Chapter Ninety-five:  "It's not everyday that someone gets struck by one
of their personal deities."

	Laughter leaves the main hall and puts on her armor.  Ariana also
briefly leaves, to change into more battle-worthy clothing.  Fiona,
Mandor, Suhuy, and Benedict talk to Ahab in an alcove.  Felix accuses
Tamaryn of soiling herself.  She responds by dumping ice down the front of
his rather tight pants.  Brrr.  Felix excuses himself.  Ariana sees
Laughter return to the hall, and mentions that she was worried about her. 
Laughter says she had visitors, and asks Ariana to conjure her some
aspirin.  Ariana does so, along with a glass of water.  Lyss shifts her
weight and looks nervous.  Bart goads her into beating on him to make her
feel better (you'd think that with Ahab's kid, it would be the other way
around).

	Ahab tells his little group that every time he does one of these
attacks, it's a trap, so recon this time would be good.  Suggestions? 
Mandor figures that he, Suhuy and Fiona can reconnoiter.  Go for it.  Who
does Benedict think should stay behind?  Gerard, Caine, Ahab, and all of
the women.  He also recommends a smaller strike force vs. a large one,
since it will be easier to slip in and out without attracting a lot of
attention.  Ahab wants to cause lots of damage, though, which kind of runs
counter to the idea of not attracting attention.  He decides to hold off
on the damage until after they have freed Gramble and Flora.  He also
decides that Eric can stay instead of Deirdre, since she got left out of
the last action, and that he, Kimdyl and Laughter are coming.  Benedict
doesn't think much of this idea, but is unable to convince Ahab to stay
behind.  Ahab wants Fiona to Trump the group to a staging point, then be a
good little girl and go home.  A fire ignites in Fiona's eyes at this. 
Ahab pulls her aside and asks if she's planning to disobey orders.  What
does he think?  Ahab doesn't really try to dissuade her.  The group
returns to the main hall.

	Ahab informs the people that are being left behind of this fact,
leaving Ariana for last.  Naturally, she isn't particularly happy about
this.  Ahab places the blame on Benedict, since it was his recommendation. 
Ariana asks if Ahab is going, then.  Yep.  This upsets her even more, and
she attempts to dissuade him.  No dice.  Why is he following Benedict's
advice for her, but ignoring it when it applies to him?  Because he's the
King.  And why is Laughter going?  Because he wants her to.  Ariana points
out that Foster and the children in Laughter's Shadow will be lost if she
dies, but this doesn't seem to matter.  Ariana leaves and goes up to the
battlements to work off her anger.

	Fiona uses a Trump gate to bring the rescue party to her Shadow. 
It's Elizabethan in nature, so Usires feels a bit out of place in a
bearskin cloak.  Everyone hangs out while Fiona and most of the other
sorcerers begin casting spells.  Driscoll lights up a cigarette, then
leaves to smoke it outside when Fiona glares at him.  Laughter goes out
into the garden as well.  She tries to make her skin harder, and uneven
scales appear on her arm.  She tries harder, and they explode down her
forearm, along with a set of three inch claws.  She thinks this is kind of
neat, but makes them go away again.  Driscoll looks amused, and asks how
long it's going to take Ahab to get them killed.  This seems to be a
common sentiment.

	At the end of an hour, the sorcerers reveal that there are magical
protections over the whole area surrounding the royal court in Chaos. 
Most of the spells aren't inhibiting anyone from coming in, just
inhibiting their leaving.  Ahab asks how hard it would be to fight their
way out.  With Benedict on point, not hard.  No one could stop him by
physical means, and Mandor and Suhuy are two of the best sorcerers in
Chaos.  The fastest way to the dungeons is to arrive at the plaza.  Fiona
figures there will be a spell ready to take them out when they arrive, but
she's ready for that.  Pattern will be unreliable, at best, now that the
Serpent has its eye back.  Ahab asks Fiona to distribute Trumps of an
intermediate location between Amber and Chaos, in case they need to escape
via Trump.  Fiona gives Bart his first, smiling at his attempts to avoid
her.  She tells him to think of it as a bolt hole.

	Laughter asks Driscoll for a drag on his cigarette, and inhales
deeply.  He pats her on the back after her coughing fit.  They discuss
whether they're going to die or not.  Fiona finds them, tells them that
they're missing the good part, and shoos them back into the parlor.

	Ahab brings Pattern to mind, once again noticing the two points of
Pattern that are close together, and once again ignoring it.  He tells
everyone to join hands.  Laughter sings "Ring Around the Rosie" very
quietly, causing Driscoll to squeeze her hand.  Ahab says "Boom" and
teleports them to Chaos.  Or at least he tries to...

	There is a horrible lurching feeling in Ahab's stomach, and things
go dark.  They go dark for everyone else as well, right after they hit
what feels like a wall.  Everyone wakes up scattered around one side of
Ygg.  Ahab moans.  Kimdyl pats his face until he wakes up.  Fiona's out
cold.  Suhuy and Mandor seem unaffected.  Basically, the Pattern people
got nailed the worst.  There is apparently a Logrus barrier preventing
them from going any further towards Chaos.  Bart holds his amulet, which
has gone black, up to the Logrus field, and it goes through.  Bart does
something, which causes the Logrus to become visible and then vanish
around him.  Mandor figures they'd better hurry now, since that has to
have alerted someone.  Ahab taps the Logrus field with Morglyph, and gets
thrown back 40 feet by the resulting spark.  His hands are numb.  Pattern
swords and Logrus fields definitely don't mix.  Benedict suggests that
Fiona, who is just waking up, send Ahab home.  She Trumps Ahab to the main
hall, instructing him to Trump her when he's recovered.  He does so
immediately, and says "We are not amused."  He suggests that she doesn't
want him mad at her.  She looks at Benedict, and then pulls Ahab through. 
Benedict does not look pleased with Ahab.

	The sorcerers use magic to transport everyone to the plaza, and
they appear by an executioner's star.  Bart's amulet power spikes on
arrival, so he stops what he was doing.  The group finds Gramble at the
center of the star, impaled by a large spike through his chest.  The spike
is Takaran, of course.  Gramble is dead, but looks like he put up a pretty
good fight.  Flora is chained to a chair at the base of the spike, with
her head slumped forward and a executioner's hood over her head.  Ahab
moves to free her, causing her to wake up.  She starts to freak out, until
Ahab says, "Yo, dumbass, it's me."  This works, for some reason.  Suhuy
asks if there's any reason for them to hang around.  Nope.  There is a
flash, and they all appear back in the main hall.

	Flora seems to be having a nervous breakdown.  Ahab supports her
while she cries and takes her to a sitting room.  She eventually cries
herself to sleep, at which point Ahab carries her to her quarters and puts
her to bed.

	Mandor arranges with some servants to bring Gramble's body down to
the mortuary.  Laughter follows behind, and lays two torches by the body,
one at his head, and one at his feet.  She then takes up a vigil stance. 
Mandor remains standing there as well.

	Bart notices that his amulet is clear again.  He fetches the
children from the Disc and reunites them with Lyss.  She's very happy to
see all of them.

	Felix tells Gerard, Isabeux, and Tamaryn how things went with the
rescue party.

	That evening, some of the magic users feel magic come back on. 
Ariana and Laughter both Trump Ahab to tell him of this.  Ariana wins,
having the stronger mind.  When Ahab's Trump doesn't animate, Laughter
begins running for his quarters.  Ariana tells Ahab psychically that magic
is back on.  Fuck!  Ahab relays this to Kimdyl, who hadn't noticed this. 
Laughter runs up to Ahab's quarters, out of breath, and tells the guards
that she has important intelligence for the King.  She is shown in and
relays her information.  Ahab says he already knows this.  Oh.  Laughter
returns to her vigil.  Kimdyl smiles after she leaves.

	Usires goes to Rimmersgard to retrieve his ships, and begins
sailing with them back to Amber.

	Ariana finds Bart and asks him if the Disc is running again.  It
is.  And Mirelle?  She's still there.  Ariana asks him to send her to
Mirelle, so he does.  She appears in front of Llewella, who raises an
eyebrow, then goes back to fixing dinner.  She tells Ariana that Mirelle
is on the beach.  Ariana goes there, and finds Mirelle building, and then
destroying, a sand castle.  She has large bruises on her thighs.  Mirelle
notices Ariana after she's stomped the castle thoroughly, and says,
"Hello, Mercedes."  Ariana offers to join her.  Eventually, Llewella
brings out a picnic dinner, which delights Mirelle to no end.  She eats
all of her dinner, then rips her clothes off and goes swimming.  Ariana
continues to keep her company.  After a couple of hours, Ariana tries to
use her ring to determine Riftvan's location again, but she still can't
tell where he is.  Then she uses her link with Shard to determine that he
is still in Amber.  Llewella passes the time by keeping herself occupied
with busywork.

	Bart goes looking for Mandor, and finds him coming up from the
armory.  He suggests that the members of Mandor's family might want to
claim their heritage, since that will give them, and the Pattern, an edge. 
Mandor will think about it.

	Ahab sends for Lady Feldane to keep Flora company, since she's
Flora's closest friend.  Then Kimdyl massages his shoulders for a while. 
Two hours after magic returned to Amber, a guard says Meander is there to
see Ahab.  He is shown in, and feels like a whole shit load of magic.  He
tells Ahab that magic came on soon after he reached the center, but it
only seems to be allowing Pattern-based magic.  Meander says he tried
contacting Ahab before he began his walk, but Ahab wasn't reachable. 
Yeah, well, Ahab was looking for someone to kill.  Has Meander had any
useful visions, lately?  No, but he can work on it.  Nah, it's not
important.  Meander leaves.  Kimdyl looks disgusted, and figures this is
why she didn't notice magic coming back on earlier.  Ahab says that she
could always walk the Pattern.  She says "OK," and leaves.  Ahab doesn't
try to stop her.  She returns in half an hour with some fruits and cheeses
for them to eat.  Ahab wisely doesn't mention the Pattern again.

	Driscoll brings Laughter a goblet a wine and keeps her company on
her vigil.  He eventually dozes off at about 4 a.m.  Unfortunately,
Laughter's knees begin giving out at this point, so she stretches, which
wakes him up again.

	Mirelle wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, and
launches herself at Ariana when she investigates the noise.  Ariana dodges
out of the way, but then allows Mirelle to hit her for a while.  Mirelle
then proceeds to trash the room, before collapsing in a fetal position and
sobbing.  Ariana holds her until she falls asleep again.

	Bart teleports to the Disc at dawn, and finds Llewella sitting on
the beach, with her hair loose.  She observes that it's a bit early for
him.  Actually, he hasn't gone to bed, yet.  He's worried about his
friends in Chaos.  Llewella tells him that Ariana and Mirelle are inside. 
He knows, since he's the one who sent Ariana to the Disc in the first
place.  Llewella comments that Mirelle's coping skills are as good as
ever, although she seems to be stuck in only one personality this time. 
She tells Bart that he needn't worry about her anymore.  Bart tells her of
the rescue attempt, and the barrier at Ygg.  Llewella looks surprised, and
asks when the Logrus got that powerful.  Since the Serpent got both its
eyes back.  Llewella decides it's time to return to Amber.  There are so
few who can stand up to Ahab, after all.  Bart thinks that Zane allowed
the party to rescue Flora and leave, to send the message that they aren't
welcome in Chaos.  Will Ahab heed it?  Unlikely.  That's why Llewella has
to return.  Bart writes a note in the sand for Ariana and Mirelle,
explaining where they've gone.

	Usires continues sailing for Amber.  He estimates that he'll be
there by evening.

	Ahab finds Corwin eating breakfast in his room, seeming remarkably
sane again.  He doesn't remember anything from when he was insane. 
Certainly nothing about the Unicorn.  Ahab mentions Faerie's involvement
in originally stealing the Jewel.  Corwin doesn't remember ever seeing a
faerie, and thinks Ahab's insane.  Of course, he is having trouble
remembering things...  But he does know who he is, and who Ahab is, so
that's a start.  Ahab leaves and has more breakfast sent up to him.

	Ahab is found by Random, who says he has appointments waiting. 
The first one is Mandor.  He wants to make arrangements for Gramble in
Amber, since it'll be a while before he can be interred in Chaos.  OK. 
Mandor asks if the Pattern grows more powerful when people walk it.  Yes. 
Then he has some candidates for Ahab.  Ahab thinks this is a great idea. 
Naturally, he fails to mention his ability to control people who have
walked the Pattern.  Bart also forgot to mention that bit of information
to Mandor.  Oops.  Ahab asks what Mandor's long-term plans are.  Mandor
intends to collect the stragglers from Chaos, and set up a bit of a court
of his own.  And how does he see their interests?  They coincide, at the
moment.  He intends to choose a Shadow that's more or less out of the way.

	Felix goes to breakfast, where he sees Driscoll get two plates and
leave.  He asks Tamaryn if now would be a good time for the faeries to
help.  She says they tend to work on their own schedule, but she could
check into what the current status of things are.  Felix thinks she should
ask Ahab first, rather than doing it on his say-so.  Good idea.

	Driscoll brings Laughter breakfast.  She asks why he's there.  He
figured this wasn't the sort of thing she'd want to do alone.  Oh.

	Bart visits Florian in Rebma, and tells him of the changes in
Chaos.  Florian is intrigued by this.  Given what's happened, he figures
Ahab won't mind a friendly Chaosite wandering around.  Bart makes a smart
remark, and gets his mouth sealed shut for his troubles.  He opts to sit
there and be pissy.  Florian looks amused and wanders out.  Bart
shapeshifts his mouth back.

	Ariana gets up well before Mirelle, who sleeps in pretty late. 
Ariana finds Bart's note, and passes the time working on her spells. 
Mirelle finally gets up, and seems to be a bit calmer and quieter than she
was the other day, spending much of the day just sitting and rocking.  She
continues to call Ariana Mercedes, and asks her once how her father is
doing.  Er...  The same as always.

	Caine Trumps Usires and asks to come through.  The sailing is
smooth going, and Caine is actually being helpful.  This worries Usires.

	Ahab looks in on Flora at lunch.  She looks tired and frazzled,
but, of course, still gorgeous.  Ahab gets her more food (seems to be a
pattern with him).  Flora comments that it all happened so fast.  She's
pretty sure they killed Gramble's baby.  Anything Ahab can do for her? 
Find the bastard who did it, and hold them down for her.  She asks if
Chaos has moved against Amber yet.  Nope.  Why didn't they kill her?  Ahab
isn't sure, but he'd like Fiona to take a look at her, just to make sure
they didn't slip any compulsions in.  He speculates that maybe Chaos just
didn't want the grief that would have resulted if they'd killed her.

	Nicholas falls into step with Ahab as he leaves Flora's quarters,
and asks if there's anything he can do to help.  Think of a way to win
this before dinner.  Oh, sure, no problem.  Ahab asks Nicholas to just let
him know when he's getting too irrational.

	Ahab goes looking for Tamaryn, and asks if there's any word from
the faeries.  Well, they were going to choose someone to speak with, but
they wouldn't say who, and she hasn't heard from them since.  Ahab points
out that they are on a bit of a time table.  She knows.  Ahab doesn't find
this encouraging.

	Gerard heads back out with the fleets.  Vivienne asks Felix where
he was.  He missed meals, you see, so she knows that he was gone.  Felix
dodges the question, and goes to work on his boat.  Vivienne tags along
and asks more questions.

	Driscoll leaves as Laughter's vigil is drawing to a close, a night
and a day after it began.  Drumm steps through the wall shortly after
Driscoll's departure, points at Gramble, and says this is unfortunate. 
Laughter tends to agree.  Drumm says he's ready to talk to the King, now. 
Laughter Trumps Ahab and tells him psychically that the faerie who
examined her is there.  Drumm doesn't want to go through the Trump, so she
teleports him to Ahab.  He appears facing the wall, then turns and
introduces himself to Ahab.  Ahab asks what he can do for him.  Well, when
does he want to retrieve the eye?  Right now would be fine.  What does
Drumm need?  Well, the Unicorn's aide, and he needs to talk to Laughter. 
Ahab asks why, claiming that Laughter isn't good at anything special. 
Drumm says she has the heart for this.  Ahab wants the full info, or no
go.  OK, there is a powerful spell contained within Laughter, that is
undetectable.  Accompanying them will be the Unicorn, and whoever else she
picks.  Ahab won't be going.  Given who he thinks the Unicorn will pick,
Ahab doesn't like this idea.  And Drumm's function?  He's Ahab's wizard. 
Ah.  Ahab doesn't want him walking through the walls, and suggests using
Trump.  Drumm doesn't think he can.  Well, in that case, use the doors.

	Drumm comes back down the stairs as Laughter's vigil ends, and
suggests that she get cleaned up and rested.  Why?  She has a Jewel to
retrieve.  Could he be more specific?  She is going to accompany himself,
the Unicorn, one that has yet to be chosen, and a Chaosite to retrieve the
Jewel.  Laughter fails to see how she meshes into this.  They're looking
for an accomplice.  Laughter decides it's time to take a bath now, since
this must be a vision due to sleep deprivation.  Sequence asks if he'd see
Drumm if he were a vision.  Laughter puts her head in her hands for a
moment, then asks how she should dress.  No alloyed armor.  Her armor
spell should be sufficient.

	Ariana asks if Mirelle wants to remain at the beach, or go
someplace else.  Mirelle says she feels safe where she is.  Ariana asks if
she'll be all right if Ariana leaves for a couple of hours.  Oh, yes.  Is
she going to see her father?  Um, no.  Mirelle wonders where her flapper
dresses went.  Ariana asks her for a description of the dresses, then
pretends to look for them, conjuring them when she's out of sight. 
Mirelle is delighted to have them.  Ariana uses her newly completed
talking bones spell to contact Looks Twice, who comments that she's a fast
learner.  Ariana asks if she can resume her healing lessons.  Yes.  Where
is he?  Near where they were before.  She teleports there, and finds that
he's come to meet her.  They begin going over the use of spell components
in healing.  Ariana returns to the beach house by nightfall.

	Caine, Gerard and Usires talk.  Usires fills Caine in on what
happened in Chaos.  Caine figures Zane was sending Ahab a message by
killing Gramble and leaving Flora alive.  But hey, it'll be an exciting
ride.  Caine makes some critical comments about Ahab, causing Gerard to
begin shooting looks at him.

	Gerard Trumps Ahab a little while later, and suggests that he give
Caine something to do, since he's not making good use of his free time. 
Why?  Gerard won't say.  Caine hasn't done anything wrong, he just needs
something to do.  Ahab tries to get Gerard to give more details, but he
won't budge on the matter.

	Ahab sends a page to find Drumm and tell him that Ahab wants to
speak to him.  The page does this thing, and Drumm knocks on Ahab's door
soon after.  Ahab says that it's probably disadvantageous that there's so
little contact between their nations, so they should establish an
ambassadorship.  Isn't that what Tamaryn is?  Only informally.  She's more
on the faerie side than his.  He was thinking of sending them Caine.  Oh,
by all means.  Ahab points out that if they don't let him go along on the
mission to retrieve the Jewel, he'll have to take it out on Drumm.  Slit
his throat with a cold iron dagger, or some such.  He always believes in
maximum force.  And if they can arrange to kill his ambassador when he
kills Drumm, so much the better.  Drumm says that could be arranged, but
points out that he's one of the few faeries who likes Amberites.  Ahab
replies that he isn't one of the few Amberites who likes faeries.  He's
pissed, and Drumm isn't helping.  Drumm points out that he could walk Ahab
right into Zane's bedchamber, if he wished.  Right.  Ahab says he has a
cold-iron spear that he forged when he was pissed at Vetch.  It was forged
in such a manner that it flakes away on contact, so it would leave bits of
iron inside when it was withdrawn.  Ahab's willing to use this, if he
must.  Drumm points out that this will undo much good work.  Ahab says
this mission will not go down without him.  If he must, he'll render
Laughter unusable.

	Laughter Trumps Ariana, but can't get through.  She starts up
Rath, and startles Foster right out of his socks, since, from his point of
view, she just left.  She tells Foster that she's going to be doing
something.  What?  She'll explain later.  She brings them all back to
Amber, then heads to take a shower, and vanishes through the floor.

	Foster Trumps Ahab to inform him of this.  Ahab pulls him through
and then lunges for Drumm.  Drumm steps back through the wall, and appears
in a meadow next to Laughter.  He explains what happened, and brings her
to his home so she can bathe.  She can Trump people, if she wishes, to let
them know where she is.  He asks if there's anyone Ahab will listen to. 
None that she can think off.  He mentions that it will be difficult enough
to protect her, but impossible to protect Ahab, if he comes along.

	The Unicorn enters Ahab's office, to discuss retrieving the Jewel. 
She asks if he still wants her to use Corwin and Brand.  Well, he'd kind
of like Brand to survive.  She tells him that she's come to retrieve her
sword.  Ahab returns it, figuring his other sword will work just as well
for stabbing Drumm.  She asks why he wants to kill Drumm.  Ahab says that
he doesn't like faeries, and they're even more annoying when they're
reasonable.  The Unicorn explains that the less people they take to
retrieve the Jewel, the better their chances are of returning safely. 
Drumm is concerned about keeping Laughter safe.  Corwin and Brand can take
care of themselves, but if Ahab was along, it would make Drumm less
effective.  Well, if Ahab's not going along, he wants the exact details. 
The Unicorn tells him that Drumm will get them to where they need to be,
Corwin and Brand will provide the distraction, Drumm will release the
spell within Laughter, and the Unicorn will take the eye.  What will
Corwin and Brand be fighting?  The Serpent.  And what will the spell do? 
Hit it in a vulnerable spot.  What are the odds of Ahab surviving if he
goes?  He'll live longer if he remains in Amber.  Ahab tells her that
she's avoiding the question, and points out that he'll have to get revenge
on her if he doesn't go.  She figures he's already mad at her.  He says he
has a lot of anger.  She thought that's what the 40 years in the desert
were for.  No, that was to get over his other anger.  He's probably rather
low on that, actually.  She suggests that maybe she should hit him on the
back of the head, and see if that realigns things.  He hands her a
paperweight.  She tells him to turn around, then brains him.  He wakes up
a while later with a headache.

	Felix attends dinner with Foster, who is watching Ariana's
children, and having a very hard time keeping them under control.  Haris
seems fascinated by this, so Felix takes him to see Gerard and Isabeux,
before he gets any bad ideas, and spends the evening with them.

	Ahab is in his office when Caine comes in to chat, looking a bit
uncomfortable.  Brand has backed out on the expedition to retrieve the
Jewel, so Caine is going instead.  Ahab vetoes this, pointing out that
Caine is less expendable, since he actually works FOR the interests of
Amber.  Caine tells him to take it up with the Unicorn if he doesn't like
it.  Funny, that's just what Ahab was planning.  Caine doesn't think that
the chances are good for him to come out of this alive, and says he wants
someone to look after Usires and make a man of him.  Caine's choices are
Julian or Gerard.  Ahab points out that Julian's parental report card is
less than exemplary, letting his son become undead like that.  Gerard it
is.  Caine suavely reminds Ahab that he is not invited on the pleasure
jaunt on the morrow.  They spar verbally.
	Ahab:  "It's not like I have a choice (about staying behind).
	Caine:  "Sounds like you don't want to go.  Coward."
	Ahab:  "I'll say you goaded me into it by calling me a coward.  I
am coming."
	Caine:  "How?"
	Ahab refuses to tell him, since he doesn't know himself, and all.
Caine departs.

	Ahab discusses with Spider how to make the Unicorn give in and let
him go.  He tries the old "Trump the Unicorn using the picture on the back
of the Trump" trick.  It fails.  He devises many other such winning
strategies, including the summoning of a page, and asking the page to seek
out the person fitting the description he gives.  The description being
that of the human form of the Unicorn.  When he finds her, she's invited
here, please.

	The Unicorn wakes up Bart and leads him into another room.  She
gives him the bloody paperweight as a gift, then says she wants him to be
her High Priest.  Er...  Bart is rather stunned by this, to say the least. 
She says she realizes that this is an enormous responsibility, but she's
sure that he can handle it.

	The page reports back that Ahab is out of luck.  Ahab begins to
Pattern teleport to the Unicorn.  He ends up at the Primal Pattern (Spider
latching on at the last minute).  Ahab asks the Unicorn where his
paperweight is.  She thought he gave it to her.  He said she could
cold-cock him with it, not *keep* it.  Ah, well, too late now.  Can he
come on the trip or no?  She says no.  She points out that his Word of God
power is NOT expendable.  He is the only one who can keep the peace
because of it.  He says he doesn't want to be the Word of God, and he
doesn't like sending people to their deaths.  She tells him to get used to
it.  He objects to that, and she teleports him away.

	Ahab ends up in his office.  Spider Trumps him, a little irritated
at being left behind.  He tries to go through to Spider, but she just ends
up in his office too.

	Ahab tries to reach Corwin.  He acquires Fiona's help to reach
Corwin via Trump.  Corwin gives him the "you're the king" speech about why
Ahab can't go along.  Ahab says he's secured an orderly line of
succession, and doesn't see why it matters, then.  Corwin points out
Nicholas hasn't walked the Pattern.  Ahab says the boy has been distracted
-- angst, rape, pregnancy, curses, etc.

	Ahab brings up the Pattern.  Fiona leaves quickly.  Using the Word
of God, Ahab tells Corwin to sit still, choke-holds him unconscious, and
debates what method of disablement will not horribly maim Corwin but will
keep him out of commission tomorrow.  He decides, taking Spider's advice,
to hamstring him, dose him with painkillers, and leave him in the
infirmary, with the written order that Corwin is to have no medical
attention before noon tomorrow, except for painkillers.

	Ahab heads out to talk to Flora.  Lady Feldane departs to leave
the King and Flora alone.  Ahab asks Flora to watch over Kimdyl and the
kids if he dies.  She says she's not feeling so hot, but she'll try.  He
mentions the "information" about his wife -- Flora is to use it to her
advantage.  Flora asks why he's going to go get himself killed.  Ahab says
the Jewel is his responsibility.  Flora points out that a dead king is
dead.  Ahab asks her if she knows much of ancient Irish history, where
they killed the King to ensure good harvests.  Flora hopes we are a little
more civilized than that.

	Ahab looks around for the Unicorn again.  He heads to the Grove
first, and not finding her, begins to teleport to her.  She appears.  They
argue.  She says she'll fix Corwin, and Ahab is back to square one.  She
tosses him back home.

	Ahab goes to the infirmary and finds a note on Corwin's empty
pillow:  "Stop whining and behave."  Finally, Spider suggests compelling
Caine to spill his guts.  Ahab Pattern lenses to Caine, makes contact with
him, and ***ZAAARK**** says, "Don't resist.  Wait there.  Cooperate.  I'll
be there in a moment."

	When Ahab arrives in Caine's quarters, Caine makes him dredge up
the information:  tomorrow morning, Grove of the Unicorn, with Lord Suhuy
as Logrus horse.  Ahab commands Caine to tell him what Caine would do to
stop Ahab from coming.  Caine tells him.  Ahab says, "Don't do any of it."
Ahab tells Caine he won't remember this conversation for seven days, Amber
time.

	Ahab and Kimdyl have private time.

	Foster uses the talking bones spell to contact Ariana in the
middle of the night, and wakes her up.  He's at his wit's end, and tells
her to come get her children.  Among other things, one of the red-headed
ones has set something on fire.  Ariana is a bit surprised, since she
didn't know Laughter had unfrozen her Shadow.  She wakes Mirelle up, and
asks if she's ready to return to Amber.  OK.  Ariana packs her up, Trumps
back to Amber, and gets her settled in.  Then she goes to Foster's
quarters.  Foster IDs Vincent as the firebug.  Ariana leads him off by the
ear, looking rather pissed.  Vincent shuts up immediately, and the other
children quickly follow after Ariana.  She puts them to bed without saying
a word to any of them, then returns to apologize to Foster.  After this,
she asks him where Laughter is.  In Faerie.  Ariana returns to her
quarters and Trumps Laughter, to make sure she's OK.  Laughter explains
that if Ariana wants to know why she's in Faerie, she or Foster will have
to ask Ahab.  Ariana says she'll let Foster know Laughter is all right.
Laughter says she'll take care of it.

	Laughter Trumps Foster, and explains what she's going to be doing. 
Foster yells, "What!" then says she's not going without him.  She tells
him that he can't come through.  He tries to do so, and finds that it's
true.  Felix, having heard Foster's yelp, knocks on the door.  Ariana,
having also emerged at the noise, tells Felix that Foster is probably
talking to Laughter.  Felix continues knocking anyway, and Foster
eventually lets him in.  Foster asks Laughter why she has to go.  She
doesn't know.  She can't figure out what she could do, but figures it has
something to do with the spell the faeries cast on her.  She offers to let
Foster talk to Drumm, but then can't find him.  Foster tells her to be
careful, and not to spit in the Serpent's eye.  Felix mentions that she
shouldn't step on the Serpent's coils, either.  He's spoken to the Serpent
twice, you see.  Foster tells him to go back to bed.

	Laughter bathes, then sits before the fire with no clothes on,
polishing Sequence.  Drumm walks in and is quite startled.  Laughter asks
him if he knows how to knock.  Uhm...it's my house!  Right.  He asks her
to make sure Sequence is well wrapped tomorrow, since any hint of cold
iron will mess up his spell.  She agrees.  He asks if she has any last
requests, and she asks to see Foster.  Foster comes through, and, well,
you can guess what happens when the faerie leaves.


Quotables:

"I tell (Tamaryn) that the reason she was so secretive in Shadow was not
because she was a demon ninja from Chaos, but because she soils her
clothing.  And then I smile willingly."  -- Felix to GM

"We're going to have to leave some people here to guard things, in case it
takes us more than a couple of minutes to show up, kill everyone, and
leave." -- Ahab to Benedict, Fiona, Suhuy and Mandor

"I don't want to stay.  If I stay, and it all goes to shit, then I have to
clean up." -- Ahab to GM

"At least let me know what you're going to do, so I can plan whether
you're going to disobey me or not." -- Ahab to Fiona

"It's nothing compared to winning and coming home and finding they'd taken
the castle.  I mean, all my shit will still be here." -- Ahab to Ariana

"If you don't come back, I'm never speaking to you again." -- Lyss to Bart

"In a matter of minutes, your entire body is covered by a giant scab." -- Liam
"Is it blue?" -- Mer

"If you suck and swallow, you're going to have problems." -- GM to Laughter

"Ahab is moaning a bit." -- GM
"I am not.  As soon as I realize that I'm doing it, I stop." -- Ahab

"Are you all right?" -- Kimdyl
"No, I'm trying to be unconscious, but it's not working." -- Ahab

"What good has the Unicorn done me so far?  Here's a sword.  There's no
one to kill, but here's a sword." -- Ahab to GM

"I thought this job would have more death in it.  It's been, like, three
days, and I've only killed two or three people." -- Ahab to Corwin, on
being King

"It's not everyday that someone gets struck by one of their personal
deities." -- Kimdyl to Ahab

"It's a pity I'm not going to stay alive long enough to learn sorcery to
make a 'doorknob hit you in the ass' spell." -- Ahab to GM, while watching
Caine depart

"Don't you purport to love all your children and descendants equally?  How
long do you want me to go on hamstringing them, then?" -- Ahab
"Anything *you* can break, *I* can fix." -- the Unicorn

"Hey, so what if I use the Word of God on Caine?  I won't have to live
with the guilt!" -- Ahab to GM

"Didja knock (Kimdyl) up one last time?" -- Mer
"I hope so...but if she names the kid Ishmael, I'm gonna come back and
kill someone." -- Jason