Chapter 6

Winterbiter Frumsceaft

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Merlin

Merlin sighed, slumping heavily against the door of the Physician's chambers. Since seeing Danny on the training field his day had become hectic to say the least. Between finishing off his chores for Arthur for the rest of the day and sorting out arrangements for Danny Merlin had not had opportunity to stop. Gwaine had offered to let Danny sleep in the small vacant servant's quarters off his chambers, but Arthur had mercifully denied that request saying that 'Danny was Merlin's responsibility now'. The king had further been kind enough to arrange for a small pallet to be sent to his room so the boy wouldn't be sleeping on the floor.

"Good evening, Merlin." Gaius said, raising an eyebrow from behind the workbench. "Dinner's on the table if you want it."

Merlin nodded tiredly and walked over, virtually collapsing into the seat. Lethargically he eyed the bowl on the table, but upon realising that he was really too tired to care he dipped the spoon in and took a mouthful. He was surprised to note that it was actually not bad. Usually Gaius' dinners had a distinctly burnt seasoning, good a physician as the elder man may be, he was apt to be distracted by a patient or a potion.

"Where's Danny?" Merlin asked between mouthfuls.

Gaius gestured to the small mezzanine bookshelf and Merlin found himself looking up. Danny was sitting on the top step, his face buried in a book. Merlin raised an eyebrow at his mentor, noting the slightly put-out scowl on the younger boy's face.

"After his display with Sir Gwaine this afternoon, I thought it best to keep him preoccupied until you came back." Gaius explained softly. "He's been helping me with potions since Gwaine left him back here. At the moment I am having him read through a book of common herbology."

"He can read?" Merlin asked with genuine curiosity. After all, it wasn't common for people of the lower classes to learn to read. It was a skill usually left to the nobility, and even then it was only for those who could afford educated teachers and who actually valued being literate. Merlin, of course, had been taught by his mother, who had in turn been taught by Gaius.

"Most people in my time can." Danny answered with a murmur, his voice calling down from the top step even as he came down from the mezzanine. "We all have a standardised education, in theory its equal opportunity for all. I don't think it's possible to live without being able to read anymore."

"Fascinating," Gaius mused as he sat down in his armchair. "A society that places priority on education and the scholastic pursuits..."

Merlin shook his head, knowing that Gaius would love to be afforded the opportunity to see that happen. The man was a scholar at heart, and the idea of a world where everyone valued education as much as he did would seem ideal for him.

"We all have to learn, we don't all have to like it." Danny groused, coming down the steps to take a seat opposite Merlin.

"You have to be careful about what you call people." Merlin commented, pointing his spoon accusingly at Danny. "You can't go around calling Arthur 'Courage'."

"Why?" Danny asked. "Gwaine pointed it out earlier, but I don't get what's specifically wrong with it."

"What's wrong," Gaius interjected "is that it marks you as a creature of magic. Gwaine is aware of this, having being named himself on a quest with Arthur and Merlin."

"Strength." Danny murmured apparently to himself. "Sorry, it's just that I've never met humans who are like... an embodiment of an ideal, before."

"Embodiment of an ideal?" Gaius pressed, and Merlin noted the genuine intrigue in his voice.

Danny nodded. "A lot of ghosts are that way, Kilgharrah said they are obsessive... creatures, and I guess he's right. I mean, everything that they are is dedicated to that one thing or a single idea. But I've never met a human who is like that. They can come close, but it's never so... I don't know how to describe it."

"So... If Arthur is Courage, and Gwaine is Strength, then what about the others?" Merlin asked, only to get a reprimanding 'Merlin' from Gaius' direction. "What? I'm allowed to be curious; I can't exactly drag everyone in front of Kilgharrah for his verdict, now can I?"

"You're Magic." Danny replied with a wry smile, ignoring Gaius' protestations. "But that's probably not a surprise. Elyan is Humility; he isn't boastful and can see the value in the contributions of others. And Percival, Percival is Protection; he'll defend anyone who can't defend themselves."

"Are you quite satisfied now?" Gaius reprimanded, sending Merlin a scathing look. Merlin however grinned.

"Almost. Danny, do Gaius." Merlin requested, staring the blue eyed boy down.

Danny however creased his eyebrows. "I'm not sure." Danny said slowly. "Gaius is more like a normal human, he's more than one ideal. If I had to, I'd say Wisdom or Experience, maybe Patience. Like I said, a human embodying an ideal is not common."

"While I admit it is interesting that you can make a judgement at all," Gaius pointed out. "It is a judgement that must not be made outside of these chambers. It may be an amusing talent for you two, but it is one that could end up getting the both of you killed."

Merlin pressed his lips firmly together, suitably chastised. Danny slumped in his chair, suddenly looking very tired. Merlin pushed the empty bowl away and headed up the staircase to his bedroom. Merlin sat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling for a minute before he loosened the floorboard and pulled out his magic book. A minute or so later the door creaked and Danny stepped in.

"How do you do it?" He asked, and Merlin understood exactly what he meant.

"I have faith," Merlin replied, looking up at the boy. "Faith that one day things will be better, that Arthur can bring about a time where everyone is equal."

Danny nodded, moving to sit on the pallet that had been left on the floor for him. "My parents are ghost hunters." He confessed. "They're brilliant scientists, but their primary goal in life is to find, study and destroy every ghost they can catch."

Merlin's eyes widened, and the magic book suddenly became very heavy in his lap. "Then how...?" Merlin trailed, looking at the boy in a new light.

"How am I still alive?" Danny sighed. "Luck, mostly. It's one thing to know what they plan to do, but knowing that it's mom and dad that are the ones aiming the weapons is... not a comforting feeling. I'll admit, sometimes I wonder how it's even possible to keep going."

"Then why do you stay?" Merlin asked, his fingers absently stroking the pages of his book, as though it could bring him comfort. After all, while Danny may have been destined to be, he wasn't born with a foretold Destiny. His path wasn't dictated by an ancient Prophecy, and his Destiny wasn't tied to another's like Merlin and Arthur's were.

"Why do you?" Danny retorted, not angrily, but there was a sadness that Merlin could empathise with.

"It's my destiny." Merlin replied. "I'm supposedly meant to help Arthur become the greatest king that ever will be, help him bring equality and unite Albion."

Danny nodded understandingly, with a knowing smile that probably had more to do with the fact that he came from the future than it did with knowing of the prophecies. "It may not be my destiny, but it's my duty to stay, to protect them and keep them safe. But that aside, I care for them, I'd never want to see any harm come to them."

"And that's why there's no real choice in leaving." Merlin said, knowing what the younger boy needed to hear. "Because even if you're scared of being discovered it's easier to live with that risk, than to abandon them and never know if they're safe."

Danny nodded and an odd smile quirked on his lips. "You know I never thought I'd meet someone who could understand that."

"To be honest, neither did I." Merlin admitted. "Gaius tries, but sometimes I'll look at him..."

"And you can see him puzzling over why, or he'll say something that makes you realise..."

"That as much as he tries to sympathise, he can never quite understand." Merlin finished, blinking as he realised how synchronised their thoughts had just been. Danny looked up at Merlin for a tense moment before the two of them laughed, dispelling the strange atmosphere that had gathered in the room.

"What's that book about?" Danny asked after a minute, looking at the book still pressed in Merlin's lap.

Merlin frowned; he'd never shared this with anyone. It had always been the secret that he had to keep away from everyone, hidden away in the dark. Even Gaius was reticent in asking about it, despite the fact that he was the one who had given it to Merlin. But Danny... Danny was a creature of magic, and Merlin was well aware of that. He could feel the chilled power that circulated through the boy like blood, emanating out from him. And Danny did understand the need to hide, even going so far out of his way as to hide evidence of his futuristic heritage inside the wall where none but he could find it.

"It is my magic book." Merlin answered hesitantly. "Gaius gave it to me when I first came to Camelot, and I have used it ever since to help protect both Arthur and the people."

"Wow." Danny murmured, shaking his head almost sadly. "I have a friend back home who'd love to be able to see something like that."

"I will find out how to get you home, Danny." Merlin promised.

Danny smiled. "I know." He replied. "What were you looking for?" He asked, turning his gaze to the book. From his current seat on his pallet it was unlikely that Danny could see anything more than the cover. Merlin gestured to a spot next to him on the bed and swivelled around so that Danny could look.

"I was mostly looking out of boredom." Merlin commented. "I've read it through more times than I can count, but sometimes I'll come across something that I haven't thought of before."

Danny creased his eyebrows looking at the page. It was densely packed; this page was one of the more theoretical pages that the book held. It was also one of the pages that Merlin looked at the least since he would probably never have an opportunity to practice it well enough to use. That was the biggest downfall in being a sorcerer in Camelot. He had nearly unlimited power, but he could never practice. That was why people like Morgana were a genuine threat; they could use magic in ways that he simply hadn't been afforded the opportunity to practice.

"Animal transmutation?" Danny asked, and Merlin could feel his questioning stare.

Merlin offered a sad smile. "I know the theory inside and out, I know the spells. But it's ridiculously complicated and most people can't get it to work right anyway. If I had the opportunity to practice, I think it'd be useful, but I can't."

"But you should." Danny replied with creased eyebrows. "If you're Camelot's main defence against dark magic, then you need to be able to rely on your powers every time."

Merlin let out a sharp exhale. "It's not like I get much opportunity to practice, Danny." Merlin bit back. "Between chores for Arthur and Gaius I rarely get a chance to sleep, let alone practice magic like this. And even when I do, I can't just practice in here."

"Then I'll help you." Danny replied determinedly. "Arthur said that in order to earn my keep I had to help you with your job, and that's what I plan to do; even the parts of your job that he doesn't know about. Just show me the ropes and I'll back you up. That way you'll have more time to practice, which is far more important than mopping floors in my opinion."

Merlin sent him a half smile. "While I do agree with the idea, in all odds Arthur will just add more to the list since I have help now."

"We'll see." Danny said, standing up from the bed and shifting across to his pallet. "I still say practice is more important than chores."

Merlin shook his head and rolled his eyes before allowing himself a soft laugh. He eyed the page for a minute more before closing the book and flicking out the candle. No doubt the morning would bring about its own challenges; Danny had yet to spend a day doing real work in Camelot after all, but Merlin couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his lips as he settled in to sleep. Beside him the dark haired boy was already dozing, favouring the black cloak as a blanket. It was still strange to share a room with a fellow being of magic, but the prospect of getting to practice; really practice was enticing in its own right. With a contented sigh Merlin drifted off, embracing the relaxing warmth of sleep.

King Eadric Blæcādlig of Daobeth scowled, thumping his fist heavily against the table. It had been five years since his ascension to the throne, but he was not satisfied with the condition of his kingdom. The kingdom of Daobeth had always been a small sovereignty, but in the few short years since he had overpowered the previous monarchy he had brought it from the crumbling backwater skeleton it had been since the Siege of Dragons many years before, and turned into a thriving military power. He had singlehandedly won his kingdom and rebuilt it from the ground up.

The previous king had been an uncle on his mother's side of the family, and had believed in the nonsense of 'equality'. Eadric had only ever seen his uncle as weak; if you did not assert your authority over the masses then they would rebel and the kingdom would fall. Power, Eadric believed, should be given only to those who would use it, and Eadric had used his thoroughly. So few leaders saw the true means to assuring their power, and were thus unworthy of wielding it.

However the reports that he had been getting back from his spies across Albion had set him seething. A time of 'peace' was growing, apparently spearheaded by that nonsense King of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon. Eadric snarled, his eyes flashing angrily to a dark robed spy, hunched pitifully at his feet. The paltry sorcerer had been part of a network who had regularly reported back to him, but his four companions had apparently been trapped and executed by a company of knights.

Eadric hardly cared for that loss; it was the fact that his spies had been caught in the first place. He used sorcerers as spies because they were supposed to have better elusive techniques than the common man. In fact, Eadric had no qualms about the use of magic; it was just another power that he could dominate over. His sorcerers were scared, loyal to him because he was their one true source of security. After all, nowhere else in Albion was there a kingdom even willing to accept sorcery. And even if they had to sacrifice some of their freedoms to buy this security, it was still a safer option for them to serve Eadric than to wander the rest of Albion.

This was Eadric's secret method to success. His public views of magic were particularly antagonistic; he firmly believed that the power of magic corrupted the user. Anyone who had access to power over the natural world was prey to illusions of grandeur and a false sense of supremacy. However Eadric was willing to enlist any number of magic users into his service; it was empowering for him to wield his threats over the magic users. Eadric himself possessed no magic, but that hardly mattered. With all the sorcerers at his command he was in control of the most powerful magical well in all of Albion.

Eadric stood up from his throne, using his entire six foot five of height to dominate over the small sorcerer. "You have disappointed me, sorcerer." Eadric hissed, taking a step towards the shorter man. Eadric paused, raising his hand to clasp the sorcerer's rodent-like chin in his fist. "And I do not take kindly to disappointment."

"I'm sorry sire." The ratty man beseeched, his knees hitting the floor meekly as he pulled away from Eadric's grasp. "We didn't mean to get caught... we... we tried to escape, but our magic was not strong enough. I barely escaped with my life, sire. I beg of you, please, mercy."

"Enough!" Eadric snarled, backhanding the snivelling man with his left hand and leaving a bleeding cut as his ring dug into the man's sweaty face. "You have proven yourself incapable of the tasks assigned to you. I grant your kind clemency only so long as you can repay my leniency."

"No, sire I..." The sorcerer tried to cut in, but Ealdric continued over him, not even bothering to raise his voice.

"You have not only let me down, but you have allowed others to become aware of your identity. I will not tolerate such insubordination in my kingdom." Ealdric pressed, standing erect and no longer meeting the sorcerer in the eye. "You are hereby charged with using magic and enchantments against the service of your king. There is but one sentence I can give. Guards!" Ealdric decreed. "Escort this sorcerer to the dungeons. And alert the executioner that his services are needed."

Eadric's nostrils flared as he watched the sorcerer dragged out of the room, still begging for mercy. The heavy doors slammed closed, and Eadric spun around back to the map that was stretched across the table at the side of the room. It was a large map of Albion, depicting all the current territories and their alliances. Daobeth was small and landlocked; the land itself was only fertile due to Eadric's strict recruitment of magic users. He had been slowly expanding his reach; already many of the towns on the outer edges of the neighbouring kingdoms were defecting to him for fear of his wrath.

Daobeth was a hard won kingdom, and Eadric was not about to let that young blonde upstart destroy all that he had worked for. He growled as he slammed a dagger into the heart of Camelot, the sharp hole bringing the king some satisfaction from his ire. It had been a worthy during the time of Uther Pendragon, led by a strong and intelligent leader. While the deceased king had been a fool to renounce the power of magic, at least Uther had appreciated the essential role of power in controlling a kingdom.

His pithy son was worthless, attempting to reconcile disputes between the kingdoms with peace and by creating flimsy treaties. Eadric shook his head disdainfully at the notion; that was a sure way to breed rebellion. Arthur Pendragon was clearly unable to prove his worth in a demonstration of power, and Eadric was certain that the Pendragon Dynasty was doomed to fall under Arthur's reign. He eyed the map, taking in the details of the land between his kingdom and that of the fool king.

His fingers absently strummed across the table as he mused. Dark images of the blonde king, oozing forsaken blood for his ignorance, filled his mind and elicited a lustful smirk from the green eyed king. Eadric jerked his head up once, summoning his pet sorcerer to his side with a wordless command.

"Kilian" Eadric acknowledged, still staring at the map. "What is the progress of our forces?"

The hazel eyed man stood beside him, surveying the map with military understanding. "The foot soldiers are still training, sire, and will probably be satisfactory within the month. Your general knights are ever ready, and the contingent of sorcerers is gaining power steadily." Killian reported succinctly.

Eadric eyed the man out of the corner of his eye. Oily brown hair and pallid skin; Kilian had never looked healthy since Eadric had known him. But he was a force to be reckoned with, one of the most powerful sorcerers and a fearsome warrior combined into a deadly whole. "Any recent additions?" Eadric pressed.

"Only two." Kilian replied. "A hedge witch whom we have appropriated to the task of working the farms, and a young man of reasonable offensive power. He is training with the contingent as we speak."

"Good." Eadric replied, his eyes fixed firmly on the map. Idly he pulled the dagger out, staring at the large cut rent straight through the heart of Camelot. "Soon Albion shall see that power is the only force worthy of dominion in this land."

Danny groaned tiredly, drained from just four days of following Merlin around and assisting the young warlock with his chores. Arthur was more of a slave driver than Tucker had been when he was being controlled by the ghost Hotep-Ra. Not that Danny had been around the blonde king much himself. Merlin had spent the first day showing Danny the servant's route through the castle and ensuring that Danny knew the basics of what would be expected of him as 'Merlin's Ward'.

Thereafter he had been delegated some of the more tedious of chores, like polishing shoes or the laundry. That had been a trial in itself since Danny had no idea how to wash anything by hand, let alone the fine clothes that Merlin wanted him to clean. But he had gotten the hang of it eventually, even if it was still unfamiliar. That said, when he got home he was never going to complain about laundry duty again; a washing machine was so much easier than wrestling against clothes in a boiling hot tub of water with a paddle, and hand wringing everything out when he was finished.

He didn't mind helping Gaius out; in fact Gaius had been surprised when on Danny's third day in Camelot he'd pretty much treated one of the knights who had been injured in training by himself. Sir Kay had come to the physician's chambers with a two inch cut on his arm and Danny had leapt into action. It wasn't that different from treating his own wounds after a ghost fight, all that he added in was Gaius' antiseptic salve and a dab of honey. And helping the elder man, while challenging, was about as close to being home as he could get in this time. So Danny gravitated more towards the 'Physician's assistant' aspect of Merlin's jobs.

However, Gwaine seemed to take some sort of perverse pleasure in dragging Danny out to the training fields whenever he got the chance. Sometimes Merlin was there too, acting as something like a tackle-dummy for the blonde king. Arthur had fortunately not wanted to spar with Danny, but watched intently whenever Gwaine enlisted him to help the knights. In fact, sometimes it felt like Danny was being treated as something of a squire by Gwaine and the other knights, even if the king still treated him with wary caution.

Somewhere along the line Danny had been introduced to Sir Leon – who Danny had identified as Loyalty to Merlin later in the evening – but he had not yet met the Queen. That was mostly down to the fact that Camelot was apparently preparing for a delegation from each of ten kingdoms of Albion in for a never before conceived peace treaty. The first delegation wasn't due to arrive until the end of the month, but the audacity of this endeavour meant preparing nearly every room in the castle for occupation. Camelot's people were very busy, and Danny found himself struggling to keep up with it.

However after spending five days in Camelot, Danny had learned a number of things not just about the legendary city, but also about himself. The first was that he actually didn't need much to eat or much sleep. Three years of near constant ghost fights had rarely afforded him a break, and he had never noticed how much this aspect of ghost biology impacted on his human half. This was a good thing in as much as he was able to slip Merlin an extra serve of food once a day, but bad in the endless hours of the night where Camelot was asleep and he couldn't go out because of strictly enforced curfews.

The biggest problem was that he was restless. It had been five days since he had gone ghost, and it was becoming harder and harder not to shift into that form. It was a part of him, and something that Danny could feel was ever more becoming difficult to contain. It had started out unnoticeably enough; occasionally he'd reach for something and not be able to grab it on the first try. But he could feel his control slipping the longer he stayed in his human form.

Fortunately it was not at the point where anyone could notice, although Arthur had made a comment about how quickly Merlin was rubbing off on Danny during one of his training sessions. Danny had managed to brush the comment off, but he was not sure how much longer he could take the strain of containing his ghost half. And although his little slips were innocuous enough for now, Danny wasn't sure how much further other peoples' obliviousness could go.

The problem was that with how busy the castle was, Danny didn't have the opportunity to go out, and even if he did he worried that he'd be caught. He couldn't risk it, not when Merlin was going so far out of his way to protect him. If he had been in Amity Park he could have just slipped out of the house; since Jazz knew his secret and his parents rarely noticed if he was out, he could easily escape to use his powers for an hour or so to rein them in.

Here in Camelot things were very different. First thing was that here his ghost form would be hunted down with as much prejudice as all the hunters in Amity Park combined. In a way it was worse than home because there nearly seventy percent of the population actually supported him. Here, more than the problem of being caught as a ghost, there was the simple fact that there was no free time to speak of. Merlin was technically on call at any hour, as was Gaius. Between the two of them it was unlikely that he could escape for long enough to use his powers without a serious risk of being caught.

Danny was working with Merlin late at night in the armoury when Merlin brought the issue to attention. "That's the fifth time you've dropped that." The raven-haired man noted, pausing as he held his polishing cloth over Arthur's chainmail. Danny frowned, picking up the hauberk – he thought it was called that – once more. It had been nearly three years since he'd had noticeable problems with his tangibility, and he had a feeling that it was only going to get worse.

"I guess I'm just clumsy tonight." Danny dismissed with a shrug. Even if he were going to admit to the issue, there was no way he could talk about what was causing his clumsiness in the armoury which was accessible to both the knights and soldiers even at this time of night.

"Danny." Merlin said, and Danny could feel the intensity of Merlin's gaze, even though his own eyes were firmly on the hauberk. "I promised to help you, and I will. But in order to do that you have to be honest with me."

Danny sighed, glancing over his shoulder to check that no one else was nearby. Given the current state of Camelot, talking casually about anything relating to magic was dangerous, and Danny didn't want to risk exposure here anymore than he did at home. "This is the longest time I've stayed in human form for three years." He admitted in a low whisper. Merlin frowned, staring at him with penetrating blue eyes.

"What exactly does that mean?" Merlin pressed shortly, the chainmail in his hands forgotten.

Danny frowned, looking up to meet the elder man's eyes. "It means that the longer I stay like this, the harder it will be to stay solid." He confessed.

Merlin's eyes widened slightly and the dark-haired man quickly tugged him into a shadowed alcove. "How do you usually control it?"

Danny shrugged. "Usually I don't have to. Usually I need to be... like that... for at least three hours a day, fighting. I have to use my powers regularly; otherwise they build up and well..." Danny involuntarily flickered out of visibility as though for emphasis.

Merlin nodded. "Right. Okay then. Magical creature, not sorcerer, I get it."

"Sorry" Danny said, trying not to bristle at the demotion to 'creature'. He equally wasn't about to point out the fact that Merlin infused his magic subtly into almost every task he did, nor was he about to comment that it was when Merlin deliberately withdrew his magic that he became his most clumsy. Merlin had a constant release of his powers, it was so rich and potent that it had virtually sunk into the walls of the castle, but it was ever present. The distinction was that the small continuous release that Merlin used was subtle, unnoticeable to those around them and probably small enough that even Merlin was not truly aware of it.

But Danny didn't have that luxury. Merlin's magic was interconnected with the world, and flowed in synchronisation with it. But for Danny, it seemed that he needed to release his powers in a different way, and he didn't know of any subtle manifestations of ghost powers; at least, none that wouldn't raise suspicion of sorcery in the citadel.

"It seems like you need training more than I do." Merlin commented, and Danny saw the intelligent gleam in his calculating blue eyes. "Think you can hold out one more day?" Danny nodded, he could make it one more day, it wouldn't be easy, but it was just a matter of concentration. Probably.

"Good." Merlin said, nodding to himself as he drew Danny back out of the alcove. The elder raven-head picked up the chainmail and set about putting it away before doing the same for the hauberk. "In the morning I'll ask if Gaius needs me to gather some more herbs." Merlin commented as he led the way out of the armoury and back towards the physician's tower. "And as my 'ward' I suppose you'll have to come too."

Danny sent a sidelong glance at the raven-haired man, grateful for his acceptance. It had been a long time since he'd felt like this. Sure, Sam and Tuck were encouraging and supportive of him, and they were always happy to train with him, but more often than not it was on their own terms. Sam and Tuck would come out ghost-hunting, but only until their curfew. And Jazz was happy to support him, but spent more of her time analysing him and confirming how large a 'deviation from the norm' he really was. He could always count on them for moral support, but it was never a given that they could always be there for him.

But here was Merlin, a young man who Danny had barely known for a week, willing to go out of his way to help him. It was comforting, unfamiliar, but definitely a pleasant surprise. After all, between his duties to Gaius and his responsibilities for Arthur, Merlin didn't really wasn't obliged to help Danny. But he was... he was actually setting up a viable alibi, in advance, in order to support him. Even if it was only part of keeping his own secret, it was a novel experience for Danny. The halfa couldn't help the grin that crept onto his face as he followed Merlin into the herb-scented physician's chambers. Not for the first time he felt truly lucky to have been able to meet Merlin.

AN; And the beginnings of a plot emerges. What do you think of Eadric Blæcādlig? Is he believable? Can anyone figure out why I named him so?

Translation;
Winterbiter Frumsceaft – Bitterly Cold Beginning

Thanks dearly for the kind reviews; when I started, this was just a distraction piece, and I'm thrilled that people have been enjoying it.

'Till next we meet again,

Bluerose