Left With No Other Choices

Nrpg: For story line purposes, I'm going to be moving Shaelesta (Shae) 
from Keldarra Warren to Jasra for a while.... she WILL be going back when 
the time is right.....Barb

====================================================

"Oh Shae .." he sighed. "I'm sorry .. I'm so sorry for doubting you."

"No, I'm sorry for giving you cause to doubt me," she still felt bad knowing
in a way she was still lying to him by not telling him the whole unvarnished
truth by leaving out the *name* of her uncle, but what other choice did she
have. 

He shook his head, "No, I told you I would trust you and here I am
questioning you."

"Well I didn't tell you the whole truth .." And I'm still not, she sighed
inwardly, praying when and if it came out he would be so understanding. 

He suddenly chuckled, "You know if either of us get any sorrier .."

She smiled, "You're right. So where do we go from here?"

"The same place we were going before I got so stupid .." he said pulling her
into his arms and kissing her soundly.

"Oh I kind of like that place," she melted into his arms. 

"Just *like*?" he asked teasing her, as he nibbled on her earlobe. 

"Well once we get there... I'll let you know for sure."

.........

It was much later that evening when she left him sleeping soundly in his own
bed, and started back to her apartment. She had planned on just making a
quick trip to get a fresh set of cloths so wear in the morning. Something
for them to eat, and then come right back and rejoin him in the warm bed.

Smiling happily she mounted Kaaren and asked her to tell K'tan's dragon
where they were going. 

<And we are coming right back right?> the Fireball asked as she walked to
the ledge and prepared to head home. 

<<Right back. I promise.>>

<Good... cause I was warm and comfortable cuddling with Knial,> the red told
her rider, sounding a little put out.

Shae laughed. She understood all to well what Kaaren meant. She'd been warm
and comfortable next to Knial's human until a minute ago. 

<<It'll only take us a minute. Then we can both come back and be where want
to be,>> Shae promised again and started to give the order to fly home...
but then some movement caught her eye. She looked up to see two dragons
laying on the outer ledge of *her* apartment.

<<Kaaren...do you know who they are?>> she asked slowly delaying the lift
off order until she got an answer. 

<Yes I know,> the dragon replied, not sounding to happy about it. <They say
we are to come up there and land. Their riders want to ask you about the
things they have found in your bedroom....>

...Things they found in your bedroom....

In her closet where she had hide the last few remaining objects that she
hadn't as yet found out who they belonged to and returned....

<I don't like the brown one,> Kaaren said sounding upset now. <He said his
rider thinks if you don't tell the truth about stealing those things that
maybe spending a few nights in that... that place you were before would make
you talk....If you go there then I can not be with you.>

Fear was welling up inside her. She knew the place Kaaren was talking about
and had no desire to be put back in that tiny cell. Locked away like a
criminal. The very thought scared the hell out of her and she had sworn the
last time she would never go back. 

<<Kaaren... I can't... I can't let them put me back in that place,>> the
girl sobbed. <<I can't be separated from you again... Not for something I
didn't do. But who would believe me.>>

<M'ressan? K'tan? They are good men. They believe you.>

<<Even now? When they found that stolen stuff in my closet?>> Shae didn't
sound to convinced. <<M'ressan won't be happy. His mate already thinks I
stole her cameo. Now she's going to be sure of it. And K'tan... what will I
do about him?>>

<They are calling me again wanting to know why I haven't come up there yet.
What do I tell them? I do not want to go up there... I do not like that dragon.>

She couldn't go. She knew once she did there wouldn't be anything she could
do to defend herself. Once M'ressan and K'tan learned of the objects found,
they would both feel like she'd been using them. Playing them both for fools.

<<Kaaren.... we're can't... if we do they will take me away and put me in
that place... I can't go back there.>>

<So where will we go?>

A thought came to her. Her mind spinning in and effort to come up with some
plan. The only thing she could think of was to run. Run and hide somewhere
where they'd never find them.

She pictured the family Inn in her mind and told Kaaren to lift off and act
like she was heading towards their apartment. But as they achieved the bare
minim of height required, she suddenly told the dragon to teleport to the
place in her mind.

Seconds later they were in the air above her home and Shae directed her
dragon to land in a clearing she knew off behind the Inn. 

<<I will need a few things if we are to leave here,>> she told Kaaren when
the dragon questioned her about why they had come there. <<I figure they'll
think of coming here looking for me sooner or later, but we'll have a few
minutes for me to get some supplies before they do. You stay here and keep
quiet. If you sense any dragons near let me know.>>

She found the path leading to the Inn's back door without any problems.
Growing up here, she knew these woods like the back of her hand so she made
quick time.

Silently she slipped inside, and up the back steps to the room that had been
hers since her birth. Once inside with the door closed behind her, she went
to the closet and pulled out the back pack she used to use for camping trips
and began to fill it with a few extra sets of clothes and other necessities. 

She hurried, knowing that at any minute Kaaren could sound the alarm and by
then it might be to late for them to escape. 

When she was finished she headed back the way she had come. Down the back
steps and into the side pantry, hoping she could get a small supply of food
before someone from the kitchens decided they needed something.

So far her luck was holding out, but she knew it could change at any
minute.. and then it did.

"Shae.. what are you doing here?" 

She turned, dropping the food sack and assumed a defensive stance. But it
was only her brother, Jono standing there with that look he always got when
he caught her doing something she wasn't suppose to be doing. 

"I don't have time to tell you right now Jono... but Please... if someone
comes here looking for me.. don't 
believe what they tell you." she told him and started for the door. Only to
find the way out blocked by her other brother Kende. 

"You're getting rusty little sister," Kende said, shaking his head. "You
made to much noisy when you came in and we thought it was a thief."

She cringed at his use of the word. Something that didn't go unnoticed by
her brothers. 

"What's going on Shaelesta. Does it have something to do with what was
happening the last time we talked in the Warren... K'tan didn't..."

"K'tan didn't do anything," she told them. "Look... I can't stay... they may
be here soon looking for me and I can't be caught here!!"

"Well then you had better hurry up and tell us what's happened to make you
come here like a thief in the night. How much trouble are you in?" Jono asked.

"A lot," she sighed knowing she was wasting precious time, but knowing she'd
have to tell them or they wouldn't let her go. So she told them. 

"Shit!" Kende swore, bring his hands up to rake through his wavy hair. He
stood there hands still on his head, fingers interlaced, looking down at
her. "You don't do anything by the half do you?"

"I DID_ NOT_ STEAL_ THAT_ STUFF!!!" she nearly shouted at them. "I don't
know who did or why they put it in my apartment to make it look that way.
But I didn't do it!!"

"Of course not!" Jono leaped to her defense. "We know you better then that
sis. But what's going to happen now?"

"I have to go somewhere else for awhile," she told them. "Somewhere were
they won't find us until I can figure out a way to clear my name."

"Where?" Kende the practical one of them asked. "Have you given that any
thought? I mean it'll be kind of hard hiding out anywhere with a dragon
following you around. They sort of stick out a bit if you know what I mean?"

"I don't know... but I'll think of something," she frowned. 

"Wait here," he grunted and left the room.

Shae turned to look at Jono, but her younger brother had no idea what Kende
was up to. He returned moments later with another man. A guest at the Inn,
Shae thought, for she didn't know the man. 

"This is Makos," he introduced them, and Shae could tell by the grin on
Jono's face that he knew the man. "Makos comes from the newly discovered
lost Dragonlands. Where those new Warrens were discovered. Several of his
family 
members are dragonriders there as is he, and he thinks he may be able to
help you out."

Shae turned to look at the man. Wondering what he could do. "How?" she asked
warily, looking from the man back to her brother. 

"When I left ...yesterday, they had been packing up quickly to respond to
another Warren's cries for help," Makos told her. "As my trip here was
already planned, it was thought that I should go ahead and continue on my
own way, so I was excused from going with the fighting wing."

Shae had heard something about the Warren wide alert. She waited for him to
go on and get to the point. She had already been here to long and was
pressing her luck standing here now.

"So how is that going to help me?"

"Well... Your brother here and I have gotten to know each other pretty good
in the last couple of months and he's told me a little about the trouble
you're in...(Shae shot an angry glance at her brother) If he thinks you're
innocent of the charges then I'll take his word for it. So I'm prepared to
do him a favor and take you back with me."

"Back to the lost Warrens?" she asked not really believing what he was
offering. "Won't I need a letter or something before they'd let me in? I
mean I can't just go there and say *look everyone in Keldarra thinks I'm a
thief so I've run away and now I want to join your Warren. Can I? *"

The man chuckled. "I had more along the lines of. *Shae is an exceptional
rider and we'll be sorry to lose her, but do to some personal family
troubles, we both feel it would be better for her to move to a new place in
hopes that the change of scenery will help. Sincerely, Dragonlady
Christalla, of Keldarra Warren.

"And just how do you suppose I get this glowing note from Christalla
proclaiming all about my wonderful self? I don't think the Dragonlady would
be to obliging right now. She's one of the people who thinks I'm a thief!"

"Leave that to me," Makos grinned and picked up the pack she had dropped
when she'd first been caught trying to sneak out. "We'd best be going if you
want to get away from here before the search team you think is coming shows up."

It was only then that she saw he was carrying his own travel pack. 

"Kende... Jono..." she turned back and found herself caught up in hugs from
them both. 

"May the Gods fly with you little sister," Jono told her. "I'll make a trip
to the Warren soon to talk to K'tan and see if there's any change."

"But how will you be able to let me know if there is?" she asked, suddenly
afraid of what she was about to do. By running away, she knew it made her
look twice as guilty. But what other choice did she have. She couldn't let
them lock her up. Away from Kaaren.... No! But how could she just up and
leave K'tan. She'd just have to trust Jono to talk to him.

"I'll be coming back here after I get you set up in Jasra," Makos told her.
"If they learn anything I'll pass it along to you."

"Okay... Jono... please... Tell K'tan.. tell him..."

"I'll tell him Shae. Don't you worry."

Final good-byes where said between the siblings and then Shae followed the
other rider out the back door and showed him where she had hidden the Fireball. 

"Wait until you see me over head and then have your Kaaren lift off to meet
me," Makos told her. "I'll have him give her the picture of where we're
going now so she'll know. The sooner we teleport the less chance of anyone
seeing us do so and remember there were dragons in the sky. What they don't
see they can't talk about."

"Makos... why are you doing this?" she had to ask. Had to know why he was
helping her.

"Because I like your brother and trust his word. If he thinks you're getting
the run around there in this Warren of yours then I want to help. Until the
real thief is discovered. Besides... I could never say no to a pretty lady
in trouble."

Shae blushed, and would have said something else but the rider was gone.
Vanished in the darkness like a wisp of smoke.

Several minutes later, Kaaren informed her that a big black dragon was in
the air above them and telling them it was time.

Shae gave the red the order to lift and join the other dragon in the sky. 

She was a bit surprised a few seconds later when they came out of the
teleport over a large body of water. She'd been expecting him to take her
strait to the Warren, but this didn't look like any Warren she'd ever been
too. Not that she'd been to any besides Keldarra.

<The black says we are to follow them down to the ground.> Kaaren told her
seconds later, and Shae felt the large body under her turning slightly to
the left and then sloop downward. 

She dismounted when they landed but stayed close to the Reds side. Something
funny was going on here and she wasn't sure what.

"This doesn't look like a Warren to me," she said accusingly when the man
came to join her. 

"Your brother said you were smart," Makos grinned. "I figured we'd better
have something for you to show them before you arrive."

"Oh yes... the glowing letter of introduction," she nodded her head. It
wouldn't do to get this far and forget something as simple as that. 

"So do you have some kind of magic hat you're going to pull it out of?"

"Well I don't know if you would call my travel bag here very magical, but it
does hold a few things I've often found useful," he commented and began to
pull something out of it.

Shae when she came near enough to see what it was and was amazed. "How did
you get that?" she asked recognizing the Dragonlady's stationary.

"One never knows when one might have need of something, so I helped myself
to a few sheets the last time I was there," he said, eye's twinkling in
amusement knowing she wanted to ask when that had been. But kept the
question to herself instead. 

It took the man about half an hour to finish the letter to his satisfaction,
then he folded, sealed it and then handed it to her. 

"Okay I'm going to have my dragon give yours the picture of where you're to
go," he told her as he began to repack his supplies. "Then when we arrive
we'll ask to see the Warrenlady and you're to play along with any story I
come up with. Got it?"

"Why would you need to come up with a story? Why can't you just say you meet
me in Keldarra and offered to bring be back here?"

He stood and came to stand before her. "Because dear child, they have no
idea who I am there and I prefer for personal reasons of my own to keep it
that way."

"Where are you from Makos? Who are you really?"

He grinned. "I'm no one. I don't really exist, and I prefer it that way."
His eyes meat hers. "So my being here is going to be our little secret. Right?"

It didn't take her long to decide. Kende trusted the man, or he never would
have sent her off with him. He didn't have to do what he was doing for her,
but he was. So didn't she own him something? If keeping him a secret was his
price, then she'd agree to it.

"All right," she promised. "But how will I know when you're near by if you
bring me news from my brothers?"

"My dragon will contact your Fireball and give a place and time for us to
meet," he told her. "and if you need to get a message to me just come here
and place a big S in the middle of this clearing. I'll get back to you as
soon as I can."

Shae nodded her head in agreement with his plan. It was a simple plan.
Though she longed to know why it was needed. Why couldn't he come to the
Warren with her? 

"Okay... I'll have my black give your red the picture now, and Shaelesta...
good luck."

"What's the name of this Warren?

"Jasra." He told her and saw her body freeze up in shock.

"I can't go there!" she told him. "Their are people who know me living there."

"No.. they've all left here because of the memories of the Warrenlady's
death... you know about the assassin who killed her?... we'll her family
left here soon afterwards, so you'll be safer here then anywhere else I
could think off.... Oh by the way.... I wrote on that letter that your name
was Lesta and your dragon was Fiery."

"Is that really necessary?"

"If you don't want to have people remember you if you friend ever said
anything about you?"

"Good point.... Makos... thank you. will you let my brothers know..."

"I'll make sure they do kid. Go on with you now."

........ 

Now this was more like she had imagined the Warren to look like. It was just
as S'brogh had once described it to her. 

S'brogh... she missed him, but was suddenly glad he wouldn't be there... she
didn't know what he would do if he'd found her there. this way she didn't
have to worry.

<The dragons have told me where to find the Acting Warrenlady, so I will
take you there,> Kaaren told her as she started to land. 

Shae held the letter I her hand tighter and prayed the ruse would work. A
story was already working it's way into her mind as the Red landed and she
saw someone come out to meet them. 

"You're Lesta?" the man asked smiling in welcome. "I'm Jerram. I'm to take
you in to meet Tara, the Acting Warrenlady here in Jasra. If you'll just
follow me."

==================================== 

Well Shae is going to be on the run from Keldarra for a little while until
she can figure out what's happening or how to clear her name. She will
eventually come back to Keldarra to face the music... but for now she'll be
hiding out in Jasra..... 

Jasra folks... I'll be sending along her Bio and story in just a few... so
you'll know something about her ....

Kris... wonder how K'tan will feel when he wakes up and finds her gone. Jono
her brother will be paying him a visit, if K'tan doesn't pay him one first....

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

Shaelesta & Kaaren (The Fireball)
(aka  Lesta & Fiery)
Keldarra/Jasra Warren

aka
Barbara 

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