[Haedin -- Eos]

"An advisor?" she asked, "Tevran?"

Haedin shrugged, eyeing her eagerness.   "Maybe .. we'll see.  You may
retire to your rooms now.  Anlon will be there to help you get ready
for bed .."

Coneta's lips parted slightly, a tiny frown beginning between her
eyes.  "My lord...  Could I... have another..."

He almost smiled, black eyes glittering at her willing self-abasement.
Anlon had *had* her, now.  Used her for his own pleasures, without
regard to hers at all.  His plaything's plaything had been really
quite inventive, and the recuperative powers of a young man had seen
to her repeated humiliation.  Still, Coneta had earned her reward.

"Hmmm.  You have, over all, been a good girl, pet.  No one is
available tonight, but I think you are in for a pleasant surprise when
you get home.  But I can see how Anlon would be inappropriate for the
celebration tonight..."  Haedin's lips curled upwards, and he could
see fear and hope and twisted desire in Coneta's eyes.  "I am curious,
pet.  If I tell you that I can provide you with the pleasures that
power can bring, will you close your eyes and trust me?"

She stared at him, then closed her eyes, waiting.

Ah, hate and trust, hand in hand.  Was there something more beautiful
than that?  Tevran entered the room and Haedin studied his son.  The
boy spared hardly a glance for his ever-willing pet, but Haedin could
see that the boy knew what control of the Lady of Lotherra was worth.

The young man raised an eyebrow, cocking his head at Coneta, and
Haedin nodded.  Tevran turned and stuck his head out the doorway,
whispering something to one of Haedin's body servants.  He came back
in with a long swath of silk and moved to her, placing a gentle kiss
behind her ear before blindfolding her.

"Tonight," he heard Tevran whisper, "Tonight you will feel nothing but
pleasure.  I and my companions are here to please you."  Several young
men came in, eyes bright, steps silent.  Ethlan and Tammias, long ago
trained to this woman's needs, began divesting her of her clothes.
Coneta's hand rose, and Tevran stopped her.  "Oh, no, my dear.  From
this moment forward, the only sound you hear will be your own
enjoyment.  Believe me, you'll find it worthwhile..."

Tevran found her mouth, a long drugging kiss, and Haedin's pet
whimpered, surrendering without even token resistance.  Haedin smiled,
settling down to watch.  This might even be more entertaining than
Anlon...

-----
[Nineve]


He shrugged in misery. "I .. thought I could make things better .. but
I only made things worse. I don't know what to do .. I don't know how
to make things right .."

The healer opened her mouth, only to hear the distinctive roar of
challenge in the air.  She shook her head and headed for Bella.
Perhaps she'd be able to get information there.

"Bella?"

"What?"

"Would you like to talk?"

"I..."  The girl's eyes filled with tears.  "He loves *her*!  How can
I compete with *her?*"

Nineve blinked, startled.  "Ce'lot loves who, Bella?"

"Lady Coneta..."

So that was the heart of it, Nineve thought, holding the girl in a
comforting embrace.  Lady Coneta was rich, titled and beautiful.  That
she had a long record of destroying the young men her 'served' her was
something that Bella couldn't know.  Nineve was one of the few in the
Warren who knew much of Ce'lot's history, more because Rhia's
predecessor had feared for the boy when he first came to the Warren
than anything else.  Some of Coneta's discarded playthings became
promiscuous in the extreme, and they were often apparently
self-centered and terribly unreliable.  Not Ce'lot, though.  He had
turned so terribly inward, and Bella was the one who had begun to give
him his humanity back.

"Shhhh."  Nineve held her and thought about what she could say.  If
there was anything she could say.  "Bella, I don't think you
understand what Lady Coneta is like."

"What's to understand?  He loved her.  Loves her."

"Bella, how old was he when he went into her service?"

Large brown eyes looked up into hers and Bella bit her lip.
"Fourteen."

"And what happened to him, in her service?"

"He served her... B'lin... B'lin says terrible things about...  There
were rumors..."

"Probably true ones."  Nineve said thoughtfully.  "Ce'lot needs to
tell you what happened between them himself, but I *can* tell you that
Lady Coneta has an... unnatural fondness for young boys.  You're from
Lotherra, you've probably heard the rumors.  I *can* tell you that
they're true.  More than one of her toys has come here, and the damage
she has done to some of them has been beyond anyone's ability to fix,
even a dragon's.  But you love Ce'lot, Bella.  And I truly believe he
loves you.  And perhaps those things that Britche couldn't fix, the
two of you can, if you work together.  What he felt for Coneta wasn't
love.  I doubt he knows what to call it himself.  But it isn't like
what he feels for you, and you should be grateful for that.  If he
still has ghosts, help him lay them to rest, Bella.  I doubt he wants
them any more than you do."

[How was that, Kris?]

-----
[Rhia]

< How dare she take my mates! >

Rhia blinked even as she heard D'nar leave the room.  << Beloved? >>

< They're mine! >

<< Queri! >>

But the queen's rage and defiance were impossible to control.  Rhia
staggered, fighting Queri with everything in her, but something deep
inside rejected that.  Later, she would realize the inevitability --
Erkvinen was dead, Sadie was too young, and the drive to survive was
strong in her queen.  It was impossible to say if Shella's rise had
triggered it or it was an unfortunate coincidence, but Queri's cry of
defiance and challenge rang through the Warren.

And with it, she was flying.

Everything was so clear and bright, so sharp!  The lake a deep crystal
blue below and the sky so bright and burning blue above.  Those
unworthy runts were chasing that puny, deceitful, color-changing
queen, but that was all right -- for the moment -- it gave her a
chance to soar over the white-capped peaks and cottony clouds, to dive
around and through, to *see* everything...

Still, she took a pass through the whining, puny runts roaring an
almost playful challenge to the other queen.  Think you can outfly
them?  Why don't you try and outfly *me!*  Queri/Rhia knew the air,
the thermals, the mountains and valleys.

They danced, each queen bright, the poor, useless males flagging
behind.  Complex aerial maneuvers, dodging one another even as they
dodged their pursuers.  Showing off, perhaps, but how else were their
would-be lovers to know which of them was worth the effort?

One of Shella's tricks backfired, though, tumbling her into one of
their more relentless chasers.  Twin roars of triumph and capitulation
filled the air.  Queri laughed, daring her pursuers to continue the
chase...

-----
NRPG--
Okay, I'm out of creativity for now.  No, I don't know who got
Shella... Please don't have anyone finish with Queri until I have a
chance (unlike James, I ask the person I want to have win ;)  If I get
a no, then we'll see :)

Respectfully Submitted,
Jill E. Flansburg
Xylian Warren
DragonLands
             X-FILES                         DRAGONLANDS
 Director, X-Files Division           Rhiannon, WarrenLady  *Xylian*
 Sterling Kincaid, TL, ECHO           Elswyth and Aedra   *Keldarra*
 Damien Cunningham, Forensics         Katla and Satinka *Whiteriver*
 Xan X. Xavier, Trainer               Zera and Mazel       *Norwall*


 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                         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
 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=