Chapter 1
Amrys applauded Master Weaver Lynger's decision to take the paying students in at a different time of Turn to the new apprentices.
By taking them in at midsummer, the new apprentices who had come at Turnover would have settled in, and there would be less disruption. And from the point of view of the Ranking girls, coming in the summer was less of a shock to the system than arriving in the bitter cold of a High Reaches winter.
Each girl paid 600 marks for her turn's tuition, twice the wages of a labourer; that covered extensive tuition, though it was not as detailed as that an apprentice received, nor as many different fields. The messier aspects of weavercraft, such as the often malodorous art of dyeing, was not offered to the paying students. They learned such ladylike things as multi-heddle weaving, tablet weaving, knitcrafts, lacecrafts, embroidery and dressmaking. And this turn, most of them would be paying at least in part using the newly printed hundred-mark paper notes from the Printcrafters.
An apprentice paid 150 marks to be entered into an apprenticeship, with some discretionary scholarships for the talented – Amrys' mother funded two such scholarships – and it covered a turn's food and wages of teaching Journeymen or Masters, as there were a number of apprentices to pay for the tuition collectively. After the first turn, apprentices would be engaged in real work for the good of the craft, as well as having projects to earn a few marks for themselves. They were starting to pay their own way. Amrys' own job was to baste pieces together for Mastersewncraft Braelek for ready-made clothes, and those garments that were ordered, to be tailored. She was a fast, accurate baster, and though she hated the tedium, she was thrilled to think she could actually pay for her tuition and food now, by her own industry! For a change, Master Braelek had set her to hemming, where every stitch had to be invisible; and though it still had its own tedium, Amrys was proud to be trusted to do it right, without getting careless.
The same level of skill would not necessarily be expected of the Ranking Students, though they would be encouraged to be as good as they could be. They, however, would not be fined for poor work as the apprentices were!
oOo
Amrys had also been given the task of welcoming the paying students; Master Lynger had asked her to wear her Rank knots as well as her apprentice knots. After the fiasco of Siresha's attack on a blueweed-scented Amrys the previous turn, the Master wanted someone Ranking to explain the rules to the girls; and a turn more maturity to Amrys had made a lot of difference.
"You mean use it shamelessly like I did on the little snots who objected to me being snippy over having to save their fellow from the icy plunge pool?" Amrys asked the Master.
He had heard the story unofficially, and he grinned.
"Along those lines, yes," he said. "I'd ask Sadvia, but for her being attached to us only through the Woodcraft hall, not being a weaver, which could have questions asked. And besides, one of the girls is her sister."
"Glorious egg flying before hatching!" swore Amrys, inventively. "Does she know? Our Sadvia, I mean?"
Master Lynger hid a smile.
"The Journeyman has been apprised," he said, trying to sound reproving. "She's reserving judgement."
Amrys sniffed.
"Oh, well, if the girl is as easily swayed as our Sadvia has intimated, it's best that we weavers do the swaying, not some other pieces of goods."
"I believe that Holder Syal is only permitting her to come because her sister is here to keep an eye on her, er, friendships," said the Master. "A thirtysecond fine for your unflattering description of girls you haven't even met."
"Yes, Master; sorry Master," said Amrys, not sounding sorry.
oOo
Indeela, Sadvia's sister, arrived on a Blue dragon, trying to flirt with the Rider, which was getting her precisely nowhere. D'vind had eyes only for Ch'sseri, and found females not to his taste at all. Indeela looked much like Sadvia, with chestnut hair and creamy skin, with huge brown eyes that somehow seemed to have an air of having less at home behind them than her older sister. She was a little in awe of Amrys' Rank, as Lady Holder in her own Right, and so was less patronising to a 'kid' than she might have otherwise been.
"My littlest sister is in a full apprenticeship; she must be a turn or two younger than you," Indeela said, having thanked D'vind, without remembering to thank Bimoleth. Amrys sent a silent apology for the girl to the Blue dragon and thanked him on her behalf. Indeela went on, "and my sister is a journeyman, and so is my brother, at least until he has to take over as Holder. Our cousin, Lord Larad does like his Holders to take an interest in any craft they host. But I thought it was all too much hard work, especially all that sawing and hammering and other noisy and rough things."
"Yes, I know Journeyman Sadvia well; I'm a logicator too, as well as learning loomcrafting from her," said Amrys. "And of course I know H'llon very well, as I've fostered in the Weyr. Are we finished pulling Rank and deciding who's got the longest tail and shiniest skin?"
Indeela stared; then laughed.
"You're direct, kid," she said.
"It gets places quicker than circumlocution," said Amrys, pleased to fit in another good long word. "If I want double-speak I'll hire a Harper. Now are you going to listen to the rules from me before I deliver you to Otaysa, your house mother?"
Indeela nodded quickly.
"Oh yes, I've promised to obey all the strictures," she said.
By all accounts, her parents were strict enough to take the girl away if there were any complaints at all; and she seemed ready to make good. Amrys ran through the short rule list, and then delivered Indeela to Otaysa.
Amrys judged the girl 'mostly harmless.'
oOo
Next to arrive was Brown Sharath, one of Amrys' favourite dragons. K'len had brought his second sister, Kelia, at sixteen the same age as Indeela.
"Hello sprout, you look more like a boy than ever," drawled Kelia.
"Well I'd rather look like a boy than like a Journeyman Baker's Masterpiece of icing craft," retorted Amrys. "What are you wearing?"
"It's the latest fashion out of Southern Boll!" declared Kelia, indignantly.
"Well, it was three turns ago; and for mature ladies," said Amrys, contemptuously. "Talk about lamb dressed as mutton; you look like a kid of eight who's found her mother's old clothes to play dressing up in."
Kelia spluttered and K'len guffawed.
"And a weaver should know, even if you don't listen to your brother or mother!" the Brown Rider said. "Amrys, can you even spell the word 'tact'?"
"Not to family," said Amrys, "And you people sort of are."
That mollified Kelia a little; and she muttered something about it being a comment L'kelle might make.
"Well, I get on fine with L'kelle, so what do you expect?" said Amrys. L'kelle had Impressed at Segrith's clutch that spring.
"Is it really out of date?" demanded Kelia.
"A trifle passé," said Amrys. "It'd be all right if you were pushing thirty, but … anyway, we can alter it for you to make it much more the thing, with the latest sketches to work from. I will be glad when H'llon prints fashion plates ever quarter turn so people keep up. Makes more work for us too, having to alter or sew for people. Oh, and I mustn't forget I have to tell you the rules and then take you to Otaysa. There's another girl here your age, she's Sadvia's sister, you know, Elissa's friend from the Woodcrafter Hall."
Kelia nodded.
"What are the rules then?"
"It's mostly about respect – respect of craftsmen and not interfering with them, respect of each other, and respect of High Reaches cranky weather. Rules about snow goggles you already know."
Amrys reeled off the list of rules again, and Kelia nodded. They were all sensible rules, and vain and silly as Kelia could be, she was sensible enough about real rules!
K'len waved farewell and went over to the Hold to cadge cider and a chat with Corbin.
Girls were strange beings when they got together, and he wanted none of it; one at a time to warm his furs was his rule for girls, and though he had a loose, on-off relationship with Green Rider R'iana, he had no intention of settling down!
oOo
Kelia's over-decorated gown disappeared in favour of a plainer work gown more suitable for a maiden of tender years, and the project of altering it to bring it up to date was one of Kelia's planned first projects.
oOo
The next girl came on a Blue dragon whose Rider was a pleasant faced youth wearing the knots of Telgar Weyr.
"Hello!" said Amrys, to the dragon. "You look way too nice to have come from Telgar, what happened, your egg hatch in the wrong place?"
The dragon's eyes whirled in consternation.
"Uh … My lady, Porth isn't used to being talked to by, uh, well, anyone but me," said his youthful Rider.
"Hmm, poor Porth," said Amrys. "Thanks, Blue Rider, you look nice too, and I expect Porth will get used to it now you have L'rilly and D're in your Weyr. Do you know my adopted brother Jilamon?"
The boy brightened.
"I'll say! He stood up to old … uh, to the Brown Rider, like Timon did!"
"T'mon," said Amrys, sharply. "He's a dragonrider, and he's won the silver star many times over for mountain rescue, because Denth can go into small spaces."
"Sorry," said the Blue Rider, flushing. "He … they said he didn't deserve the contraction, and until Candidate Prisca came, we thought he was confined insane, or overdosed on Fellis because St'mon said that the undersized dragon, uh, Denth, had died. She's really shaken everyone up! Do you know her?"
"Yes, I do," said Amrys, finding it hard to picture Prisca in the same sentence as shaking people up. Sagarra had mentioned that T'lana had asked her to go to Telgar, but Amrys had been sceptical. Seemingly she had been wrong about the girl; a lesson to learn in that. People could change. "We at High Reaches don't much care for the attitudes of those who have forgotten what it is to serve dragons. Why don't you drop in at the Weyr and catch up with T'mon after you've said hello to Jilamon? And my stepfather used to be C'bin of course, if you want to catch up with him too; ask Porth to speak with him, if you please. It makes a lot of difference to the dragonless, you know."
"I didn't," the Rider said. "I say, I ought to introduce you to my passenger; this is Marra. Lady Varilka of Newfields Hold sent her."
Amrys smiled and held out her hand.
The girl wore no knots at all; and she was only a turn or so older than Amrys. She was a brown creature; brown hair, skin and eyes, and rather more skinny than slender.
"Oh, have you come for a proper apprenticeship late, not be one of our usual ornamental types at all?" asked Amrys, eagerly.
The girl flushed and shook her head.
"The … the lady Varilka is … is kindly paying for me to have a turn's tuition," she whispered, shyly. "She … she saw my work. I … I'm a drudge," she added defiantly.
"Well, if you're good enough to be sponsored, you're good enough to be an apprentice, surely?" asked Amrys. "Tell you what, see how you get on; if you want to transfer to an apprenticeship, I'm sure Master Lynger can pull the right strings. I've heard of Lady Varilka; Geriana and B'kas and the boys say she's nice, so she won't mind you learning more, I'm sure! Now, I need to tell you all the rules… I'm Amrys, by the way."
The girl Marra felt rather overwhelmed.
She had dreaded meeting the Ranking types like this Lady Amrys, afraid they'd put her down and make game of her low birth. But this girl seemed more concerned that she, Marra, should have the best chance to learn that she could! And overwhelming as the Lady Amrys was, she seemed kindly and friendly too – in a rather exhausting way. And she chattered familiarly to and about dragonfolk too, though if her stepfather was a dragonless man, that was scarcely surprising. And she had such a lovely warm smile that Marra tentatively responded to.
"There!" said Amrys. "You do have a pretty smile … don't let any of those stuck up tunnel snakes stop you smiling – you come to me if they try! Indeela should be all right, her parents are decent; and Kelia's weyrbred so she don't give a shard about birth, though she's daft about men, and they're both fairly elderly, sixteen, I think. Reckon I can sneak you into the apprentice common room if there aren't any other girls your age. There are six female apprentices, and none over thirteen, so we're a jolly bunch, you know!"
"Th … thank you!" said Marra, thinking that Amrys probably even meant it all.
"I talk too much, don't I?" said Amrys. "Sorry. Kevanna and Lyssa hit me with cushions when I lead off too long; of course we wouldn't let this turn's intake take liberties like that, even if Bretine is older than me! Anyway, here's Otaysa's room, and here are the rules," and she rattled them off.
And the shy girl was duly delivered to the motherly Otaysa.
oOo
The next girl in, who had a passing resemblance to Po'nea and I'linne was pounced on by Kelia before Amrys could introduce herself.
"By your looks you're Rulene; B'mall said you wanted to do a turn improving your sewing and weaving, and judging by the comments of those tomboys V'lie, J'issa and Mallitta, you and I will get on just fine!"
"Oh, are you weyrbred? Don't you want to Impress?" asked Rulene. "V … V'lie and J'issa could speak of nothing else, and how hard it is to remember they contract!"
"What, you think I want to get out of my furs at half past way too early in winter to get sleeted on and attacked by fish as well as fighting Thread? No thank you!" snorted Kelia.
Rulene beamed.
"How nice to meet another girl who doesn't think that being a Green Rider is the pinnacle of all existence!" she said. "I also want time away from home to find out who I am, now I don't have to go in fear of father any more, as well as to learn nice sewing. Lord Deckter has placed his nephew as Holder of Two Springs Hold since Bimall, I mean B'mall, Impressed last turn, which is ridiculous as he was over age. And I think I'm expected to marry him. Lord Deckter's nephew that is, of course, not my brother B'mall. And he's very nice but I'm not sure if he's nice enough to want to marry. At least, not yet! And it's a way of stepping back."
Rulene was very young for her nineteen turns, in some respects, and Kelia seemed to her to be a perfect confidante!
Amrys sighed and left them to it.
With Indeela as well, who also seemed to be more interested in clothes than anything else, judging by the amount of luggage she had brought, there seemed to be a lot of silliness in the offing.
Amrys reminded herself that it was not her business.
If they got too silly it was up to Otaysa to squash it. Amrys reflected that even had she been as old as those girls, she would steer clear of having anything to do with them. Poor Marra! Only two more to arrive; and Amrys had heard that one of them was Lord Bargen's daughter at least as old as Indeela and Kelia.
Well, Marra should have a haven with the apprentices; as she deserved if she was here on the merits of achievement not because she had wealthy relatives.
Amrys went to talk to Master Lynger.
oOo
"About Marra, Master," she said, abruptly.
"She's not been bullied already for her lack of Rank?" asked the Master.
"No … but she feels it. And she's so much younger than the others, and not as constitutionally silly," said Amrys, in disgust.
Lynger know her vagaries of collecting long words too well by now to be thrown by a twelve-turn-old using such prolixic descriptions.
"What do you suggest I do about it?" he asked. Amrys at least would have constructive ideas and would not take asking her opinion for weakness.
"I hoped you'd write to the Lady Varilka and ask if Marra mightn't be a real apprentice," said Amrys, earnestly. "If she's motivated by kindness, it would give the girl status in her own right as well as more skills in the long run. I bet she meant well, and saw being a paying student as a reward. But for a shy kid who's younger than the rest, it could be the opposite."
Master Lynger nodded.
"I hear your words, Amrys," he said. "But I'll wait to judge for myself if she should apprentice, as she's had no trial as one would expect. If all she can do is embroider, well, I don't want a one-trick pony in a new and small crafthall."
Amrys nodded acquiescence.
Such people were not luminaries of a craft hall, though in a large enough hall they had their place. It would be no problem in Southern Boll, or Fort, but here at Rivenhill it would show.
The Master was right; and she beamed at him.