Chapters I & II

Brill walked down the line of women Brenda had gathered with a smile on his face.  Most of them looked as if they hadn't eaten or bathed for days. Work in his manor would be a life of luxury for these women. As he walked the line he didn't goggle them the way some men would have; they must know he was their savior.

As a fact most of the women he inspected were quite homely. But to him looks did not matter, he would still give them positions within his house. Near the end of the line he did find one who caught his eye and paused. "Milson, you say you have filled each position?"The small man scurried up to his elbow. "Yes, Lord Brill. More women are outside though should you feel any of these unsuitable for the tasks I have assigned them, Lord Brill."

"What task do you have this one assigned to?" He continued to study the woman -- no, girl for she couldn't be more than 16 -- until the worm replied. Her black hair fell to cover full breasts, the reason he had first mistaken her for older, which stood out in the low neck of what must have been a Lady's maid's dress, but had seen much better days. The dress itself hung just a little loose, as if the girl had lost a little weight, furthering the impression of hard times for the girl.

The squirrelly man stopped pretending to check his list, Milson knew that Brill knew he didn't need to reference it, yet still insisted on doing so. "Lord Brill, this one is chosen as your chambermaid. She has past experience with the Lady Telya, before her... unfortunate accident."

The squirrelly little man's pause was enough to recall to Brill the details of the Lady's accident. Milson always had to remind him of such things. "Yes, an excellent choice then. I'm sure she will serve quite well with such fine experience. And since we will be seeing each other often then, what is your name young miss?"

The girl seemed to hesitate for a second before she answered in a voice so meek that he could hardly even tell she was talking. When he asked her to say again she was still barely audible. "Luellah, my Lord."

"A fine name for a fine young lass. You need not be so afraid though, I won't bite." Aye, she certainly could use a job and full belly that one. As Brill continued down the row he smiled to himself for helping out these women who so needed his help.

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"Luellah! Luellah! Lue - Oh there you are girl. Luellah, you seem to be doing a wonderful job and I'm not sure how things worked with the Lady Telya, but... Well Luellah, I should not have to call your name for so long before you come.

"Now, Now, don't start crying now, I won't have that. I'm not going to put you out or anything. After all it is still your first day, just remember to stay closer to hand and you will do just fine." Brill liked subservience, but this girl seemed about to break down in tears every time he spoke to her. "Anywho, at nine o'clock every eve, unless company is present of course, you need to draw me my bath and it is now nine oh three. And smile while you do it girl, no more sniffling."

He waited while the girl drew water and made sure it was warm. She was quick at that at least. When she seemed about done he began to undo his shirt for the bath. When she finished and turned to him she spun back around so fast he thought she would fall over. "I'm sorry my Lord. I did not know you were undressed my Lord!"

"Where are you going? Get back in here! I only have my shirt off so far foolish girl. Turn around! How are you supposed to bath me if you won't look at me?" She had nearly run out of the room. What was she thinking?

"B-b-bath you my Lord? B-but, my Lord!"

Before she could go on with her stammering Brill cut her off. "Of course you will bath me. Did you not bath Lady Telya?"

"Of-of course my Lord. B-but, Lady Telya was a... a lady!"

"Of course she was a Lady and I... A lady, not a Lady... I see. Girl I will not make you do anything you do not wish to do. However, if you can not bath me I will be forced to find a chambermaid who can." He didn't wish to throw her out on the street, but what did she expect? Very slowly she nodded her head in acquiescence. He began to undress again and she averted her eyes, but did not run away. When Brill was nude he called to her, "You can not bath me while turned the other way. Look at me."

As slowly as she had nodded she raised her head and made a point to look him in the eyes... and only the eyes. He walked to the bath and climbed in... without being offered any assistance from Luellah. After a few moments she began to wash his back and he relaxed enjoying the water.

When Brill's torso was washed he stood up to allow her to wash the rest of his body. The squeak that she let out as she fell backwards almost made him laugh. "Everywhere," she asked hesitantly.

"Of course!" He was really beginning to loss his temper now at this peasant. She very slowly reached for him and hesitantly tried to clean him from full arms length. With a growl he grabbed her by the arms and lifted her into the tube with him. "You can't do anything if you can't reach me foolish girl."

She squirmed and fell into the water and came back up spluttering. The new linen dress she wore clung tightly to her bosom and hips. His eyes lingered on her breasts, but not the nipples visible through the wet material. Brill reached down and ripped the dress open exposing the dagger between her breasts. "Guards!"

The girl screamed and pulled the dagger loose. He struck at her at the same time he felt cold steel pressing against his chest. As he watched the girl fell and struck her head on the side of the tub and went under without thrashing. As he watched her drowned in rapt fascination he slowly became aware that she was coming closer too him. That was odd since she wasn't moving.

Brill realized then that it was he who was getting closer to her as he sank to his knees. Taking his eyes off the girl floating in red water Brill saw the captain of the guard looking aghast. Looking down at his chest he realized why he was sinking and why his friend was shocked; the dagger was stuck there. At least he had given as well as he had gotten.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5  License.
© Flendon
READ CAREFULLY. By reading this blog, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

The End User License Agreement. You have all signed them. You had to sign one to get a MyScam account. You did read it through didn't you?

Most people don't bother reading the EULA since it doesn't matter anyways right? How can a company hold you to a license without a signature? They stick the thing into software and you can't read it until you have already opened the box. By then hardly any store will allow you to return it citing "copyright law". Of course if you ask them to cite the law they will be unable to answer it since that law doesn't exist in any of the copyright legislation.

But, if companies didn't think the EULA's were legally binding why would they spend millions on having lawyers draft them up? The fact is that the concept of the EULA has yet to see serious challenge in a courtroom. With the exception of a few minor arguments many lawyers do hold the EULA to be legally binding. The primary arguments against the EULA is that you are never afforded the right to negotiate modifications to any section you don't agree with. Add to that the fact that by the time that you recieve the EULA it is often too late to reject it, even if it does come with a decline button, since you can't return the software.

You don't have to worry about this though right? You don't really disagree with any of those terms anyways -- since you didn't read them. But, did you know some EULA's say the company can monitor everything you do on your computer? Or that Microsofts new Windows Vista EULA even allows them to disable your computer if they even suspect you don't have a legal copy. They don't even have to take you to court. Don't believe me? They have already started doing this to some people in Windows XP under the new Windows Genuine Advantage program. What about EULAs that forbid you from speaking publicly against the company; who cares about free speech anyways right?

If you have been paying attention up to this point you are probably asking yourself what, if anything, you can do about these EULAs. Privacy advocate and author Cory Doctorow has devised the solution: the Anti-EULA. This is a EULA that revokes any prior EULAs owned by the reader or the readers employer. The only legal arguments against it are those outlined above, it is non-negotiated and offers no chance to decline, but any company who would be effected cannot use those arguments. They would be in essence arguing against their own EULA, not just against you, but for all customers if they did so. Essentually for a corporation to argue against the Anti-EULA would be shooting itself in the foot.

I even took the time to write to Cory and discuss the Anti-EULA with him on the topic of the Creative Commons and by extension Open Source licenses. Essentially these licenses are giving additional rights to a user instead of revoking them, generally give contact information that can be used to talk to an individual, not a corporation, to negotiate other terms and generally can be declined without loss to the end user. As such the Anti-EULA has no practicle effect on them and can freely be used along side these licenses.

As of last week I have posted this to my website and included it as the default signature on my personal email accounts. I encourage you to do the same and to visit reasonableagreement.org to get a bumpersticker or tshirt with the same. Over 20% of each sale goes to the Electronic Frontier Foundation; and not one penny to me if you're wondering.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5  License.
© Flendon
READ CAREFULLY. By reading this blog, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

This part came out very different from my outline. It also came out very different from what I wrote alongside part III last week. In the end it is less graphic, but tells so much more. I still advise caution to readers as it is still spins some disturbing images, but I don't think it goes beyond the limits of MySpace.

I'm still looking for feedback on my writing so please feel free to comment.

The Beginning & Family Part I-III

She felt hands on her, lifting her back to her feet. "It is too late to run Delya. You can not leave now that the fridona has begun. I warned you not to come." She looked up into Drivet's face and frowned. So dizzy. They starved her so bad here.

She watched as Drivet reached behind his back and pulled out a long wicked dagger. He pressed the hilt into her hand as she starred at it in disbelief. The hilt was black and big enough to fit both her hands around. The pommel was the head of some strange creature she had never seen with rubies for eyes, large fangs and what might have been fire spewing from its open mouth. The blade was as long as her arm from wrist to elbow and was serrated with a backwards curve away from the cutting edge that bent back into a jagged hook. The flat of the blade had several large oval holes that increased in size as the blade thickened and each seemed to lead into a strange groove which lead down to the hilt.

Even in the wildest stories Delya had never heard of any knife like it. She realized with surprise that Drivet was speaking to her. "...bensuta is not a dagger so stop mumbling to yourself about them. As you can see the blade has no point for thrusting; thrusting leads to a quick death. The bensuta is made for slicing and ripping. A fridona is always performed with a bensuta, never a dagger.

"The inia, the subject of the fridona, is offered one choice during the ceremony. The bena'suta, that is me currently, offers the choice to the inia and only the two of them know what that choice is unless it is accepted. If the choice is accepted the fridona is over and whatever choice the inia was offered is carried out immediately. The choice is always worse than the fridona and never comes with honor. It is however accepted on occasion by cowards."

Delya's head was spinning. She didn't understand half of what Drivet was saying. Papa was still trying to talk to her as well, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. Something about being quick, causing her less pain. What did he mean by that? And Drivet was already guiding her hand. She looked at the dagger, no the bensuta, pressed up against the skin of her Papa with the blood welling up at the point it touched and she screamed.

All other thoughts left her mind as the blood seeped down the strange grooves in the blade. Her fathers blood was seeping down the grooves of the blade. Her fathers blood was... her fathers blood... The knife in her hand... Her fathers blood... The grooves... blood... the knife...

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Delya laid in Momma's arms crying. She couldn't even remember how long she had been crying for. Days, weeks, years? As she sobbed every inch of her body ached to match the pain in her heart. Her stomach swam as if she would be sick again, but she had nothing left to give forth. Her throat burned to attest to that fact; as did the chunks covering the front of her dress. And still Momma held her.

Momma held her, stroked her hair and wiped her chin clean. Momma rocked, wiped away tears and ran a damp cloth over her forehead. Momma sung her to sleep when she woke up screaming and murmured comforting words in her ear. Never during any of that time did Delya remember Momma putting her down. She even remembered Momma holding her in the tub while she washed away all the blood.

Her Momma never said a word to Delya about her part in Papa's death; even when she had been washing away all that blood. But, Delya would never be able to forget the look on Momma's face when she cleaned Delya's nails. The blood wasn't just caked onto Delya's nails. The blood of her Papa under her nails was so thick that it was impossible to ignore what it meant; Delya had been the one holding the bensuta for days as her father slowly died. As Delya meet her Momma's eyes she could see the look of revulsion for the girl, her own daughter, who had murdered her husband.

Delya wondered if Momma hated her as much as she hated herself. Other than that one look in the tub Momma had not even said a word. She hadn't even cried herself. She just held Delya and took care of her without complaint. Delya knew she would have hated her had their positions been switched.

After what Delya thought was years, but must have only been a few days, she had regained enough self control to finally climb out of her mothers arms. She was ready to face the room if not the world. Somehow though, even then, she knew that she would never be completely free of what she had done, even if someone else had been holding her hand in a crushing grip.

The images of her Papa, with wrists bound behind his back until his shoulders could rotate no further; of him being hung by those wrists outstretched behind him so that his shoulders eventually dislocated from his own weight; being burned with hot irons; water poured over his head; being cut over and over again, not just with the bensuta, but with a myriad of other devices she had never asked the name of; having his wounds healed, not out of mercy, but so that he would live longer; those images would forever be just behind her eyelids whenever she closed them.

One thing she had done completely on her own though. Every day at noon and every night at midnight Drivet had whispered in her Papa's ear. And every time Papa had spit at him and screamed out, "Never!" Delya didn't know what Drivet was saying to him, but it made Papa angry. Every time Papa yelled though, it got a little weaker. Delya could understand that, for after days of standing in the heat even she could barely stand up herself despite getting more food and water in her system than her Papa; even after discounting what she threw up.

It was on the fifth or maybe the sixth day, during near delusion from the noonday sun when she had done it. When Drivet whispered in Papa's ear his answer was just a whisper, a croak. Papa somehow seemed to gather himself then though and he had called her name, still so faint she almost didn't recognize it. Drivet loosened his grip on her arm and let her step closer to hear his words. "Delya, I don't know if I can deny him again. Please, for your own sake, finish me."

Delya shook her head. She didn't understand; she didn't want to understand. It seemed that Drivet understood though for his grip was suddenly so tight on her wrist that she screamed out in pain. Papa screamed out then too in his hoarse voice, "Please, Delya!" He was asking her to... but she couldn't... but Drivet didn't want her to...

Delya opened her hand and the knife slipped free. With her left hand, her hand free of Drivet's grasp, she reached for the bensuta as it fell. She missed and grabbed the blade on the wrong side of the hilt slicing her own hand deep. Somehow instead of dropping it again she brought it up in an inarticulate arc, the down stroke of which connected with Papa's throat.

She didn't know why she had done it. She didn't know if she had done it to end Papa's suffering. Or if it had just been because she knew Drivet didn't want her to. Or maybe she was just delusional from the heat. She just knew that the bensuta had sliced halfway across Papa's throat. That stroke, the one that had been responsible for most of the blood that had soaked her hair, the one that had killed her Papa, that stroke had been made, for better or for worse, of her own free will, in defiance of Drivet's will.

Delya shook herself and once again surveyed the room to take stock of the world around her once again. She realized then that a wet-nurse must have been feeding Valya for Momma had not done it during the days she while holding Delya. She couldn't even remember Momma having eaten herself for that matter.

Delya went over to where Valya was playing on the floor and picked her up. Climbing back into Momma's arms Delya held Valya and spoke for the first time since it had happened. "It's just the three of us Momma. It's just the three of us now." After a pause she whispered, "I'm so sorry Momma." With those words Momma pulled both of them to her chest and Delya felt tears drip onto the back of her neck.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5  License.
© Flendon

I originally wrote this as a longer version. After working on the same section for almost a week, most of it sleepless, I've decided to break it in half. Here is the first half, which I completed in only a day. The remainder, which I'm still working on will be up in a few more days hopefully. I most likely will NOT be posting that part here on MySpace, but only on my homepage. Even my wife has refused to read the second half and I understand it will be hard reading for many people; it was very hard to write after all. It is a very important section for character development however. I'm still looking for feedback on my writing so please feel free to comment.

The Beginning & Family Part I-II

Delya sat in her room for several hours trying to figure out how she would get out to see her father again. She had tried to leave a short while after Drivet had left, but the guards refused to let her out. "Drivet doesn't want you at the fridona," was all they would tell her. What did 'fridona' mean? She had never heard the word. Was she a prisoner after all? The windows wouldn't open and the only door was guarded. She checked the door several times over the next hour and never found it unguarded.

After awhile the guards feed her, though it still wasn't enough to fill her up. Moping about the room she came upon her box of frena and ate two of the remaining pieces. Feeling her spirits lift she looked about the room and tried to figure out how to get  free. Spotting the wand on the floor she walked over and picked it up. Stupid thing did nothing but sparkle, glow or make a small flame. Drivet had claimed that it could do much more, but he hadn't shown her how.

As she tried to get the toy to do more Delya realized she was getting very tired again. Why was she so sleepy recently? She would close her eyes just for a minute. She laid down on the bed with the wand in her hand and looked at the box of frena. She wanted another piece. Once she rested for a few.

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Delya woke up and looked around in surprise. It was already dark. Had they already hurt her Papa? She realized she was still holding the wand in her hand and she made it create a glow like a lantern. She still didn't have a plan, but she had to get to see Papa. Her stomach growled and she realized that she hadn't eaten since the small morning meal. She grabbed her box of frena, ate one piece and stuck the last one in her pocket before going out to check on the guards.

Delya opened the door and found two new guards she had never meet. "Excuse me I need to go to see my father. And I am so hungry. Can you have someone bring me something to eat in his room?"

The guard on the left laughed at her. He was a big burly Trevvan with a mean face. "We'll have someone bring you some food when we are ready to little girl. And it will be brought here. Your father has already been taken to his fridona." Unlike Drivet and the other guards she had spoken to, this man spoke Trevvan and he had a funny way of talking that made it hard to understand. Still she understood most of it except the last word. She had never heard that one before, but assumed it must be something like jail.

"Wait a minute Vega. I heard that the girls mother had refused to go." The other guard had a much friendlier face Delya thought.

"Yeah, she won't attend the fridona. What of it? She had the choice."

The second guard turned on the one named Vega. "What of it? If the mother won't attend then the duty falls on this little girl, unless we have an older family member about. If she wants to go then that's her right. You gonna tell me we ain't gonna let her go or you know of someone else in her family I don't?"

Vega poked a finger in the other mans chest. "Drivet said she isn't gonna leave, so she isn't gonna leave! What does her families honor mean anyways. She's to be choka so it don't matter."

"Honor always matters! I won't stand by and let someone be refused the right of attending fridona. Or do you want me to mention to Drivet what happened with her sister?"

Vega growled, "Daltan! You drailing wouldn't! Yes. Yes, you would. You daltan fool! When Drivet asks how she got out I'm going to tell him I was in the bathroom understand me Sinsa? I'm not taking the rap for this one!"

What about her sister? These men knew something about Gill! She was about to ask when Sinsa turned to her. "The fridona is starting any minute. You'll need to run to get there in time. Do you know the way out?"

Delya shook her head and the man yelled for her to follow as he was already striding down the corridor. The mans long paces carried him at such a speed that Delya had to run as fast as she could just to keep him in sight. She couldn't ask about Gill and still keep her breath as much as she wanted to. After several twists and turns he stopped in a doorway and pointed out. When Delya caught up to Sinsa she saw that he was pointing at her father, in chains, being lead across the courtyard to a stage.

Delya forgot all about asking Sinsa about Gill and ran as fast as she could to the stage where her father was being led. Halfway across the distance she began calling out, "Papa! Papa! Wait for me Papa!"

Papa turned to Delya, but was grabbed by two of the men with him and forced forward. Delya saw Drivet break away from the group and waited for her to reach him. She tried to run past him to her father, but Drivet swept her off her feet with ease. "What are you doing here?" He shouted at her.

Delya beat her fists against him and tried to wiggle free. "Let me go! I want to be with my Papa! I don't care about your fridona! Just let me be with my Papa! Please!"

Drivet set her down allowing her to face her father, but kept his arms wrapped around her pinning her to him. She felt the hilt of his belt knife pressed into the back of her neck as he held her tight. "Delya, I think you would thank me later if I sent you back to your room this instant. I will give you one last chance. Are you sure you wish to be present for this? Once you go onto the dais there is no turning back."

"Yes. Let me to my Papa!" Delya lunged forward and nearly fell to her knees as Drivet let her free. She ran the few dozen remaining paces and climbed up onto the platform wrapping her arms around her Papa.

Her father went rigged when she hugged him. She gave him a searching glance and his guards allowed him to bend down to her. "You should not be here sweet one. You go back to your room right now!"Why wasn't he glad to see her? She had gone through so much to get here.

Drivet got up on the podium and began to speak to those gathered around. She began to shake and realized she was so hungry. She hadn't eaten in hours and all this excitement was making her dizzy. Her head was spinning so much she could not hear Papa or Drivet. She had nothing to eat but her candy. She pulled out the last piece of frena and her father tried to smack it from her hand. She had to eat something and slipped it in her mouth before her could stop her.

Through the spinning of her head she heard Drivet saying something about the fridona. "She was advised repeatedly not to come and has done so under her own free will."

Her father was speaking too. "Don't you understand what that was?"

Her head spun more after the candy, not less. Drivet was speaking, "By the long held traditions of our people..."

Her father grabbed her and shook her, "Listen to me! Don't you understand what you have done?"

"Delya has agreed to take her mothers place in the fridona."

"Run before it is too late!" Her father pushed her away.

"By her own choice she will join me in performing the fridona."

"It means execution! Fridona is Trevvan for execution Delya! You just asked to participate! Run while you still can!" Her father pushed her again with those words and her head swam. She fell to her knees and tried to shake her head clear.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5  License.
© Flendon

I'm a few weeks late on posting this piece and I have no real excuse. I could blame the holidays, but really I just had a hard time getting the pieces to fit the way they had to. This is the last of the nice pieces. After this piece things are going to get dark. If you are looking for anything normal or bright you will want to stop before you get to interested.

The Beginning & Family Part I

"Papa?" Where was she? Everything was dark. She could hear Papa though. She heard other men too. They all seemed to be arguing. Who was he talking to in the dark like this? Feeling along the wall she found a doorway leaking a faint light. Peering in she saw Papa along with the other men huddled around a table with a single candle.

Moving towards her Papa she tried to see the faces of the other men in the dark. If only it wasn't so dark. That one was huge though. Was he? "No," she gasped, "An Orc!" And that stocky one had to be a Dwarf. Was that little one a Gnome, no a Halfling. Only the Trevvan were missing of the major races of Soria. Why were they here?

She couldn't make out what they were saying. She strained to make out her Papa, "...that will be the final move. Gentlemen after that we will have open war. Nothing will be able to stop it then."

Delya scrambled into a corner, glad that the men hadn't seen her yet. She didn't want to hear anymore and began creeping to the doorway. She stopped dead when a man stepped into the doorway blocking it. Not a man, Drivet. What was he doing here?

"Then you shouldn't let it get to that final move, should you Pasinia? If you want to stop the war then you must stop it before it gets that far. Am I right?" The men around the table all snapped their heads around to stare at Drivet as he spoke.

Delya watched as her Papa stood up and walked over to stand before Drivet. "What are you doing here? How did you get past our guards?" She watched the cold look on Drivet's face as he smiled at her Papa. The look on Papa's face was even stranger. She had never seen him look so mad before. "What would you know about stopping war Drivet? What would you know?"

Suddenly the light went out and Delya screamed.  She was aware of hands grabbing her and shaking her. A voice was yelling her name. She continued to scream, not understanding what was going on. Suddenly a lantern was unlidded and she saw Drivet standing over her. "Are you alright Delya? You were having another nightmare. How are you?"

The concern on Drivet's face made her smile. "I'm ok." She realized how weak her voice sounded. "I'm ok. It was just... I had a dream about Papa, and a Halfling, and a Dwarf, and... There was an Orc there too. Papa was talking to all of them about war and then you showed up."

Drivet frowned at Delya, "I don't think any of us knew you were there. I'm amazed you remember that, even if only in your dreams. You would have been only four at the time of course. Tell me what you remember of it."

Delya stared at him, "It wasn't a dream?" Drivet shook his head and she swallowed. She struggled to hold onto the fading dream and began to tell him what she had seen. The more she talked the easier it was to hold onto the memories. By the end it was all coming out in a rush.

"You remember true. What a special little girl you are." Drivet sighed and waited a few moments before continuing. "So it has come to this. Delya, I'm afraid I have some news you are not going to like. Due to his injuries the council has refrained from dealing with your father for the part he played in the starting of the war. His actions last night have changed their minds."

Delya could see that Drivet was upset. When he stopped talking she had to know what was going to happen to Papa. She urged him on. "Alright, it is your right to know. They feel Pasinia is healthy enough to be brought before the council and receive punishment. Belan is to be treated as an accomplice, but is to be spared to care for Valya and yourself. It took some maneuvering on my part for that last bit."

He stopped and Delya realized that she was crying. "Momma!"

"Delya, the judgment will be this evening. By Trevvan tradition the family members of the traitor would be present to save the families honor. Your mother however has refused and you will not want to be there to see..."

Delya cut him off with a snap, "Of course I will be there! I will be with my father as long as he lives! Don't you try to stop me!"

She starred at him defiantly as he continued, "It cannot be allowed. Delya, you will not want to be there. You have no idea of the ways of the Trevvan."

"You can't stop me! I will be with my Papa forever! You don't want me to be with him! You go away! Get out! Get away from me! Go!" Delya threw her pillow at the Trevvan and growled when it bounced off harmlessly. Then she saw the wand he had given her. Grabbing it she turned it the way he had shown her and it made sparkles that only made Drivet laugh. Growling again she threw the wand at him and he sidestepped towards the door. With one last look at her he slipped out of sight without another word.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5  License.
© Flendon

Copyright. What comes to mind when you read that word? Go ahead and think about it for a few moments, I'll wait.

Whatever you think about it, good or bad, that word is one of the most debated, and often hated, words on the web. I'm not here to get into a debate on the value of copyright law as currently written. I will state that the law as written has some serious flaws. On the other hand as an artist of the written word who wishes to eventually get paid for performing his art that law is important to me. Without some form of protection anyone who wanted could take my work and pass it off as their own leaving them rich and myself poor. Copyright protects what is mine.

As a young writer though I find myself in a problem. The copyright law has the power to hold me back just as much as it helps me. I'm what the overly stylish would call "undiscovered", but since I hate buzzwords I just call myself "unpublished". I need to get my name out their; I need readership. The best way to get readers is for my work to be in as many places as possible. The best way to go about this is to allow other people to share my work and republish it on the net. So how do I do this without giving up my intellectual property rights?

Cue the Creative Commons. For those of you unfamiliar with the Creative Commons it is a series of licenses that are designed for exactly the mess I find myself in now. I can create a legally binding license for my work. This license allows anyone who agrees to be bound by the license certain privileges that copyright normally prevents. All of my work remains under full copyright and I am in no way giving up any of my rights that I don't explicitly wave in the process. This creates a win-win for anyone who plays fair. And if someone does try to use my work in a manner that does not meet the license I am free to exercise my legal rights under copyright law.

So what exactly does all of that mean? It means that I have chosen to release most of my work under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License. The top bloggers usually say they don't want anyone copying their work, even if full credit is given. I see their reasoning, but I don't agree. So long as you clearly acknowledge the work is mine and provide a link to the original then it benefits me by getting my name out. If you found my work on MySpace the original is at "flendon.googlepages.com" and I would prefer you link to that copy as the post on MySpace will be removed after a time.

As always their are some exceptions to the license. If you want to make money off of my work it is only fair that you share the profits with me and that requires a separate contract. In addition I don't allow derivative works without express consent. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but tearing apart someones work is not. Show me a sample of your writing and we can work something out. I've seen too many good worlds torn apart by a plethora of authors.

So to sum things up:

• My works are still protected under copyright.
• You may use them so long as you agree to and follow the terms of the license.
• You must clearly state the work is by me and provide a link to flendon.googlepages.com. At a later date I will add some code here, and a pretty picture, for your convenience to link directly there.
• You may not use my work in any commercial manner. This includes banner ads, Ad Sense, etc.
• You may not create a derivative work without my explicit permission in writing. This means no Fan-Fiction should my writing reach that level of popularity. Haha!
• Occasionally I post material that is not entirely mine or that for other reasons I will not be releasing under this license. Be sure to look for the Creative Commons icon at the bottom of the page to be sure the page you are copying is indeed covered.

Please remember that I am not waiving the copyright on my work, merely offering you a license under which you may use the work. Also, remember that this is an explanation of the license to help people out. It in no way replaces the actual text of the license which can be found at the link below.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5  License.
© Flendon

I've been sick the last few days. Finally feeling well enough to write again. I hope it doesn't suffer from any of the lingering effects of the cold medicine. A new name for a new chapter, but continued from the previous story. I was never any good at knowing when to end one chapter and start another. This felt right to me though.

The Beginning Part I
The Beginning Part II
The Beginning Part III
The Beginning Part IV

"Oh Papa! I missed you so much! You too Momma! I wish I could stay here." Delya had spent several hours playing with her family and now a guard was standing over her impatiently. He had said nothing, but had motioned for Delya to follow him.

"Sweet one, I wish you could stay as well." Her father looked away from her and at the guard for several moments. "You need to go though. Listen to what they tell you and everything will be ok. Promise me you'll listen. I couldn't stand... I couldn't... Just listen, ok sweet one?"

Delya nodded and gave her father another hug and kiss. She went to her mother next and repeated the sentiment to both her and Valya, who cooed. She walked to the guard and gave him a sour look before letting him lead her away. She stopped once at the doorway to glance back at her family before being led down the hall.

When Delya reached her room she sat down on the bed and swung her legs back and forth as they dangled above the floor. The guard stood in the doorway for a moment and then left without ever having said a word. She swung her legs some more trying not to cry. She didn't want to leave her Papa and her Momma. She had no one to talk to now and she was scared. Her Gill, a war, not being able to see Papa and Momma whenever she wanted. It was too much for her and she did begin to cry.

She wasn't sure how long she had been crying when the door opened. She sat back up and tried to see who it was through the tears. The figure was blurred but she thought... was it... could it? "Gill?!" The figure stepped forward and she saw it was Drivet. Tears poured down her cheeks again.

"Delya, why do cry like that when I enter the room? I thought we were friends? Look I even brought you some Frena." Drivet sat down beside her on the bed. Delya took the candy from him and then hesitated. Papa had called him a stranger. Papa had let her have Frena from his father though. He held her chin and turned her gaze to his. She smiled back at him and popped the candy into her mouth.

She forgot about what her father said and threw her arms around him. Delya needed someone to hold her. "Drivet! Is this what war means? Papa always talked about how bad war was. Gill and, and, everything that is going on? Did you know they only feed me twice a day? It's so bad here."

"Delya, if war is so bad then why did you father want to start one?"

Delya sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What? Papa has always talked about how much he hates war. We moved here to stop a war. He has always said that!"

Delya felt Drivet's hand on her shoulder. He was so nice to her. She always felt so happy when she ate Frena. She smiled at him again before he answered, "Delya, if he didn't want the war why did he start it? Do you know what happens in war Delya? People kill each other. Everything else is secondary. The killing, that is the main thing. Wars are fought for many reasons and many bad things happen. The one constant during a war though is that people kill other people."

"Then why do people have wars? I thought it was never ok to kill someone?"

"Sometimes Delya, sometimes it is needed. It is never a nice thing, but life isn't always nice. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do to. Sometimes things are worth killing for. Lets not talk about war though it is such a sad subject. Have another piece of Frena and take a look at what else I brought you."

Drivet pulled a small wand out of a pocket and showed it to Delya. It looked like a simple magicians wand at first sight. With a flick of his wrist though a small flame appeared just over the tip of the wand. Delya clapped her hands and the flame went out. She was about to call for him to fix it when sparkles shot out of the tip. Drivet went on with his show for some time showing trick after trick and Delya forgot all about her troubles of the last couple of weeks.

Some time later Drivet stopped the show to Delya's disappointment. "Is that it?"

"Is that it? I dare say you have never a seen a wand capable of so many tricks before. But no, it has even more. I hear something in the hall though. I think something is wrong." Drivet walked over to the door and opened it.

Through the open door Delya could see the two guards and another man outside. The man was holding a very large sword and moved so fast Delya couldn't follow the movements. Drivet stepped back to the bed and placed his arms out to the sides. He was protecting her. Delya couldn't see what was happening until the man stepped into the room. "Papa!"

The tip of the sword in Papa's hand was pressed to Drivet's throat. The sword in Papa's hand was covered in blood. The men who had been in the hall were lying on the ground. They were dead. Papa had killed them with the sword in his hand. The sword held up to her friends throat. All these thoughts ran through her head in a whirlwind. Papa said something, but Delya didn't hear it. All she heard was her own scream.

Delya opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Had she been dreaming? No it was too real. She had passed out again. Was her Papa a killer? She looked around and saw him lying on the floor. A man stood over her Papa with a sap in his hand. Drivet was dabbing at a small trickle of blood on his neck.

She was glad that someone had... No. Was she glad that someone had hurt her Papa? She was so confused. Had he killed those men? "Drivet? Did he... Did he kill them?"

Drivet turned around and looked at her. "You're awake. Delya, you don't really... No. I can see it in your eyes. You need to know this. He killed them both. Delya, they were unarmed. Both of them. He would have murdered me too if Sheyan had not been passing by. Do you still believe he doesn't believe in war Delya?"

Drivet walked over to Delya and gave her another hug. He felt so warm and friendly with his arms wrapped around her. Then she felt a warm drop on her forehead. She looked up and saw that blood was trickling down his neck. Reaching up to touch the wet spot on her head she pulled her hand away and saw her fingertips were red. Drivet reached out with the cloth he had been dabbing on his neck and gently wiped first her fingers and then her forehead clean. "Everything is going to be ok Delya. We are going to take him away now. Nothing will happen to him without you knowing about it first though Delya. I'll make sure of that. I won't let anyone touch him without letting you know first." Drivet turned away from her and helped Sheyan carry her Papa out. She looked around her room and saw the wand that Drivet had brought her. She picked it up and put it under her pillow before she cried herself to sleep.