Everywhere she turned a pair of brown eyes where there staring back at 
her. She couldn't get away. They followed her every movement, laughing 
each time she tried to tell them that she didn't care. They mocked her 
each time she told them they meant nothing to her, she didn't need
them.....brown eyes that looked deep into her soul....

The soft sound of someone knocking on her door brought Shawnee out of a
fitful sleep that had plagued her all night long. For a few seconds she
looked around the strange room trying to remember where she was, until 
the memories of  the dragonrider who had brought them to the warren last
night, came flooding back. Saul and those brown eyes.

"Who's there?" she called out as she threw back the bed covers and 
reached for the long robe draped acrossed the end of the bed and 
slipped it on to cover her nakedness.   

"It's Saul, Sweet Shawnee. Are you ready to go see your brother and sister?"

She opened the door slowly and a smile came over her face as she 
stood there looking out at him. "Oh yes. I'm sorry, I must have slept 
in longer then I'd planned. Please come in."

Saul stepped in and she couldn't help but miss the admiring glance in 
his eyes as he greeted her. "I didn't mean to wake you," he grinned.

"That's okay, just let me get dressed, and we can go." She dashed off 
into the bathroom and Saul took a seat to wait for her.

The first thing she did after closing the bathroom door was to go look 
in the mirror and pray that her sleepless night didn't show on her face. 
It just wouldn't do for him to guess that he was the cause of her 
restless night and the dark circles under her eyes. She knew she could blame
her sleeplessness the on the fact that she had been worried about 
the health of her siblings, if he should ask. But in fact it had been 
his sexy smile and the teasing look in his brown eyes that kept haunting her
dreams through out the night.

She could tell herself all she liked that what she was feeling towards 
the man was simply caused by the fact that he had shown a great kindness 
to her family. Towards herself for not turning her into the Lord's guards
after catching her red-handed with the bag of gold coins she had stolen from
him, and towards her siblings for getting them medical help when no one else
cared if they lived or died.

And she was thankful to him for all of that, but the feelings didn't stop
there. For the first time in her life she found herself wondering what it
would be like to have a man like him.....

"I'm sure your brother and sister are eager to see you." He called to her.

"As am I," she responded. "I missed them terribly last night."
Then felt guilty, for knowing that they were safe and being looked after 
by those who knew what to do, Shawnee had hardly given them a thought... 
it was those brown eyes that filled her thoughts.

"You were .. lonely?" he asked.

She popped her head out the door and looked at him with raised eyebrows,
"There's nothing wrong with being alone." 

Saul could hear the lightness in her voice and laughed, "No, there isn't."

She closed the door behind her and let the robe fall to the floor. As she
reached for the shirt and pulled it over her head, she thought about his
words. "You were lonely" 

Lonely! She felt tears pooling in her eyes but refused to let them fall.
Tears never helped anyone. Yes! She was lonely. At times the feeling 
almost overwhelmed her, but she had learned to push the feeling aside. Ojean
and Fawna needed for her to be strong. They depended on her to 
keep their little world safe and sound. Their happiness and well being 
was all that mattered to her. She didn't have time for anything else.
 
A pair of brown eyes forced their way past her defenses, mocking her and for
once she allowed the walls she had built around her feelings to fall,
letting herself remember how she had felt when Saul had held her in his
strong embrace last night. Warm, safe from the outside world and like a
woman treasured. Was that how a woman felt in the arms of her lover.....

Gods above!!!! *What* was she thinking. She'd only just met the man, Shawnee
scolded herself. Why he would probably turn and run if he could read where
her thoughts were leading her. She was just tired! That was 
all it was, she told herself. He had been the first person to show her 
any kindness, so of course she would have some kind of feeling for the 
man.

'He's only being kind to you because of Ojean and Fawna,' she told 
herself, reaching for the door knob. 'Don't read anything more into it girl.
He's still being so nice to you because he feels responsible for bring you
here. Any one of the riders would act the same way. Don't go acting stupid
or you'll make his regret his decision to being you here. 

Was she lonely? Yes. And she was a fool. She was attracted to the man
sitting in her living room. But he would never know. She wouldn't return his
kindness by embarrassing him that way.... 
Squaring her shoulders and plastering a bright smile on her face, 
Shawnee emerged from the bathroom to face him.

Saul smiled, "You look beautiful."

She blushed, "Thank you." She felt the tiny flutter inside that his 
smiles always seamed to cause, then told herself to quit acting so 
silly over a simple complement. 

He held out his arm, "Shall we?" She took it and nodded. "I would like 
to take you to meet the Warrenlady sometime today."

"The Warrenlady?" Shawnee asked, a bit doubtful. Wondering what Saul 
might tell the woman about how they had met. Would the Warrenlady let 
them stay in the warren after finding out that Shawnee had made her 
living as a thief? Or would she be willing to take the time to listen 
to the reasons why she had been forced into that way of life, before 
making her final decisions?

Saul chuckled, "Don't worry, you'll like her. She's .. well she's almost
like a daughter to me, thought I hate to admit I might be that old. Her
father is my patrol partner and has been since she was just a baby."

The two entered the medical center and Shawnee was introduced to the 
head healer, B'ril.

"Good morning, B'ril." Greeted Saul, "This is Shawnee, her younger 
brother and sister were brought in last night. She'd like to see them 
and know how they are doing."

"Morning Saul," B'ril returned the rider's greeting. "I heard you 
brought another one in last night." 

Shawnee looked confused, "Terau and his son." Saul supplied when he 
saw the look clouding her eyes.

"I must tell you young lady," B'ril turned his attentions towards her 
now. "Your little sister is one very lucky little girl. If you had 
taken any longer before bring her in for us to look at, we may not 
have been able to do anything."

Shawnee let out a gasp at his  words. Her hatred for the people in the 
town swelled. They would have let Fawna die rather than helping 'the whore's
daughter'. Never mind that Fawna was only six years old.

She felt Saul's hands on her shoulders, strong and supportive as he 
moved to stand behind her. She allowed herself to draw strength from 
his touch as the healer went on.

"As it is your sister is responding quite well to the antibiotics that
Clarissa put her on last night, and her fever broke sometime during the
night, so she should be up and running around in next to no time." he smiled
at the relief she saw mirrored in her eyes. "She was also smart 
to start your brother on the same drugs, so he'll recover before any 
signs of the fever show up. I recommend plenty of rest and some good
nourishing food for all of you for the next couple of day's at least."

"Thank the gods," Shawnee breathed a sigh of relief and felt her body 
relax against the solid warmth of the man standing behind her. "Thank 
you medic B'ril and please give my thank to medic Clarissa also. I'm 
in you debt."

"Hey! What about me? Saul tone sounded hurt, but the smile in those 
brown eyes gave him away as she turned in his arms, aqua eyes meeting 
and holding his, "I will never be able to find a proper way to thank 
you Saul for all that you have done for my family and myself. The 
kindness you have shown to us, even after what I had done to you, has 
left me in your debt, and if it takes the rest of my life I will find 
a way to repay you." She promised, meaning every word she had spoken. 
"I'll do so gladly."

He hugged her then, his strong arms circled around her, drawing her 
close as she returned his embrace.

"We'll think of some way, my beautiful little pick pocket," he replied 
in a voice so low that only she had heard his words. His arms tightened 
for a second before he released her. "Why don't you go ahead and look in 
on you brother and sweet little Fawna. I'll be along in a minute. I just
want to have a word with B'ril first."

(Ojean and Fawna)

Shawnee had no idea what Saul wanted to talk to the Medic about, but 
right now she didn't care. Her babies were going to be all right and 
she wanted to see them. When she came to the door B'ril had told her 
to look for, she took a deep breath before pushing it opened and 
stepping inside. On one side of the room, Ojean was already a wake. 
The boy was sitting up in the bed and had a book in his little hand,
reading. His deep blue eyes lit up when he saw her.

"Shawnee, you came!" he said excitedly, putting the book aside and 
moving to kneel on the bed for her embrace. She hugged her brother 
tight before releasing him and sitting down on the bed next to him.

"Well of course I came," she said in an airy voice, her aqua eyes full 
of love as she looked into his. "What else did you think I would do 
Ojean? Drop you off here and leave you two alone?"

"No, I guess not," the boy smiled. "No one else but us loves you, so 
I guess your stuck with us."

His words were meant as a joke. One they had shared between themselves 
for years, but this morning someone else's words came back to haunt her. Are
you lonely? 

"Shawnee!!!" Her brother's hand on her arm pulled her mind back,  
"You didn't answer me." the little boy frowned.

"I'm sorry Ojean, I was thinking about something else and didn't hear 
what you said."

"I was asking if you got to see Saul this morning. I wanted to thank 
him last night for letting me fly on his dragon," her brother's smile turned
impish. "But I fell asleep before I could. Do you think he 
would take me on another ride if I ask him please?"

"Just as soon as you get better and the medic says you can go," Saul
answered from the door way. Shawnee wondered how long he had been 
standing there and what he had heard. His smile as he came to kneel on 
the floor before the boy, gave nothing away.

While the two of them talked, she got up and moved across the floor to 
the other bed where Fawna laid sleeping. She reached out and smoothed 
a stray strand of the little girls white-blonde back behind her ear and
thanked the gods again that Fawna would be all right.

"B'ril said to tell you that she will sleep most of the next day or 
so," she turned to find Saul standing beside her. "It's the medicine 
they have her on. He said to tell you not to worry."

She brought her hand up to the side of his face in a gentle caress, noticing
how soft his beard felt, and wondered if it would tickle. 
She smiled at the thought and didn't realize she had spoken the words 
out loud until he through his head back and laughed.

(Tag: Kris it's an opening or not.... depending where you want to take 
it :)

Sometime later, a nurse came in to give both kids their next dose of 
the medicine. Saul took that time to remind Shawnee that they still 
had to go by the tailors shop and find out about a job for her.

"Well I sure hope he does or Terau might be a little disappointed when 
he gets there to the shop and finds I won't be making him a new outfit 
to wear after all." Shawnee quipped, reminding the rider about his high
handedness of the night before. 

Much to her surprise and delight, the tailor was more than willing to 
give her a chance on Saul's recommendation alone. He even agreed that 
she could start by making a new shirt and pair of pants for Terau when 
he showed up. 

"Though we do have something's already made up that are very nice," 
the tailor said. "It might just take a few nips and tucks to make them 
fit right. But I'll guess we'll have to see what the gentleman will
want....Off you go Saul, I'll see the young lady is kept busy today."

"See that you do!" the rider said before turning and reaching for her 
hand. "You see Sweet Shawnee, the good times are already starting to happen.
All you have to do is make the most of them"

She nodded her head in agreement. "Again I find myself thanking you 
for your kindness. I fell like I should *do* something for you in 
return. I'm not used to people helping us, it's all so strange,"

"It's the way of the Warren," he replied and then he was gone.

Are you lonely, Shawnee?

------------------------------------------------------
(Nrpg: Well Glory, Shawnee's already and willing to make Terau look 
like a million bucks. So anytime he's ready, just have his son bring 
him by.

This is fun!!!!!!!

*******Submitted by: ***************
         Barbara
 Shawnee and her siblings
     Whiteriver Warren
*****Submitted by:*********************
Barbara
Voices of:
Warrenlady Jayleigh & Queen Viktroy (Daere)
Tera & Sundellath (Telnor), 
Dan'yar & Shinner (Cleft) 
Shawnee (Whiteriver)

Daere Warren Web Page
(http://mail.reallink.com/~carolyn/index.html
(Barbara's Pern Question page)
<http://pubpages.unh.edu/~bscott/pern/questions.html>