Trey listened as R'chein explained his history and medical condition, 
watching the crowd.  Many seemed unsure, some hostile and others 
sympathetic.  At the moment, hostile seemed to be winning out.

R'chein sat down, his eyes meeting Trey's.  "I don't know, Trey, I hope this 
works."
 
Diana quietly said, "It will.  It has to."  She then stood.  "Warrenlady, 
Waylene may I speak, please?" Diana asked.  All eyes turned to her as 
Waylene granted permission.

"Most of you here know me well.  I have lived here for quite a while and 
consider you all as my family.  Most of you also know, even you new 
transfers, that for a while recently I went crazy with grief due to losing 
Darrin."  Diana paused, and Trey saw tears beginning to form in her eyes.  
He reached to take her hand, but she shook her head, smiling at him.

She continued, "Most of you also know that Trey and I did not start out as 
the best of friends. Only a few days ago I almost punched him, here at 
another meeting when we also faced a crisis.  But I now want you to know 
something...." Again Diana paused & looked around the room.  "This man, the 
man some of you are looking at as though he were a monster, is the only 
reason I am still here today. First, he saved me when my grief got me in a 
mess that could have killed myself and any who came to rescue me.  And 
second, he has held me and comforted me and let me come to terms with my 
grief. If it hadn't been for him, I would probably have done and succeeded 
at what he tried to do to himself."  Trey felt the jolt of shock run through 
him as she glanced at Trey's wrists.  Had she truly been that close?

"I also believe that what R'chein has said is true, that his dragon, Koroth 
would alert us to any sign of trouble, as Zena and Koroth have talked and 
she assures me that Koroth would not take a chance with his rider's life again."

Diana paused, looking around the room.  "Please, my friends and family, give 
Trey the chance he deserves.  Knowing what he did, even though he had no 
control, is punishing him every day.  He has lost enough.  The warren he 
had called home, the woman he loves, and his children.  He deserves a 
chance from us.  I know you all, and you are good people and the type of 
people to give him that chance."  She paused again.  "If you cannot find it 
in your hearts to forgive him and give him a second chance then you are not 
the kind of people I believe you all to be... and I will go with him if he 
is banished from here."

Trey shook his head at that, but she ignored it, looking around at the 
crowd.  "He deserves a chance at a new life here.  Please, give that to him."

Trey whispered fiercely to her as she sat down, "You will not come with me 
if they choose to banish me!"

"You can't stop me," Diana said quietly, turning back to the meeting.

Waylene stood up and said, "I open the floor to hear your comments."

A man stood.  "I'd like to hear what Z'lec has to say on this."  There were 
several assenting calls and nods from the crowd.  He was obviously a 
respected man, and Trey felt his heart sink.  Waylene's face, as she turned 
to her mate was also nervous, and quietly pleading.

Z'lec walked slowly to stand next to Waylene, his face hard and unreadable. 
"You want to know what I think?" he said.  "I think that it was a monster
that did all of those things.  I'm sure we can all agree on that."

Trey felt his stomach drop.  Z'lec would speak how he obviously felt and the 
people of the warren would reject him.  Z'lec's eyes turned on Trey and his 
face became even stonier.  He turned back to the assemblage.  "I guess the 
question we have to face is who is the monster, the man or the disease?  I 
will stand behind Waylene's decision to allow him to stay.  R'chein say the 
'monster' has been removed.  I believe him."

Shock and elation ran through him.  Z'lec accepted him?  Then he saw the 
look that passed between mates.  No, Z'lec was doing this for Waylene, there 
was no acceptance yet.  Z'lec turned and left as Waylene continued, "Who 
else would like to speak before we decide?"

Several of those who had been undecided were moved by the show of unity 
within their leadership, but there were still those whose faces showed doubt 
and fear.

Several more people stood up and asked questions, timidly, or spoke briefly 
of second chances and the need for forgiveness.  Those whose faces were 
hostile were holding their tongues.  As he listened to Waylene and R'chein 
speak, he began to feel more and more like this was a whitewash job.  Z'lec 
didn't approve him at all, but his show of support for his mate had cemented 
a front which cowed those who would oppose Waylene's decision.  In their 
faces, he could see the looks of contempt starting.  The wrongness of it 
built an anger in him.

"No, this is wrong," he said as he stood.  Every eye in the place turned to 
him.  R'chein, Waylene and Diana all looked at him with shock.

"I'm sorry, warrenlady," Trey said to her, "but there are those in this 
crowd who aren't speaking because it's apparent to them that no matter what 
they say, your mind is made up and they cannot sway it.  Even your mate has 
drawn the same conclusion and has supported your choice, though he doesn't 
trust me or want me here."

There was a surprised murmer from the crowd.  Waylene started to protest, 
but he shook his head.

"You know it's true.  Diana here knows it's true.  He is supporting you 
because you are his mate and he doesn't want to hurt your relationship over 
this.  Don't deny it."

"Trey, what are you doing?!" Diana asked in shock.

He turned to her.  "I'm sorry, Diana, but this needs to come out now, not 
boil under the surface, as resentment builds among those who feel they don't 
have a voice here.  Best to remove the whole infection than to let the 
gangrene spread, right R'chein?"

The healer looked at Trey as if he had lost his mind.  Maybe he had.

"We've glossed over what I did.  'Rape' is a relative term.  Some of you 
here have listened to these speeches and have looked at me up here and 
thought, 'He doesn't look so evil.  It must not have been that bad.'

"You're wrong.  It was horrible and violent and utterly inhuman.  I haven't 
forgiven myself, I don't trust myself, and I probably never will again.  I 
have... no reason to think that my former mate, my former warren or my 
daughter will, either.  I have no reason to expect or demand that any of you 
will.  Make your judgements based on that.

"I love my daughter and it hurts like hell to know I've ruined any chance of 
being a part of her life.  But I still hope, sometime, somehow, she'll find 
it in her heart to forgive me, even though I can never forgive myself."

He turned and nodded curtly to his defenders and then stepped out of the 
area where the speakers stood and strode through the audience toward the 
back door.  He couldn't stay.  People needed to say their minds without 
worrying about how he would react.  Tears blurred his eyes as he thought of 
Laria.

A figure blocked his path.  He stopped and wiped his eyes, not believing 
what they saw.

"Laria."

She would turn and run, he thought, or dissolve, a figment of his 
imagination.  She opened her mouth to speak, then paused, uncertain what to 
say.  He expected anger or hurt or accusation.

"Papa?"

"Laria, oh, Laria, I'm sorry."  His throat constricted and he couldn't speak 
through his tears.  He fell at her feet, sobbing.

She reached out, tentatively at first, and touched his head, then knelt and 
hugged him to her.  "It's okay, papa.  It's okay."

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

NRPG:  Well, that about sums up the meeting... <G>


 **********************************************************************
 * Lynette R. F. Cowper       *     Official INWO NetRep & Goddess    *
 * lcowper@io.com             *        Circle of Janus Secretary      *
 * lcowper@indy.net           *   VP of P.U.R.P.L.E. (People United   *
 * http://www.io.com/~lcowper/*   Respecting Purple Legal Equality)   *
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 *     The INWO rulings I make are official.  All other opinions,     *
 *  discussions, deck ideas, card ideas, political beliefs, etc. are  *
 *  my own and not those of Steve Jackson Games, the Circle of Janus, *
 *                        or P.U.R.P.L.E.  Fnord.                     *
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