Galen:
---------
"I'm doing."  Zera curled up against a nearby tree, resting her chin on 
her knees as a faint breeze flirted with baby-fine strands of hair. She 
stared into the middle distance, losing herself there for a moment as 
she bit her lip.  "I'm reminded of why I didn't come in from the Wastes 
on my own after...  after my parents...  died.  So... helpless...  Once 
the interaction began... There wasn't much anyone could have done."

Spinning abruptly to her feet, Zera hit the unoffending young tree, the 
helpless rage, shame and horror of the night before spilling over.

"It's not fair!  They were so happy...  And someone saw fit to end 
that!"

"What?"  Galen grabbed her hands before she could do it again.  Zera
struggled against him for a moment, then collapsed into him.  For the 
second time that day, he held her against the events of last night.  
Unlike this morning, however, he didn't have anything occupying his mind 
and he was suddenly very aware of the feel of her body against his.

"Haven't you heard...?"  She tilted her head up slowly.  "Greta was
poisoned.  Murdered."

"Why?"

"I think it has something to do with the Lord of Whitebarrow, if I 
understand the rumors correctly.  Greta is -- *was* -- the mother of the 
heir to the manor, before he remarried and got his new wife pregnant.  
That would be reason enough to kill her, in some circles..."

He looked into her eyes and her voice abruptly trailed off.  In the 
silence that ensued, Galen could swear he heard his heart beating.  She 
blushed, the red in her cheeks outlining the scars.  His hands were 
sweaty, his heart was beating hard, he felt the butterfly's in his 
stomach were going to explode out at any second .... and the fire was 
racing all over him.  

"Galen...?"

Her voice was a quiet whisper, and in it was something that hadn't been 
there before.  

Hesitantly he raised his hand and brushed the hair away from her face. 
His hand ran down across her cheek, feeling the scars that drove most 
men away.  

Funny that here, so far away from his home and with his life in the 
midst of confusion, he would find something he had thought was lost to 
him forever.  

His eyes locked on hers, Galen slowly bent close and kissed her.  He 
began gently, but she responded passionately and the fire was racing 
through every vein of his body.  He gave into the fire and kised her as 
intensely as he could.  

He finally broke away so he could catch a full breath of air.  He looked 
into her eyes again and smiled.  In his younger days before the wars and 
the scars, Galen had courted a young lady or two, but he had never felt 
the way he did now.  And he had never had any of them look at him as 
Zera was looking at him now.

_______________________________
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore!"

NRPG:  Thank you Jill for the perfect setup.  :)

Ben Tate
Galen              

      

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