[Breakfast]

After R'chein had left and the others had gone, she saw Dameon walk up.  His 
white bandage was beginning to show red in the palm, she noticed.

"Warrenlady Ophelia," Dameon said.  "I... um, just wanted to let you know... 
that the injury I caused to Teslin was in defense of Danielle, who was in no 
condition to fend for herself.  I do apologise.  I realize fighting among 
riders is not to be taken lightly, and I hope you will still allow me to 
serve you.

"Well, there, that's done.  One other thing-- I do not have any other skills
besides fighting to offer my warren.  So I would like to volunteer to be 
your bodygaurd in addition to flying in a wing."

Ophelia's tilted her head up to look at him, trying to hide her amusement 
from his dark blue eyes.

"No, no, not like a full time, follow-everywhere, position-- unless that's 
what you want," Dameon continued.  "I would rather be allowed to insure your 
safety 'when needed'.  Anyway, if that's not possible I could probably find 
work helping train the newly-bonded..."

Ophelia was losing the battle against her humour, and he looked down and saw it.

"...maybe?"

"The warren is not a terribly violent place, a few incidents 
notwithstanding.  And, I'm well-versed in defending myself if the need 
arises.  I'm sorry, Dameon," she said, as she noticed the disappointment in 
his eyes.  "There are plenty of things to be done around the warren.  I'm 
sure your help would be welcomed."

Ophelia glanced up and saw M'arl entering the dining hall and waved him 
over.  "Dameon, I'd like you to meet M'arl, who is attempting to straighten 
out the problem with Lark and his apartment assignments.  M'arl, this is 
Dameon.  I'd like you to take him around to some of the apartments and see 
if he can find something more suitable to a combat rider status."

She smiled at Dameon.  "I'm afraid I have to go, now.  If there's any 
problem, don't hesitate to come see me in my office."

******

[Warrenlady's office]

"There has to be some mistake," Tera's voice was devoid of any emotion as 
she stared back at Ophelia.  Her manner appeared calm until Ophelia noticed 
Tera's hands clenched into fists, tiny drops of blood beginning to form 
where her nails cut into her skin.  "It has to be... he can't be gone.  Trap 
was all I had left."  Her voice was so low the Warrenlady could barely hear her.

"Tera if there is anything I can do..."  She hated lying to the girl, but it 
couldn't be helped.  "If you need someone to talk to..." she paused, not 
knowing what she could say to ease the pain she had caused.  But it was for 
the girl's own safety as well as others.  "If you would like to put off your 
first lesson today, I'm sure H'nry will understand, once he's made aware of 
the circumstances."

"Thank you, Warrenlady, but I need to deal with this on my own."  Tera 
seemed to be struggling with a great deal of rage, even as she seemed to be 
fighting tears.  "If my brother died in a teleporting accident, don't you 
think I'd better be there to learn everything I can to make sure it doesn't 
kill both of us?" Tera snapped.

Ophelia flinched at the anger in Tera's voice.  She turned suddenly, and 
fled the room.  Ophelia called after her, but the younger woman didn't even 
slow in her flight.  Ophelia sighed, looking at the picture of the young man 
sitting on her desk.  She hadn't planned for this and she didn't like lying.

******

[Medical Center]

Retala tried to follow what Thomas was saying.  It was important.  But, she 
was so tired, so very tired...

"Retala?"

She started awake.  "I'm sorry, Thomas, what were you saying?"

Thomas shook his head.  "No, it's my fault.  We'll talk about this later."

"This pain... medication... is making... me so... sleepy..." she said as her 
eyes closed again.

Thomas glanced at the work he'd done figuring where to assign the new 
hatchlings and the two wilders, and shrugged.  He had a week on the 
hatchlings.  For now, he'd put the two new wilders in Alpha.  If Retala had 
a problem with that, it could be fixed later.

<Ranger, tell Themis and Starlight that I'd like to meet their riders in the 
Alpha Wingleader's office in half an hour or so.>

He softly crept out of his wingleader's room and left the Medical Center, 
heading for the office Retala had near Ophelia's.  It wasn't much-- a desk, 
four chairs, a map of Telnor Domain and a complete list of all the dragons 
and riders at Telnor and where they were assigned-- but it served its function.

He hadn't been there too long when the two riders walked in.  Thomas looked 
them over.  The older of the two, F'gon, wore a sword and some very worn 
clothing.  The younger, Dameon, was in typical landborn clothing.  Ranger 
had mentioned to Thomas about Dameon's sleeping arrangements with Danielle.  
Thomas wondered, briefly, about the truth of it as he stood and shook their 
hands.

"I'm Thomas, Alpha Wingsecond.  Ordinarily, you'd be talking to the 
wingleader, but she's in the Medical Center recovering from emergency 
surgery.  So, you'll have to settle for me," he smiled, trying to put the 
two at ease.  "Won't you please sit?"

They all sat down.  "I'll get straight to the point.  I understand that both 
of you have decided to stay and serve here at Telnor.  So, pending final 
approval by Retala, the Alpha Wingleader, the two of you are going to be 
assigned to Alpha Wing.  For the next couple of weeks, you should show up at 
the usual Alpha Wing exercises at 8 AM, but won't be expected to accompany 
us on patrols.  After a couple of weeks, you and the newest hatchlings will 
be integrated into the wings and paired with a permanent flight partner.  
Until then, you'll be practicing together as partners.

"If you'd like extra practice, I'm training the new hatchlings immediately 
after the Alpha Wing exercises.  You're free to stay and practice on your 
own.  I'll try to keep an eye on you.

"Also, the rider who is training the hatchlings now, H'nry, is also a 
mentor.  That means he deals with the landbound who join as far as helping 
them get a handle on warren society and so on.  He'll probably be contacting 
you soon.

"Do you have any questions?"

******

[Dining Center, evening]

R'chis smiled as Laria's arms slipped around him.  She kissed him lightly, 
then sat down at the table next to him.  His smiled slipped slightly as he 
saw that she was still wearing the necklace H'nry had given her.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Lovely.  It's so nice to be able to go flying again.  I was thinking of 
going to the beach."

"That sounds like fun," he said, relaxing, thinking of the private beach he 
and Laria had gone to a few times before.  Then he noticed her eyes flick to 
the entrance and she smiled and waved.  He followed her eyes and saw an 
attractive young man, perhaps seventeen, wave back.  "Who's that?" he asked, 
trying to hide his concern.  He was being paranoid, again.  But, the age gap 
between Laria and himself often concerned him.  Her decision to wait to 
become his mate had left a nagging sense of insecurity deep in his heart.

"That's Kay.  Kalewin, actually," she answered, waving the young man over.

The dark-haired young man came over, smiling shyly.  "R'chis, this is Kay.  
He's deaf, but he can talk to the dragons, and he reads lips.  Kay, this is 
R'chis."

Her eyes never left Kay's face as she spoke.  The young man's dark brown 
eyes turned to R'chis and he smiled.

"Good to meet you, Kay."

Kay nodded and stuck out his hand, which R'chis shook.  Then Kay turned back 
to Laria and pantomimed something that could only indicate he was going to 
get food.

"Good idea," Laria responded.  "I'll be back in a minute."

Kay helped her stand and the two headed to the serving area, Laria's face 
turned toward his, talking.  R'chis turned away, not wanting to watch.  Was 
that a light in her eye as she talked to the young man, or was he being 
overly suspicious?  R'chis sighed.  Ah, well, at least he had her all to 
himself tonight.

When Laria returned several minutes later, she'd picked up several friends, 
several of the newly-joined and H'nry among them.

"We've decided a beach party sounds like fun.  Do you think you could take 
someone on Pech?"

R'chis stared at his lover in surprise, as his thoughts of a private evening 
making love in the sand vanished.  "Ummm... yeah.  I'll... I'll take Kay, if 
he's coming."

"Good!  This will be so much fun."

She sat down, across from him instead of next to him.  Kay sat down beside 
her.  R'chis set down his fork and looked at his half-eaten dinner.

"Aren't you going to finish?" she asked.

He shrugged.  "I didn't want to get too full if we're going to the beach."

He watched as she planned and chatted with everyone.  Soon a smile stole 
across his face.  He couldn't be mad at her.  She needed this after 
everything that had happened to her.  And, to be honest, an evening at the 
beach, followed by a campfire and some stargazing sounded fun.

And, perhaps, later...

Respectfully submitted,
 Lynette R. F. Cowper
  Ophelia and Beryth

NRPG: Okay, folks, beach party for those of you who aren't romancing off by 
yourselves.

 **********************************************************************
 * 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)   *
 **********************************************************************
 *     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.                     *
 **********************************************************************