The tradition began with their wedding seven months earlier and even the cold weather hadn’t brought a stop to it. It wasn’t just me, Lilly, and R...i anymore. Now it was Adam, Joe and Lilly’s other siblings, Matt and Chuck. Their little sister Violet joined us whenever she came home from art school. Adam’s best friend Nate had taken to dropping by when his duties as a Presbyterian Minister allowed it. During the summer we would spread around the sunroom then onto the porch but the winter kept us. " She added a yawn to underscore her point.Kaija looked puzzled. "Is it just me, or is there a terrible draft in here?" Oh don't worry, everything's just fine." The bite of sarcasm in Ally's voice was unmistakable as she slammed the drawer shut.Eyebrows raised, Kaija looked at Ben, wondering what in the hell had happened in that shower stall after she left. She had only been gone a few short minutes for crying out loud!Ben could only shrug. He was just as confused as Kaija. Maybe even more so.. Before the bandits could react, Brad ran to his woodpile and picked up a section of tree limb to act as a cudgel. He stood with his back to the woodpile and faced the charging bandits. Aelinor had seen what had happened and reacted now that Brad was separated sufficiently from his tormentors. She raised her left arm and pointed her forefinger at the group. Her mental command of lightning caused an arc to jump from her finger and touch each of the bandits, in turn. They were not immediately. Tassimut and his wife joined us aboard the Clovis.Several times while we were in Cologne, I noticed Albovera and her sister Livith hanging out with my consorts, laughing as they talked quietly. The baby, Albovera’s son Darnell, laughed along with them as the women passed him back and forth between them.Still, I was surprised when Albovera made a very public move and purposely sat next to me at dinner the second evening. Considering that her parents were at the table, too, I had a feeling she.