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"Um, you don't think she looks a little . . . too thin?"

Her mother gave a short laugh. "Oh, you can never be too rich or too thin. Who said that?"

"I don't know," Heather said impatiently. "But you can be too thin, Mom. And Phoebe--you can see her bones. I think she's lost too much weight."

Sitting up, her mother managed to look both
insufferably patient
and a bit irritated. "Darling, she looks wonderful. There's nothing wrong with her. Heavens, when I was her age, I wore a size two. The women in our family are small-boned, that's all. Now don't worry about Phoebe. I

don't want you telling her she's too thin. Next thing you know, she'll be putting on weight again, and we don't want that." She lay back and flipped a page in her magazine.

Dismissed again. Heather went back to her room, feeling more down than she had in oh, about two hours.

LOKI

How
can I express my feelings toward my only brother's only child? I can tell you that I hate my brother, but the word hate doesn't really begin to cover the depth of the feeling I have for him, my identical twin. He is light, I am darkness. He is a plodding government worker--I am exquisitely subtle in my occupation. I have raised what I do to the level of an art. He cannot approach my greatness. Every day that he lives, he taints my own existence. How can I achieve perfection if my identical twin is so flawed, so spineless, so completely lacking in nuance, in grace, in achievement? It is clear that my brother's days must be brought to an end soon. Only by standing alone can I attain my final destiny
.

And then there's Gaia. My niece. Katia's child. The child that should have been mine, would have been mine--will someday be mine. Gaia is poised on the brink
of greatness. I can see that now. Before, I thought she had potential. Now, seeing her reactions to this latest test, the death of the girl Mary, I am convinced Gaia is almost ready to break free from her restraining chrysalis. She is showing strength beyond measure. She is unclouded by emotion. She is free of sentimentality. She will come to me soon
.

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