[Med Center - Day 4]

{Snip from Dana}

> Cynthia guided Saleh to an empty examining room.  When they were both
> seated, she began, "Saleh, I know you feel a sense of loyalty to Feysal,
> but I need to know the truth of what happened today.  I need to know if
> Andahar should be punished."
>
> "Why should Andahar be punished?"  Saleh wondered.
>
> Cynthia kept a close eye on Saleh's face, watching for any revelations
> in her expression.  "For breaking his oath to me.  That he wouldn't
> fight in the dining hall again."
>
> Saleh's eyes widened, almost imperceptibly if Cynthia hadn't been
> observing so closely.
>
> Andahar had promised...and had to break it?  The implications of that
> thought made her stomach do a flip-flop reminiscent of the baby
> somersaulting in her womb, only much less pleasant.  A frown flashed
> briefly, but she remained silent.
>
> Cynthia caught the slight reaction but merely waited silently.  Sooner
> or later the tension within the Nomad girl would drive her to speech.
>
> "I cannot say for Andahar to be punished.  Is Reain who needs
> punishment.  She attack me, hurt my baby!"
>
{End Snip}

"Reain?" Cynthia asked, "When did this happen?"

"This morning after..." Saleh's words faltered and  stopped abruptly.

"After what?" Cynthia asked hoping to draw more out of the girl.

"After Feysal got hurt," she replied confidently.

"Andahar wounded Feysal, didn't he?"

"I can not say."

"You do know how Feysal was wounded," Cynthia stated.

Saleh did not reply.  She simply sat holding the Warrenlady's gaze as
silence settled between them.

Finally, Cynthia ran out of patience.  She leand in close to the younger
woman, "I want to make this clear to you.  Andahar gave me his word.  If
I need to, I will banish him from this warren.  Then he will truly be
without a tribe.  What would his status be then, a Chief with no tribe?
If you know something that will prevent me from banishing him, I'd
suggest telling me, because I don't have much patience left."

[Tag Dana]

Cynthia left Saleh in the examining room and walked down the corridor
looking for S'lomon.  She found him just as he was emerging from
Feysal's room.  "Well?" she asked.

"If you're inquiring about our young Nomad friend, he'll be fine.  I
stitched up the wound and just want to keep him here until morning."

"Can you keep him a bit longer?" Cynthia asked.

"I can keep him here for weeks, if you'd like," S'lomon replied with a
grin.

"That won't be necessary," Cynthia responded with an ammused smile as
she pictured Feysal wrapped in bandages from head to foot, "I just want
to talk to Andahar before we have those two running around the warren
together again."

"You think there's something between Feysal and Andahar?"

Cynthia nodded, "And I think Saleh is the key.  Doesn't it strike you as
odd that she's going to marry Andahar, and yet she sought out Feysal?"

S'lomon considered the question for a moment, "A little, but I don't
pretend to fully understand the Nomads yet."

"Saleh said that she was attacked by Reain."

"This I do know something about," S'lomon said, "The rider that helped
Saleh come here said that the two had to be pulled apart."

"I think I need to figure out what's going on here before there's some
serious bloodshed."

"I would prefer that," S'lomon agreed.

****
[Dining Hall - Dinner-ish Time]

Cynthia sat alone at her table with her food and a stack of recently
arrived letters from Keldarra.  Her food was largely ignored and the
letters barely registered on her brain.  The trouble was not that she
was not hungry, or that she was not interested in the news from the
other warrens.  The trouble was that she was alone.

She reflected on the fact that she and Trevor had been together almost
all the time for the past year.  She knew he was safe, Trissana had be
good enough to communicate that, but stuck away from home for the
night.  "You're just being selfish," she mumbled to herself.

"Even though you're being selfish, do you have a moment?"

Cynthia looked up and saw Dan'yar standing across the table from her.
"For what?"

"I need you to help me discipline a rider for failure to perform her
duties," he replied.

"Something you're not capable of?" she asked suspiciously.

"In this particular case I'm finding it difficult to generate the
necessary annoyance."

Cynthia sighed and pushed her chair back, "Ok, let's go."

Dan'yar led her across the dining hall and out the door.  He turned and
headed down a corridor toward the store rooms.

Cynthia began to get suspicious, "Where are we headed?"

"She's right around the corner," he assured her.

Cynthia rounded the corner and stopped in her tracks.  Her eyes widened
and she gasped, "Lenna!"

Lenna broke into a smile, "That's what they tell me."

Cynthia stepped forward and embraced Lenna.

"Remember," Dan'yar said with a huge grin, "you're supposed to
discipline her for not performing her duties for the past year."

Cynthia wiped a tear away from her eye, "Where have you been?  I hate to
say it, but we'd given up hope of ever seeing you again."

[Tag Barb]

***
[Later - Cynthia and Trevor's Apartment]

There was a polite knock on the door, and Cynthia called, "Come in!"

The door swung open and Steh walked through the door.  "You wanted to
see me?"

"Are you ready for your first official delivery?" Cynthia asked.

Seth's eyes lit up, "Of course I am."

"Good," Cynthia smiled.  She held out a roll of parchment tied with a
green ribbon, "Take this to Keldarra and leave it for the Dragonlady.  A
good friend has returned and I want the news to get out."

"It will get there," Seth assured her taking the parchment.

"Just go easy on Alizarine," Cynthia cautioned.  "If he's tired, you can
spend the night at Keldarra."

"I'll be careful."

"I know you will."

Seth walked out the door and Cynthia sat back in her chair, {Well?}

*I talked to Alizarine.  He know's he's to spend the night if he's
tired,* Syren replied.  *I stressed just how upset I will be if he over
exerts himself.*

{Sometimes I envy your ability to convince the dragons to do things your
way.}

*They don't always listen.*

{ I know, but I like my illusions.}

***
[Next morning - Day 5]

Cynthia yawned, stretched and rolled over in bed.  Trevor wasn't there.
For a moment, she wondered if she had even dreamed seeing him the
evening before.  Clearly, she hadn't, because he helped to find
Dan'yar's missing twins.  He must have returned to spend the night with
the Nomad tribe that he, Andahar and Ankara had stumbled upon.  She was
vaguely envious.

Oh, well, Cynthia thought as she rolled out of bed, I can't have him ALL
to myself.

She headed toward the bathroom, and thought to Syren, {Can you tell
Sylois that I want to see her rider after breakfast.}

*I can,* Syren replied, *And Ayesha told me that her rider needs to see
you.*

Cynthia thought for a moment, {Tell her to have her rider come here if
it's important.}

NRPG:
Katrina: So, how close will Amar get to Cynthia this time?

Well, it's been a bad month for posting around here.  School for the
kids was winding down and there was all the associated craziness.  I'm
anxious to see what kind of mischief Amar can produce once inside
Cynthia.  Maybe he'll actually get to her...

Respectfully submitted,
Warrenlady Cynthia - Cleft Warren
Alton Reich
--
    Alton & Elizabeth Reich
    areich@alum.wpi.edu
"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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Failed tests, classes skipped, forgotten locker combinations. 
Remember the good 'ol days
http://click.egroups.com/1/4053/9/_/150597/_/960129791/
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