[Rhiannon]

There was no rest for WarrenLadies, Rhia mused, setting aside stacks of
parchment as S'dan and Sarilyn helped Ilara with her reading and writing
skills, as well as giving the young woman more information regarding the
running of the Warren.  Not long after their return from their little
adventure -- Rhia concentrated on a deep breathing exercise for a moment,
calming the anger she still felt about that little jaunt -- winter on the
Eos plateau struck with a fury.  Lotherra's refugees had taken a beating,
but the construction of several large masonry buildings to house them all
during storms and the like were completed with amazing swiftness.  Riders
were on the lookout for a cave system large enough to hold them all, but
Rhia doubted that one would be found before the spring thaw...  And at that
point, who knew what was going to happen.

They had been fortunate, so far, in the violence and fury of the storms. 
Wraiths were too insubstantial to fly well in high winds, and there had
been only one serious attack by the *things* that occasionally found their
way up the passes and over the mountains from the Wastes.  The PF had done
an excellent job, though the rider assigned for communication with that
group of soldiers had been killed by...  well, whatever the stupid thing
had been.  Talitha, his mate, had been too haunted to remain in the Warren
and had transferred away.  Rhia had been saddened, but had understood.  In
truth, she didn't know what she would have done if she'd had to return to
Landress after her father and Idal had died...  Being there, waiting to
hear their footfalls and voices...

Despite Aelxirn's warnings, nothing seemed to be happening at the Tellari
estate, though it nagged Rhia in her idle moments, and the Warren had
settled down to an easy -- or as easy as it ever got -- routine.

< Rhia? >

<< Yes, love? >>  Rhia leaned back in her chair, arching gracefully to
relieve the tension in her back.  They were taking a break from normal
Warren business, not to mention the huge headache of the refugees.  There
was no reasonable way to build enough stone buildings to house them all,
but construction had begun on a single building that was large enough to
house them all in case of wraith attack, and several riders were constantly
on duty near the rather precarious settlement.

<< Why would Ce'lot be upset with Glay's rider for mating with his sister?
>>

Rhia froze, mid-arch.  < What? >

<< Glay's rider took Ce'lot's sister to is rooms and for some reason 
this made Ce'lot upset...  Britche says that Ce'lot was worried that
was worried that Glay's rider would mate with her... >>  Queri's voice 
was puzzled and Rhia slowly finished her stretch.  << I've been 
wondering about it for a while...  Glay doesn't really like her, 
Britche gets grumpy as soon as anyone says anything, and it's 
beginning to affect other dragons as well. >>

< It's a human thing, > Rhia replied, carefully banking her own quiet 
upset concerning the news.  Queri nattered on for a bit, revealing 
Glay's dislike of his rider mating with an unJoined human and Rhia 
leaned forward to rest her forehead against her hands.  < Tell Glay I 
would like to speak with his rider as soon as possible. >

"S'dan?"  Rhia's reflective voice interrupted the study session on the
other side of the office.  The hushed voices stilled and papers rustled
against the polished wood.  She heard him rise and walk over to her desk.

"Yes, Rhia?"

"Have you seen that sister of Ce'lot's?"

"Yes --"

"So have I," said Sarilyn, voice cautious.  "She's -- a lot like I 
used to be, only..."

"Only what?"

"...without the bloodline to back it up," finished S'dan in an irritated
tone of voice.  "I wish Ce'lot would turn her over his knee or something. 
Lecia can be very charming, particularly when she wants something, but
she's a supercilious little brat.  She's been living with B'lin since she
arrived..."  The strong disapproval in his voice was seconded by sudden
pacing.

"I know... but she's old enough to make her own decisions...  She's
sixteen, I think, S'dan --" Rhia said, wincing at the instinctive, inward
denial of her own words, "-- and I was married at her age."

"She's LandBound, Rhia, and has spent most of her life being cosseted by
Lady Coneta, if I understand things correctly..."

And she doesn't like Ce'lot, B'lin hates Ce'lot, for no apparent reason... 
Ugly speculations stirred in Rhia's mind and she frowned slightly.

"What is she doing for Warren upkeep?"

"Umm... Nothing that I know of..."  Ilara sounded embarrassed and Rhia
understood why immediately.  She'd asked the girl to look into that about a
month before, but then the last ice-storm had hit, and they had frantically
been trying to be sure that the refugees were safe and warm and that there
was enough food, wood, oil and other supplies to last until the next tithe
trains would come through in the spring.

"That's okay, 'Lara.  We've been busy...  S'dan, I want you to find that
girl and bring her here.  I want to ask her why she hasn't volunteered to
help.  I'm sure Ce'lot -- or his mother, dear, sweet woman that she is --
have told the girl about that requirement.  And keeping B'lin warm and
happy is not sufficient."


------
[Glynweith]

Winter clutched the capitol city of the plateau with fingers of ice and a
generous helping of snow.  Glynweith looked out over the white-dusted
buildings with an appreciative eye, admiring the beauty while feeling the
pinch of knowing how much it was going to cost to keep all of those stone
buildings warm.

"It's beautiful..." Bryn breathed, looking down at the city below and
Glynweith turned, smiling.

"Yes, it is.  I love Eos...  The noise, the bustle -- its silences and its
beauties.  It's a pain to manage and politics is a game that I do not
particularly enjoy playing, but for moments such as this...  Moments of
sheer perfection, it's all worth it."  She closed the inner shutters, which
helped insulate the room from the chill of the outside and pulled the heavy
velvet drapes closed.  "So how is Darryl today?"

Bryn blushed and the Duchess' eyes suddenly glinted mischievously.  Darryl
Lothar and his brother had come to Eos, ostensibly to strengthen Gerard's
claim to the estate, but it was obvious that Gerard expected something
else.  The way he constantly sang Darryl's praises to her was almost
laughable, but Glynweith was content to listen to the man hawk his brother
like a side of beef if it meant that the two lovers could be together, even
for a brief time.  Given Gerard's own ineptness -- though it was not the
social blundering of his older brother, which was a class of itself --
seemed to turn away at least as many members of the nobility as it
attracted...  But he since he was confidently waiting for his brother to
win her heart -- no real chance of that -- he didn't seem to mind...  at
least not yet.

Glynweith prayed that his complacence would continue until she could get
Bryn and Darryl to a priest.


-----
[Haedin Meradh]

Haedin finished reading the last of the written report that Coneta had
written on Gerard's strengths and weaknesses compared to her own skills and
looked up, smiling slightly.

"Very good, pet.  Very, very good."  He gestured for her to come forward
and he pressed a light kiss upon her lips.  "For this, you've earned the
right to your final exams... and to at least one of your rewards..."

He stood and looked down at her, pure aesthetic appreciating lighting his
eyes.  Tevran had taken to getting Coneta to exercise places other than in
bed and it had had the effect of turning a body that had still been
beautiful into one that was almost as spectacular as it must have been in
her youth...  The herbalist who kept his toys free from pregnancy had
concocted some cosmetics that had done wonders for Coneta's skin, so even
the almost imperceptible lines had faded from her face, and though she had
not the luminous qualities of her husband's concubine, it was a much more
even competition.

Without hesitation, Coneta's hands went to the simple buttons of her
dress... and Haedin shook his head.  "No, my dear.  Unless you want it..."

His hand grazed her jaw and she shivered, her fingers continuing to flicker
across the fastenings and then the simple silk shift fell to the floor.

"I have learned so much, my lord..."  She smiled sweetly, voice husky.  Her
hands trailed down his chest.  "Please...  Allow me to thank you..."

"You've learned much, indeed, pet..."  He captured her mouth and let her
work, reflecting that Tevran had indeed instructed her well...

<...>

Coneta lay sleeping as Haedin got out of bed and cleaned up, getting
dressed.  It would be time for dinner soon and the Lady of Lotherra was
going to need her instructions for the evening.  Haedin smiled to himself
as he came out of the connected bathing room after telling one of his
body-servants to run Coneta a bath.  Tevran had thoroughly debauched Coneta
Lothar, an assignment that the younger man had enjoyed to the fullest.

Haedin bent and kissed Coneta's lips.

"Wake, dear pet.  It's almost time for dinner...  And I still haven't told
you what you must do to be free of my tutelage..."

"What..."  She sat up, unconcerned now about being naked in his presence.

"I have been telling your husband that you are being trained to obey." 
Coneta grimaced and Haedin's smile turned a bit cruel.  "I have plans for
you, pet, and I cannot have your husband believing that you won't obey
orders...  At dinner, Regil is going to test the sincerity of your
submission, and that will be your final examination, my dear.  If you pass,
I'm going to send you someplace a bit more civilized..."

"Where?"  She stood and he pulled out a dress, one that had been designed
for her out of silks and velvets and satins.  A real dress, not one
designed for the girls who kept his guards happy.

"You'll see, my dear.  Now go bathe.  I wouldn't want to spoil your reward,
either."

Coneta went into the bathing room and Haedin rang for a servant.  A boy,
perhaps fourteen years of age with burnished copper hair and brown, almost
black, eyes answered it shyly.  He had been spending time with one of the
girls who fancied herself a lady's maid, learning the tricks to doing hair,
caring for jewelry and clothing.  Sweet, unsure, and terribly virginal...

"M'lord?"

"Hello Anlon, how have your studies been going?"

"Ummm...  Pretty well, sir.  Amilie says I'm doing well and have a gift for
hair..."

"Good, lad.  The lady you'll be serving should be coming out of the
bathroom soon.  She should be wearing a robe, but if she isn't don't worry
about it too much...  You'll be helping her where she's going, and I've no
doubt you'll end up seeing her naked a lot.  It's nothing unusual so don't
worry about it, okay?"  His voice was gentle and the boy nodded a bit
uncertainly, flushing slightly.  Oh, he would make an excellent addition to
the stable of boys at Daorith when Coneta was done with the lad.  Haedin
went to the bathing chamber and poked his head in.  "Your clothes for the
evening have been laid out, pet, and there's a servant here to help you
with your hair and cosmetics.  Don't be late."


<...>

"So, what is the surprise you've been promising me, Meradh?" Lothar asked
as his beautiful, blonde shadow rubbed his neck.

"Hmmm?"  Haedin smiled.  "Oh, I'm returning your wife to you for the
evening.  You've been telling me that you don't believe that she will
submit to your plans..."

"Coneta is a strong-willed bitch..."

"Who will submit to your darkest fantasy or desire, Lothar."

The man stared at him.

"Try it."  Haedin laughed.  "What's your deepest fantasy, Lothar?  Ask her
to do something you don't think she would ever submit to...  You could tell
her to seduce your concubine or take every man in the manor into her body,
and she would do it.  She's yours to order as you will..."

"Anything?"

"Anything at all, Lothar," Haedin assured him.  "And tomorrow, we can
discuss plans."

At that moment, Coneta Lothar came down the stairs of the entryway and
Regil was distracted.  Sherri Tellari had come in, studying him from a
corner and he smiled at her.  Everything was beginning to fall into place.

Now that he had a handle on Coneta, it was time to look into the matter of
Lady Tellari...


-----
NRPG --
Okay folks, around 2-3 months have passed on the plateau and we're in
mid-late winter now.  Your dragons are all grown and your characters should
have found apartments of their own at this point.

James, you may want to write a short post about discovering Chai's
limitations regarding teleportation...  Or refer to an incident where it
was discovered.

Your dragons are all quite old enough for mating flights...  If you want to
have one and have another character in mind to win it, talk to the player
in question about it.  'Course we've got a dearth of males with male
dragons, but that's okay.

Everyone, remove Bridget/Chelea from your mailing lists please.  An updated
roster will be out soon.  Bridget, don't worry about writing out Chelea and
Rivirn, this is a good place to just drop out :)


*hugs*

Respectfully Submitted,
Jill E. Flansburg
Rhiannon, Glynweith, and Haedin
Xylian Warren
DragonLands

                 X-FILES                         DRAGONLANDS

  Assistant Director                     Rhiannon, WarrenLady  *Xylian*
  Sterling Kincaid, Team Leader, ECHO    Elswyth and Aedra   *Keldarra*
  Damien Cunningham, UD DELTA            Katla and Satinka *Whiteriver*
  Xan X. Xavier, Trainer, Classroom A    Zera and Mazel       *Norwall*

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			      Vasaris, the Fuzzy Dragon
       Jill E. Flansburg	    |		            vasaris@az.com
       CS HMC 1994	          |		jflansbu@muddcs.cs.hmc.edu
       History, WWU 199?          |		vasaris@divcom.umop-ap.com
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