From:  "Dianne Eberle" <mari.reggie@bigpond.com>
Date:  Thu Apr 25, 2002  3:17 am
Subject:  A New Home and Hatchlings

Late Morning
Day 4

The morning had been a busy one. The new Jr. Queen and rider arrived, and
shortly after her arrival the Queen had a mating flight. This made Mari wish
that Reggie's eggs would soon hatch. Really it was time, but nothing was
usually with Reggie lately so she didn't know what to expect. But Reggie shared
the hatching cavern already and for her first laying, she wasn't quite sure how
she'd take sharing it again.

Mari reached Mae's office. She hated to ask, but after what Dalmar had told her
about the trouble the hatchlings could have, Mari thought it was best that they
had a home with the hatchlings. So she knocked lightly on the door of Mae's
office. Nervous about her request.

"Come in." came Mae's response.

"Mae, I hate to bother you, but I need to make a request." Mari stammered.

"Don't be silly," Mae said with a smile, "Request away."

"You know that Reggie can never return to Daere and now Dalmar has told me that
with the man made shells on her eggs that the hatchlings may be at a real
disadvantage. He said that they'd do much better if their mother was near them.
I would like to request a transfer to Telnor. We really have no where else to
go. I know I'm not really needed here, You have a Jr. Queen and rider, so I'd
just be extra, but as I said, it will be better for the hatchlings and we have
no other place to go."

"Oh Mari, I'm so pleased. I was hoping for the request as soon as you arrived.
You've helped me so much since you've been here. You have been my right hand in
these past few days. And as for having nothing to do, well let me tell you.
Ann will need help getting adjusted to Warren life. I'm sure that Mint will
too. Not that you can be much help with Mint, but Reggie may be able too.
You've both been in warrens for awhile and that will be a lot of help to Ann and
Mint and to me."

Mae continued, "I know that Jayleigh has been wondering what was going to happen
with you. She's sent a note asking. I just replied to her that "Mari has a lot
to adjust to. The news you received about not being able to return to Daere was
a blow to you. But I told her to prepare the transfer papers and send them to
me. I was hoping that you'd decide to stay here at Telnor.

Mae took out the paper from her desk and filled in what she needed to. Then she
reached across the desk and shook Mari's hand. "Welcome to Telnor."

"Now lets sit and talk a bit. I've been so busy that we've not had much of a
chance to visit."


Noon to early afternoon
Day 4

The woman talked for some time. Until they both decided it was time for lunch.
The walked to the dining hall, continuing to talk about all kinds of things.
Mae told her some of the history of Telnor and Mari listened intently.

As Mari finished her lunch and stood to leave there was the triumphant call from
Reggie. The hatching had begun.

"Oh Mae, it's Reggie...the eggs are hatching."

"Let's get going then. A queen usually like her rider present when her eggs
hatch, especially the first hatching."

Mari was surprised to see so many people coming to the hatching cavern. She
thought with the mating flight, not so many people would be there. But the
people gathered as always. She wondered how many candidates there were. She
felt as if she should have kept track of that, but she'd hardly had time to meet
many people since she'd been at Telnor and the candidates hadn't been on the top
of her list. Now she wished they had been.

She entered the cavern to see the two viable eggs starting to crack. The ones
with the man made shells were rocking, but it was obvious that the young dragons
inside were fighting a loosing battle. The candidates on the sands were rather
unsure of themselves. She really only recognized two. One was a young boy. He
was the brother of the young rider Tanda. She couldn't remember his name
though. The other was the young girl Brandy. She was heading for one of the
eggs with the man made shells.

<Will you tell that girl to hurry up and get the shell off my hatching. She
can't do it on her own.>

*You're hatching will let her know. They're not stupid you know.*

<I'm quite confident in my hatching, I'm just not too sure of the girl.>

*She seems quite intelligent to me. I don't think you need to worry about her.*

<I know very well that some humans don't have the sense they were born with.>

By this time the girl was at the egg. She wasn't quite sure how to get the
shell off. She looked around, looking for someone to tell her what to do. Then
Dalmar walked up to her and handed her a chisel and hammer. She again gave the
man a questioning look.

<I told you she wouldn't know what to do.>

*Oh hush.* Mari replied to Reggie, getting a bit annoyed with her queen.

"Just tape it lightly, right about there." Dalmar said pointing to the top of
the egg."

Brandy tapped it very lightly.

Dalmar chuckled. "Just a bit harder."

She tried again, this time having the shell fall away as it split in nearly
perfect quarters.

Brandy looked at the dragon that appeared. She was the most beautiful thing
she'd ever seen. She was ivory with just a hint of pearlescent pink. She
almost looked like a pearl or an opal. She turned and faced the crowd and
shouted. "HER NAME IS KENNEDRA!"

With this the crowd shouted. There was a face in the crowd that caught her eye
as she shouted so proudly. Fal'k smiled at the girl. She quickly gave him a
grin to say, "I'm staying at Telnor."

(Tag anyone who's in a joining mood. :) Also John if Dalmar's help is still
needed.)

Respectfully Submitted,

Marialla and Regenta
and
Brandy and Kennedra