Trinale slept in a little bit that morning and when she finally awoke,
Derry had already left. On the pillow was a white rose and a note.
"Cricket, doesn't get all the flowers in the warren. I love you. Derry."

Trinale smiled, thinking of how lucky she was and then rushed to get
dressed. On the way to her office, she mused about the events of the
previous day. She saw Jennifer and Lorilei planting seedlings in the
garden and waved. It was nice that J'red had brought her back for a visit.
Lorilei enjoyed her company.

Trinale looked at them longingly and sighed, then headed for her office.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
*later around 11am*

Oldreth barged into Trinale's office, startling her from the paperwork in
front of her.

Trinale looked up surprised "Oldreth! What are you...." she then paused.
"Thats right, I asked you to come when you got free from Xanthia. Sit
down, please."

Oldreth sat down in one of the chairs in front of Trinale's desk and swung
his legs up, placing his feet up on her desk.

"Well, I am here. What can I do for you, Red?" Oldreth grinned.

Trinale rolled her eyes. This meeting was not going as she had planned
already."Oldreth, we need to talk a little more about being a Queenrider
here. How willing are you to learn some of the Queenriders duties and
relieve Merissa of some of them?"

Oldreth pondered Trinale's words. "I don't get it. Whats the big deal
about the kind of dragon I ride?" He smiles. "Its certainly not her
personality that makes her special."

(Hrmph!) was Wintermoon's reply.

Trinale bit her lip thinking of the best way to explain this to him.
"Queens, as well as being the egg bearers of the warren, are known to be
the smartest of the dragons, so therefore they usually join with the
leaders and most intelligent people around them. As such, the Queenriders
of each warren become the leaders of that warren."

Oldreth had started to chuckle during the statement "I don't know about
the most intelligent, but shes certainly meaner than most dragons I have
ever met."

(At least I am not ugly.)

Trinale looked at the man across from her and sighed, then began again.
"Regardless, Thats the role Queenriders take around here. Are you willing
to work with Merissa and help her out?"
  
Oldreth grinned at Trinale and then winked."How closely do I have to work
with her?" His grin widened a bit."And you?"

Trinale groaned and ran her fingers through her curls frustrated.

"Never mind. How closely would I have to work with her? You couldn't
handle it." He teased her with a smirk on his face. "You look as though I
might break you. But, back to business, what would you have of me?"

Trinale blushed at his words, the picture in her mind being that of Pa'gan
and their few moments in the garden shortly after they met. This man
reminded her so much of him. Were all Bear Nomads so....virile? "I would
like you to work with Merissa in learning the running of the warren. After
all, if something happened to both Merissa and I, you would be in charge
here."

Oldreth noticed the blush but decided he had teased the warrenlady enough
for now. "What sort of duties? So far, all you've mentioned is helping
to run the warren, or picking up some of those duties, nothing about what
that actually entails."

"Queenriders handle negotiations with the nobles for the tithes we get in
exchange for protecting their lands. We handle keeping track of the amount
of supplies, assigning the wingleaders and healers, as well as a number of
other things. We keep the warren running." Trinale tried to be succinct in
the many duties that a Queenrider handled. 

"Gods, that sounds terribly dreary." Oldreth commented.

"Sometimes it is, but its necessary. And someone has to do it." Trinale
said. "Don't you think I'd like to spend more time doing what I enjoy?
Working in my garden, playing with Cricket, swimming under the waterfall?
But I can't...not when there is so much to be done. If there were more
people to share the duties, it would give all of us more of a break to do
the things we enjoy."

Oldreth slid his feet off her desk and looked at her seriously. "Dear...
we make time to do the things we enjoy. If you don't have time to have
fun, its only because you've forgotten how to.""

Trinale sighed in exasperation "Are you saying, you won't help then?"

"Thats not what I said at all. You're not listening." Oldreth said "I'll
make you a deal, I'll learn these duties of yours, if once a day, you do
something outrageously silly." He then leaned back and put his feet up
again, smiling at her.

Trinale looked at him almost horrified. "But I can't! Do you realize how
hard I have worked to get these people to respect me? When Deanna passed
away and I had to take over as warrenlady, I had to learn quickly....and
everyone was looking at me, to see if I could handle it. I can't
jeapordize that!"

"So you have forgotten how to have fun."

Trinale sighed and looked vacant for a moment as she talked to Cricket.

(Cricket, have I forgotten how to have fun?) she asked

Cricket paused a moment before answering (Well, we haven't gathered
flowers away from the warren, or played under the waterfall, or looked at
the stars together in ages.)

Trinale again focused on the man in front of her, with moistness in her
eyes. "Here I am, not even seventeen yet, and all I do is work." She
brushed away the tears angrily "Go on, don't worry about the duties, I
can't ask you to devote your life to a warren you have just arrived in."
She then buried her head in her hands, not looking at him.

Oldreth dropped his feet to the floor and arose from his chair. He went
behind the desk and pulled her up from her chair into a comforting hug.

"Its alright, Red" Oldreth said "You just need to learn how to relax.
You're not even seventeen yet, take some time and be young."

Trinale looked up at him, her blue eyes shiny with tears. "There is no
time. I had to grow up too fast...and there is too much to do."

Oldreth reached out and brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Theres always
time, its never too late." He then leaned down and gently kissed her
quivering lips.

At that moment, Trinale heard a noise from the door. She looked over and
there stood Derry.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
NRPG: Tag, Jill :) Just remember that Oldreth is comforting Moira around
2pm.

Arlene: You're going to have to handle the Moira call...I don't think
Trinale wants to go around Oldreth right now :) Also, remember, if he
eventually agrees to learn the duties...have fun with the fact that he
can't read or write. :)

Btw all, Rob and I cowrote the scene between Oldreth and Trinale.


                         ("`-/")_.-'"``-._
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                         (v_,)'  _  )`-.\  ``-'
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                  Kat Robertson (katmandu@iquest.net)

                    http://www.iquest.net/~katmandu