Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2005 18:45:33 -0600 (CST)
From: "Barbara A. Matthews" <carolyn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-J] Truth or Fiction (JP) ((Part two))
(Part two)
"So who does know?" Jerram asked, downing his own second drink and then
forcing himself to put the glass aside. "Am I the only one you've told
all this to?" He'd assumed, after hearing her tale, that Wisp at least
knew. If anyone could figure out something like this, it would be Wisp
or
perhaps Trap. As for Jerram himself, he felt like he was getting in way
over his head.
"In another time you were the one I trusted more then life itself," Fig
told him softly, not daring to speak of the love they had shared. "I
call
you Uncle when I was a young girl."
She wondered if he would think to ask her where *he* figured into the
different lines. Wasn't he even curious as to what happened to him and
his
life? Then she decided not to bring it up unless he did... and then
maybe
it might be better if she didn't tell him the whole truth...
"I've told no other, and dare not for fear someone who might want to
bring
harm to my mother might find out about it and ...." she held up her
hands
as if to say.. you figure it out. "Not even Wisp or Trap know and they
can
not. Wisp thinks I'm just a dragonrider fleeing from a bad situation in
the new lands.. and he thinks he's hiding me out and keeping me safe
here
while I look after his niece."
"Okay," said Jerram, leaning forward across the table and looking
gravely
at her. "Tell me exactly what you *do* know. What sort of...of threat
are we supposed to prevent. Surely in that other 'timeline' there was
someone who could tell you what happened to Tara. Where do we start
looking...and, just as important, when? We can't be on our guard 24
hours
a day for the next umpteen years. And I can tell you right now that
Tara
won't let anyone 'hover' over her." He sighed. "That's how she got
hurt
yesterday. Frankly, I can see now why the Dragonlady disapproved of my
teaching Tara how to use a sword. I never thought she'd rush off to
fight
a whole squad of Kataani soldiers! Talk about 'pulling a Hsina'..."
He
shook his head. "So...what can you tell me that we can use here?"
She downed her second glass of spirits and held it out for him to
refill
once more before she admitted that she didn't know from where the
threat
would come from. The old one who told her about the rips in time would
never say.. or maybe didn't know.
"I can't tell you when or how.." her frustration was clear in her tone.
"The crazy old man either didn't know or was having one over on me but
he
would never tell me from WHERE the threat was coming from, just that it
was going to happen."
She titled her glass again as a reminder that he hadn't yet refilled
it.
"Drink your water," he said pointing towards her first glass. "I want
you
clear headed while you explain."
"I should tell you that I was here a few nights ago to see Tara... she
thinks I'm Wisp's daughter... And knows I'm here to look after her."
she
told him sheepishly and waited for his explosion.
"Alright then," said Jerram. "Do you know whether the old man had any
control over the point in time that you arrived here? If so, that
might
answer one of our questions. If he had any such control, it would have
made sense to send you at or around the time when you were needed."
"He must have for he's the one who took me to the time rip that brought
me
to *this* time... So he must have known it would happen sometime
soon...
But I KNOW it has nothing to do with what's going on now... I just wish
he
would have told me what to look for!" she reached over and grabbed the
bottle off the table and poured herself a drink before he could stop
her.
"It's so damn maddening to know something is going to happen that I
have
to stop from happening but not knowing what the hell it is so I can
stop
it!!"
"Alright, the first thing is...CALM DOWN!!" Jerram told her, leaning
across the table so that his nose almost touched hers. "Do you think it
isn't maddening for me too? But from what you're telling me, we have
one
chance at this, and just one. Getting frustrated and drunk isn't going
to
solve the problem for us. We have to THINK!"
He turned around and began to pace, putting his hands behind his back.
"Ok, so it's not Counselor Oga...no further problems from him ever
again...or the Kataani or the damned Scepter of Ythfaru." He turned
around and paced the other way. "Not her father and his little group
of
religions fanatics....they're safely in the ground, and those who are
still alive have Wisp...Darden...looking over their shoulder." He
sighed,
and turned back to her. "The thing is, it could be something absolutely
stupid and useless...like falling out of a window, or something like
that.
Even if we got Kay involved in this...or got someone like Trap to
watch
her back...we can't guard against everything. Did you at least get a
sense of whether her...her death was deliberate? Was she....will
she....be
murdered, or could it be something accidental?"
Fig smiley sweetly and picked up her water, taking a sip of the clear
liquid toasted him with it before putting it aside. She wondered what
he
would say if she told him she could out drink him any day of the week
and
had several times! "I got the feeling it's something deliberate...
someone
out to cause her harm or even her death. I just don't have any idea
why.
He did say a *woman* would be the cause of what happens so that might
be
of some help. Are there any women around here who have a grudge against
her that you know about?"
Jerram twirled his mustache thoughtfully. "Probably dozens," he said.
"At
least that many men, too. It's a natural part of being a Warrenlady."
He
slapped his fist in his palm a couple of times. "Maybe the key is all
of
the changes you talked about....I mean, Warrenlady's do...well,
die...eventually. Tara's predecessor Evelle was assassinated the very
day
Tara arrived, but it didn't cause the whole world to change. The type
of
things you're describing make it sound like what happens to Tara in
that
'other' timeline is part of something much larger. So I think we can
rule
out someone going after her over some grudge involving minor
disciplinary
actions or the like. You agree?"
"You could be right," she said thoughtfully. "But how do we find out
what
that might be?" She looked across the table and thought how good that
*we*
sounded. But before she could start to feel sad over knowing she might
never know how *we* would feel again, a thought came to her and she sat
up
straighter in her chair. "You know... what if it's not really about
Tara..
what if it's something bigger.. Like what if it's the whole Warren
that's
being targeted and Tara's death is just the start of it?"
"That's a tall order," Jerram said. "The only ones I know that would
be
capable of that are the Kataani, and for the present it looks like
we're
at peace with them. I understand Lecia and Sarilyn are holding 'peace
talks' with them now. The talks could fail, of course, but with Oga
dead
and the Scepter gone I can't see that they'd have any real reason to
want
to attack us. I've heard stories of rogue warrens from the Lost
Dragonlands, but we've never had that problem here because of the
Wastes..." He stopped, and looked at her again. "You said something
about
the Wastes," he reminded her. "Tell me that part again."
"What's left of the people from Jasra and the towns near by have taken
up
living in what caves they can find," she told him. "Some have upwards
of
50 people living together for protection from the creatures who have
taken
over the lands outside. Food is hard to find at good times, but you
have
to be careful going out looking for it or you could be attacked from
above
or on land... It's bad... In the good timeline.. Kasha is with me.. but
in
the bad line.. she's.. gone. So I know what it feels like to be half
alive... that's why I have to find away to fix things.. to keep Kasha
is
with me... And make sure the people I live go on with their lives."
"Then we seem to have hit on the central question," said Jerram. "What
causes the Wastes to engulf the Warren? No single person's death would
accomplish that. And yet you're sure that Tara is the crux of the whole
thing? If she lives, the Warren - and it sounds like this whole pocket
-
survive as we've known them, while if she dies everything is lost?" He
shook his head in bafflement. "Okay, that's the question we have to
answer: What sort of power could cause the Wastes to overflow the magic
boundaries that have protected this pocket and the Warren for thousands
of
years? We can *quietly* ask the Kataani, but I don't think that all
their
sorcerers combined could do that. Their power doesn't extend inland,
and
they can't command the Wastes. What is it that can, then?"
"Your guess is as good as mine at this point," she shrugged and the
yawned. "Maybe if my stomach was full... My mind might start working
again."
Jerram nodded. "Okay, I guess we should take a break. So is Jasra's
dining
hall still operating in your, um, 'good' timeline?"
"Oh yes it is.. and we've a wonderful cook by the name of Liams.. who
can
do wonders with a spit beast," she said and got up to follow him out of
the apartment.
"One thing," she stopped him before he could start down the step
leading
to the warren green. "I told you Tara knows I'm to look out for her...
but
I did not tell her why and we can't even do that. Nor can we tell my
father, Kay."
"She must never know or it could change everything. She must go on as
she
had always done with out knowing that her living or dieing could change
the world as we know it. Knowing what * could* happen in her future
could
lead her to make the very mistake that caused her death. It needs to be
kept between the two of us, for there is a danger if my mission here is
learned by others who could use the information for ill purposes."
"But if she knew, it might end up saving her life!" he insisted.
"No Uncle," she used the honorary title by which she had always called
him
as a child. "No good can come from her knowing these things. In her
haste
to do the right thing, it could end up costing her, her life, by doing
the
wrong thing, or not being able to see the threat standing before her
very
eyes. Telling her will only succeed in making her more wary to trust
people and happenstance. It could cause her to loose sight of what is
real
and what is only in her head. We MUST allow her to go on as she has
done
without bring this added worry to her."
"Don't you see," Fig went on in a softer, somewhat sadder tone of
voice.
"That is why I am here. To watch her back. To keep the threat at bay.
*I*
know there is a danger to her. To this Warren and all who live in the
magic of the Dragonlands. *I* know there is a danger to my time and the
way I have always known my own world to be like. It is why I have
chosen
to come to come back in time. To YOU, and tell you these things. In my
time, as I said, you were the one person I trusted more then life
itself.
In this time, I had hoped that trust would still hold, for I've told no
one else * why* I am here. The real reason. And no one else must ever
know... Will you help me. Will you keep my secret and help me protect
the
Warrenlady so that our worlds will both survive?"
........
They were half way across the Green, heading towards the dining hall
when
someone came running up to Jerram.
"Have you heard anything about our riders?" the white blonde headed
woman
asked. "I know some of them are coming back in, but I've had reports
that
there are still some missing."
Jerram shook his head. "I haven't heard any reports just yet. Do you
have
any idea who is among the missing?
"Yes.. Saul.." she looked around nervously, and Jerram could tell she
was
fighting to keep things together. "Some of the Seadragons... and
Fayloth.
Doshay can't *hear* Fayloth anywhere!!"
*** Submitted by: *****
Barbara aka:
Fig & Kasha
Shawnee & Doshay
John aka:
Jerram & Seydor
Jasra Warren
Summary: Fig fills Jerram in on the reason she has shown up in Jasra.
And
has asked him not to tell anyone who she is... while trying to convince
him not to snap her neck. And Shawnee finds Jerram and he and Fig are
heading towards the Dining hall to tell him Saul and others are still
missing.
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