R'ven watched the departing back of Nefiri. He'd swear that sway of
her hips was more accentuated than was  usual.

The door closed with a quiet click and he sat back in the well worn,
well padded leather seat. 

Nefiri reminded him somewhat of Velara. Her strong personality was
very similar to his late mate. And her sexuality, from the
conversation that had just transpired, was tantalizing.

Smiling, he leaned back into the chair, closed his eyes and rubbing
the bridge of his nose, he thought about the woman he'd loved, still
loved, for over a decade.

He must have nodded off as the pain in his shoulder complained as he
shifted  position.

*Why did you let me fall asleep, Lizard!?* he complained half
heartedly to Zenith.

<Well you seemed so content, thinking about Lara, that I couldn't help
but think about my Jena. Lazing in the sun made me drop off too,> the
jet black dragon rumbled.

*We must be getting old,*  R'ven commented as he stood up and, placing
the flat of his hand against the wound , rotated his aching shoulder.

<What's this royal 'we'?> Zenith interjected with a hint of sarcasm.

R'ven let out a loud laugh that reverberated around the large, book
filled room.  *Well let's face it, Zen, there ain't anyway you can be
called a spring hatchling now is there?* he verbally sparred with his
life mate as he walked towards the door

<And would I want to be? Think of all the mating flights I'd miss
winning!>

*My oh my, your modesty overwhelms me!*  his face smiling broadly as
he swung open the door,  nearly bowling over his daughter.

"Da! What are you doing here?" Danika asked.

"I could ask you the same question, kitten."

"Don't think you can change the subject. Did Herin say you could
leave?"  a frown of concern tinged with anger crossed her face

*Hells and Hades! Why are women like this Zen?*

<Dont' ask me I'm just a spring hatchling. I don't know anything in
the ways of the world!> the innocent tone from his dragon made R'ven
groan.

"Kali tells me you didn't. So what are you doing here? And why aren't
you in bed!?" fury in her voice.

"Nika.. kitten..."

"Don't you , Nika or kitten me,  you... you..." she fumbled for words,
"rogue in dragons hide!"

R'ven raised his hand in submission, "Alright, alright I'm going!"

<Why on earth are you letting Dani bully you around, 'Ven?>

*Because it makes her feel important and I don't mind. Well not until
the novelty wears off.*

"And just what are you planning with that, black snake you call a
dragon?" she teased , seeing the grin appear on her father's face as
he finished speaking to Zenith.

His face took on an innocent look, "Me? Planning something with my
dragon? Perish the thought! I was actually thinking about getting
something to eat. Care to join me?" 

"Men! Why do you think us women are  so simple?"  Danika said,
steering her father out towards the Dining Hall.

***

Danika was  surprised by the attention the older man was getting,  not
only women, but men as well.

R'ven was obviously well liked and respected.

"You seem to have a harem of followers, Da," she smiled wiping a crumb
from the corner of his mouth.

"Hmmm?  Do I? I didn't realise that. They are people I know and work
with. I respect others abilities and make sure that their efforts are
recognised," he shrugged, "I'd like to think that we are friends too."

<WRAITHS!> 

Everyone in the room sat for a momment in silence then organised chaos
ensued. 

Riders running out onto the green; multi coloured bands of dragons
landing and taking off only to reland in wing formations.

R'ven stood up and was about to make his way out.

"Where on earth are you going?" demanded Danika

"To my wing."

"Not with that arm you don't!"

R'ven swung round to his daughter, his dark eyes burning into hers.
Holding her shoulders tightly he said, "I'm a dragon rider. I will not
let you stop me from doing my duty!"

Letting her go sharply, Danika almost stumbled.

She watched as the man, who had come to mean so much to her, follow
the other riders out. 

***

Gods he hated fighting wraiths. They made his skin crawl. But as much
as he loathed the task, there was no way that R'ven would shirk his
responsibility.  

Pulling on his jacket and riding gloves he made his way over to
Zenith.

"Were in the hell do you think youre going?" 

Blocking his way was Jayleigh. Gods not another woman stopping him
from doing his duty.

"Wraiths are attacking!!" he shouted back trying to pull his arm out
of the hold she had on him. "All riders are needed."

"You cant go Ven!" she shouted.

He saw the fear in her eyes. What was she frightened of? Not losing
him surely.

"Not with your injury. You wouldnt stand a snowballs chance in hell
of staying on Zenith long with only one good arm!!"

The grip on his arm tightened

"Ive got to go Jayleigh! All Dragonmen are needed."   He tried to
struggle against her vice like grip

"NO!!" she shouted, then aloud so that he would hear her and mentally
to her Queen she issued the following order. "<<TROY!! I want you to
tell Zenith that I am ordering his rider grounded from this fight. He
is NOT to take his rider and follow the others!! Is that
understood!?!>>"

"You wouldnt?" Rvens handsome face turned red in anger. 
Bloody women, he swore to himself

"I just did!" she said softly, knowing he was probably hating her
right now. "Im sorry Ven. Im so sorry, but I cant lose you too..
not now! I just couldnt bare it!"

The muscles in his cheek twitched as he clenched his teeth. How dare
she! Of all people she must know that when wraiths attack everyone is
needed.

<She's right you know, 'Ven.>

* Doesn't mean I have to like it does it?* he said removing his gloves
and glaring at Jayleigh.

Releasing her hold on him, the warrenlady backed away.

"I'm sorry that I've got to ground you, Ven. I need you here. More
than you can ever know!"

With that she turned and made her way towards her office. She could
feel R'ven's eyes burning into her back.

His anger subsided, running his hand through his hair, he walked back
towards the dining hall. Danika  had watched the whole episode from
the doorway and, as her father brushed past her, he growled, "Don't
you dare say, ' I told you so!'"

***

"Da?" the gentle tones of Danika offered him no comfort.

"Leave me, Danika," he said broodily. Looking up to the concerned face
of his daughter, he sighed, "I'm sorry child. I'm not good company
right now. I suggest that you go and see Jayleigh. She will assign you
to a task befitting your status. But for now,  just leave me."

He rose hunched shouldered from the table and walked out to the med
centre. He'd been thinking about this for most of the night and, as
much as he hated too,  decided that there was no alternative but to
talk to Shaidin.

'Pulling skeletons out of one's own cupborad is hard enough,' he
thought, ' but to do it to Tai?'

<You know it has to be done, my rider. Amadith knows to. He feels that
it is right. Anything is better than the limbo he and Tair'n are in.>

R'ven nodded mentally to his dragon.

			**********

The med centre was a hive of industry. Everyone working as a team, to
an outsider it must have looked chaotic.

He reached for the handle of the door to his mate's room, pushed his
long fingers through his hair, took a deep breath and entered the
quiet interior.

Shaidin looked up. R'ven's face was etched with concern and
discomfort.

"I think we need to talk," his voiced strained with the guilt that he
felt.

His eyes wandered over to Tair'n and he whispered, "I'm sorry, Tai.
Please forgive me!"

He followed Shaidin out of the room to her office.

			**********

Shaidin's Office.

With his back to her, R'ven looked out of the window towards the
gardens. His heart felt heavy and his mind was full of dark suspicions
that he wanted to and didn't want to set free.

Shaidin sat quietly and watched the man struggle to compose himself.
All his movements she could read. She knew the agony he was going
through. Wanting to help a man he loved, wanting to protect him,
wanting him, above all, to be well,to be whole.

"I should have known" he said quietly. "All those years ago, I should
have realised what was going on. The bruises, the excuses. It was my
duty to have seen it! But I failed to notice, I failed to protect an
innocent boy!" His voice full of guilt, remorse and self
recrimination.

"Why do you put the blame onto your shoulders, R'ven? You couldn't
have fortold the future."

Turning towards the composed voice of the healer he spat, "It was my
job! I was mentor to the newly joined. I should have realised the way
Miren always kept touching  Tai wasn't right. I thought she was just
over protective, like some mothers are.  Yes I knew her reputation as
a leech, but I didn't realise what she was doing to Tai!"

"And what was that?"

"It wasn't till Dan'tray said those god awful truths in the cavern
that I knew. Even then I chose to ignore it. I convinced myself that
he was lying. even though the evidence proved otherwise. That's why I
set fire to her. To protect Tai. And now I realise that what I did
only hindered not helped. It's my fault. All my fault!"

He collapsed into a chair and sobbed into his hands. Tears of shame
ran down his cheeks. 

She waited till the sound of his grief was contained and continued.
She knew full well that R'ven would need counselling, but afterwards.
Now was for Tair'n. Under other circumstances she would have used
shock tactics, but not on R'ven. She knew he would regain his thoughts
and get back to Tair'n.

"Tell me what happned in the cave," she leaned back in the chair. It
creaked and R'ven looked up.

He ran his fingers once again through his unruly hair and stared at
the wall above Shaidin's head.

"I found Tair'n on the floor, with Da'ntray standing over him.
Shouting... screaming at him to answer his questions. He kicked Tai.
There was no response and Da'ntray was about to attack him again. I
rushed him. We fought, he pressed my head..." he swallowed hard and
again buried his head in his hands. "There was a corpse of a woman.
Miren, Tair'n's mother. He started shouting obscenities and saying
that Tai killed his mother, that they..." again he paused. He
formulated the words in his mind, trying to think of a phrase that
wouldn't sound course or obscene. "That they were lovers. I guess
Miren couldn't get the love she craved from anyone else so she used
Tai."

Shaidin entwined her fingers, making the index into a steeple, resting
the bridge of her nose in the pinnacle. Everything was fitting into
place like a jigsaw. 

R'ven continued his tale.

"I thought that Da'ntray was making it all up. But the evidence, the
way Tai reacted when Miren was presumed dead, the stained clothes, the
body. Everything! But he was just a child. An innocent child that was
abused  mentally, physically and sexually.Who could blame him for what
he did?" his black eyes glazed with emotion

"The pictures that Zenith has been getting from Amadith..." he choked
back the tears. "The day that Miren disappeared, Tai was with her. The
images were disjointed, but I think that whoever Miren met... they
raped him. I have no idea why she didn't stop it. But if I was
Tair'n... I would have killed her too!" this admission shocked him.

He sat shaking, wanting to kill the men that had hurt his lover.  No,
dying was too good for them, he wanted them to suffer! He wanted to
inflict as much pain on them as he could. 
 
"R'ven?"

The rider looked up, his face drawn and pained. He saw understanding
in the brown eyes of the healer.

"It isn't easy is it?" she said, getting to her feet and walking over
to him. "It takes alot of courage to accept the truth. Even more to
tell someone else. From what you have told me and the information from
others, I think we have a good chance to get Tair'n back on his feet.
It won't be easy. He is going to need as much support as possible. I
can understand your reticence, but your honesty has helped me a great
deal. I now know where to start," she was crouched by his side, her
arm drapped round his shoulder.

R'ven's hands held her shoulders pulling her to his face. Weeping, he
buried his head into Shaidin's soft body. 

She held him, stroking his hair, "We'll make sure he gets better,
R'ven, that I promise!"

			***********

Tair'n's Room.

R'ven kept hoping to see an improvement in Tair'n. Shaidin's
encouragement and technique didn't seem to be working.

They were sitting next to his bedside, R'ven holding one of Tair'n's
hands, Shaidin the other.

>"It's not working," R'ven whispered, dejected.

>Shaidin stood and pulled R'ven from the bed, speaking quietly.  "It may
>not work right now, but he's hearing us.  I believe he'll come around."

>And then there was a gasp from the bed.  They turned to see the slight
>form of the Alpha Wingleader sitting up.  He looked at them, his eyes wide
>with pain, and spoke one word, in a strangled voice.  "Gerald."


>Then they heard the dragons' crying outside.  It wasn't quite the keening
>of ones who had lost one of their own.  Then the sounds in the hallway
>exploded with running footsteps and shouting.

>Torn between going to his lover, and wondering what was going on outside,
>R'ven threw open the door just in time to see a stretcher go past.  On it,
>the Gamma Wingleader lay, very still, his blond hair soaked in blood.

>"Oh, gods," R'ven whispered, as he turned to see his mate curling up on
>the bed, curling into himself.  Shaidin was already there, physically
>trying to stop Tair'n's retreat.

He stood motionless. 

"Shaidin, I have to go," his face bore the mark of someone torn
between loyalties.

Without looking up, she asked, "Why? He needs you here!"

"Jayleigh. I need to get her.  Gerald..." the words trailed off.

"Of course. Go but please hurry. I need you here too!"

R'ven turned and fled from the room. The picture of Tair'n trying to
retreat into himself, and Gerald's bloody body firmly in his mind.

***

Zenith collected his rider and glided across the green. R'ven leapt
from his back, jarring his arm as he landed. He sucked in air through
gritted teeth as he ran up the steps to Jayleigh's office. Without
knocking, he barged through the door.

He looked at the young warren lady, colour draining from her face. He
must have  seemed like a man possessed as he made his way into the
room.

"R'ven!?"

Ignoring the others in the office; Rezzia was talking to Gossimor, he
didn't give a damn about the over bearing, pompus bastard. All he
wanted was to jet Jayleigh over to the med centre.

Striding over to her desk, R'ven helped Jayleigh up. Making their way
to the door, Jayleigh turned to Gossimor.

 "Please forgive me Lord Gossimor. Rezsia will help you with
whatever you need. I really must be going..."

***

R'ven helped Jayleigh onto Zenith and the large black beast once again
rose into the air for the brief flight to the Medical Centre. She said
nothing, her face pale, her body shaking.

Entering the building, R'ven lead her to one of the orderlies who then
escorted her down the corridor.

Regaining his composure, R'ven  quietly opened the door to his mate's
room.

Shaidin was struggling with Tair'n. Forcing him to stay with her.

>"No, Tair'n, you have to stay with us.  You must," she insisted.

>"Can't," he cried.  "No..."  He couldn't remember those dark places.  He
>had to find a way to forget.

R'ven strode across the room to his lover's side and lifted Tair'n's
face so he was forced to look into R'ven's dark eyes.

> "You know Gerald's hurt.  You have to be
>here for Jayleigh.  She needs you, Tai.  I need you.  Don't leave 
>us now."

>  "I'm a monster.  You don't need me.  I killed her... oh, gods,
> I killed her..."

Pulling him from Shaidin, R'ven wrapped his arms tightly around
Tair'n's body. He could feel his mate's tears soaking into his shirt.

  "No, Tai, no..." he whispered, rocking back and forth gently with
Tair'n in his arms like a child, trying to shield him from the world
of horrors that was now engulfing them all.



R'ven and Zenith


nrpg:

sorry this has taken so long :(

my monitor has been playin up and writing in time windows of about 20
minutes is not easy :((

still it seem ok atm (fingers crossed)

I know I haven't carried the plot on further but I need to get out how
R'ven felt with all that is goin on.

So it's tag to Lyn 

Next time folks , give me some more room for moving around the
timeslots  huh? ;))

Lea
ps please not that I'm on holiday in two weeks time (5th sept) for two
weeks.