‘I just means that their great-grandparents were brother and sister, son and daughter to the great Queen Victoria. I took a moment to let these rela...ionships sink into my mind. I found it all very shocking, yet he explained it so matter-of-factly. That’s one thing that made talking with him such fun. His face brightened as he added, ‘And Queen Victoria herself had taken it even further. Her husband Prince Albert was her first cousin!’ Within a matter of weeks I had become close to Tony, so much. I was more of an observer than a participant because I'm a non-drinker; everybody else was on alcohol and you could see them all loosening up as the evening progressed. Bernie was getting shit-faced because everybody was buying him drinks including a lot of people who knew him, but who were not actually at the table with us. Bernie's wife Maggie was putting away her fair share, but on her it looked good. Maggie got real loose when she drank and it showed up when she was on the dance floor.. But when she was docile and calm, she was a complete pushover. That was no reason for Otrera to be a bitch though.“Sorry. It must have been rough, being alone for so long, and having to do the things you did.”“It ... it was.”The damn snake was smiling at her again, and as they moved further through the wood, Medusa grew closer and closer. Soon the serpent was almost shoulder-to-shoulder with her, and smiling at her between waves of trees they had to weave around.“What are you smiling. "We plan to alert the Craebh Ruadh selectively as and when they start to make themselves a nuisance." Sooner or later the Coalition will realise that it's us informing the Craebh Ruadh, not a spy in their own organisation," said Mage Thomas."I know," said Simon. "But for the moment it suits us to use proxies to take them out rather than break the truce openly." I wonder if they are coming to the conclusion that the truce actually has benefitted us far more than it has them?" said Mage.