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centbuTaming the Lioness/b/u/cent

iuDedication:/u This chapter is dedicated to the five people who put me on their favorites list...^_^ thanks to: The Lady Maharet of Raleigh, mandy, slowbum360, Willow 371 -aka WillowLea, and Kikibee you all make me feel so special Thank you ever so much. Alright enough sweetness /i

*CHAPTER TWENTY*

iuWhatever happened to good old fashioned "Horse" Play?/i/u

George had actually blacked out, the pain was that great. A few minutes later as George woke groggily dazed and confused on the floor; hee was shocked to see that Mandy was gone. As far as he could see, there was no trace that the eccentric girl had ever been there. As George propped himself up on his elbow; his eyes still roamed the room, not sure exactly what he was looking for. Then he saw it. From his position on the floor, it was hard to see, but George was certain that there was isomething/i on his dresser table, that hadn't been there before. Slowly and cautiously George pulled himself to his feet. The pain from the movement caused George's eyes to blur suddenly as they filled with strained tears. He remained standing, but with much effort. The king of thieves doubled over clutching his abdomen. Dragging his feet awkwardly, George forced himself to haul his protesting body toward the dresser.

As he neared the delicate object on the wooden chest of drawers became clearer with each step. Tentatively George reached out a hand and snatched up the wonderfully bloomed violet striped carnation. For some odd reason his hand shook as if the flower were some vicious weed that would bite and poison him. Then his eyes focused more precisely on the dresser where moments ago the lovely yet somehow menacing bloom had lain. A cream colored, neatly folded piece of parchment was contrasting noticeably with the dark grainy wood. George took a deep breath as if preparing himself for something horrible.

"Dammit," he whispered under his breath. "Why can't she just leave me alone?"

George placed the single carnation back on the dresser and snatched up the note hurriedly. As if either hurrying would make it not true, less torturing, or go away, George hastily unfolded the perfectly white parchment and bit his lip as he read.

George Cooper, my one and only, my love ~

A wonderfully bloomed flower for a fantastically blossomed man sure to thrive in years to come...A ruby striped carnation. You do know what that means don't you? Well I'll tell you any way... it means refusal. Now let me tell you why I chose this particular bloom. You may not like it but...I refuse to go away. At least not permanently. And here's my promise: you will see me again, soon... oh and I sorry for any 'pain' I might have caused you.

Love, with all of my Heart,

iMandy/i soon to be Mrs. Cooper, Queen of Thieves

George had to admit she had style, short and to the point. He hated it. She disgusted him. George opened his top right dresser drawer and put both the flower and the note in there. George to a step toward the door and was seized with a merciless searing pain. Automatically the king of thieves hunched over and gasped. He had to do something about this. Grasping his lower abdomen (you know the area, I'm just trying to be polite ooh that sounds sick...)tightly once again, George staggered toward the door. Bumping into the hall he tried to increase his somewhat slow pace, knowing the pain would only get worse as time wore on. With unsteady steps, stomped down the stairs. Twice George had to catch himself with the railing to prevent his body from falling, harshly, face first down the undoubtedly bitter, jagged (if you're hitting them one the way down) stairs.

Still holding securely to himself, doubled over, George raised a hand in greeting to Solom as he passed. George made no effort of stopping or explanation, he simply continued toward the door of the Dancing Dove.

"What the...?" Solom asked as the king dragged himself passed.

George stopped at the door. "I'm - fine..." George gasped finding it hard to breath. "Really..." He coughed and turned back toward the door. "Mother..." was the last distinguish- able word that escaped George's dry lips before he stumbled out the door of the homey inn.

Hunched over, George ran awkwardly down the streets. He cut across a nearby abandoned alley way. With much winding, and a skillful knowledge of the area, George soon found himself at the healer Eleni Cooper, his mother's, home. George paused at the front door, trying to catch his breath; he was still having difficulty breathing. George blinked several times trying in vain to clear his clouded vison. George grappled with the brass door knob and threw his shoulder against the solid door frame. The door swung open banging against the wall, and George collapsed to the hard cold floor. His vison went black fro the second time that day...

Hearing the commotion, Eleni dashed down the stairs not knowing what to expect.

cent¢ * ^o^ * ¢/cent

When George awoke, he found himself spread out on the squishy, comfortable sofa in the main parlor of his mother's tidy home. George couldn't even recall how he had gotten there. One thing was very certain: the stabbing pain between his legs had not decreased in its fervor.

"George..." First he heard his mother's shaking voice, and then her concerned face came into view. Eleni was rarely in such a disheveled state. The aging healer was really worried and confused, George had burst nosily into her house and collapsed. With great effort, and some help from her gift giving her strength and energy, Eleni had hauled her unconscious son inside. She looked him over, but could see no visible outer damage. She was still vastly concerned because, isomething/i had caused her only son to pass out and fall to the floor. She was just about to apply her gift to check for internal injuries or other causes for the blackout when George awoke.

His eyes opened and George blinked numerous times trying to focus more clearly upon his mother's kind, concerned, but distorted face.

"Howerd-dyie-ger-innear?" George mumbled obscurely.

Eleni touched George's arm lightly trying to discern some form of the English language in what George had just uttered. "What?" She asked confused. "George what's wrong? What happened to you?"

George ignored his mother's question and tried once more to get his own point across. "How'd I get here?" He asked.

Eleni's eyes grew wide. "You don't know?" She stammered not knowing what to say.

George shook his head no.

"Well," Eleni started, "I'm not completely sure, but you showed up at my door- I assume you walked... no one else was around and there was no horse near..." She replied. "What happened? You appear unharmed, on the outside. You came bumbling into the house, by all the noise, and you- and you," Eleni took a deep breath trying yo control her jumble of emotions. "You passed out. I guess. I was upstairs. Tell me what happened." She persisted perplexed.

The more George thought about it, the more he remembered. Reluctantly...

i/~/ "I'll fight you for it."

"What?" George heard his own voice in his head as snatches of a strange conversation came back to him. /~/ /i

Eleni interrupted his memories. "George, I'm your mother," as if he needed reminding. "Tell me what happened."

George's attention turned on his mother. "Mandy." He answered simply. That one word one name, was filled with such dislike that Eleni was startled.

i*He must be talking about someone else. He can't mean the same girl Eleni connected with that name.*/i Eleni told herself. "What did you say?" She stated this question aloud.

"Mandy." George repeated. "Mandy's what happened." He stated with conviction.

"Hmm..." Eleni sounded. "We must be thinking of different people."

"Why?" George demanding remembering that Mandy had told she had visited his mother that morning. As if she didn't know that Eleni was his mother.

"Well I met a tall, beautifully pale, girl with chocolate brown curls to her waist. She said she knew you, and I was so glad because I was going to introduce you anyway. She was such an engaging young girl- "

George cut her off. "That's her!" He said without concern. "That's the bitch that- "

"Hey!" Eleni snapped. "I wont tolerate that language. She was a perfectly lovely, nice young lady."

"Yeah," George scoffed. "Nice." He had been ignoring the dull throb for so long that he almost didn't notice it any more. Almost.

"Why don't you sit up and tell me what happened." Eleni suggested. "Calmly. Rationally in and objective manner. And watch your mouth." She warned harshly.

As George moved to obey, and sit up more, his face contorted and he winced in visible anguish. Slowly he pulled himself up into a sitting position disregarding the pain. But he made sure his legs were safely spread an acceptable distance. Eleni sat next to she son so she was facing him. As she did this, she accidently bumped George's knee forcing his legs closer together.

"Shi- " George was about to swear again, but caught himself. "Ahh- ahh- Owie!" George gasped. "Oooh. Oh it hurts."

"What- " but before she could finish slowly he calmed and disregarded the pain. The whole story flowed easily from his mouth. He told his mother everything. How he met Mandy, her persistence, and then her brutal attack... He finished by yelling outraged. "I'll never breed again!"

"Ha!" Eleni sputtered with forceful laughter. her whole body shook with loud patronizing laughter, chuckles, and rude guffaws. "You've bred in the first place?" She questioned demandingly. "George, is there something you want to tell me, son?"

"No." George snapped. "This is serious! I'll never breed!" He rephrased.

But these words only added to Eleni's amusement and George somehow got the feeling that he knew how Mandy might have felt that night (she kicked him) when he was laughing at her without concern. Breathing heavily until she could control her laughter. She composed herself. "What are you a horse?" She asked jokingly. "Some sort of istallion/i or something?"

"Well not anymore," George defended seriously. "Now I'm just a gelding!"

Strong bursts of laughter erupted from the healer and mother. "Well, I hate to break it to you, George, but getting kicked in the wee-ell, Mandy is a pretty small girl and I don't think I could have done much harm. I doubt there's any serious damage." Eleni reasoned.

"Well obviously she did!" George said brutally. "Because I'm still in pain ihere/i." He gestured.

Eleni suppressed a giggle. "All right then. Let me see."

"No!" George yelled astonished. "Did I unot/u make it clear to you 'where' she unleashed her deadly attack?"

"Yes, George, you did. But I'm your mother," she reasoned. "You ain't got anything I haven't seen before..."

"Yeah, when I was a babe! I've grown some incase you didn't notice."

Eleni persisted. "How can I tell if anything's wrong if you wont let me look at it?"

"You're not looking at 'it'. It hurts too much." He finished.

"Your winky or your pride?" She asked stingingly but she meant it to be playful.

"Oh just drop it!" (Meaning the subject)

"I'm not touching it!" (Meaning 'it')

George shook his head but didn't respond. George staggered to his feet. "I'm going back to the Dove." He stated tensely as he headed to the door.

"Okay," Eleni said with a regretful sigh. Regretful for she knew he playful words had hurt son, without her meaning to. "George?" She called questioningly. He was at the door when he heard his mother call and turned to see what she needed. Before George could say anything Eleni continued. "I'm almost positive," she changed her mind. "I'm sure you'll be just fine. You're simply overreacting." George felt somewhat better; he would forgive the crude words his mother said, the words that weren't meant to, but did, offend and hurt him, but he wouldn't- couldn't forget them. In fact they, and the actual 'Incident' haunted his dreams that night, and many nights to come.

iA/N: Plot, Plot, Plot, I need a plot... what? Oh you were listening to that? Hehe. Um- not for this story, for another one I have in mind...any suggestions? Please? Eh whatever. Boy o boy! I thought that was an amusing chapter how about you.? Review okay? As in now... E-mail's still not working, but that doesn't mean you can't review. Also I'm going to be ending this as soon as the flashbacks all resolved so I'll need a really cool title...if you have any ideas or suggestion on that, they would be greatly appreciated. I want something creative...yeah I guess I'm done boring you.

b-Lady Daffodil ^_^/b/i

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