Thursday:
- Sandor assigns H'nry, Lyonnia, Danielle and Kay to patrol the tithe 
caravan the following day.

Friday:
- The four meet in the early morning and head out to the caravan, where they 
meet the caravan leader, and Titus and company give Kay a hard time.
- Later, they return to the front of the caravan where they notice that the 
lead herd is largely missing.  Confrontation with the Shadow.  Lyonnia is 
kidnapped.
- A few minutes later, a fake Lyonnia is returned and the Shadow gets away.
- A couple hours later, Lyonnia is released and returned to the warren in 
time for a late supper (the Shadow mentions that she had missed her evening 
meal).  She sees Ophelia, then goes to talk to Ga'brin, then sees Ophelia 
*again* and is told to meet again in the morning to discuss this.

Saturday:
- Morning, meeting with Ophelia
- Late Lunch, Dameon has heart attack.

[R'chein's office, Medical Center, day before the council, late lunchtime]

R'chein had just finished lunch, which he had taken late to let other 
healers eat first.  He was sitting and just letting his thought wander for a 
moment when there was a comotion in the corridor.  He quickly rose and 
exitted his office.

He recognised the dusty blond hair at once-- the wild rider Dameon.

<Loff, can you get any clue from Themis what happened?> he asked his dragon 
as he dashed to the young man's side.

Thomas and Dirk took turns describing what had happened while Lofflossit and 
Themis talked and R'chein checked for vitals.

<Themis says his rider had a sharp pain in his chest and felt a pressure on 
his chest.>

"Damn, damn, damn," R'chein muttered as he heard this while not detecting a 
pulse.  He quickly began pumping Dameon's chest, trying to restart the young 
man's heart.  "Libby, get me a unit of C'larn's, *now*!"

The nurse dashed away.  Thomas and Dirk watched in concern.

He felt a snap through the meat of his hand as Libby returned with a 
syringe.  He took it, quickly shot the air out and plunged into Dameon's 
chest.  He then took up where he'd left off, with Libby taking up the breathing.

Finally, "We've got a pulse."

R'chein and Libby exchanged a relieved look as Thomas and Dirk both released 
their held breaths at once.

"Okay, get him into a room.  I want someone monitoring him.  We'll want to 
brace his ribs after he comes to-- I broke one."

"Is he going to be okay?" Thomas asked.

R'chein turned to the wingsecond.  "Hard to say.  This is the second time 
he's done this.  He's obviously got a weak heart.  I don't think he's a good 
choice for patrols and combat, to be honest."

Thomas nodded.  "I'll be thinking about what I can do to assign someone else 
for his current partner."

******

[Two hours later]

"He's awake," the nurse said.

R'chein headed to Dameon's room.  The young man was laying in the bed, 
messing with the restraints.  R'chein walked over and undid them.  "Lay 
still.  You don't need to be straining your heart."

"I'm fine--"

"You're *not* fine.  You've had two heart attacks in less than three weeks.  
You also have a broken rib I gave you while getting your heart started."

"I take it this means you're not discharging me right away?" Dameon asked.

R'chein smiled grimly.  "Not likely.  I'm going to find out what's causing 
these and we're going to get them stopped.  And until I'm convinced that 
your heart is strong enough, you aren't going anywhere."

******

[Evening, Sandor's office]

Sandor nervously paced.  He hated the waiting.  He would be taking Tera to 
meet Trap later, when it was darker, but for now, all he could do was wait.  
He'd tried to work on some wing business, but couldn't concentrate.

The door flew open suddenly and Danielle strode in, slamming the door behind 
her.

"Trap!  It's Trap!  He's still alive!" she exclaimed.  "Sandor, why did you 
lie!?"

He stood frozen to the spot, eyes wide with terror.  Damn!  She'd figured it 
out.  He'd known she would when that damned fool had faced off against the 
dragonriders.

He cleared his throat.  "Won't you have a seat, Danielle?"

Her face was unreadable, but after a pause, she took one of the chairs 
before his desk.  Feeling some sort of need for the distance and advantage 
it gave him, Sandor walked behind his desk and sat down, then ran his hand 
through his curly black hair.

"Now," he began carefully, "tell me what you're talking about."

"You know what I'm talking about," she shot back.  "The Shadow is Trap.  You 
lied and said he was dead.  You let us all think that!"

He looked away from her intense, angry gaze.  "Yes, I did."

"But why?"

Sandor sighed.  "Because it was necessary for his safety."

"His safety?  What--?"

"Danielle, he isn't really a bandit.  He's undercover out there, trying to 
get to the ringleader, but if everyone and their dragon at the warren knew 
that, it put him at risk.  These aren't nice people he's dealing with.  He's 
at great risk right now because too many people know.  Worse yet, too many 
dragons know.  Please tell me you can swear Violet to secrecy.  She hasn't 
talked, has she?"

Respectfully submitted,
 Lynette R. F. Cowper
  Ophelia and Beryth
   R'chein and Lofflossit
    Sandor and Dinnan

NRPG: Tag, Kat.

I'll handle Sandor's talk with Trap and my character's reactions to 
Lyonnia's father's death, etc., later.

 **********************************************************************
 * Lynette R. F. Cowper       *  Official INWO Rules 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)   *
 **********************************************************************
 *    I write of things which I have neither seen nor suffered nor    *
 *  learned from another, things which are not and never could have   *
 *  been, and therefore my readers should by no means believe them.   *
 *                                            --Lucian of Samosata    *
 **********************************************************************