Day 3

Eleanora followed Lisha out of the Warrenlady's office and all about the warren. She was still trying to put names to faces when Lisha hurried her over to a small muddy group attempting to wash a shimmering black dragon and introduced her around. Eleanora quickly suppressed an immediate urge to bolt and made quiet conversation with a young woman named Adeliannae. Somehow, she wasn't as unnerving as the others, who were introduced next.

<snip>

Moira smiled and went to shake hands with Eleanora, then looked down at herself and stopped. "Sorry." She chuckled. "I forgot my state of being for a moment. How do you like White River so far?"

<end snip>

Eleanora smiled nervously. "It's very pretty," she said softly, hoping that that would be enough of an answer.

It had to be since Lisha decided it was time to move on in and see the Med Center. Eleanora continued to trail along behind Lisha, wondering if the woman intended her to meet EVERYONE in the warren today.

<Well, do you plan on ever letting me dump these packs? I look like an idiot, sitting here laden like some beast of burden.>

<Just be patient, I can't just grab her and ask her.>

<Why not?>

<Well, it...it..it would be rude, that's why.>

<You're scared.>

<That too.>

Cara subsided with a snort and a last grumble as Eleanora went into the Med Center. Lisha introduced her to Corra, who insisted on checking over her hand. Eleanora submitted to the examination quietly. Once Corra had finished clucking over her and her hand, Lisha dragged them along to meet the head healer Th'rin.

[insert the Th'rin part of Kris's post here]

Finally, Lisha appeared to either have run out of people to introduce her to, or had simply gotten hungry and led Eleanora off toward the Dining Hall. Eleanora followed willingly, she had been too nervous to eat that morning and now her stomach was rumbling insistently.

<Sure, fine. Take care of your stomach, but neglect your poor dragon.>

<I promise, as soon as I've eaten I shall unpack. All right?>

<Oh good. Eat fast then, my rider.>

Eleanora stifled a grin at Cara's rapid mood change and filled her tray and sat down. She began eating, grateful that Lisha seemed to understand her need for some time to simply assimilate all the introductions from this morning. 

<snip>

Analise rushed into the dining hall, worried that her charge might be waiting for her. Darn Gerry for being late! She hustled through the line and spotted Lia with one of the dragonriders... Lisha, she thought her name was. Well, at least the girl was making friends, and taking more time with her hair.

Setting her tray down, she pulled out a chair and sat, before taking a good look at the young women. "Well, what have you been up to this morning Lia?"
she asked.


Lisha looked over at Analise, "Excuse me? I'm Lisha, not Lia...."

Analise frowned about to say, of course you aren't... and then was surprised to notice that the girl with Lisha was not Lia! "Oh, I'm so sorry, Lisha, I
wasn't ... it is just... well, your friend here ... I mistook her for Adeliannae -- Lia."

"Lia? Oh, no, this is Eleanora, she's just transferred from Telnor -- she's deaf." Lisha said to Analise, then turning to Eleanora, she spoke slowly,
"This is Analise, she is the resident Bard at the warren, and Merissa's mother."
<end snip>

"Oh, pleased to meet you, ma'am," Eleanora responded softly, wishing silently that Lisha would simply talk normally, it was so much easier to
read.


"Eleanora? Well, I'm terribly sorry about confusing you with someone else. Nice to meet you, too."


Lisha smiled at Eleanora, "Analise is very talented. She teaches all the children here at the warren."


Analise choked. One didn't need to be talented to teach these children, but she smiled graciously.


"Why, thank you Lisha."


Eleanora swallowed hard, wishing she could think of something more to say. She glanced up, noticing she had missed something. Analise seemed
to be biting back words. "Uh..." Wait, Lisha had said Analise was a bard,hadn't she? "My family are bards."


Analise's eyes lit up, "Really? Where do they perform? Maybe I know them? Have they been to Ralengarde recently?"


"Well, they perform wherever they're hired. My brother is in Ralengarde right now studying for his mastery. My parents were last there
several months ago, though."


Eleanora's head swam, trying to keep up with the onrush of questions. Had she managed to answer them all?


Analise warmed to the subject, "I haven't been there that recently. But their names?"


"My father's name is Joachim and my mother's is Liandra. They perform together. You'd be unlikely to know either my brother or my sister,
I think."


Analise thought for a moment and was about to respond when Lia came rushing up to the table... 

<snip>

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Analise," she told her a bit breathlessly. "I'll just go get my food and be right back."


Her high color and distracted manner told Analise that something was wrong.


Lia returned to the table with an odd assortment of items on her plate: several sausages, pickle spears, carrot sticks, a large banana, and a whole bread stick. She set the tray down with a clatter. "Oh! How clumsy of me." 


A fierce blush stained her cheeks.

Eleanora eyed the plate of food for a moment before a knowing look flashed across her face.


"What is the matter with you today, girl?" Analise demanded.


"Oh! Um...that is...well...nothing," she stammered.


Analise gave her a hard stare, but then let the matter drop - for the time being. "Do you know our new arrival from Telnor, Eleanora?"


"Yes, we met earlier this morning." She glanced shyly at the newcomer. Why was her face so familiar?


Eleanora smiled, somehow it was so easy to feel comfortable around this girl. 


"Hi, again." 


Lia returned the warm smile with one of her own. 


"So..." Eleanora began softly, searching for something to say, "your parents were bards, too?" 


"My father was. My mother died when I was only 6...." Her voice trailed off.


"Oh, I am so sorry."


"Thank you. I just lost my father, and it is still very painful."


Impulsively, Eleanora reached forward her hand and gave Adeliannae's arm a squeeze. She knew well enough that mere words just weren't sufficient. 


"What did you do with yourself today?" Analise asked suddenly.


"I went for a walk," Lia replied quietly.


"See anything interesting?"


At that, Lia's whole face went beet red.
<end snip>

The look on the girl's face coupled with the selection of food told Eleanora all she needed to know. In the whirlwind tour of the warren, Lisha had mentioned both the waterfall and the swimming hole as popular places.She hadn't been at Telnor long, but it was long enough to discover the warren-bred's indifference to clothing. Clearly, Adeliannae had just discovered it herself. She tried to maintain control. She had certainly looked as embarrassed herself. It was no good.

<snip>

Eleanora dissolved into paroxysms of laughter. 


Lia was mortified, and could only look down at her plate - which suddenly struck her with its significance. She rose so quickly to her feet that she tipped her chair over 

backwards. "I...I need to go," she stammered. 


"Sorry!" Then she flew from the room.
<end snip>

Eleanora winced and looked after the fleeing girl. Oh, that was just marvelous! she scolded herself. Very sensitive. Analise soon got up and followed the girl from the table. If she had said anything, Eleanora had missed it. Feeling about 2 inches tall over her callousness, she found herself unable to finish her meal.

<Good, then you can stop being so insensitive to your dragon and let me shed these packs!>

Grinning wryly at Cara's insistence, Eleanora turned to Lisha.

"Thank you for showing me around this morning. I'm going to go unpack, before my dragon threatens never to speak to me again." 

She smiled at the friendly dark-haired rider and headed out of the dining hall.

******

It didn't take her long to remove the packs from Cara once she had flown up to the apartment. It took Cara even less time to decide her nest was lovely, needed nothing from her and that she really should return to the green to meet the other dragons. Eleanora smiled fondly and watched the beautiful brown and gold beast circle down to the green. At least Cara had no trouble meeting others. 

She stood for a moment enjoying the view from the ledge. She had read the map correctly. She had a glorious view of the waterfall. Inhaling deeply of the fresh, water-scented air, Eleanora turned to go and unpack. She had left Telnor before selecting her own apartment, so she had never had a place all to herself before. She had expected that she might feel nervous about being totally on her own, but surprisingly she wasn't. Instead, she felt almost energized - excited. Rolling up her sleeves, she got down to business.

It took her the rest of the afternoon to unpack everything and place things just exactly where and how she wanted them. Of course, she had had to stop and dust the place before truly getting started. But now, everything was in its proper place, the apartment was sparkling with her new cleaning efforts and even Cara's roost had been tidied up and her brushes and oils set away neatly. Eleanora took a deep breath and surveyed her domain. The place looked great. 

Of course, the same could not be said for her. She glanced down ruefully at her dust-smeared clothes and blew a strand of hair out of her face. If only she had food up here, it wouldn't matter. She could eat quietly up here, away from everyone. If only's don't get you anywhere, she reminded herself sternly. You need to meet the people around here. She sighed. Living on her own would pack a lot more punch, if her mother wasn't living inside her head.

*******

She ate quietly, smiling and making light conversation with those few who stopped by, and cajoled Cara into staying put with the promise of a nice scrub and oiling. She took her time over it, relishing the time spent together. Cara was, of course, well-pleased with the situation - and promptly forgave Eleanora her neglect of the morning. She chattered away, pausing only to redirect Eleanora's hands, about all the dragons she'd met and all the dragon gossip she had picked up. Eleanora listened with only half an ear, much of the gossip was incomprehensible to humans. She smiled, as well ours is to them, I suppose. 

After the rubdown, Cara curled up happily and fell right asleep. Eleanora stood staring at her dragon for several moments and then decided that was the right move and went inside to do the same.

*******

Day 4

Eleanora reported in to Merissa's office directly after breakfast. It took several deep, slow breaths to calm herself enough to open the door. She craned her head around to see that she wasn't interrupting anything. It was the best she could do in lieu of knocking. But Merissa was alone and apparently waiting for her.

"Come in, come in," she gestured. "I'm glad you're here. I have work for you already."

"Yes, ma'am?"

Eleanora noticed herself begin to sign along with the words and, wincing in embarassment, shoved her hands into her pockets. She'd learned the hard way that many hearing folk were made nervous by her "secret language" - but rarely bothered to learn it and thus, make it no longer secret. She turned her full attention to Merissa.

"I'm not sure how much you've heard about the cult troubles we have been having, but ...," Merissa stopped and took a deep breath, clearly regaining control over some strong emotion, "Well, suffice it to say, there will need to be meetings with the local lords. I shall send you to deliver the invitations."

Eleanora nodded, paling only slightly. Dealing with the lords was something a courier had to do - and it wasn't as though she'd never dealt with lords in general before. 

"Now, your being brand new could have been a problem, but fortunately we have children of most of the local lords here. I will ask each of them to escort you to their own family homes. That way you will learn the way - and also should take the edge off the nervousness."

Merissa smiled in understanding, prompting a like response from Eleanora.

"Now, the three lords I am inviting are Lord Kanen Sanborn, Lord Hamm Fowler and Lord Jerlyn Vaddon. You can also take invitations to the lords of Dunsbro, Killaglen and Tilharnon - though we haven't their children as riders. I shall have someone show you how to get there as well. I will introduce you to Kanler, J'red and Katla - they will help you."

Eleanora nodded and waited for the noble riders to escort her.

{Tag Barb, Jill and Arle!}

__________

Katrina

aka Eleanora and Cara, now of Whiteriver