Dragons Dilemma: Bloodlines and Blood ties
Chapter 1
Gather at Keroon Hold, Early Autumn in the late Sixth Interval
Esrene resolutely quelled the muscles threatening to drag her lips into an irritable grimace as she glanced over her cards at the tall man leaning indolently against a stack of crates at the entrance of the tent, watching her. She quickly glanced away, back to the pot of marks in front of her on the table. Was it really so unladylike to play poker at a gather? Was that why he was there, watching her so intently? Or was it something else entirely?
It wasn't as if her father's gamesters were at this autumnal Keroon gather, and it wasn't as if she was with unsavory sorts. True, she was playing cards with lowbred folk who worked with runners … but then they seemed the only folk she didn't completely outclass at poker. It seemed less criminal to play with them than some of the more easily offended holderfolk, and besides, they were good-natured, good company and they weren't drunk.
"Lady?"
It was her turn again.
She glanced to the previous player's entry into the pot, and then back at her cards. She had a high flush and potentially an easy win. Scrounging a few quarter-mark pieces out of the rather immodest mountain of marks she'd accrued, she tossed them into the pot.
"Double."
There were a few appreciative remarks and whistles from onlookers, all of which Esrene ignored in favor of glaring over her cards at the man watching her. The jockeys and stablehands constituting the majority of players and spectators hadn't seemed the least bit annoyed or irritated by his presence, having in fact invited him to join a hand or two. The man had respectfully declined. They had probably deduced from his demeanor that he was a dragonrider, but his audacity to stare at her the entire time had put her off completely. It was only when she had faintly heard his dragon's rejoinders about manners and staring that she had realized he was a dragonrider.
The dealer called for them to display their cards. She carefully settled her flush on the surface in front of her, and then she glanced around at the other players' hands. That should do it; no one had anything to rival her hand.
"And the lady from Bitra wins again!" said their dealer. There was a mixture of groans and laughter from players and spectators alike. Although she wasn't surprised by such responses, they always tended to amuse her. However, today she wasn't nearly as amused as she was apt to be.
"Don't worry, gentlemen," she said as she collected her winnings, placing them in the shoulder satchel she wore for such reasons. "I believe I'm finished here today, and several of you ought to get back to work!"
Patting her satchel with one hand, she waggled her finger at one or two of the stablehands and offered a jovial, jaunty wink to one of the jockeys. These actions were met with chuckles from the crowd. Then, after standing, she offered a deep curtsy to her hosts. Amidst farewells and well wishes, she made her way to the tent's exit, pausing to say, "I'll use some of these winnings to send you lot down something choice from the dinner roasts. I'll find the right cook to discretely pass your fair share of marks to."
That, at least, was how Lady Esrene of Bitra Hold paid back those she took from in gambling at gathers. It had worked enough times at various gathers. Perhaps that was why her father let her wander off on her own, but then she was also a tall, fit young woman and not an easy target – except, perhaps, for a dragonrider.
As she brushed past busy stablehands and managers, she felt the dragonrider's presence and could hear his dragon's chiding litany against following her. As the picket lines cleared way to pathways from the racing flats to the Hold proper and the assembled gather square, he caught up to her by virtue of his much longer legs. He did not speak immediately.
"Why have you followed me, dragonrider?" she queried, not glancing at him, her head held high on her slender neck. Sensibility and decorum led her to slow her pace to the more mincing, ladylike gait someone her station should maintain or at least feign. If she walked too fast, someone might get the wrong idea, something that she had no desire for people to believe - that she had been off trysting with a dragonrider. Holder girls were warned early of the dangers of dragonmen, and she meant not to ruin her reputation beyond her gambling hobby. The prospects for marriage were few for a Bitran Lord's daughters, even those born of a Ruathan mother. Prejudices remained strong against the Bitran line despite what her father had done to improve its image. Then again, prejudices were still strong against Telgar Weyr, although few exactly knew its transgressions of the previous Pass.
The dragonman did not immediately respond, but he did slow his pace to match hers, although his was an indolent, cross-armed dawdle rather than the mince of a holder Lady. "Well, it's a bit of a long story," he drawled at length, "but it comes down to my dragon sensing something at this gather, a slight power, Lady Esrene of Bitra Hold, and that something I believe is you."
"Is that so?"
"Wingleader L'shev of Fort Weyr at your service," he replied promptly with a slight bow, the action instigating a sideways glance from Esrene, "son of Ista's Lord Lerton. Former Harper. Rider of bronze Ulminth, who not too long ago flew our junior queen. She began to clutch last night, and at about noon in the east, Faranth be praised, she laid a gold. I'm surprised you hadn't heard the news."
"I try to spend my time at gathers away from the gossipers, social speculators and rumormongers, which is why I spend it away from my sisters," Esrene replied swiftly. Her maternal aunt, Benden's Weyrwoman, had told her of the clutching that morning when she, the Weyrleader and their brownrider son had blithely conveyed her father, mother, two younger sisters, an elder brother and Esrene to the gather.
The bronzerider laughed. Esrene stopped on the path; the bronzerider followed her example.
"I did hear of the clutching, this morning. You may know my aunt?"
He tilted his head, giving her a slightly confused look.
"Weyrwoman Hilaina, of Benden."
"Oho! So you have Ruathan blood."
Esrene nodded once, curtly, and continued along the path. "Yes, I have Ruathan blood."
"That, perhaps, explains Ulminth's excitement when he landed."
Esrene glanced sidelong at him now and, tilting her head somewhat arrogantly, favored him with a sardonic smirk. "Yes, I have Ruathan blood. Yes, Ruathan women oft go off to the Weyr and become goldriders. What makes Ulminth so certain that I have what it takes to be a goldrider?"
"I'd say, eventually … Weyrwoman," he told her. Following this was a brief pause as he glanced up at the Keroon fireheights where his dragon must have been sunning. If there was an exchange from the dragon, she did not hear it. "Ulminth is sleeping, but he told me he suspected you could hear and speak to all dragons."
Esrene flushed faintly. "I can, to some extent. Their voices aren't very strong unless I'm very physically close to them or whomever they speak to. It's more that I feel them, and then occasionally I hear them. My mother could hear all dragons, to the point where being at a Weyr nearly drove her insane. Something changed, though, and it isn't nearly so unbearable for her, now."
It was L'shev's turn to stop in his tracks. "Have your sisters this talent?"
"None of them do. One of my younger brothers is a greenrider at Benden, though," Esrene replied.
"How old are you?"
"Nineteen, almost twenty."
"Young enough to stand for a clutch, and maybe more—"
"In an Interval?" Esrene interrupted dubiously, finally stopping. She turned to face him, her expression incredulous.
"We're at the end of this Interval, soon enough. Ten turns, maybe less, if the records are correct," he began and she nodded in reply to his assessment. As she was about to respond, he held up his hand and interrupted, "Listen, Weyrwoman Dervana is nearing an age when her queen will stop rising sometime before the Pass begins. Fort's other goldrider, Choshara is childish and lazy, and it was a miracle she forced Loramath not to gorge before she rose this time. Seventeen eggs this time, though, with a gold. So Fort would have three golds, and I wouldn't put it past Wyaleth to clutch another gold the next time she rises."
"And just what does this have to do with me?"
"Listen, you're an intelligent woman, physically fit, and of age to Impress. Your mother is of Ruathan blood. Your aunt is a Weyrwoman. You can, even if it's a limited ability, hear all dragons. If you can play the political game half as well as you played poker back there with those stablehands and jockeys, you could make an incredibly strong Weyrwoman, and that is what Fort Weyr will need to weather what this next Pass will bring. Speaking frankly, after the plague of the last Pass hit some of the holderfolk so hard, it's been hard even in the Interval to Search some areas. Most holders want to keep their promising girls to marry off or entertain the Lord Holder with, for holder daughters having the half-Blood bastard offspring of a Lord can bring prestige and gifts to the family, and they want to keep their promising boys to till and harvest the fields. Once, having a dragonrider in the family was prestigious, but now these common holders would rather have their daughters overbear bastards for uncaring Lords."
With that, he gently cupped a hand beneath her elbow to guide her forward. She discretely shook him off but continued on the path to the Hold proper. She was deep in thought, and both bronzerider and Lady remained silent as they continued along the path.
Finally, Esrene broke the silence. "I think my aunt would be amenable to me going to Fort Weyr as a candidate. Benden already has five junior golds. What would I have to worry about?"
"Fort's Weyrleader has a contender in mind for that gold egg. Like you, she can hear all dragons, only her ability ... she's much stronger with it, can speak to any dragon on Pern no matter the distance if she tries hard enough. She's strong-willed. She's manipulative. She's ... she has the sort of beauty few men can resist. Yet, she's completely devoted to Weyrleader Br'tem."
Esrene frowned. "Then what chance have I against that?"
"Honestly, I have no idea, but Br'tem is a terrible Weyrleader. I'm positive Br'tem will be here with Thalena this evening. Someone other than Br'tem needs to lead Pern into the Pass. Dervana won't be long as Weyrwoman as I've told you. Choshara would never be an effective Weyrwoman, and Thalena would be a disaster as a Weyrwoman."
"How do you know so much about this Thalena woman?"
"She's my much younger half-sister. This summer she was fostered to Fort Hold, presumably at Br'tem's advice. I'm certain something is up between Lord Lerton of Ista, Lord Tolorem of Fort, and Br'tem."
"Another dragon arriving," noted Esrene softly, feeling the arrival of a dragon from between and hearing the echoes of L'shev and Ulminth's conversation.
"That's Dawsath, with Br'tem … and he's carrying Thalena with him. Go quickly to bribe the cooks to taking your runner-loving gamblers some choice bits of roast. I must meet my family. I'll bring a wing to Bitra Hold in a sevenday or two, with Search dragons. Good evening!"
With that, they parted paths.
L'shev had little difficulty finding his father, stepmother and elder brother amidst the din of the gather, for the Lord, Lady and heir of Ista Hold often made their presence a magnanimous spectacle at Gathers. At present, the Harpers were playing Ballads and not the raucous dances so often favored at Gathers these days, and thus it was easy for the Istan entourage to attract attention. Pern's Masterharper was not present at the Keroon gather, bogged down by diplomatic workings between two feuding fishing Holds along the Tillek coast. That, at least, was the scuttlebutt about the gather.
Lord Lerton noticed him first as he approached those gathered about them, and he called out "My son, L'shev, the Wingleader!" as he pulled his son into a surprisingly strong hug. Lord Lerton was well into his sixth decade, but age and activity had treated him well. It was often commented that, though L'shev was significantly taller (although Lerton was not a short man by any means), he was otherwise the spitting image of his handsome father at younger ages, and if that bore any truth, with luck L'shev would age more gracefully than some people did. His brother Lemarus greeted him with a grim smile and then returned to his flirtations with a group of holder girls. Lemarus, although not unattractive, was neither as attractive as his younger brother nor bore the forbidden appeal of being a dragonman.
L'shev then turned his gaze upon Lerton's Lady, Varensa, who being in her mid thirties, was in fact less than a decade older than L'shev. Although her only child by Lord Lerton had been a girl, his only daughter to survive infancy, Lady Varensa's family had profited incredibly by pushing her at him and then having her succeed to the Ladyship of the Hold when L'shev's own mother had died.
When his father released him, L'shev bowed to Lady Varensa. She greeted him pleasantly and warmly, although there was always something beneath her pleasantries that unsettled him, for he knew some of the generalities of her ambitions for her daughter, the Lady Thalena.
"Ulminth is well?" Lady Varensa queried, glancing vaguely in the direction of the fireheights.
"Yes, Lady. I'm sure you heard the news that Loramath clutched well, including the gold egg we have all been waiting for," he told her with a smile, emphasizing choice words to instigate the interest of his father and stepmother, and perhaps to glean more of their plans for Thalena.
"Ulminth has done well for this family, then," Lord Lerton said smoothly, gracing his son with a beaming grin and clapping him on the back. He guided L'shev and Lady Varensa away from the crowd, leaving Lemarus to entertain the women. Many of the men who had gathered around the Istan entourage were slowly dissipating. This was, perhaps, their goal for Lemarus at the gather. "Your younger sister would make an excellent weyrwoman at Fort, I do believe."
"Yes, women trained in the domestic dealings of a Hold will often do well as a weyrwoman," replied L'shev diplomatically, although it was in fact a barb at Lady Varensa. A quick glance at her made L'shev realize that the woman had caught his meaning. Thalena had been taught the basics of domestic management it was true, but more than that, she had been taught to be a cunning and idle manipulator, coercing others into doing the work that should have been hers. Wishing to soften Lady Varensa once more, he smiled at her and then at his father. "Speaking of my dear sister, Weyrleader Br'tem has brought her to the gather from Fort Hold. I'll have Ulminth ask her to come to us."
This did immediately brighten Varensa's mood from where it could have gone after L'shev had nearly baited her. He pulled out a chair for Lady Varensa at the table his father had guided them towards, and his father took the chair beside her. L'shev sat next to his father.
A gather was a show for Thalena, and indeed as she picked her way across the courtyard to them, the crowds quickly parted for the Istan beauty. She glided arm-in-arm with Weyrleader Br'tem to them, the coral-hued dress she wore setting off her tan and the golden glimmer of her blond hair. She was, L'shev grudgingly admitted to himself, an exceptionally gorgeous woman by many standards, having inherited the physical height and facial beauty her petite mother and the hourglass physique their paternal grandmother had sported in her youthful Turns.
As Thalena came to a slow halt in front of them, L'shev felt his cheeks flush faintly with embarrassment and annoyance. This gather dress she wore was borderline scandalous, although it maintained Br'tem's rapt and jealous attention. The burly Weyrleader presented her to her relatives, and she curtsied to them. Br'tem's gaze quickly fell upon her even more exposed cleavage. The perversity of it irritated L'shev, but he fought back his emotions.
"Mother, father," Lady Thalena began in her lilting, caressing tones as her dark eyes sparkled with poorly contained excitement, "I have officially been Searched for the queen egg now hardening on Fort's sands. I am, if these natural gifts I possess are any indication, to be Fort's next weyrwoman."
Lady Varensa, forgetting her station, excitedly pushed out of her seat and grasped her daughter in a tight hug. Weyrleader Br'tem, looking amused, stepped back to let mother and daughter embrace. Thalena sheepishly disentangled herself from her mother and then glanced over at Br'tem. He guided her to an open chair, pulled it out for her and then pushed it in. He sat on the other side of her, so besotted with Thalena that he forgot the courtesy of helping Lady Varensa take a seat. L'shev quickly stood and aided his stepmother back into her seat, and then once more took his chosen spot beside his father.
"So have either of you two ever come across a woman like my daughter, so obvious a choice to become a weyrwoman?" Lerton asked of Br'tem and L'shev as the Harpers struck up another ballad.
L'shev shook his head and glanced over at Br'tem. The man was positively beaming as he stated, "I have never witnessed a woman so capable of speaking to and hearing all dragons without it driving the woman insane. No, Thalena's gifts are extraordinary and unique, and when the Pass arrives, she will be an asset as the Weyr's senior pair."
L'shev said nothing then, glancing about the table with a critical eye. Lord Lerton and Lady Varensa were beaming with pride to have their daughter's talents thus assessed. Thalena had blushed, prettily enough to be sure, beneath her tan at such a compliment. L'shev vaguely wondered if someone could affect such blushing.
"You really think so, Br'tem?" the girl asked him after she had collected herself, her lilt carrying a sensuous undertone and her gaze continued the charade with a faintly fluttering gaze of flirtation.
The conversation then widened to include Lord Lerton and Lady Varensa about their plans for the Hatching, its subject matter quickly disintegrating into an animated conversation between Varensa and Thalena about what Varensa would wear to the Hatching and what Thalena would change into for the feast. The men at the table barely spoke at this juncture of the conversation, although Lerton and Br'tem occasionally made suggestions with Br'tem mentioning his credit with the Masterweaver at Boll.
L'shev remained quiet and contemplative, following the conversation but occasionally losing himself to his thoughts. He wondered if Lady Esrene of Bitra could compete against Thalena's stronger aptitude towards dragons on the Hatching sands. Ulminth, at his urging, was silent on the subject for he did not wish Thalena to know that he objected to her standing. His reverie was interrupted when dinner was announced. Those at his table, as prominent guests of the gather, quickly got up and filed towards the Hold proper for better seating. L'shev excused himself to go sit with the members of his wing.
Author's Note: It's been years since I've really written prose and even more years since I've written anything in Pern Fandom. However, I thought I'd try my hand at this subject for entertainment and experimentation. This first chapter I am releasing without a beta for the moment, to see if there is further interest in how the story progresses. The whole of what I have at the moment is something around 15,000 words. If you Beta on and are interested in being a Beta Reader for this story, please contact me. I will be taking a break from this project during the month of November to test the terrifying waters of NaNoWriMo. Although, I'm sure if I get a massive case of writer's block during my foray into my NaNoWriMo story, I'll return to this and plug away at a few words or so!
My goal for this project is to create something interesting, hone my literary style and skills (because both are currently lacking compared to what I had years ago), increase my literary vocabulary (this has also unfortunately decreased after years of flashcards worth of biological and anthropological jargon, as well as thousands of flashcards of foreign language alphabets and words), improve my characterization skills, and test my ability to write interesting plots.