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Description

And it starts again! Deadline for submitting "Guess Who" if you want to join in the fun at OC-training is March 16th!

My enrollee for Session 18 of OC-training is Rori. I can't wait to see all the guesses, but I won't comment on them (other than some form of "good guess" ) or give hints. Story snippets now! Guest starring Siglyn and a reference to Captain Pyrs.

*******

Snorer gave a soft chuckle and led Yokov into a room that contained what looked like a nicely furnished prison cell. There was a woman asleep in the large bed in the middle of the cell. Snorer cleared his throat, “Lady Healer? We are in need of your assistance, Lady Healer.” Snorer touched the locked cell door with the orb. The lock clicked, and Snorer opened the door; its hinges creaking loudly as if it hadn’t been opened in a very long time.

The woman sat up quickly, her eyes wide in surprise, then focused on Snorer, “You’re not Lord Jeesel.”

“No. Jeesel is dead. Now, will you help this man who is responsible for your freedom?” Snorer motioned toward Yokov with a bow. “He needs healing after his battle with the late but unlamented Lord Jeesel.”

The woman stared at Yokov for such a long time that Yokov was afraid she was going to faint. She finally got out of the bed wearing nothing but a very light night shift and stood just inside the cell, despite the open door. Yokov could tell she was thin, obviously not fed well for a healer, but not unattractive. Her voice was quiet and sweet, “Is this true? Is Lord Jeesel no more?” She looked at Yokov curiously, her eyes falling upon his injuries and frowning slightly.

“It is true. He fell victim to his own paranoia trying to keep me from speaking with him.” Yokov couldn’t stop looking at the delicate creature in front of him. He was used to healers being far more robust and, well, forceful. If he had been in front of the Lord Healer of the High King, he would have probably been chided for his carelessness. This dark eyed, freckled, curly brown haired near waif of a healer looked like she’d drift away in a strong wind.

The woman smiled. “Then I owe you a great deal, sir. My name is Rori.”

“Agent Yokov Dell, at your service, Lady Healer Rori.” He bowed carefully so as not to dislodge the spike in his arm. “I would be very grateful for your help.”

The healing took less time than Yokov expected, Rori may have looked thin and fragile but there was a strength to her that surprised him. He had thought he was going to have to be the one to pull the wood out of his arm, but she pulled it out quickly and with less effort than he anticipated. After the pain subsided and she had dealt with the bleeding Yokov found his voice again. “How long have you been here, Lady Healer?”

“Oh, a great deal of time.” She sighed. “At first I was told that I needed to stay hidden because if the High King discovered me, I would be taken away.”

“That is true, when Gaetan was king he did take healers away from their homes.”

She nodded, working on the wound on his forehead as they spoke, “But it just kept getting worse. All I wanted to do was to help people, so I would sneak out and find people who needed healing. Lord Jeesel caught me and decided it was in my own best interest to be locked up and he would make sure that the injured would be brought to me.”

“Ah, but something tells me you only saw the people he wanted you to heal. His own men, correct?”

Rori frowned and her full lips pouted cutely when she did, “Yes. Not a single woman either. I know people give birth here, I heard the children through my window.” She looked around at the cell and sighed, “When I had a window. But Lord Jeesel insisted it wasn’t safe. He got worse over time as well, soon I was only seeing a handful of the same people and himself. He kept saying he trusted fewer and fewer people to know of my existence.”

“Well, you are free to go now, after you help with our friends.”

“Friends? Where are they?” She looked behind him then started healing his hand, “You’re the only one here at the moment.”

“What?” Yokov turned and realized that Snorer had left while he was being healed. “Why that sneaky . . .”

Healer Rori giggled, “It’s all right. I don’t bite.” She finished his hand and looked up at him. “Take me to your friends.”

Yokov cleared his throat, suddenly aware that he was in the presence of a woman who was barely clothed. “Perhaps you should get something more appropriate to wear, they are outside.”

“Oh! Right.” Rori blushed and stepped back, as if she suddenly remembered how thin her shift was. “Give me a moment.” She hurried back behind the curtains surrounding her bed and Yokov could hear her rifling through fabric. She was certainly a pretty woman. Yokov idly wondered if she had been Jeesel’s lover in addition to his healer. If that was the case, she didn’t seem too upset about his death.

*******

“I thought we would never get out of there.” Yokov groaned, stretching so far back on his horse that his head nearly hit the horse’s rump.

“It took so long to convince them that we weren’t the right people to lead them.” Snorer shook his head in amusement.

Siglyn sighed and looked at her passenger, one small but determined healer, and asked her, “Are you sure about leaving? What if they need a healer?”

“The High King can send one to them. As far as I am concerned, I wish them well, but I don’t want to stay in a town where I was kept captive all my life.” Rori was perched on the back of the female centaur, obviously not familiar with riding horseback but learning. “I have nothing there to stay for.”

Yokov had tried to help Rori find her family, but it became clear that they had either died or moved away with no notice. Whatever their fate was, Rori wasn’t getting any answers in Sun Eye so she decided to accompany them back to Doumerlas, with the hope that she could find information about her family or at least find employment as a healer. Yokov was enjoying the young woman’s presence, even though she obviously had never camped in her life she was catching on quickly.

Reidalv made a disgruntled noise, “How much farther to Doumerlas then?”

Yokov smiled in anticipation. “We still have to get past Fellfar, but the journey should be far more pleasant from here on.”

“I wonder what His Majesty is going to make of all of this.” Snorer chuckled. “You left with a former Transformed with no memory and you come back with a former Transformed WITH a memory, a male and female centaur, and a healer.”

“Aye. Let us not forget an orb of The Gods and a lot of chaos in our wake.” That was the part Yokov was not looking forward to. He would not lie in his report; it was all in his notebooks and the second they got back he was going to get a scribe to help him put it into a legible format for the King. He wondered how long he was going to have to clean the stables after the King read everything in there. “That is going to be a fun discussion, no doubt. The Captain will be very pleased to oversee my punishment.”

“Punishment? Why? You freed a lot of people from horrible rulers, and you discovered the existence of centaurs! I would think the High King would be pleased.” Rori crossed her arms like she thought the High King would be unreasonable to be angry at Yokov for anything.

Yokov made an unconvinced grunt, “We shall see, Healer Rori. We shall see.”

Rori et.al. belong to me, dragondoodle aka girl-n-herhorse

Description

And it starts again! Deadline for submitting "Guess Who" if you want to join in the fun at OC-training is March 16th!

My enrollee for Session 18 of OC-training is Rori. I can't wait to see all the guesses, but I won't comment on them (other than some form of "good guess" ) or give hints. Story snippets now! Guest starring Siglyn and a reference to Captain Pyrs.

*******

Snorer gave a soft chuckle and led Yokov into a room that contained what looked like a nicely furnished prison cell. There was a woman asleep in the large bed in the middle of the cell. Snorer cleared his throat, “Lady Healer? We are in need of your assistance, Lady Healer.” Snorer touched the locked cell door with the orb. The lock clicked, and Snorer opened the door; its hinges creaking loudly as if it hadn’t been opened in a very long time.

The woman sat up quickly, her eyes wide in surprise, then focused on Snorer, “You’re not Lord Jeesel.”

“No. Jeesel is dead. Now, will you help this man who is responsible for your freedom?” Snorer motioned toward Yokov with a bow. “He needs healing after his battle with the late but unlamented Lord Jeesel.”

The woman stared at Yokov for such a long time that Yokov was afraid she was going to faint. She finally got out of the bed wearing nothing but a very light night shift and stood just inside the cell, despite the open door. Yokov could tell she was thin, obviously not fed well for a healer, but not unattractive. Her voice was quiet and sweet, “Is this true? Is Lord Jeesel no more?” She looked at Yokov curiously, her eyes falling upon his injuries and frowning slightly.

“It is true. He fell victim to his own paranoia trying to keep me from speaking with him.” Yokov couldn’t stop looking at the delicate creature in front of him. He was used to healers being far more robust and, well, forceful. If he had been in front of the Lord Healer of the High King, he would have probably been chided for his carelessness. This dark eyed, freckled, curly brown haired near waif of a healer looked like she’d drift away in a strong wind.

The woman smiled. “Then I owe you a great deal, sir. My name is Rori.”

“Agent Yokov Dell, at your service, Lady Healer Rori.” He bowed carefully so as not to dislodge the spike in his arm. “I would be very grateful for your help.”

The healing took less time than Yokov expected, Rori may have looked thin and fragile but there was a strength to her that surprised him. He had thought he was going to have to be the one to pull the wood out of his arm, but she pulled it out quickly and with less effort than he anticipated. After the pain subsided and she had dealt with the bleeding Yokov found his voice again. “How long have you been here, Lady Healer?”

“Oh, a great deal of time.” She sighed. “At first I was told that I needed to stay hidden because if the High King discovered me, I would be taken away.”

“That is true, when Gaetan was king he did take healers away from their homes.”

She nodded, working on the wound on his forehead as they spoke, “But it just kept getting worse. All I wanted to do was to help people, so I would sneak out and find people who needed healing. Lord Jeesel caught me and decided it was in my own best interest to be locked up and he would make sure that the injured would be brought to me.”

“Ah, but something tells me you only saw the people he wanted you to heal. His own men, correct?”

Rori frowned and her full lips pouted cutely when she did, “Yes. Not a single woman either. I know people give birth here, I heard the children through my window.” She looked around at the cell and sighed, “When I had a window. But Lord Jeesel insisted it wasn’t safe. He got worse over time as well, soon I was only seeing a handful of the same people and himself. He kept saying he trusted fewer and fewer people to know of my existence.”

“Well, you are free to go now, after you help with our friends.”

“Friends? Where are they?” She looked behind him then started healing his hand, “You’re the only one here at the moment.”

“What?” Yokov turned and realized that Snorer had left while he was being healed. “Why that sneaky . . .”

Healer Rori giggled, “It’s all right. I don’t bite.” She finished his hand and looked up at him. “Take me to your friends.”

Yokov cleared his throat, suddenly aware that he was in the presence of a woman who was barely clothed. “Perhaps you should get something more appropriate to wear, they are outside.”

“Oh! Right.” Rori blushed and stepped back, as if she suddenly remembered how thin her shift was. “Give me a moment.” She hurried back behind the curtains surrounding her bed and Yokov could hear her rifling through fabric. She was certainly a pretty woman. Yokov idly wondered if she had been Jeesel’s lover in addition to his healer. If that was the case, she didn’t seem too upset about his death.

*******

“I thought we would never get out of there.” Yokov groaned, stretching so far back on his horse that his head nearly hit the horse’s rump.

“It took so long to convince them that we weren’t the right people to lead them.” Snorer shook his head in amusement.

Siglyn sighed and looked at her passenger, one small but determined healer, and asked her, “Are you sure about leaving? What if they need a healer?”

“The High King can send one to them. As far as I am concerned, I wish them well, but I don’t want to stay in a town where I was kept captive all my life.” Rori was perched on the back of the female centaur, obviously not familiar with riding horseback but learning. “I have nothing there to stay for.”

Yokov had tried to help Rori find her family, but it became clear that they had either died or moved away with no notice. Whatever their fate was, Rori wasn’t getting any answers in Sun Eye so she decided to accompany them back to Doumerlas, with the hope that she could find information about her family or at least find employment as a healer. Yokov was enjoying the young woman’s presence, even though she obviously had never camped in her life she was catching on quickly.

Reidalv made a disgruntled noise, “How much farther to Doumerlas then?”

Yokov smiled in anticipation. “We still have to get past Fellfar, but the journey should be far more pleasant from here on.”

“I wonder what His Majesty is going to make of all of this.” Snorer chuckled. “You left with a former Transformed with no memory and you come back with a former Transformed WITH a memory, a male and female centaur, and a healer.”

“Aye. Let us not forget an orb of The Gods and a lot of chaos in our wake.” That was the part Yokov was not looking forward to. He would not lie in his report; it was all in his notebooks and the second they got back he was going to get a scribe to help him put it into a legible format for the King. He wondered how long he was going to have to clean the stables after the King read everything in there. “That is going to be a fun discussion, no doubt. The Captain will be very pleased to oversee my punishment.”

“Punishment? Why? You freed a lot of people from horrible rulers, and you discovered the existence of centaurs! I would think the High King would be pleased.” Rori crossed her arms like she thought the High King would be unreasonable to be angry at Yokov for anything.

Yokov made an unconvinced grunt, “We shall see, Healer Rori. We shall see.”

Rori et.al. belong to me, dragondoodle aka girl-n-herhorse