From Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu Tue Feb 22 17:35:43 1994 Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 19:28:48 EST From: Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu To: thari@umich.edu Subject: Kris' Campaign Log Chapter Thirty-three - "I don't have lips right now" Mandor tells Heather they need to move, since Bedlam isn't safe. He informs her that they're moving to Amber. Heather isn't happy about this, but she begins to pack. Mandor asks if she is upset about the move. She's tells him she doesn't want to move, but she can't fault his logic. Alex and Mebd go club hopping in Bedlam. Mebd makes idle chatter by asking Alex what he thinks the current balance of power is between Amber and Chaos. Alex professes ignorance. She asks what he thinks relations will be like. He claims they will be amicable, but she doesn't believe him. He says he's sure Chaos will be too busy with other things to cause trouble in Amber. Except for that half-breed plot. Mebd asks him to repeat that last part, since he mumbled it, but he won't. Mebd notices that it's getting late, and doesn't want Heather to worry, so they leave. Alex comments that he's surprised she isn't spending more time with Heather. Mebd says she's giving Heather and Emer time to bond. In Amber, Felix and Foster talk during dinner. Felix asks if something's wrong, but Foster claims he's fine. Driscoll and Eris arrive in time for dessert. Eris notices Foster and stares at him like he was a new present. Foster gets that deer-in-the-headlights look. Eris walks over and looks pointedly at Foster, who has become completely fascinated by his plate. Eris looks at Felix for an introduction. Felix eventually complies. Foster begrudgingly shakes Eris' hand and then turns back to his food. Eris asks if she can show him around the Castle. Foster's fork freezes halfway to his mouth. Felix says they already have plans for the next few days. Eris sits down next to Foster and tries to make conversation with him. Felix eventually asks if Foster wants to see his grandparents now. Foster is more than happy for an excuse to leave. Ariana spends a couple of weeks in Maui. She wakes up one morning to the smell of bacon cooking. She goes into the kitchen where Mark is making an omelet. He suggests going hang gliding after breakfast. Back in Amber, tired out after the evening's activities, Kimdyl falls asleep using Ahab's chest as a pillow. Just as Ahab is drifting off to sleep, he gets a Trump call from Fiona. She asks if he's ready to mop up the pieces. He says he'll get dressed and be there shortly. He stops by the armory to grab some armor and then Pattern transports to Deirdre. He finds her lying in a rather large pool of blood. He notices that she is breathing but can't tell if she's conscious. After speaking to her and getting no reply, he touches her arm. She flips him onto his back, dislocating his shoulder and knocking the wind out of him. She maintains her grip on his arm and asks what he knew of the spell she was under. He starts out saying that when he woke up from the second or third time that she knocked him out... Deirdre decides she doesn't like his tone and twists his arm. He quickly gets to the point, telling her he found out about the spell after he woke up. She asks how long that was. He points out that he was unconscious so he has no way of knowing. She lets go of his arm. He points out that they are now both in need of medical attention and asks if she had to dislocate his shoulder in the process of interrogating him. She says she thought he might have participated in setting her up. He argues that he would hardly have let her beat him up numerous times if he knew about Fiona's spell. They exchange more sarcastic banter as Ahab tries to persuade Deirdre to let him get her some medical attention. Deirdre considers getting well so she can kill Fiona. Ahab knocks his shoulder back into place against a tree. He walks back over to Deirdre who has her eyes closed. She asks if it worked. He says he figured his scream of pain would brighten her day either way. She smiles. Ahab urges her to seek medical attention. Mebd hails a taxi outside the club. They talk during the ride and Alex learns that Mebd knows about Heather and Mary's relationship. When they arrive at Heather's apartment, Heather is ever so pleased to see Alex with Mebd. Mebd looks at Heather's bags, then back at Heather. Heather looks forlorn. Mebd asks if she's being thrown out. Heather says Amber is supposed to be safer. Alex grimaces at this. Heather offers the apartment to Mebd and gives her a Trump of the place. Mebd offers to pack a few things and join Heather tomorrow. She explains that she can't leave Heather alone with the baby, completely overlooking Mandor's presence. Mandor foolishly mentions that he told Random about the move a week ago. Heather is upset that he didn't see fit to discuss it with her first. She Trumps through to the Great Hall and then Trumps Mebd. Mebd passes the bags through. As Foster and Felix leave the dining hall, Felix tries to make Foster see that he was being rude. Foster says that Eris is just a child. Felix points out that Foster is only three years older than Eris. He adds that Eris is the only other child in the Castle, so Foster will be seeing a lot of her. They may even have classes together. Foster is distressed by this. Felix tells him not to worry about it. Foster points out that if Felix didn't want him to worry, he shouldn't have brought the whole thing up. Felix unsuccessfully tries to get Foster to relax before he meets Gerard. Isabeux greets them at the door. She hugs Felix, goes to do the same to Foster, then changes her mind and shakes hands with him. Gerard greets Felix with a hearty clap on the back. Felix advises him to be more gentle with Foster. Gerard follows Isabeux's lead and shakes Foster's hand. Foster is impressed by Gerard's size. Gerard attempts to make small talk with the boy, and runs into the same problems as Felix did. Felix asks Isabeux when the summer house will be opened. Isabeux tells him she was planning to go down there this week. Felix asks if Foster would like to go to the summer house. Foster is very interested, since this would get him away from Eris. Deirdre flips her blade up in the air and makes no effort to get out of its way. Ahab chops it in two with Morglyph. Deirdre offers her hand and says he can take her where he will. Ahab takes her to the Rose, asking "Wherever I will?" as they appear. Deirdre's eyes get distinctly frosty as she resolves not to make that mistake again. She digs her fingers into Ahab's neck, forcing him to release her. He sarcastically points out that bearing her incapacitated form back to Castle Amber would have been just brilliant. Unable to stand, she glares at him from the ground. He says that he tried it her way, and now, while he has the chance, he'll try it his way. She begins to shadow crawl away. He follows her. They argue. Again. Ahab tries to stop her from shifting away by clamping down on the shadow. No luck. He tries it with her. She stops moving. He apologizes and lets her go. She mumbles something under her breath. Ahab tells her that if she keeps crawling, her wounds won't close, she'll lose consciousness and he'll bring her back where she started. She stops again. He asks if they can have a civil conversation. She says he was doing fine until he brought her to the Rose. He tells her she'll have to get on with her life eventually. When this produces nothing more than another glare, Ahab decides to shift the topic of conversation. He asks Deirdre why she didn't abort him. Bad move. Deirdre produces a throwing dagger from her boot. Ahab asks if she's going to sheath it or throw it. She says she hasn't decided yet. He asks her to let him know when she does. She mentions that perhaps if she didn't have such an inviting target standing so close to her... Alex and Mebd are left standing alone in Heather's apartment. Now it's Mebd's turn to look forlorn. Alex offers to stay with her. Mebd is worried about the propriety of it. Alex winds up sleeping on the couch. While Mebd packs the next morning, Alex starts searching for something with the Logrus. Mebd notices that he's using the Logrus and asks why. He asks if she's ever wondered about her father. She says she has, but he's dead, so she never dwelt on it much. Alex tells her that her father isn't dead everywhere. Mebd looks nervous. Alex explains that he has found a shadow similar to her old one except her father hasn't died. Mebd tells him she's not interested. Alex tries to get her to go. She explains that it won't be her father, it will be an imitation. He says he thought she might be curious. She says Alex can tell her who her father is and all that, but she doesn't want to meet him. With that settled, Mebd has him help bring the bags through to Amber. She asks him not to tell her if it turns out that her father was a horrible person. He kisses her head and asks when Heather's ceremony is. She doesn't know. He asks her to let him know when she finds out and leaves Amber. Ariana learns why altering probability while hang gliding is not a good idea. Attempting to change the wind enough to allow her to do a low dive, she realizes that she's shifted shadow. She shifts back, but comes in too low over the trees and crashes. She hits her head in the crash and the glider is badly damaged. As she extricates herself from the wreck, Mark runs over looking concerned. He tells her that she just disappeared. She says that's the last time she'll try that stunt, but doesn't elaborate. Mark sees that she's hit her head, so he makes her rest while he checks to see if she has a concussion. She seems to be OK, so they start walking back home, with Mark lecturing Ariana on hang glider safety. Heather and Mary talk. Mary asks if Heather can go out with her. Mandor figures she can, as long as Emer remains in Amber. He figures Amber is a safe home base to keep an eye on things. Heather asks why he didn't tell her earlier about the move. He claims poor judgment. She doesn't buy it. He argues that she wanted to start taking charge. She can't counter that point. He suggests she and Mary have a nice evening while he watches the baby. The meeting with Gerard and Isabeux goes well. Foster finally relaxes and begins to act his age. What helps the most are Isabeux's stories about Felix when he was young. Felix spends the evening being quietly mortified. On the way back to their room, Foster asks Felix if he really did all of those things. Felix hesitates before answering, which is all the confirmation Foster needs. Foster says it was a good evening. He seems to be viewing Felix as more human. Ahab asks Deirdre to put the dagger away. She asks if it makes him nervous. He tells her to throw it at him then, if that's what she wants to do. She does so, but slits one of her wrists first. He run over and tries to tie a tourniquet above her wrist. Deirdre fights him so he has to knock her out before can tie it. With this accomplished, he Trumps Corwin and says they have a problem. He pulls Corwin through and tells him that Deirdre tried to kill herself. Corwin says he has no supplies and that Gerard is really the best alternative. Ahab Trumps Gerard and tells him about Deirdre's suicide attempt. Gerard gathers some medical supplies and comes through. He has Ahab help with a few things while he and Corwin work on Deirdre. After two hours Gerard sighs and says "Perhaps she'll live." He asks why she did this. Ahab's response only further confuses Gerard. Corwin explains that Deirdre's reasoning often falls outside the norms. Gerard suggests that Ahab find some blankets in shadow to keep Deirdre warm. Ahab Trumps to the Great Hall and grabs some blankets. After leaving a note for Kimdyl, along with a Trump of himself, he Trumps Corwin goes back. Gerard tells him it could be a while before he knows for sure if she'll survive. Felix visits the infirmary to check in on Murine. Murine pretends to be asleep, but Felix isn't fooled. He walks towards the door, remarking that it's a shame that she's not awake, but he doesn't actually leave the room. Murine opens an eye and quickly closes it when she sees that Felix is still there. He walks back over to her and asks if she takes him for a fool. She mumbles something and rolls over, so that her back is to him. He asks if that's all she has to say to him after ten and a half years. She begins to cry. He apologizes for saying that. She says she's sorry too but she can't face him after what she's done. She continues sobbing into her pillow. Felix tells her she's not making this very easy. She asks why he's being nice to her. As they talk, Murine reveals that Kimdyl was responsible for some of her injuries. Felix asks why Kimdyl did that. Murine insists she deserved it, saying she has the tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Apparently when Kimdyl came to rescue her, Murine suggested that Kimdyl was in on the same plot, given that she was pregnant with Ahab's child. After a while, Murine says her headache is returning and asks to continue their conversation in the morning. Felix asks her if she'll still be there. She promises she will be. Felix tells her that Foster is worried about her. She finds that interesting. Apparently she was not allowed to raise him. Felix asks what she knows about the plot involving the half-breeds. Murine tells him that after she gave them Foster, they didn't need her anymore, so she doesn't know what there plans were. She also reveals that she was quite mad when she gave birth and they took Foster. Heather returns from her night out to find that her child and husband are still there. She crawls into bed. Morning comes to Corwin's Pattern. Gerard suggests moving Deirdre to Amber. Ahab asks if her life is endangered by leaving her where she is. Gerard says he's worried about her getting cold. Ahab goes back to Amber looking for a cot, a tent, some rope and a backboard. Eventually he locates these items and returns to Corwin's Pattern, Trumping Gerard and handing the items through first. The three of them lift Deirdre onto the cot and Gerard ties her to it. He wishes he had something sturdier to tie her to, in case she wakes up and decides to pick up where she left off. Mark insists on taking Ariana to the emergency room. After the examination, the nurse tells her that she seems to be fine and they'll see her in three weeks. Ariana asks why she has to come back if she's OK. The nurse says she'll need to start her prenatal care. Ariana looks rather surprised. The nurse realizes that Ariana didn't know and tells her she's three weeks pregnant. Ariana walks out in a daze and has Mark bring her home. Once there, she has Mark sit down and breaks the news to him. Much to her surprise, he seems happy about it. Alex observes the meeting of Mebd's mother and father. Her father, John Salisbury, was a vendor who Bridget, Mebd's mother, met while getting supplies for the manor. Alex skips ahead to the circumstances of John's death. He learns John was killed by Catholics, because John was a Protestant. Further investigation reveals that Mebd's parents' relationship was kept a secret, due to their differing religions. Alex heads back to Amber to ponder this new information. Felix wakes up to find Foster reading one of Felix's books on biochemistry. Felix points out that he just had that class last semester and admits that Foster is probably ahead of Eris in schooling. They go down to breakfast. Gerard is pretty sure that Deirdre will live. He's most worried about having enough plasma. Blood would be better, but Amberites have weird blood and it's tough to find compatible blood types, even within the family. Ahab asks Gerard to see if his blood is compatible. It turns out it is, so Gerard sets up another cot for Ahab and starts transferring blood from him to Deirdre. Eris continues to try and talk to Foster at breakfast. Foster excuses himself to go to the library. Eris follows soon afterward. Felix tells Driscoll that he's worried. Before Felix can finish, they hear a scream, followed by some crashing. As everyone runs upstairs, Felix tells Driscoll that Foster doesn't appreciate the attention he's getting from Eris. Driscoll looks worried and asks what Foster is capable of. Eris runs into Driscoll's arms, sobbing. The guards tell them that something with spikes ran down the hall. Alex snickers. Felix goes to his room, slams the door and yells for Foster. He notices the bedclothes moving slightly, so he looks under the bed and sees a pair of glowing red eyes. Foster tells him it was an accident. Felix says she couldn't have been that annoying. Foster insists she was. Felix explains to Foster that Eris was kidnapped by Chaosites when she was young, so what he did was very frightening to her. Alex knocks on Felix's door and asks if everything's OK in there. Felix tells him now is not a good time. Alex points out that Felix has no experience dealing with Chaosite children. Felix lets him in. Heather comes in as well. Alex unsuccessfully tries to persuade Foster to come out. Foster asks Felix to make them go away. Heather tells Felix that she didn't know he had a child. Felix learns that she is married to Mandor and just had a child herself. Heather helps Felix shove Alex out of the room. After they leave, Felix tries to get Foster to come out again. Foster insists he can talk just fine from where he is. Felix eventually learns that Foster is stuck in his current shape at the moment and can't shift back. Felix suggests he relax. And follows this by telling Foster that he'll have to apologize to Eris. Foster starts to hiccup. He asks if Felix can get him some water in a bowl, since he doesn't have lips right now. Felix decides that he didn't really need to know that. Some guards knock at the door and asks if he needs assistance. They tell him they have reports of a creature heading this way. Felix goes into the hall and tells them not to worry, it's just his son. The guards are not reassured by this knowledge. Alex and Heather go to Driscoll's room and knock. Heather tells him they were kicked out off Felix's room. Driscoll asks what they want. Alex suggests that showing Eris his demon form might make her less frightened. Driscoll foolishly lets them in. Alex proceeds to try to calm Eris down by reminding her of her imprisonment in Chaos. This doesn't produce the desired results. Alex tries another tack and reminds Eris that she liked Foster. There is a knock at the door. Driscoll looks up at the ceiling in exasperation before he answers it. Felix is standing there. He tells Alex that Foster doesn't have any lips and that he's stuck in his current form. Alex explains to Eris that Foster so scared that he's hiding under the bed. Eris says Foster scared her. She adds that Alex doesn't look like Foster did, and Alex is also a Chaosite. Alex tells her he isn't scared like Foster is, and besides, he's older. Heather explains that Foster is going through a difficult age. Eris asks Heather if Foster's worried about his size. Heather tells her she's figured it out. Driscoll looks like he's regretting letting them in his room. Eris finally notices that Felix is holding something. He tells her it's the present he brought back with him from shadow. Eris opens it and is delighted to find a stuffed horse inside. She seems to be on her way to recovery. Felix goes to the infirmary and tells Murine about Foster. She finds the fact that Foster's stuck very amusing. Alex goes back to Felix's room. He offers to walk around in demon form if it will make Foster feel comfortable. Foster thanks him for the offer, but won't budge. Alex offers to take him someplace else, but Foster points out that he really doesn't know Alex. Ariana Trumps Ahab. He's still donating blood to Deirdre when he takes the call. Ariana asks what happened. He tells her about Deirdre's suicide attempt. She tells him that she's pregnant. He says that Heather and Mandor just had a child. They both think it's odd that so many Amberites are having children within such short span of time. They discuss Ahab's theory that the Pattern is sentient and that walking it increases your fertility. Ariana asks if Ahab's heard anything more about the half-breed plot. Ahab hasn't, but agrees the matter needs to be resolved. Ahab mentions the possibility that Mark might be a Chaosite. Ariana doesn't like this idea. They discuss Ahab's problems with Deirdre. Ariana says that there are times she's glad she doesn't know who her parents are. Ahab tells her that the truth can be painful. He thinks for a moment then asks Gerard to leave the tent. Gerard does so, after stopping the transfusion. Ahab tells Ariana that Corwin is his father. Felix convinces Murine to help him with Foster. He brings her to his room and she talks to Foster. Eventually she is able to help him change back. Ahab Trumps Kimdyl. She asks where he's been. He explains the current situation with Deirdre. They discuss whether she'll marry him. She doesn't say she will, but she does ask him where her ring and her proposal on bended knee are. Ariana Trumps Felix and tells him that she's pregnant. He tells her about Foster's adventures. She asks if he knows anything more about the plot. He says Murine only recently woke up, and he hasn't had much opportunity to discuss it with him. He asks how sure she is that Mark is not a Chaosite. She admits she has no way of knowing. He suggests she talk to Alex about it. She points out that since she doesn't have a Trump of Alex, and he doesn't have one of her, that's kind of difficult. She asks Felix to relay a message to Alex, asking if he will visit her to discuss the problem. They talk some more about Felix's problems with Foster. Ariana tells him that most parents have several months to get used to the fact, so he shouldn't be surprised that he's struggling after only three days. She assures him that he'll make a fine parent. Felix asks her to promise him that. Alex drops by Heather's room and asks when the ceremony will be. They still don't know. Alex leaves Amber again, for an unknown purpose.