Full summary: Rhea was one of the few people who didn't really want to Impress Pern's greatest creatures; dragons. But when unfortunate events occur, Rhea finds herself the new queenrider. Don't get her wrong, she loves her dragon and all the benefits of being attached for life. It just that fate picked the wrong time for her to be a DragonRider. The Lords of all the Holds are clamoring for action. Searing Thread on Pern isn't enough anymore. They want to defeat the Thread at it's source. The Red Star.
During the Ninth Pass, Lessa and F'lar debated if there had ever been an expedition to the Red Star, and if so, what happened? Why was there no recording of the attempt?
This is the story of that attempt. This is what happened.
Authors note: This takes place in the Fifth Pass of the Red Star. This is the Seventh Year of the Pass, the Tenth Month (actually its four sevendays, but its less confusing for those who aren't as avid Pern fans as I am) and this chapter takes place on the Twentieth day. I hope you aren't already hopelessly confused. I tried to take an idea and impliment it here. There are no people from the books (I tried to pick a Pass that didn't have any books written on it) in this short story. I might mention a few of the ancients…I might not. I just wanted a completely original story, set in Pern…my favorite planet. I hope you like it.
Dragon Tapestry
Chapter one: Meet Rhea
With a heartfelt and slightly sad sigh, Rhea pulled the tapestry towards her again and started the finishing stitches. It would most likely be another sevenday before it was completed but that was fine by her. The espousal celebration of the Fort Weyrleaders wouldn't be until then anyways. And she didn't like the knowledge that they were her parents to be spread around.
"Well, that secret will be let out when everyone sees this," Rhea said to herself, almost disgustedly. She had escaped her overbearing blood parents to be fostered in the Weavercrafthall. Nearing her twentieth turn, Rhea was being pestered to stand on the Hatching sands for her chance to Impress. But she had already found her true calling; embroidering. It had started when she was only ten turns old, and the head woman of the lower caverns in Fort Weyr had given Rhea a sampler to work on. Escaping the dreary workings of the lower caverns she had becoming engrossed in the project. After almost four sevendays she completed the napkin(for that's what it was to be) and presented it to her parents.
They liked it. B'lea and Rhinon were equally impressed with their blood daughters skill and after a few conversations on the matter, plopped her on a dragon and sent her to the Weavercrafthall. That her parents didn't see her off themselves, or even take her to her new home…well that was most likely the first of many actions that would one day disillusion their daughter against them. After ten turns, Rhea was thoroughly happy in her place at the craft hall, and had no dreams of returning to the bustling Weyr or Impressing a dragon (something that was expected of her, with her blood mother and father being the Weyrleaders).
Now, after almost thirty turns as weyrmates, the two had decided that they would never part. Their dragons were equally bonded and it was well known that Swilth would never let another bronze other then Linneth mate with her. They entertained the notion of an espousal and liked it so much, the Weyr was happy to make the arrangements to do so. Very few weyrmates ever became espoused, because they didn't want the chance of another dragon mating with their partners. Jealousy was dangerous in riders. Therefore great precautions were taken to avoid a jealousy fueled fight between riders. If riders did fight, they used no weapons and went till first blood was drawn. Throw an angry lover into the mix, and someone might just be stupid enough to pull a belt knife. During a Pass of the Red Star when every man and dragon was needed to combat the ancient and dangerous threat of Thread, a loss of a dragon was a large and demoralizing blow.
But none of this mattered to Rhea. What mattered was that she needed to finish the tapestry. She was hoping to present it to the Masters of the Weavercrafthall, in hopes of speeding along her own Mastery. True, she was already a journeywoman, but she knew her work was better quality (and worth more) then her rank.
Rhea sighed again; this time with more feeling. If she knew the Weyrleaders, and she did, they would be after her to stay at Fort until Swilth's latest clutch hatched. Like all the queens, she had been producing steadily larger clutched since the Red Star made it's fifth pass, almost eight turns ago. There was almost always a queen egg in the mix, and Swilth was prided on her ability to lay such large numbers. In fact, a few turns ago, she had laid two queen eggs. Certainly uncommon but not unheard of.
Rhea had managed to make excuses each time her mother's dragon clutched, but this time there would be none. She somewhat entertained the notion that the Weyrleaders had planned their espousal ceremony so close to the Hatching, so she would be forced to attend.
It wasn't that she hated dragons, oh no, not at all. She loved the giant gentle creatures. It was simply a child rebellion thing. Her parents pushed so hard for her to be rider that in an almost unconscious way, Rhea didn't want to be one. Only children in their teens would understand. Her parents certainly didn't. And it was hard enough to explain. Mostly she used the excuse that she wouldn't be able to gain her Mastery in embroidering if she became a queenrider. And she did love to embroider.
Her parents would retort that if she continued the way she was, Rhea would go blind before her time; something that wouldn't happen if she were to Impress. It galled them that she would rather sit around and stitch then just stand on the Hatching sands. If she didn't Impress they would wholeheartedly back her entry into the Craft. But she wouldn't even try and that irritated them the most.
So, in all, Rhea wasn't very happy with her parents. And the Weyrleaders weren't very happy with their only blood daughter.