From the window in their master suite, Khaat managed to make her way to the bay window and sit down on the deep soft cushions and stared ou the windows watching the little group gather. She was struck first by the beautiful red laquered sleigh with all the trimmings, the bells, the harness, and the black horses that pulled it in shining new tack. She watched Jack and Steven slipping all over themselves and falling in the snow. They needed a chance to play and snow was relatively harmless. But then she saw the two cutting figures of the horsemen. Her husband--her Brian--young, strong, courageous--all his best traits still shining through even in this peaceful setting. And then there was her father on the tall brown stallion--even when he wasn't trying to look imposing, he clearly wasn't to be messed with. He raised his arm and motioned them foreward down the plowed roads that wound around to the different buildings. She opened her window to hear the sound of the bells. She couldn't hear the horses because the snow muffled their hoofbeats. The wind, though, was bitter cold, at least she thought so. She reluctantly closed it.
The first building, around a bit of a curve that wound around to the rght of the house, was a large log building on the left. "This is the barracks," Brian said. "Pretty standard fare. Designed them after the sleeping rooms in the houses in Hogwarts. There is one large room of beds for women and a large community bath in the left end of the building and another room of beds for the men and a large community bath on the right end, but a common room in the middle. You're welcome to go in and look if you like."
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