Guilt or . . .

Writers: Devin, Bree
Date Posted: 1st October 2006
Series: Saving Each Other

Characters: Talrian, N'vanik
Description: After listening to Abrei's gossip, Talrian almost accuses N'vanik of some rather unsavory behavior.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 22 of Turn 4

N'vanik

Talrian was hardly blind to his cousin's faults. He'd known Abrei for most of her life, and was well aware of just how badly she tended to judge people. He was also aware of how often she completely misconstrued the motivations of the people around her. He knew Abrei viewed the world in her own angry and slightly bitter fashion, and was used to filtering out the prejudice that seeped into her words.

It was harder when the words she spoke were about his daughter. Talryne would always be his adored little girl, no matter how old she got. When Abrei related to him his daughter's current whereabouts, it was all too easy to fall prey to his cousin's anger and mistrust. He had struggled with it. During the entire trip to Dragonsfall, he tried to remind himself that Abrei was even more upset than usual. She'd suffered a serious blow with U'val's heart attack, and nothing she said should be taken literally. And yet, Talryne's healer had already confirmed part of it. She'd shown him the way to N'vanik's weyr and had implied that it was the place where Talryne spent the bulk of her time. And that made him wonder about the rest of Abrei's story, and the muttered implication that there was only one reason a man like N'vanik would let an emotionally fragile woman stay in his weyr...

He was still struggling with himself when he knocked on the bronzerider's door, knowing that confrontation was the last thing that would benefit his daughter, but unable to control the anger that rose at the thought of someone taking advantage of her. Sighing, N'vanik put his book down and walked closer to the door. Talryne was in the sleeping room and he didn't want to wake her by calling out. "Who is it?" he asked, standing next to the door. **It better not be anyone annoying.**

"It's Talrian," came the quiet reply. "Talryne's father."
**Great.** N'vanik opened the door part way. "She's sleeping." He was tempted to tell him that visiting time was over for the day, but he could understand the man wanting to see his daughter.

Talrian did his best to keep his face smooth. "Perhaps I could talk to you?"

"Me?" The bronzerider asked. "Sure, I guess so." He opened the door wider to admit Talrian and stepped aside. "Thank you." Once inside, Talrian offered his hand politely. "I'm afraid I didn't have a chance to meet you properly." The man was older than Talrian had first thought, though maybe not quite as old as Abrei's angry muttering had suggested. "N'vanik, rider of bronze Loseth," he said, taking the hand briefly. "And you've been... friends with my daughter for a while?" "Well, not really friends. But yeah, I've known her for a while." There were very few people N'vanik would consider his friends. Before the accident, his relationship with Talryne had been very casual, and now . . . well, he wasn't sure what to think of their relationship. It wasn't exactly what Talrian had hoped to hear. "You're not friends?" he asked, trying to keep his voice quiet and even. "I had just assumed... someone said she was staying with you, now."

"She is. I'm not sure _why_, but she is."

Talrian wasn't sure how to respond to that. "You're... not sure why? I'm sorry, N'vanik, but I'm afraid I don't understand. If you aren't friends with her... well, it seems like it can't be a very good situation." He felt rather proud that he hadn't made any accusations. Not that he'd ruled that out yet.

**You might be right about that.** N'vanik shrugged slightly. "She came to me, and I couldn't say no to her."

Shoving Abrei's accusations aside, Talrian cleared his throat and prepared to ask the sort of indelicate question he was raised to think was wildly inappropriate. "You may think this is none of my business, but under the circumstances I can't help but wonder exactly what your relationship with my daughter is, then. She's vulnerable..."

N'vanik's eyes narrowed. "What kind of relationship do you _think_ it is?" He wanted to hear him say it.

"You're not her friend, you're not her family and you're not her healer," Talrian said steadily. N'vanik could glare all he wanted, Talrian would _not_
be intimidated. "The only other reasons I can imagine for keeping her here are guilt or sex." "I am _not_ keeping her here for _sex_!" N'vanik managed to keep from yelling, but the jaw-clenching growl he spoke in was close. How _dare_ he accuse him of that!

For a moment Talrian was silent, studying N'vanik's reaction. It _seemed_ genuine enough--and angry enough--that it should have dispelled any doubts. But it left one important question. "Then why _are_ you keeping her here?" N'vanik tried to calm down and only succeeded a little. "Well I can't kick her out." The same line he gave everyone that asked.

Talrian just kept watching him. "Do you want to?"

"Well . . ." The anger faded as he thought. The honest answer was 'sometimes' but it was a little less true every day. And that was very, very scary. "No, not really."

"Oh." Well, that made everything as clear as mud. "You have to understand why this is confusing, N'vanik. I appreciate that you're caring for my daughter, but if even you don't know why you're doing it, how are the rest of us supposed to understand?"

N'vanik threw up his hands. "_I_ don't know! I don't even know why she came to me in the first place! And I haven't asked her, because you know what? I'm afraid of what she might say." He closed his mouth before he could say anything else.

Talrian held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not saying you need to know. I just don't want to see her hurt. I mean, hurt any more." What he _wanted_ to see was his daughter back at home with him. Abrei had suggested in the beginning that she might need to leave the Weyr if she decided she wanted to live. Then she'd left the infirmary and holed up in N'vanik's weyr, and his hope of seeing her safely at the Vintner Hall had started to fade.

"Neither do I," N'vanik said. There was no uncertainty about that.

"Well, at least that's something we can both agree on," Talrian said, his voice sounding weary. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't want to be rude, but I had to know. She's my daughter."

"I guess I'd worry about mine, too. I don't exactly have the best reputation,"
the bronzerider admitted. "Well, I don't care about reputations," Talrian replied firmly. And he'd tell Abrei that she should know better than to listen to them, by now. It wasn't like hers was very good, after all. "I just care that someone is watching out for her." "Yeah, well, I do what I can." Getting dear old dad's approval, wasn't that funny? N'vanik cut that thought off before it could go farther.

Talrian nodded. "Do you mind if I wait for her to wake up? I don't know when I'll be able to find another chance to come and visit..."

"In here?" N'vanik asked. "Uh, sure, I guess. Have a seat." He hoped Talryne woke up soon. The sooner her father could talk to her, the sooner he would leave.

Last updated on the October 3rd 2006

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