Chapter 2

Several days had passed since her return to the guildhall and Ana found herself settling in nicely. It felt like she had lived there for years, in spite of the somewhat cramped living conditions until their permanent living quarters were finished.

Opening the chest where her clothes were stored, she pulled out a clean suit in the blue and silver mithril colors of the Sentinels and donned it, standing in front of the mirror in the room she shared with Arak to admire the styling of it - Aley and Arak had done an excellent job on it and though she was not vain she had to admit she looked good in the outfit.

Her mind turned towards her guild mates. She had found herself spending time in the lounge with Deshmene and Rurika. It was nice to have some other ladies around to converse with. She loved Arak and she enjoyed the camaraderie of all of her male friends but sometimes it was nice to just let your hair down and be a girl again.

Finding them both in the lounge when she had snuck down there to grab something to eat in the middle of the night had been surprising, but they had quite a lovely chat. Indeed, they had to keep stifling their giggles so they wouldn't wake the others but they enjoyed the chance to just sit and talk without any men around. There were some things a woman just couldn't discuss in front of men.

And that was something else she was discovering - the joys as well as trials of living with a large 'family.' As an only child, she'd never really had any experience with having to share and to wait as well as finding that there was always someone around to talk with and do things with. In many ways they were more of a family than an organization of warriors and defenders, though she knew that the training they were starting would definitely help with the more fighter-like aspects. Still, she hoped that wouldn't change the rapport they all seemed to be developing.

She pulled her other equipment out of the chest and sat down on the bed to don her boots before checking over her weapons and then buckling the belt and scabbards on and sheathing them.

As she picked up the rings and other items she customarily wore and slipped them on, her mind wandered back to the conversation she had had the previous evening with Arak's mother. She never had been quite sure that Li'Andra approved of the two of them sharing quarters without being married, but nothing had ever been said and she had been afraid to bring it up. How had it actually come up last night? Oh yes... she'd been sorting clothes to take to Kalliana to have cleaned...

Ana bent over the large pile of clothing in the corner and muttered to herself, "I cannot believe he won't pick up his clothes." She began tossing the clean clothes onto the bed, separating them from the dirty ones also in the pile.

A quiet voice spoke behind her, "Even when he was a child I never managed to convince Arak that clothes belonged on his body, in the clothes chest, or in the laundry basket. In some ways it is good to see he hasn't changed."

Ana looked over her shoulder to see Arak's mother, Li'Andra Moriverne, leaning against the doorjamb of the bedroom she shared with Arak.

She smiled, "Good evening, Mistress Li'Andra. Are you going to be joining us for dinner tonight?"

Li'Andra only rarely ventured inside the hall, preferring to stay outside because it kept her close to her husband Darkir's grave.

Li'Andra nodded, "Yes, I saw Gard picking the ingredients for the salad earlier and he was telling me how he planned to prepare it. It sounded so delicious I couldn't resist."

Ana smiled, "Yes, his food is delicious. After one of his dinners I am so full all I want to do is come back here and collapse on the bed."

There was an awkward silence for a moment as they both could not help but glance at the large bed that took up most of the space in the room.

Finally Li'Andra broke the silence. "Darkir was the same way, you know."

Ana looked up, "He was?"

Li'Andra nodded, "It took me two years to convince him that I wasn't going to leave him."

Ana shrugged, "Oh, Arak doesn't think that. He knows I love him and would never leave him. The reason he doesn't want to get married is because he is afraid of my having children."

Li'Andra raised an eyebrow, "Does he really think that it is only the fact you are unmarried that keeps you from getting pregnant?"

Ana giggled in spite of the serious nature of the conversation, "No, he's not quite that clueless. But he knows that I will not allow myself to have a child unless we are married so this is his way of keeping that from happening."

Li'Andra frowned, "I don't understand. Why would he be worried about you having children? Does he think you'd be in danger in childbirth?"

"No," Ana shook her head. "He is worried about having a child with draconic blood. He knows how difficult it has been for him, between the struggle to control the draconic rages he has felt as well as the scorn and derision he has faced from those who see only that he is part dragon and not that he is so much more."

Li'Andra nodded, "Ah, yes. I understand. I was so glad when he was born with normal elven features — it made it easier for him as a child. The rages... well, I never saw those, either from him or from Darkir, but then Darkir had well over 1000 years to learn to control himself before I met him so it is possible that he went through the same things and I just never knew about it."