[Cynthia's Apartment]

{SNIP}
But Syren persisted, <Why do you say that your rider is soon going to be
as
happy as ours?>

Bohoc opened his eyes and looked up at the beautiful swirling eyes of
Syren,
<Because he just acquired a female for himself!  Syrois' rider.>

<Acquired?>  Syren questioned.

<Well, from what I can understand, her uncle just gave her to him...>

Syren pondered that for a moment. She wasn't familiar with the terms
that
Bohoc was using, and sent a querrie to her soul mate.

<*Cynthia?  What does Bohoc mean when he says that his rider just
"acquired"
Syrois' rider?*>
{END SNIP}

"Acquired!" Cynthia exclaimed.

Trevor stepped out of the closet and looked over at her like she had
gone a bit insane, "Excuse me?"

"Syren just asked me what Bohoc meant when he said that Andahar had
acquired Reain.  To me it sounds like he bought her."

"Maybe there's some confusion between the languages.  Maybe it's the
Nomad way of saying they've become mates?" Trevor smiled, "There's been
a lot of that going on lately."

Cynthia frowned, "It sounds too much like a business transaction.  Maybe
I should ask Katrina's father what he thinks."

Trevor chuckled, "I don't think the Nomads are ready to deal with Samuel
Silvara quite yet."

"You're probably right.  Now hurry up and get ready.  I want to get
there so I can get you back here."

***
[At the Party]


>      "I'm really not sure," she admitted.  "I do remember that I provided the
>  music that time."
>
>       "And now it's being provided by the Cleft Warren Orchestra," Trevor
>  observed, "conducted by a man using a sword instead of a baton."
>
>       "Still, it's very romantic," Cynthia told him.
>
>      "Yes it is," he agreed, as they drew closer and kissed without missing a
>  single step in the dance.  For that moment, they forgot that the dining hall
>  was filled with people, and had eyes only for each other.  "But tonight is
>  different in another way, too."  Seeing her questioning look, he went on.
>  "Tonight is the beginning of forever...for us."   And they leaned into one
>  another once again, and their lips met.
>

Cynthia's lips parted slightly and Trevor responded by probing between
them with his tongue.  She flicked the tip of her tongue along his and
their tongues began to dance in time to the music.  The room full of
people was forgotten as they moved as one.  Cynthia could feel the
warmth of Trevor's body against her and her own internal fires were
stoked.  She longed for nothing more complicated than to take him back
to her apartment, their apartment, and make love to him until the sun
came up.

As the music played she imagined she could feel him inside her.  Cynthia
pictured every thrust and impact between them.  Her breathing became
more shallow and rapid.  Her heart sped up.

Trevor felt the change in her rhythm and became instantly concerned.  He
broke their kiss and asked, "Are you all right?"

Cynthia's eyes snapped open, and she flushed red, "Sorry," she
stammered, "I was just thinking about what I was going to do you later.
I guess I got carried away."

"I'll say," he agreed kissing her forehead and feeling her heat, "you're
warm enough forh the both of us."  He snagged two wine glasses from a
passing member of the kitchen staff and handed one to Cynthia.

They both drank deeply, and Trevor took the empty glass from Cynthia and
placed it on a nearby table.  "Better?"

"Yes," she agreed, "and I'll try to behave myself until we get home."

Trevor laughed, "I'll be looking forward to it.  The getting home part I
mean."  He took her hand and led her back out on to the dance floor.


> Cynthia was dancing with Trevor when her arm was caught and she was turned.  C'aranth held
> her arm,  "Warrenlady I must talk with you, alone."
>

Cynthia turned toward him and glared at him, "This had better be
important."

"I can assure you," C'aranth said, "it is vitally important."

Cynthia looked back at Trevor, and he nodded to her.

"Ok," she said to C'aranth.


> He stepped away, the crowd folding in
> behind him.  Cynthia patted Trevor's arm and followed.
>
> The two stepped into the hallway outside the room full of people celebrating.  "What is it
> C'aranth?"  She could finally talk in a normal voice without having to try and speak above the
> crowd.  She looked at him, he was covered in dust and mud caked his boots and trousers to
> the knee.  Small bits of grass and twigs were stuck in his hair.
>

Whatever he had to say, she could guess it wasn't a comment about the
food served at the party.  He clearly wasn't dressed for it.

{NOTE: I changed some stuff here.  See the NRPG at the end for the
reason.}

> "There is an army moving to the warren, only about one hundred men.  But they are moving fast
> and trying to keep it hidden.  I doubt a dragon rider would see them unless her knew what he
> was looking for.  Their colors are struck and they are moving in a staggered line formation.
> Four scouts about five hundred feet in the lead in arrowhead formation, and the archers are
> bringing up the rear."  He looked at her.  "I thought you should know, incase you wanted to
> form a couture attack.  I thought you might want to strike them before they reached the
> warren."
>
> "Are they going to attack the warren?"  She looked at him all covered in mud and filth.  "What
> makes you think they are going to attack us."
>
> "No disrespect, but I know a war party when I see one.  They had this on their surcoats."  He
> pulled out a drawing of a coat of arms from the bag that was on his back.  "I was out drawing
> when I spotted them, on the ground they are not hard to find, but they kept to the heavy
> foliage.  They were trying to keep out of dragoneyes.  At their current rate of travel they will be
> here by dawn on the day after tomorrow."
>

"They aren't Nomads," Cynthia observed, "the dress is all wrong."

C'aranth nodded his agreement, having reached the same conclusion long
before.

"That leaves two questions.  Why would a landbound force want to attack
Cleft?  And where did they come from?" Cynthia asked.

"Those are good questions, but we'll have ample time to answer them
after we prepare to defend ourselves against the attack," C'aranth
urged.

"But we don't know if they are going to attack the warren."

"No," C'aranth agreed, "but the warren is the only thing here to
attack."

Cynthia nodded and projected to her queen, *Syren, please ask Shinner to
have his rider meet me here at once.*

{Shinner's rider will be there as soon as he gets out of the crowd.}

Dan'yar came down the hall a few moments later, "You needed me?" he
asked looking over the muddy C'aranth.

"Yes," Cynthia said, "C'aranth saw a force of about 100 armed men moving
toward the warren.  He can tell you where he was when he saw them.  I
want you to double the patrols in that area.  I want confirmation that
they are there, and I want to give them the impression that we know they
are coming."

"Are you sure it's wise to give up the element of surprise like that?"
C'aranth asked.

"I'm hoping that they are counting on surprise.  Maybe if they realize
they can't surprise us they'll turn back."

"We shouldn't have any trouble spotting them," Dan'yar said.

C'aranth shook his head, "They are being very careful to keep from being
spotted from the air."

"Jinam and Mateen!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"What?" Dan'yar asked.

"Don't worry about it.  Just get to my office, I have all the maps that
Trevor has made there.  C'aranth will show you where to add the
patrols.  Let's see if we can head this thing off."  *Where is Bohoc's
rider?* Cynthia asked Syren.

{He is with Trissana's rider,} Syren replied and she sent her a mental
image of the lower green.

***
[Lower Green]

Cynthia found Trevor and Andahar standing together and talking in the
soft moonlight.  Seeing them this way didn't make her feel at all
uncomfortable, but she wondered if it should.  "I'm glad I found you
both together."

"Is something wrong?" Trevor asked coming over to her.

"I'm not sure.  C'aranth says he spotted an armed force coming this
way.  I'm having Dan'yar double the patrols in that area, but C'aranth
says they are keeping out of sight under the trees."

"We can land dragon in forest and find them," Andahar suggested.

"I had a similar idea, but I was going to see if the Hanan Tribe would
help us," Cynthia said.  "Trevor please meet C'aranth in my office and
find out where he was.  Then meet us in Jinam's home."

"Ok," Trevor replied, "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Andahar, could you come with me?"

The nomad nodded and fell in beside her as they walked toward where the
Hanan tribe lived outside the walls of the warren.  "Andahar, Syren told
me earlier that you have acquired Reain.  Are you two now mates?"

"No.  Her uncle gave her to me," he replied flatly.

Cynthia filed that away for further consideration.

***
[Stone tent of Jinam]

Matteen and Jinam sat cross legged on the floor across from Cynthia and
Andahar.  "You want us to fight?" Jinam asked.

"No I just want you to watch them, count them and tell me how many there
are," Cynthia explained.

Matteen picked up his sword and laid it across his lap, "Living in stone
tent has not made us forget how to fight."

"I know, but I want to know more about what is going to happen before
any fighting starts.  I want to try to avoid any fighting if I can."

There was a rap on the door and Trevor walked in with a rolled up map.
He unrolled it and showed them where C'aranth had reported seeing the
soldiers.

Jinam studied the map, "We know this place.  We will be there before sun
awakens."

"Thank you," Cynthia said.

They all stood and the three riders walked into the moonlit night.
Cynthia barely supressed a yawn.

"Ready to go home?" Trevor asked.

She nodded, "I think tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"So that means we can't stay up all night?" Trevor asked.

NRPG:
I hate to do this (and I rarely do), but I'm going to change the
timeline a bit.  In Darren's last post he said that Vorbis' soldiers
would arrive at dawn on the day after the mating party.  Since a number
of people had already written events that occurred on the day after the
mating party (Barb: the meetings between Cynthia and Reinen, Andahar and
Rein; and Kris G: Meena finding out she is pregnant) I'm going to push
the soldiers' arrival back a day.  I think that some of the event
wouldn't have happened with an attacking army at the front gate.  This
will also allow time to worry about what's going to happen.  So the
timeline will look like:

Day 3:
The Hatchlings begin training.
Triss rises to mate and is won by Bohoc.
Renata (Rita) returns to Cleft Warren.
Vorbis hires Serina as a maid.
Vorbis sends Lady Amberylle with a message to General Tarkan (probably
by dragon, although it wasn't specified).
Tarkan and the troops mobilize for the march to Cleft.
Mating party.
C'aranth tells Cynthia what he saw.

Day 4:
Cynthia meets with Rainen.
Cynthia meets with Andahar and Reain.
Meena passes out and finds out that she's pregnant.

Day 5:
Vorbis' troops arrive around dawn (NOT WRITTEN YET!!!)

Any questions?

I know I missed a couple of tags.  I'll try to get to them in the next
post.  In the mean time, the warren will be preparing a defense against
an attack.

Darren: I'm guessing that the target of the attack is Rainen's tribe.
Cynthia will try to prevent the attack, but she really has no authority
to interfere in landbound affairs (and technically the Nomads are
landbound).  I don't know yet how she'll respond.  (I also don't know
exactly what you have in mind.  I do have a feeling I'm going to like
it.)

Also, we have a new lurker: Copper Trombone <grey_wyvern@hotmail.com>

Respectfully submitted,
Warrenlady Cynthia - Cleft Warren
Alton Reich
--
    Alton & Elizabeth Reich
     alton.reich@snet.net
"Love is born with solar flares / From two magnetic poles /
It moves toward a higher plane / Where two halves make two wholes"
-- Rush, The Speed of Love



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