[Syren's Ledge]

{SNIP}
<Does that mean it's my turn?>

It was only fair, Bohoc thought, <*Of course, Ayesha.  Now tilt your
head...*>

Ayesha complied, suddenly somewhat excited by the new activity.  <Like
this?>

<*Perfect!*>  She was a very quick study!  Bohoc leaned in and gave
Ayesha a
kiss, slipping his tongue gently into her mouth.

Oh, this WAS nice!  Ayesha leaned forward, moving her tongue in a
mimicry of
Bohoc's.

Bohoc wondered as the earth shook, wow, Ayesha really was quite good at
this.  However, to his shock, Ayesha, suddenly looking up, bit down...
hard.

<*Yipes!*>

<AHEM!  And just what do you think you are doing on *my* ledge?>  Syren
asked.
{END SNIP}

Bohoc's tongue slipped back into his mouth as he squeezed his eyes shut
due to the pain.  He thought he could taste blood, and surmised that it
was his own.

Ayesha's eyes sparkled nervously, and it was Trissana who regained her
composure first.  {We were practicing,} she replied to the platinum
queen.

{Practicing what?} Syren asked, although she suspected she knew the
answer.

{Ummm... Kissing.}

Syren sat back on her haunches and studied the trio.  Bohoc had managed
to open his eyes and he looked nervously at Syren.  The thought of being
banished forever from her ledge passed through his head and it concerned
him, alot.

{Practicing kissing on my ledge,} Syren thought to them in a stern tone,
{and I don't suppose any of you thought to invite me?}

The three looked at each other and Ayesha replied, {We didn't.}

{That was very inconsiderate of you.}

{It was,} Triss added, {but now that you're here, why not join us?}

{Hmmm,} Syren considered, {Perhaps I should banish you from my ledge
forever?}

{Please don't do that,} Tris replied, {Then I'd have nowhere to sleep.}

{Good point,} Syren replied.  She considered the issue for a moment
longer before deciding, {I suppose I will have to join you.}

She ambled forward a few feet, put her lips against Trissana's and
opened her mouth slightly.  Triss opened her mouth as well, and the two
ledge mates shared a kiss.

***
[Day 2 - near entrance to Hatching Cavern]


> Feysal, however, had slumped to the ground.
>
> Madyllin stood there shaking.  Turning on Andahar she yelled, "What were
> you thinking?  He could have stabbed me!"
>
> "Thinking?  I was rescuing you, you stuck up, arrogant bitch!"
> Andahar/Amar shouted back.
>
> Maddy froze for a brief moment, utterly taken aback.  However savage
> Andahar undoubtedly was, he'd never been outright rude before.  Gritting
> her teeth, she turned to Andahar and replied formally in the Nomad
> tongue,"Dog of Anavasha is fit only for slave of stone-tent women. Let
> Hehran make Andahar chunor - you are fit only to sire other men's
> children."
>
> Andahar clenched his fists, but made no move toward her, his eyes torn
> between hitting her for her insult and...and what?  At the back of
> Maddy's mind, the thought occurred that he could NOT possibly let so
> vile an insult pass, but he turned away with nothing more than a "You go
> too far".  Maddy watched him, her thoughts tumbling over one another.
> How...odd.
>
> Maddy spun away, stopping to level a vicious kick at the helpless Feysal
> before striding toward her own quarters.
>

Cynthia turned toward Andahar, "That was more than enough Andahar."

"It was what she deserved for insulting me," Andahar asked, an edge in
his voice.

"You did not have to return the favor."

"It was a matter of honor, but I would not expect you to understand,"
Andahar growled.  Then he turned and stormed off.

Cynthia watched him go for a moment before turning to Trevor, "What is
going on here.  Is everyone going mad?"

"I can't believe he kissed me like that," Trevor replied.

"Just assure me you didn't like it as much as when I kiss you."

"I didn't," trevor replied.

"Good."

Dan'yar walked over to Cynthia and Trevor, "I'm going to have Feysal
locked up."

"That's about the only thing we can do for now.  Find someone to keep an
eye on him.  I'd like ot have a little chat with him when he wakes up."

Dan'yar nodded and walked over toward the unconsious Feysal.

"What are you going to do with him?" Trevor asked gesturing toward
Feysal.

"I really wish I knew," Cynthia replied, "If it wasn't for Falorin, I'd
probably have Dan'yar fly him a long way from here, drop him off, and
hope he couldn't find his way back."

***
[Day 2 - Later - Med Center]


> Pain laced through her head as his hand came in contact with her jaw. Reain
> staggered backwards suddenly very dizzy, but before she could fall, his hand
> shot out to grab her and she felt a second blow before everything started
> going black.
>
> >From somewhere she could hear men shouting and babies crying.
> But it all seemed to be coming from a far off dream, only the pain in her
> head told her it was for real, and her mind took her back to a different
> time when she'd been beaten by her master.
>
> But this wasn't her master. This was Andahar, the man she loved. The man who
> said he loved her..... So why then was he beating her! What had she done to
> deserve this from him? Why had he turned against her?
>
> "Andahar why??" she forced out through bloody lips that were already
> swelling up quickly. "I loved you..."
>

Cynthia stepped into the room and looked from Andahar to Reain, and back
again.  Andahar's face showed his obvious rage, and his hands were still
balled into fists.  "It looks like you were right, Andahar," she said.

"Of course I was right," he hissed.  Andahar took a step toward Reain,
but Cynthia stepped between them.

For a moment it looked like Andahar might push her out og the way, but
he looked around the room at Dan'yar, Lonnie, My'er, Trevor and Turner,
and decided against it.  Instead he turned and stormed past Katrina and
Renata back out into the hall.

Saleh was awake now and jabbering on about her babies, but to Cynthia
she sounded very far away.  She turned from the door that Andahar had
just left through, and faced Reain.  Cynthia studied her face, and did
not see the eyes of a killer, just those of a frightened and confused
young woman.

"Trevor," she said with that tone of command in her voice that he'd come
to know, "get Reain something to put on her lip to stop the bleeding."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod and begin runnaging through
drawers.  A moment later he handed Reain a bandage which she pressed to
her lip.

"Thank you," she murmered.

"Don't thank anyone yet," Cynthia cautioned.

Reain averted her eyes and looked at the floor.

"Lonnie, Turner."

"Yes?" Lonnie responded for both of them.

"Take Reain to my office and keep her there," Cynthia told them, "I'll
be there shortly."

The two men stepped forward to take Reain's arms, but it wasn't
necessary.  She went with them willingly and it seemed to Cynthia that
the life had suddenly been drained from her.  Was this what a would-be
murderer was supposed to look like?

Cynthia turned to Dan'yar, "I'd like you and Katrina to remain here with
Saleh and make sure no one comes into this room without a very good
reason.  If you see anything suspisious or out of the ordinary, let me
know."  She turned and headed toward the door, "I'll be in my office if
you need me."

Cynthia walked through the halls of the Med Center aware of the
questioning looks of the people she passed.  Despite them, she didn't
volunteer any answers.

Once outside she relaxed a little as she spoke to her queen, *Syren, can
you please ask Ayesha to have her rider meet me outside my office as
soon as possible.*

She waited while her queen passed the message on.  {Ayesha's rider will
meet you there in a few minutes.}

Cynthia arrived at her office door and nodded to Lonnie and Turner but
said nothing.  When Maddy walked up, she saw the two men and asked,
"Ayesha told me you needed me.  What's going on?"

"Reain tried to kill Saleh's babies.  You and I are going to have a
little talk with her," Cynthia said.

Maddy looked shocked for a moment before supressing her emotions.  "I'm
ready."

"Do you want one of us in there with you?" Turner asked.

"That won't be necessary," Cynthia replied, "Just don't wander away or
fall asleep on the job."

Turner nodded, and Cynthia led the way into the office.

Reain was seated in a chair against one wall of the office.  Cynthia and
Maddy pulled over chairs and sat opposite the other woman.

After a moment Cynthia said, "Reain..."

Reain cut her off with a sob, and tears began to flow down her cheeks,
"I don't know why I did it," she wailed, "I don't even remember going
into that room."

Cynthia looked at Maddy, who shrugged, but somewhere a connection was
made, "You don't remember going into the room?  What is the last thing
you do remember?"

"I was talking to Dan'yar about the woman that he found and brought back
to the warren," Reain said hesitantly.

"What were you talking about?" Maddy prodded.

"I told him that it is Nomad custom that now the woman should care for
him, cook for him, because she owes him her life.  We talked in the
dining hall."

"Then what happened?"

"Then I went to get food.  I saw Andahar and hugged him.  Then...Then I
don't really remember.  We had a fight about something.  The next thing
I remember clear is him hitting me."

"In the dining hall?" Cynthia asked.

"No, in the med center."

Cynthia leaned back in her chair, and looked up at the ceiling.  After a
moment she turned to Maddy, "Do you remember how Feysal was talking?"

"I remember him saying that he was going to kill me several times,"
Maddy said, surprised by the purely analytical tone in Cynthia's voice.

"That wasn't what I thinking of.  He demanded that we bring the Nomad
leaders to him.  Not the chief of the Hehran and Rushella tribes.  He
knows what those tribes are called.  It was like he was speaking as if
he wasn't a Nomad," Cynthia explained.

"He was threatening to kill me, Cynthia.  Overall I don't consider that
normal behavior."

Cynthia nodded, "And I don't consider trying to kill two babies normal
behavior for Reain.  The connection here is Andahar."

"Andahar?" Maddy asked.


"He is the last person Reain remembers clearly before she got to the med
center, and he knocked out Feysal."

"I don't understand what that has to do with anything," Maddy said.

"I think that both Reain and Feysal were posessed."

"Posessed?  You've got to be kidding."

"I'm not," Cynthia replied, "There are things here in the Nomad Lands
that don't exist in the Dragon Lands.  When I first arrived here, I was
posessed.  The...thing inside me made me do some things that I wouldn't
have done, including kill.  The difference here is that this one can
move from person to person."

"I still think that this sounds completely ridiculous," Maddy said.

"Think about this.  Andahar suspected that Reain would try to harm his
sons.  If he took the spirit from Feysal and transported it to Reain,
then it may have left the suspicion in his mind.  That may have been
part of its plan."

Maddy sighed, "Assuming you're right, where is it now?"

Cynthia turned to Reain, "After hugging Andahar in the dining hall, the
next thing you remember clearly is him hitting you?"

"Yes," Reain answered.

Cynthia turned to Maddy, "There's your answer."

There was a knock at the door, and Cynthia reached over and opened it.
Seth stood outside flanked by Turner and Lonnie.  "I'm very sorry to
disturb you, ma'am."

"It's all right," she said guessing that the boy wouldn't have unless he
thought it was very important.

"A large group of Nomad riders have been seen coming this way.
According to one of the boys in the Rushela tribe, they are dressed for
war," Seth explained.

"This is interesting," Cynthia said, "Well, we'll just have to go see
what they want."

NRPG:
Ok, one post before leaving.  Any comments on Cynthia's idea of going to
meet the Nomads would be appreciated.  Since Cynthia has been posessed
before, it seemed logical that she'd eventually make a connection with
what's been going on.  She hasn't gotten it quite right, but she's on
the right track.

As I mentioned, I'll be away this week.  That means that Katrina is in
charge (although I don't expect any problems).

Arlene: Are you near-ish Orlando?

Alton
--
    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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