The more oil the lamp can hold, the longer the flame will burn.”“That sounds like a well-thought-out device, Raka.”“It took us ages, and many ...ries, to get to what we have now. While the others only wanted it for light at night, I wanted to be able to explore the back of the cave. Do you know that no-one has been back there? They are all scared of the dark, so they only want to go back as far as the light from outside lets them see.”John confessed, “I have to admit that even I have not been. ’ Cien said as we climbed. I smiled up at him, genuinely. ‘As am I. I truly wish to see your land, Cien. It is wonderfully beautiful here, I can only imagine how beautiful it is away from your castle.’ Cien smiled as if I had just given him the greatest compliment on Earth. ‘That is a fine compliment, Rose.’ I blushed again, and looked away. ‘So…’ I said, feeling the strain on the conversation. ‘How did you become Laird?’ Cien spoke softly as we entered the upper stairway. ‘My father was. Everyone they knew seemed certain that they belonged together. They had lived harmoniously and blissfully together for three years in the same flat, and now, more recently, there was that same feeling that when he was with her he felt happy and contented, to say nothing of the sexual satisfaction she brought him, and which he knew, he brought to her as well. Conversely he did feel her absence on the days she was not at the flat.Two triple whiskies later, one would have expected him to commit. His other hand fell on the large bulge in his other pocket.He yanked the baseball out. He turned it one way, where it still bore the char from where it had found its mark against the wooden box in which Melissa had imprisoned the spirits of the Heather and Diane. He turned it again and saw the reddish-brown splotch of dried blood where it had smashed the nose of a cultist when they had come for Melinda.He tried to relive those moments of triumph in his head. Instead, all he saw was the day he.