23 The Waiting
Karla woke up from her position spooned with Tom on the couch. The whole group had been excited last night after the Shriving, and the discussions of optimistic things had gone on until the break of dawn when everybody had either toddled off to their beds or bunked down where they were for the night. Tom, Karla, Vera, Markus, Tyr, Veritasia, and Arpad had all stayed in the living room area and slept there for the last six hours or so.
Tom woke up as she moved to get up, and after a brief struggle managed to position his body into a slumped sitting position. At a nearby table, Markus, Tyr, Veritasia, Arpad, and Vera were playing a game of cards. Markus was winning.
“Wa Sup, Y'all?” Tom groused in his best imitation nearly asleep Southern drawl.
“Markus is winning a big pa
