Seanessy comes over and sits down at the table with Taliesin. I watch FawnRe go into the little kitchen to wash up the mugs, trays and pitchers. I go in to help her... "May I help wash or dry?" I ask. FawnRe smiles "Sure, they will get finished faster and then we can listen to your story about the dagger." We wash and dry the dishes pretty fast. "I'll ask Seanessy and Taliesin to come in here and sit at this table. This way, we won't bother the other children." I walk to the doorway, Seanessy and Taliesin look at me. I motion for them to come over to the kitchen. They get up quietly from the table and come in. "Are you ready to hear my very long story?" I ask them. "or should I wait until another time?" "We want to hear it now." They both say. "Okay, let's sit down at the table and I'll tell it."   The four of us sit down. I remove the sheath from the chain that is dangling from my waist and set it on the table. I carefully remove the Lightning Dagger from it's sheath. I look at it, then at each of the people sittat the table with me... "You must promise me that you'll never tell the story I'm going to tell you to anyone. You will not even hint to anyone that you even know about it." The children promise solemly and FawnRe nods her head in agreement.    "One day my father summoned me to come to his office. When I arrived in his room I saw my grandfather was with him. They said they had some terrible news about my Mother. She was dying of a horribly contagious disease. I couldn't believe it at first. When I asked to help care for her (because I had some healing abilities) they refused my offer and said the regular healers were with her and they could do nothing. I was very sad because I knew she would want to see me. They told me she was unconsious most of the time. They knew me very well, my Grandfather and Father did, and knew I would try to see her. That is when they forbade me to see her. I tried not to cry in front of them but the tears slid down my cheeks anyway. I left the room without saying anymore to them. I went to my room and cried for a while because I loved my Mother very much and didn't want to lose her. "   "I dried my eyes and went to my bookshelf. I took down a book about 'Contagious Diseases of the Known World'. I looked through it to see if I could find any incurable ones. I found several. I almost started crying again. I put the book away and decided to go see my Mother anyway. I left my room, walked down the hallway to my Mother's door and was greated by a guard. He refused me entry into my Mother's chamber. I was very upset and almost started crying again. I left and went outside. There was a guard standing under the balcony to her room. I was so disheartened at first. Then I resolved to try any and every method to get into her room if needed."   "Now, you might think I was very stupid to want to see her when she was 'horribly contagious.' But I thought of something when I was looking thru that book of diseases... neither my Father nor my Grandfather told me the name of the disease and I was certain they would have if she was really dying. I figured she must have done something to make them furious with her and she was being punished in some way."

Subject: The Dagger--- chapter 2
Posted by:Gynger On: 08/29/00 03:23 AM

     "On my way back to my room, I felt someone was watching me. I walked over to a bed of flowers and started smelling some of them while looking carefully around. I finally spotted a man who was hidden very well, he had moved his fingers along his pants leg which gave away his hiding place. I realized I was being watched and would have to outsmart these men who would be following me and reporting back to my Father and Grandfather. This wasn't the first time I had faced this challenge. I was determined to win again. I picked a large bouquet of flowers, took them to my room and arranged them into two vases. I took one of them to my Mother's door and asked the guard... 'May I please take these flowers into my Mother's room?' He refused me entry and said that he couldn't take anything into the room either."   "I went to my Father's office and showed him the vase of flowers. I asked him if they could be given to Mother. He said he would give them to her. I set them on his desk, thanked him and walked out."   "The next morning, before the time to break the nightly fast, I left my room for my usual walk. I knew I was being followed again. I walked upstairs to the rooftop and surprised a guard who was relieving himself over the edge of the house. 'I thought you had a slops bucket up here for that purpose' I said sternly. 'I'm going to have to report this to my father.' The guard begged me not to tell for he would surely face a whipping for this infraction. I told him I would think about it but not to hold out any hope. I walked around the roof checking on guard positions on the ground. There were more men than usual on duty. 'Something must have happened with another of Grandfathers ships' I thought to myself. The pirate Dryder seemed to make Grandfather very scared. This pirate was the only one who did that. The guard watched me closely as I walked around the roof several times. 'I won't tell this time, but make sure you don't do it again.' "   "I went down the stairs and was met by my Grandfather. 'Good morning Grandfather' said I to him. 'Have you heard any news about my Mother?' He shook his head sadly and said she was still unconscious and getting worse. He figured it would be only a matter of a few days (if even that long) before she would die. He could see the grief in my eyes and he did something different than usual... he looked guilty for a moment. It was such a fleeting look, I thought for sure I had imagined it. 'How did she contract this disease?' I asked of him. He told me about the visitor that she'd had. The visitor, he said, did not look well. Her body was found the day after the visit. She seemed to have died from something mysterious. That same day, mother was taken ill."   "I thought it really strange that the men who had found this woman's body weren't sick. I didn't mention it to my Grandfather tho. We walked to the morning room to eat. Grandfather excused himself saying he had already eaten and needed to get some work done. Another one of his ships had been lost to the pirate Dryder (my surmising had been correct). I went in to eat and to think. I decided I would find the dead woman. Maybe, hopefully, I would get a chance to look over her body to see if I could figure out what killed her (I didn't think I was better than the esteemed healers/physicians, but maybe I would see something they didn't). I finished eating, went outside and picked some flowers to take with me (if I had been stopped, I would say i was doing the decent thing by taking the dead woman flowers for her grave)."   "Were you still being followed, milady?" Taliesin inquires quietly. "Yes, Taliesin" I replied. "I was still being followed."   "I knew the men who were taking turns following me were reporting everything I did. I also knew I would get a beating when I started finding out more than they wanted me to know."   "I went to the house near the burial grounds where bodies were prepared for burial. I stopped on the threshold to get accustomed to the smell of the place. It was a combination of spices, herbs and death. It wasn't my favorite scent but it wasn't horrible either. I went inside and found the man i needed to tak with. He said he couldn't show me the body... Grandfather's orders. I asked him about the disease she had. He said it didn't seem to be contagious after the death of the host but that Grandfather didn't want to take any chances. He said her body was almost ready for burial and looked towards one of the doors in the room. He said he was very thirsty, asked me if I would like a drink (which I politely turned down), and would be gone for a few moments while getting a drink for himself. He offered to take the flowers and put them into a vase."   "I handed him the flowers and as he turned to leave, I got up. By the time he was walking out of the room, I was at the door he had indicated. I opened it cautiously and went inside. The naked body of an elderly, dark skinned woman was on the table awaiting it's final wrappings. It didn't take an expert to see what had killed her. There was a knife wound on her left side between her ribs. Her clothes were no where to be found in my quick search. I slowly opened the door, peeked out to see if anyone was in the main room, closed the door softly behind me and sat down again. A few moments later the man re-appeared with the flowers in an old vase. I thanked him for talking with me, shook his hand and walked out. In my hand was a folded up paper with something in it. I stretched my arms up, then covered my mouth as if I had yawned. The item had been dropped from my hand into my sleeve."   "I went back to the house and was met by a guard who informed me that I was wanted in my Father's office, right away. The guard escorted me to the door and announced me. I walked in to see my Father's unsmiling face. He was upset with me. He asked me what I had been doing at the death house. I told him I took some flowers to the dead woman. He wanted to know what the man had told me... so I told him... the disease seemed to die with the death of it's host. Therefore it was only contagious while the victim lived. My father's face looked relieved for a moment then it became stern again. He said he understood how difficult it was for me not to see my Mother, that I had to trust him to know what was best for me and that I was to stop trying to see her or I would get a beating. He then dismissed me and went back to work. As I turned to leave, I saw the flowers that were susposed to be given to my Mother, in a refuse basket."   "I went to the kitchen to see if I could take some water or broth up to my Mother. The cooks wouldn't let me. Grandfather's orders they said. I walked out and went to the door of my Mother's room. A different guard was outside the door, he would not let me in either. I went to my room, took the paper covered item out of my sleeve and put it in a jar on my table, picked up a book and waited for the beating I knew was on it's way."

Subject: The Dagger--- chapter 3
Posted by:Gynger On: 08/29/00 04:44 PM
     "A few minutes after I sat down there was a pounding on my door and then it was shoved open. My Father stormed into the room, he took off his belt and angrily said... 'I thought you were told to stay away from your Mother's room. You walk out of my office, go to the kitchen to get food for her... they refuse, you go to her room anyway and try to get the guard to let you in. Fortunately, he didn't or he'd be dead.' He grabbed me and practically threw me out of the chair onto the floor. He then proceeded to beat me with his belt. I curled up and protected my face with my arms. It took all my concentration to forget about what was happening and whisper the words of protection and healing. A few moments later I didn't feel the pain of the hits even tho I still felt the hits. He beat me until he thought I was unconsious. Then he walked out of my room, slaming the door shut behind him."   "I lay on the floor still murmuring the healing words. My door opened again, this time I felt gentle hands picking me up and laying me on my bed. I slowly opened my eyes and saw my favorite teacher/healer. He had tears in his old eyes as he gently undressed me to put healing salves on my bruised and beaten body. A quiet exclamation of surprise came from him when he saw only minimal bruises. He asked me if I shielded myself and I nodded 'yes'. 'We won't tell anyone' he whispered to me (he was one of the few men in my life who loved me and he treated me like a special and precious daughter). He stayed with me for an hour and we talked of what was happening. He helped me walk around the room a few times until my legs didn't feel so weak. he asked me why I shielded myself this time and not the other times. 'I have to see my Mother' I told him. 'This way they won't be suspicious of me today. Father doesn't know I can shield myself' He nodded his head and didn't want to know any more. Before he left he put an enchantment on the door. As soon as it closed, only he would be able to open it from outside."   "After he was gone, I walked over to my tall mirror and looked at my reflection. I didn't like using magic unless I had to and I felt this was one of those times. I said some words and my Mother's name. Soon, I was looking into her room. I saw her lying in bed, my father was pacing back and forth. I listened to his angry words and my mother's weak replies... 'You are going to die unless you stop this foolishness' 'She needs to be told the truth and I'm going to tell her' 'NO!! She isn't goin to learn. I beat her till she was unconsious. She's in her room now.' He stormed out. I waited for a bit to make sure he was gone. I said a few more words then stepped into the mirror and into my Mother's room. I walked softly up to her bed and whispered her name. She slowly opened her eyes and when she realyzed it really was me, tears of joy came down her face. I climbed onto her bed and held her in my arms. My dear mother, who was only 40, had lost so much weight in 2 days, I was afraid of hurting her. She didn't want me to let her go and I didn't want to either. We both cried for a bit and were comforted by each other."   "I asked her why she wasn't getting well. She told me about the poison that was given to her each day. She asked me about the beating... I told her what happened and what I'd done. Finally, she said she had some things to tell me. It was time I learned about my real Father. I was stunned but I listened to her. She told me where she had hidden a key and a box. I scooted off the bed and after some searching I found the key. She'd hid it really well. Then I went searching for the box. Again, it took me a while but I found it also. I took them back to her. She asked me to unlock it and look inside. I lifted the lid and saw some velvet pouches and a lot of papers. She told me to read the letters, starting with the oldest ones, after her death. She asked me to hand her the gold colored pouch. She loosened the string and poured something into my hand. It was an intricately carved gold and emerald ring. It was so beautiful. She said 'This is now yours, my daughter. It was my wedding ring from your father. He would be pleased to know you have it."   "She told me about a Drow whom she had befriended as a young girl (she had saved his life when Grandfather had tried to have him killed). He was known as Dryder, the Dreaded Pirate. He would capture at least one of Grandfather's ships each year. Grandfather hated him with a vengence."   "Mother told me of a man she had fallen in love with. Grandfather found out and forbade them to marry. Mother ran off with this man and married him. Grandfather was so mad when he found out, he hired an assassin, a Drow, to go after them and kill the man. (Dryder later killed this assassin for killing my birth Father.) He also sent the man who I would know as my Father. This man would make sure the right man was killed (which made the Drow angry), and then he was to force the new widow to marry himself. It happened as my Grandfather wanted, except for one small thing. My mother was pregnant with me. When my Grandfather found out, he was angry but refused to have me killed until after I was born. If I looked anything like my father's side of the family, I was to be killed. Since I didn't, I was allowed to live. (Altho, in one of Mother's letters she said I had my Father's eyes.) My Mother told me a few more things about this Drow who was her friend and why he hated my Grandfather so much. It was he who had been sending these pieces of jewelry to her on the anniversary of her first husband's death. She said they were given to her without any expectation of anything in return. They meant a lot to her and she was giving them to me now. Mother put the ring I'd been holding back into it's pouch and put it into the box. She had me close the lid and relock it. She told me to hide the box and the key in my room."   "We talked for a bit longer then she said she wouldn't see me again. She wasn't surprised that I had such powerful magic for it was my heritage. She also warned me not to let my Grandfather or the man I thought of as Father know how much magic I knew. I gave her a last hug, told her that I loved her, kissed her and slowly walked back through her mirror and into my room. I immediately hid the box and the key, unenchanted the mirror, climbed into bed after undressing and went to sleep."

Subject: The Dagger--- chapter 4
Posted by:Gynger On: 08/30/00 01:20 AM

     "The next morning, I was woken up very early by my friend and teacher... the one who had helped me the day of my beating. He told me the news that my Mother had died during the night. I nodded my head but didn't cry. I got out of bed slowly, dressed and walked down the hall to my Mother's room. There wasn't any guard there now so I opened the door and walked in. My step-father was near her bed. He was looking down at her. He looked at me as I neared the bed and told me she wasn't contagious anymore. I asked if I could help prepare her body for burial and he said it would be okay."   "After the burial, my Grandfather and Step-father pretended to be sad but I knew they weren't. I waited for 2 days before I told them I needed to get away. They agreed and said they would help by giving me some gold for the trip. I packed the large chest with some of my clothes, quite a few of my books (my favorite ones) and made sure my Mother's box was inside. I also packed a bag with herbs and salves. The chest was taken outside and put on the special carrier that had been made for my donkey. There were several bags being tied to the donkey's pack. Grandfather said they had food, cooking pots, bowls, utensils for eating and cooking, and blankets in them. When everything was secured, I picked up the donkey's lead rope, said 'Goodbye' to everyone, then walked away from the house of my birth and didn't look back."   "Three days later, as I was walking through a forested area, my donkey refused to walk any further on the road. He kept wanting to go into the trees. Finally, I let him go and followed him. He wandered around and then came to a stop. In front of him on the ground was the bloody form of a man. My donkey sniffed him, then nudged the man with his nose. There was no response. I knelt down beside him and realized it was a Drow. I felt the side of his neck for a pulse, it was very faint. I started saying the words needed to heal him on the inside. When his pulse was a bit stronger, I took down 4 of my packs. One had food, one had the cooking pots and utensils in it, another had blankets rolled up in it and the last had my herbs and salves inside."   "I knew there was a stream nearby (for I had passed it earlier), so I took the largest pot to fill with water. When I came back, I started a fire and got it burning well. I set the pot of water on it to heat up. Since a camp needed to be set up, I went about those tasks, also removing the chest from my donkeys back as well as the carrier. (I had to use magic to help me with the chest.) I also made a bed of leaves next to and behind the Drow. When the water was hot enough, I poured it over some crumbled herbs in a bowl. When it cooled down, I started removing some of the Drow's clothes. I washed his exposed body gently with the herbal water and put salve on the bruises, sores and knife wounds. I covered him with part of a blanket and removed the rest of his clothes and gently cleaned him and put the salve on these wounds. I covered him with the blanket and gently rolled him onto the bed of leaves. I had to wash and put salve on the parts of his body I had missed earlier, then covered him with another blanket. As the sun started to go down, I had my donkey lay down next to the Drow and I lay down on his other side. (I had to keep him warm so he would live.)"   "As he got better, he would sometimes talk in his sleep. That is how I figured out who he was. This was Dryder, the bane of my Grandfather's life. The Drow who was my Mother's friend."   "One morning, I was woken up by a different sound. I looked at Dryder, his eyes were open and he looked surprised and wary. Softly, so as not to spook him, I spoke to him... 'Good morning sir, how are you feeling?' He continued to look at me and finally said... 'I'm feeling better than I did the day I was waylayed.' I asked him if he was hungry and he said he was, so I got up and fixed us both some food. I handed him a bowl and spoon, he sat up and the blanket fell down to his waist. (If you've never seen a Drow blush... it's something to behold, let me tell you.) He asked where his clothes were and I pointed behind him. They had been cleaned and repaired. He decided to eat first, then get dressed. After he was done eating, I told him I had to get more water. I grabbed the large pot and walked to the river. He was dressed when I got back and put the pot of water on the fire to get hot."   "I sat down and told him my name and who my Mother was. I also let him know that she was dead. He was saddened by the news. We talked of other things for a bit until the water was hot. I poured it over some more crumbled up herbs and let it soak. He looked at me with a question in his eyes. I told him I had been washing his wounds after I ate. He realized his clothes would have to come off again. He started removing his shirt, I asked him if he would prefer to wash his own wounds... he said he would. I handed him the bowl of herbal water, a cloth and the salve. I went for a bit of a walk."   "I walked out towards the road and sat down on a log. I was there about 10 minutes or so when I heard voices on the other side of the tall brush. I heard the name 'Dryder', 'body', 'find' and 'kill'. I went back to camp as quickly and quietly as I could.

Subject: The Dagger--- chapter 5
Posted by:Gynger On: 08/30/00 12:27 PM

"I arrived in camp while Dryder was putting salve on his legs. I turned my back to him, started picking up some of the items and told him what I'd overheard. I heard him getting up and he asked me to help him walk to a hiding spot (he wasn't in any shape to fight them). There was a small dip in the ground that went under a huge tree. He crawled in there and I did what I could to cover up his tracks on my way back to the campsite. I looked at my donkey. That poor beast was my inspiration. I sat down near him with the bowl of herbal wash water and started talking softly to him. I heard the men's voices and their clumsy crashing through the brush."   "I washed my donkey's legs where he had scratched himself pretty bad the day before. The men came into my camp and stared at me. They hadn't expected to see me. They were from my village and they recognized me. One of them walked over to see what I was doing. 'You're washing those scratches? No wonder your donkey is so spoilt.' 'You didn't make it very far away from home did you.' said another man. I just looked at them and kept on washing my donkey's scratches. They stood there watching me until I was finished. I leaned off to the side to pour out the wash water just as the first man took a step to my side. His boot got wet and he got mad. He tried to slap me with his hand and got it cut instead. His face was a mixture of pain, shock and surprise. None of them had seen me grab the knife they now saw in my hand. I told them if they valued being men, they would state their business and be on their way or I would begin making sopranos of them. They decided not to test me and told me they were looking for the body of a Drow. I told them to look around and to get out if they couldn't find it. They searched around the edges of the camp but didn't find anything. The man with the cut hand was still bleeding a bit when they left."   "I waited for half an hour before I went to check on Dryder. I found him sound asleep under the tree. I went back to the fire, leaving him to sleep, and fixed lunch. I was singing a song when I saw his head slowly come out from under the tree. I told him to comeover and eat lunch, which he did."   'It seems to me' said he, 'that your Mother and you have a tendency of saving my life.' I just smiled at him and finished eating. 'Maybe we should break camp and sleep elsewhere tonight.' he stated. I agreed with him and we began to pick things up. I washed the dishes while he put the carrier on the donkey and then he put the chest on and then finally all the bags were tied on. We set out to find a new campsite for the night."   " 'May I ask who waylaid you?' 'It was a gang of men sent by your Grandfather. They almost killed me but I was able to open a portal and fell into it. I was hurt bad enough to have died if you hadn't found me.' I found myself telling him about the old woman and the paper wrapped item the man had given me. I took it from my pouch and handed it to him. He looked at it and said it was a very old, ancient medallion that had belonged to the old woman. It was supposed to have magical powers. He handed it back to me and told me to keep it. Dryder said he'd sent the old woman to my mother with a gift. I told him she had received the gift and it was now in my possesion, along with all the other gifts he'd sent her. He smiled and nodded. 'You know whose hands are responsible for your Mother's death don't you?' I nodded. 'You realize, I can't let them live now.' again, I nodded my head. 'I won't kill them yet, I'll even stop attacking his ships for a time. When I kill them, everyone will know who did it and why.' "   " 'Part of me wants to be with you when it happens but I know it wouldn't be good.' I said to him. 'I wouldn't be able to kill them, even tho I know they deserve a slow, very painful death.' "   "We found a place to make camp and set it up. I fixed dinner and we ate. Afterwards, he was real quiet for a bit, then he started to talk quietly... 'I have to leave you in the morning. I don't want to cause you harm by traveling with you. I want to give you a couple of items.' I started to tell him I didn't need his gifts for us to be friends but he stopped me by putting a finger over my lips. 'The first is this ring' he took it off his finger and put it on one of mine. 'This will let me know if you are ever in trouble.' He then took one of his sheathed daggers (I hadn't touched any of them earlier when I saw them) and said... 'I bequeth this Lightning dagger to you, Gynger. It has special abilities that you will find when in danger.' He then said some words over it that I couldn't understand and my name was written on the handle. He then handed it to me with this warning... 'If anyone, other than you or I, touches this dagger, they will be severely burned.' "   I held the sheathed dagger in my hands and slowly pulled the blade out. I was awestruck by its' beauty and its' dangerousness. I put the dagger away and thanked him for the gifts."   Sometime during the early morning hours I dreamt that Dryder kissed me GoodBye and left. When I woke up later, I knew it hadn't been a dream."     I look around the table and say... "That's the long winded version of how I got the dagger."