Chapter Ninety-six: "Mandor or bull pops? The evil you know, or the evil
you can't even comprehend."
Laughter is awakened by a knock at the door. She answers, naked.
Drumm blushes and tells her they are leaving soon. She runs back to bed,
tackles Foster, and tells him they have five minutes. Then she gets
dressed -- blue paint, armor, and Sequence wrapped in a length of silk.
Foster gives her an extra long kiss, until she exits, stage left, with
Drumm, through a wall.
Ahab shows up early and hides with Spider at the Grove of the
Unicorn. He sees Laughter and Drumm arrive from a tree, and Corwin,
Caine, Suhuy, and the Unicorn arrive by more conventional means. The
group joins up to go, and Suhuy begins work; Ahab and Spider leap in at
the last minute. Corwin decks Ahab. The Unicorn says they don't have
time for any of this, and commands the journey to begin.
Alex is wandering around in Faerie when he runs into Foster. Both
are surprised to see each other there. Foster says he's there because of
Laughter. The faeries need her for something. Alex chooses not to
speculate what faeries might need Laughter for. Alex's hand aches. He
proceeds to question and confuse Foster. Foster says Drumm and Laughter
left through a wall. He's going to find a way out. Alex follows him into
an audience hall. The faeries gathered there seem to leer at Alex
sinisterly. Foster heads for someone important looking, and Alex follows.
Foster charms the lady and persuades her to send him back. He asks if she
can send Alex back as well. She leers at Alex, then asks them to follow
her. She leads them down a dark hall, and opens a broom closet. Alex's
hairs stand on end. Foster walks through the wall. Alex smashes into the
wall. Ouch. The lady leaves. Alex checks out the broom closet, finds
nothing, and returns to the hall. The faeries continue to leer when they
get close to him, although they do bow or curtsey to him. Alex's hand
still hurts, so he looks at it. The right hand seems smaller under the
glove than the left. He decides not to take the glove off.
Ariana goes looking for Tamaryn, but can't find her in the castle.
She finds Isabeux, instead, and asks her to look in on the children during
the few hours that she will be gone. Then she goes looking for Ahab. She
can't find him in his office or in the dining hall. Random hasn't seen
him since last night, and doesn't know where he is. He suggests that she
try Kimdyl, so Ariana goes to Ahab's quarters. The guards stationed
outside inform her that Ahab not there. Kimdyl is, but doesn't want to be
disturbed. Ariana writes a note for Ahab detailing what she's learned
about Miranda's whereabouts, leaves it with Random, and goes down to
breakfast.
Missing from breakfast are Gerard, Foster, Laughter, Caine and
Ahab. There is a bang under the table near Ariana. It's Foster. Ariana
chuckles and helps him out. He rubs his head and tries to look
inconspicuous. Ariana asks if Laughter is well. She was the last time he
saw her. Felix asks if Foster was under the table the whole time. Uh,
yep. And Laughter? Nope, she's not there. Foster hints he'd rather
discuss this later. Ariana changes the subject, and apologizes again for
her kids' behavior. The topic turns to the habits of children at that
age, and Felix is asked what he was like. Isabeux looks coyly at her food
while Felix claims that he was a good child, he thinks. No one seems to
believe this. Isabeux and Ariana discuss the trials of raising boys,
while Foster and Felix return to their food, Foster mumbling something
about women being impossible to understand. Bart enters and begins eating
as well. He and Ariana finish, glance at each other, and get up. Ariana
tells Foster that they'll have to do it again, sometime, prompting Foster
to protest to Felix that it's not what he thinks. Ariana follows Bart out
of the room.
Bart opens a portal and transports himself and Ariana to the Disc.
They arrive at Tallefellow's, and discuss how fast the Disc will go. Bart
plans to speed it up as fast as it will go. They go their separate ways.
Ariana spies Ona in a corner of the dining hall and joins her. Ona
remembers her vaguely from her original visit. They discuss Alex/Reeshau,
and Disc wizards in general. Ariana is aghast at the celibacy requirement
of Disc wizards. She mentions Meander's recommendation of Ona as being a
good person to ask about souls and vampires. Ona is willing to talk to a
friend of Meander's. Ariana explains her situation. Ona has never heard
of a vampire only taking part of a soul before. She could examine Ariana,
but she'll need a blood sample. Ariana consents, and uses a syringe to
withdraw one. Ona puts the blood in a glass and seems to enjoy the blood
immensely, savoring it as one would a fine wine. After a few minutes, she
says that both Ariana and her child seem healthy, and asks how often
Ariana has been bitten. Once. She warns Ariana not to let the vampire
bite her a third time, or he likely won't be able to stop. As it stands,
Ariana is kind of a pseudo-vampire. It's much like carrying a virus, but
not being able to pass it on. Ona isn't certain what will happen if
either of them die. She does warn Ariana that Shard can probably control
her completely. Ariana says she suspected as much, and thanks Ona for her
help. Ona finishes off the last of the blood, and figures she got
something good out of it. Ariana's blood is more potent then anything
she's ever had. Ariana decides to spend the night at Tallefellow's before
contacting Looks Twice.
Felix talks to Foster, who spills the whole story of where
Laughter went, and with who. Gerard Trumps Felix and says he can't reach
Caine, so he's summoning Felix and Usires to take over Caine's patrols.
He looks worried. Felix tries to reassure him. After the contact ends,
Felix fills Foster in, and asks where Tamaryn is. Probably in Faerie.
Not that Felix keeps track of her. Felix heads down to Caine's ship and
sets sail, telling the men that Caine's gone AWOL, so he's commanding them
today. Caine's first mate smiles a bit at that.
Alex finds Mebd chatting and flirting with a few faerie gentlemen,
so he interrupts her. She seems a bit disconcerted, and asks how long
he's been there. Not long. She takes his arm and walks with him, asking
when they're going to find a house. He said they could stay here, after
all. He did? Funny, he doesn't remember it. She suggests that he become
the Amber ambassador to Faerie. OK, he'll check with Ahab. He tries to
persuade her to come with him, claiming she should talk to Heather. She
decides to Trump Heather from Faerie instead. He interrupts her as she is
doing so, and asks if she's sure she won't come. Maybe later. He Trumps
into the main hall in Amber, and feels like a dagger swished past him. No
one can be seen. It's about 10:00 in the morning. He goes to his
quarters, and brushes himself off, which makes his hand hurt. He removes
the glove and takes a look. The tips of all five fingers are beginning to
shrivel up and turn black, while an unhealthy color extends to the second
knuckle. He tries to shapeshift it away, but this only hurts more. His
bones creak when he flexes his hand. He puts the glove back on and goes
to the Disc.
Alex notices that the Disc is going quite fast when he arrives.
He goes to the University and lets Rashan out to do research. Rashan is
able to get as much cooperation as he requires, but after many hours has
still found squat. He begins arguing with himself. It's possible that
Jenogen might know, so Rashan heads to Tallefellow's. He spots Ariana
eating breakfast, and opts not to go into the dining room. He asks Fred
if Ruepert or Jackie is around. Fred can't say. Rashan asks if he'll
tell Ruepert that his friend from the University is around. Fred will
pass that along, if he sees him. Rashan tries a location spell, and hits
Ruepert's blocks. A scroll of paper and a quill appear in front of him.
The paper says, "Leave your message here." Alex replies, "Dear Ruepert, I
have something for you to look at, for your curiosity. - R" Ruepert gets
the scroll and asks Jackie if they know any R's. She tells him that the
people they know have full, proper names. Ruepert sends this back.
Rashan replies that he was using his initial. After much back and forth,
Rashan claims he's Reeshau. Ruepert figures Reeshau never uses his
initial, so Rashan must be out. Which is bad. Ruepert appears in front
of Rashan, smacks him, and Reeshau emerges. Ruepert shakes Reeshau's
hand. Reeshau says ouch, then says his hand is dying. Ariana hears this
as she comes up the stairs from the dining room, and pauses. Ruepert says
the Spikard is faerie in origin. Reeshau shakes his hand around going
"Ew" at this, which makes it hurt more. Then Jackie smacks his had with
her staff, to make him stop. Owie. Ariana emerges at this point, sees
the hand, and asks if she can examine it. Sure, anything to stop the
pain. A conventional exam reveals no clue, other than confirming that the
hand is dying. Ariana tries her diagnostic spell, and learns that he has
Chaos cancer, centered on the ring finger and spreading outward. She
suggests that he sit down, then tells him what is wrong. He'll have to
amputate the hand, although it's possible Fiona knows a method that may
help. Alex emerges at the mention of Fiona's name, and Trumps to Amber to
talk to her.
Ariana contacts Looks Twice via the Talking Bones and joins the
centaur camp. They accept her quickly, and ask for news of Dead Oaks, so
she tells of his trouble with the cobblestones in Dara's Shadow. They
find this rather amusing. Many tales are exchanged over the course of the
eight weeks that it takes Ariana to become proficient in healing magic.
It's all very relaxing. Looks Twice even lets her deliver one of the
centaur mares, one Walks Tall by name. About midway through her stay, she
feels the baby quickening. At the end of the eight weeks, she bids the
tribe goodbye, and gives gifts. They tell her to come back with her foal.
She contacts Bart and lets him know that she's going home, then Trumps
back to Amber and goes to her quarters, pausing to listen outside of the
children's door. The children are busy getting their stories straight.
She interrupts and glares at them. They claim it's just their nature, but
she isn't buying it. She takes them all to Foster and makes them
apologize, despite their protests over the idea. Vincent is made to go
first. He knocks quietly at the door, then tries to convince Ariana that
Foster isn't home. She takes his hand and makes him knock harder. Foster
looks amused when he opens the door. Vincent mumbles through his apology.
Ariana makes him say it louder, then moves onto the next boy. Jalana
apologizes for not better controlling her brothers. Once the whole
process is finally over, Ariana takes her brood down to lunch.
Bart returns to Amber with Ruepert and Jackie. Ruepert reverts to
being a rabbit, much to his distress, since only Pattern and faerie magic
are working in Amber. Bart tries to have them talk to Ahab, but he isn't
available. He tries Caine next, but he isn't available, either. He
eventually brings them to Lyss, and tries to keep them entertained.
Nicholas and Nimue are at lunch, and seem rather quiet. Alex is
there as well, and spies Fiona. Jalana asks Ariana how long she's been
gone. Eight weeks. Were the boys that bad? No, she had something she
needed to do. Is she done yet? Yes. Does she think Papa will be done
soon? Ariana looks sad and says she doesn't know.
Alex asks Fiona if he can talk to her in private. They go to a
sitting room, and he shows her his hand. She comments that he has quite
the infection, and asks which Pattern he walked. The Tir. That's bad.
One shouldn't mix eldritch sorceries, you see. She's surprised he's still
alive, and says the ring has to come off. Must it be lopped off? Well,
there are people in the Courts who are experts at this sort of thing.
Unfortunately, they're inaccessible at the moment. Alex asks if there's
anything she can do to delay things. Well, the last time she used Pattern
to shrink the tumor, but she doesn't think it will work on Alex,
especially since he's taken the Pattern. Bummer. Chaos drugs might slow
it down, but that's all she can think of.
Ariana takes her kids to the beach after lunch. Jalana is excited
to feel the baby moving. The afternoon passes uneventfully.
Alex goes to see his mother. She's wearing black, prompting him
to comment that he's not dead, yet. She's horrified. He asks if she
knows people in Chaos that can help him. Why? He shows her his hand.
She grabs a cleaver from a drawer and tells him to give her his hand. Uh,
no. She says it's only going to get worse. He wants the drugs. They'll
only slow it down. Yes, but maybe he can find another way by then. Well,
she can give him some names, but they won't be too cooperative under
Zane's regime. Teresa may still have some contacts, though. Alex is not
real eager to contact her, but there aren't really any other alternatives.
He returns to the castle and Trumps Teresa, but she doesn't answer.
The Jewel posse stops in a wild-looking place. Suhuy bows and
leaves. Laughter takes a pee break, and then Drumm starts leading them
through Shadow using faerie transit. They step through a stone wall.
Ahab, Spider, Corwin and Caine come out the other side and draw weapons.
They are in a room with dark mists and sourceless light, and a hissing
noise. The Serpent says, "This is it? This is all she could manage?"
Caine throws daggers at the glowing jewel eyes of the Serpent. Ahab
reminds him that the eyes are diamond-hard after the daggers bounce off.
The Serpent assumes human form and draws two scimitars (its fangs).
Corwin rushes the Serpent, and Caine backs him up. It becomes apparent
that the Serpent is winning. Ahab tries to slide-tackle the Serpent, but
ends up engaging him in swordplay. The Serpent fights confidently, and
doesn't take any of their openings. The Serpent toys with Corwin. Ahab
spits in the Serpent's eye, and makes a hit on the Serpent's knuckles.
The wound heals shut without incident. Pattern blades have no effect on
the Serpent.
Laughter steps through the wall with Drumm. They see Corwin,
Ahab, etc. engaged with the Serpent. Drumm tells Laughter to move
forward, towards the Serpent. Laughter does so, and feels the spell leave
her body. The room fills with bright, sparkling light. The Serpent,
disoriented, puts one blade through Corwin. Ahab sees the other blade
coming at him when Spider steps between them. The blade goes through her
and into Ahab. Corwin and Ahab plunge their swords into the Serpent as
they realize that the scimitars were seriously poisoned. Corwin and
Spider twitch and fall down. Ahab was hit in the liver, but most of the
poison rubbed off in Spider. Not enough, though. The Serpent pulls out
the scimitar that was in Spider and Ahab. Ahab throws a blade at the
Serpent and hits the Serpent's neck. Spider and Corwin fall unconscious.
Ahab continues to throw whatever comes to hand at the Serpent.
The Unicorn moves forward and engages the Serpent. Laughter runs
forward. Laughter and Ahab both smell an awful stench (Logrus). (So
that's what Ariana complains about.) Laughter sees the Unicorn mortally
hit, and diverts her course from the fallen king to the fallen deity. The
Unicorn disappears. Laughter throws Sequence forward and tells it to get
the eye. She hears Ahab's last words: "Thus do I give up the spear...my
son will set things right," and Ahab dies. As she approaches the Serpent,
a sword pokes through the Serpent from behind. It is the REAL Unicorn
behind the Serpent. Laughter realizes she was holding one big Unicorn
glamour in her body. The Serpent and the Unicorn both fall down dead, and
begin to disintegrate. The room starts to tremble, and the masonry begins
to fall.
Caine has spent the last five minutes struggling to open a Trump
gate. He has it open, and now struggles to keep it open. Laughter stoops
to scoop up the four red jewels on the floor and the two Pattern blades,
leaving the fangs and the horn swords. She runs for the Trump gate.
Drumm, also running, realizes he's about to get hit by a chunk of falling
masonry. He disappears through the floor quite suddenly. Laughter makes
it to the Trump gate, and there is a blinding light. Laughter goes
unconscious.
As evening approaches, Felix and Usires see a huge storm building
quickly. It darkens the sky as if it was night. The sailors all pale.
The first wave tips the ships over. Felix's ship barely rolls upright
before Felix drowns. The second wave keeps him underwater for so long,
that he cuts himself loose to keep from drowning. Unfortunately, he hits
the railing as the ship is tossed down, and looses consciousness. Pretty
much the same thing happens to Usires on his ship.
Out on the beach, Ariana sees the storm that hit Felix rolling in.
It's coming very quickly, and looks bad. She Trumps back to Amber with
the children, then tries to Trump into town for Kira, but Trump are no
longer working. She rides out the storm with her kids in the Great Hall.
Usires wakes up to find out that he's still underwater, but he can
breathe. He holds his breath anyway, and looks around. He finds that
he's lying in mud, weighed down by his cloak and armor, with what looks
like fleshy poles near him. He also has gills. He sits up, stirring up a
lot of sediment. When it settles, he sees a couple of six-foot-tall
humanoids. They are cloaked, with their hair floating around them like a
halo. Eventually, this resolves into three, six-foot-tall women, with
very pale hair and skin that is almost transparent. One of them begins
rocking back and forth, while another gets bored and swims off, revealing
that she isn't wearing anything under the cloak. The third one begins
swimming in a wide circle around him. Usires tries to Trump to Amber and
fails. The rocking woman begins making some bizarre noises. Usires looks
for a rise in the land, but the ground is level, although there are many
towers. He hears someone clearing their throat, and glances down. He
sees a ten inch long rod, with hands, feet, and wings. It seems to be a
small man with a large forehead, and a cylindrical body shape. Usires
steps back. The man notes that the gills seem to be working. Yep. He
observes that Usires doesn't talk like the others, and asks if he's
hungry. Usires asks where he is. The man seems surprised, and says he's
near the main tower, as if that explains everything.
Felix wakes up to see two phallic shapes fluttering above his
chest, beating each other. There are cheering noises. Felix looks
around, and sees that the noise comes from more rods on either side of
him. He sits up, which knocks the pair away, but they continue fighting.
The ones on the sidelines charge into the fray as well. Felix swims up to
get out of the way, adding to the confusion with the silt he kicks up. As
the silt settles, the rods have lined up again, although nothing seems to
have been settled. Felix looks around and finds that he is surrounded by
towers that reach up out of sight. Eventually, a representative from each
side swims up to him, keeping a respectful distance. They explain that
one side figures he's there to eat them, while the other side think he's
there to knock them off from their work. Felix explains that he didn't
plan to come here. So he's not there to interfere with them? No, nor is
he there to eat them. This will not do, it's a given fact that it must be
one or the other. Felix asks for the proof. They look confused, and say
that no one's ever asked for proof before. Who? Him. He's never been
there before. Yes he has, he's one of them, although he's a bit thicker
than the others. The rods decide to discuss this and return to the
others. They all seem to be arguing over whether Felix is one of them or
not, and that if he is, then he must be here for one of the two reasons.
Felix says "Excuse me," but they ignore him. He's repeats himself, louder
this time, and asks who "they" are. Him. And who are the rods? What
he'd be, if he wasn't "them." They seem confused and ask since when did
he talk? Oh, since about 30 years ago. They decide they must test this,
and discuss how to do so. They talk, then return and ask him if he would
escape if he were confronted with the opportunity to do so. They seem
rather furtive about this. Felix says he supposes he might, but he's
probably not going to go where they think he will. They look impressed
and say they have many matters which he could resolve for them.
Intellectual matters and the like. He obviously has a great mind. They
take him to a large clearing between the many towers.
Usires tries his Trumps again, to no avail, so he follows the rod
who was speaking to him. He sees more of the strange women floating
around, debris, and the bodies of his sailors being carted off, looking
quite squished. Eventually, he is led to a high tower. There are more of
the strange women inside, eating ferociously while they move. The little
guy seems nervous, and doesn't want to go more than a foot inside,
although he indicates Usires can. Where is this? The dining hall.
Usires has never heard people have so much fun eating. What are they
eating? Bull pops. The little fellow leaves, as does Usires. Not
hungry, eh? Not really. Usires asks how he gets back to the surface,
causing the man to take off and say he never spoke to him.
As the storm continues, Ariana notices that all magic but faerie
goes haywire. Alex, whose magic had been in flux since he walked the
Pattern, feels it disappear entirely. The storm lasts two hours, with
magic and Trump returning once it is past. Ariana seeks out Isabeux, and
finds Isabeux looking for her. Isabeux explains that the fleets were out
during the storm. Gerard wound up in Rebma, but they can't Trump Felix or
Usires. Ariana uses her talking bones spell to see where they went down,
then Trumps through to Gerard in Rebma to tell him of the location. It's
close to Rebma, so maybe the Rebmans can find them. Gerard asks how Amber
weathered the storm. She explains that the castle fared pretty well, but
she's not sure about the town. He asks her to tell Isabeux not to worry.
Ariana returns, dries off, and does so. She also asks Isabeux to watch
her kids, while she sees to the injured in town.
Alex finds Lucretia, who also weathered the storm OK, although the
third story of her house is missing. She tries to find Teresa for him,
and determines that she's someplace Trump can't reach. She suggests going
to Ygg and trying. Alex travels to Ygg, and notices the enormous Logrus
wall there when he arrives.
Ariana Trumps into town and finds Kira. She's scared, but OK,
although her shop was damaged a bit. Ariana's home suffered minor damage
as well. Ariana joins those establishing an infirmary and begins tending
to the injured.
Felix begins his role as phallic intellectual master. The first
question they ask is whether it would be faster to build the towers from
the top down, instead of from the bottom up. Felix points out that the
tower top would sink if they did that. One says "I told you," and they
begin to fight. Finally, they say that there's a rumor that the Oihani
don't exist. Felix looks confused, and asks what are Oihani? They decide
this proves their point. The questions only get sillier from here on.
After another 15 or 20 minutes of this, Felix says enough. He has his own
questions of them. They look shocked. He asks who they are. They all
sit and think for a while, then one stands up and says that they are the
bull pops. He asks where the others are. They are excited that there
might be more of him, and take off to look. Felix asks his pin what
happened. It tells him that he got hit on the head, sank, everything was
squished around him, he made a horrid face, then he stopped, settled to
the bottom, and turned blue. Then the little men came along, cut into his
neck, and he stopped turning blue. All of the others were squished,
though. It also observes that the rods fight a lot, and they're really
stupid. Felix begins swimming up, and does so for about half a mile
before he's hit by a huge amount of pressure and blacks out. When he
wakes up, he notices that most of the towers don't go as high as he swam,
although a few decrepit ones reach up to the point where he blacked out.
He sees some towers in better shape elsewhere, and begins making his way
there.
Usires goes through the wreckage and dead bodies, but finds
nothing unusual. All of the bodies seem to have been crushed by the
pressure. He tries using Pattern, and seems to be able to affect
probability, but can't shift. Felix comes across him while he's walking
in circles around the tower, and says, "I hate this." One of the women
swims quickly by. Usires explains that they eat the bull pops, but the
bull pops seem to take it rather well. Felix mentions that the bull pops
seemed to think he was there to eat them, and were surprised that he could
talk, so maybe they think he's one of the Oihani.
Gerard researches the area where Felix and Usires went down, then
asks Bartholomew for his assistance in retrieving them. Bart is too
nervous about the area, so Gerard Trumps Llewella and asks her to help,
instead.
One of the bull pops approaches and asks if Felix is hungry. No,
he doesn't eat bull pops. They tell him that they've found new food for
him. Rather flatter than they are. Felix figures they must mean the
squashed sailors, and declines to try any. They'd like him to put on a
cloak, too, since he's confusing the bull pops by wearing their clothes.
Felix says he isn't like the Oihani, either. This excites the bull pop,
who swims over to the Oihani and chats for a bit. Felix and Usires soon
find themselves surrounded by every living thing in the area. One of the
Oihani squeals for a bit, then the bull pop translates for her. She's
asking who they are. Felix asks if they've ever heard of Amber. They
look confused and ask if Felix and Usires are not from here. Felix says
they're from the surface. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose, as the bull
pops flee and the Oihani begin surrounding them.
Llewella arrives on the scene, drifting down disguised as a
somewhat more solid Oihani of indeterminate age, ungendered but still
pregnant. The Oihani stop in their efforts as she projects a calming air
about her. She seems to look like someone they know. She holds out her
hands to Felix and Usires, and winks at Felix. Usires looks uneasy.
Felix takes her hand, and hears psychically, "Wise decision, Felix, unless
you like being lunch." Felix nods at Usires, who grabs hold of Llewella's
other hand, and they begin swimming for the surface. Where were they?
Capillaria. Llewella asks what did they did, claim they were a bull pop?
No, they said they were from the surface. Which amounts to the same
thing. They hit the pressure barrier, at which point Felix and Usires
pass out.
Alex Trumps Teresa. The contact sputters a bit, but eventually
goes through. Teresa immediately holds out her hand to be pulled through,
and collapses against him when he does so. Alex notices that she's
missing her right hand. It's still bandaged. Eventually, she steps back
and tries to conceal her missing appendage, congratulating him on his
timing. It could have been a couple of days sooner, however. Oh, by the
way, don't piss off the faeries. He repeats her advice that she could
have been a couple of days earlier. He shows her his hand. She comments
that she's glad she never walked the Tir with her Spikard, adding that
they may be a matching set, yet. She can help him, though. All they have
to do is cross the Logrus barrier. Since he has Logrus, he won't be
rejected. She borrows his Trump to let Lucretia know she's OK, then
Logruses them through the barrier. Alex inquires as to what happened to
her hand, but she doesn't want to talk about it. She does observe that
the faeries wouldn't mind getting all of those rings back. He gathered as
much. They told her that they have wonderful plans for him, assuming he
survives. He's surprised she couldn't leave. Well, the effectiveness of
Trump in Faerie depends on the attitude of the faeries around you, and the
ones around her were rather cranky. She observes that he seems to have
figured out that Ygg is the focal point, then realizes he doesn't know
much about that, and clams up. They arrive at a large house which seems
to be the ways of a minor noble. Teresa knocks at the back door, speaks
to someone, and they are allowed in. Alex is given a liquid by the owner,
Baronet Varnan, and told that he needs to take it around the clock. It's
best if injected directly into the affected area. Varnan demonstrates
this by injecting the liquid into each separate finger. This hurts a lot,
but then the fingers all go numb. Varnan can give Alex a two week supply,
but he'll have to risk the trip back to get more, unless he knows someone
he trusts who can conjure really well. Yeah, right. To be cured, he'd
have to undergo a full time treatment, which would get him rather dead
right now. Zane doesn't think much of Amberites at the moment. On the
other hand, he might want a spy in Amber... Alex tells Varnan to set up a
meeting with Zane on the subject.
Varnan relays Alex's request to Zane, who laughs about it for a
while. Varnan adds that Alex is the former ambassador. Mandor? No,
Lucretia Borge's son. Varnan figured Zane might want a spy in Amber.
Yes, but he'd like an effective one. Zane instructs that Alex be shown to
the Green Sitting room and then has him wait an hour before seeing him.
They talk in private for a bit. The end result is that Alex doesn't
really give a good reason for Zane to allow him to be healed, and he
manages to get Varnan in trouble to boot. Zane orders Varnan to either
leave with Alex, or be hunted down and killed slowly. Oops. Alex relays
the message, and Varnan opts to leave. Alex is terribly sorry, and offers
to set him up with the other side. Varnan's offering of Alex as a spy to
Zane won't be mentioned, of course. Varnan accepts the offer, and makes
sure to pack a few chemicals. Alex brings him to Mandor's court.
Felix wakes up in Rebma in a nice, soft bed, sans gills. Gerard
is standing over him, looking worried. Felix says he never wants to go to
that place again. Gerard figures he's lucky the Rebmans knew of it, and
that Ariana knew where they went down. Felix comments that he's never
seen a storm like that. Gerard figures something bad has happened. He
still can't get through to Caine or Ahab. Isabeux knows he's all right,
and is resting, the stress being a bit much for her. They'll be heading
back to Amber, as soon as Felix is rested. Felix wants to thank Llewella,
and goes in search of her.
Usires wakes up in a small room by himself, and leaves in search
of food or Llewella. He finds Llewella first, at about the same time that
Felix does. She smiles at Felix, who thanks her and offers to repay the
debt, someday. He asks about the place where they were found. Llewella
says that Rebma has never bothered to investigate why it was there. She
figures he's lucky that he got out of there without having his bull pop
eaten. Neither Felix nor Usires want to think about this. Felix plans to
go comfort Isabeux, recent circumstances having been rather trying, what
with the Ivan/Jesus thing and all. Llewella chuckles, and mentions the
nipple rings, causing Felix to turn a bit red. Usires asks if Caine's
turned up, but Llewella still hasn't been able to reach him. She tells
them that Amber castle weathered the storm well, although the city did not
fair quite as nicely. She figures Gerard's crew didn't go down as
quickly, so they were blown closer to Rebma. You have to be at just the
right point, you see, to enter Capillaria. She doesn't think the
Capillarians caused the storm, though.
Gerard, Felix, and Usires Trump back to Amber. It's the middle of
the night. Gerard and Felix head to Gerard's quarters. Isabeux is still
waiting up, looking a bit frazzled. She gives Felix a big hug, then
breaks down and cries for a while, being hormonal and all from her
pregnancy. Then she goes to sleep.
Felix notices that Foster's light is still on, and knocks on his
door. Foster looks like he's going through books. Laughter's Trump is on
the bed. Felix relates his tale of woe, which amuses Foster and seems to
distract him for a bit. He still looks really worried, though. Felix
offers him some brandy. Well, maybe just a little. Felix comes back with
the brandy and a huge snifter. Foster proceeds to drink himself into
oblivion, passing out just as the kids wake up. Which means Felix is
stuck watching them. Oh, joy.
Ariana finishes dealing with the injured cases in the city shortly
before dawn. She Trumps back to Amber and takes a long, hot bath, then
goes looking for Shard. She tells him what she learned from Ona. He
didn't know that they were the first case of a vampire only taking part of
a soul, but the rest he'd already learned while he was in Shadow for 400
years. He assures her that he won't complete the process of making her a
vampire unless she wishes it, and that in her current state, she is not a
harm to herself, or anyone else, including any children she carries.
Other vampires can tell that she is a pseudo-vampire, but are unlikely to
bother her, since they might piss off the vampire who is initiating her.
The effects can be undone if she has a complete transfusion. It would
lessen his control over her a bit, but it wouldn't hurt him. She's glad
of the latter. He tells her that her concern for him isn't helping him
control his feelings for her, but it's not as if she can hide her feelings
from him, anyway. She wishes she could do something to help. He tells
her to be happy. She mentions her concern over Meander's vision. He
reassures her that Meander is probably not that accurate in Amber, because
abilities not born of Pattern are more difficult there. It's getting
late, or early, depending on your point of view, so she leaves him to get
some sleep.
Laughter wakes up clutching the four jewels in one hand, the
Pattern swords not to be seen. The jewels have burned her hand, but she
doesn't really notice this. The bedroom that she is in is nautically
themed, and Sequence is there. She puts the jewels in her talking bones
bag and tucks it down the front of her shirt, then goes back to sleep.
Ariana checks in on Mirelle on her way back to her quarters, and
discovers that she is catatonic. Her diagnostic spell can't determine
why, but does reveal that Mirelle is a little under two months pregnant.
It's a boy. Ariana investigates psychically, and finds that all of
Mirelle's personalities are berating the core one. Deeper probing might
harm Mirelle, so Ariana retreats and begins sending her feelings of love
and reassurance. This seems to help, and Mirelle wakes up after a couple
of hours. She looks puzzled when Ariana calls her "Mother," saying that
she had a daughter named Mercedes once that she had to give away, and she
doesn't know what became of her. She begins to cry as she recalls this.
Ariana tells her that she is that daughter, and tries to reassure her that
she was happy growing up, and doesn't hate her. She asks what the last
thing Mirelle remembers, before she woke up. Mirelle thinks about this,
then grows very dizzy and faints. Ariana finds things much the same in
her mind as before, and begins generating the same feelings as she did the
last time. After an hour or so, Ariana falls asleep, exhausted from all
the healing she's done recently.
Quotables:
"What are you doing here?" -- Alex
"Well, the faeries seem to need my wife for something." -- Foster
"Foster seems oblivious." -- GM
"Oh, now there's a shock." -- Kris
"Foster's being exceptionally charming, which is a side of him you haven't
seen before." -- GM
"It's his Vetch side. They can lie." -- Alex
"It certainly isn't from his Felix side." -- Kris
"I don't want to be a widower." -- Foster to Felix
"Tamaryn's her own woman." -- Felix
"I rather thought you were trying to make her yours." -- Foster
"She's trying to make me hers." -- Felix
"Your woman? Well, you do have the skirts." -- Foster
"I grab Foster's face." -- Felix to GM
"If we're going to be living here, we have to have someplace to live. We
can't keep living off people's kindness." -- Mebd
"Why not?" -- Alex
"Glamours don't work on me, I'm too stupid." -- Mebd to Alex
"If only Father weren't dead, I could go ask him." -- Alex to GM
"I'm not asking my sister, yet. If (the blackness) gets up to my elbow,
then maybe." -- Alex to GM
"Pee break!" -- Laughter, when Suhuy finally stops using the Logrus
"These are all (the Unicorn) could muster?" -- the Serpent
"We thought about bringing a pinata." -- Ahab
"Am I still conscious?" -- Felix
"No." -- GM
"Then I'm going to have a pop." -- Felix
"You're not supposed to mix eldritch sorceries." -- Fiona
"Ah." -- Alex
"Are there more phalluses cheering?" -- Kris
"It's a cock fight." -- Sean
"Felix is now god of the penises." -- Wendi to the group
"Mandor or bull pops? The evil you know, or the evil you can't even
comprehend." -- Matt to the group
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