It took her a couple of hours to make the house look presentable. ‘Good job, Jenny,’ she said aloud and smiled. This was his 28th birthday and she...had planned a small surprise for the love of her life. Humming a tune, Jenny carried the bags into the kitchen and got down to work. After a grueling session with the flour, milk and eggs, Jenny finally poured the mixture into the baking tin and placed it in the oven. Praying that the cake would be baked properly, she started preparing the other. " And Poppa?" Aliana asked."He was unconscious when they brought him to the village," Elena sighed."They couldn't find any trace of Shamis. Sangre doesn't have a healer-mage, just a journeyman physician, so they sent for one from Portsmyth."The seamstress paused, her arm slipping around Ali's shoulders as theywalked, pulling her daughter close."You're father was still alive when I left," she said. "I wanted tostay, Ali, you know I did, but they were going to shut down the spirefor the night and. ‘No, but thanks for the vote of confidence.’ Ana smiled over at him. ‘His name was Brian and I think all the attention went to his head. All of a sudden he was cool with us getting signed to make music we used to think was nothing but prepackaged shit. And it didn’t help having him strut around like a peacock when egos got bruised.’ ‘So what happened to the band?’ Sean paused again. ‘Brian hooked up with some girl who worked at the label and I started going out with his ex after they broke up.. Diane’s heart seemed to skip a beat because Sheila was carrying a short leather riding crop to complete the ensemble. “Pledges!” Shelia said in a curt voice, “We will only accept the most loyal and determined of you. At any time if you cannot proceed, you will be escorted from the house and asked to never return. Do you understand?” There was a spattering of indistinguishable answers and the upper class students, who had positioned themselves within the crowd of pledges sprang into action. “THE.