Stary Sky

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 14th May 2006

Characters: Kiomo, Gleniel
Description: Kiomo and Gleniel discuss their first loves
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 11, day 12 of Turn 3

"Aren't you cold?" Kiomo asked as he laid his jacket over the young woman's shoulders.

She shivered, but it wasn't because of the chill in the air. Reaching around, she pulled the warm, heavy jacket tighter around her shoulders, trying to ignore the silly fluttering in her stomach. "Not anymore,"
Gleniel smile, looking up at him.

He sat down on the bench next to her. "Well, I just noticed you sitting out here alone and I thought I should make sure you're all right."

**That's sweet...** She blushed lightly. "I'm fine. Just thinking. It's a beautiful night to be out."

"That it is. The stars are beautiful." The holder looked up into the sky and sighed in appreciation as he looked at all the little points of light. "Come out here often?"

"Not as often as I'd like," Gleniel murmured as she, too, turned her eyes to the stars. "But I do love it out here."

"I'd love it better if it were warmer," Kiomo said as he scooted a little closer to her. "Here, put your arm through mine. A little body heat might help."

"It might." A slight tremor ran through her as she hesitatingly slipped her arm through his, trying not to pay too much attention to the hard muscles she could feel through the sleeve of his tunic.

"We'd just better be careful, or someone might get the wrong idea," he said as a slight shiver ran down his spine. "We wouldn't want any rumors going around. I'm sure your fellow wouldn't like that too much."

She glanced at him. "My...fellow?"

Kiomo chuckled. "Well, you know, the special man in your life. You must have one. You're too pretty not to."

Gleniel smiled a little, her expression turning shy again. "Actually...
I don't... I'm not attached."

"Really? I _am_ surprised," he said with a bit of a grin. "Neither am I... Have you _ever_ been attached to a man?"

"Well...kind of. In the simplest of terms, of course....."

He nodded his understanding as he looked back up into the night sky. "When you were a young girl?"

She nodded, then realizing he wasn't looking at her, she murmured, "Twelve or thirteen or so."

"My, weren't you the little heartbreaker," he said smiling up at the blackness above. "What was his name?"

"I'm not telling _you_," she grinned, embarrassed.

"Come on, its night time and we're sitting under a stary sky," he chuckled. "It's made for talk of love. Tell me about your first love, and I'll tell you about mine."

Gleniel pressed her free hand against her legs as she thought about her girlhood love. Blushing, she took in a breath. "Well... His name was Berisin. And he rode runners. Even at the age of thirteen, he had a skilled hand. His father was a Journeyman Beastcrafter, you see, and so he traveled with him to our hold. That's how I knew him. I'd been riding runners in the Turns before he came, but, I must confess...I became more adamant about riding when _he_ was there."

"And did you ever sneek off to the hay loft with him?" Kiomo asked with a brazen smile, turning to look at her face once again.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, shards no! I mean..." She flushed. "We...it wasn't like _that_ really..."

"Well, then," he chuckled, "what _was_ it like?"

Embarrassed, Gleniel shook her head. "It was...it was sweet." She certainly hadn't gone and tumbled with him in the hay! Maybe they'd gone to a unoccupied stall and kissed a bit... but that was it. That was as far as she'd gone.

"And were you wildly in love with him, then?"

She ducked her head. "As wildly in love as a girl at that age could be."

"Fair enough," he said with a nod. "So I guess that means its my turn now, huh?"

"It's only fair." Leaning back, she looked at him expectantly, wondering what sort of girl had caught his fancy.

"Well, I started a bit later than you," he admitted. "I was about sixteen, as was she. Her name was Ankette, and she was a laundry drudge. And I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
I would sneak down to the laundry to see her sometimes, when I wasn't working for my father. And we would talk about all manner of things. I would tell her my troubles, she would tell me her dreams. I have to admit, we did sneak off to the back of the laundry closet when we could slip away unnoticed. Shards, but I was totally in love with that girl, and she was with me."

When Gleniel found her voice, she murmured, "So...what happened?" "My father found out and he was furious. He accused me of being willing to bring shame down on the family name with my wanton behavior and forbade me from ever seeing her again." He shrugged a shoulder as if to say it was no big deal, but his tone of voice was filled with nostalgia and hinted at deeper emotions. "She was watched carefully from that time on, and I was sent to another Hold for a turn to be 'fostered'. But the truth was it was to keep me away from Ankette. By the time I came back, she was very conveniently married and living at a minor holding on the edge of our territory."

She looked down, suddenly very much aware of her own status compared to his. Like Ankette, she also was a drudge. Certainly not of noble blood. Swallowing thickly, she shifted. "I'm sorry, Kiomo," she managed to whisper. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's all in the past," he sighed. "I swore from that moment on it would never happen again."

The words hit her hard. **Well, what did you _think_, Gleniel? How could you even _let_ yourself...** Again, she shifted, but this time it was to start to slide her arm away from his.

"Are you getting cold? Do you want to go back inside?" he asked as he felt her pulling away.

"I....yes. I think...I think I should." Shards, but she wasn't being very sharding subtle! Sliding her arm completely from his, she started to stand.

"I can walk you..." He offered her his arm again.

Was there any way to graciously decline? "Oh... Thank you."

Kiomo gently wrapped her arm aroung his elbow and they walked back to the Hold in silence.

Last updated on the May 14th 2006

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Stary Sky