[NRPG: On Kris's timeline, this is Day 2, after the twins are born]

Trey jerked awake curled up next to Diana.  A baby was crying.  He sat up to 
see Retala rocking the girl as B'rin looked on.  "Hi," Trey greeted.  "How 
long have I been asleep?"

"You and Diana have both been asleep for several hours.  I'd guess it's 
maybe 3:30 by now."

"Sorry."

"That's okay.  You were both exhausted.  B'rin and I have been talking.  I 
don't think this is doing any good.  I think she's hungry."

Diana moaned and sat up.

Trey slipped from the bed and took the babe, Darenni, to her mother.  Diana 
opened her blouse, then struggled for a moment with the infant.

"I can't seem to get her to suckle."

"Here, let me help.  Rub her cheek against you.  Most babies will turn their 
heads instinctively..."

Retala noticed that B'rin had turned away, blushing, from the scene of his 
father and his new mate and the infant.  Give him time, she thought, and 
he'll die of embarrassment yet.

Treanya took that moment to start crying as well.

Sina arrived to help out then, carrying a baby bottle.

Soon they had the situation mostly under control and were sitting and talking.

"So, what's been happening at Telnor lately?" Trey asked as he sat feeding 
Treanya from the bottle.

"Gods, I don't even know where to start!" Retala exclaimed.  "H'nry-- you 
remember him?-- he ran an investigation into the caravan raiders possibly 
being in this one village and it turned bad fast.  It ended with a villager 
coming on too strong to Danielle and her partner trying to protect her.  A 
knife got pulled and his dragon flamed the villager."

"He?  I thought Diana's partner was female," Trey interrupted.

"Oh, she got assigned a new one-- a fellow that joined from Vithraena's 
clutch.  He's a handsome young man.  Deaf.  Also a telepath."

"I see.  Any bad blood from that?"

"Well, it was a pretty remote village.  I expect it will be a bit before 
official complaints reach Raisa, but it was a mess."

"It sounds it."

"Then the tithe caravan arrived and was missing half the supplies.  They'd 
been replaced."

"So you haven't caught the raider leader yet?  He sounds like a sly one."

Retala nodded.  "If he ever is caught, I expect half the warren will want 
him to die a slow, painful death.

"And then..."  She paused, biting her lip, then went on, "... then there was 
a fight on the Dining Hall between Teslin and W'nat.  Teslin pulled a knife. 
 There was a lot of rolling around and..."

"And?" Trey asked, anxiously.

"Teslin died.  It was an accident, really.  W'nat didn't intend to stab him, 
but..."

"Teslin's dead?"

{Go on, Tes, do it,} P'kel had ordered.

{All right, already.  Just give me a goddamned second.}

Teslin's hands on his body... P'kel's hand slapping across his mouth... 
{Open your eyes, Tr'etram.  We want you to watch.}... Teslin's eyes meeting 
his, then looking away as...

"Trey, are you okay?"

He shook his head, clearing it of the awful memories.  "I'm fine, Retala."

They heard a distant trumpetting and then Trey felt the heat through his body.

<Roth, no, not...>

His mind was filled with images of Kirimith.  Her voice taunting in his 
head.  Trey looked at his mate in apology.  "Diana... I..."

Diana looked upset, but the words she said were understanding.  "Go.  Koroth 
needs to fly a few of these, you know."

Retala took the baby and bottle from his arms.  He walked out.  B'rin was on 
his heels.

Retala turned to Trey's new mate and smiled.  "Dragons don't have a very 
good sense of timing, do they?"

[NRPG: Kat, do whatever here that you want.]

******

It was soon over and the heat was passing.  He watched as D'nar and Minty 
kissed.  He wondered how she would react, remembering her reaction to David 
and Diana.

He turned to head back to the Medical Center, but saw B'rin sitting on the 
ground hugging his knees, rocking back and forth, nearly crying.  He dropped 
down beside his son.

"It's a little scary, isn't it?"

B'rin nodded.  "I don't know which would be worse, winning one with a 
stranger or winning one with someone I know."

Trey nodded.  Then said quietly, "You know, one of these ages, Kalon will 
win one."

B'rin nodded.  "I know."

"Can I ask you why you're so scared, B'rin?"

B'rin considered for a moment, quietly.  "I don't know..."

"You do so know.  You just don't want to tell me."

B'rin looked away, but not before Trey caught the look on the boy's face 
that told him he was right.

"Tell me, please."

B'rin shrugged.

Trey's shoulders sagged.  "I guess I really shouldn't expect you to confide 
in me like you used to, before... before I had to leave Telnor."

"No!"  B'rin spun around to face him again.  "It's not... it's not that I 
don't trust you."

"Then what?"

The eyes flickered away again.  "I don't want to hurt you."

"So, it's something I've done then?  B'rin, did I do something to you that I 
don't remember doing?"

"No, Papa.  You never did anything to me."  Trey sighed in relief.  "It's 
what you did to Mom... and to Sandor..."

It was Trey's turn to seek some other place to focus his eyes.  He watched 
as Raynod's white form lifted off into the air, then winked out, and 
wondered briefly where Z'lec was off to.  "My affair with Retala, you mean?"

B'rin nodded.  "It all started with the mating flight, didn't it?  The time 
Koroth won Rimanda."

It would be easy to deny that the mating flight had had anything to do with 
the later affair, but, in truth, Trey had some suspicions it had.  It had 
broken the unspoken agreement between Retala and himself to keep their 
relationship out of the physical realm.  "I don't know, B'rin.  I don't know."

For the second time that day, there was a trumpetting.  They both looked up 
to see Rimanda's magenta form launch into the air, screaming her 
superiority.  Koroth and Kalon, both nearby, immediately took to the air 
after her, as did a number of other males.  Trey looked to the Medical 
Center to see Retala's small form emerging.

B'rin whimpered.  Marrid was a small warren.  There weren't mating flights 
practically every day, as there were at Telnor.  He had hoped for some 
respite here.

The mating flight had effectively ended the conversation.

Trey rose and helped B'rin to his feet, walking to where Retala was 
standing, watching her dragon evade her pursuers.

Slowly, Koroth's feelings overrode Trey's own.  He must be patient.  They 
all had just chased a female, though his own had been half-hearted.  And now 
would be the reward.

Various males fell away.  Tarranx.  Kalon.  Grall.  Tonn.  Rainy.

Rimanda flew on, mocking them.  He would show her.  She turned and dropped.  
He dived after her...  scales under his claws, slipping away from him...  He 
bit her tail and held on.  She turned, enraged, clawing at him, falling.

<Submit!>

The ground rushed up at them, closer and closer.

<Never!  You are not worthy.>

Closer...

<You are mine!  Submit.>

So close...

<I will have you, Koroth.>

He released her.  Both pairs of wings worked frantically to stay aloft.  His 
claws brushed the ground, then they were off to the mountains.

On the ground, B'rin watched as his father lifted the petite Retala and 
carried her towards a storage building.  He turned away, not wanting to 
think about what would happen now, and the last time this had happened.

Where to now?

He headed back to the Medical Center.  He might as well get to know Diana.

In the storage building, Trey and Retala undressed each other hastily as 
their dragons landed.  Trey could smell through Koroth the sweet scent of 
Rimanda's heat as his dragon mounted the female.

As their dragons came together, so too did Tr'etram and Retala, old lovers, 
familiar with the other and what was most pleasurable to the other.  They 
made love, for it was more than simple dragon-inspired sex.  There were 
still feelings there-- deep and strong and painful feelings.

******

He awoke to her fingers tracing the parallel scars that ran along his 
wrists.  Their eyes met.  Tears were running down her face.

"Hi," he said, not knowing what else to say.

She looked into his face sadly.  "You're quite a man, Tr'etram.  I've missed 
you."

He reached up and wiped away a tear.  "I've missed you, too, Retala."

Then her lips were on his own and she was kissing him desperately.  He 
slipped his arms around her, his body answering despite their recent 
lovemaking.  He rolled her over and her legs slipped around his hips.

"We shouldn't be doing this," she said hoarsely, as he thrust into her.

He closed his eyes as he picked up the rhythm of her legs pulling him into 
her.  "No, we shouldn't."

Then he was lost only in her body and the memories it held.

Respectfully submitted,
 Lynette R. F. Cowper
  Tr'etram and Koroth

NRPG: Told you it was going to be evil, Kat... ;>

---
|   Lynette R. F. Cowper  *  Official INWO Rules NetRep & Goddess    |
| http://www.io.com/~lcowper  *  lcowper@io.com  *  lcowper@indy.net |
|  "If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever |
|                   get done."  -- L. Wittgenstein                   |