From: vaughat8882@cobra.uni.edu
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [SQ]Maleiu- Thoughts for the day...
Message-ID: <1993Sep29.225310.17361@cobra.uni.edu>
Date: 29 Sep 93 22:53:09 -0500


Maleiu leaned over the rail of the Crimson Moon.  He was glad that 
Radan would be the only one venturing into the sea in search of Shade.  
He wasn't sure he trusted the current masters of the ship.

Remi seemed like an honourable sort, for the most part.  Certainly his 
affection for Bronwen was swaying him in that direction, even if it 
wasn't doing much for relations between him and Angus.  Maleiu sighed.  
Bronwen never seemed content with one man at a time--she was always on 
the lookout for another whose virtues counterbalanced that of the 
first.  But he had sworn to himself long ago not to meddle in her 
affairs.  She had enough trouble as it was.

But the Rameshander, Vanshar bes-Vanshar, was a problem.  He lost no 
opportunity to poison Remi's mind against them all, who had been 
responsible for the destruction of the Cote d'Azur.  He glossed over 
the fact that if it hadn't been for his urging Remi to attack them in 
the first place, they would have been safe.  He also glossed over the 
fact that the destruction was wrought by Ornigan and Hazy Drifter, 
neither of which was with the party at the moment.

Maleiu thought back to the night in the Spitting Cobra, which seemed 
so long ago... 

***

Maleiu, Bronwen, Remi, Vanshar and the Kelsie were in the somewhat 
squalid rooms above the bar at the Spitting Cobra.  They could do 
nothing except sit and wait until it was time to rendezvous with Radan 
at the docks.  "We should get some sleep," Maleiu said.  "Tomorrow 
could be a busy day."

Vanshar wrinkled his nose.  "Pah!  This place smells like troll piss." 

"All too accurate, in the circumstances," noted the Kelsie.

Bronwen dug out some aromatic herbs from her supplies, and the odour 
of the room was lessened somewhat.  The floor of the room was hard, 
and only barely softened by the roughly-woven blankets, some of them 
encrusted with subtances nobody wanted to identify in the dim light.
It wouldn't be necessary to keep a watch, with Trawm downstairs, and 
he had promised to wake them in time to be on the docks by dawn.  But 
Maleiu decided he would feel more comfortable if he stayed awake to 
keep an eye of the Rameshander who had not been part of the plan at 
all.

The Kelsie tried to engage him in conversation, but he responded only 
curtly, not feeling up to the fairy's levity.  Eventually she gave up 
and went off to pout.

Maleiu's thoughts, as always, went to his seemingly impossible quest.  
The time they had spent at the Cartographer's Guild had brought to his 
attention several entire continents he had yet to negotiate.  It had 
taken nearly a decade just to cover the distance he had--the Dark 
Continent, the Antilles, and a small part of this continent, from 
Satosi to Generica.  Again he wondered if it was worth it.  He had a
life with Mistletoe ahead of him--would he even want to return to the 
Savanah?  And did he want to fulfill that disquieting prophecy that 
the one who crossed all the shores of the world would be the one to 
bring back the last glory of the Aradneh?

But the quest had defined his life for so long, he was reluctant to 
abandon it.  He could not regard any place as other than a temporary 
waypost that he may never return to, except his homeland.  He knew 
that Mistletoe felt the same, in many ways, except that she didn't 
care if she ever returned to Ellamir, the city of her birth.

Everyone else seemed to be asleep.  Remi and Bronwen lay next to each 
other, not quite touching.  Vanshar had curled himself up in one 
corner, taking more than his share of blanket.  The Kelsie seemed to 
be dormant, although he didn't know if she truly slept.

With a sigh, Maleiu lay down on the hard floor, which was almost a 
relief after the decadence of the soft beds at the Dragon's Inn.  
Although Mistletoe had shown him certain advantages of those...  With 
a smile of pleasant memories, he fell asleep.
 
--
--Alfvaen(Editor of Communique)
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Poisoning pigeons on the grass alas alas