Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale, Chapter 2.13

Rin danTaven by +Minerva Fox 

[I want to change this.  It is so bad…]

“..hat are we doing with her?” Rin heard though the blood pounding in her ears.  The voice was that of an older man, rough and gravely.  She groggily awoke on her side where she had been thrown.  Her blood had pooled in her white hair of the damp volcanic stone.

“What do you want to do then?” a younger man asked.  “She is a noble of damned House danTaven and they be trickier than you.  We be lucky she did not come in with the damned guardsmen.”  She was in a room, most likely underground.  She could hear dripping water falling into a pool of water nearby.  The smell of soot was in the air and something was cooking over an open flame.

“Then she is not so gods damned tricky then is she?” the older man said.  She could feel that she was bound with tamma cord, a strong native plant that grew in thin hair-like vines.  It was used as binding when braided into ropes of varying size.  Rin was bound tightly with her hands behind her back, so much so that the she could not feel the flesh in her real hand.  She heard the older man turn away in disgust and stepped out of the room.

The younger man sighed as Rin heard another figure step on in.  “What’s up with Gregor?” a female voice asked.  Rin sighed.  She figured that they were in a room with a single exit.  She also figured out that her clothes was lose on her body.  They have taken away her blades… all of them.

“Why don’t we ask our guest?  Come now.  I know you are awake so you can stop playing, acting like you are asleep.”

Rin opened her eyes and saw that her assessment was pretty much right.  It was a cave hewn of the volcanic stone.  On the walls were tapestries and thing that weren’t tapestries; rugs that hung on the wall.  A small fire burned with a hunk of fish cooking over it.  The room was sloped a bit toward the exit and the dripping water ran down to the far corner.  A large sleeping pallet was in the far corner filled with blankets and furs.  The short man with a wound in his leg sat before the fire and a tall, flame haired woman stood and looked at her.  She was most-likely Spartan Related as she looked as though she was in really good shape in the tight leather she was in.

“Why would the Princess’s handmaiden run after me?  A well-armed handmaiden at that?” the man said.

Rin struggled to a seated position.  “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” she said she grimaced.  She noticed that the man was looking at her dagger that she wore openly on her belt.  It was the ancient blade that her father Elham had given her.  “I would like that blade back,” she said in a voice as calm as she could muster. 

He only looked at her as he shoved the dagger back into its sheath.  “You are very interesting,” he said.  “A handmaid with some two dozen blades on her.  Kind of young to be a bodyguard, or an assassin.”

“To be an assassin there is no age limit.  I serve the Crown of North Realm, nothing more, unlike you.  You would dare to strike down the heir to the Kingdom.  Who paid you, hmm?”

He looked at the woman with red hair.  “I am no assassin,” he simply said.  The woman coughed and he reiterated.  “I never sought out a copper for that.  That bastard went way too far and you know it,” he retorted heatedly. 

She bent down and kissed him on the forehead; pushing back his hair.  “I know baby, sorry.  I miss her too.”

Rin thought that it was a very intimate moment she was witnessing and stayed quiet.  The man sniffed and wiped his nose with a finger that looked dirty despite being washed.  “Like I said, I am no assassin.  The King and Queen of North Realm did nothing to me or mine, much less their little girl.” 

“Then why are you the one the one that we are looking for?  You know that it is only a matter of time before they capture you.”

“And they will have the wrong person.”  He sighed.  “Do you want to hear the whole story or just sit there and judge me?”

Rin sat there and thought about it for a moment while the man sat there and turned his fish on the fire.  “Well, it seems like I am not going anywhere.  I will listen to your story…” 

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale, Chapter 2.12

Several things happened at once that Rin with her heightened senses could see everything that was happening in slow motion.  She could see the short man running forward, bringing up his pistol.  The light glinting off the polished black metal.  Each pounding step that he took as it splashed in the thin puddles at their feet.  The man behind them was jumping up on the fountain to bring his weapon to bear.  His cloak was fluttering as he took aim.  She could see a third man, an undercover operative squaring his shoulder as he brought up his handgun.  The crowd gasping, screaming and running form the Princess and the assassins.

Rin’s mind ran faster than her body could manage.  She could kill either man with a thrown blade but she was not fast enough to catch them both.  So she did the only thing that was left, she tackled the Princess, bringing her back to the shorter attacker where she had hoped the magic of the cloak would prove enough to save her.  The assassin to their rear was began to shout something but was taken out so all he cried was a gargled scream.  He got a shot of though and it tore through her magical prosthesis as she brought the Princess down in a splash of water from the fountain. 

A much larger splash fell beside them as Sir Hanar plunged in the shallow fountain.  He was aboard an undercover airship in a Daedalus Class mecha-suit.  She looked up at him, a Rose on his breastplate with blade and handgun drawn standing protectively over them both.  “Are you alright?” she could hear him ask.  It was like he was far away.  Everyone was far away as Rin did a quick look around, the water running into her eyes.  There he was; the short assassin.  Rin did not even think about it as she got up and leapt over the fountain.

“Watch her!  I am going after him!” she cried and started running, leaving the Princess peeking over the edge of fountain.  She could see the guardsmen coming into the square and the people in the plaza panicking.

He was fast, probably faster than her but for the bullet wound he had taken in the leg.  She could see blood splattered on the ground as she could see him ducking around the corner before the coming guardsmen.  She quickly edged herself around the corner, taking care not to be shot at.  “Damn," she muttered as she could see him duck into a sewer grate.  She didn’t give it another thought as she ran to and slid feet first past the grate.

She landed feet first and a knife palmed in her right hand.  Her left hand was a bit stiff due to the gunshot wound.  She cursed herself.  She had acted too quickly to do a self-assessment after she was shot.  “Damn it Lady Rin,” she could hear Sir Hanar say in her ear.  “Where are you so we can sent backup?” he asked, though it sounded more like a command.

She took out the earpiece for a moment listening for the labored breathing and looking for ripples or blood in the darkness.  She heard the feint beats of footsteps coming from her right.  She edged down the passageway, trying to find that balance between speed and silence.  She put her earpiece back in and heard the Princess talking.

“Rin, come back!” she was saying but static was building up.

“I almost have him,” Rin whispered and hoped that they had heard her as all she now heard was static.  She felt alive though as the excitement of the chase pumped adrenaline in her system.  When the chase was on, she often acted without thinking.  Part of her loved the chase and part of her felt like she was letting Itami down for leading her into the trap.

She stopped.  She could no longer hear the footsteps that she was following.  She berated herself again in her mind and was coming to a junction carved though the volcanic rock.  Water poured down at her feet over the edge of the precipice going deeper into the earth.  There was very little light, save for what was coming in from grates that were above her head.

“Damn,” she whispered.  “It seems like I lost him,” she said though her mike.  She continued to look through the darkness and could barely see the passageways that lead to this junction.

“Good,” she heard Sir Hanar say.  “You can come back before you give Her Highness a coronary.”

Rin sighed and backed away from the edge silently.  She listened on more time for anything out of the ordinary, but all she heard was the water moving, dripping and falling down.  She didn’t hear the footsteps behind her as it bashed her in the head with a sap.  

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale Chapter 2.11

The people did not believe that the Princess of North Realm was there talking to them.  It was something that Rin told her to do.  Take the power from the organizers and talk to the people directly.  Rin glanced over her shoulder and could see that Rikkard was furious.  Sofia grabbed him by the arm to prevent him from following the two girls.  She just shook her head and while she caught Rin’s eye and mouthed the word, touché.  Rin smiled and took off her cloak and gave it to a young boy who did not have one.  She smiled as she took her scribe kit out and followed Itami and started to take notes.

Food was a big part of the people’s complaints, which kind of surprised Rin.  However, she was part of the ruling class, so food was never that much of a concern.  There was very little arable land for farming among the hard scrabble lands of the Maarke and the people were complaining about the high prices for a single loaf of bread or a haunch of cudder.  The bread was made with a flour that has a mix of soy in it as well as a native grain.  Eave maybe a planet that provides much but for certain amino acids that a human need to survive.  The Maarke had fish and the bounty of the sea to live on but for this simple fact that the needed the fortified bread that the flour from the Barony of Leavestonne made.

“I never knew,” Itami whispered to Rin.  “Doesn’t House danAven handle most of the contracts to the Maarke?”  Rin nodded her head.  House danRahn ran the Barony of Leavetonne and it was the breadbasket of the Realm.  House danAven controlled much of the shipping by airship.  The Barony of Leavestonne was on the other side of the continent but still, they have not heard of any deficit in this springs planting to allow for this shortage in the market.

[Give Sir Hanar a codename in the last part of the chapter.]

“Copper,” she heard Sir Hanar call for her over the secure line.  “Check your six.  We have got four targets moving towards Silver’s location.  We have got confirmation that short one without adornments on his cloak is part of an anarchist cell.”  Rin casually turned to her right as if to answer a question and saw them from the corner of her eye.

“Copy,” she whispered into her throat mike.  She moved a bit closer Itami and said a single word: mikka.  Mikkas were the small, swift animals that the eladrin rode, akin to deer.  Skittish animals, they used the word mikka, to denote trouble and that Itami should be ready to run should it arise.  Itami missed a step and swallowed hard.

“Is it too late to change my mind?” she joked.

Rin excused Itami from the crowd for a moment and fixed Itami’s cloak.  She could get a better look at the people that were stalking them.  “Sorry love,” Rin said smiling.  “Should it come to it, just like the way we practiced.”  Itami nodded her head and Rin sent her back to the crowd of people to talk to them.  Rin only kept sloppy notes as her attention was mainly focused on the four.  She could see that there were three men and a woman creeping up on them from multiple points.  Rin cursed herself in letting them get so far out into the square in the middle of this crowd.

“Hammer.  How soon can you join Silver?” She asked in a whisper while guiding Itami over to the side of the plaza.

“I could be there is a manner of seconds.  Faster if you don’t mind me landing on a couple of civilians.”  Rin groaned and thought the joke was in poor taste.  “I could be there faster if you moved more to the side or gave me a place to land.”

Rin spotted a fountain and maneuvered the Princess over to it.  It measured some three meters in diameter and had an elfin like creature pouring out the water from a vase.  “Make a speech,” Rin said as she helped Itami up to stand on the broad fountain.  The princess looked confused.  “We need some time Your Highness.”

She nodded as the people came up to fountain to hear what the princess had to say.  “I can see why you are all here” she said boldly with her Princess voice.  “You can be sure that I hear you all.  Some of you may want democracy,” she said as she looked over to the stand on which the organizers where standing on.  Someone in the crowd cried, aye.  “But most of you just want a decent price on food.  I do not know why food is so expensive, but I along with Lady Rin promise to get to the bottom of it and bring food to you all at a fair and decent price.”

“Why don’t we just take the land we need from the eladrin,” Rikkard called out from the stand on which he was on.  “They possess over ninety percent of the land while we have to scrabble about the rocks and precipices.”  Several consenting voices rose up to agree with him.

“We scrabble over the rocks and precipices because we have too.  We cannot go against our allies, the eladrin.  We do not want to go against them for we do not want to end in perpetual war like the Empire of Tulath is in.”

All the while they were talking Rin was watching the short man.  He was about a hundred seventy centimeters tall, had long black hair and a scar that split is right brow in two.  He was intent on staring at something behind the Princess which confused Rin.  Then he was a blur of motion as he drew his blade and a pistol in both hands.  Rin twisted her back and tried to bring the princess down.  Behind her, Rin could see a second gunman and she cursed herself for her hubris. 

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale Chapter 2.10

Rin/Minerva Fox

Itami nodded.  “Yes mother,” she said sarcastically.  “I swear, you are just like her.”  This kind of hurt Rin a bit.  She was barely nineteen.  She thought about her schooling and while she was intelligent she missed out on a lot of what it was like to be a kid.  She was crushed but hid it well.

“Not everyone will have your best interest at heart, dear.  We are just being careful.”  Rin smiled and cupped a hand over a beaming Sofia’s.

*

Sir Hanar did not like it one bit.  Rin wasn’t sure if it was because the knight disliked the Davic boy or not.  Captain Vaughn absolutely hated the idea.  “You want to send the Princess into a den of ravids… on such short notice?”  He did not like the demonstrators, hated them in fact.  He liked them to a pack of wolf-like ravids that have come to live on the edges of society.  But, there was little he could do to stop the Princess to see the world as it is.  It was on the great advantages of North Realm’s fosterage program.  Rin being a handmaiden to the Princess was, by her very nature a Knight of the Order of the Rose.  She had additional duties however, as prescribed by Akane, the Queen of the North Realm herself.  Rin was charged by Her Majesty to act as her guardian.  It was something that Itami railed against, but when she could not sneak out without Rin knowing about it, she gave in.

[Change: Akane also knows she is of the Order of the Thorn, so three people officially knows.]

There was another reason for Rin to agree to the dangerous, unknown meeting.  She could gage the participants with greater means than the grainy photos and unknown witnesses giving verification.  She had given the order for Vaughn to double the guard and have three of them undercover in the crowds.  Rin had an eidetic memory, so she memorized the faces of all of the uncover operatives and all known key players of the pro-democracy movement.  It was risky, but Rin was sure she could protect Her Highness.

*

It was coming late into the day when the sun threatened to sink below the horizon.  Crowds of people already were forming amid the guardsmen that stayed on the periphery of the square.  The air was cold and thick that night while the prospect of rain loomed.  All ready fog was forming off the Morning Sea and was inching its way to shore to creep up the escarpment.

“There a lot more people than I thought were going to be here,” Itami whispered to Rin as they walked up to the plaza.  They wore cloaks of sea gray, the same as many other people wore on this night growing dark.  They were the same, save for Itami’s had a simple brocade of knotwork on its edge.  Their hoods where up and at Rin’s insistence they did not were skirts, but long pants and good boots, just in case they had to flee. 

Rin held onto Itami’s hand tighter.  “It is never too late to change your mind.”  Rin smiled from under her hood. 

Itami just shook her head.  “No.  I said that I will attend and I will not start any sort of political career by showing that I am weak.  Anyway, they may have something that can benefit the nation,” she said softly.  “I am interested in what they have to say so, like what you say, I should always try what is put before me.”

Rin’s smile grew bigger as she became more and more attuned to the crowds that were coming.  She pulled her attention away from Itami and scanned the crowd that they were swimming though.  It was mainly filled with young students talking in small groups or standing before preaching demagogues.  Her eyes scanning in every demagogue and rabble-rouser she could see to keep in her memory.  She glanced over her shoulder and could see one of the undercover men following them a discreet business away.  They came upon a makeshift stage that looked to Rin like a gallows.  Strung above the stage where signs saying “Democracy Now!” and “Equality, Opportunity, Freedom.”  It did not make sense to Rin.  What were the people really rebelling against?  The people have freedom.  The opportunity and equality goes to those who deserve it.  Nothing is handed to these people as they had to work for it.  The nobility had to work for it in their actions and deeds.  The common people had to work for it in doing the best job that they can do.

“Ready,” Rin whispered to the girl.  She nodded as she walked up to step of the stage.  “Are you ready Sir Hanar?” she whispered into her mike at her collar.  She head the two clicks he gave in acknowledgement.  Rin followed Itami and could see the crowds of people.  There were at least a thousand people there.

“Hello Lady Rin,” she heard a musical voice say from under a hood of a cloak.  A length of blonde hair tumbled out of the hood and she knew that it was Sofia Hess.  When Rin got to the top, Sofia held her by the shoulders and kissed both cheeks under her own hood.  “I am so glad that you have come,” she smiled and turned to face the others on the stage.  “Or I should say WE are happy that Her Highness has come to talk to us.”  She could see the three others beside the Princess, Sofia and Rin.

“It does not look like a simple talk,” Rin said as she passed by Sofia to stand by Itami.  Her hand though trailed behind her and down the tall woman’s arm to her hand.  Sofia smiled causing Rin to blush as she shook off her embarrassment.  “It looks like an ambush to me.”

“Nonsense,” she could see Rikkard Davic say.  “This is a peaceful demonstration, isn’t it?” he yelled over the crowd.  The crowd laughed and a few cheered.  “After all, Her Highness wanted to see a peaceful demonstration for a while.  We have just obliged her.”

Itami looked around and swallowed hard.  She stepped forward and removed her hood.  Everyone could see her copper colored hair and firm demeanor.  Rin could not help but to smile.  It took guts to stand before a crowd of people and she did not flinch.  “Greetings all,” she began.  “I am Itami danAndahar, the Royal Scion of House danAndahar and heir apparent to the Throne of North Realm.”  The crowd was awed and some of them removed their hoods and others bowed their heads.  Others, Rin noticed, talked amongst themselves and she concentrated fully on them, quietly whispering to the guardsman her fears and concerns.  Some cheered but most of the people grumbled.  “I have come in good faith to observe your demonstration and talk to you, the people to learn of your concerns and troubles.  It is my hope that in better understanding the problems, we can come up with a solution to what is ailing you all.”  The leaders of this demonstration where taken aback as Rin followed Itami off the stage to go among the people. 

Rin's Tale, Chapter 1 Recap

Rin is up to Chapter 2!  I have read and reread what I have written so far, and for the most part I am happy with what I wrote.  There are a few changes that I want to make.

• I am changing the hair color of Rin to white and Itami to red.  White is a rare hair color and I think it will signify her own specialty that will come.
• I want to extend her nightmare more as evident in Part 1.  Make it more visceral.
• In Part 2 I want to explain her magical prosthetic hand in better detail.
• Part 3 I want to detail the airship in greater detail.  I want to do the same thing for the Maarke Aerodrome, the tarn aviaries and Maarke itself Part 4.  In Part 5 the details need to be increased in the home of Kemmon.  Beef up the details.
• In Part 6, I need to redo the confrontation between Rin the Rikkard.  Originally Rikkard was to be an anarchist, but I was thinking and talking to +Rynyn and I made him a pro-democracy demonstrator.  Now in order to do it, I am going to have to make pro-democracy movements more prevalent and central to the story.  There is the side that says that the people will rise to position of prominence.  That is why North Realm has all manner of knighthoods and awards that people gain gain.  Thinking of it, I am thinking the people of the Barony of the Maarke are pro-democracy because they are having the students there.  The Barony of Holdingford because they have a large discrepancy between the rich and poor.  I would say the only places that are staunchly opposed to it would be the Baronies of Stormtonne and Leavestonne and of course the capital of Danaan Tir.
• The bath scene.  Hmm.  In Parts 7 and 8, I am thinking that I will have to redo it a bit to make it more clear of both the women's intentions.  Rin is fascinated by Sofia but she still does her duty by preparing to take or kill her.  The fact that Sofia went ahead and kissed her at the time was that she needed to think.  Rin almost had her when she mention Oleg Veklos, something that wasn't North Realm but came from the Empire.  Sofia knew that there was something up with Rin and that just confirmed it for her.  She doesn't know what yet, but she does have her suspicions.  
• I was speaking with +Rynyn and we came to conclusion that she is still a virgin.  Women haven't really interested her until Sofia and men, well her infatuation her older (step) brother has dampened her mood to having a relationship.  That is really screwed in the head, isn't it?

Well, that is Chapter 1.  In Chapter 2 it deals with the pro-democracy movement.  She is going to meet the thieves Dade and Katella.

If you have any questions, comments or thoughts, do let me know.  I enjoy hearing from people!

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 9

Chapter 2

That night Rin’s dreams were troubled.  It wasn’t dreams of Redcap goblins, but of tall, statuesque blondes that haunted her dreams.  She woke breathing fast and sweating a little bit.  “Get yourself together girl,” she muttered to herself as she cupped her head with a hand.  She rolled out of bed and shook the cobwebs of the night from her head and stumbled over the bathroom.  She stared at herself in the mirror and yawned deeply.  It was going to be a long day.

Looking refreshed as she tugged up her glove on her prosthetic hand, she went to the kitchens to fetch herself and Itami’s breakfast.  Normally, it would have been brought up to Itami’s room by a servant but Rin walked down to take it from him.  She threw on some more fruit a loaf of bread and some additional ham made from a cudder.  There were no animal native to Earth or any number of worlds that the humans have colonized before crash landing on Eave save for a close approximation of a chicken that was made in the early days of the crash from scavenged genetic technology.  Dogs, cats and even ferrets were kept as pets and they survived and thrived despite the giant proportions of the native fauna.  Cudders were a close approximation of an Earth pig.  At least that is what the first forced colonists said of the giant six-legged creatures that stood as tall as a man.

Rin passed through the outer chamber’s to Itami’s room where Sir Hanar stayed.  He was taking a bath and Rin left him the extra food that she brought up with her after calling out to him that she brought him breakfast.  She sighed as she stood outside Itami’s door.  She steeled her nerve and knocked on the door, before going in.

“Put the breakfast on the table,” Itami called out from behind a privacy screen.  Rin put the tray down and sat down to eat.  She picked at the ham and the bread with some butter made of the aurach’s milk and sweetened with the honey made from the large native bees that lived on Eave.  “Oh,” Itami said when she came around the screen.

Rin stood up and then knelt down.  “Your highness.  I apologize for my behavior yesterday.  You of can of course defend yourself and the policies of North Realm.  Forgive me.”

Itami just stood there for a moment before speaking.  “Oh Rin.  Get up.  It is I who should apologize.  I know you were only looking out for me.”  She reached out with her hands to pick Rin up off the ground.  She hugged Rin.  Itami broke the hug.  “But seriously now, I know you are very smart, so take it easy on those of us who aren’t.”

“Of course Itami,” Rin responded with a smile.  “Again I am sorry.”

The two young women sat down and ate there breakfast and made of idle chit-chat.  Rin asked her how was schooling like for the two weeks she was gone.  Itami asked her about Rin’s brother and his impending marriage to an eladrin.  Rin hid it well, but a part of her was crushed that Aylen was getting married.  It was a fantasy anyway and she smiled as she ate.

“So,” Itami said a little apprehensively.  “I have been meaning to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Rin said as she bit down on the last of her bread.

Itami looked a bit uncomfortable but she took a deep breath and exhaled.  “Well, I have been asked by Rikkard to attend a pro-democracy meeting…”

Rin’s first and immediate answer as to say know, but she thought about it.  “Well, I am not too sure.  I am going to need more information on it.  We are also going to have to get Sir Hanar’s take on it and let Captain Vaughn know that you are going, IF we decide to go.”  Sir Hanar wasn’t going to like it and Captain Vaughn of the Maarke’s police force attachment that was assigned to guard Itami would absolutely hate the idea.  However, unless there was a direct threat on the Princess’s life, the decision belonged to Rin.  “We will let the good Captain know where it is so the place can be vetted.  I assume Rikkard at the very least have also been cleared, otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten so close to you already.”

Itami nodded.  “Yes mother,” she said sarcastically.  “I swear, you are just like her.”

“Not everyone will have your best interest at heart, dear.  We are just being careful.”  Rin smiled and cupped a hand over Itami's.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 8

[I changed Rin’s hair to white and Itami’s hair to red.]

"It seems you know quite a lot about me, not surprising that considering who I am.  Curious though, not many people know about the airship crash."

“Well,” Sofia said as she slunk over closer to Rin looking over her shoulder.  “Don’t tell anybody, but I am somewhat noblephile,” she said.  “I make it a hobby to know things about the nobles.  I know that you are adopted because your brother, Lord Aylen’s birth was difficult that your mother could not have any more children.  She wanted to have more children and couldn’t.” 

Rin had heard that there people like that, that made it their business to now about the nobility.  That was not in the realm of impossibility.  “That was simple.  My mother always wanted more children.  How was the Barony of Maarke formed?”

“Paul Taere want to find a place to set up his observatory.  That was easy,” she said as she moved before Rin and stared her in the eye.  “Give me a harder one,” Sofia gave her a hungry grin.

Rin tried to suppress her gulp.  “Alright.  What was the name of the first airship developed here in the Northern Marches?”

“Angel, named for the Baron Emeric danHanno of Kassingtonne’s wife.  Another,” she said as she inched closer and Rin felt Sofia’s hands on her knees.  Her hands felt hot, hotter than the water itself.

“What was the name of the King who halted the expansion to the south at Harro’s Wall?” Rin whispered.

“Vancent, also known as the Cautious.”  Rin could feel Sofia’s hands moving unseen under the water slowly over the outside of her thighs.

Rin did nothing to stop her.  “The Order of the Crescent Sword.  Who was the first recipient?” she gulped slightly.

Sofia had to thing about this one for few seconds.  “Captain Chloe Benson who married into the Baron Davis danAven of Holdingford after the siege of siege of North Realm by the Empire.”  Her face was inches away from Rin.  “Last question,” she breathed.

Rin felt it hard to think, between the heat of the bath and the heat of Sofia so achingly close.  She had not felt like this for any person except for her adopted brother.  “Oleg Veklos had to leave the military.  Why?”

“Because his parents were killed and he had to assume the mantle of…” Sofia stopped her face from inching in for a kiss, “… Earl.”  They stared at one another for a moment.  Rin could tell that Sofia was tensing up in the water and she extended her blade she had hidden in prosthetic.

Then it happened fast.

Sofia kissed her long and hard. 

At first Rin was surprised, her mind actually shut down form all its buzzing as she was swept up by the moment.  Her hands came up and entwined themselves around Sofia’s body and held her, the knife’s blade forgotten and still extended in the back of her hand.  Rin could feel the muscles in Sofia’s form, hard and unyielding in some places, but soft and pliable in others.  The heat was incredible, not heat of the bath but between the two women.

“That was cheating,” Sofia whispered after the kiss was broken.  “Veklos is a Tulathian family, not Danaan.”

Rin smiled shyly.  The tall woman was quick on her feet and Rin wasn’t sure once again.  “Well.  You know of the nobility quite well,” she said as she put her hands back under the murky water, the knife blade slowly sliding back into her hand.  “Tulathian and Danaan.”

“I think we may have to get out of the bath,” Sofia said.  “I think it is getting to hot in here.  You are all red.”

“I am not the only one…”

Slowly, they let each other go and Sofia pulled away and stood.  Water poured from her statuesque form, her flesh red from the heat of the bath and each other, her blonde hair limp form the heat of the water.  “I hope that I shall see you again.”

“Oh.  I am sure we shall meet each other again,” she gave the tall woman a meaningful glance.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 7 reworked, with stats for Sofia Hess

[I have changed the conversation between Rin and Sofia.  She gives a lot of information she would not give out like that.  It needs to unfold.  Like I said, I am not a professional writer as of yet!]

[Here it is along with stats for Sofia.]

“Help yourself,” Rin said as she waved a hand over the tray of food.  Sofia stretched out of the water.  She wasn’t musclebound but very well put together.  “You are Spartan related aren’t you?” Rin asked.  The Spartans were a genetically created race of man that was created by United Terra, the precursor to the Empire of Tulath.  In the hundred or so years that the war in the stars raged on, there have been a couple of defection to the Earth Directorate of the Spartans.  When they crashed on Eave however, they no longer had access to the technology that made the Spartans.  There were very few Spartans that have a hundred percent blood, especially in the North and they were called Spartan Blooded.  Anybody who had the genes but not the size and strength of a Spartan were called Spartan Related.  Rin thought that Sofia was one.

“You have a good eye.”  Sofia looked over her right arm at Rin as she was getting a steamed bun.  “That is what my mother told me,” Sofia said as she sat down and ate the bite sized bun.

“Of what family?  Hess’s aren’t one of the Spartan Blooded families.”

“No they aren’t," Sofia said with an unpleasant voice.  "My mother was a whore who lived in Undershadow, south of The Wall."

"Oh," Rin said uncomfortably.  "I am sorry.  I did not mean to burden you with unfond memories."

"It is but a memory, long past now but still it stings from time to time."  Sofia took a deep breath and smiled softly at Rin.  "Like yourself Lady Rin.  To be taken in and adopted by House danTaven after you were rescued from the airship crash.  You are very fortunate indeed."

Rin smiled but inside her mind was working at breakneck speed.  "Thank you.  I was indeed fortunate.  The previous Baron was a indeed a kind man."  Both women smiled at one another and Rin knew that she was a much more dangerous opponent than the Davic boy.

Sofia Hess

Concept: Hidden Section 4 Agent

Trouble: Enamoured with the North

Aspects: Sexy Vamp; Stronger Than I Look

Careful +2

Clever +1

Flashy +3

Forceful +2

Quick +0

Sneaky +1

• Because I am a femme fatal, once per game session I can charm and enamour a person who finds me attactive to gain a piece of information.
• Because I am Spartan Related, I gain a +2 to forcibly defend against a physical attack.
• [One additional stunt to be determined]

Sofia is an Empire Section Command agent.  She works for Section 4 and has been a deep cover agent for the last five years.  The story that she gave Rin is a total lie.

by fae-photography/deviantART

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 7

Itami diid not look at all pleased.  “I did not need you coming to the rescue like that!” she said angrily.  She was busy collecting her books, stowing them in her leather knapsack.  “We go through and have heated discussions about it all the time, something that I could have deflected away with some words that I would have spoken if I were given the chance too!”

Rin knew that Itami was right, but at the same time she was wrong.  “I am sorry Your Highness,” she said with a bow as the young girl stormed off.  Rin looked up and saw Sir Hanar mouth the words “I thought you were right,” as he left to follow the girl out.  “I will talk to her.”  So much for the nice homecoming.

*

Rin sighed as she walked along the path away from the Colleges.  Itami was still not having any of her that evening, so she decided to go to a local bathhouse that lay off campus.  The White Willow was one such onsen.  It has the painting of an Earth willow tree on the front and was one of the first that was built here as was incredibly old.  The painting has been redone many times in the centuries that it has been in place.  The stones were old and worn to a smooth sheen that she walked along.  There were many other onsens that catered to partying students, but not this one.  It was quiet and that is what Rin craved.

The smiling proprietor was Master Wan and if you believe the stories his family has run The Willow ever since the laid the first paving stone.  “Hello Lady Rin.  It is so nice to see you again.”

“Hello Master Wan.  Sorry I came late and I am sure you want to close, but can I convince you to stay open for an hour or so?”

“Of course my lady,” he said with a bow.  “For you, anything.”  The tensions seemed to melt away off of Rin as she sighed contently.  “Stay as long as you desire.  I will see if Mistress Wan can get you a little something to eat as well.”

After bathing, Rin stepped into the murky hot springs.  The water was a pale white due to a higher concentration of calcium and occasionally bubbled from beneath the water’s surface.  It was an outdoor hot springs, one that had the cover of its black, stoned walls.  She sighed as she leaned back and laid there with the towel folded over her eyes.  She did not know how long she was laying there and she did not care.  The hot waters where warming and comfortable.

“Ahh, Mistress Wan,” Rin said when heard the door open.  “You can put the food here,” she mentions blindly as she motioned to a flat rock beside her.

“I am not Mistress Wan,” she heard an even voice say to her.  Rin lifted off her towel and she saw a well-muscled form that still had all the curves of a beautiful woman.  She had to swallow hard as the wavy blonde hair of Sofia began to slowly edge her way into the pool.  There wasn’t a scar or blemish on her and that was something that Rin felt an instant disliking for.  Even the Princess has her fair share of scars from her years of fosterage.  “Fancy meeting you here, Lady Rin,” she said.  Rin cleared her throat, keeping all but her head underwater.  Sofia still sat straight up, carefully bundling up her long blonde hair into a bun at the top of her hair.  Her breasts slowly submerging under the hot, white water when she was done. 

Rin had to swallow hard.

“Yes it is,” Rin said as Sofia leaned back and spread her arms out wide to rest them long beside her.  “I would almost say you following me.”

Sofia smiled.  “Please.  This is just the quietest one off the campus that is within walking distance.  Just like you I assume.  Having to get away from the hustle and bustle of having to watch over the princess.  One could not blame you for taking a relaxing bath.”

Rin took off the towel at the top of her head and raised an eyebrow.  “Yes,” she simply said, “the other bathhouses are filled with students who do not know how to relax properly.”  Sofia just nodded staring intently at Rin.  Rin was seriously thinking about getting up and leaving when the sliding door opened again.  Rin jumped.  It was slight but she did and was sure that Sofia picked up on it.  She didn’t say anything but turned to Mistress Wan entering the small bath.

“Saved by the Mistress of the House,” Rin muttered under her breath.  She smiled up at the plump woman who brought her a tray filled with small dishes and a small hand blown bottle filled with a blue liquid is a bowl of ice.

“Something cold for the hot bath,” Mistress Wan smiled.  She has brought a bottle of winter wine.  A drink that was alcoholic as long as it was served ice cold.  It was an eladrin drink and was a most welcome surprise.  She poured two glasses as Rin noticed that Sofia has moved over to sit next to her.  Mistress Wan smiled and excused herself from the bath.  Sofia took her glass and marveled at the blue liquor.

“So is it true that if it warms up, the taste is spoiled?” she asked.

Rin cleared her throat.  “Yes.”

“How so?” Sofia asked as she sniffed her cup.

Rin lifted her right hand up and out of the pool and took the second small cup.  “Magic.”  She said the word as it were normal.  It was to her, but Sofia for a moment did not look convinced.  The moment passed but still nagged at Rin.

“To your health,” Sofia said.

“For now and forever,” Rin countered with the traditional Baronial toast.  The women both drank down there cups and it burned with a cold sensation all the way down to their cores. 

Sofia raised an eyebrow.  “My.  That is good,” she said as her breath came out in a chill fog that dissipated over the simmering waters. 

“Help yourself,” Rin said as she waved a hand over the tray of food.  Sofia stretched out of the water.  She wasn’t musclebound but very well put together.  “You are Spartan related aren’t you?” Rin asked.  Sofia looked over her right arm at Rin as she was getting a steamed bun.

“That is what my mother told me,” Sofia said as she sat down and ate the bite sized bun.

“Of what family?  Hess’s aren’t one of the Spartan Blooded families.”

“No they aren’t.  My mother was a whore,” she said angrily.  “Literally.  She was a prostitute who lived in Undershadow, south of The Wall.  So I do not know who my father is, or really who my mother was.  She would always berate me for being Spartan Related, not fully Spartan Blooded.  She felt that if she had a child who was Spartan Blooded that she would rise in position.  I was ten years old, already a couple of centimeters taller than she was when she tried to whore me out,” she said as she looked in the water.  “She said I looked of age thanks to my Spartan father.  That I should earn my keep.  I left that night and never looked back.”  She sighed and looked up at Rin.  “So that is my sad story,” she said as she turned to the winter wine and poured herself another glass.

Rin sat there and quietly stored her story in her mind.  “I am sorry,” she spoke.  “I did not mean to bring up unfond memories.”

Sofia looked up after she drank her second cup of wine.  She sighed again and let out her breath.  She calmed herself down and slowly her previous demeanor came back.  That sly and slinky vamp that made Rin uncomfortable.  But she wasn’t that uncomfortable now that she knew Sofia.  She would still need to watch her step however as Rin suspected that there was a lot more to Sophia than meets the eye.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 6

[Please keep in mind this is a rough draft.  Any questions?  Happy to answer.]

Rin walked down to the Colleges of Danaan, quite possibly the largest institute of higher learning on the face of Eave.  Some twenty thousand odd students come here to learn everything from agriculture to zoology and everything in between.  The Colleges cover most of the upper levels of the cinder cone and up and over the edges as they drop into the sea.  Rin remembered her year here in fosterage and it was a good experience.  She almost wish she could have spent more time here.  She could have spent more time here, but Aylen had recruited her to the Order.

Children as young as twelve could come to the Colleges if they were truly gifted.  In North Realm, children are taught much faster than children normally were taught.  By the time they were around fourteen to fifteen, they had the equivalent of a high school education because they did not coddle their children and teach them the useless information that only gets retaught later.  The children are taught to their strengths, so no student ever got bored with the curriculum.  If a student was physically gifted, then the teachers would guide the student to be the very best they could be.  If they wanted a higher education, there were many ways a student could learn.  The legal age for children in North Realm was sixteen where they would be treated as adults.

Overhead the tarn drill team flew among the many airships that advertised beers, foodstuffs and onsens, dragging streamers behind them if they didn’t have a dedicated airship.  Most of the lava rocks have been moved and much dirt has been moved here from the surrounding lowlands has been transported up here to allow for a pleasant environment to work and study.  The political science building is a large building, built into the side of the mountain.  As with many of the first buildings built here, it was one that was built upon a hot spring to keep it warm when the cold air from the sea would come in.

“Rin.  It is good to see you back,” an old man greeted her and came up to give her a hug.  Kemmon was a spry old man in his sixties.  He wore a robe to keep the chill and bay and had long hair and beard and was gray streaked with black.

“It is good to see you Uncle Kem,” Rin said as she hugged him back.  That got a big smile out of him.  Kemmon’s one true love died years ago giving birth almost forty years ago.  He never remarried and the Barony would be passed to his sister Crema when he dies.  So he through everything to teaching and loved it when his students would call him uncle.

“I take it you are here to see Itami.  She is still inside talking to Rikkard and Sofia.  Do not worry, Hanar Chan is with her.”

“I do not worry about her,” she smiled and lied.  Rin always worried about her charge.  She hugged her uncle again and went to the end of the hall.  Several students were still leaving and you can see Sir Hanar Chan standing there about five meters away from Itami.

“Greetings,” the tall man said.  Well, taller than her at her hundred and sixty four centimeters anyway.  He stood at least twenty centimeters taller than her.  He was part of the Order of the Rose, an order of knighthood that protected the royal family of North Realm.  He was armed with a sword and pistol and wore his chainmail underneath his clothing.  His shield with the Royal Seal emblazoned up it, was strapped to his back.  His armor and shield were enchanted much like her own armor was and provided him with movement and protection.  Hanar was a master swordsman and a fair shot with his pistol but he was really a master when he used both at once with his shield.  Sword in one hand and pistol and shield on the other, made him a lethal combination.

Rin smiled up at him, watching the young Princess.  “They are speaking of different forms of governments,” the knight said with a scowl and narrow eyes.  “What the Baron said that back in the Age of Stars, there was a form of democracy that guided the people Earth Directorate.  I do not know if I like it or not.  They are arguing with Her Highness about how she should institute it when she takes over the Realm.”

“She is a smart girl, not easily swayed,” Rin said of Itami.  Hanar just looked over at her, not convinced and cleared his throat.  The conversation stopped and Itami turned around to hush Sir Hanar.  Her eyes widened when she saw Rin and she leapt out of her seat and rushed over to Rin.  “Rin!  I have counted the days.  How is your brother, the Baron?” she asked of Aylen.  The wedding was all anyone could talk about these days.

“He is well and sends his regards.  He awaits his turn in taking you on in fosterage,” she said.  “You will learn of the eladrin and walk in the woods to view its beauty.”

“I cannot wait!” she said as she wiped a smaller braid that hung on her left side back from her face.  She was a beautiful girl, pale of complexion and hair.  Her hair was snow white and long, having to keep it in long waterfall braid that hung down over her right shoulder.  Rin’s eyes flicked to Itami’s two companions.  She has seen them before.  Rikkard always having heated debates with the political law professors.  Some thought it a challenge and the teachers liked the discourse.  Others hated the opinionated young man.  Sofia however she did not know.  The blonde haired girl was a little too quiet to be hanging around the opinionated young man.

“Oh.  Rin, may I introduce my two classmates.  Rikkard Davic and Sofia Hess.  Rikkard, Sofia, this is the Lady Rin danTaven.”  Rikkard almost sneered but Sofia curtsied just a little bit.  Rin just plastered on her smile that she usually saved for the boring people she usually had to deal with.

“It is a pleasure to meet you both,” Rin said pleasantly.  “I know you Mr. Davic.  Your discourses in the political arena are well known.  I often hear Her Highness talk about them when we are at home.”

“Someone has to speak the truth,” he said puffing himself up. 

“Truth?” Rin asked.  “What truths would those be?”

“The truth that all people, all humans should be equal.  Have a voice in how we are to be ruled and if needs be, we have the right to enact change and throw down the corrupt old guard!”  Hanar started to move.  What Rikkard said was dangerously close to treason, but Rin stopped him by stepping forward to place herself before him and Itami.  Rikkard knew he had spoken too much but his pride was too great to cower before the tall knight.

“All people are not created equal,” Rin started.  “The Spartan Blooded people are stronger, faster in both body as well as mind.  His Excellency Kemmon danTaere is not noted for his soldiering skills, but his mind is ever sharp.  There is not a person alive I suspect, who knows more than he about governance.  You are in his class, so I suspect you know already.  People will rise to the top of their field, be it in the military, the sciences, magic or governance, especially governance.  We, the nobles, do you know why we do our fosterage?  So we do not lose touch with the people.  So we do remember the hardships as well as the good times.  Her Highness mucked the kaddam stables in the Barony of Leavestonne.  She worked in the stores of the Barony of Holdingford.  Stood watch on Harro’s Wall in the Barony of Crosstaal.  I know this because I did the same thing when I was her age.  She knows more about the common people than you… ever… will.”  Rin said as she took a step toward Rikkard and he fell back.  She wanted to shame him and Rin thought she did.  “So instead of complaining for change, you should get to know the people you think wants such change and see if they want to change.”

Rikkard was used to shouting down his opponents but Rin never gave him the chance.  He stood there quietly and turned all matter of shades of red.  He started to push his way past Rin but was stopped by Sir Hanar who stepped in front of him.  “You owe Her Highness an apology,” he said low and threateningly.

“You have my apologies, Your Highness.  I was out of line,” he practically whispered.  It was quiet, except for the hissing of the radiator.  Hanar did not move and Rikkard had to edge his way around him and left for the door.

Sofia just stood there staring at Rin with a quiet, unknowing grin on her face.  “That was quite a show Lady Rin,” she finally said.  “You’re dangerous,” she smiled.

“I have only spent a year here, so I am sure he knew much more than I,” Rin said sarcastically.  “I take it you do not need a lesson, do you Lady Hess?”

“It all depends,” Sofia continued to smile.  “Do you give private lessons?”  It took a second for Rin to figure out what she meant while she could hear Itami stifle a little giggle.  Before she could answer, Sofia continued.  “Please, do not think that Rikkard speaks for everyone.  Like all men, he is passionate, but like all men, he is passionate about one thing and does not see the larger picture.”

“And you do?” Rin asked of her as she was picking up her books.  Sofia just smiled as she was left.  Sir Hanar giving her a wide berth.  “I think you are the one who is dangerous,” Rin said softly at the door.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 5

The tarn dived straight for the jagged rocks below and Rin screamed with pure delight.  This was not flying aboard an airship.  She could not feel the air upon her face or the powerful wings of a beating tarn between her legs.  Smoke opened her wings and caught a wind that lifted them upwards to the sky.  Higher and higher they went, until they were soaring higher than the vast aerodrome’s control tower.

“So, are you done showing off?” Joshan asked and Rin heard in the small radio in her hat.  He was not angry at her to say the very least.  She lifted off her saddle and looked for him.  “I am underneath you, twelve mark six,” he said and then glided his way until he was on his port side.  Their position was all based on the old Earth clocks.  It went from one to twelve staring straight ahead and one to twelve starting straight overhead.  Twelve mark six was straight ahead and below.

It was getting to be a clear day, the morning fog was already burning off the crisp autumn sun that hung heavy on the horizon above the Morning Sea.  They could see the Maarke to their starboard side.  Maarke was centered on three volcanos, but over the years the sea had striped the cones and left the throats of the volcanic magma.  The ocean has left many spires great and small, solid, igneous rocks.  It was a bustle of activity.  They could see the small ships in the protected harbor.  They could see buildings built vertically along the cliff face.  The Colleges of Danaan are located off the largest extinct volcano in the center, surrounding the great observatory and Baronial home.  The aerodrome was atop the northern peak.  They could see the road that snaked down through the mountains between the aerodrome and the main city.  The Maarke is not known for its fertile land and over ninety-percent of the food has to be shipped in from the outside. 

Besides the Colleges, the other thing that the Maarke was known for is its hot springs.  Called onsens, after the Japanese word for the hot spring.  The geothermal activity for the Barony was quite impressive and these resorts were known far and wide.  Stormtonne had only a handful compared to The Maarke.

They flew toward the Baronial home atop the center peak.  The third peak was a large military base that was built when the Empire of Tulath nearly took all of North Realm nearly two hundred years ago.  They could see tarns flying all over the city amid the small airships used for advertising as well as those used for police work.  The students of the Colleges are known for their prankish behavior.  Rin wished she could spend more time atop smoke but Joshan had pointed down to the rookery here.

“That was fantastic!” she said when they were on the ground.  She was unbuckling herself from the saddle and got down from the saddle.  Rin was still shaking with delight and a bit from the cold as Joshan smiled.

“I thought you would like it.  You have left before you could get certified last time.  I would have you join the Maarke guardsmen any time you wish,” he said.  “M’lady,” he quickly added with a grin.

He accompanied Rin though the small Baronial rookery to the observatory and to the other side of the extinct volcanic peak where the Baronial home was.  She looked up at the observatory and it was quite small.  The dish was only some fifty centimeters in diameter but was made with care in the years after they had crash landed on this planet.  Paul Taere, the predecessor of the danTaere family, never did find out where they were.  Neither has his descendants.  The old computer had stopped working centuries ago and the whole observatory was designated a historic monument.

They entered the Baronial home that lie above the main campus of the Colleges of Danaan.  It was a small, ramshackle affair that housed the Baron of Maarke and family.  The strength of the Barony came from its people and Kemmon danTaere left the day to day ruling to a Senate composed of all factions of The Maarke.  It was not that the Baron left them, as his word carried considerable weight and he reserved the right to veto any new law.  He always proposed caution and the police and the military still answered to him in any emergency.  Baron Kemmon’s first love was teaching and that is what he did.

They were met by Oswal Langenfel, the seneschal of House danTaere.  An older man who should be retired, he was accompanied by a younger man.  They were both dressed in gray, the color of the ocean as it beats upon the rocks.  “Well, I will have to get back to my guardsman.  I will leave Smoke at the rookery for you to use while you are here,” Joshan said.  Rin thanked him as he bowed and left.

“Hello Oswal,” she said as both of them bowed to her.  Oswal’s beard was kept short and trim, but was as gray as his tunic.  He didn’t have hair and kept his bald pate underneath a twill hat.

“Good morning to you as well, Lady danTaven,” he said dryly even though the humidity was quite high.  “May I introduce Amer Tran.  He is studying to take over for me when I retire.”  Oswal has been threatening to retire for many a years.  Rin curtsied slightly to the new seneschal in training.  He was in his late twenties and his eyes peered at her not miss anything.  Rin could tell he was trained by the way he stood and the way he carried himself.  He was ex-military, that much she could tell.  However he was a new, having just got the job in the two weeks she was gone.

“Good morning m’lady,” Amer said in a crisp baritone as he took her bag, unconcerned with the weight.  “Did you have a pleasant flight?”

“It was calm and uneventful,” she replied to Mr. Tran.  “Will I be staying in the same room as before?”

“Yes, the connecting room next to Her Highness.  I bet you did not have breakfast yet.  Shall I send it up to for you?”

She shook her head.  “No, I am going to the Colleges to meet the Princess.  She has political theory right now, right?”  Langenfel just nodded his head as Rin turned and went.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 4

Maarke was built on the Morning Sea.  Once, a long time ago, great volcanos grew up on these shores for hundreds of miles in either direction, spewing forth lava that created much of the Barony.  It is a rocky Barony, interspersed with green that the forests and the humans have tried to reclaim.  Rin stepped onto the outer deck that ringed the great aerodrome and could see the sea in all of its rage and beauty.  It was breathtaking.  Even though she was several hundred feet below them, Rin could feel the spray of the sea’s mighty waves. 

She shivered in delight and looked up after she heard a shriek.  She looked up and could see a great, gray tarn being ridden by a Maarke guardsman.  Tarns, or dows as the eladrin called them, are named after a species of bird so great that they could be ridden, so written by an ancient Earth writer.  She looked down and could see the great rookery and headed to the elevator down.

She stepped off the elevator to two guardsman snapping to attention.  Rin wished that they wouldn’t do that, but had stopped a long time ago and just smiled at them.  The rookery was a great cave carved into the side of the mountain.  Nests where built on the outside, facing the sea, as the tarns were great sea birds that survived as they dived for the fishes that were quite abundant and quite large.  Everything on Eave was quite large.  Even the insects were at least twice as large as or larger than what was commonly on Earth.  All of that was ancient history.  Every human was an intruder here and even though Earth was taught in school, it was all history about where they came from, not where they were going.

“Rin!” she heard a familiar voice cry out.  She looked over and saw Joshan in his full riding harness.  It looked like a full-body climbing harness that a rider could wear on the four-winged tarns.  Joshan was in his uniform, a simple sea-gray jumpsuit that had the four wings, two great and two lesser, emblazoned on the back.  He bowed slightly, a hand over his heart, then straightened up to hug the young woman. 

“Do not tell me it is a fortnight already?” he said as he led her down the passageway.  “How goes the plans for the wedding?”  Joshan was talking about her brother’s wedding.  Aylen danTaven, the Baron Elham’s only child.  He was some fourteen years older and he seemed to be too busy for her.  He was eighteen after all and was busy learning the ways of an eladrin ranger.  When he came home however, he always spent time with Rin, but his time was not his own and he was soon off again, training or fighting or learning.  She always had a crush on Aylen, for he was tall, smart and brave.  It must have paid off however, for he was engaged to an eladrin, much to Rin’s dismay.  Beyissa Faleath, also known as Skysilver to the humans.  It was the first time in the nine-hundred years since humans have crash landed on Eave that such a union was recognized and blessed.  The Faleath family were cousins to the royal family of Hanali, an old and powerful family.  Infact it was a Sorica Faleath who taught the second human magic.  The danTaven family was the first in magic and was strong.  Even though Rin was adopted to the family, she proved to have the magical talent and had knowledge of how to cast.

Rin smiled.  “It goes well.  My brother Aylen is trying to be calm, but I can tell he is nervous about it all.  He is over thirty and is acting like it is his first date,” she laughed as Joshan opened a door that lead to the outside.  The chill morning air was bracing and she felt the spray once more.  “Do you mean yes?” she asked excitedly. 

He smiled.  “I think you are ready for your first solo flight.  We will just have to fit you with a harness.  I just thought you wanted to meet your tarn.”  For the year that she was fostered here to learn at The Colleges of Danaan, she rode the great tarns in tandem with an experience rider like Joshan.  He took Rin to the far nest where she was greeted by a dirty-white tarn that regarded her with a turn of its head.  Tarns have a straight beak like an Earth kingfisher and a small gular, the throat sack common to Earth birds such as the pelican.  Their feet had a unique adaptation.  They had five talons, four that face forward with one pointed backwards.  The four that pointed forward had the middle two open wide and was webbed for excellent maneuverability when swimming, as tarns were known to dive in the water for a dozen or more meters to go after the great fish that live off the coast.  Closed it acted as the power claws for perching on the great spires and rocky crags that were common along the coast of Maarke. 

Rin smiled.  It was Smoke, the tarn on which she learned how to fly.  “Hello, old bird,” she said as she nuzzled the neck.

“I will get her ready to fly.  You go into the barracks and get into your harness.”

Rin eagerly did just that.  She went into the barracks and took off her skirts and attached the harness around her body and legs.  She then took a fleece lined aviator hat and goggles and tied a scarf around her neck.  It got rather cold up to where the tarns flew.  When she got out, Joshan was tightening the last of the buckles and straps.  Rin gathered around the great tarn, checking the buckles and straps with great care.  It is not that she did not trust Joshan, she was doing what he had taught her.  She then went over to a large basket outside Smoke’s reach and heaved out a large fish that weighed some fifteen kilograms.  It was common practice to feed your tarn before flying to keep them from diving in the water in search of food.  Smoke gobbled the fish eagerly and Rin patted her hand along the sides of her neck.

“Ready?” Joshan asked as he went to the next cage over where his tarn was saddled.  Rin said yes as she jumped into the saddle and buckled the two straps in.  Smoke stretched her wings, two greater and two lesser and fell of the side of the cliff.