In the last year or so she'd become much more assertive and independent while I'd been busy with my Dawn and Adrienne drama. And as I listened to Alli..., I thought back to something Keira once said: that I'd thought of the Sanders twins as 'them', instead of as individual girls. Now that it was just me and Allie, getting to know her more personally, I was realizing just how different the two really could be, the same way I knew Eden and Emma were almost as different as Brandi and Brooke.We. One. Iapologize, Ms Prescott, for my disrespect and promise to behave properlyin the future. Two..."So on it went until a full fifty swats had been counted. Jennifer hadtears on her cheeks by the sixth blow and was wailing like a baby bytwenty. By the time the punishment was complete, red welts had beenraised on both cheeks.Eve pushed Jennifer from her lap when she was done administering thebeating. "Now pick yourself up, gather your things and head on home. Youshould make quite the spectacle. Great. Add homesickness to the day's mental worries.She heard a rider. Armored, she thought, from the direction of the Palace. Moving down the wall, she peered out. Yes. It was Piotr, in full winged regalia. Was he trying to impress her, remind her of their first meeting? Or ... Her smile faded before it could even start. Maybe the armor had been needed that day."Open the gate!"Piotr was inside before Shanna had finished descending the steps, handing the reins to two of the stable hands as he. He couldn't believe his good fortune. In his mind, he had imagined everything going wrong, at every step, and never being able to reach the prize, at the end of the tunnel, but, now, it was almost within reach.Almost as if on cue, Stacey walked into the kitchen moments later, bringing with her a magical scent of perfume and flowers. With a big smile she said "Hi Greg. Good to see you again. How was your day?" Oh, it's been pretty good. It's nice just to relax and not worry about school and.