"You're certain he's alive?" The question slipped out before she could stop it, just when she was so proud of herself for appearing normal. "Absolutely, child. He gave me the impression that he would be gone this day until nightfall without the usual means of contacting him." He grinned at her, a conspirator's grin. "Personally, I use his pager. He has to be close for it to work, but it's a thrill when it does. Gadgets fascinate me almost as much as they do him. He always has to have the very latest of any invention. When I visit him, I play on his computer as often as I can. Once I locked the thing up, and it took him a while to figure out what I did to it." He was absurdly pleased with that. "Of course, you understand, I could have told him, but it would have taken all the fun out of it." Raven laughed, she couldn't help herself. "At last, a man after my own heart. I'm glad someone besides myself gives him a hard time. He needs it, you know. All those people bowing and scraping. It's not good for him." Her hands were freezing, so she shoved them into her pockets. "I do my best, Raven," the priest admitted, "but we don't need to tell him. Some things are best kept between us." She smiled at him, relaxing just a little. "I agree with you on that."