**(Afternoon of Tera's dinner party; the night before the patrol)**


<Lyon, Sundee just told me that Tera wants you to come to a dinner party
tonight.  She wants to know whether or not you can make it.  Tera couldn't
ask; she's busy making the dinner.>

Lyonnia, who was brushing her unruly hair, paused and relayed *Tell Sundee
that I'm totally free; I don't have a single thing to do tonight.*

<Got it.>  There was a pause, then <Beloved, Sundee says that Tera has
something planned for you tonight, but won't tell me what it is.  She just
warned me to tell you to look real nice tonight.>

Lyonnia frowned and stopped combing her hair.  *Sundee didn't tell you
anything but that?* she asked.

<That's it.  I said it pretty much word for word.>

Lyonnia was silent for another moment, then resumed combing her frizzy hair.
*I'm sure she has her reasons* she told Dianthus.  *We'll probably know
tonight.  Did she say that I should bring anything?*

<No, Tera's going to provide everything.  You just have to show up.>

*Okay.  Tell Sundee that I'll be there.  And that I'll take her advice.*

<Yes ma'am.>

Hmm, Lyonnia thought, setting her brush down.  Lyonnia considered what she
should wear, trying to remember what she had.  Finally, she stood up and
headed for her closet.  Opening her closet door, she glanced at each of her
dresses, sighing at how few she had.  She stared at the dresses for a moment
more, then pulled out a light green one.  She had always heard it said that
the color green was good for redheads, and she agreed; she liked her green
clothes anyway.  This one was simple though; it had no extra frills or lace,
nothing really remarkable, but if Lyonnia knew Tera, she probably had thrown
the party together at the last minute.  Otherwise, invitations would have
been sent out earlier than just hours before the dinner.

Lyonnia slipped out of her riding gear and pulled the dress over her head,
smoothing it out when she got it on.  Drat, she thought, frowning.  I must
be getting fat; it's tighter than I remember it along my chest.  She tried
stretching it a bit but after a moment gave up.  It was one of her older
dresses anyway; she hadn't worn it for a while.

*What time did she say her dinner was going to be at again?* she asked her
dragon.

<Well, probably in just a little while.  You could probably ask Tera herself.>

*No, it's okay.  I'll go to her place in about an hour.*  She looked at
herself in the mirror.  *Okay,* she amended, *make that an hour and a half.*
She heard Dianthus chuckling as she grabbed her brush and began once again
trying to tame her hair.
***********************
**(That night)**


She arrived at Tera and Gab'rin's new apartment two hours later, and
hesitantly knocked. Tera answered, a huge grin on her face.  "Good evening
sis," she said, embracing Lyonnia.

"Good evening back, sis," Lyonnia answered, hugging the girl back.  Tera had
started the sister thing, since the two were getting to be as close as
sisters, if not closer.
 
Lyonnia stepped back, looking at Tera.  She looks good, Lyonnia thought
smiling.  There was a glow about her, and she positively emitted happiness;
marriage definately agreed with her.

"Come in, come in," Tera said, leading Lyonnia through the door to the
apartment.  "There's someone I want you to meet."  She looked at Lyonnia, a
gleam in her eye.  "You look nice."

"I got your message," she said, blushing slightly.  She hadn't known what
Tera had had in mind when she had relayed for Lyonnia to look nice, but she
had trusted her friend and had tried to look nice.  She'd had a little
cosmetics she had borrowed for fun's sake, and had applied a bit of that,
mostly just a light powder on her face and a little lip color.  There had
been some sticks with coal on the tips, much like pencils, but she'd had no
clue for what those were for so she'd done nothing with them.

Tera led her over to a tall young man, who was talking with Tera's new mate
Gab'rin, and introduced her.  "Lyonnia, this is Ben'sar, Gab'rin's brother."

"Pleased to meet you Lyonnia," Ben'sar said, a twinkle in his eyes as he
kissed the back of her hand gallantly.

Lyonnia blushed and glanced at Tera, immediately knowing what the girl was
up to.  It didn't take a genius to see the twinkle in Tera's eyes as she
watched the exchange; Lyonnia hadn't known the girl was a matchmaker.

"Likewise, Ben'sar," she said, smiling back up at him.  She took in all of
him, from his blonde hair to his sparkling eyes.  My, she thought, smiling,
he IS handsome isn't he?

Ben'sar's eyes widened slightly when he saw her smile.  She truly is a
beautiful woman, he thought.  He knew she couldn't be too much more than
around his age, but somehow, she looked younger, more innocent.  He glanced
at his brother's new mate, noting the twinkle in her eyes; were all women
matchmakers? he wondered.

"Gab'rin, can you help me with dinner?" Tera asked her mate, pulling him
away before he even answered.  Lyonnia covered up a giggle with a delicate
cough; her friend's ploy was so easy to see through it was funny.

"Well, I see we're alone."

Lyonnia looked over at Ben'sar, still smiling.  "I guess we are," she
answered.  Her smile slipped slightly; what can we talk about, she thought,
her spirits dipping lower.

Ben'sar took care of that though.  "Was it me, or did Tera pretty much
throws us together?"  He mock-frowned, scratching his head in a comical
gesture of ignorance.

Lyonnia giggled and answered, "She usually doesn't do that.  Well," she
amended, "not to my knowledge anyway."

"So," he said, leaning against the wall, "I heard you joined in the last
hatching."

"Oh yeah," she said, glad to be on a subject she knew something about.  "My
dragon is Dianthus; she's the light blue one."  When she saw him nod, she
continued.  "It was an almost spiritual experience, joining her.  When you
feel that....that voice in your mind, you suddenly realize you haven't been,
well, whole."  She was so caught up in the memory she didn't see the look in
Ben'sar's eyes.

"So, you're going on your first patrol tomorrow?" he interjected, smiling.

"Yep.  First patrol; we're going to fly around the herds, probably scare
some livestock, anger some farmers..."  She giggled, then waved her hand in
denial of her previous statement.  "No, we're going to be patrolling the
tithe train, checking for raiders and wraiths.  Personally though," she
said, her voice lowering to a conspirital tone, "I think it's going to be
boring."

Ben'sar watched the girl in front of him as she described her aspirations
for her life. My, she's talkative, he thought, smiling.  Listening to her,
he found himself wishing once again that he had a dragon.  He'd always
wanted a dragon, and the desire had grown when his brother Gab'rin had
joined.  He had been a candidate at the last hatching but hadn't joined,
much to his disappointment and secret sorrow.

"Dinner's ready," he heard Tera's voice call out, and heard cheers around
the room.  Ben'sar grabbed one chair near him, intending to sit down there,
but Tera appeared from nowhere and guided him towards another chair,
"convienently" located next to Lyonnia.

He kept up a conversation with Lyonnia all during the meal.  They talked
about all sorts of subjects, from medicine to dragons, to wraiths and
patrols, and all the things in the middle.  He found himself more intrigued
by the minute; she was like a child, finding wonder in the smallest things,
and yet she had the body of a woman.  Many times throughout the meal he
noticed Tera glancing at them, approval glowing out of her eyes.

Eventually, though, the dinner ended; the guests said their goodbyes to
everyone and began departing for the night.

"That was a wonderful dinner Tera," Lyonnia told her friend.

"I'm glad you like it," Tera replied.  "And how did you like the guests?
Meet anyone you didn't know?"

Lyonnia flicked a glance at Ben'sar, and looked back at her friend.  Tera
had a completely innocent look on her face which didn't fool Lyonnia for a
moment.  She decided to play along though.  "Well, your brother-in-law
Ben'sar was kind of nice."

"Kind of?" Tera prodded Lyonnia, her eyes gleaming.

"Well," Lyonnia said, shrugging, "He's nice."

She could see the beginnings of disappointment on her friends face and said
for her sake, "He's really nice.  Very gallant too," she added, remembering
his introduction when he kissed her hand.

"I'm glad you liked him," Tera said, her face happy.

Lyonnia glanced outside and, seeing it was pitch dark, commented "I need to
go to bed now.  Patrol tomorrow."

"Oh!  By all means.  Hope to see you tomorrow though.  Maybe come to dinner
again?"

"I'd love to," Lyonnia replied, hugging her friend and waving goodbye.

Ben'sar had been listening in on the whole conversation,  Before he left, he
took Tera aside and asked her, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Did what?" Tera asked, the picture of innocence.

"You know exactly what, don't pretend."  

"Why, I just thought that my mate's family should meet one of my best
friends, that's all."  

"Yeah," he replied.  He watched Lyonnia as she left, commenting, "She is
quite a girl though, isn't she?"

Tera positively glowed as she replied, "She is."  Her voice lower to a
whisper.  "You know," she whispered, "she's a good friend of mine, so she'll
probably be here a lot of nights for dinner and stuff.  And after all,
you're the brother of my mate so you would be invited too...."  She trailed
off, leaving the rest to him.

He got the picture though.  He knew exactly what she was doing, and smiled.
"Well, I believe that I'm going to be coming to dinner a few nights myself,"
he answered, smiling at Tera.  "I like your cooking."

"Oh good!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands and rubbing them together.
"I'm sure Ly... Gab'rin will be overjoyed."

Ben'sar choked back a laugh and bid his brother's mate good night, heading
to his own apartment.


**Respectfully submitted**

Sarah


NRPG:  Well, Barb, here's my meeting with Ben'sar.  I took a LOT of
liberties with your characters, so I do hope I got them right.