NRPG:  I'm glad to see that my character has been kept busy while I
was away.  I do have quite a bit to work with, so this will be long.

Galen-
Wedding Reception
-----------
Galen tried to watch everything as he danced with Meena.  Talesin and
Lacey were there.  So was the WarrenLady.  He caught sight of the man
she had been with most of yesterday leaving the reception.  He didn't
stand out from any of the other people in any way except for his face.
 Galen knew that face well.  It was the face of death.  That man was
going somewhere to kill - or to be killed.  

He gave it up finally, and concntrated on the steps of the dance.  He
was glad to see that some things hadn't changed.  Meena was a good
dancer, and the time went quickly by.  Soon the music was over and
Galen stepped back.

She smiled at him, "You're quite a good dancer. Thank you for asking
me."  Galen blushed and opened his mouth to thank her for accepting
his offer, including the joking.  Any words he might have said were
interrupted by a nearby couple obviously struggling. They turned to
see the priest with his hands all over Naomi.

Galen reacted instinctivley.  He stepped up behind the Warrenlady and
pushed the obviously drunken priest away from her.  He hadn't pushed
him very hard, but the drink had disoriented the priest enough so that
he ended up on his back. Dancing couples side stepped to avoid
stepping on him.  

"Are you hurt?" Galen asked Naomi

"I'm alright. Thank you." she smiled as she regained her composure. "I
could have handled him....."

"Are you sure you're OK, Naomi?" Meena asked with concern. "Can I get
you a glass of water... or wine?"

"Really I'm fine." she reassured the wingleader with a quick hug.
"He'd had too much to drink and had listened to too many tales of the
wanton Warrens." She turned to Galen with a smile. "Thank you for the
help."

Wanton Warrens?  What was that about?  Naomi interrupted his thoughts
by kissing him.  He hadn't expected it and was taken by surprise.  He
hadn't been kissed in a very long time.  It was a nice feeling.

His pleasure turned to pain as the WarrenLady bit down on his lower
lip.  He gasped and then she was in front of him, dancing.  She
whispered, "Catch me ..", and then spun off away from him and began
rubbing her body up against the next closest male.  He stood in
amazement as she moved around the room, dancing in front of most of
the males.

He pulled out his handkercheif and pressed it against his sore lip.

"Are you all right?" Meena asked, knowing that his lip had to be
hurting. "Maybe we should get some antiseptic for that .."

He nodded numbly, unable to take his eyes off of the WarrenLady. 
Maybe he had offended her in some way... but she was behaving so
strangely.  What was going on?

Talesin and his beautiful compainion strode up.  Maybe the younger man
knew what was happening.

"What was that all about?"  Galen asked Talesin as he dabbed at his
sore mouth.  "What did I do?  I was only trying to help her and she
*bit* me!!!"

"Her Queen is in mating heat and the males are flying her."  Meena
told him quietly.  She took the wadded hanky from him and inspected
his lip.  

"What does the dragon's mating flight have to do with her biting me?" 
Galen asked in puzzlement.  This was getting stranger by the minute.

"She didn't mean to hurt you and she'll be full of apologies
tomorrow." Meena sidestepped the question, but gave Galen a confused
look.

 "For now I think we ought to get you to the med centre and get
Lilliana to put a stitch in that cut.  Human bites can be nasty if
they're left untreated...."

Great.  That was all he needed.  More stiches...

"We'll come with you."  Talesin said quickly.  "The party's breaking
up now anyway, and Foamfollower will need feeding again soon.  Do you
mind leaving Lacey?"

Lacey shook her head, and linked arms with him.   "The guests of
honour have already left anyway.  Come on and I'll help you with
feeding Foamfollower if you'll help me oil Garnet."

"It's a deal."  he said with a broad smile.

The four set off for the Med Centre, Galen still confused.  Things
just were not making sense.  Then he saw the large blond man carrying
the WarrenLady away and suddenly everything fit into place.  He
couldn't help staring at the receeding pair in amazement.  In all of
his years of travel, he had never come across anything remotely
similar to this.  He shook his head in disbeleif.

Zera was huntched over a desk when they entered the Med Centre.  She
took one look at him and started laughing.

"What did you do now?  Keep this up and you'll never get out of here."
 

Galen took a seat as Meena explained what had happened.  Zera  laughed
again when she heard.  Galen hadn't thought it was that funny, but it
was his lip that was hurting right now.

Talesin, Lacey and Meena took seats and began to talk.  The pain got
more intense, so Galen concentrated on Zera's face as she worked.  

Which is why he saw the deep lonlieness in her eyes.  She had taken a
quick look over at Talesin and Lacey and when she focused again on his
lip, it was there.  It hadn't been there before and it was qucikly
gone again.  

She seemed like she had a lot of friends, and it had looked like she
was happy here.  Hmmm.... He wondered if her life was similar to his
own.  He would have to talk to her more and see...  

She finished her work and took one last look at it.  
"Try not to injure yourself again, okay?"  She laughed.  

Talesin walked over to him.  "Will you be well enough to spar with me
tommorrow?"  Zera shot him a warning glance.  He was still sore from
this morning's workout and the dancing.  He knew he could use some
rest, but he didn't want to miss practicing.

"I'll be there,"  he said.  Zera sighed.

Talesin glanced at her and smiled.  "I don't think your doctor
approves.  We'll take it easy tommorrow.  The last thing I want is for
you to be back here again.  I'll see you tommorrow."

He and Lacey strolled out of the room.  Meena stood and stretched.  "I
also must leave.  There is work for me to do, even on wedding days." 
She smiled.  "Thank you for the dance.  I enjoyed it.  Oh, yes.  We
are going to take a look around the area where we found you tomorrow. 
We'll be looking for any bandit encampments.  You got a good look at
the area and might be able to help us."  

"I don't know how much help I will be, but I will come along... I have
to ride on of those lizards again, don't I?"  That thought wasn't very
comforting.

Both Meena and Zera laughed.  It seemed like he was causing a lot of
amusement tonight.  

"Don't worry.  You can ride with me and I'll be very sure to be
careful."  

He nodded, not totally comforted.  However, it did look like he would
be here for a while and he would have to get used to those things
eventually.

"I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then."  With that, she left.

Zera was shaking her head.  "You sure know how to hurt yourself.  I
had better not see you again tommorrow."

He laughed.  "YOU don't want to see ME?  I'm the one getting hurt all
the time.  You might not belive this, but I don't really enjoy hurting
myself all the time."

She chuckled and went back to her desk.  He sat there for a while,
thinking about this strange night and all the things he had seen.  A
few of his fears had been erased tonight.  This place was far
different from home and he didn't have to worry about his past
catching up with him.  

He chatted with Zera for a while.  Looking at her now, he would never
have guessed she was lonley.  She masked it well.  His stomache
rumbled and he realized he hadn't eaten since this morning.

"During all of tonights events, I never got anything substantial to
eat."

"I'm sure there is still A LOT of food left."

"Would you like to take a break and join me?"  He had never gotten
used to eating alone.  He hadn't had any close friends to eat with
since his promotion.  It had gotten a little boring.  

"As long as you promise not to stab yourself with a fork or choke on
some food." 

He smiled.  Well, this should be fun.

NRPG:  Jill - if you want to write the dinner, please do.  I'm just
skipping to the next day.

The Next Day
----------------------------
Galen stood rubbing his sore shoulder.  Talesin had taken it easy
today, but it still hurt.  He idly watched the lines of young faces
with small lizards.  Well, they weren't so small anymore.  They grew
extremely rapidly.

He saw the WarrenLady walking towards him.  She looked like hell.  He
wondered what ... then he remebered what he had seen yesterday.  That
made sense.

"I'm sorry I injured you."  she said quietly, as she came to a halt
beside him.  "Especially as you were good enough to rescue me from the
attentions of that over friendly priest.  I hope I didn't do too much
damage?"

He smiled.  "Don't worry about it.  Meena explained everything."

She stood with him for a second, watching the trainees.  Her eyes were
troubled.  Tact had never been a strong point for him, so his words
were very blunt.

"He'll be back."

She looked at him, shock and confusion covering her face.

"It's amazing how much you can learn by watching and listening.  I saw
him leave yesterday.  He looked like a soldier going into battle.  And
from what I've heard about him, he's one of the best soldiers around. 
I've lived this long - I'm sure he can too.  He will return."

Galen wasn't sure exactly how comforting his words were.  He might
have done more damage than good.  He just hoped he was right about
this.
_________________________
"Quoth the Raven Nevermore"
Ben Tate
Galen