[NRPG: This is just a 'fill in' post, bringing Fabrice up to date,
from the events of the night of the hatching party.]
>
> ***********
>
['Last night', at the party]

The tension in the triangle was almost palpable. L'talin sat back in
his
chair, a slow smile playing across his face, watching the two women,
Elswyth and Fabrice, staring at one another. The two of them so
alike - with their white hair -
yet so different.

Elswyth was a fiery one - a challenge, he thought with a smile.
Fabrice -
now, there was something *strange* about that one ... when he had
leant
across the table and just let his fingers brush her hand, he had felt
an
uncanny shudder run through *him*. Almost like a little pulse of
warmth ...


Elswyth might take a bit of working at, he thought, but the younger
one,
Fabrice, would soon be eating out of his hand. All he need do was play
one
off against the other, and soon Elswyth would be trying to out-do
Fabrice,
and
Fabrice would lose her ice-maiden aloofness and be practically
throwing
herself at him. All he needed to do was give them time ...

Fabrice, blissfully unaware of the man's thoughts, stared at him from
behind her dark glasses, her eyes following every curve of his
handsome
face, the way he arched his eyebrow just so, the languid wave of his
hand
... She was utterly mesmerised.

[snip from Susan's post]
[The other side of the hall]
>
> Aleta staggered. "I think I need to sit down."
>
> Aylin caught her arm. "You're having that baby, dearheart," she
> said, "whether you're ready or not."
>
> "She's having a baby!" M'tan shouted.
>
> "Will you shut up?" Aleta hissed.
>
> But M'tan was only getting charged up. "We need a Healer! Is
> Kyven around? Who knows about babies?"
>
> "I'm not speaking to you!" Aleta cried.

[new]

"Quick, we need to get her to the medical centre - someone tell Kyven
and
Mila we're on our way," shouted .

"Almiron's not here - does anyone know of any other healers," she
called
out again, her eyes scanning the crowd, "they're still short handed
down
there, especially after the wraith attack..."

"I'll ask Fabrice," replied a voice, and Aylin turned just in time to
see
Ada's back disappearing into the throng.

****

Ada burst in upon Fabrice's happy reverie...

"Quick, Fabrice - you're needed. Medical centre. They need every
healer we
can get at the moment ...."

Looking from Fabrice, to L'talin, to Elswyth, she summed up the
situation
in an instant, and grabbed Fabrice's sleeve, almost pulling her to her
feet.

"No time to lose," she said, adding under her breath, "and you ought
to be
grateful to me for this..."

With one last longing look at L'talin (would he notice it from behind
her
glasses?) Fabrice hurried after Ada.

********

The two of them arrived in the medical centre shortly after Aylin,
M'tan
and Aleta. Kyven and Mila were settling Aleta into a bed, when Ada
pushed
Fabrice forward.

"This is Fabrice - she's sort of a healer, too," she said
breathlessly.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Fabrice.

"Well, it's good of you to come, but it looks to me like it's just
going
to be a simple birth," said Mila. "Aleta's fit and healthy - we don't
forsee any problems."

Fabrice narrowed her eyes, looking at Aleta. "Are you sure?" she
asked.

Un-offended by the girl's comment, and not taking it as implying any
lack
of expertise on her part, Mila just smiled, and said: "Yes, dear,
everything will be fine. Things often look very frightening and
dramatic,
but rest assured that we have everything we need here, to keep mother
and
baby comfortable."

"But I'm..." Fabrice's voice trailed off. She had been going to say
'I'm
not an ordinary kind of healer,' but that would have sounded arrogant,
and
she could see that Kyven and Mila, with M'tan and Aylin's help, were
quite
content with the situation.

"Well, just come and find me if you need me," she finished lamely,
backing
out of the room.

*********

Not daring to go back into the hall, Fabrice returned to her room,
where
Lazara was waiting impatiently for her.

<Good evening, Lazara, dear> said Fabrice with a tired smile. <You
didn't
have to wait up for me...>

*******

[Please insert Dave's post about the morning's training, and the
lunchtime
altercation with K'drik, in the dining room]

[Later that afternoon]

Fabrice sat on the floor in her room, Lazara's ivory head - eyes
closed -
cradled in her lap. The little dragon crooned softly to herself as
Fabrice
rubbed in the special oil, just as she'd been shown in the morning's
training session.

Suddenly the purring stopped. <<you've stopped rubbing>> said Lazara.

Fabrice had been in a world of her own. <sorry> she thought back.
She's
been thinking of the heated words in the dining hall just an hour or
so
ago. Of the realisation that K'drik - 'nice' K'drik, 'kind' K'drik -
and
D'neor were ... no, it didn't bear thinking about ...

<<I *knew* he was a strange one>> put in Lazara, reminding Lazara of
the
time she had 'sensed' a little of K'drik's emotional turmoil, shortly
after his arrival at Keldarra.

Fabrice. <You were right again>

<<But there's no need to hate the strange, lonely human>> persisted
the
dragon.

But, almost unconsciously, Fabrice had tried to put up a mental wall
between herself and the dragon.

<<It's no good doing that>> continued Lazara, smugly. <<I know what
you're thinking now...>

<No you don't> thought back Fabrice, almost petulantly.

<<You're thinking about that M'tan. You shouldn't. You
should have known he'd have a mate.>>

<Yes, I expected that> said Fabrice - it was almost the truth.
<<But that's not all ... >> continued Lazara. <<I know who you're
*really* thinking of>>

Fabrice tried her utmost to wall up her feelings, away from the little
dragon's probing mind.

<<It's L'talin, isn't it - you can't stop thinking about him!>> she
anounced triumphantly.

Fabrice blushed furiously and clamped her hands over her ears. <NO!>
she
thought back.

At that moment, Ada burst into the room. Seeing Fabrice's expression,
she stopped.

"Sorry ... looks like I've come at a bad time. But it's important.
Aleta
*still* hasn't had her baby, and she's getting very weak. The midwives
are worried, then M'tan
remembered
how you'd helped Lazara at her hatching, and told me to fetch you
straight
away..."

Fabrice shook her head as if to clear it, then stood up, picking up
only
her cloak and replacing her dark glasses on her nose. "Alright, I'm
ready"
she said.

"Don't you need to bring anything?" asked Ada.

"No, just me," replied Fabrice, with a wry grin. <Be good> she thought
back to Lazara as they left.

****

When they arrived at the medical centre, Aleta was lying in bed, her
damp hair plastered to her forehead, and her eyes glazed with pain and
fatigue.

M'tan sat by her side, holding her hand, and Kyven, Aylin and Mila
hovered
nearby.

"Alright," said Mila in a tired voice. "Do you think you can help her?
The
baby's taking too long," she explained. "Aleta's exhausted. If the
baby's not born soon ..." she lowered her voice so that M'tan could
not
hear, " ...I'm afraid we may lose them both. We've done all we can,
it's up to her now. You haven't even brought a medical bag - do you
think
you
can save her? "

"That depends on how much she wants to live," replied Fabrice, grimly.

Without further ado, Fabrice knelt down by the bedside, taking Aleta's
other hand.

"Just do what you can," muttered M'tan, not taking his eyes off Aleta.

Fabrice closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind of thoughts.
Almost
immediately, she 'felt' Aleta's lifeforce, tentatively latching onto
her
own. Fabrice relaxed as she felt the other woman draw strength from
her
... A timeless time passed ...

Unheard by Fabrice, Mila whispered: "Is she doing anything?"

"Hush - look at Aleta - her breathing's more regular," replied Kyven.

Minutes passed. Fabrice felt her strength ebbing - she wouldn't be
able
to keep this up for long. Suddenly, Aleta's body tense up, and Fabrice
felt
more strength being drawn out of her. She felt Aleta's lifeforce
melding
more strongly with hers, and the vitality being drawn from her into
the
mother's body. And then, she felt another presence ... small, male ...
and intensely selfish. The baby. He seemed to grasp onto Fabrice's
last
remaining vestiges of strength, hauling it in with his tiny hands,
almost pushing his mother out of the way in his desparate effort to
live
...

{{You have a son}} she thought to Aleta, not knowing nor caring
whether
the other woman heard her. {{He wants to be born!}}

The young ones are always the feistiest, thought Fabrice fondly,
recalling Lazara's hatching. It was the last thing she remembered ...


[back to a mixture of Susan's and my post]

It was afternoon the next day when Aleta gave that final push and
the baby made it to Mila's waiting arms. M'tan was beside his mate,
almost as sweaty as she was, his face aglow at the first sight of his
child.

Fabrice lay, a slight smile on her face, sleeping peacefully.

M'tan put his arm around Aleta in the Med Center cot. "We need to
find Talaira. She needs to meet her baby brother Wyndel."

No one noticed Ada, watching from the door, as she turned and silently
left the room.


Respectfully submitted
Carina Norris
carina@norris25.freeserve.co.uk
Fabrice <& Lazara> - Keldarra
Cat and Mr Purr - Norwall
Jeneve - Telnor (soon)
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