"Oh, my gosh," said Tiffany. "She's out like a light! You don't suppose we overdid it, do you?" "You've gotta be k**ding," replied Clyda. "Just loo... at the expression on her face." Ebony had a smile on her face that even the Cheshire Cat would have envied. "Clyda's right, Tiffany," said Dee Dee. "My mom used to breed dogs for a living. Every time we'd send a female out for breeding, they'd come back looking just like Ebony is now. There's nothing wrong with Ebony. But she ought to. ??But...??No arguments, now,? Orchid actually gave a real smile, without malice or even triumph in it. ?You still have a life. A very different one, granted, but it is a life with just as much potential for good as you had in your first youth. Try and get it right this time, won?t you?And remember, I?ll be watching for you to fail,? Black Orchid told her latest victim with a very soft smile, ?or to succeed. That choice is yours to make, Beatrice, and yours alone.??But I?m....??A woman?? . ‘Swim?’ Eloise exclaimed with uncertainty. ‘But I have no bathing suit.’ Disappointment clouded her pleasure, the water looked so cool and inviting. Ned looked around pointedly. ‘There’s nobody here, Ellie,’ he said with a wink. For a moment she didn’t understand what he was hinting at, but when he began to tug his shirt off, she realised immediately. A slow flush of colour suffused her cheeks as she watched him strip his clothes off in the dappled sunlight. Ned turned away and dropped his. The smaller islands are usually affiliated with one of the larger ones, sometimes retaining various degrees of independence, with affiliations often changing through politics, economics, personal relationships, or, most frequently, local wars. Within each culture, traffic between these tribes/islands/states is frequent, and their members often intermarry.While each of the two cultures looks down upon the other, and while quite frequently there are skirmishes, raids and armed conflicts between.