Sorry this is so late – I've been ill this week. Thank you all for being so wonderfully patient – as ever, for details, look to the end :-). You're all stars and long may you shine!
Anything you have to say would be purely worshipped. It's that simple. I can take criticism.
Ki
Hanging On Part Twelve
Neal ducked as the staff whistled by his head. Phillippa ha Minch was wielding it like she meant business, the varnished wood gleaming golden-brown as it looped through the air, back and forth in her expert, vengeful hands.
"Watch it, Pip!" he said indignantly. "That was close!"
Wood hit wood in an impact that jarred his arms. "Pip!"
Her green eyes were narrowed and furious, her teeth showing under her skinned-back lips. Swing after swing after swing as she slammed the staff at him wrathfully, not caring she was leaving wide open holes in her guard.
Neal backed away, trying not to hurt her as he parried the blows that were starting to make his arms ache. "What on earth is wrong with you?"
She threw the staff at him in a display of temper he had never seen. In a week, Pip had spent most of her free time with him, learning how to fight like no lady ought, joking with all his friends and giving icy-cold glares to anyone who dared pass misinformed judgment on why she was there.
"I don't know!" she shouted. "Why don't you tell me? Am I stupid or a flirt or an over-priced whore? Do I have a flag screaming 'hate me' attached?"
"What?" Confused, Neal looked hard at her small, angry face and saw she was utterly serious. "Of course not. Who's been saying that kind of rubbish?"
"I don't know!" she hurled back, colour blooming in her face like twin crimson roses. "But they have and the court won't...the ladies...and..." And to his complete astonishment, she sank down onto the floor and buried her face in her hands. He could see her shoulders shaking, hear her gulping in ragged breaths and realised she was crying.
"Pip?" he said cautiously, putting down the staff and walking slowly, carefully towards that huddled figure, like he might a temperamental crocodile.
"Go away!" her muffled voice said, husky with tears. "I know you think I'm just some stupid *girl*..."
"No I don't!" Neal said indignantly. "My
dear, you may be a girl, but stupid is the last thing you will ever be. Take it
from one who is learned in the art – stupidity is something it takes time to
acquire and you certainly don't sit still long enough to have grasped it so
quickly."
A shaky laugh. "You're no fool."
"And it takes one to know one, so neither are
you," he said promptly and was reassured when she glanced up briefly. Crying
girls were a new one on him. He had seen Kel cry, once or twice, but it was
always because she was hurt, not because she was upset.
Neal sat down quietly on the wooden floor of
the practice room. "So someone's been spreading rumours about you at court?"
She flicked away her tears angrily, as if she
was embarrassed to be crying. He didn't really mind; it was nice to see a more
normal side of Pip rather than the hot, fierce person that was all she had
shown him so far. "Not just me. About my family...about Ian..."
"Ian?" The name struck a chord. He was sure
he had seen it written down somewhere...on one of the numerous scrolls they had
been set to study (much to Neal's delight) for their strategies class. "Ianos
ha Minch...wasn't he killed in the Immortals War? In the Battle of Port
Legann?"
"That's what makes me so *angry*!" snarled
Pip, her lovely green eyes dripping sparks of loathing. The tears that fell, he
saw, had been ones of rage. Of frustration against an invisible enemy. "He
can't even *defend* himself against what they're saying...and they think I
can't hear them whispering and giggling, but I do...I do."
"Sounds like the court to me," Neal said and
heaved a sigh. "In the University, the grapevine moved faster than the Lioness
on a rampage." He smiled ruefully, his intelligent face briefly distant in old
memories. "And it was very easy to fool it. I remember telling someone that
Melliah of Naxen had broken off her betrothal. Next day, her husband-to-be
ended up punching three over-amorous suitors, one of whom happened to be my
best friend. I never told him who started the rumour."
Pip gave him the ghost of a smile that didn't
reach her sorrowful, livid eyes. "But how can I stop it?"
"Fight back," Neal said promptly. "Dish the
dirt on Vinson...I'll bet you anything it's him. He's too much of a coward to
fight honourably."
"But I don't know anything about him!" she
protested.
Neal gave her a sly grin. "He didn't know
anything about you either, my dear noblewoman. Use that wicked imagination of
yours."
Realisation dawned in hers eyes and all she
said was "Oh..."
Neal had the feeling Vinson had forgotten to
look before he leapt.
* * * *
The campfire was burning bright and fierce;
Ryan had lit it with a cheeky grin and a snap of his fingers. They were huddled
close round it now, eating dry trail rations and swapping jokes. Somehow
though, in the eerie silence and smothering darkness, Kel wasn't hungry.
"You goin' to tell us 'bout those things
then?" said Ryan abruptly. His intense grey gaze was fixed on Numair Salamlin.
The mage had been quiet and edgy all evening and had even snapped at Bruna when
she dared complain about the hardness of the ground.
"I suppose I should," replied the mage. His
dark eyes were like endless pits as Kel looked at his drawn face. "It's one of
the secrets of the realm. Only the King and his close advisors know it...and
until now, I had never met any of them. No one has. They're a legend in the
kingdom's scrolls, but a dangerous legend at that."
Kel remembered the strange, misshapen
creatures that owned these lands and shuddered. Gleams of jagged teeth, of
many-jointed arms and hunched backs, of flat, pustule-covered feet. Ryan looked
at her in concern and put a reassuring hand on her wrist. She met those
dove-grey eyes, surprised, and he shrugged and smiled slightly.
On the other side of the fire, Bruna, her
face lit demonically by the fire stared over at them. Her face looked oddly
drawn in the flickering lights, her eyes simply two vortexes that held no
light, not even the reflection of the dancing flames.
"It was a long time ago," began Numair
Salmalin softly. His husky voice swelled through the night, beautiful as a
wolf's howl and holding some of that wildness in it. "Five hundred years; even
our ancestors were children then, playing in a world where magic had just been
born. New powers sprang up like volcanoes, sudden and sometimes lethal. They didn't
know much then, but as time passed, they learned about the different types of
magic. Three types: immortal magic, mortal magic, and the magic of the gods
themselves."
"But—" The mage stilled Ryan by merely
holding up a hand. The boy sighed quietly and waited. He wouldn't have done
*that* a week ago, Kel thought.
"One day, a mage trapped an immortal. It was
a unicorn, a beautiful thing, and he killed it and took its blood. But the
unicorn cut his flesh with its horn as it tried to escape; and it died, yet not
before its blood had mixed with the mage's. He was given new powers; powers to
shapeshift into not one creature but many, without the terrible exhaustion that
mortal magic – what we call the Gift – caused."
All of them were silent. Kel could feel a
cold wind on her right side, and Ryan on her left, keeping her warm. She
glanced up and saw only empty blackness. Not a single star touched the night
sky, nothing disturbed that flawless indigo sweep.
"And so was born Wild Magic. It was not the
magic we have today; even Daine Sarrasri," and a faint glimmer of affection
touched the mage's swarthy face, "has not one tenth of the power they had then.
Because they created Wild Magic in its purest form; countless immortals were
trapped and killed for the purity and power of their blood. Wild Mages were
more common even than the Gifted. Why, reasoned those who had only a small
Gift, should they waste so much time trying to learn spells when they could
have such power with a little pain?"
"What happened?" breathed Kel as he faltered.
She was wrapped up in the tale, seeing in her mind's eye the poor and the rich
alike, dipping their hands into silvery blood, warping and changing into
creature after creature, running in immense packs around an untamed land.
"It all went wrong," the mage said quietly.
"It went so horribly wrong."
She shivered again, despite her layers of
furs and hide.
"I don't suppose any of you are old enough or
powerful enough to understand, but magic is a volatile thing. If it is abused,
it can erupt without warning. It is as dangerous as it is helpful." He stared
unseeingly at the tongues of red-orange that licked at the night air. "Too many
people, too many shapeshifting over and over and over. They stretched their
magic to its limits, stretched their bodies and their minds. And once they
began to shapeshift, the release and the joy it brought became addictive. They
couldn't stop, and they didn't want to."
In her mind's eyes, she saw those odd hordes
of people, their hands shrinking and growing, sprouting claws and fur. Their
bodies contorting into new, exciting shapes and doing things they had never
been able to before. Leaping vast chasms, flickering through stormy waters
without fear of hurt of death, swooping through gleaming azure skies in
intricate, easy patterns.
"And eventually, it rebounded on them. The
magic hit back, and it hit back hard. It was all drawn from the same source you
see; all our magic is. All those creatures they had tried to become, and
suddenly, they could not control their shapeshifting. Parts of them changed,
others did not. They became a mix of creatures, forced into grotesque shapes by
the magic they abused and stole so thoughtlessly."
"Those creatures," said Ryan flatly.
"The halflings. Yes. And of course, their
horrific appearance caused such horror among the ordinary people. Most of them
couldn't even speak anymore; no one even recognised that they were human. So
they hunted down the halflings, they tortured them and killed them. It even
became a popular bloodsport for a while. Eventually, one of them made itself
heard to the King."
He took a deep breath. "Of course, King
Jonathan the First realised that there would be absolute chaos if this news got
out. Some of the halflings had been killed by their own unknowing families. So
he struck a deal with them; that they would hold these silent woodland lands,
and rule them as they liked. He would tell his trusted counsellors of them, and
every year, a toll would be paid to them for wayfarers crossing their lands."
"So...those were the children of them?"
There was a high, hard laugh. Bruna's eyes
were wild as Kel stared at her, wondering at the girl's expression, somewhere
between terror and anger. "Oh no. Those aren't their *children*."
"They...can't be the same ones," said Ryan
uncertainly. "And what would you know?"
"My father's lands border these," she said
shortly.
Her father? But if he owned the lands they
were about to enter, the ones that had been scoured of all magic and magic
wielders then that would mean—
"Oh yes," said Bruna. Kel blinked to find the
girl's large, bare eyes pinning hers. "My father doesn't like magic. In
fact...you might say he'd *kill* to avoid it."
Her words sunk in slowly. "He's—" began Kel.
"A murderer!" the girl snapped, leaping to
her feet. There was loathing glittering in her beautiful face, but Kel wasn't
sure who it was for. "Nothing but a bigot and a murderer."
She stood, frozen and breathing hard in the
hellish glow of the fire, staring at them like a cornered deer, then she turned
and flung herself down on the ground, pulling her cloak over her. As far away
from them as she could get in the confines of the warding circle.
The mage shook his head at them when Ryan
opened his mouth to say something. "They cannot die," he murmured softly. "That
is the blessing of true Wild Magic; that is its curse. Anyone touched with Wild
Magic can survive what would kill normal people. But those whose hearts are
aglow with it can survive everything. They are doomed to see eternity, and
doomed to be forbidden from truly experiencing it."
It seemed a dreadful barren existence to Kel.
Desperately unfair; maybe some of those people had deserved it, but most, she
was sure, were ordinary. Ordinary and they had become nothing but hated
monsters.
He stood up, dusting off his clothes. "That's
enough doom and gloom. Get some sleep; we have a long ride tomorrow."
With a wave of his hand, he extinguished the
fire.
* * * *
"I was very young when they took me..."
Andrea hugged the little girl who sat on her
lap in the dank cold dungeon, feeling on a shaft of pity at the dreamy, utterly
lost expression on Marc – Marcus of Kennan's – face. The faint traces of a
noble's accent still arched in his voice, but his eyes were gentle.
"I don't remember much," He frowned. "I
always knew I was special. They used to treat me so well, encouraging me to use
my Gift, rewarding me, cuddling me. I don't suppose the Crown Children were
treated better. Mithros, I was an arrogant little bastard! Three years old and
with half the damn fief wrapped around my revoltingly fat little finger."
Oh, the contrast now; his red hair was long
and ungroomed, cut untidily around his stark, haunted face. His clothes were
rags, his legs wasted from where the Arachon, a cruel magical creature that
held them all captive, had attacked him. And not arrogant, but almost amused
about his situation.
"Like I say, I was arrogant. I learned to
ride almost as soon as I was born; and at the age of five, they gave me my own
pony, hideous screaming brat that I was. I had a voice that could creak walls."
"It doesn't sound that way now," said Andrea,
smiling as the blond child on her lap laid her head down and fell asleep.
Marc's voice was a soft, sensual husk. He
raised his eyebrows.
"Too much screaming. The Arachon likes to
play." At her wince, he smiled again. He had a wide, generous mouth that looked
like it was made for happiness, a contrast with the lines and scars on his
face. "Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
"You didn't," she answered, though that was
untrue. Everything about the way this boy had been treated upset her. "Please,
carry on."
"I used to ride out every day. They'd tell me
of the dangers; my mother used to say that bandits would get me, or that
Carthaki raiders would chop off my head. I loved the idea of that. Excitement,
adventure – I couldn't get enough of it. I couldn't wait to be sent to be a
page, or a great mage. I was going to
change the world."
"Stupid. Disobeying their orders. My father
was away often, and on the occasions he came back, he gave me the thrashing of
my short life. He was the only one I respected. But he wasn't there the day I
rode out, furious because one of the other kids had thrown a stone at me...I
don't recall exactly. I rode for hours and hours, angry at everything and
secretly enjoying how worried they would all be an how much they'd pamper me
when I got back."
He paused, his eyes focusing on her. "I
didn't get back. The Arachon caught me while I was drinking from a stream. I
was so *terrified*, I just threw all my Gift at her. What little I had – I had
no control, not enough knowledge. It was like using a fly swatter on a cheetah.
She hit me into oblivion and I woke up...here."
"How long?" the girl whispered. He enjoyed
looking at her; at her unusual, if not pretty, face, flushed and framed by a
halo of cloudy golden hair.
"Thirteen years, give or take. About. I've
lost count. It might be longer – it might be less, time seems to go on forever
in here. Sometimes the Arachon wants to talk to me. Wants to use my magic, that
means, or torture me. It amuses her. It'll be the same for you."
"What about escape?" she breathed.
"Don't bother." Marc hated telling her that
and seeing the hope on her face snuffed out swift as a candle, but it was the
truth. "She's too powerful."
He could see she didn't believe him, but
tactfully, Andrea said instead, "Do you ever think about them? Your family?"
Marc sighed. "Often. I always wonder if I
have any brothers or sisters, or if my parents blame themselves. I hope they
don't. It was all my fault. And I dream about Kennan in the summer. It was so
lovely – like the Realms of the Gods fallen to earth."
"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry."
"No," Marc said softly. "I am."
* * * *
She couldn't sleep. The images of those poor,
deformed creatures, unable even to die slipped through her head. Face after
grotesque face until she couldn't bear it anymore. Why do I have to have a
conscience? thought Kel glumly. This doesn't bother any of the rest of them.
You would have thought all those years in the Yamani Isles, learning to hide my
emotions would have taught me to ignore them too.
She slipped out into the night, taking her
sword and moving silently; years of slithering through stone halls in a silk
kimono had taught her to move like a jungle cat. She barely hesitated before
crossing the wards, needing to be away from everyone else, somewhere she could
think. There was no danger here; the halflings had let them pass, and there
were no immortals left.
Kel sat on a mossy log, shivering a little at
the coolness of the air, and stared out into the silken quiescence of the
shadows. Her eyesight was adjusting slowly; she could make out the shapes of
trees swaying in the wind like waving arms.
"You too, huh?"
She turned at the voice and saw a slender
silhouette detach itself from the darkness. Ryan sat down beside her, his eyes
distant. In the night, they were no longer grey but a soft, shadowy black. She
could barely see his expression.
"I keep thinkin' about 'em," he confessed. He
picked up a stone and threw it idly. "An' I can't even imagine it. Bein'
trapped like that an' hatin' people so much for makin' 'em outcasts. No one
should be forced away from their home. It's wrong."
"They scared me," said Kel softly. It wasn't
often she admitted to fear, but somehow, saying it aloud made it better. Now it
wasn't just a faint phantom, flitting through the corners of her mind. It was
something she could confront.
"You an' me both, lass." His teeth flashed
white in the gloom. It wasn't a smile. "I ain't never seen anythin' like that.
An' hearin' that mage just sayin' it so calmly...all the horrible things that
happened to 'em."
"Magic scares me sometimes," said Kel quietly.
"The Wildmage...she's so nice, but sometimes, it seems like there's *more* to
her than other people. Like she can see things I can't even imagine."
"Magic is scary," he agreed. "I can't get
angry or upset, or I can't control what happens. An' not bein' in control means
people might get hurt. I don't want that. Even Bruna...she's a witch all right,
but I wouldn't want to hurt her. No one deserves what magic can do."
They sat in silence for a moment, then his
voice filled the silence, rough and youthful and undeniably strong.
"But it's beautiful too. I can't tell ye what
it's like to feel the magic runnin' through ye." Then an odd, thoughtful note
entered his voice. "I can show ye though. If ye want."
"What do you mean?" said Kel quietly.
"Master Numair was teachin' us t'other night.
How to pour the Gift into someone else an' let them use it. He said it's
advanced, but we had the power to cope with it." He laughed quietly. "An' it
would teach us control. He's obsessed with bleedin' control."
"I'd like that." Kel had always wondered what
being Gifted really meant.
"I ought to warn you..." he paused, and she
searched for meaning in the shadowed planes of his face. "Look, it might
hurt...it worked with Master Salmalin, but I ain't sure if it'll work with
non-Gifted, like. He said it would, but..."
"I trust you," said Kel firmly.
"You do?" He sounded absolutely amazed. "But
ye barely know me!"
"You saved my life. I saved yours. If I can't
trust you after that, I might as well cut my own head off now and save someone
else the trouble," she told him simply. "It's only going to get more dangerous
from here on. If I couldn't trust you, we'd really be in trouble."
There was a pause and then, "Thanks."
His hands came up to cup her face, touch cool
and sure. Uncertain what to do, Kel sat still, as she had always been taught
with magic, and relaxed. "We need to be touchin'," he explained softly. "Master
Salmalin reckons there are points of energy on your body...he called them
shamrocks, or somethin'."
"Chakras," murmured Kel. It was a Yamani
teaching; each chakra responded to a different element. There were seven,
running down the body.
"Aye, that's it. Ye've done this afore?" His
breath was soft on her face, like the tiny feather touches of mist.
She tried to shake her head, forgetting he
held it still. "They believe that in the Yamani Isles. I was brought up there."
"Ah. Well anyway, I'm goin' to use the one on
your forehead because the others are...um...in other places that...well, let's
just say I don't know ye well enough." She had never heard Ryan sound
embarrassed before, and it made her mouth twitch with laughter.
"Now," he instructed softly, "Just breathe
and relax."
He leaned his forehead against hers, and she
felt the chakra on her forehead, which she had often sensed in meditation,
tingle lightly. She shut her eyes, feeling the warmth that radiated from his
hands and body. She had never been this close to anyone she wasn't trying to
fight.
Magic jolted through her and she shivered,
feeling waves of what felt like sun-warmed sea-water wash through her in gentle
pulses, from her head down to her feet. A glowing turquoise light bubbled
across her eyelids, and she could feel power nearby, like a sleeping tiger
coiled deep inside.
"Open your eyes," he said, letting go and she
did. Kel gasped. His eyes were a perfect, sparkling blue-green, like a dash of
summer seared onto the night. And she could see a faint azure aura glowing
around him...and herself. Kel raised her hands, turned them to look at the
glittering veil of light spread over it.
"It's...amazing," she whispered. She turned
to look at the woodland and gasped again. The sky was a mad clash of colours,
ranging from deepest darkest indigo to an almost white-blue. "Is it...always
like this for you?"
"Is what always like this?" he asked.
"The sky...there's so many colours. And the
*stars*..." She hadn't been able to see them before, but now she saw rainbow
points of light hovering above. And the moon, a ghostly silver orb.
"It's...breath-taking."
"You mean this ain't what you usually see?"
She turned back and realised her night vision had improved. Every line of his
face was illuminated, even without the eerie blue glow. "I thought it was just
the aura that the magic brought. I ain't known about it very long."
"No," she said wonderingly. "The sky is only
one colour. And the stars are white, not every colour..."
"Sounds borin'," he drawled and she smiled.
"Do ye want to try a spell?"
"How?"
He took her hands, a glimmer of amusement in
his face. "You got to be careful. Controlled, like." He said the words in a wry
mockery of Master Salmalin. "Can you feel the Gift?"
She nodded.
"Good. Just reach inside and imagine drawing
on it, like you were taking a drink from a stream. Then think of what ye want
to do, and imagine the magic shinin' round it."
What did she want to do? Kel thought of her
sword, rusty from the rain and travelling, however much she scoured and
polished. She imagined the light lifting away the rust, leaving a gleaming
blade, and drew on the magic. It filled her head, cool and clean.
"Nicely done," he said, and she blinked to
see her sword good as new.
"Can you still use the magic too?" she asked.
"Think so."
"What do you want to do?" Kel said absently,
turning the sword in the light of her new aura.
She was startled as he put two fingers to her
cheek to gently turn her face towards him, her hazel eyes widening to deep
bronze. There was an odd, endearing shyness in his face as he said, "This," and
kissed her.
* * * *
Thoughts? Comments? Opinions – please? I'd
love to hear what you have to say!
Large quantities
of Hagen Daaz and hugs to all the fabulous people who reviewed :-) Thank you!
May all your dreams come true!
the amazing Ariana:
LOL! Thank you :-) What can you say...well, if you see anything you don't like,
point it out (I don't get offended by criticism.), anything you'd like to
happen...any interesting words (quaquaversal, for example)
the divine Dead
Flower: I have no idea about the relationships! They're so *tangled* at the
moment, I'll have to see what happens. You may get the unfortunate situation of
a second story, depends how it goes. No one needs school - everyone just thinks
we do!
the delightful
Daine: My pleasure :-) Everyone is free to use the creations of my weird little
mind, I mean what kind of person would say no? 'Course I respond: you've taken
time a) to read b) to tell me what you think so it's only fair I return the
favour - plus, I like it!
the fantastic
Firelily: ::grins:: Guilty as charged. I've been very short on time lately, and
not feeling so good to boot, so any proofreading has been done with me
semi-comatose. It is Salmalin; I checked with the books. Thanks!
the jazzy Jinx:
25 inches of snow? Ike, we had about 3! New creatures are fun :-) I have too
much imagination, so this is a good way to get rid of the overspill! Your exams
got postponed? Lucky you; mine start in two weeks. I am totally thrilled you're
liking; thanks for reviewing!
the kick-ass
Kira: I'm trying to get around a part a week up :-) Now that I'm back at
school, I have less time; but to make up for the parts being less frequent,
they'll be a little longer. Vinson is a slimeball, in my humble opinion :-) Ta!
the marvellous
Mage Melery: Thank you! It may be a short review, but every word's gold :-) I'm
over the moon that you like this!
the magical
Maple: Good luck with your finals! I'm sending out studious vibes :-) You may
have to wrestle various characters for Ryan...he's his own person...thank you
to both of you :-) Enjoy the rest!
the mega ME:
Short and very sweet :-) Thank you so much!
the magnificent
Mel! : My inspiration? I have not a blessed idea. I read a lot, I listen to
music that puts me in whatever mood I want to be writing (Sarah McLachlan works
wonders), and I just...sit down and write :-) It's a bit of a mystery really!
Thanks!
the miraculous
Molly-Ann: Hiya! Thank you so much for reviewing :-) I'd love someone to beta -
the downside is it takes me so long to write a part, it'd take ages before it
got sent out, but when the holidays come round (Oh, please let it be soon) if
you'd still like to, I'd love some help! An hour? Fraggit! Thank you so much!
the 'ncredible
Noel: What a list! Wow! Many many thanks. Oh don't worry, you get to see Pip
deal with Vinson :-) Ryan and Andrea *aren't* related, I'll say that
much...thank you for the heowge review, and there will be romance, though I say
not for who!
the phenomenal
Phantasea: I just have an over-active imagination :-) I don't know where ideas
come from; I just...think about what could happen and ways I could make that
thing happen. :;smiles:: I'm completely awed that you like the story! Ya know,
I thought wow, I'll be lucky if anyone reads this, and there's all you
wonderful people who are so patient and encouraging.
the quaquaversal
Quartz: School bad. Bad. Do *not* apologise for the late review - I'm
privileged you reviewed at all! You could review in ten years time, and
assuming no one's murdered me for being so damn annoying, I'd still be happy!
Glad you liked :-) And maybe you should find a substitute for the pills,
like...chocolate!
the tremendous
Team Socket: Thank you! Neal and Pip...I'm not sure. Possibly - I'm surprised
actually...quite a few people seem to be in favour of Kel and Ryan. Anyways,
I'll just see what the story wants to do (I swear, I have *no* control)
the terrific
Tyr: Marc n' Andrea? That's one I hadn't considered...hmmmmm...interesting :-)
Let's see what happens! Thank you so much for the encouragement :-) It makes me
write!
the wonderful
Wazzup Girl: ::grins:: I like TP's world...it has so much potential, especially
with the Immortals. Neal and Bruna? Oh my, what a scary thought...and as for
Kel and Ryan :-) Watch this space. Well, not *this* one but...oh, you know what
I mean.
the enigmatic
:o): Hey, don't apologise for reviewing late! You don't *have* to review at
all...I'm honoured that you do! And believe, I know all about crashing
computers. Hmm...Ryan being nasty...well, she does deserve it,
but...well...I'll leave it as a surprise :-)