Once again his inner alarm clock woke him before the sun could 
make itself know across the lands. After preforming his morning 
workout, Lonnie showered and dressed before asking his dragon, 
Meritanth to find out from Novara if her rider would like to 
join him and his family for breakfast.

A little later the two met outside the dining hall and walked in 
together to meet the others. When he saw the way his mother kept 
looking at the girl he was with, Lonnie knew he'd have to set her 
straight before she scared the girl off.

""You two seem to be getting along nicely," Danki commented as 
they filled their plates. "You make a nice looking couple."

"Don't start in on your match making schemes mother," he warned 
her sternly. "Nelar and I are only friends. That's all. I'm just 
helping her settle into a new place."

"Well a mother can hope," the woman sighed heavily, but Lonnie 
couldn't help but see the knowing smile that crossed her lips.

All were a little surprised when My'kel joined them a little 
later. He'd been spending most of his meals with the other newly 
joined riders. When asked what the occasion was, he just laughed 
and gave his grandmother a hug.

"I couldn't very well stay away from this wonderful lady now could 
I?" he smiled brightly to those sitting there. "She might start to 
think I don't love her any more!"

"That'll be the day," Yarik laughed. "He's after her to make some 
of those flaiples that he loves so much."

"Found out!!" the boy grinned. "Well Granny?"

----------------------------

Later when they had finished with their meals, My'kel made his 
excuses to leave them. Not once during the meal did he ask where 
his Uncle Dani was.....

Lonnie and Farr'in headed outside to where their dragons were 
waiting. Nelar had gone with them and when Farr'in turned to 
his youngest brother and asked if he wanted to go with him to 
check up on Dan'yar, Lonnie had turned to the girl and asked 
if she wanted to go with them.

When she replied yes, he took her hand in his and they began 
walking in the direction of the medical center.

A look past between the brothers when they entered Dani's room 
and found Brisse sitting there beside his bed. The two had been 
holding hands, but when the door opened Brisse tried to withdraw 
her hand. Dan'yar refused to let her, holding on to her.

Lonnie was happy to see the girl here. After seeing the sadness 
in his brothers eyes last night, it was good to see him smiling 
this morning. Despite the condition he was in.

"Well you look a lot better this morning than you did last night 
brother," Lonnie grinned. "But with a nurse as beautiful as the 
angle holding your hand...I can see why."

He saw Brisse blush and heard Dan'yar chuckle.

"Yes the Gods were smiling on me the day they brought her into my 
life."

Silence filled the room for a moment when they heard the door being 
opened, until Lenna poked her head inside before coming inside 
followed by B'rand.

"Lo Dani," she smiled brightly. "I can't believe you all are having 
a party and no one invited me."

"Twin of my heart, we would have..." Lonnie winked at her and shot 
a look at his patrol partner. "But we didn't want to...ah... disturb 
you if you were other wise occupied with B'rand. If we'd known you 
were free, we wouldn't of dreamed of leaving you out."

"Not if you knew what was good for you, brother dear," she smiled 
sweetly. Lenna at her worst. "So! What did I miss out on? Did you 
guys come up with anything to tell us who might have done this to 
Dani?"

"Lenna...." Lonnie started, his eyes moved to send a quick glance 
Brisse's way before returning to her's, hoping she'd be smart enough 
to take the hint.

She shook off B'rand's hand on her arm and turn to face Brisse. 
"You'll have to forgive the men in our family Brisse," she smiled 
warmly at the girl. "It's long been inbreeded into them to act as 
self appointed protectors to each and every women on the planet."

"Lenna..." Farr'in said sternly, but she chose to ignore him.

"They seem to forget that just because we are women it doesn't mean 
that we're stupid or can't understand. I was sure I had cured them 
all of that fairytale."

"Lenna!!" Farr'in raised his voice. "That's enough!!"

"No Farr'in!! It's not enough! Brisse is apart of this as much as 
you or I," Lenna rounded on him. "You can't shut her out and try to 
protect her from all the bad things in the world. She already knows 
they are out there and won't thank any of you for pretending that 
they're not!!"

"Lenna let it go," B'rand reached out and took ahold of her arm. 
When she tried to pull away from him a second time, he refused to 
let her go. 

"Damn you Lenna," Dan'yar swore from the bed. "Can't you see how 
upset Bri is right now?"

"Oh I see find," she snapped. "It's the four of you who are blind. 
Brisse is a lot stronger than anyone gives her credit for. If only 
you'd give her a chance."

"Quiet Lenna," the red-head standing next to her said. Even he 
could see the Jr. Queenrider was upset. "I think you've said 
enough."

"No..." The sound of Brisse's voice stopped Lenna from saying 
whatever it was she had been about to throw at her lover.

"Lenna is right. I want to know. You can't always be there to 
protect me and I will have to learn to stand up for myself 
sometime."

"Bri, you're sure you're all right?" Dan'yar's voice was full of 
love for the girl as he took her hand in his.

"I'm sure," she met his eyes and smiled warmly. "Maybe I can even 
help."

Dan'yar looked at her for a full minute before nodding his head in
acceptance. "All right, but only if you're sure you're okay with 
this. If you have any doubts I hope you'll tell me."

"I will."

"Fine..." he said and turned to look at his older brother. 
"Farr'in you take Lonnie and B'rand to look around my apartment 
to see if you can find anything that might tell us who was waiting 
for me last night. Bri..." he turned to look at the girl. "They'll 
tell you everything they find out but for now you need to get over 
to the Warrenlady's office for your lessons. Cynthia will be 
expecting you. You can tell her what happened and what if anything 
the others find. I'd also like for you to talk to D'ren about maybe
stationing a few men around our apartment. I don't think they'll 
come back... but I don't want to have to worry about the girls 
walking in and finding someone there."

He could tell by the looks around the room that no one had thought 
about that possibility. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I'm sure D'ren will help Dan'yar," the girl assured him. "And the 
twins won't mind. They've taken a shine to him."

"And what do you have planed for me, Dani Dear," Lenna asked, the 
sarcastic sweetness back in her voice. Her arm still stinging from 
where B'rand had gripped it.

"Why you sister dear," he turned to face her. "Have a patrol to fly 
this morning."

"Not by myself, brother dear," she quipped. "If you remember 
correctly my patrol partner is laying in a med bed with cracked 
ribs."

"That's why you're going to be taking Nelar with you and showing 
her the area," he pointed to the girl who'd been standing quietly 
in the back of the room. "She's my replacement until J'errid 
assigns her to someone else."

The blond raised her chin up and squared her shoulders as if 
getting read to protest again, but B'rand chose that moment to 
grab her arm and turn to pull them both towards the door.

"We'll be back in a moment," he threw over his shoulder to those 
in the room, then hulled her out into the hall after him.

(Tag Allen :) 

"What do you bet his chances are?" Farr'in quipped as soon as the 
door was closed behind them. "It's to bad though...I was really 
starting to like the guy."

"I'll bet on my partner this time," Lonnie smirked. "He seems to 
be able to handle her better than any of us ever could."

"You're on," Dan'yar added his piece. "I'll bet on Lenna. There 
isn't a man alive who could tame her."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Lonnie laughed. "I think my twin 
has finally met her match..."

Brisse looked around the room from one brother to the next. 
Dan'yar saw the look of confusion in her eyes at the way they 
talked about their sister. "You have to know Lenna a little 
better to fully understand what's going on love. I'll tell you about 
her sometime."

"Will she be all right out there with him?" Brisse asked, thinking 
of the red-head and how angry he had looked before leaving the room.

"It's not her you should be worrying about," Farr'in chimed in. 
"It's B'rand."

Minutes later the door opened and the two came back in. The 
brothers, with the exception of Lonnie, (who had a big grin 
on his face) were surprised when Lenna didn't say anything, 
accept to turned to Nelar and asked if she was ready to go.

When the two women had left, Farr'in turned to B'rand and held out
his hand. "I don't know what it was but I want to know what ever  
you just said or did to her to make her back down so quickly!!"

B'rand just smiled. "Teach me how to beat her during our sword 
fight and maybe I will."

"You got yourself a deal," the older man laughed. "It'll be worth 
it, believe me. Lets go."

Together the three men headed off towards Dan'yar's apartment 
hoping to find something there to help them figure out what 
happened last night. Or better yet... Who had been waiting for 
him to come home.

******Submitted by: *********

Barbara (a.k.a.
Dan'yar & Shinner, 
Lenna & Blanchie, 
Lonnie & Meritanth
Farr'in & Tergath, 
My'kel & Voger  
the twins Leyean & Arly, 
Danki, Yarik. ........

Cleft Warren