J'red: (back post, before scene with Cali)
Jennifer came running out of the mannor house as she heard of the dragons
circling to land.  She just loved her big brother....'s dragon.

Firefly did a fancy landing, back-winging loudly and sending up swirls of
dust.

<Show off!>  J'red laughed at his dragon.  Hopping down, he found himself
almost bowled over by his exuberant little sister.

"You didn't bring Lorilie and Faith??"  Jennifer cried -- hopping up and
down, hoping that they were perhaps hidden by the dust of Firefly's
landing.

"No!  You little imp.  And Faith isn't at Whiteriver anymore... her father
took her traveling..  I'm not sure where Daimon's Delights are now."

Derry came around and bowed in a teasing manner towards Jennifer, "Ah, the
Lady Jennifer!"  He teased the younger girl.

Jennifer blushed wildly, curtsying, "Lord Derric...  Why?  What are you
doing here?"  she looked questioningly up at her big brother.

"Derry and I are partners!"  J'red announced proudly, if not a little
self-consciously.  "Come on, *partner* let's see what's going on in the
house!"

Jennifer skipped off ahead of the two dragon riders.

As J'red approached he could see his father Lord Hamn Fowler standing at
the entrance, with J'red's younger brother Jason.  Jason as usual, had a
look about him of impatience.  J'red again thought how well suited Jason
would be to being Lord of the Fowler estates, he already acted like one.

However, the real Lord Fowler greated his prodigal son warmly, his
corpulant body crushing the slender, lithe youth.  "J'red!  How wonderful!
Why didn't you let us know you were coming for a visit??  .... Send for
the cook!  A feast!  We will have a feast!... And Young Derric!  How
grand, I am so pleased that you joined at the last hatching! ... Come,
come in! Clear the way!"  And Lord Fowler sent the servants scurrying in
all directions.

J'red desperately trying to get a word in edge wise, "Father, Da!  No, we
aren't staying...  Please, no... No feast!  Yes, Derry is my partner
now..."  and finally quiet loudly, "No we can't stay!" 

Derry stood back, with a grin on his face, and Jason with a scowl.

"What?  Can't stay?"  Lord Fowler turned, finally realizing that his son
was actually talking to him.

Jennifer stopped bouncing about, and turned to look at her brother,
surprised.  J'red had never spoken like that to his father before....

"No, father, please."  J'red stood firm, "We are here with urgent
business."

"Urgent!  Well, in that case, a light lunch -- and tell me why you are
here!"

******
Merissa:
Her day had gone pretty much as expected.  She and Jael had visited
several of the Lords around Whiteriver, spreading word of the missing
children, and now about the reward being offered.

Jael was good company and polite with all the Landborn gentry.  He made
Merissa laugh, as he flirted shamelessly.  However, by the end of the day,
Merissa had spent enough time in his company and was missing the easy
comfort of Th'rin's.

<Chrysthal, what are we going to do about Oberon?>  Merissa asked her
beautiful, metalic-lavendar dragon as she removed her saddle and prepared
to oil her down.

<What do you mean, my rider?>  Chrysthal's soothing tones eased into
Merissa's tired mind.

<Th'rin wants to bring him home.  He's already asked Trinale if it would
be okay.>

<And you don't want this hatchling?  Futhark's rider's hatchling?>
Merissa sensed a sadness in Chrysthal with the mention of her son
Futhark's name.  It wasn't Chrysthal's first loss, as she was still
mourning the stolen eggs, but it was the first of her joined hatchlings to
vanish into the inbetween.

<I don't know...>  Merissa responded truthfully.  <I don't think I'd be a
very good mother, Chrysthal.  I certainly didn't have much of a role
model!>  Merissa's mind wandered to her life with her mother when she was
a young girl.  Certainly he mother had provided all the physical
necessities, but she certainly hadn't been there emotionally for her.  <I
just don't think it would be fair to Oberon...>  Merissa sighed.

<I will help you.>  Responded Chrysthal lovingly.  <After all I am a good
mother!>

<Yes, my love, you are a wonderful mother.>  Merissa smiled.  <But raising
a child is a bit more difficult than heating sands to warm some eggs.>

<My children are always in contact with me, even after they have hatched.>
Chrysthal responded indignantly.

<They are?>  Merissa was surprised.

<Even as they were with their father Bruteth before he left.>  Again a sad
note crept into Chrysthal's thoughts.

Merissa sighed, it all came back to Bruteth -- and Bruteth's rider!  That
man was the cause of all this pain here in Whiteriver.  If Aradia hadn't
been out searching for those stolen children, then Oberon would not have
been born early, and Aradia would not have died!  Merissa's anger flared.

<You should not blame Bruteth for his rider's actions>  Chrysthal spoke
up.  <Bruteth is a decent dragon!>

<Then perhaps he would be decent enough to tell *you* where those children
are?>  Merissa fumed.

<Yes, he might.  That is a good idea!>  Chrysthal almost seemed to smile
in that smug assurance that she was irresistable to the male dragons.

Suddenly a sharp pain lanced through her mind, as Chrysthal snorted in
distress, <Areena!  *no, don't fight the down draft, use it!*>

<What?!  Are they okay?>

<Yes, they are fine now.  Areena is tired, as is her rider, and they are
inexperienced, especially as the cross winds near the waterfall at this
time of night can be tricky.  They will be here shortly.>

Merissa sighed.  She had told Th'rin that they would talk later, and it
looked like this was later....

*****
Lord Fowler was not over joyed by J'red's decision to offer 20 pieces
towards the reward, however, he was pleased at how his son seemed to have
developed a backbone in the past year of being a dragon rider.  "Certainly
I will help spread the word!  My men will be on the look out for this pair
and the children.  Imagine a dragon rider doing such a thing!  Unheard
of!"

J'red didn't want to disillusion his father further by telling him the
whole story of the reason behind K'leev's banishment;  Lord Fowler had too
romantic an image of what a dragon rider's life was truely like.

"But before you go, you must tell me about the wraiths, about fighting
them..."  Lord Fowler's eyes gleamed.

J'red preceded to tell him about the one wraith attack that he had been
involved in defending, embellishing it enough to make a bard proud, and to
satisfy his father.

Derry just sat back and enjoyed seeing J'red squirm in his family setting,
as well as enjoying a wonderful lunch.  The amount of food was
astonishing, but certainly explained Lord Fowler's corpulant appearance.

Jennifer sighed.  She missed the warren, and her friends.  But soon she
would be old enough to stand for hatchings -- maybe, oh, maybe she too
would have the affinity, and maybe she would join with a dragon like that
beautiful Chrysthal, who had allowed her to touch her!  Or like Cricket!
and she could become a Warren Lady!  Oh, she couldn't imagine her life
here at the courts, or married to some other Lord So-and-so.  Given the
*privalege* of bearing him many sons while sewing away her time doing
needlepoint or something equally entertaining.

But all too soon, for some of those at the luncheon perhaps not soon
enough, Derry and J'red made their excuses and left.

Jennifer stood whistfully watching them depart, and Jason, who barely had
spoken a word during lunch, gleared at them with a look of distaste that
bordered on hatred... but Jennifer didn't see that, as she smiled and went
back inside.

*****
Merissa:

Th'rin stated his case eloquently.  Merissa could tell how much the tiny
infant had already come to mean to her beloved.  If Th'rin were  given a
choice between Merissa and Oberon, Merissa wasn't sure she would win.

"Th'rin, I'm just not cut out for motherhood!"  Merissa looked plantively
into his eyes.  The dark pools of her eyes filling with tears, which she
blinked away with dark, long lashes. "And I have so many
responsibilities...  Trinale may have the glamor of being the Warren Lady,
but she dumps on me all the unpleasant tasks, like budgetting the tithe,
collecting the tithe, organizing schedules, coordinating between supplies
and the cooking staff for meals...  Oh, you don't know the half of it!"

Th'rin nodded, his face crestfallen.  

Merissa sighed.  She couldn't stand to disappoint him.  That is how she
had always been -- always trying to please others, her mother, her
employers, now her lover...

"But, if we have some help...  Maybe your sister Mara could help?  Could
she watch the baby when we aren't around?  Maybe your step-mom, too?  We
could look for a larger apartment....  They could live with us!"
Merissa rambled on.  "After all, they might want to get our of
K'leev's apartment now that he is gone, though I don't know if they would
feel comfortable staying with us..."  Merissa ground to a halt.

"Does that mean yes?"  Th'rin's eyes blazed.  He seemed to have missed
most of what Merissa had been saying (thankfully).  "Oh, Merissa!  You
will love him, I know you will!"  He grabbed her up and swung her petite
form around, laughing.

Th'rin dropped her and ran from room to room -- "We can put his bed here,
he'll like this room, don't you think?  And this can be the playroom!  Oh,
this apartment was meant to have children!"  Th'rin rushed around
excitedly, pointing to things that would have to be moved in order to baby
proof the apartment.

Merissa followed, taking mental notes, and sighing.  What had she been
thinking?  A baby...  Her hand strayed to touch the red locks that she
still bore from Aradia's healing touch, and sighed.  "I wonder if he'll
have red hair..."
*****
NRPG:  Still waiting on a tag to Les to go on with J'red.
Tag back Kris :)  And anyone else who wants to interact...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   /^\      /^\              \^=^/            Submitted  By
  /  `._   /  `._            | `,O'--^-^:     Arlene Jacobs
 ( : :  `.(  : : `.         /|'.^.)___.''     -=-=-=-=-=-=-     
 | : :`. `:_ : : `|_       /`. '.)               Merissa
  \/^|._ _. \_  ._ _\_   /`. '.')'             Junior-Queen
     \/. :-._`|  .: |_\/`.'_.-.).\     __       Rider  of
        \/. ..,`.\__/.,'^\...'-)  )__/^;;)     Chrysthal of
          ^\/ ._,_... |   \.,--)______/     Whiteriver Warren
            <> \/ | .. (   \._)___ __       -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                __| ., '\________(,;;)           Andahar
                |. /^\')______)                  Rider of
            __/. / . \)______)\                  Bohoc of
 _/\_/\__/\/..  ( ... )______)_)___           Cleft Warren
<__|__|__|__|___(__|____;;; ____;;;) aej     -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Arlene E. Jacobs" <jacobs@wsnet.com>
Visit my Home Page: http://www.neosoft.com/~acoustic/arlenejhp.html