*Med Center*
**Inagua**

Inagua followed her brother out and stopped when she saw Ghost and 
Dellanie.

"I'll find the showers myself, Chury," she said when he turned around to 
face her.  "Go see if you can round up a decent outfit for me, all my 
clothes should be in a pile by the closet."  Yechur nodded and walked 
away.

Inagua turned to face the pair, but was a bit disconcerted to see only 
Dellanie.

"Can we go in here for a moment and talk?" Dellanie asked.

Inagua looked at her, wondering, with a hint of annoyance, what the 
woman wanted.  She tiredly shrugged consent.  Only one way to find out, 
and there was usually no harm in listening.  Inagua moved past her and 
entered the room leaving Dellanie to follow.

When they were both seated the older woman looked up and smiled.

"Look I know you donāt know me from a rogue dragon, and youāre probably 
wondering why I asked you in here to talk." 

Inauga fought the temptation to roll her eyes-which she had been told 
was quite disconcerting.  There was no need for the woman to state the 
obvious.

"But I wanted to tell you a little story so you would have a better
understanding of why I want to help you and your siblings," Dellanie 
continued.

"We do fine on our own," the girl said.  She didn't bother hiding the 
pride she felt for her siblings, or for that matter, herself.  "We donāt 
need any help. I can take care of them myself."

"Oh Iām sure you can," Dellanie agreed. "And up until now youāve done a
remarkable job from the things Iāve heard. But you donāt need to go it 
on
your own any longer. Youāre part of a big family here in the Warren. So 
Iāve been coming to discover from what Iāve seen of how the people here 
treat my daughter. And it relieves my mind and guilt to no end because 
of what Iām about to tell you. If you will listen?"

Her eyes held a challenge and a question.  Unconsciously, Inagua sat up 
a bit straighter despite the pull of bruised tissue.  If the woman 
wished to speak, then let her.

"Itās you dime," she quipped sarcastically. "If you want to tell me a 
story, who am I to deny you the pleasure?"

"Itās no pleasure tale I have to tell you mādear," the older womanās 
voice
took on a sad note. "But one of learning how to survive when things 
donāt
turn out the way you expected in life."

It took quite a while for Dellanie to tell her about it. Of how she had 
been forcible taken out of her own home when Bashie was still a young 
child and of how she herself had been forced into slavery in the house 
of Lord Bridgett.

"It wasnāt long before I caught his eye and he had me brought to his 
bedroom where he raped me over and over that first night while I tried 
to fight him off," she told her, cringing as she did so. 

Inagua understood that cringe all to well.  She felt like doing the same 
everytime she thought of that man she had sex with, even if it had been 
her choice.

"He beat me so bad that I was unable to do for myself for some weeks 
after
that. Then when I was finally on the mend, he had his men bring me back 
and
raped me for the second time. Again I tried to fight him, and again I 
was
beaten. The third time he sent for me, I knew it was safer for me not to
fight him but to let him do what he was going to do anyway. I knew I
couldnāt stop him and I had to think of Bashie. What was going to happen 
to
her if he beat me so bad that he killed me. Who would look after her. So 
I
just let him have his way each time he sent for me, and hated myself for 
it."

Inagua could understand that, better perhaps then Dellanie would 
believe.  She'd felt much the same when she had fled the town after her 
grandparent's deaths, though for a very different reason.

"Then came the day he started to look at Bashie in the same way he had
first looked at me. By that time I knew of two young girls he had 
already
killed by beating them to death, for he liked them very young and most
couldn't handle his kind of treatment. I didnāt want that to happen to 
my
daughter. I knew I had to do something to save her from having to go 
through the same thing I had. So I started to make plans. I used the 
only thing I had of value to pay a man to sneak her away from that place 
just when I wassure he was going to have her brought to his bedroom. I 
had to sleep with this man several times before he would do it. And 
always there was thechance Bridgett would catch us. He would have killed 
us both if he had but in the end this man took Bashie away and thatās 
how she ended up here."

She went on to tell her about the beating she had taken after the man
discovered the girl missing. When she had healed enough he had her moved
into his bedroom permanently to pay her back, and sheād had to suffer 
each
and every night. Heād been inventively cruel in his punishment and the 
way
he had used her body. But Dellanie didnāt go into that. She ended her 
story
by telling her about being rescued on the side of the hill by the
dragonriders after Bashie had set up their escape.

"So you see I do know what youāve been through and how hard it is to 
survive out there on your own."

'Lady,' Inagua thought, 'you don't know the half of it.'

"I know how it is when you have to do things you normally wouldnāt dream 
of doing just to keep alive and protect the ones you love."

'I dream of it plenty of times, though they are rarely pleasant 
experiences,' Inagua said to herself bitterly.

"Iāve been there, and would still be there if it wasnāt for the help of 
others. Iāve thank the Gods each and every day since I came here for 
their help and for the way they had taken in my daughter and made sure 
she had food to eat and clothes on her back. And also that they were 
here to watch over her and give her the care and understanding I wasnāt 
able to give her."

"Is there a point to your story?" the girl asked.  Such a revelation 
usually had some purpose.

"Yes there is," the older woman replied. "I just wanted you to know that
about me so that if you ever decide you needed to talk to someone, there 
was someone who you could come too. Someone who understands and wonāt 
judge you harshly for the things youāve done."

"Why would you want to do that?" Inagua asked, genuinely curious. "Why 
put yourself to the trouble?"

"Because the past has a way of catching up to you and one day you might 
find things a little hard to deal with on your own," she told her. 

A quiet rapping could be heard on the door just before it was pushed 
open
and they saw Ghost poke her head inside. 

"I'm sorry to bother you both," she said and then turned to face her 
mother.  "I've been called back to the Warren offices and just wanted to 
let you know where I was going."

"I hope things turn out well," Dellanie said softly for she knew what it 
was about, same as her daughter. "Be careful and stay close to those two 
friends of yours. All right?"

"Don't worry mama," the girl grinned. "There will be several people 
keeping
themselves between him and me."

Then she was gone.  Dellanie turned back to Inagua, question in her 
eyes.  The queenrider shifted uncomfortably.  There was nothing wrong 
with listening, its the talking that got you in trouble.  Some things 
were just better left unsaid, it was more comfortable that way.

"I'm here, child," Dellanie said softly, laying a comforting hand on 
Inagua's knee. 

For a moment, she was tempted just to tell her everything.  Her mouth 
opened slightly as if to speak, before it shut with a snap.  This woman 
had enough troubles.  It wouldn't be right to burden her even more.

Like a startled bird, Inagua lept to her feet.  "I have to go now," she 
said hurriedly, limping quickly to the door.  "Yechur will wonder where 
I am."  She turned around half way out the door.  She meant to say 'I'm 
sorry that he hurt you, but all that would come out was a soft "I'm 
sorry."  She fled to the showers
******************
**Dining Hall**

Inagua stared blankly at her barely eaten dinner.  It was richer fare 
then she was used too and did not sit comfortably in her stomache.  Some 
woman, Inagua couldn't remember who, had taken one look at her, sat her 
down, and brought her a plate heaped with food.  Inagua usually didn't 
eat that much in a whole day, let alone one meal.  Though, judging by 
the large amounts on some of the other plates, the woman hadn't been all 
that generous.

Inagua looked questioningly at V'dar as he took her hand and pulled her 
out of the chair.

"Come on, I've got someplace to take you," he said.

"Where's that?" she asked as he led her outside.

"My apartment."

Inagua pulled her hand away. "I'm flattered, but no thanks," she said
sarcastically.

"Not that. I've got a bottle of brandy I've been meaning to open, 
and after seeing you today I think I've found a good reason." 

Inagua perked up a bit at the mention of brandy.  She'd only had it 
once, for the twin's birthday, but she had rather liked it.  The others 
in the tavern had told her that the brandy she had bought was about as 
strong as watered wine, but she had ignored them.  She hadn't been able 
to afford anything else.

Later, he had a drowsy Inagua in his favorite chair, bundled up
against the permaenent cold of the air. A snifter of brandy was 
in her hand, which she eyed warily.

"What's the matter with it?"

"Never had something this strong before," she said.

"All the good stuff is. Are you comfortable, now?"

"Yes, thanks," she said, sipping the drink.  A small smile crossed her 
face as the rich liquid burned its way down to her gut.  This was the 
good stuff, even better then that devil's brew Cygnus had given her

"So then tell me," he said, pulling up a stool and sitting next 
to her, "tell me what happened in town. Whatever it was, it
aged you.  It hurt you, almost as much as when we found your
sister. It's just you and me now, and nothing will go past this 
room. I think if you get it off your chest, you will be better off.
What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Inagua mumbled into her glass before 
knocking its contents back in two long swallows.  Gasping she held out 
her empty glass for more, enjoying the way the amber liquor burned its 
way down.  He simply shrugged, took out the bottle and gave her a 
refill.

"What about your parents?" he asked, abandoning the original topic 
entirely.

"My parents?" Inagua asked, a bit lost.  What did her parents have to do 
with anything?  "I really couldn't tell you much.  I think their names 
were Vayade and Elvan and they liked to sing.  They died in a wraith 
attack when I was three."  She took a long sip of her brandy.

"Who took care of you then?" V'dar asked, refilling her nearly empty 
glass.

"My grandparents, Thedresa and Qijho Medin, took us in.  Their farm 
wasn't all that far from the warren if I remember correctly."  She took 
another drink and frowned; this glass was far too small.    She finished 
it off and gave a sad sigh.

Again the snifter was filled, and again V'dar asked a question.  "What 
was it like, living with your grandparents, and why was?"

"It wasn't much fun, that what it was.  They had wanted to retire in 
peace, and suddenly they were saddled with three children from their 
erant, wild, disappointing, and only son.   I got stuck with the twins 
while they tried to make enough off that tiny, barren piece of land so 
we could survive.  Then we got older and it was us out there."  She 
paused to take a drink.

"Its was because they're dead.  They died in a house fire when me and 
the twins were in town, running some errands."

"And then?" V'dar asked, after he had refilled her glass.  She could get 
to like this game, so long as the questions stayed harmless.

"We left," that did not qualify as a harmless question.  She most 
definately didn't want to talk about it.  Quickly, Inagua downed the 
whole glass, hoping he'd think her freak eyes were filled with tears 
because of the liquor.

He looked at her oddly, but, in accordance with the rules, refilled her 
glass.  She had answered after all.

"What happened after you left the town?"

"We ran for a long time," she whispered sadly, shivering as she 
remembered running through the blizzard that had seemed to last for an 
eternity.

"Why?" V'dar asked softly.  Without thinking Inagua started to answer.

"I was named a witch after the fire.  They blamed me for my grandparents 
deaths as well as for the plague that had taken several that winter.  
They were scared and grief stricken and they needed somebody to blame.  
I was different, so they choose me.  Yechur and Yelia were also 
sentenced, as they were related and hadn't gotten sick.  They were to 
hang us in the afternoon, but a blizzard suddenly blew up.  A boy, 
Kivnio, freed us and gave us the little food he could pilfer from his 
father, the tavern owner.  We ran through several towns, only stopping 
when the storm ended.  The town was dead and deserted by the same time 
next winter," she finished softly.  

Still feeling the blizzard, she drank the liquor down in one swallow and 
burrowed deeper into the chair and under the blanket.  V'dar reached 
over again with to refill her glass, but before he could pour, Inagua 
grabbed the bottle.

"You take the glass, I'll take the bottle," she ordered, shoving the 
snifter in his direction.  She smiled slightly as he resumed his seat on 
the stool with a full glass, but no bottle.  It made much more sense 
this way, she seemed to be the only one really enjoying the drink.

"After the blizzard?"

Inagua shrugged.  "We wandered, I did a few odd jobs before I figured 
out that I made more stealing.  I think I did my first real successful 
steal on my tenth birthday, about four months after the blizzard."

"Why didn't you stay in one place?" he asked.

"My aren't we just full of questions tonight," Inagua muttered, taking a 
swig from the bottle.  "Because we were strangers and I was invading the 
turf of residential thieves.  As strangers, we got blamed for all the 
strange happenings, especially since I'm a freak.  It's usually wiser to 
stay a few day and leave if the weather permits."

"Your not a freak, Inagua," V'dar said firmly.

"I'm not?" she said with a sarcastic laugh and a drink.  "Then why do I 
always know exactly where everything is with only a thought?  Why can I 
imbed a man half into a brick wall, just because I didn't want him near 
me?  Why do I have eyes like this?" she said bitterly, with a gesture 
towards the offending features.

"Why did you leave the warren?" he asked intently.

"Because I could not let them get away."

"What happened?"

The words tumbled from her lips freely, though she had enough sense not 
to use names.  She told him everything, the deaths, the sex, to how 
riduculous Nerlik's queen of thieves had looked and her assasin's 
horrible taste in clothes.  When she was done, the bottle was nearly 
empty, but she didn't feel half as drunk as she knew she should.

"Do you have anymore?" she asked softly, shaking the nearly empty 
bottle.

V'dar nodded and rose to get some.  Inagua clambored a bit unsteadily 
out of the chair, wraping the blanket clumsily around her shoulders with 
one hand.  Weaving a bit unsteadily, she walked around the room, trying 
to get rid of the cramp in her leg.  

She mumbled vague curses under her breath.  Recalling all those 
unpleasant memories had seemed to have a rather sobering effect.  All 
she wanted to do was go to sleep, but the way she was feeling right now 
it would take a whole nother bottle of V'dar's fine brandy.  

A soft rattle came from her pocket.  Curious, she did an akward half 
juggle with the edge of the blanket and the bottle, freeing a hand.  Her 
hand closed around a bottle and a smile bloomed on her face.

"God's musta been list'nin'," she said softly.   After a bit of fumbling 
she managed to open the cap and put two or three, maybe even four, 
pills- her vision wasn't all that clear- into her hand.  Quick as 
lightning they were in her mouth and washed down with the last of the 
brandy.

The empty bottle was placed on a table or a desk and Inagua miraculously 
managed to shut the bottle of sleeping pills without spilling too many 
of them.  Then she continued her strole around V'dar's apartment.  

She was heading back to her chair when the world decided to start 
spinning.  Inagua stopped dead in her tracks... being drunk had never 
done this to her before..

*<Mya?>* she managed just before the world spun into a big black hole 
that swallowed her up.
***************
NRPG: Well there ya go Allen, she has just OD'd on a bottle of brandy 
and a few sleeping pills. *EG*

Sleepily Submitted,
Bridget Olson
Inagua and Myacura

Bridget Olson 
Dyanisa and Sienra *Daere*
Inagua and Myacura *Geode*
Nalin and Trefoil *Whiteriver*
N'dovra Leriamtiq *Ralengarde*
'Chelea' and Nebavri *Xylian*
Ens. Sirosa Badei *USS FARADAY*

"Life is only as limited as your imagination."*


______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com