From Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu Fri Oct 15 14:53:42 1993 Date: Fri, 15 Oct 93 14:01:28 EDT From: Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu To: thari@umich.edu Subject: Kris' Campaign Log Chapter Seventeen Ahab kisses Deirdre goodnight and heads back to his room. He tries to Trump Corwin, but the Trump does not even grow cold. He tries Eric and gets through. He asks what Eric knows about the problems that have been plaguing in Amber. Eric says that Benedict and Bleys took a big chunk out of Dalt's armies, and Dalt seems to have been the one behind the attacks on Amber. Eric doesn't have much else to tell Ahab. Felix goes to Flora's room and knocks. She invites him in. In one of the many mirrors in the room, he sees that she is in her room adjusting her makeup. He stands in the door and asks to come in again. She sighs and invites him in once more. He asks her if she'll go with him to Shadow Earth, since he's never been there before. She checks her calendar and tells him that she has some time available that afternoon. She suggests that he wear something other than his kilt, if he doesn't want to attract the wrong kind of attention. Ariana goes to the library. She sees Bill Roth there and introduces herself. She asks if he's an Amberite. He smiles and answers no, he just knows several. She asks what he does in Amber, and he says he's currently acting as a librarian. She asks where he's from and he tells her Shadow Earth. She asks what it's like there. Bill has some trouble answering that one. After learning they have airplanes on Shadow Earth, she asks him how they work. He finds a book on aviation for her and she starts reading. Ahab goes looking for Driscoll, but can't find him in his rooms. He asks a page where Driscoll is, and they say he was last seen in the gardens. Ahab checks, but Driscoll is not there either. He leaves a message with a page asking Driscoll to contact him when he returns. He heads for the library to see what information he can find on shadow traps. Felix looks for a pair of pants and gets dressed for his shadow trip. After he's done changing, he goes to the infirmary and looks in on Alex. He sees that Medb is there as well. Grard notices that Felix is dressed differently and asks why. Felix tells him that he is going to Shadow Earth with Flora. He asks Grard where Heather is, but Grard only knows that she left. Felix says that he yelled at Heather that morning. Grard tells him that it was a bad time for Heather. Felix thinks that it's a bad idea to have Brand's daughter mad at him. Grard solemnly agrees. The noise from their conversation wakes Alex up. He asks how Medb is doing. Felix tells him that she is in the recovering on the other side of the divider. He says that she was injured when Alex blew out her ceiling. Alex tries to hurry the healing process along, but the pain he experiences convinces him to stop. Shard starts to shift shadow, thinking of Battlestar. He comes across a large Irish wolf hound, but it's not Battlestar. It growls menacingly at him. He stares it in the eyes, calms it down, and walks away. He shifts shadow again, this time thinking of Battlestar's personality. He comes across another wolfhound with glowing red eyes. It stares at him and then disappears into the undergrowth. He starts walking away, but it lunges at him before he can shift shadow away from there. Ahab walks into the library. He asks if Bill has heard from Corwin. Bill says that he hasn't and that he's growing concerned. Ahab mentions that he hasn't been able to Trump Corwin, which increases Bill's concern. He asks for the location of the history books, and proceeds to look for past crisis in Amber's history. He doesn't find much. Most of the current problems with the Golden Circle started after Oberon disappeared. Felix Trumps Driscoll. Driscoll is walking down a hallway on the third floor, carrying Eris. Eris is holding multicolored stuffed spider, called Mr. Grumbly. Felix asks if Driscoll knows how Heather is feeling. Driscoll hasn't seen her in a while. Felix asks if they want to go down to lunch. Driscoll says he plans to, as soon as he drops off Mr. Grumbly. Shard tries to duck underneath the wolfhound and is hit in the head by its forepaws. The impact pushes him back about two feet and knocks the wind out of him. He rolls over onto his stomach, and the dog lands on top of him. It starts biting at the back of his neck. He rolls over onto his back, and punches it in the snout. This stuns it long enough for him to take out his whip and slice it in two. He feels some vertebrae poking out through his neck wounds. Deciding that he can't return to Amber without Battlestar, he looks for a friendly doctor in shadow. After walking for a little while, he comes across an armed encampment of men. He approaches the camp, looking for a field surgeon. Several men from the camp approach him. They tell him to put his hands up and point guns at him. He puts his hands up and keeps walking. When drops one hand to cover his bleeding neck wound, they shoot at the ground in front of him. He puts the hand back up again. Ahab and Ariana decide to head down for lunch. Grard opts to eat lunch in the infirmary, after Alex tells him that he wants revenge. Flora, Heather, Felix, Ahab and Ariana all arrive in the dining hall. Flora is wearing traveling clothes. Heather has cut off most of her hair. She is wearing black leather pants, spiked boots, her green bodysuit, a purple leather jacket, and an emerald stuck in her neck. Ariana asks if Heather's been hanging out with Martin, since she seems to be wearing Martin's type of clothes. Heather says she hasn't. Felix apologizes to Heather for his behavior that morning. Heather thinks for a moment to remember what he's referring to (it's been longer than a couple of hours for her), and then thanks him. Ariana asks how long Heather was in shadow. Heather says it was about a month. Felix keeps apologizing, much to everyone's amusement. Ariana tells him to stop. He says he can't believe Heather is being so nice about it, it seems too easy. Martin walks in at this point, saying "Someone's apologizing? Tsk, tsk" His eyes widen as he sees Heather, but he doesn't say anything. They all sit down and start eating. Ahab starts talking about the shadow trap they were caught in. Martin suggests going back and figuring it out. Ariana says that sounds exactly like something Ahab would do. Ahab replies that he thought it would be wiser to stay and do some research first. Felix feigns an astonished look and asks who he is and what he's done with the real Ahab. Felix tells the others about his planned shadow trip. Shard is bodily searched for weapons and his whip and Trumps are taken away. His hands and feet are shackled and linked together with heavy chain. When questioned, he says he was looking for his dog. They frown and say that there are no wolves in the woods here. They ask how he really got the wound. After questioning him for a while, with no further success, they shackle him and take care of his wound. This consists of pouring whiskey into it and then stitching it up. Shard manages to stay conscious during the process, although he wishes he didn't. When they are done, they start asking him what he knows about the enemy. Martin is surprised to hear that they haven't found Coral yet. Heather and Ariana both think of trying to reach Coral again. Heather gets through without using a Trump. Coral asks to be pulled through. Heather does so, and Coral thankfully collapses into Heather's chair. She says that she was abducted by two hairy men who put her in a dark room. Heather pulls out Random's Trump and tells him that Coral's returned. Ahab gets Coral a drink, which she slams. Ariana asks if she remembers anything her captors might have said while they were holding her. Coral remembers them talking, but she can't remember what they said. Felix tries to tell Coral about Ariadne's attempt to impersonate her, but the others stop him and cover it up. Ariana asks if there's anything they can do for Coral. She says no. Random Trumps Ahab and congratulates him for rescuing Coral. Ahab tells him that Heather is the one responsible for Coral's return. Random orders him to escort Coral back to her home and breaks the contact before Ahab can object. Ahab decides that he has more to say to Random and heads up to his room. Martin follows to eavesdrop on the conversation. Felix decides that now would be a good time to go shopping in Shadow Earth, so he and Flora leave. Heather says she has some errands to run and leaves as well. Coral finds herself alone in the room, save for Ariana. She gives Ariana a somewhat alarmed look. Ahab tries to persuade Random to assign the escort duty to someone else, using Deirdre's illness as his reason for remaining in Amber. Random points out that the journey will only take two days. He politely doesn't mention that Deirdre's not going anywhere soon, so it's not as if two days will matter. He also mentions that Ahab can Trump back to Amber once Coral is delivered, cutting the time down to one day. Ahab eventually agrees to do it, but says that Random owes him a big favor. He heads back down to the dining hall. Ahab is surprised to find only Ariana and Coral remaining in the hall. Ahab tells Ariana about Random's orders. Coral is nervous about having only two escorts. Ahab assures her they will have guards along as well. Heather feels bad about leaving so she comes slinking back in. She apologizes for her earlier behavior. Coral indicates she'd like to leave as soon as possible. Ahab requests some men from the Captain of the Guards. He is told that he can have 12 men within the hour. He spends the hour getting ready for the trip. Ariana sends for her personal guards and has her maid bring her armor. Felix has a wonderful time shopping on Shadow Earth. Flora enjoys dressing him up in all sorts of clothing. Felix gets pretty embarrassed when she insists that he buy some underwear. She tries to get him to cut his hair, but he refuses. When they are done, Felix asks to stop by a toy store to get a gift for Eris and Medb. Shard is threatened with torture if he doesn't talk. He keeps insisting that he knows nothing of their enemy, but his questioner doesn't believe him. Shard tries unsuccessfully to break his chains, and is knocked off of his feet. The inquisitor tells some men to carry Shard out to the fire, so he can see the branding irons that will be used on him if he doesn't tell them what they want to know. When they try to carry him outside, he mind controls one of them. Unfortunately for him, the others notice this and beat him senseless. Heather tells Ariana that she will hopefully be back in an hour. Ariana tells her not to do anything foolish. Heather says she may be bruised, but should be all right. Ariana cautions her not to pull an Ahab, but Heather says she doesn't think it will be that stupid. Coral looks nervous at being left with only Ariana to guard her. Heather Trumps Benedict and asks if he's busy. He says he is and asks if its important. She tells him she thinks it is, since she thinks that all of what's been happening lately may be connected to Benedict. This gets his attention. She asks him what happened to Ariadne's mother. He says she died, and asks if he can get on with his life. Heather says she thinks that all of the plots are aimed at getting at Benedict. Benedict says that he's not the target. She asks who is and he says that it would take to long to tell, but says she's on the right track. She asks him to explain. He tells her he'll let her know when he finds something out. She breaks the Trump contact. Shard regains his senses as he is being dragged out to the fire. The leader gives him one more chance to say who he's working for. Shard decides to make up a story and claims he has been sent by Prince Ahab. They tell him that they find that hard to believe, since Prince Ahab is their benefactor. They decide to shoot him, and aim guns at his head. Just as they are about to kill him, Battlestar shows up and proceeds to kill everyone in the camp. He tells Shard that walking into an armed camp without knowing anything about it was a really stupid thing to do. Shard asks Battlestar to chew through his chains, but Battlestar is not real keen about this idea. Shard asks Battlestar to find the keys to his shackles. He also asks how Battlestar found him. Battlestar says he dug his way out. Shard asks why Battlestar didn't tell him that he could do that. Battlestar replies that he didn't know he could. Ahab, Ariana, Heather and Coral leave for Begma, along with assorted guards. Ariana tells Coral that she knows something that Coral would consider important, but will come as a bit of a shock. She asks if Coral thinks she's ready to hear it. Coral decides she wants to wait a while. Ahab gives Ariana a skeptical look. Ariana makes psychic contact with him and asks what's on his mind. He's not sure that telling Coral about her parentage is wise. Ariana says that Coral has a right to know. Besides, given how many others seem to know, it will be safer for her if she knows the truth. Ahab thinks about this and agrees. He shifts shadow to get some paper, a pen, an envelope and a seal. Ariana writes "Oberon was your father" on the paper, places it in the envelope, and seals it. Felix goes to the infirmary and gives Medb a wrapped box. She opens it and finds a teddy bear with a bandage around its head. She thinks its adorable and thanks Felix. Felix, Medb, Alex, Grard, Isabeux, Random, Vialle, Martin and Flora are present at dinner. Ariadne comes in, notices that most of her cousins are gone, and hesitates. Felix invites her over. She asks where the others are. He tells her that they've gone to escort Coral back to Begma. She is happy to hear that Coral is back and asks how Felix got out of escort duty. He says that he and Flora already had scheduled an outing on Shadow Earth, and besides, Ahab never asked. Ariana hands Coral the envelope before they enter Begma. She tells her that it contains the information that she mentioned and urges her not to let anyone else see it. Coral hides it in her clothing. Orkuz talks with Coral for a moment, and then appears satisfied. He apologizes for suspecting Amber of kidnapping her. Ahab says it's quite all right. Orkuz invites them all to stay for the night. Ahab and Heather decline, but Ariana accepts. Orkuz holds a celebration in honor of Coral's return. Ahab Trumps back to Amber's main hall. Heather Trumps Medb and asks to be brought through. She arrives in the middle of dinner. Her new look surprises Medb. She asks Heather what happened to her. Heather says she cut her hair. She asks about the teddy bear that Medb is holding. Medb explains that it was a gift from Felix. Ahab enters the dining hall during dessert. Alex makes a comment about Felix's hair not going with his new clothing. Flora looks vindicated when she hears this. The dinner concludes peacefully.