And us," I said."Yeah, you. And a few other limey bands that Kai's pal, Zack, sends him over from Gospel records in London." ... And Madeleine too," ...I said loyally."Madeleine?" Our agent?" Oh, Maddy. She's your archetypal fag hag, ain't she? Absolutely adorable!"Steadily more people began arriving and everything changed as they did so. Initially it seemed most likely that all there'd be was a polite evening of passing joints round the room supplemented by glasses of rather better plonk than we. Finally, he came to a decision and stood back up. He walked to the sword he’d stood by the door to his forge and picked it up.“Here,” he said when he’d rejoined his wife. “Hold this.”Elva looked at the sword and then up at her husband archly. She made no move to take the sword. “I’ll not be lifting that heavy thing.”Ardt looked down at the sword and then back to his wife. He had the decency to look abashed. He returned to the wall and leaned the sword against it, picking up the smaller knife. She turned to let him see her from the rear, see how the tight fabric stretched across her hips into the cleft between her firm cheeks. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled."Actually, I guess I should be flattered that you wanted so see me so badly," she said. "It's nice to know that a girl is appreciated. You appreciating me now, guy?" She climbed up onto the bed and sat leaning against the pillows. Her knees were bent, and she grasped her shins, holding her legs wide apart. The camera. He didn’t even move, just stood there as if waiting for me to make a move. I walked up to my door, unlocked it, stepped in and held the door open for him. He silently followed me in. I inhaled deeply and shut the door. The next few minutes were a blur because I was still a little disoriented from my cry in the street and everything that happened next felt like a blur. ——————————————- ‘You left me.’ His words were measured and his face was contorted in pain or was it rage? I wasn’t certain at.