From alt.pub.dragons-inn Wed Mar 16 17:11:07 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7132 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!pacbell.com!well!nigel.msen.com!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!cyber2.cyberstore.ca!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!alberta!gsb020.cs.ualberta.ca!aaron From: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Aaron V. Humphrey) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [Tolvaj] Gebrion: A Parting with a Lady Date: 15 Mar 1994 21:26:47 GMT Organization: The Anna Amabiaca Fan Club Lines: 122 Message-ID: <2m596n$qhh@scapa.cs.ualberta.ca> Reply-To: mar@physics.su.oz.au NNTP-Posting-Host: gsb020.cs.ualberta.ca Originator: aaron@gsb020.cs.ualberta.ca [ADMIN: Alfvaen is posting this for me from his site, since mine is currently refusing to release outgoing posts. Note replies have been redirected to me. - DM.] Gebrion woke early the next morning refreshed and feeling much better. His wound was still tender and in need of healing, but would not impede his riding too much. He rose immediately, intending to get underway as soon as possible, for Tolvaj must still have some six or eight hours' lead on him. He dressed quickly and crept out of his room, only to find Lady Roanna waiting for him and her cook preparing a hearty breakfast. "Sit," she beckoned him. "'Tis no use riding on an empty stomach. You would surely fall from the saddle before noon." Gebrion did not resist the smile as he sat and began eating. "Marta has also packed meat, bread, and cheese for you," Roanna continued, "so you need not stop for lunch. And a skin of water. She wonders that you left on such a journey with so few provisions." "I was in haste," Gebrion shrugged, "The man I am chasing made off with a good deal of my silver. As much as I owned." "And you caught such a good sight of his horse, to describe it easily?" "I should know my own horse," he said in a low tone, "She has carried me many a mile." "He stole your horse too?" Roanna's eyes widened. "Aye, and the lute you saw him carrying belongs to another man as well." She considered this carefully as Gebrion ate. "I can understand that you pursue this man. What hope do you give to catching him?" "Quite high," he answered between mouthfuls. "I know he is headed south to Satosi. Since there is but one road from here to there, and he must stop to rest along the way, some simple questions at any inns I pass should keep the trail hot for me. And since he may not be aware of pursuit, it shall be no hard matter to gain ground. I expect to take him by tomorrow, or perhaps the day after." "You seem to know a good deal about your quarry," said Roanna, catching the reference to Tolvaj's ultimate destination. "We lodged together the night before last, and shared dinner conversation." Gebrion finished his meal and banged a fist gently on the table. "Honest thievery I can bear, if it is to feed a starving mouth at the expense of one fat on wealth, or to allow justice to be done to those wronged, but this man had silver enough to line his own pockets! It is not only I that he has wronged, either. He knocked down the stable boy when he stole my horse." "I begin to see something in your words." Roanna spoke slowly and with measured thought. "Let me ask you, whose horse is this you now ride?" Gebrion smiled broadly. "Milady, you possess a very sharp wit. Am I to be turned from your manor as a horse thief?" "You have not admitted to theft," she smiled pleasantly back at him, "and I have no reason to suspect you of any. I can think of several ways in which a desperate man with no money can quickly acquire a good steed. Begging, borrowing, purchasing on promise of payment, to name but a few." He looked her carefully in the eyes. "Yes... though not all so easy as one another." "But indeed there are always possibilities, are there not?" "Possibilities," Gebrion clamped his lips on the word. "I should suppose there are." She returned his thoughtful gaze. "Might I suggest you watch your own tail for any signs of pursuit? What seems good and right to one may not strike another in the same light." A sudden flash of thought made itself plain on his face. "And now you must take your leave," she continued, "Am I right? For you have ground to gain." Gebrion rose from the table. "Aye, Lady Roanna. I thank you for your hospitality, and your ministrations." "And I thank you for my life." She rose also and led him out the door to the stable, where her groom had his horse ready. She offered her hand, which he took and kissed in farewell. "Will you be returning this way when you have caught your thief?" she asked. "I had thought not," he answered, pausing to mount into the saddle, "but now it seems that I might well. May the gods bless you, your son, and your manor." "And may they bless you and your journey. I should like to hear word when you pass by this way again." "When I do, you shall hear. Farewell." Roanna noted his use of the word "when". "Fare thee well." Gebrion rode out of the manor to the road, where he turned south for the second time in two days. - David Mar. mar@physics.su.oz.au Astrophysics Department, University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia. -- --Alfvaen(Editor of Communique) Current Album--The Empire Strikes Back Soundtrack Current Read--Charles de Lint:Spiritwalk "curious george swung down the gorge/the ants took him apart" --billbill