[Danika's "funeral"]

Tair'n stood, letting the tears course down his cheeks as his mate kissed
his daughter for the last time, placed her in Tair'n's arms as he climbed
Kalindeth's out stretched foreleg.

Once R'ven was in place, he bent down to Tair'n who lifted the light rider
back into her father's arms. R'ven placed Danika between Kalindeth's great
wings.

The small queen waited till R'ven was a wing's distance from her and then
she rose with her heavy burden. 

The silence was deafening as Kalindeth lifted her wings, the breeze
caressing the faces of those nearest to her. Rising high into the
darkening sky, she let out a final roar before blinking out of Daere. 

The keening started as the last echoes of Kalindeth's farewell faded.

R'ven, with tears in his eyes, turned to Jayleigh.

"I won't make the same mistake twice, Jayleigh. Da'ntry is mine!"

Before she could reply, R'ven strode off into the descending night.
Tair'n was torn between going to him and making sure Leigh got safely back
to the Med Center, but went to take Jayleigh back, his eyes on R'ven's
departing back.

"No... I'll find my own way back or wait for Ja'ks..." she told him.  "Go
on...  go to him. He needs you right now, Tai. More than he's ever needed
you before. Comfort him as best you can." 

"Are you sure, Leigh?"

"Go..."

Tair'n turned, but R'ven had mounted Zenith and disappeared.

<Amadith-- >

<I'm coming. I know where they went.>

Amadith set down in front of him and the two soon blinked out, following
Tair'n's mate.

R'ven was sitting by a riverside, throwing stones into the water.  He
seemed to completely ignore Tair'n's approach.

"R'ven?"

"I just want to be alone now, Tai."

Tair'n knelt by R'ven's side.  "I understand.  I'll be at home when you
need me."  There was no 'if'.  Tair'n knew his mate would need him.

R'ven nodded.

Tair'n reached out, taking R'ven's chin in his hand and lifting it so
their eyes met, amber and coal.  "Ven, I love you.  I want to be there for
you.  When you feel like talking, or yelling, or crying on someone's
shoulder, come home to me."

"I will, Tai."

Tair'n gave him a simple kiss, then returned to mount Amadith, leaving his
mate to his grief.

******

He'd spent the rest of the evening with a subdued Cal'an.  The boy was
worried for his absent friend and terrified of the events he had seen that
day.  Tair'n had had no comfort to offer besides holding his son and
finding other things to talk about.  He hadn't brought up Jayleigh's
pregnancy yet.  There were still so many uncertainties, and he thought it
would be better for Cal'an and Ja'dain to find out together, if possible.
Finally, Cal'an had dropped off to sleep in his lap and Tair'n had carried
him to his room and put him to bed. 

He stood watching the slow rise and fall of Cal'an's chest and thought of
what R'ven had had to do today.  If Herin was to be believed, he, too,
would have to endure the death of his child.  His mind flitted away from
the thought, too painful to bear.

He thought of Jayleigh and the child, his child, now developing within
her.  Would it be healthy, or would it also face the curse his son faced?
He had been assured there was no hemophilia in Jayleigh's family, but how
far did those records go back?  It could be a terrible tragedy lurking in
her family blood, as it did in his.

He turned and headed off to bed.

He tossed and turned with the absence of his mate from the bed and
finally drifted off.

He awoke to the sudden weight of R'ven on his legs, the sound of his mate
unstopping the bottle of oil they kept by their bedside.

"Ven?"

"Shh," was his mate's only answer, as he applied the oil.

Then his mate was on him, in him, taking him with a savage intensity
Tair'n had rarely experienced.  Tair'n closed his eyes and gave himself to
the experience, the base animal instinct.

When he was finished, R'ven slid off him and lay beside him on the bed. 
"Sorry."

Tair'n turned and took R'ven in his arms.  "I love you."

R'ven's only answer was a sob, as he clutched Tair'n to him, as if
terrified he would lose him as well.  Tair'n held him, one hand gently
carressing through R'ven's hair, and let his own tears flow, mingling with
R'ven's, sharing his mate's grief and loss.

Respectfully submitted,
 Lynette R. F. Cowper
  Tair'n and Amadith

NRPG: I was going to address the hearing on Gamma Wing, but it just didn't
mesh with this, so it'll be a separate post.

---

 Lynette R. F. Cowper <lcowper@indy.net>, INWO Line Editor