Elissa
***

Saul and Elissa landed their dragons just outside the city walls and Elissa
went running, calling back her thanks to her brother. Patinari snuggled up
with Fayloth as the two waited for their riders to finish their business
within the city walls.

Pitty Pat, as Elissa had taken to calling her dragon, had assured the girl
and Fayloth that she could easily find her way home. That way Elissa could
spend as much time with her mother and father as she wanted.

Elissa ran down the familiar streets toward home. She was sure her mother
would be home. Her father .. well that was hard to say. With his business,
he had odd hours and she was never completely sure when he'd be home.

It was quite a run through town to where her home was, and by time she
reached it she was winded. Though the sight of the house she had called
home for all her life, gave her a lift and she bounded the porch stairs to
the front door, pulling it open, "Mama! Mama!"

Rebessa poked her head out of the parlor, "Elissa?"

The girl grinned, "Hi Mama."

Rebessa came out of the room and quickly drew her youngest into her arms,
"Elissa .."

Tears came to Elissa cheeks, "I've missed you."

"Oh baby .. don't cry .." Rebessa wiped at her daughters tears, "Is
everything okay? Did something happen?"

Elissa nodded, "We .. we were attacked."

"Attacked?" Rebessa was suddenly alarmed, "By who?"

"Wraith's, mama. They attacked the warren, and I .. I was so scared. Pitty
Pat wasn't though .. But .."

"Oh sweetie," Rebessa hugged the girl closer, "You can't go back. You'll
just have to stay here."

Elissa cried harder. It was a lovely idea.. but one that just wouldn't
work. Ralengarde didn't have room for a dragon. Not when they already had
that prisoner's dragon .. and Prince Reolden's around. Her parents would
have to spend an incredible amount of money to feed her .. and Elissa knew
Pitty Pat would miss her family .. And she wouldn't do that to her dragon.

Merybelle - In Ralengarde
***

"Ho, Mery," Issic called to her, "look what the cat has dragged in!" He
gestured toward Gunnar, who smiled and rose to greet them. He clasped arms
firmly with Toral, then took Mery into a hug. He then swept Byrin up into a
whirling hug, which seemed to embarrass the youngster, although Gunnar
didn't notice. Although the big man was something of an uncle to him, Byrin
was getting a bot old for such displays.

Byrin blushed bright red and tried to regain some of his dignity, smoothing
his tunic and running a hand through his dark hair. His deep blue eyes rose
slightly to gaze at Gunnar's daughter. But the girl was paying him no mind
..

"'Tis good to see you all," Gunnar said, finally releasing the boy from his
grasp. "Now tell me, what's this news about you two?"

Mery caught the glint in the man's eye and gave him a reproving smile.
Toral grinned broadly and spoke right up, "Mery and I are getting married
this spring."

"Married! In spring?" Gunner chuckled, "It is spring!"

Toral grinned, and squeezed Mery's waist, "I am very well aware of the Gunnar."

"Well congratulations to the two of you." He said, "You are a damn lucky
young man."

Toral nodded in agreement. "So what have you been up to?"

As Gunnar began to tell them of his travels of the past three months, a
slit of bright light cut through the room, as someone else entered the
Rest. Byrin's eyes turned for a cursory glance, but never turned away
again, as a bright smile lit on his face, "Dad!"

Mery tensed, and her eyes closed. Why did he have to show up now .. Now she
would have someone else wondering about her ..

But Gunnar didn't seem all that phased as the leather-clad dragonrider
stepped toward her son. "Mery .." he said with his deep voice, "I've come
to take Byrin to the warren, to meet his new sister."

"Sister?" Bryin chortled, "Shawnee had the baby!"

As the dragon rider nodded Mery turned, "Congratulations, Saul." It was
clear to the older Quarryman that Merybelle wasn't fond of the dragonrider.
Of course Gunnar had attended Mery's wedding to Gorge Barman. He and Gorge
had been friends, and business associates. While Mery liked to pretend no
one knew her past, in reality most people knew.. and simply didn't hold it
against her.

"So can I go, mom."

"For how long .. he's got school."

"I'll bring him back in the morning .. in time for school if you wish,"
Saul said.

"I do."

Byrin grinned and hugged his mother, "Thanks mom, I'll go pack an overnight
back."

As the boy ran off, Saul nodded to the woman, "Thank you, Mery."

Toral took the opportunity to turn and stick out his hand toward the
dragonrider, "It's good to see you again, Saul."

Saul smiled, "Thank you, Toral. How did K'leev's trial go."

"Excellent. He was found guilty, as was the woman, Owlean. They'll never
see they light of day again."

"What of his dragon?"

"Well from what I understand they were able to find a brave lad to oil the
beast. He comes and goes pretty much as he pleases. While it upset people
at first, much as it did when the Prince and his dragon moved back to
Ralengarde, I do believe they are getting used to it. From what I
understand he's very mild tempered," Toral shrugged, "Not at all like his
master."

"Partner."

"Partner?"

"K'leev was his partner .. soulmate.. not his master."

"Oh .." Toral said nodding. The young smith had a great respect for riders,
though as most landbound, he couldn't completely understand it. "Oh a
happier note," he said with a smile, "I'd like to invite you and your ..
umm .."

"Mate." Saul supplied with grin.

"Mate, then, to a Wedding."

"A wedding?" Saul asked.

"Mine .. to Mery. She's agreed to be my wife."

"That's great!" Saul grinned. "Shawnee and I would be honored."

"As I understand you have quite a large .. family. They are all invited."

Mery bit her tongue. It was only right Toral should invite Byrin's father
and his family .. but still it made her a little uncomfortable. She turned
to look at her fiancˇ. But as his eyes met hers, she melted a little and
smiled at him. What did it matter if the whole world was there .. as long
as he was.

"I'm sure we will all be honored to attend. Just let me know when." Saul
responded a smirk on his lip as the two looked at each other.

"We'll send word when the date is settled on." Toral said, looking back at
the rider.

Just then Byrin bounded out of the back, bag in hand, "I'm ready." He
leaned in and gave his mother a kiss, "See you in the morning, mom."

"Have fun .." Mery said, smiling at her son. Then she watched as the two
disappeared.

She turned to see Gunnar chuckling, "My, my .. I have missed a lot .."

Mery gave him a reproving slug in the shoulder, "Why don't you and Toral
sit down. I'll go see if Bette has something hot on stove."

"Ahh, I should enjoy that!" Gunnar grinned, "I've missed that woman's cooking!"

Byrin
***

The boy talked about school and working with Toral and his mother's
engagement and everything else he could think of as the two walked to the
gate to meet the brilliant blue dragon.

"I love working with Toral. I've tried to talk him into letting me work
there full time .. I'm getting to old for school now."

"Oh I don't know."

"Mom says she absolutely won't allow it. She says I have to learn all I can
so I can take over the Rest someday. But I don't know. I don't know if
that's what I want."

"What do you want."

The boy shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe to work in the Smithy with Toral.
You should see some of the things he's made for mom! It's incredible!"

"I can imagine .."

"I just don't have the head for numbers the way she does. Mom's incredible
that way .." he shook his head, "But it bores me to tears."

Saul chuckled, "Me too .."

Byrin grinned, then ran toward Fayloth, as they exited the city gates. He
stopped short. "Who's the other dragon?"

"Patinari. She belongs to .." Saul paused searching for the right word, "..
well she belongs to my sister."

"Elissa?" he asked. "I'd heard rumor's that Elissa had joined to a dragon."

Saul frowned, "You know about Elissa."

The boy nodded, "It's a long story, but I found out."

"She's visiting her parents."

Byrin nodded, "Does that really mean Mrs. Durrall is my grandmother?"

Saul nodded, "I'm afraid so .."

The boy nodded, "I told Toral .. but I haven't mentioned it to my mother. I
don't think Toral has either."

Saul nodded, "Probably a good idea. Rebessa and I .. well we didn't get along."

"Do we need to wait for Elissa?"

Saul shook his head, "No, Patinari knows the way home."

<She does know the way home, doesn't she?> Saul asked his dragon.

<Of course she does. Your sibling has joined to a very smart dragon .. who
thinks I am an incredible ..>

<Don't!> Saul warned his dragon, <Do NOT even go there.>

<Humans!> Fayloth muttered.

Tevel
***

>Ashelle smiled. "Ok...the other question. Who is your father?"

>Tevel smiled, and took a sip of his drink. "Oh, I thought I had told you.
>I guess I'm more worried than I thought...like you. He's T'jellan."

>Ashelle almost choked on her juice. "T'jellan??"

"Are you okay?" Tevel asked moving over to pat the young woman on the back
as she started to cough.

"I .. I'm fine.. it just .. went down the wrong way." She continued to choke.

He continued to rub her back .. this wasn't so bad. She was very pretty ..
even if she did have mismatched eyes .. then it dawned on him! His green
eyes sparkled, "You know I just realized, I think I do remember you .."

"You do .." she asked.

He nodded, "Yes, I've heard tales of a lovely enchantress with a voice that
captivates unsuspecting men." He grinned broadly.

"What .." she asked, still a bit distracted.

He shrugged, "I'm just teasing, really, though I do remember someone
mentioning a singer at the Pig'n'Whistle who had mismatched eyes .. It must
have been you. As I recall they spoke highly of your voice."

Ashelle blushed, ".. oh .."

He nodded, "I was pretty busy helping my mother, so I never got out there
to hear you. But now .." he said looking at her appreciatively, "I really
wish I had."

She looked down, ".. umm .. did you see a lot of your .. dad .."

"Not as much as I would have liked. He and my mom didn't get along .. Guess
it's a miracle I was ever born .." He chuckled, and Ashelle couldn't help
but realize how much it sounded like T'jellan's. She glanced up briefly, as
the resemblance's between the young man and T'jellan become more and more
pronounced. "But dad tried. He came to Killaglen pretty regularly .. at
least until about six months ago."

"Did you come here a lot .. Do you know everyone?"

Tevel shook his head, "No, I haven't been to Whiteriver in years. Dad
preferred to keep me away from the Warren. Maybe partially for mom's sake
.. but mostly I think for mine. Something happened before I was born ..
something neither mom nor dad wanna talk about."

".. I'm sorry .."

He shrugged, "Hey, I've gotta go do some stuff at my father's apartment
this afternoon .. If you aren't doing anything .."

"I'm going to visit .. my friend."

"Oh .." Tevel frowned, "That's right. Well .. maybe we could meet later.
I'd love to be able to spend more time with you." He smiled, "Maybe hear
you sing?"

Celia - In Killaglen
***
<<NRPG: Making a few changes to Barb's post to clarify something's about
Celia >>

>"How did you know I was ...Saul's woman..." Shawnee asked after the healer
>had followed the barkeep into the back room of the Inn.

>"Because you look just exactly how he said you would. And he was right,
>you are a thing of beauty."

>"You ...know Saul?" she asked with a slight frown, wondering who this
>woman was and just how well she did know her mate.

Celia nodded, "Very well." She smiled lightly as Shawnee's face darkened.
"No need for you to worry about anything, Shawnee. But I suppose you should
understand about me and Saul," Celia started to say while Lynnie settled in
her lap. "He is a friend .. someone I care about very much."

>"How well do you.. know Saul?" Shawnee asked, feeling this woman wouldn't
>mind the personal question.

"I would say we're very close. Saul used to spend a lot of time here ..
playing cards .. looking for searchlings .. enjoying the company. From the
first day he walked in that door, I knew there was something special about
him. Course I was married at the time .. to an awful drunk. Saul .. rescued
me. Ran him clean out of town. Haven't seen him since. It was then that we
became lovers .."

Celia shook her head, "Don't get me wrong. That part of our relationship
ended shortly after you entered his life. Which isn't all bad for me. After
all, I wasn't looking for another husband. We were friends first .. we
remained friends after .. and still are. He and I have shared a lot in the
past. But as soon as he started talking about you, I knew he'd finally lost
his heart, something I never expected of him .. and knew you had to be
someone pretty special to win his love. That's why I wanted to meet you."

>Shawnee stared back at the woman dumbfounded. "You wanted to *meet* me?"
>she asked.

"Yup.. just to see for myself the woman who finally won his heart and to
wish you all the luck and happiness in the world. He's a very special man,
he deserves someone who'll love him without question and be there for him."
She looked down at the baby in her lap, "I only want the best for Saul .."

>"You really mean that...don't you?" Shawnee was finally coming to realize
>this woman wasn't anything like that... that... that hussy back at the
>Warren who wouldn't take no for an answer.

>Celia nodded her head.

Th'rin
***

>"I know everyone will miss him, but we have to go on." Trinale said.
>"Th'rin, I am appointing you as head healer."

".. me ..?" Th'rin squeeked.

Trinale nodded, "You have always been B'ril's first choice .. his protegee .."

Th'rin shook his head, not knowing what to say.

"He wouldn't have put you in charge of the med center all night if he
hadn't thought you could do his job." Trinale said, "And I know you can
too. Because I've watched you. I have complete faith in you."

He met her eyes and nodded, "I'll do it .. for B'ril. To make him proud."

"He will be to."

Regards,
Saul & Fayloth
Elissa & Patinari
Th'rin & Areena
Tevel
***
NRPG: No I'm not done yet.. Part two will have to wait until morning
though, cause Ive got some things I need to do tonight :)

Kris

------------------------------------
Kristen & Scott Gant
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~sgant/gant.htm