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- Path: sparky!uunet!sequent!gaia.ucs.orst.edu!flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU!reed!batcomputer!rpi!uwm.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!asg102
- Organization: Penn State University
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 10:24:30 EST
- From: The Dreamer <ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu>
- Message-ID: <93026.102430ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu>
- Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
- Subject: [L&S] Returning, Resting, Recovering
- Lines: 137
-
-
- Shadows stretched themselves to their longest points as the sun dipped
- over the western horizon. It threw vibrant pastel colors amidst the
- falling snow of Winter in Generica.
-
- One shadow was respected by its peers. It was called the Father of
- Twilight, the Creator of Shade, the ShadowMaker; it walked with grace
- and accompanying trails of mist. This particular shadow moved toward
- the door of the Dragon's Inn with a tiny child in his arms. They were
- both hungry and a little tired from their walk to the shore earlier that
- day. Now, they looked forward to eating, resting, and meeting with the
- woman that they both loved dearly.
-
- The shadow paused briefly in the snow. He looked up to the second
- story of the building to a window, her window. He could see her
- silhouette there, but blinded by the light from the room behind her, she
- could not see him. He penetrated the shadow that covered her face and
- saw that she was gazing dreamily toward the coast. Her grey eyes were
- in themselves a study in possibilities, he reflected fondly. Another,
- older woman approached her from behind and put her in bed.
-
- 'Mary,' he thought, 'eternally protective of her best barmaid.' He
- shook his head in amusement.
-
- The door to the Dragons Inn opened with little fanfare. Through the
- door came a BLACK cloak of indistinct size, shape, or material. In the
- midst of this cloak was a Half-Golden Elf named Luthor and his
- goddaughter Mista. Luthor coughed briefly as he was struck by the cloud
- of smoke and beer fumes that called the Dragon's Inn home.
-
- The Rabble noticed that his normally friendly smile was brighter than
- usual. Immediately, they attributed it to the deep love that he held
- for the child in his arms, but it was more than this. Luthor had a
- suprise for Serene.
-
- Luthor waved to friends as he crossed the floor to the stairs that
- would take him to Serene's room. Once there, he knocked gently on the
- door and waited for a response. Hearing a soft "come in" from the other
- side, he opened the door and rushed to the edge of Serene's bed.
-
- Hers was a face that glowed with love. Her eyes nearly set fire to her
- lashes when she saw her daughter, and she could not wrap Mista up in her
- embrace quickly enough. "Hello, Sweet Baby You!" she gurgled at her
- little one, allowing her daughter to grasp a tendril of auburn hair.
- Raising her eyes and extending one arm to hug Luthor, she easily
- included him in the tiny circle of family gathered here in her chamber.
- "Thank you for the restful afternoon, Luthor. You'll think I'm crazy,
- but I became terribly homesick for her!"
-
- Luthor's eyes twinkled. "Good evening, my love. No, I don't think you
- are crazy at all. I know how I get when I a away from Mista...or her
- mother. Speaking of which, I have a few things for you. The first,
- of course is your daughter. She seems to be a bit hungry...oh, and I
- had to change her cloth about half an hour ago." Luthor paused for a
- second, briefly missing the weight of the child in his arms.
- "I didn't mind changing her. I had a lot of practice from when Joshua
- was little," he continued.
-
- Serene gently shifted Mista in her arms to nurse. She found herself
- awestruck at the vibrancy of the little life in her arms, and the utter
- dependency on the adults in her world for care.
-
- "I also got you...a few flowers." From the depths of his cloak, he
- pulled a dozen roses of a deep blue color...the flower of the Anside Clan,
- Luthor's Family.
-
- Serene gasped softly, "The Rose of Anside." Their graceful form and
- delicate scent filled her with delight.
-
- "Remember that old druid that we ran into on our walk of the city?"
- Luthor put the flowers in a vase near Serene's bed.
-
- "That 'old druid' was 50 years younger than you ShadowMaker," Serene
- said with a false tone of disapproval.
-
- "Yes, that is true. Anyway, he has them growing all over the gardens,
- all from a single flower that I gave him. Now that the snow has
- started to fall, the flowers have opened. It was amazing...in the
- gardens, with the scent of the flowers on the cold air, I felt like I
- was home again." His eyes twinkled with a child-like glee.
-
- Serene regarded him fondly. More and more she found glimpses of
- Luthor's heart revealed to her: joy in his goddaughter; grief at the
- loss of his wife; wonder in the world. Now his eyes made her long for a
- tale of his home, of a land which gave rise to such beautiful flowers,
- to swirling banks of SnowFog, to men such as this.
-
- "I would like to take you out of this inn for a while tomorrow. The
- change from the smoke and noise of the bar room would do you some good.
- We could leave in the morning and be back before Mary misses you." He
- looked at her hopefully. She could tell that he had something hidden
- planned, but did not ask; she was pleased to look forward to his
- surprises and adventures with a trusting heart.
-
- "Git!" A commanding voice filled the room. mary Littlefair bustled in
- with a dinner tray. "These two ladies need peace and quiet while they
- eat, Mr. Anside." Luthor found himself standing in the corner of the
- small chamber, rather unsure as to exactly how he got bustled.
-
- Serene caught his eyes with her smiling ones. "Yes, Luthor." she
- accepted his invitation without giving him away to Mary. Her pillows
- were fluffed and her tray set beside the bed as Luthor returned the
- twinkle in her eyes and bowed out of the room. Mista raised her hand as
- he left - coincidence of course - and she and her mother proceded to
- sup.
-
- "He's an odd one, little Serene, don't you think he's been getting
- overfond of you?" asked Mary, and promptly stuffed a stew-soaked piece
- of bread in Serene's mouth.
-
- Unable to answer, Serene chewed obediently.
-
- "Now, I know that he's had a wife, I just wonder what he thought of
- having a companion, and -"
-
- "And you're only thinking to take care of me," Serene finally finished
- the bread and interrupted. "Luthor Anside will always be Rachael's
- husband, now and in Avalon. I shall love only Mista's father in the way
- that a woman loves a man. But Luthor is Mista's godfather and midwife.
- He walks in the Shadows, Mary, and I dance the Fog. We are kindred
- spirits, he and I, and we share a wonderful friendship. Don't fret
- about Luthor for my sake, Mary, it's not as though I'm going to be
- running off to live with him." She laughed broadly. "Besides, I'm only
- an eighth of his age!"
-
- Mista gurgled and was shifted to nurse from Serene's left. Mary knew
- when she was about to lose the last word, and popped a particularly
- large crust between Serene's lips. "Well, he loves that baby well
- enough it's true. You just let me know that all is well, will you?" she
- said and held the mug of milk to Serene's lips before the young woman
- had time to answer.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Love and Peace and Parenthood,
- -The Dreamer-
-
- Text by: The Dreamer and Laurie Alden (who wrote all the good parts)
-