As a drudge, Elienya went largely unnoticed by the general populace of the Weyr. No one noticed the girl who cleaned out the hearth, scrubbed dishes in the lower caverns, or replaced dimglows. It largely suited her purposes, as she enjoyed observing without participating, stealing little tidbits of gossip if she thought it might be useful. Although people considered to be daft and dumb, she had a very quick wit and cunning intellect rarely seen in the lower caverns.
Crouching in the hearth, Elienya scraped out the coals and washed it with fresh water. She listened to a Wingsecond and Wingleader who spoke over cards, barely giving another glance to the working drudge.
"The rebels are causing trouble again," said the Wingsecond, a brownrider named N'ten.
"They're harmless," said bronzerider K'nessan.
N'ten slapped a hard onto the table, and K'nessan grunted. "I don't know, K'nessan. If they broke into the Weyr, they could do a lot of damage. They've been raiding tithe caravans and stealing weapons and food."
"Swords and arrows will do little good against a flaming dragon," said K'nessan.
"You and I both know the dragons would never harm a human."
"The rebels don't know that. Besides, if it was to protect their rider, the dragons would attack."
"I suppose that's true."
They lapsed into silence, allowing Elienya to mull over the information. The rebels had formed a few Turns ago, when the Red Star had been nearly bracketed by the Eye Rock, heralding the approach of Thread. At least, that's what Elienya believed. Everyone else called her a fool, a simpleton, for her beliefs. Thread hadn't fallen in over three hundred turns, and it would never fall again. The dragons were becoming obsolete, and tithes were coming few and far between. Worse than that, Weyrleader V'neron and Weyrwoman Clara were content to let the Weyr's reputation deteriorate. Currently, Gold Herth guarded a clutch of twenty two eggs, a number that should've been doubled this close to a pass.
If I had command, thought Elienya, things would be different.
After she finished her chores, Elienya lugged the bucket of ashy water from the Weyr and emptied it in the bowl. The sunlight glinted overhead, piercing the morning mist wreathing the Weyr in a grey cloud. The lake gleamed, barely visible, in the center of the bowl, alongside a series of pens with wherries and herdbeasts tucked inside. The Weyr entrances stood out like gaping mouths on the rock wall, with dragons lounging on their ledges or sunning themselves.
The watch dragon stood on the heights of the Eye Stone, its head turned towards the horizon. Elienya frowned. She reached out her thoughts and tentatively brushed against blue Fareth's conscience. She'd learned to hide her gift at a very young age. When she told the other Weyrbrats she could hear all dragons, it resulted in taunting, jeers, and the occasional beating. Once she got older, no one believed a stupid drudge, and she stopped trying to convince them of her ability.
Despite the utter lack of danger, Fareth felt ill at ease the longer he gazed at the horizon. His tail twitched restlessly from side to side, and his eyes were an alarmed orange.
Elienya followed his gaze. The blue felt unease because the Red Star loomed in that direction, a dark, ominous presence heralding death and destruction if the dragons of Pern didn't rise to sear the Thread.
How did the Harper songs go?
"Wheel and turn,
Or bleed and burn.
Fly between,
Blue and green.
Soar, dive down,
Bronze and brown
Dragonmen must fly
When Threads are in the sky."
Why didn't anybody listen to the songs the Harpers strove so diligently to teach everyone? Drangonmen must fly when Thread are in the sky. Even if his rider didn't believe, Fareth knew the Red Star was dangerous. His innate draconic instincts prepared him to fight, while centuries of peace prepared the dragonmen to fall.
Shaking her head, Elienya turned and strode back into the lower caverns. The Weyr had roused for the morning, and she hurried into the kitchen to help prepare the morning meal. She brewed a few pots of klah on the hearth, and helped slice redfruit to stir into the porridge. Headwoman Veteny bustled about, her sizable girth wrapped about in a thin white apron above a brown woolen dress. Her hair held more grey than brown, and generous lines wrinkled her face, but her brown eyes were lively and fierce.
"The Candidates will be arriving today," she bellowed. "We'll need to prepare extra breakfast, lunch, and dinner for our guests. Also, all available drudges will need to clean out the candidates quarters." She gave Elienya a pointed glare, shooing her away from the honeyed buns she'd deposited in the hearth. Bobbing a curtsy, Elienya turned and hurried from the room. As she headed out of the lower caverns to clean the candidate alcoves, a commotion in the Bowl drew her eye. Although she didn't want to irk Headwoman Veteny, Elienya's curiosity drove her to the Bowl.
Three dragons were perched on the grass, their talons forming gouges in the dirt. Green Corth, Green Pelyth, and Brown Xisith. The dragonriders all had the S of Searchriders emblazoned on their shoulder knots, and with a jolt Elienya realized the dragonriders had called the weyrbrats to Search.
Frustration surged through her. Why wasn't she notified? Because she was a lowly drudge, too stupid to impress. Normally she relished the way people underestimated her because it gave her an advantage, but in this particular situation, it thoroughly irritated her. She deserved to stand on the Hatching Grounds. She deserved to Impress a Queen and become Benden Weyr's Junior Weyrwoman.
Wary of the other Weyrbrats, Elienya slipped from the shadows of the Weyrbowl and crossed to join the crowd. Other than a few dismissive darts of eyes, no one paid her any attention. She lingered in the back, afraid that if one of the dragonriders spotted her, they would dismiss her to the lower caverns before the dragons had a chance to assess her potential.
After a few minutes, a soft, inquisitive voice flowed through her mind. Why do you hide from me, little one? asked green Pelyth.
A proud smile lifted Elienya's lips. "I'm not hiding," she whispered.
Yes, you are. You are very strong, but you're shielding yourself from me.
Elienya cocked her head to the side. "I am?" The other Weyrbrats near her turned with whispers of confusion and frowns, but she ignored them.
Yes. It makes it hard to read your full potential.
Elienya's heart lurched into her throat. What if she wasn't chosen? At sixteen, it was the first year she was eligible to Impress, and she wanted her first hatching to be her last.
What's your name? asked Pelyth.
"Elienya," she whispered.
"Will Elienya please step forward?" called T'van, green Pelyth's rider. Smothering a smirk, Elienya slipped past the other Weyrbrats, who were startled to find a drudge among them. Surprise widened T'van's eyes at the sight of the dirt smeared across Elienya's arms and dress from the hearth, and the tangled disrepair of her long blonde hair. If the contrasting color of her pale brown eyes intrigued him, he gave no outward sign of it.
"You've been chosen on Search, Elienya. Do you accept?"
She curtsied. "Of course, greenrider T'van."
T'van looked pleased she remembered his name. "Very good. Report to the candidate barracks."
Elation buoyed Elienya's spirits. To think, she'd been tasked with cleaning the very same barracks not an hour earlier! She would prove to all of them she was worthy of accolade. Without waiting for the other Weyrbrats, she turned and headed back into the Weyr. On the way, she paused for a bucket and mop and cleaned the candidate alcove she'd chosen as her own. It had four wooden beds partitioned by curtains, with white candidate robes lining pegs on the wall. It was closest to the bathing quarters at the end of the hall, and she wanted to be nearby in the event she had to bathe and head to the Hatching Ground quickly. Although she was used to working in filth, she wanted to clean to Impress her gold dragonet.