B'rand felt his jaw drop. "Great," he mumbled.

        He could feel Rook snickering in his head. <<Is there some kind of
problem you have with queen riders? You threw porridge at one in Falagand,
you've told this one to sit on a nail, the next one I guess you'll tell 
her to take some porridge and->>

        Fortunately, the Warrenlady interrupted. "While I appreciate our
riders having a forward attitude, you might want to study up on rudeness."
As Brand readied a retort, she stooped and examined Rook's leg. "It's 
sprained. A splint will do the trick for a few days. Dan'yar, would you go
and get a healer while I talk with this young rider here?" Dan'yar nodded
and left, his face still white from hearing the exchange.

        Cynthia turned and looked at B'rand with a cool stare. B'rand 
could feel a small icy hand work its way down his back.

        *Now I'm going to get it.*

        <<Guess I couldn't stop you in time, huh?>>

        B'rand glanced back at Rook. *You mean you knew she was the 
Warrenlady?*

        <<The queen, Syren contacted me after we crashed. I heard from 
her.>>

        *Gee, thanks.*

        <<Don't mention it. Anything I can do to help.>>

        *Smart-mouthed dragon...*

        Finally, Cynthia smiled and shook her head. "You can calm down.
I'm not going to have you burned alive or fed to a dragon." B'rand peered
at her. Did she really consider that?

        "It might harm your dragon." Oh. Actually, that was kind of funny.
B'rand chuckled.

        <<Forget it. I don't like spicy food.>>

         "Good, now that I have you smiling, could you tell me your name?"
she asked.

         "B'rand, m'lady." He said, putting a hand to his face.

        "Please, Cynthia," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And
don't look so embarassed, I know what it's like to be sitting atop two 
tons of rutting dragon myself, and have a moody queen to prove it," she
added, laughing. "Please, tell me something about yourself while we wait
 for the healers. What can you offer Cleft?"

        *Well, what do you know, I might not be in all that much trouble
after all.*

        <<Don't count on it.>>

        "All right. I'm B'rand, this is Rook," he patted the black scales
of his dragon as he spoke, "and we're from Falagand. I'm a warren brat,
been there all my life. I was a flight leader there, led an elite squad
that was very good at aerial maneuvers and acrobactics."

        "Yes, I could tell that." Cynthia chuckled.

        B'rand's eyes narrowed. "Hey, the crash wasn't his fault, he did
that flip perfect. Anyway, you could say we're both good at being able to
move around. I can usually hit what I aim at, when it comes to throwing
or aiming something. We came to Cleft because we heard good riders were
needed."

        "Oh?" Cynthia's eyebrow raised. "Is that the only reason?"

        "Uh, well, I might have had a few differnces with some people 
there..." Cynthia had put her hand over her mouth and was trying to 
keep from laughing. Occasionally, a guffaw would break out.

        *Rook, you didn't-*

        <<Tell Syren about you and Falagand's queen rider? Yes, I did.
She'll be picking porridge out of her hair for a week.>>

        Cynthia was still laughing. "I hope...sob...that you won't try 
that here."

        B'rand started to chuckle, himself. "I'll, ah, try not to."

        Just then, Dan'yar entered with a stranger. "The healer is away
on other business, but Lenna here is qualified as a dragonhealer 
apprentice. I asked her to tag along and take a look."

        B'rand moved in front of Rook. "You're not going to trust my Rook
to an apprentice, are you?" he asked. "I mean, how do I know she knows
what she's doing?"

        "Oh, don't worry your pretty little head over it, handsome."
The stranger smiled at him, a little too sweetly. "I've seen the way 
*you* take care of the black...so I don't think I could do any worse.
I, at least, know better than to try to perform the type of aerial 
aerobics that got him hurt in the first place. What ever were you 
thinking?"

        B'rand could almost feel his blood boiling. "Look sister, from 
her," indicating Cynthia, "I'll accept that kind of talk, but I don't have
to take it from you!!"

        Lenna laughed, then stood and moved over to him. With feet
planted shoulder-width and hands on hips, she looked B'rand over like a 
side of beef. 

        "No sir, gorgeous, you surely don't," she smiled sweetly. "But I'm
sure you'd find my idea of punishment a...whole lot more fun that anyting
our good Warrenlady could think of. And don't call me sister," she said
as she leaned close. She murmured, "I would never contemplate doing some
of the wildly wicked things with them, that I'd surely love to do with 
you and that sexy body of yours."

        B'rand looked at her, then looked again. It was worth it. Long
blonde hair, startling blue eyes, and of course a fiery attitude.
B'rand started to say something but found that his mouth was 
suddenly dry. Lenna walked over to Dan'yar and Cynthia and said, "I think
you're right about the black's leg just suffering from a slight sprain.
With the splint it should be all right in a day or two just as you said.
I think the rider may be another story. He may need more help than that."

        Dan'yar cleared his throat. "Well, if everything's all right here
for now, I'll ask for your leave, Warrenlady, for I have two beautiful
little girls waiting for me to bring them to their new home." he turned 
and left, not without a pointed glance at Lenna. 

        "Yes, now that everyting seems to be settled, I have to go as well.
I have many, many things that require my attention, as you can well guess,"
Cynthia said. "Stop by my office sometime soon, B'rand, after you get
settled-we'll figure out what you can do." With that, she turned and left.

        <<I'm hungry. Will you bring me something?>>

        B'rand turned a baleful eye on his dragon. *You just ate before
we got here and you tried to stunt-fly. Don't you remember?*

        <<Sure, but my stomach's upset and maybe some more food will help
settle it.>>

        B'rand sighed. Looking at Lenna, he said, "I've got to go to the
feeding grounds. Will you show me where that is, and perhaps where we can
stay?"

        Lenna nodded. "Sure, handsome. Actually, you should already know
where the feeding grounds are-you managed to crash your dragon pretty
close to it," she said with an evil smile.

        "Damn it, I didn't crash him, he did that all by himself!"

        B'rand took off at a fast walk towards the opening. Lenna walked 
with him, the smile still on her face, her hands thrown up in mock 
surrender. "Of course you didn't," she said patronizingly. B'rand turned
around, ready for another argument, when he saw Rook's head raise up...

        <<Oh..Ow. Urp.>>

        B'rand had heard that before. "Look out!" he cried, grabbing 
Lenna, diving to the ground, twisting so that he took most of the 
impact. Above them, a huge fireball scorched the air. In the aftermath, 
B'rand could smell scorched hair; that had been too close.

        Lenna was looking wide-eyed at him. He was immediately conscious
of her body on top of his, and her elbow in his ribs.

        <<Ow. Ow. Ow. Sorry.>>

        "Are you all right?" he asked Lenna.

        "Uh huh. Does your dragon do that often?"

        "Only when he's hungry..."


        NRPG: Tag, Barb!






 

                        Allen E. Veazey
                        wolf@dbtech.net
	     http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/3043

	         "The future ain't what it used to be."
				-Yogi Berra