After the excitement of finding out about Bleys and the trip to Chaos, the next few days were fairly blasé and domestic. We found a place for Mom, so she didn’t have to be staying at Flora’s, and explored what she wanted to do during this, her second lifetime. Merlin came over and used a spell to teach her Thari as well as introduced her to other, more obvious magic. We had her tested, found she had strong ability and needed training, and set up instruction with a pair of teachers that Delwin used. Flora held a get-together so we could introduce her to Amber upper society. She met some girls from the upper houses that didn’t have much to do, and so could provide her with some company and social acclimatization. We also got some advice on hiring servants and bodyguards.

I’m gradually introducing here to the rest of the family as well. I’m not sure what purpose this serves, but it seems wrong to have family that you haven’t met living in the same town – even if it isn’t blood family. We took a trip down to Rebma and had dinner with Melissandra. Mom appreciated the male scenery, but found breathing water to be disconcerting.

I have a room at mom’s house as well as at the castle, so can stay wherever I feel like. The rooms at mom’s are nicer, but I’m expected to be more social than at the castle. I’m not sure what I plan to do next. Maybe I’ll look up the dragon, or see if any of my cousins has something I can help with. I’m not sure whether I want Nebbleherr to meet mom or not. While I think I can trust him to behave himself while showing her a good time, I’m not completely sure. In addition, meeting the parents has always implied a good deal more than I want to.

In passing, I came up with another idea for a shadow that I could have used when we got stuck making shadows for the Chaosians. Where are these ideas when I needed them?