(Jadain)

Jadain was at lose ends. His mom was busy and his Uncle Ja'ks was 
who knows where. (it wasn't polite to bespeak another's dragon 
unless requested or and emergency) So when the thoughts from 
Sienra entered his mind, tell him her rider wanted to know if he 
was free, he immediately said yes.

<<Where would she like for me to meet her?>> the young telepath 
sent the reply.

<On the green.> the dragon replied back.

<<Should I bring anything? >> he asked, wondering if he'd have 
time to go and retrieve the knives Rezsia had given him to use.

<Any weapon besides the sword that you've been practicing with,>

And he was, arriving only moments after Dyanisa with an eager 
grin on his  face.  To his credit, it drooped only a little when 
he didn't see any visible weapons on her, especially the halberd.

She greeted him with a smile and got down to business.  "Know...
other weapons?"

"Rezsia is teaching me how to use knives." he told her and then 
watched as she bent over and scraped together a rather large snow 
ball.   Straightening, she held the snowball in her flat right 
hand about a foot away from her body, positioning it so that from 
Jadain's line of sight, the snowball was against a white background.

"Hit it," she said tersely, knowing no more explanation was needed 
from the disbelief on the boys face.

"Uh, shouldn't you put it down some where first, Dyanisa?" he asked
uncertainly with his knife in his hand.

"No, hit it."  When he still hesitated she added a stern "Now!"

Looking at her like she was nuts, he threw, and would have grazed 
her right hand if she hadn't moved it.

"Good."  

He scampered past her to retrieve the knife out of the snowbank 
landed in. He started to put it away when she cleared her throat
meaningfully. Blushing slightly, he wiped the blade on his shirt.

"Keep," she said, before he put the knife away.  Suddenly, she 
lunged at him.  Instinctively he brought up the knife, but not 
with the expertise that comes from being trained with it.  She 
whirled past him and sighed.

"Put...ground," she said, gesturing to the knife.  Confused, he 
complied and looked at her bewilderedly.  From behind him he 
thought he heard a bird calling out and turned his head to look, 
the next second he caught sight of Dy coming at him again. 
Spinning on his heels he caught up the knife in his hand and held 
it up in what he hoped to be a good defensive block.

"Now try... do same after I do," She told him and he did his best 
coping her until the movements got easier to do. Finally after 
making him repeat the same moves over and over, the woman seemed 
to feel he was doing it right. To him it 'felt' right. 

"Good," she said.  Jadain stopped, wiping the sweat out of his 
eyes. "Tomorrow?"

"Ok, is Sienra going to call me again when you want me?" Jadain 
asked while retrieving his knife which was still on the ground.

"Yes, ok?" 

"Yeah, see you tomorrow.  Thanks," she smiled wickedly as he 
turned and walked back inside. 

*********

(Jer'lin)

Jer'lin had just about given up on the young wilder, waiting 
impatiently when they arrived.

"Your late," was all he said in a cool tone, and saw her nod 
her head briefly before moving turning away from him and began 
to saddle up her dragon, Sienra

The Hatchling trainer stood there frowning at the girls lack of 
respect for his position, and the casual way she just blew him 
off. I stood there silently waiting for her to turn back to him 
and offer some kind of explanation for her tardiness.

<<Banta please inform the pair that today's lesson will have to 
be cut short since they arrived late and the sun will be going 
down soon.>> Jer'lin snapped, still fuming.

<The young one said that Viktroy's rider asked that she show the 
wild one who was found the other night around the Warren and then 
take her by to see the school teacher.>

<<Well tell her I was not informed about the Warrenlady's request 
and it might have been nice for her to tell me, as I had to arrange 
my schedule to make time for her lesson today.>>

Dyanisa turned towards Jer'lin, only to see disbelieving fury on 
his face. Banta must have relayed the conversation to him.  Why 
was he angry? He seemed to grow angrier by the moment as she 
looked calmly at him.

"Lesson is canceled.  I'm too angry with you to teach you.  Come 
back tomorrow right after lunch.  And I mean right after lunch." 
He turned abruptly on his heal, and stalked off.

The older man couldn't believe how the younger generation was 
growing up these days. Never would he have ever dared ignored a 
trainers direct order without good cause. Nor would he have left 
the man hanging without word for over a half of an hour with at 
least letting him know why.

The thing that made Jer'lin the angriest, was that the girl 
didn't even seemed to realize that she had done wrong. Well that 
would be where their lesson started tomorrow. He would let her 
know that if she wanted to stay here in the Warren, she would have 
to learn how to take orders from others and forget her old ways. 
Here each rider needed to know they could depend on the others he 
fought with, and if she couldn't handle that... then well... She 
needed to learn some discipline or she would end up being a 
liability to the Warren instead of an assist. 

He hated to go to Jayleigh with this when he really didn't have 
to yet. He would give the girl one more chance and after his talk 
with her, if it proved to do no good... then he would have a talk 
with his daughter and maybe get Tair'n involved in it. 

Come to think about it, the man thought.. that might not be such 
a bad idea! Maybe Tair'n could give him some ideas in how to best 
deal with the girl. In some ways they were a lot alike. The big 
difference was that the Alpha Wingleader, was dedicated to his 
Wing and the safety of the Warren. Where he might flaunt 
convention in dealing with his love life... he was one hundred 
percent a dragonman when it came to this Warren. 

<<Banta will you please see if Amadith's rider is available to 
have a short talk with me about a problem I seem to be having?>>

Instead of waiting for an answer to his request, the Warrenlady's 
father turned towards the Alpha Leaders apartment. 

<<Amadith said is rider is willing to talk to you, if you would 
like to come along now.>>

-----------

The door to the apartment Tair'n still shared with R'ven was 
slightly ajar when he arrived a few minutes later. Jer'lin 
pushed it slightly open and called out before the younger man 
called out to him from the other room.

The older man was shocked to see Tair'n sitting up on the bed 
and was about to tell him off when he noticed the large white 
bandages taped around the mans middle. He'd forgotten the man 
had been stabbed, but he'd also never heard just how serious 
the mans injuries were.

"How you feeling?" he asked, clearing his throat as he pointed 
towards the bindings with one hand as he took a seat.

"Like I want to be back with my wing," Tair'n said somewhat 
cryptically. Then his amber eyes took on a strange light as he 
looked the older man. "Look Jer'lin if you've come to talk to 
me about Jayleigh and I getting together...."

Jer'lin's mouth dropped open. Jayleigh and Tair'n? When did this 
happen. He knew about his daughters feelings.. but he hadn't 
heard they'd worked things out. "So she finally owned up to her 
feelings, did she?" He grinned. "I was wondering how long it would 
take her. That wasn't why I came here to talk to you. But as long 
as you brought it up... I would like to know what your feelings 
are for my daughter?"

(tag Lyn:... can he set a doting daddy's mind to rest? You can 
talk about Dy if you have the time.. if not I'll get to it later.)

******

(Jayleigh)

"Maybe you'll reconsider how you want things to be, and choose us 
both. I happen to believe that having you some of the time is 
better 
than not at all."

"What about your new bed mate?" She throw at him, unable to hide 
the hurt in her voice.

"You were jealous!"

"No! I was hurt...that you found someone else so quickly." Hell 
yes she had been jealous. How could he have just gone from her 
bed to sleep with someone else. It had hurt to know it had been 
so easy for him. 

Gerald chuckled. "Jayleigh, I'm beginning to see that we are a 
lot more alike than I care to think." He turned, dressed. As the 
warrenlady began to  do the same, he said, "I don't know what to 
say to Kiree. It's a horrible thing, starting a relationship 
because you're...jealous of someone else. But I don't know how 
she feels about me, either; maybe she doesn't care."

"I doubt that." she frowned, wishing the tall handsome bard 
wouldn't talk about himself that way. He was a good person and 
any woman would be honored to share his bed... she'd seen the 
looks some of the girls threw in his direction when they thought 
no one was looking. If he didn't think so little of himself, he 
may have noticed. He was every bit as sexy as Tair'n was. The 
difference was that Tair'n knew it and how to use his looks to 
his advantage.

He turned and kissed her. This time she responded immediately; 
Gerald could feel the heat building again in his loins...he broke 
the kiss and said, "Think about it. But please, don't leave me 
hanging. Decide what you want to do so we can move on, one way 
or another." With that, he left.

She wanted to call him back, wanted to tell him... oh hell!! She 
didn't know what to tell him. He had let her know what was in his 
heart and it would only be fair to tell him what was in her heart 
as well. The problem was, she didn't know.

She loved Tair'n, wanted him more tan she'd ever thought possible, 
but in with the same token she wanted Gerald as well. He fired her 
up and challenged her in ways that had more to do with sex. In some 
ways the tall young man was wise beyond his years. Wiser than many 
she knew.

 Maybe he had the right of it when he had said, ' I happen to 
believe that having you some of the time is better than not at 
all.' Could she do it. Was she able to love two men at once and 
learn to live with herself?

She needed to talk to Tair'n. Needed to talk this over with 
someone. Maybe R'ven would be a better person to talk to. He would
understand, he would help her. Hadn't he had to learn when Tair'n 
had become a part of his and Velara's lives?  

<<Troy love would you see if Zenith's rider can see me now? Please 
tell him I need his counsel.>>  

<I don't think he'll be able to talk to you now..> came the 
dragon's somewhat humorous  reply. <Zenith and his rider are a 
little busy at the moment.>

<<Doing what?>> Jayleigh asked, but was afraid she already knew. 
After all. R'ven was still living with Tair'n... could the two of 
them...

< Salanth rose to mate while you and Random's rider were playing 
on your desk, Zenith won her and their riders are together.>

 R'ven and ...Kiree? <<How did that happen, love?>> How would 
Gerald be feeling about this turn of events. 

<If I have to tell you that after our last flight...Well no wonder 
you're so confused.> the queen sighed. <Amadith, Random and I don't 
mind sharing. So why should you?>

Why indeed? She frowned again. Velara didn't seem to have any 
problem with it and was still able to fulfill the duties of her 
office. Why shouldn't she enjoy both men while she had them. Would 
it be so wrong?

<My human, I just heard that your new teacher is in the med 
center,> Viktroy's thoughts entered her mine. <He was out all 
night last night and barely made it back alive.>

Noni looked up from the book she was reading when Jayleigh walked 
into the medical center, Trying to hide the book so the woman 
wouldn't think she was slacking, the girl was there for surprised 
when Jayleigh asked if it was any good.

"It's been awhile since I had the time to sit down and read," the Warrenlady
smiled at the young healer. "Viktroy informed me that 
a man named Zert was brought in this morning in serious condition? 
Could you please tell me how he is now?"

"Yes M'lady," Noni was happy to be doing something to show the 
woman that she was good at her job and didn't just slack about. 
"He actually stumbled in here on his own, but how I don't know. 
He was suffering of exposure and frost bite from having spent the 
night out in the woods."

"In the woods?" Jayleigh asked, confused.

"Yes M'lady, seems he got lost and it took him until morning to 
find his way back here."

"How's he doing," she asked concerned, and wondering why no one 
had told her before now that he was here.

"Oh he'll be just fine in a few days," Noni assured the Warrenlady. 
"I'm sure we got to him and applied treatment before any real harm 
could be done to his body. But it *was* closes..."

"I'm sure you did everything you could Healer Noni," Jayleigh 
smiled down at the girl. "Would he happen to be awake right now 
so I might talk to him and find out if he needs anything?"

"Well you could look in on him if you'd like," the healer said,
"but I'm pretty sure he's out for the night. He was a little while 
ago when I checked on him."

"Well I guess I'd better not tonight," the taller of the two 
hesitated. "But if you are here in the morning when he wakes, 
please tell him I was asking after him and if he needs anything, 
just send me word."

"Yes M'lady, I sure will."

--------------------------------

She picked up her coat off the rack as she left the Med Center. 
She felt suddenly stuffy inside and wanted to go for a walk. 
Without knowing it her steps led her to where she knew she wanted 
to be.  Amadith was curled up in a ball on his ledge as she 
climbed the steps leading upward. Nice that the old Warrenlady 
had a ground access apartment.

When she came to the door way leading into the human part of the 
unit, she wasn't surprised to hear Tair'n calling out for her to 
enter. Dragon gossip! 

The door to the bed room was half open when she got there and so 
she stepped through and then closed it behind her as she began 
removing her clothes as she advanced towards the bed and the man 
on it.

"I don't want to be alone tonight," she told him as she climbed 
naked into the bed beside him. "I want to be here with you, but 
first I have to tell you what I did earlier. I don't want any 
secrets between us."

---------------------------------------
(Nrpg: Tag again Lyn :):) 

Well the lady may be coming around :):) but that doesn't mean 
she'll jump in with both feet. She's still going to be 
questioning herself... an she do it... ? *shrug*

She'll decide in the morning what to do... about Gerald. (Who 
she really, really cares about and doesn't want to lose..... 
Oh Velara!!!! Did you leave a "How To" book?????

Mike: Think of anything Zert might need??? (no not that you 
crazy person :):) 

(Lyn...do you think enough...ah fluid time has gone by for the 
Queens to start laying their eggs ???

*****Submitted by: ******

Barbara (a.k.a.

Warrenlady Jayleigh of Daere Warren
   & her Queen, *Viktroy*