[Orual]

Almarien wiped the snow off of the back of his neck slowly and stiffly, then turned around a little as the girl, Jisela, rode up to him.

"I'm sorry, Sir! I didn't mean to hit you! I was aiming for my brother!" The girl's brown eyes were wide and anxious. Almarien twisted in his saddle to look at Jisela's brother, Rhys. He looked little less anxious than his sister. Almarien let a moment pass, then broke into a grin.

"It wasn't the worst snowball ever to hit my head. The balance was off. Look here." He dismounted quickly and gathered a handful of snow into his gloved hand, then quickly got back into his saddle. He formed a sphere in his hands quickly and deftly, and showed it to Jisela. "If you move your hands just so around the ball, it'll fly faster and hit harder. Of course, you only do it like that if you really mean to hit them, and want it to count." He grinned at Jisela's look of confusion. "I have four children at home. I've made more than a few snowballs in my time. I'm Almarien. You're Jisela, are you not? And your brother is Rhys." Almarien wiped the snow off of his glove, then extended his hand to Jisela.