Chapter Ninety-seven: "If we're getting invaded, I'm staying in the tree."

	Usires sleeps through the morning, having gone to bed rather late
the night before.  Felix would like to do the same, but he's stuck
watching Foster's kids until Foster recovers from his drinking binge.

	Laughter wakes up again in Caine's manor.  Unbeknownst to her,
releasing the glamour of the Unicorn wrecked havoc with her memories, such
that she thinks her life worked out the way she wanted it to.  So, she
never lost her toe, Mandor isn't her father, her siblings are all still
alive, Beauty is still eight, Driscoll is Iseult's father and is
handfasted to she and Foster, etc.  Yes, this will be messy.  Laughter
Trumps Caine, who pulls her through into a parlor.  It appears to be part
of the same manor that she woke up in.  Has he told the Queen yet?  Nope,
he figured he'd wait to see if Laughter was alive or dead, first. 
Laughter asks what they should do about the four objects she has.  Well,
they'll need one of them, obviously.  Caine figures that a Jewel initiate
should be able to tell which one is the Jewel.  Who is one, besides Brand? 
Random.  Oh yeah, him.  Caine looks amused.  Laughter foolishly volunteers
to talk to Kimdyl, since she remembers Kimdyl as a nice person.  Her
memories are definitely messed up.  Caine says they'll be more efficient
if they split tasks, so he'll Trump Eric while she's dealing with Kimdyl.

	Laughter combs her hair and attempts to look somewhat more
presentable, then Trumps Random, goes through.  She tells him that Ahab,
Corwin, Spider, the Unicorn and the Serpent are dead.  Random sits down,
looking like he could have handled it up until the last two.  She asks him
to help her tell Kimdyl.  He asks how many favors she thinks he owes her. 
Laughter says it's nothing compared to the one she's about to ask, and
begins unbuttoning her blouse.  Random looks distinctly nervous, until she
pulls her talking bones bag out of her blouse and displays the four
jewels.  Random begins concentrating, and after 15 minutes or so, he picks
up one of them.  Laughter puts the others away, and asks who they'll give
the Jewel to.  Random gets a Trump call at that moment, and pulls Eric
through.  Oh yeah, him.  Random reluctantly hands the Jewel to Eric, who
asks if Laughter's OK.  Yeah, but she has to talk to Kimdyl.  Random
decides to go with her.

	Laughter asks a page where Kimdyl is, and learns that she's in her
quarters.  Random uses his Trump deck while they walk there, and pulls
first Vialle and then Flora through.  Nimue answers the door to Kimdyl's
quarters, looks them all over, and gets out of their way.  Laughter
approaches Kimdyl, bows, and tells her that the King is dead.  Kimdyl
thanks her, then walks into her bedroom.  Nimue looks uncertainly at the
others, then she and Flora follow Kimdyl.  Vialle asks Laughter if she's
going to be OK.  She has no idea.  Random attempts to give her an
encouraging smile.

	Laughter feels guilty over not having said goodbye to Driscoll
before she left, so she goes to his quarters.  Driscoll looks surprised to
see her.  She launches herself into his arms and starts crying, which
surprises him even more.  After a bit, he asks what's wrong.  Ahab's dead. 
How?  Well, he remembers what she told him before she left, right?  He
looks confused.  She tells him that the Serpent killed Ahab, Corwin and
Ariadne, then the Unicorn and the Serpent killed each other.  And she's
sorry for not saying goodbye.  Driscoll still looks confused.  Laughter
hugs him, then gives him a kiss.  Driscoll returns it tentatively, then
with considerable passion.  This, at least, he understands.  Things
proceed to their inevitable conclusion.

	Ariana sleeps for about three hours before waking up to find that
Mirelle's condition is unchanged.  She casts a spell that she learned on
the Disc, that's supposed to help restore a mind from madness.  The spell
seems to ease Mirelle's sleep, and she wakes up soon afterwards.  She
recalls nothing of the previous conversation, and says she's hungry. 
Ariana conjures her some breakfast, and asks if Mirelle remembers her. 
Yes, she's the woman who keeps calling her "Mother."  She doesn't believe
it, though, since she's never had any children.  Ariana explains that
Mirelle herself told her that she's her mother.  Mirelle assures Ariana
that she seems very nice, and asks if she raised her.  Ariana explains
about her childhood in Shadow again.  Mirelle asks how long she's been
crazy.  The last thing she remembers is plucking the hairs out of
someone's ass in a fit of pique.  She is quite alarmed when Ariana tells
her that happened five or six years ago, in Amber time.  Ariana tries to
calm her down, and offers to fill in the gaps, where she can.  They begin
with the current family tree.

	Alex arrives in Middlecourt and introduces Baronet Varnan to
Mandor.  Mandor has a sphere constantly circling his head.  Varnan bows
low.  Alex explains that he was banished by Zane, and wishes to serve
loyally and work towards Zane's downfall.  And why was Alex back at the
Courts, given the political situation there?  Varnan was the only one who
could help him.  Mandor bids him to leave, but Varnan can stay.  Teresa
Trumps Alex and asks if it worked.  Well, it's in process.  She reminds
him that the longer he waits, the worse his cancer will get.  Yes, well,
he's getting their friend situated.  Does he realize how suspicious this
looks?  No more than usual.  Any reason why she's calling?  Just making
sure he's still alive.  People can die suddenly of Chaos cancer, after
all.  She still thinks he'd be better off just lopping the hand off. 
Their mother would certainly feel better.  No, he'll wait, thanks.  She
cuts the contact.  After an hour, Varnan walks out, looking a little pale. 
He says Alex owes him a lot for this.  Alex goes to help him unpack, but
Varnan suggests that he find something else to do.  Alex goes to Amber,
arriving shortly before lunch.  He goes to the library and does some
research on Ygg.

	Towards lunch time, Laughter asks Driscoll how Iseult is.  Fine,
last he checked.  Where is she?  With Foster.  Oh, it must not be his
week.  Driscoll gets a brooding look on his face at this.  As Laughter
puts her socks on, she notices that she's missing a toe, and asks Driscoll
why.  He explains how she lost it to the Hasrhanians.  She doesn't
remember that.  Er.  Driscoll asks what exactly happened when she was
fighting the Serpent.  Well, she was a container for a Faerie spell, a
glamour of the Unicorn to use against the Serpent.  So, it was a big
spell, then, to use against the Serpent?  Uh, yeah.  Driscoll swallows
hard, and assures her that her memory of losing her toe will probably come
back to her, it being a small memory.  Laughter gives him a kiss goodbye
and goes looking for her kids.

	Foster wakes up around noon, looks worried, then realizes that
Felix is there with the kids.  He thanks Felix, then suggests getting
lunch.  OK.  As Felix steps into the hallway, Gerard Trumps him and tells
him that Ahab is dead, along with Corwin and Ariadne.  Eric will be making
the announcement at lunch.

	Ariana finishes explaining things to Mirelle, and goes to pick up
her kids from Isabeux to take them down to lunch.  Mirelle is surprised
that she has so many, when she's only been married for such a short time. 
Ariana explains that they were born before she was married, which seems to
surprise Mirelle.  Ariana notices the black drapery being hung in the
halls, and the somber air in the castle.  Isabeux looks rather distressed
when she answers the door, so Ariana asks what's going on.  Ahab's dead. 
Ariana looks pale, and asks how.  Retrieving the Jewel.  Why was he there? 
Isabeux doesn't know.  Caine and Laughter survived, so maybe one of them
will know.

	Laughter goes to her quarters, but her kids aren't there.  She
asks a page where Beauty is, and learns that she's with the Prince. 
Laughter wants to find them, but the page advises that the family is
secluded and doesn't want to be disturbed.  Why is Beauty with them? 
Well, she's engaged to the Prince.  But she's eight years old!  The page
looks confused.  Laughter heads down to the dining hall, and runs into
Ariana and her brood on the way.  Ariana asks Mirelle to take the kids
ahead, then asks Laughter why Ahab was with them.  He caught up with them
and latched on.  Ariana looks very upset, and asks how he died.  The
Serpent killed him.  And it just gets away with this?  In a sense.  Ariana
can tell that Laughter's lying, and asks who else survived.  Drumm.  Is
the Serpent dead?  Laughter won't say, but her expression gives the answer
away.  They both proceed to the dining room.

	Laughter shuffles through her Trump deck, but can't find Beauty. 
She asks Foster where Beauty's card is, and he points out a
thirteen-year-old stranger.  She begins to get upset, and starts going on
about her daughter being older, and her toe being missing, etc.  Foster is
rather confused.  Laughter gives Fiona a panicked look, so Fiona comes
over and hears the story.  She offers to examine Laughter in private, so
they leave the dining hall, along with Foster.  Fiona does her examination
and concludes that Laughter's mind has been revised, as a side effect of
Faerie magic.  She's not sure she can fix it.  Will walking the Pattern
fix it?  Maybe.  She'll try it as soon as she's rested, then.  Foster asks
what she remembers.  Everything, as far as she can tell.  Foster figures
that as long as she remembers him and the kids, they'll be OK.  Fiona
gives Laughter a warning look.  Laughter makes psychic contact with Fiona
and asks if Driscoll is really Iseult's father.  Nope.  Laughter then
explains that she slept with Driscoll.  Ah.  Fiona inquires as to the
marks on her hands, and Laughter shows her the three remaining jewels. 
Fiona comments that she shouldn't walk the Pattern, then, since she's
probably pregnant.  Foster looks uneasy at the prolonged psychic contact. 
Fiona suggests that he leave while she runs some tests on Laughter.  He
does so.  Fiona suggests that Laughter sleep with Foster, and he need
never know the child isn't his.  Laughter wants to get rid of it.  In that
case, by all means, walk the Pattern.

	Laughter leaves and heads back up to Driscoll's quarters.  He
opens the door, looking like he's getting ready to leave.  She draws back
to punch him, then stops.  He says he's sorry.  She says she'll be in
Arden if anyone's looking for her, and leaves.  She rides to Arden and
steps into a tree.

	Foster returns and explains things to Felix.  Since it was Faerie
magic, maybe Tamaryn can help.  Unfortunately, Foster can't reach her
right now by Trump.  Felix asks Isabeux to watch the kids after lunch, so
they can look for Tamaryn.

	Towards the end of the meal, Eric stands up and announces that
Ahab died yesterday, along with Corwin and Ariadne.  He left Eric regent,
until Nicholas comes into his power.  These will be trying times,
especially given the trouble in Chaos, so Eric will need all of their
cooperation, etc., etc.  Everyone disperses rather somberly.

	Ariana brings her brood back to her quarters and sits quietly in a
corner while her kids play with Mirelle.  Eventually, Jalana asks her if
she's all right.  She claims that she's fine.  Jalana is unconvinced. 
Ariana leaves soon afterwards, but is followed by Jalana, who wants to
come along.  Ariana insists that where she's going is no place for a
five-year-old, and eventually persuades Jalana to go back to the others,
dragging her feet as she does so.  Ariana goes into town and works at the
infirmary for a couple of hours, until there's no one else she can help. 
She rides out to her house on the shore to survey the storm damage. 
Fortunately, it survived the storm with only some damage to the roof. 
Ariana walks up the beach to her favorite spot and engages in some primal
screaming for a bit.  This is followed by throwing rocks and yelling all
sorts of swears.  After a while, a voice behind her comments that she must
be really mad.  She spins around with a dagger in her hand and finds that
it's Martin.  He tells her that he figured she'd be upset over Ahab's
death, but geez.  What's he doing there?  Contemplating.  She says she
won't disturb his contemplation any more, rides back towards her house,
and cries until nightfall.

	Foster Trumps Laughter, but can't get through.  He then tries
contacting her via the talking bones.  This works, and he asks what she's
doing in a tree.  She pops out, tells him that she's going to Foil, and
asks who she'll find there.  He drops the spell, Trumps her, and comes
through.  She lists her family in Foil, and asks who will be there.  None
of them.  He holds her, which seems to upset her.  She says that she
doesn't remember their wedding, or rather she does, but it's probably not
right.  They didn't handfast with Driscoll, did they?  Er, no.  He tells
her that Caitt is being held in Faerie, because she pissed them off.  He
and Felix are going looking for Tamaryn, but he wants her to call him
before doing anything rash.  She says she will, before she does anything
else rash.  She Trumps to Foil before he can respond.

	Foster Trumps back to Felix, and says that he thinks Laughter did
something with Driscoll.  Er...  He wants to find Tamaryn, to take his
mind off of it.  Felix concentrates on Tamaryn's Trump, but no luck, so he
hands it to Foster.  They are able to get through together, and say they
need to talk with her.  She says she knows about Ahab.  There's more. 
They go through to her in Faerie.  Felix explains what happened to
Laughter, and what she may have done as a result.  Foster complains that
Felix didn't really need to bring that last part up.  Tamaryn suggests
that they go talk to Drumm, and starts walking purposefully down the
hallway, emerging in a grand hall.  She approaches Drumm, who's looking
rather shell-shocked, curtseys, and introduces Felix to him.  Drumm is
apparently a high wizard.  Felix leaves the talking to Foster, who
explains the problem to Drumm.  Drumm asks what sort of memory problems
Laughter is having.

	Felix Trumps back to Amber at this point, and goes looking for
Driscoll.  He's not in his quarters.  The pages saw him leaving an hour
ago, shortly after lunch.  Apparently he and Eris were on an errand for
Nicholas.  Felix goes looking for Nicholas, finding him in Ahab's old
office talking to Eric.  He asks what Driscoll's errand was.  Nicholas
sent him to fetch the dragon-riders from Lazarus, to help defend Amber. 
Oh.  Felix asks a page to inform him when Driscoll returns, then Trumps
Foster, but he doesn't answer.  He can't reach Tamaryn, either.  He drops
in on Isabeux and watches Vivienne play with the grandkids for a while. 
Watching them seems to be helping Isabeux a lot.

	Usires finds Gerard and asks for something to do.  Gerard sets him
to helping rebuild the fleet.

	Nimue Trumps Laughter and asks where Ahab's body is.  With the
others, in the Serpent's lair.  Nimue asks for an image of the place,
since she thinks retrieving the body would help Kimdyl.  Laughter asks her
to come through and explains that the Unicorn and the Serpent are dead. 
Nimue asks if Laughter wants to explain this to Nicholas.  Laughter
figures she should, if for no other reason than to find out why Beauty's
engaged to him.  She suggests Nimue not go after Ahab's body alone.

	Foster Trumps Felix and explains the spell that was put on
Laughter.  Given that it had to be strong enough to fool the Serpent,
she's lucky she has a mind left at all.  How did Laughter get chosen?  It
was up to the Faeries to pick which Amberite to host the spell in, and
they chose her.  Drumm's going to try to fix it.  Foster asks to come
through, and says it's not Laughter's fault.  Felix thinks it's Driscoll's
fault, though, since he should have known better.  Given the current
situation, Foster figures he'll wait until things are settled, and then
deal with it.

	Ariana works on fixing up her beach house for a while, finding
banging things back into place to be rather therapeutic.  Suddenly, she
senses someone near her, and spins around with a dagger.  Drumm says that
isn't necessary.  He's looking for Laughter, but can't find her.  Ariana
says she'll see what she can do, and Trumps Laughter.  Laughter answers,
and immediately says that she wants to spar.  Ariana pulls her through. 
Laughter sees Drumm and draws her sword.  Drumm explains that he's there
to fix things.  Laughter asks why he chose her.  He thought she had the
best chance of surviving.  She has a strong spirit.  What Amberite
doesn't?  "Ahab," Ariana replies, sounding rather bitter.  Laughter meant
among the living.  Drumm notes Ariana's tone, and offers to bring her to
Zane's bedroom, if she wishes.  She does.  Laughter must be helped first,
though.  Drumm begins casting a spell, and after a while Laughter sees two
sets of memories, the true and the false.  Drumm tells her that the false
will eventually fade.  Laughter asks Ariana to cast a spell on her, after
they've fenced for a while, and Drumm has left.  If she can't, then she
needs Ariana to go into Shadow with her.  All right.  Ariana tells Drumm
that she'll contact him about his offer later.  Laughter asks Drumm if
what she did will count as reparations for the genocide.  Drumm figures
that his people will not hold anything against her, after this.  Ariana
and Laughter both draw their swords, and Drumm exits hastily.

	The pain returns to Alex's hand come nightfall.  Ouch.  He opts
not to go to Ygg until the morning, and returns to his quarters.

	Usires continues working on the ships.

	Ariana and Laughter spar for an hour, then Ariana asks what spell
Laughter wanted her to cast.  Laughter asks if Ariana can tell if
someone's pregnant, if it's only been eight hours since they had sex. 
Ariana's never tried to do so that early on.  She concentrates, and says
that Laughter doesn't appear to be pregnant, but it takes several days for
the embryo to even attach to the uterus, so it might not even be
detectable this early.  So, if she walks the Pattern now, she won't be
killing a child?  Not one that Ariana can detect.  Then Laughter's going
to walk the Pattern.  Ariana offers to go with her, and suggests that she
rest first.  Laughter doesn't want to wait, so Ariana gives Laughter some
of her own energy, pointing out that Laughter will need it more than her. 
Laughter feels much better after this, and begins to walk the Pattern.  As
she proceeds, Ariana notices that her chest begins glowing, and then
something shoots off and burns through the wall.  When Laughter reaches
the center, she is able to see that the false memories are obviously
glamours that were showing her what she wanted.  She teleports to
Driscoll.

	Ariana determines that the glowing object was heading for the
Kolvir side of the castle, and uses a will-o'-the-wisp spell to trace
where it emerged from the cliff.  She discovers that it splashed down
about a mile from shore.

	Laughter appears in midair and begins falling, until Driscoll
catches her.  He's riding Clytemnestra.  He figures she must have walked
the Pattern, since that's the only other way into Lazarus.  Which means
she has her memory back.  Yep.  He's been preparing himself for her wrath. 
They talk about it, instead.  She explains how the glamours worked to let
her do what she wanted.  Now she has to tell Foster.  Is she sure she
wants to?  She figures she has to.  Well, if she still loves Foster, he'd
be a fool to leave her over this.  She hugs him.  He brings her to the
entrance to Lazarus, sets her down, and smiles at her.  She gives him a
loving smile in return.  He kisses his finger and places it on her lips,
then takes off.  Ironclaw comments that he hasn't seen her with the
Emperor in a couple of centuries.

	Laughter Trumps Foster, comes through, hugs him, and says she's
sorry.  Foster says that he knows she did something with Driscoll, but he
can live with it.  She isn't sure she can.  She broke her vows, after all. 
Well, he isn't exactly happy about it, either.  He'll punish her, if it
makes her feel better.  OK.  She'll expect his ambush.  He has something
else in mind, an old Vetch tradition.  It involves padded handcuffs.  She
tells him that she just walked the Pattern.  So?  She's not in the mood
for any more children, at the moment.  He promises that he'll be careful. 
It's only after she's in shackles, and Foster's nibbling on her earlobe,
that she notices the hole in her talking bones bag.  She squeaks and
begins demanding that Foster release her.  Eventually, she manages to draw
Foster's attention to the hole in her bag.  He checks, and tells her there
are only two jewels in there.

	Ariana Trumps Laughter, interrupting this little discussion. 
Foster throws a blanket over Laughter before the call goes through, but
her hands are still chained.  Ariana is rather amused by this, given how
many times Laughter has interrupted her.  She hears Laughter tell Foster
that there was one more.  Ariana says she knows where it is, and offers to
bring Laughter through.  Foster releases Laughter so she can get dressed. 
She does so, then grabs hold of Foster when Ariana pulls her through, much
to his surprise.  He arrives on the beach buck naked, much to his dismay. 
Ariana looks him over, then conjures him some pants.  The conversation
turns to just what the jewels in Laughter's bag are, and it doesn't take
Ariana and Foster long to figure out the truth.  They are both aghast that
Laughter tried walking the Pattern while wearing the other eye of the
Serpent.  Laughter gets huffy about how stupid she was.  They decide to
retrieve the missing jewel by calculating its trajectory, then teleporting
Foster over the site, since he's the only one who can survive underwater. 
While Foster is gone, Ariana naps, since she's rather worn out from
feeding Laugher her energy.  Laughter simply paces a lot.  Foster returns
after an hour with the jewel, which he says makes him feel uncomfortable. 
When Ariana's hand accidentally comes near it, her ring tightens hard on
her finger in warning.  It's the strongest reaction she's ever felt from
it.  She tells Foster of this, since he's familiar with the ring, having
once worn one himself.  Foster figures this jewel is to the Logrus as the
Jewel of Judgment is to the Pattern.  So why isn't Laughter harmed by
holding it?  Maybe the burns on her hand have something to do with it. 
Laughter suggests having Suhuy examine the jewel.  Foster convinces her to
wait until morning.  Ariana reminds him that Laughter just walked the
Pattern.  Foster says he'll be careful.

	Foster takes Laughter back to Foil and has his way with her. 
Unfortunately, his precautions prove less than effective.  Oops.  Sorry
about that.  Say hello to baby number three.

	Ariana conjures some dinner, then heads back to her quarters.  Her
kids are all asleep.  Jalana apparently tried to wait up, and is sleeping
on the coach.  Ariana lets her know that she's back and puts her to bed.

	Brand, Bart, Driscoll and Eris are absent from breakfast, but the
rest of the family is there, including Jaquee and Ruepert.  Ruepert is
still a rabbit, and hating every minute of it.  Jaquee and Caine are
sitting together, but completely ignoring each other.  Caine looks
awkward.  Eric announces that there will be a service for Ahab in the
afternoon, now that the bodies have been recovered.

	Laughter tells Nicholas that she needs to speak to him.  He takes
her and Foster to his office.  Laughter pulls out the Serpent's eye and
explains Foster's theory about it.  Nicholas wraps it in a handkerchief,
and decides it will make an excellent bargaining chip with the Chaosites. 
Foster asks Laughter psychically if she's going to tell Nicholas about the
other two jewels.  Oh, yeah.  She does so, suggesting that they shouldn't
be used for bargaining with the Chaosites.  Nicholas says that maybe they
should speak with the Priest of the Unicorn about them.  Laughter's not
sure she wants to talk to Bart.  Nicholas takes her up to Ahab's old
quarters, pulls a stone out of the wall, and stashes the jewels in there. 
He assures her that there are many spells on the room.

	Driscoll returns to Amber around mid-morning, along with the
dragon-riders, which are being quartered on Kolvir.  Felix finds him in
the castle, and asks if he did it.  He says that it's Laughter's tale to
tell.  Head or stomach?  Neither, thank you.  Felix protests that
Laughter's a married woman.  Driscoll argues that's open to interpretation
in Amber, but it was an accident, and it won't happen again.  Right.  Head
or stomach?  Stomach.  Felix picks him up, tells him not to ever do it
again, and drops him.  Then he turns and stomps off.

	Usires eventually takes a break from rebuilding the ships, and
sleeps until the ceremony.

	Felix goes looking for Laughter and Foster, and finds them playing
with Haris.  Felix enters with a disappointed look on his face, and says
that Driscoll's returned to the castle.  Laughter asks Foster who else
knows that she slept with Driscoll.  Foster assures her that Felix is the
only one he told, and his mother has some idea, but she's not judgmental. 
Then he tells Felix that he and Laughter have resolved things, and asks if
he has any names he likes.  Felix is surprised to hear that Laughter is
pregnant again.  Laughter says the condom broke, causing Foster to look at
the ceiling.  This is more than Felix wanted to know.  Foster asks if
Felix beat Driscoll up, because he wanted to be in on it.  Felix wanted
to, but he didn't.  When Felix leaves, Laughter goes after him, and tries
to convince him that it wasn't Driscoll's fault.  Felix disagrees.  She
was married, after all.  He really did want to beat Driscoll up.  Laughter
looks like she wants a hug, so Felix gives her one.  She comments that
he's not wearing his nipple rings, causing him to squeeze her tightly
enough that she can't breathe.  Ooops.  She tickles him.  Felix picks her
up and takes her back to Foster.  Foster chuckles when Felix says he's
done with her, and gives Laughter a backrub.

	Ariana takes her kids and Mirelle to see the dragon-riders. 
Mercury has a new rider, and seems happy to see her.  He's very gentle
with the kids.  Ariana runs into Driscoll, and gives him rather a cold
look, prompting him to comment that news travels fast.  She says he should
have known better.  He supposes that she's never been confronted by
someone that she's wanted for a really long time, and given in.  No.  Well
he's not that strong.  He leaves.

	Ahab's ceremony is closed casket, with Bart officiating as the
Priest of the Unicorn.  Kimdyl is dressed in black and veiled.  Bart looks
down for a bit, and begins speaking.  It's a rather unusual speech,
commending Ahab's spirit but not necessarily his final actions.  He
finishes by offering the paperweight that the Unicorn lobbed at Ahab's
head as a holy object.  Laughter remarks that the speech was
unconventional, and Felix thinks it was confusing.  Everyone is
understandably subdued.  Kimdyl leans on Nimue as she leaves.

	Ariana puts on her armor, dresses in black, and arms herself to
the teeth.  Then she goes in search of Laughter.  She asks Laughter to
look after her kids, if she fails in her attempt to kill Zane.  Laughter
isn't happy about this.  She's already lost one best friend, and doesn't
want to lose another.  What if Zane captures Ariana?  Ariana doesn't think
that will matter, since she's been of no use to Amber, and Vetch is
already working for Chaos.  Laughter looks surprised to hear this, and
asks why.  He works for the King of Chaos, whoever that happens to be. 
Ack.  Laughter thinks Ariana should at least wait until the child is born. 
Ariana insists that she can't wait that long.  She has to do this. 
Laughter decides that Ariana should go, then, and offers to come along. 
Ariana thanks her, but declines the offer, figuring that if she doesn't
take Zane by surprise, no amount of extra personnel will help.  Laughter
thinks Ariana should get some training in assassination first.  Ariana
demonstrates that she already has training, by lifting one of Laughter's
daggers without her noticing.  Laughter finds this unconvincing, since
Ariana is better than her, anyway.  She thinks Ariana should get training
from Benedict.  Ariana decides to at least tell Benedict about Drumm's
offer, since he'd stand a much better chance of succeeding if he's willing
to do it.

	Laughter and Ariana find Benedict in town, supervising the
cleanup.  Ariana explains Drumm's offer.  Benedict says it's a stupid
idea, and he's not going to let her do it.  Why?  They don't have enough
information, and there are too few Amberites as it is.  Ariana says that
she has to do this.  Benedict begins to cast a spell.  Ariana disrupts it,
at which point Benedict clocks her on the side of the head, and she falls
unconscious.  He asks if Laughter has anything to add.  No, sir.  She
moves to pick up Ariana, but then Benedict makes a motion and two of his
men enter.  Benedict tells them to take Ariana away and remove her
weapons.  Laughter points out that Ariana is pregnant, just in case her
protruding abdomen didn't give that away, and leaves.

	Ariana wakes up in a pitch black room, wearing nothing but a
shift.  She feels her way to a door, but finds there are no locks or
hinges on her side of it.  She tries to teleport, but sorcery is blocked. 
Faerie magic is not, however, so she opens a gate back to her quarters and
goes through.  She changes, then shifts Shadow to retrieve her sword and
armor.  Shortly after she finds them, she gets a Trump call from Benedict. 
He asks if she's going to insist on being stupid.  She says she is not
going to continue, at the moment, and asks for her weapons back.  He asks
how he can be sure she isn't going through with her plan.  He has her
word.  He wants her to swear on something that means something to her. 
She swears on Ahab's soul.  He accepts this.  She asks if he'd think
Drumm's plan was a good idea if they got more information.  No.  Why?  In
her state of mind, she wouldn't understand.  He breaks the contact.  She
retrieves her weapons from Benedict's men, then goes back down to the
beach and cries for a while.

	Laughter asks Foster why Vetch is working for Zane.  His house
works for the King of Chaos.  Gramble's death is simply viewed as evidence
that he wasn't fit to rule.  Laughter thinks Vetch should know better. 
Foster figures he does.  His ties in Amber have done much to influence
him.  Foster never saw him in love, or even caring about anyone, until
Ariana.  All he used to care about were duty and honor.  He's probably
just hanging around until he can off Zane himself.  Ah.  Laughter suggests
going to Rath for a bit.  Sure.  She contacts Drumm, first, and asks for
Caitt to be freed.  He figures that can be arranged, and tells her that
Caitt will be released in Foil.  And Caolan?  Drumm thinks he can be
persuaded to leave Beauty alone.  Good, because Laughter will kill him if
he doesn't.  She invites Drumm to come to dinner in Foil.

	Felix finds Nicholas and offers his condolences.  Then he finds
Bleys and says he wants to hold a wake for Ahab.  Bleys thinks this is a
splendid idea.  Word is quickly spread through the castle about the event,
which is to be held that evening, in one of the sitting rooms.

	Laughter arrives in Foil and finds Caitt there, just as Drumm
promised.  She hugs Caitt and asks what she did to piss off the Faeries. 
Caitt explains how she helped Mebd.  Unfortunately, they erased just how
she did this from her mind, so now she'll have to rediscover it.

	Laughter, Caitt and Foster come through to Felix, and join the
wake.  Laughter yells at Alex for getting Caitt into trouble.  Alex says
he merely asked if she could help.  He offers to tell Caitt what he
observed of the spell, though.  Laughter would rather he told her.  She
notices that he's tucking his arm under his shirt, and asks why.  He
claims he stubbed his hand.  Right.

	Felix observes that everyone from his generation is at the wake,
except Ariana, so he asks Laughter to Trump her.  Laughter is afraid that
Ariana is still being held by Benedict, so she hands the Trump to Felix
and tells him to contact her.  He does.  She looks like she's been crying
when she answers.  He tells her about the wake.  She says she'll be there
shortly.  She Trumps back to the castle, gets cleaned up, then joins
everyone.  Driscoll offers her a non-alcoholic drink, then sits brooding
in a corner.  Ariana finds another corner and does the same.  Laughter
joins her, and watches Driscoll for a bit.  Ariana tells her that if she
wants Driscoll dealt with, there are several who would volunteer.  No,
that's OK.  Ariana says that these things happen, sometimes.  There isn't
much you can do about it, though, other than go on.  Something in her tone
causes Laughter to give her a funny look, but she is too drunk to press
her about it.

	Mirelle and Felix begin discussing the incident when she picked
his ass clear of hair, it being the last thing she remembers.  Felix is
still indignant about the whole thing, despite how long it's been.

	Ariana asks Laughter if Foster could come up with something she
could drink that would simulate the effects of alcohol, but wouldn't hurt
the baby.  Laughter thinks he could.  Ariana approaches him and poses the
question.  He gets a thoughtful look on his face, ponders this a bit, and
gets to work.  He eventually comes up with something green.  Ariana takes
it from him and immediately drinks a healthy sized amount of it.  It
simulates the effects of alcohol very nicely.

	As the night goes on, many tales of Ahab's exploits are told. 
Gerard turns out to know several good stories from Ahab's childhood. 
Caine and Fiona both put in brief appearances to tell a story or two, but
don't stick around.  Foster and Laughter leave early.  Usires staggers
back to his quarters in the wee hours.  Ariana passes out on the floor.

	Drumm wakes Ariana up several hours later, and observes that she
probably isn't going to go after Zane.  No, Benedict thought it would be a
bad idea.  They don't know enough about Zane's defenses, and he doubtless
has his room warded, especially against Pattern.  Drumm points out that
they wouldn't be arriving via Pattern.  Ariana explains about the Pattern
that the baby is generating.  Drumm hates the idea of Zane going
unpunished, as does Ariana, but she will at least wait for the child to be
born before doing anything about it.  Drumm bids her to sleep well and
casts a sleep spell on her before she can stop him.  She falls unconscious
and he sinks through the floor.

	Laughter passes two months in Rath working on her army, then
returns to see Nicholas.  She tells him of the army she has assembled in
Rath.  He asks for 5,000 of her most trusted men.  She finds Fiona and
asks her to weed out any remaining spies of Dara's, and then help her
transport the men to Amber.  Fiona disposes of a few spies and then begins
transporting the 5,000 in.  This number includes Dead Oaks' crew.

	Ariana meets with Nicholas.  Eric is in the office as well. 
Ariana tells them what she learned about Miranda's disappearance.  She
thinks they should try to free Miranda.  She was captured because she was
helping Usires, after all.  And, if they needs a more Machiavellian
reason, she knows how to make Takaran blades.  Eric is called out of the
room at this point.  While he is gone, Nicholas mentions that Benedict
told him of Ariana's plan.  He'd rather no one else followed his father's
path.  Ariana says that she's reconsidered, for now.  She also tells him
that she's learned how to heal Takaran injuries.  For Oberon?  That was
one of the reasons.  Can she heal what was done to him?  His injuries were
so extensive that she isn't sure.  She'll have to take him to the Disc in
order to have the best chance.  Nicholas wants her to do it, and thinks
Eric will as well.  Ariana agrees to make the attempt.

	Ariana finds Eric talking to Random in the hall, and asks to speak
privately with him.  Random bows and leaves.  She tells Eric what Nicholas
wants her to do.  He looks torn, then sides with the good of Amber, and
tells her to do it.  She finds Fiona, who's still bringing Laughter's
troops through to Amber, and explains what she's going to do.  She needs
Fiona's help, since Fiona cast the stasis spell that Oberon is under. 
Fiona tells Ariana to come get her when she's ready.  Ariana says she'll
be ready as soon as Bart agrees to send them to the Disc.  She then finds
Bart and says she's not sure how one is supposed to greet the Priest of
the Unicorn.  Well, given that the last priest was the Unicorn, he's not
sure either.  Oh.  Ariana explains why she needs to return to the Disc. 
Bart agrees that the attempt should be made.  Ariana says she'll contact
him when she's ready, and returns to Fiona.

	Felix asks Laughter if he can go to Foil to see Bridget.  Laughter
lends him her Trump.  He and Bridget talk for a while.  Felix mentions
that Shard may be the father of the baby.  She starts talking about baby
names.  Felix offers to bring her to Rath to have the baby.

	Ariana finds Fiona still bringing Laughter's troops through. 
Laughter is there as well.  Laughter mentions that she's going to Rath
tonight to have some kids.  Ariana is surprised to learn that Laugher is
pregnant again, and asks if Laughter wants to know what the child's sex
is.  She does.  Ariana checks the child's health while she is determining
the sex, and learns that it's a boy, and it's an albino.  Which requires
the gene on both sides.  Foster's family doesn't have it, but Driscoll's
mother was an albino, as is Mandor.  Ariana informs Laughter of the baby's
condition.  Laughter turns pale and decides that maybe she'll go to the
Rath tomorrow night, instead.

	Felix Trumps Laughter and come through with Bridget.  Laughter
takes Foster over into a corner and explains what she's just learned. 
Foster acts like it's OK, but Felix and Ariana can see his fist clenching
and unclenching as he holds Laughter.  Ariana suggests that Felix may wish
to speak to Foster later on, and arm wrestle with him, or whatever. 
Right.  Laughter tells Felix they're delaying the trip by a day.  He wants
her to send him on ahead with Bridget.  OK, but the Rath is running at
Amber time, right now.  Laughter Trumps to Foil with Foster, and tells him
to get it out of his system.  He puts his fist through a tree, and it
falls over.  OK, now he feels better.  Laughter is distraught over what he
did to the tree, since it's her symbol, after all.  He figures that they
don't need to tell Driscoll about the child.  Laughter points out that
since the boy will be an albino, this will be kind of difficult.  Foster
insists that he isn't mad at her, but he is kind of peeved at Driscoll. 
He'll take a certain satisfaction in raising Driscoll's child.  Laughter
figures they can discuss this later.  She spars with him for a while, to
work off some of his frustration.  Then she suggests that he wrestle with
Felix, so he Trumps Felix and goes through to do so.

	Laughter talks to Ariana about the whole mess.  Laughter blames
herself because she still loves Driscoll, and her false memories were
based on what she wanted.  Ariana places the blame firmly on Driscoll's
shoulders, since he must have known something was wrong, but slept with
Laughter anyway.  They discuss how Foster reacted to the news.  Ariana
offers to talk to him, since she went through something similar back when
Sand's children were born.  Laughter thanks her, and suggests that maybe
Ariana could do so while Laughter is talking to Driscoll.  Ariana figures
she'll let Foster wear himself out on Felix, first.

	Laughter tells Driscoll that he's going to be a dad.  He feels
pretty guilty about the whole thing, and offers to do whatever she wants. 
This, of course, only makes Laughter even more sure that the whole mess is
all her fault.

	Ariana finds where Felix and Foster are sparring and
inconspicuously waits for them to finish.  Their sparring primarily
consists of Foster throwing himself at Felix, who is only fighting
defensively.  After a couple of hours, Foster finally exhausts himself, at
which point Ariana conjures some water for him and Felix.  She tells
Foster that she has some idea of what he's going through, so if he wants
to talk at some point, she's willing to listen.  He doesn't think she
knows what he's going through, since Vetch isn't still in love with Sand. 
Ariana tries to assure him that Laughter loves him more than Driscoll,
pointing out that even in her false memories, Laughter still chose him to
marry, not Driscoll.  Foster doesn't find this as reassuring as he might,
since he and Laughter were handfasted to Driscoll in those memories.  He
doesn't want to discuss the subject any further, and stalks off soon
afterward.

	Ariana seeks out Fiona once more, and the two of them go down to
the vault where Oberon's body is stored.  Once the vault is opened, they
are assaulted by the nauseating odor of rotting flesh.  Ariana winds up
tossing her cookies.  Fiona fares only slightly better, but manages to get
off a couple of spells, one of which clears the stench.  Apparently the
stasis spell was taken out when Ahab turned off magic in Amber.  Oops. 
This new death is apparently too much for Ariana, who huddles against the
wall mumbling, "No more," until Fiona smacks her a few times.  This breaks
Ariana out of it, but she remains sitting there for a while after Fiona
has left.

	Laughter decides to take Bridget to Rath that evening, after all. 
Ariana wants to examine Bridget before they go, to make sure everything's
OK.  Bridget won't consent to a pelvic, but is eventually persuaded to let
Ariana feel her abdomen, to check the baby's position.  Ariana secretly
uses her diagnostic spell while she does this, and determines that mother
and child are fine.  She also realizes that Bridget is ready to deliver
any day now, so she offers to go with them to Rath to be Bridget's
midwife.  Bridget is amenable to this.

	Laughter, Felix, Bridget, Ariana and her kids all go to Rath. 
Foster is nowhere to be found before they depart, a fact which irks
Laughter greatly.  Laughter speeds the Shadow up once they arrive.  Two
days later, Ariana is awoken in the middle of the night by Bridget, who's
gone into labor.  Bridget is brought to the infirmary, then Caitt and
Laughter are summoned to assist.  Laughter wakes up Felix and tells him
what's going on.  It only takes Bridget an hour to reach hard labor, at
which point she agrees to take something for the pain, despite her initial
refusal to.  Twenty minutes later, she gives birth to a boy with jet black
hair.  Ariana makes sure he's OK, then hands him to Bridget, while
Laughter goes and tells Felix the news.  Felix doesn't think the boy's
hair color alone rules him out as the father, since both Gerard and Foster
have black hair.  Once Bridget is presentable, Ariana brings Felix in to
see the boy.  The baby has a dark complexion, like Shard, but also like
Gerard, Caine or Julian.  Felix asks if there's any way Ariana can tell
who the father is.  Ariana tries her genetics spell on the baby, but Felix
and Shard are too closely related for it to rule out either one.  Given
the boy's size and quick birth, Ariana is still inclined to think that
Shard is the father.  Bridget wants Felix to pick out a name for the baby. 
Felix says to give him a few minutes to come up with one.  Felix and
Ariana converse mentally about how to break the news to Shard, and the
difficulties that will ensue if the child is his, given Bridget's fear of
vampires.  They decide to talk to Shard together.  Ariana will leave
first, since she needs to clean up anyway, and Felix will follow as soon
as he can get away without raising suspicion.

	Ariana returns to her quarters, changes, and Trumps Shard to break
the news.  He looks pained and asks if she can't convince Felix that the
baby is his, instead.  Ariana refuses to lie to Felix about it.  Shard
tries to convince her that the baby would be happier with Felix than him,
since he's a vampire.  Ariana is having none of this excuse, and accuses
him of giving in to the very prejudices that he claims to be trying to
fight.  He considers this, and asks what she'd think if her father was a
vampire.  Ariana says that it wouldn't bother her, so long as he cared for
her, adding that there are few things that hurt a child more than knowing
that their parents didn't want them.  Shard asks if there's any way she
can determine for sure whose child the baby is.  She thinks she can, if
she scans the child for Isabeux's genes.  She will need to scan Isabeux in
order to do this, however.  He asks her to let him know what she learns.

	After Ariana leaves the infirmary, Felix asks to speak to
Laughter, takes her aside, and fills her in on the conversation he had
with Ariana.  Laughter agrees that Shard should be notified.  And if he
wants to see the child?  Then Felix will take the baby to him, since
Bridget trusts Felix.  When they return, Bridget asks if Felix has thought
of a name, yet.  He suggests Brendan.  Bridget thinks this is a fine name. 
With that settled, Felix suggests that she get some rest, then pulls
Laughter aside again and asks to borrow her Trump of Ariana.  Once
Laughter complies, Felix leaves the room and tries to Trump Ariana, but
can't get through, since she's still in Trump contact with Shard.


Quotables:

"Oh, I need my list of things I don't remember." -- Mer to the group at
large

"You're going to have dreams about your penis talking to you." -- Liam
"It'd better not!" -- George

"Driscoll's not really the father of Iseult, is he?" -- Laughter
"Why, no dear." -- Fiona
"I did a bad thing." -- Laughter

"Twins are supposed to have a certain connection, after all.  I lost my
hand, you're going to lose yours..." -- Teresa to Alex

"If we're getting invaded, I'm staying in the tree." -- Laughter to GM

"(Foster) brushes the hair out of your face." -- GM
"Don't do that!" -- Laughter
"He puts it back." -- GM

"Why did you pick me?" -- Laughter
"You have a strong will to survive." -- Drumm
"Point out the Amberite who doesn't." -- Laughter
"Ahab." -- Ariana

"I can't believe you actually think you're going to win, or something." --
Mer to Matt

"Just be quiet, I'm having angst." -- Mer to Liam

"Driscoll was brainraped by Ahab...He's got a larger mind now, because of
that." -- GM
"Well, you know, the swelling." -- Matt

"That's a scene I haven't seen in many centuries." -- Ironclaw
"An Amberite scratching her head?" -- Laughter

"You should have let me keep that chastity belt." -- Laughter
"I don't think that would have done much for our marriage, in the long
run." -- Foster

"Are priests always so confusing?" -- Felix to Laughter

"That's not sneaky, 'cause this is me, and this is you." -- Laughter to
Ariana

"You wake up in the dark, wearing a skiff." -- GM to Ariana
"She's wearing a small boat?" -- Mer

"Let's all go posse and kill Zane in Ahab's memory." -- Matt to the group
at large