Renata
(shortly before the egg-theft, somewhere in the Nomadlands)

     Uncertain of just why she was doing it, she walked up behind C'aranth and
put her arms around his muscular chest.  But she had felt...something, before,
when they'd been sharing old stories of vanished days at Epion Warren.  And
she had certainly felt something when they'd kissed.

     Damn...even though they'd come from the same place, she barely knew the
man.  And yet...she felt like she knew C'aranth far better than she would ever
know her master, the Lord of the Nomadlands.  When he'd left Epion so long
ago, there were some who'd said he was crazy.  But if so, she at least
understood the reason for it - the gods only knew what she herself would be
like if she ever lost Vega.  Khazeen's mind,  by contrast, was a murky shadow
that she feared no light of sanity, however small, would ever penetrate.

     She'd been so lonely all these months...with no one but her Lord, Vascone
and his rogues, and an assembly of Nomad children who couldn't even speak her
language.  She needed someone to reassure her, to tell her that the entire
world hadn't been plunged into her own darkness.  Perhaps C'aranth was that
someone.

     She pressed herself against him more tightly.  "C'aranth...I will take
you to Jhezrael to confront Zelandreth, if that is truly your wish.  But have
you thought of what you would face there?  When I took you away from
those...riders, earlier, I meant to save you, not help you commit suicide."

     C'aranth half-turned, placing his hand over one of hers.  "There is
nothing left to save," he told her stoically.  "My dragon is dead, and the
queen - this Zelandreth, as you call her...is responsible.  "As long as she
lives to gloat over what she did to *her*, I can never be complete.  Perhaps
even her death will not be enough...but I must try!"

     "I know you have killed dragons," Renata said.  "I saw what you did to
Dhasa in the cavern - and what he did to you.  He nearly killed you as well.
Zelandreth is a worse opponent by far...larger, more viscious...and her
wilders would defend her to the death!  Besides...have you considered that if
you slay her, her rider will be as you are now?"

     C'aranth frowned in thought.  "The queen has no rider.   Were you not
there the day she escaped Epion?  She hates humans!"

     "That she does," Renata admitted.  "But say what you will, she is joined
to Isara."

     "That is not right," he said.  "She cannot be joined!"

     "Then maybe this isn't the same queen," Renata suggested.

     "The Nomad woman Ankara described her perfectly," C'aranth insisted.
"And you have seen her yourself, have you not?"

     Renata nodded.

     "And is she the one I seek?"  He tightened his grip on her hand.  "Tell
me the truth, Renata!"

     "I...I believe her to be the queen who escaped from Epion," Renata said
finally.  "The other mystery...I cannot explain.  I thought that perhaps she
joined after leaving."

     "You, a rider, know this is not possible."

      Renata nodded.  "C'aranth...there is one thing more.  Khazeen has plans
for Zelandreth, though I don't know what they are.  He would never allow you
to even reach her!"  She released him, and he turned to face her.  "I have
told you about Zelandreth...now let me tell you about Shamir!  He is worse
than *five* Zelandreths!  He is insane, C'aranth!  He kills both humans and
dragons as easily as you or I would skin a rabbit!  A few days ago, I watched
him take down Vega as easily as if she were a runnerbeast!  Had not Khazeen
intervened, he would have slain her without a thought!  *This* is the creature
you would have to fight before you ever got within shouting range of your true
enemy!  You would have no hope...C'aranth...he would slaughter you, and use
that lance you cherish so much to pick what's left of you from his teeth!"

     She turned away from him, her voice husky with emotion and tears
beginning to form in  her eyes.  After a moment, C'aranth laid his hands on
her shoulders.  "Why do you serve him, then?" he asked.  "This Khazeen may
have persuaded the Nomads that he and his dragon are gods, but you know
better!  Why is it that I find you here instead of at Epion, where you
belong?"

     She whirled around, her expression angry.  "Because I was *banished* from
Epion, and from all the warrens!  Haven't you figured that out yet?"

     She sank down to her knees, and C'aranth knelt also to put an arm around
her shoulder.  "You obviously remember my father," she told him.  "Did you
know he is dead?"

     C'aranth's eyes widened in shock.  "No!" he hissed.  "How?"

     "Murdered, by the close friend of a local lordling, while he was out on
search.  The man picked a fight with him, and when my father refused to be
baited, he stabbed him in the back!"

     "Was he not punished?" C'aranth demanded, shocked.

     "Oh, yes," she said bitterly.  "Sentenced by his close friend the
magistrate...ten lashes, for a man's life!  Landbound justice!"  She spat the
last words out like a curse.

     "But...Renata, why were *you* banished?"

     She wiped her streaming eyes.  "I was at the trial...and after the
*punishment* had been rendered, my father's murderer walked down the aisle
grinning at me...the damned lashes had barely touched him!  He laughed in my
face!  The next thing I knew...my knife was buried to the hilt in his chest!"

     "I grieve for the loss of your father," C'aranth said, tightening his
embrace.  "He was a good and honorable man."

     Renata nodded.  "The Dragonlady of Epion had no choice, of course...the
laws are the laws, and I broke them knowingly...and I knew that I had to
accept my punishment, no matter how justified I thought my actions were."

     "So you were banished," he said needlessly.

     She nodded again, wiping her eyes on a square of cloth he handed her.
"You have no idea what that is like...stripped of my rank, everything that had
been of meaning or value to me.  Drummed out of the warren and the civilized
lands with nothing more than what I was wearing, and Vega."

     She raised her eyes to his.  "You asked why I serve Khazeen...where else
is a banished rider to go, but to join others like him or herself?  In other
words, rogues!"  She chuckled bitterly.  "In fact, few even of those will take
a banished female rider into their ranks...Roland certainly would not have,
and even though he is dead I doubt his successor feels differently.  I doubt
that Vascone would take a female rider either...he abducts women and forces
them into prostitution!"

     "I didn't know," C'aranth said simply.

     "You would have no reason to," she told him.  "When I first met Khazeen -
he went by a different name then - he talked about a dream of founding a
*real* warren for people like us!  When Jhezrael was established, I thought
the dream was on the verge of fulfillment...that is, until I learned that he
is even madder and more dangerous than the others!"

     "Yet you are willing to go against his wishes and take me to Jhezrael,"
C'aranth pointed out.  "It is time.  Renata, I need my lance if I am to fight
those dragons!"

     Renata wanted to scream with frustration.  With an unexpected move, she
pushed C'aranth down onto his back, and straddled his chest.   Before he could
even utter a word of surprise, she leaned down and kissed him long and
passionately.

     "I ask," she said softly, that you stay with me this one night. Forget
Jhezrael, forget Zelandreth, at least until tomorrow.  I would show you that I
am more than a rogue...and perhaps show you as well that there might still be
a life for you without your revenge!  Perhaps even a life for us! If, in the
morning, you still feel the same, I will retrieve your lance for you and take
you where you wish to go!"

     She reached down and began to tenderly stroke his chest, pressing her
lips against his once again as Vega crooned encouragingly from nearby.

(Tag Darren!)

NRPG: I thought I'd take the opportunity to bring out Renata's story, and show
that she isn't quite as evil as she may have seemed at first.  Also, I wanted
to set things up to do a little more with Zelandreth, who's been almost a
"forgotten" villain at Jhezrael (with, no doubt, some good opportunities for
her "rider," right Kate? :)  

Well, Darren...C'aranth has an interesting choice!  Though neither of them
know this, if he turns down her offer of a night together and insists on going
quickly to Jhezrael, they could slip in almost unnoticed - the bad guys are
mostly away, and Renata doubtless knows ways into Jhezrael other than the
front door!  If, on the other hand, they go in the morning, the whole rogues'
gallery will be waiting to greet them! :)

Also...I'm working on my Trevor post right now, so it should be out no later
than tomorrow.

Submitted by:

John

Renata & Vega
Jhezrael