What Dream Is This?

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 30th November 2015

Characters: Barenziah, Zathris
Description: Barenziah has a dream. So does Zathris.
Location: Amber Hills Hold, Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 4 of Turn 8

Barenziah

Zathris

He was flying as soon as his boots hit the ground, the eagerness
building up inside of him, almost bursting forth so that all Zathris
could do was set himself in motion. When Benani awoke, all /between/
would break loose, but he didn't care. Foremost in his mind wasn't his
wife, but the fire-headed girl that had captured his heart. The woman
he had once loved was gone, replaced with a shell. Although he had
remained patient, the only thing he could think about was the woman that
he had let go. She haunted his dreams and every waking thought.
Finally, Zathris could stand it no longer. He had sent a message to his
brother and in the middle of the night, he'd grabbed only the barest of
necessities and Z'lred, dubious of the choice made, took him back to the
Weyr.

The trek to her quarters had taken longer than he would have liked,
mostly due to the fact he had to ask multiple times where she was. When
he finally found it, his fist rapped heavily against the door so there
would be no mistake that someone had come to call.

Chiffon bolted from her perch on Barenziah's shoulder, startled by the
sudden and unexpected interruption into their evening. Once they arrived
home in the evenings from the infirmary they never received visitors.
The only "friend" that Barenziah had in the Weyr was Z'lred, and more
often than not they met in the Dining Cavern.

Who would be outside her door at this hour? Still in her healer's tunic,
Barenziah walked over and swung open the wooden portal.

He didn't say a word, simply took a single step to close the gap between
them and lowered his mouth, seeking hers. His lips hungrily pressed
against hers, the sweet taste of her breath and he pulled her close,
unwilling to ruin a greeting with mere words.

Barenziah felt overwhelmed with emotions: surprise, shock, happiness,
and confusion were all warring for precedence inside her. When they
separated she looked up at him with wide eyes, "Zathris, what are you
doing here?" She didn't want to sound as if she were complaining about
it, but he had been the last person she expected to see on the other
side of her door.

"I'm here because I couldn't stand being separate from you any longer."
Zathris' voice was breathless, his eyes bright as he gazed upon the
lovely woman before him. One hand lifted to rest upon her cheek. "So I
came."

"But… but what about Benani?" Barenziah couldn't wrap her mind around
Zathris's presence, not when she could so vividly conjure up the exact
words he'd said to her on the day he'd told her she would have to leave
Amber Hills.

Immediately, Zathris' smile faded. He pulled the door closed behind him
as he guided Barenziah further into her quarters. "Benani is dead. Has
been for a long time. She's shut me out and refuses to let me back in.
It doesn't matter anyway, my heart's been stolen." When he lowered
his mouth to hers a second time, his kiss was a little less impatient.
"You took it. I need it back."

Despite how happy she felt, tears coursed down Barenziah's cheeks as she
returned Zathris's kiss, something she had thought she would never feel
again. "I can't believe you're here. If this is a dream I don't want to
wake up, ever. I have missed you so much."

"I've missed you. Every waking moment, I've had nothing but you on my
mind. So I've left. I'm here and I'm going to stay. With you."
Zathris kissed her again, gathering in her arms so that she was lifted
off her feet. "If that's all right."

Barenziah clung to Zathris's warm, solid presence, her arms around his
neck as she buried her face against his shoulder and inhaled his scent.
"That's more than all right, Zathris. Don't ever ask me to leave you
again, I can't."

"I won't." He murmured in her ear before nibbling upon it. "I
promise." With her in his arms, Zathris passed through to her sleeping
area and lay her upon the bed. Immediately, her began to cover her with
his kisses, and his hands roamed over her body and tugged at her clothes.

Her fingers trembled as she unbuttoned Zathris's shirt, out of sheer
anticipation rather than nerves. She wasn't nervous at all, she had
never been more comfortable than when she was with Zathris. "What are
you going to do at the Weyr?" The question suddenly came to her.

"I don't know. I'll find something. I've always had a fondness for
whittling. I've experience with ships." Zathris had grown up the son
of the Lord of Jade Harbour, it was in his blood. "I'll find something,
but right now, that's not on my mind." No, there was something far more
stimulating. Quickly he untied her tunic and pulled it off of her,
interrupting her own work upon his.

Barenziah found that it wasn't really on her mind either, not when his
hands were touching her skin, making her feel alive in ways that she
hadn't even imagined in months. At the back of her mind worries about
how Zathris would simply walk away from an entire Hold, a wife and his
children, surfaced, but she pushed them away, intent on enjoying the
here and now.

His hands quickly went to work on her skirt and within moments, she was
free of all her confining clothing and then he began to assist her in
getting rid of his. The separation was brief, for a moment later he was
atop her, hands tracing over her body, then one slipping in between her
legs.

Barenziah's breath quickened at the touch as something warm blossomed
between her legs. **Wait…. That's not suppose to happen now.** As her
confusion grew her vision began to fade.

"No, Zathris!" she cried out as she tried to cling to the dream that was
slipping between her fingers, as elusive as water.

Cold, hard reality came crashing back in as the dream fully evaporated,
leaving behind her dark bedroom at the Weyr. For a moment she lay in
shock, staring up at the stone ceiling above her. What cruel joke had
her subconscious played on her?

Hot tears scalded her eyes as a gaping ache in the center of her chest
opened up. It had been months since she'd dreamed of Zathris, what would
bring this on again now?

**The wedding.** She thought of the event that she and Z'lred had
attended where she had seen Zathris across the room.

Reaching out and unshuttering the basket of glows near her bed,
Barenziah tossed back the blankets and frowned down at her sheets.
Blood. Well, that would explain that warm blossom between her legs.

"You have the worst luck in the world, Bari." she muttered to herself as
she got up, yanked the soiled sheets off the bed and then set about
cleaning herself up.

~~Sad? Hurt?~~ Chiffon's eyes fluttered with worry as she peeked her
little golden head over the edge of her bed and watched Barenziah.

"Nothing but the usual, Chiffon. Go back to sleep." Throwing herself
back down on the bed, Barenziah grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her
chest to fight off the the ache she felt.

Why couldn't she let him go? She desperately wanted to forget all about
Zathris and move on with life, and every time she thought she'd done
that her brain would drag him back up while she slept. Sighing, she
rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what the
Amber Hills Lord Holder was doing at that very moment….At that very
moment, Zathris bolted up right in bed, his breathing hard. A bit
foggy, he looked around and then heaved a sigh. A dream. It had just
been a dream. For a few moments he blinked blearily into the darkness,
then lay back down to fall back into slumber.

Last updated on the December 1st 2015

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

What Dream Is This?