftvan.  Ahab also points out that
Brand has occasionally been hot-tempered, so Riftvan's actions might be
viewed as a sensible precaution.  If one were to view them rationally. 
So, Ahab's point is that Brand is in a poor position, and Ahab isn't
likely to extricate him, unless he knows something that would make it
worth crossing the relevant parties.  No, Brand doesn't feel like playing
that card yet.  So, it boils down to the fact that Ahab won't command
Brand to remove the block, but it would help his position slightly if he
did.  Not to mention that Ariana is nearly as psychotic as Ahab is, and
tends to hold a grudge.  Plus, if Brand helps, he won't be killed.  Ahab
can always make the point that Brand makes a better pawn alive than dead. 
True, and he does have projects to attend to.

	Ahab tells Riftvan that he's made Brand aware of the situation. 
Then he takes Ariana aside for a private conversation, and explains that
he's reinstated her rank and privileges in Amber.  She's ecstatic and hugs
him, then bows more formally.  Ahab wishes he could make her outrank her
husband.  Of course, her titles in Amber do come from the royal house, not
some Podunk house of assassins, so she probably does.  Ariana looks
uncomfortable.  Ahab adds that, of course, Riftvan didn't hear that, since
this is a private conversation.  Right.  They rejoin Riftvan, then Ahab
says his goodbyes and Trumps out.

	Riftvan asks if Ariana feels reassured.  Well, she figures Riftvan
will be able to tell if Brand leaves something else in her mind, right? 
Not necessarily.  Brand understands the consequences if he does, however. 
They re-enter the room, Riftvan unlocks a drawer that is always kept
locked, and removes a nasty-looking set of gold tongs.  He places them on
Brand's neck, whispers a few words to him, then releases one of Brand's
hands.  Brand looks a bit paler, and asks Ariana to place her hand in his. 
She does so, and feels him enter her mind and proceed directly to the
block.  There is what feels like a mental *pop,* and she says she thinks
that's done it.  Riftvan takes her hand, and thoroughly checks the site
where the block was.  Satisfied, he has Brand place his hand back to be
bound before removing the tongs.  Ariana thanks Brand for his assistance,
no matter how unwilling.  Brand assures her that he doesn't hold her
responsible.  Riftvan leaves with Brand, to release him someplace safe. 
Ariana is delighted to find that she finally understands Laughter's
lessons on Faerie magic.

	Usires casually loiters around the street where Miranda's shop is,
but he doesn't see her.  Caine asks if he's lost something.  No, not
exactly.  Caine asks what he's been up to.  Not much.  And Caine?  It's
all top secret.  Caine wants Usires to keep an eye on things with the
fleet, since he doesn't entirely want to leave it in Gerard's hands.  He
makes note of the fact that Usires has entrusted his phallic symbol to a
woman, and asks if he's tried her out.  Um...  They head for Caine's
ships, and Caine introduces Usires around to his people for a couple of
days.  He has people in Amber, Rebma and the Courts, although Caine only
alludes to the latter.

	Riftvan returns and finds Ariana working on her newfound skill. 
She points out that Brand will be cross with him.  He's been through
worse.  She tells him of her renewed Amber citizenship.  He doesn't appear
to object to it, and asks if she'll be moving back to Amber.  Of course
not.  So she intends to keep a foot in both ends of reality?  Well, she
won't give up her Amber citizenship, and, short of fighting Riftvan to
leave the house, she can't give up her Chaos citizenship.  Not unless he
divorces her.  Aren't Chaos marriages for life?  Yes.  But she won't have
to worry, if she doesn't vex him.  Besides, he found Brand for her, and if
that isn't a sign of love, he doesn't know what is.  True enough. 
Speaking of which, he hasn't been rewarded yet...  Ariana proceeds to
rectify this oversight.

	Laughter gets a Trump call on June 1, Amber time.  It's Fiona, who
tells her that Beauty is ready to take the broken Pattern.  Laughter and
Foster come through and find themselves at what appears to be a broken
version of the Primal Pattern.  Laughter has the crown of Foil with her,
but hides it from Beauty.  Beauty begins her ordeal.  The Third Veil and
the Grand Curve give her some difficulty, but she finally reaches the
center after an hour and falls to her knees.  After a few minutes, she
collects herself and disappears.  Laughter tries to Trump her an hour
later, but she's blocking, so Laughter Trumps Fiona and asks for her help. 
Fiona comes through and examines the Trump, determining that someone is
helping Beauty who Fiona can't affect.  Laughter assumes this is Shard,
and begins Hellriding for Beauty.

	After a while, Laughter realizes that she's heading for Amber, so
she Trumps Ahab and has him bring her through.  She explains the
situation.  Ahab says that Shard is working for him, brings up a Pattern
lens, and finds Shard with Beauty in Shard's quarters.  He uses the
Pattern to contact Shard, who mentions that he's in possession of Beauty. 
How is her emotional state?  She's getting better.  She called his bluff,
you see.  Would seeing her mother be bad?  No, he thinks he's directed her
anger more against him.  He pauses, then says that Beauty would like to
know Laughter's state.  Um, not good.  Beauty will see her when she's
calmed down a bit, then.

	Ahab tries to calm Laughter down.  No such luck.  Laughter figures
she's at fault, or Caitt is.  Someone has to be responsible.  Ahab doesn't
see why Beauty being in love with a vampire is such a bad thing, and
figures Fiona can take care of herself if she feels that Beauty used her. 
Laughter decides to have Ahab deliver a message.  First, she is
disappointed.  Second, she will not be able to talk to Beauty without
yelling at her.  And third, she won't leave the throne of Foil to her
until she shows some maturity.  They are interrupted by a page announcing
that the Lady Beauty wishes to enter.  Laughter Trumps Foster to leave,
but Ahab won't allow it, so she brings Foster through instead.  Beauty
enters the room.  Her eyes are red, but dry, and she tells Laughter to
speak freely.  Laughter directs Ahab to repeat what she said.  Ahab brings
up the maturity mentioned in the third request, pertaining to the maturity
of those who hold the throne of Amber.  Laughter says that she wants Ahab
to say this so she won't say something she'll regret.  Ahab relays
Laughter's message.  Beauty tells Laughter to yell at her, if she wishes. 
Laughter isn't buying the meek act.  Beauty says she needed to know the
truth, and now that she does, she is satisfied.  Why didn't she just ask
for a Trump of Shard?  Because she didn't think she'd get one.  Laughter
never gave her Trumps back, after all.  Oops.  Laughter kind of forgot
about that.  She tells Beauty where they are.  Beauty says she's sorry for
the pain she caused, but this seemed to be the only way to learn the
truth.

	Laughter goes up to the battlements to brood, but runs into
Driscoll on the way.  There can be no escape for the man.  Laughter
complains that she's become her father.  Driscoll points out that she's
still female.  Laughter explains the problem.  He points out that you
can't control who you love.  Besides, Beauty is young.  They debate
whether Beauty is grown-up at 13.  Driscoll thinks maybe Laughter should
reevaluate her position.  Since she's comparing herself to Mandor, maybe
she should remember how she felt, since Beauty's feeling the same way. 
Maybe she should ask what Beauty's intentions are.  Laughter doesn't want
to know Beauty's intentions, because she might not like them.  Actually,
her reasoning was much more convoluted, but it was Laughter logic, so we
can't duplicate it.  She thanks Driscoll for his help, and goes back to
see Beauty.

	Ahab asks Beauty if she and Shard are back together now.  No. 
Ahab thinks she made the right decision.  More importantly, he won't have
disarm her mother when she comes back.  Beauty says it wasn't her
decision, but she's reconciled to how Shard wants things to be.  Will she
be OK?  She doesn't know.  Ahab apologizes for Nicholas, saying it was
somewhat tasteless for him to court her the way he did.  Beauty admits
that her behavior wasn't exactly exemplary then, but she accepts the
apology anyway.  Laughter returns at this point.  She tells Beauty that
whatever her decisions in her private life, she is of age in Foil, so
Laughter's only concern is with her public life, and seeing to the
transition of the throne to Foil.  Ahab attests that Beauty's conduct has
been befitting her station.  Beauty asks how long Laughter will remain mad
at her.  Laughter says Beauty is not the one she's mad at.  Who is she mad
at, then?  Herself.  She thinks Beauty is being entirely too nice, and
wants to go home.  Ahab gives them both a hug, tells them they're both
hot-tempered plonkers, and that they should count to ten before doing
anything.  He suggests they go home, wait a few days, then have a big
screaming fight that will have everyone crying and stuff.  Beauty says
that's already happened.  They return to Foil.

	Florian and Bart discuss his injury, and Bart rewards Florian for
his service.

	Eris helps Felix work on the boat.  She asks if there's any
eligible lords around, but Felix isn't exactly helpful on the matter. 
Felix returns to the castle, eats dinner, and retires to his room. 
Ariadne knocks on the door, dressed in something tight, and smelling good. 
She sprawls in a chair, and mentions that her trip in Shadow was soooo
lonely.  Then she pulls her zipper down a bit, and asks if he's
interested.  Um, what about her father?  She's a big girl, and he hasn't
cared so far.  More importantly, he's a big boy.  A very big boy.  Felix
decides to take her up on the offer, after first ensuring that no more
children will be popping up.  He discovers that there's a reason that
they're called Hellmaids, and gets very little sleep that night.

	Ahab notices that Spider looks less tense the next morning, and
cocks an eyebrow at her.  She says it was her night off, prompting him to
ask who she killed.  He runs into Felix a little while later, and figures
it out.  After lunch, Ahab asks Felix privately if there's still something
up with him and Tamaryn.  Felix says it's been nice to have her around,
but he doesn't know how to deal with the situation.  He asks where this is
going.  Ahab suggests that it isn't easy on Tamaryn not knowing where he
stands.  Felix says he's not looking for a wife.  Ahab says his concern is
that Amber needs people, not that this is anymore Felix's problem than
anyone else's.  Felix says that he and Tamaryn want different things.  She
wants another child, he doesn't.  She had also expressed some interest in
Caine...  Ahab thinks that was just Vetch patriotism.  Felix admits that
he needs to get his shit together, and he's not sure how he'd feel if
Tamaryn started a relationship with someone else.  Basically, he's
confused.  Ahab tells him not to get uptight about the King thing.

	Ariana tells Riftvan of the mean streak that Shannon and Vincent
seem to be developing.  He says it is due to their being Sand's children,
not anything that she has done, and he'll deal with it.

	Ahab pays Laughter a visit during her lesson the following
morning, and says they're sparring.  Now.  Nicholas, Foster and Ariana
watch.  After arguing over when they'll stop, they begin, and Ahab goes
full force.  He's slightly better than Laughter.  She kicks at his balls. 
He catches her foot, and strikes at the other one.  She blocks, and he
sweeps her feet.  Then he puts his sword at her throat.  Foster begins
laughing, and gets a sword hilt in the head for his troubles.  Ouch.  She
wants a rematch.  OK.  They fight defensively for a while, with Laughter
trying to smack him across the butt.  He leaves an opening, and when she
goes for it, he almost knocks her sword away.  The fight moves into the
gardens.  When Laughter leaps over one flower bed, Ahab smacks her with
his sword, then knocks her to the ground and places his sword at her
throat.  That's the end of round two.

	Bart hits on Eris for a while.  Being the romantic that she is, he
finds that she requires a great deal of time and attention.  She asks if
he's engaged.  Yep.  Does his fiancˇe know about his behavior?  She
doesn't forbid it.  Eris looks like this is something she's never had to
think about before.  Bart tells her that nothing will happen if she
doesn't want it to.  She has no objections to being his friend.  And she
likes flowers.  Bart calls them "those colorful weeds," prompting a
conversation on the difference between weeds and flowers.  Bart introduces
Eris to his family.  He also takes her to Rebma and introduces her to his
court friends.  While he's there, he notices that Lyss looks smug, so he
questions her on this.  It turns out that she had a chat with Drumman, and
Darby's going to spend the next couple of days with him.  He sees things
more rationally now.  It felt good.  That's all she'll say on the subject. 
She asks how he's coming with Eris.  In spurts.  The players all groan. 
Lyss thinks Bart is afraid of Eris' father.  She knows that look, you see. 
She suggests he try Dara, then laughs when he buys it.  She wants to tell
Ahab that she managed to fool him, but he manages to distract her.

	Beauty tells Laughter that she and Shard won't be continuing their
relationship, mostly due to what Shard said.  She isn't interested in male
intentions right now, and would like Laughter to relay this to Nicholas. 
Besides, even if she did like him, how can she be Queen of both Amber and
Foil?  Laughter figures she has a while to worry about it.  And Beauty
will get tired of Foil, eventually.  Not for a while.  She wants Laughter
to begin teaching her swordplay, in case the na siogai return.  They
decide that Beauty will join the lessons with Nicholas.  Laughter also
suggests that if problems with the na siogai resume, they could have Amber
annex Foil.  Beauty says a marriage would seal that quite well.  Laughter
says that's unnecessary.  Foil resumes it's departure from Laughter, and
begins slowing down as well, to match Amber's time.

	After a week or so, Riftvan begins to find the presence of the
Pattern in the baby to be rather, um, painful for certain activities, and
withdraws rather suddenly one night.  Ouch.  He can get around it, by
assuming a form which isn't bothered by the Pattern.  So, which one of her
cousins would Ariana like him to be?  She chooses his Faerie form,
instead.

	Ariadne continues to visit Felix once a week.  Ahab offers to flex
her schedule, but she says that's not necessary.

	Felix visits the pregnant Bridget, who feels much better now that
Shard is gone.  She lets him feel the baby kicking.

	Ariana celebrates her 2nd wedding anniversary with Riftvan, and
gives him the psi-stone as his gift.  He is very touched by it, and says
he will always wear it.  His gift to her is a spell book.

	Malcolm Sawall, the Marquis of Redcrest, arrives in Amber as the
new Chaos ambassador.

	Felix finally realizes that Tamaryn has left Amber, so he asks to
borrow Foster's Trump of her.  She answers wearing a pirate outfit.  Er... 
Felix asks where she is.  On a boat.  She's the captain, you see.  To what
does she owe the pleasure of this call?  Uh, he just wanted to make sure
she was alive.  She explains that Ariana suggested that some time in
Shadow might make her feel better.  Felix says he's sorry for driving her
away.  She insists that he didn't.  Really.  He asks if she knows that
they're going to be grandparents.  Yes.  And his parents are also having
another child, so there will be lots of babies running around Amber in
nine months.  Great thing to discuss with a woman who wants a child. 
Felix asks to come through.  She decides that he's dressed appropriately
and complies.  He wants to talk privately, so she takes him to her cabin. 
Felix mentions his conversation with Ahab.  Tamaryn is surprised that Ahab
cares that much about her.  Felix pours himself a drink, and says he
thinks he wants to be friends.  Tamaryn pours herself one as well, and
agrees to this.  Felix says everything has just been too fast.  She
understands.  Felix slinks back to Amber, after telling her to call him. 
Assuming she has his Trump.  She does.  Felix returns her Trump to Foster,
then works on the boat some more.

	Ahab Trumps Foster, who looks rather surprised.  Ahab yells "What
the hell have you done!"  When Foster says, "Nothing," Ahab asks to borrow
Tamaryn's Trump.  Foster hands it over, still looking rather
shell-shocked.  Ahab breaks the contact and opens one with Tamaryn. 
Tamaryn wipes her eyes quickly as she answers the call.  Ahab says he'd
like to talk to her, and comes through, along with Lander.  There is an
almost empty wine bottle in the cabin.  Ahab mentions that he talked with
Felix the other day.  She knows.  Ahab surmises that Felix has been there,
and apologizes, since she hadn't asked him to meddle in her life.  But
that isn't the only reason he's come.  Everyone he's spoken to has spoken
highly of her, and he understands that she's been cut off from her sphere
in Chaos, so he's offering her a place in Amber.  She'd like that.  He
also offers her an opportunity to practice her previous profession, if
she'd like.  If he means her former house profession, she was never
formally trained.  What about her fight with Vetch?  Sheer angst.  She
happens to be better with the Logrus than her father will ever be, and,
being Faerie born, she knows more about the magic.  Ahab says she can
define her position.  She points out that in 1500 years, she's never
killed anyone.  Whatever, she can do as she wishes.  Getting back to her
problem with Felix, he's aware of her domestic desires.  If she wishes, he
can arrange a marriage for her.  After all, she could always follow the
traditions of her house: lie to them until it's too late.  She says she's
never really been good at lying, anyway.  How did they let her live?  Her
mother loved her, and her father loved her mother.  She agrees to make a
few appearances in court, and see what catches her eye.  Ahab asks what
sort of title she would like.  She doesn't care, as long as it's for
someplace with trees.  She figures she'll be returning to Amber shortly,
since she's lost her interest in being a pirate.

	A couple of days later, Felix writes Tamaryn a letter, attempting
to explain how he feels.  Instead, he manages to heap more blame on her
for using him the first time.  This upsets her greatly.  Shortly
afterward, Ariana talks with Tamaryn about how her trip into Shadow went,
and learns of her recent problems with Felix.

	Caine works on breaking Usires out of his country bumpkin image. 
Usires is most interested in modern weaponry.

	Ariana meets with Ahab, and asks him to lift Jalana's betrothal to
Caine.  Ahab is reluctant to, both because he figures Oberon must have had
a reason, and because he'll never be able to get Caine to agree to another
marriage.  He does promise not to hold Jalana to it, if she doesn't wish
to marry Caine when she comes of age.  Ariana isn't terribly pleased about
this, and they spend some time debating the merits of arranged marriages. 
They also discuss Caine, the complications that could arrive from Ariana's
dual citizenship, and Ahab's recent time in Shadow.  Ariana warns Ahab
that Riftvan is of the opinion that the Logrus was using Dara, which means
her imprisonment might be short lived.  Ahab will keep it in mind.  He'll
be touring Chaos soon, so he may pay her a visit then.  She'd be
delighted, of course.  He also explains who Riftvan assassinated during
Laughter's wedding.  Ariana agrees that it sounds like it was a test.

	Felix writes Ariana a letter, explaining the letter he wrote to
Tamaryn, and how he doesn't want to hurt her, but he's not sure how to
deal with her, either.  Ariana talks with him, and agrees that starting
off from scratch sounds like a good idea, but stresses that he must be
sure that he's forgiven Tamaryn first, and that she knows he has done so.


Quotables:

"They know what causes (pregnancy) now." -- Eris
"The Pattern." -- Felix

"You just say that because you think that you defeated me." -- Felix
"As I remember it, you were on your knees telling me you yielded." -- Eris

"Kiss and make up." -- Jason
"Or at least have sex." -- Mer

"Ahab's playing gene pool lifeguard." -- Liam to the group at large

"Laughter had a master plan?  Weird." -- Felix to Nicholas

"I have an upset stomach.  You're the one who made it that way.  You and
Oberon." -- Laughter to Foster

"I'm going to Hellride to Sequence.  Well, maybe I'll Hellwalk, if my butt
hurts too much." -- Laughter to GM

"I don't think it's to anyone's advantage for a war of assassins to break
out." -- Ahab to Ariana
"Ooh, that's a good idea." -- GM

"(Riftvan) killed someone else, though." -- Ahab
"Do I owe them money?" -- Laughter
"I don't see how it would do him any good." -- Ahab

"Will you admit that it was a moment of extreme stupidity to bring a
master assassin into Amber?" -- Ahab
"No, it was a moment of extreme stupidity to ask my father to help." --
Laughter

"I'd love to rail at you about this, but the next day you'd just go into
denial." -- Ahab
"That's not true." -- Laughter

"I didn't use you as a pawn.  You invited me to use you as a pawn." --
Ahab to Laughter

"You actually have more respect for Suhuy than you ever did for Dworkin."
-- GM
"That's because he hasn't tried to kill my mom yet.  That pissed me off."
-- Ahab

"Do I have an impending sense of doom?" -- Bart to GM
"You're a Jesby, you always have an impending sense of doom." -- Kris

"I am a Jesby, maintaining my dignity would be a rather novel experience."
-- Bart to Brand

"I have a bit of a proposition for you." -- Riftvan
"I'm married." -- Ahab

"Granted, I'm not sure how to say this without sounding like a complete
hypocrite." -- Laughter
"You could say something different." -- Ahab

"If I approve (Beauty's) intentions after she's told them to me, then I'm
only doing it because she's right or she's wrong." -- Laughter to Driscoll

"What offense do I now make?" -- Beauty
"You're defending me.  To my face!" -- Laughter

"Are there any eligible lords floating about?" -- Eris
"What, in the boat?" -- Felix