Disclaimer: Pern and its dragonriders belong to Anne McCaffrey. Original characters are mine, please do not use them without my permission.
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A pod of dolphins squealed and plunged ahead of The Windward Lass, a longship of Far Western Continent design. Her sleek prow had been carved and gilded to represent a gold dragon, a common enough choice among the Merchant Hall families but the uncommon skill with which the wood had been fashioned spoke of the touch of a master craftsman. Thirty oars dipped into the azure water, propelling the craft between the stone arms of Redfin Seahold's breakwaters. A fair of fire lizards – some banded, some wild – chittered; dipped and banked above the square-rigged vessel, its hempen sales tightly furled, useless in these becalmed conditions.
Kesbara perched by the ship's figurehead, her fingers caressing the fine-grained hardwood, warm in the sun and glad that they were arriving before noon. She looked forward to setting foot on land.
They had been at sea for a sevenday now and she'd grown tired of salted fish, fruit preserves and ship's biscuits. There wasn't space aboard The Windward Lass for a proper galley, unless it was meant for her to be as cumbersome as the Southern Continent merchant cogs. Sometimes, they'd grill fresh-caught fish on a brazier or heat water for klah but all food was packed, ready to eat. Fresh fruit, meat and vegetables would be a welcome change. Kesbara felt her stomach rumbling in anticipation. A cold mug of ale would not go amiss, either.
Of course, sailing into the tropics brought the usual annoyances of the incessant heat, she still found each island they stopped at enchanting. Their meetings with familiar faces not greeted in months would provide a welcome opportunity to trade stories, as well as goods. Each port of call always brought fresh discoveries.
They never stayed longer than a day or two, but that was fine by her. As a Master Merchant's daughter, herself an apprentice to her father, she'd spent all fifteen Turns of her life at sea. Her family's blood moved with the tides, ever restless.
The light tower rose to their left as they approached, the familiar white-washed pillar with its verdigris-greened dome towering a dragon length above them. There had been many occasions where similar structures had guided her family's fleet to safety. Today, the lagoon shone a similar verdant hue as the copper-topped light tower and Kesbara had to shade her eyes against the glare of the white sand of the beach that curved from the harbour to a rocky point across the bay, where the reef ended abruptly and waves smashed against dark, basaltic rocks.
The assorted halls were almost lost in all the greenery, only a few of the peaked roofs showing. Of course Lord Holder Jossian's hall was the exception, made up of terraced structures that stepped up the mountain ahead of her. Kesbara wondered idly how much wood and stone had been hauled and shaped to create this edifice, with its wraparound verandas set in three tiers topped by an observation tower. Flowering vines bearing pale pink blossoms garlanded the building and even from this distance, she could make out tiny figures moving about in the large doorways.
Redfin Seahold was not large, but it still had much to offer. The island's chief export included salted fish, finely carved wood items, leather and the reason for their visit – rare black pearls cultivated by the island's Mariculture Hall. Ahead, frowning peaks cast their presence over the small bay and the Pearl River sliced a deep ravine through the rock where strangler trees clutched at vertiginous cliffs with pale roots. So much greenery, she marvelled, wondering what it would be like to live here in thatched halls that were typical of this area. Imagine having fresh redfruit every day…
Her musings were interrupted by the green dragon that bugled a greeting when she burst through from between, to circle above the bay, her emerald hide bright in the sun. Kesbara always enjoyed watching these graceful beasts, although she held no illusions of aspiring to Weyr life. Those tales belonged to the mass-printed romances she could buy by the dozen at Gathers, no doubt penned by apprentice archivists dreaming to escape their taskmasters. She had a better chance of being captain of her own longship in ten Turns' time than ever Impressing a dragon.
The dragon landed next to the Arbour, set at one side to the small Gather ground in front of the Lord's hall, where the Arboretum provided shade along the side closest to the harbour. The green landed softly on short-cropped grass, folding her wings and dipping her shoulder to help her rider disembark. From this distance, Kesbara could not tell if the rider was a man or a woman.
Perhaps she would take up her cousin's offer and invest some fire lizard eggs after all. She may even try for a bronze or a queen. She'd certainly saved enough marks over the past two seasons' trading. There was time enough for training on board when the going was good. Her father's pair had already proved their worth, flying messages from fleet to fleet and there was nothing preventing her from keeping her own.
"Kessie," her father rumbled, placing a strong hand on her shoulder, his fingers squeezing lightly.
"Yes, da," Kesbara answered, turning to smile at her father.
"Will you do me the favour of announcing our arrival to Lord Holder Jossian? You can give him this." He pressed a message roll into her hand.
"Are we staying long?" she asked, hopeful.
"A day or two, perhaps. We still need to handle a collection from Packtail Rocks and return to Shipwreck Weyr in time for the Hatching Gather, so we'll have some good opportunities for trade before the storm season starts."
Then, Baraloss' attention shifted as he shouted off orders to his crew. "Watch those oars, Jodrik! Pondra! Stand ready with the lines, stop jabbering with Justai. If I feel any thumps when we moor, I'll keel haul you. That goes for you, too, Essar."
Kesbara fell in with the rest of the crew, her well-calloused hands no stranger to the work of securing The Windward Lass at the berth reserved for her. She dwarfed the pale white fishing skiffs. No other longships or cogs were to be seen. While her father greeted Harbour Master Delrossian, Kesbara nimbly leapt over the intervening gap and strolled along the grey stone pier, her legs moving with the rolling gait of someone who spent more days at sea than on land.
She breathed in deeply of the air, catching scents of sawdust from the ship crafters' hall. The sounds of the master technicians at work in their hall, reached her next. How must it be to work in such an idyllic location? The halls on the northern continent were vast, cavernous places by comparison, where apprentices swarmed to complete the tasks assigned to them by their masters and journeymen.
Once again, Kesbara was glad for the life she'd been given. Who in their right mind would want to stay stuck in one place their entire life?
Soon the causeway flowed into the Arboretum, where small avians flitted invisibly above her in the canopy and the sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves to dance in spots upon her path, which branched from the main track to meander through the trees toward the Lord Holder's Hall. The Gather ground where the green dragon no doubt basked, was hidden to her while she climbed, although she heard an excited chatter of voices from the Arbour.
Baraloss had not given her explicit orders as to where she'd be after she handed Lord Holder Jossian his message. Perhaps she should venture down to the Gather grounds to take a closer look at the green. It had been a very long time since she'd been within touching distance of a dragon. Besides, sometimes the dragonriders would share some fascinating gossip that may prove useful later.
Smiling to herself, she took the last steps to the first terrace two at a time, almost knocking over a startled gardener who carried a sapling he was evidently going to plant.
"Watch where ya goin' lass!"
"Sorry!" Kesbara danced out of his way, to enter the reception area where household staff busied themselves in an interior that was only marginally cooler than outside. It took her eyes a moment adjust from the glare outside.
A grey-haired man dressed in the pale green overtunic of the household staff greeted her and directed her further into the building, down a long passage where niches displaying miniature water features that helped to cool the air. She'd walked down these passages countless times, since she could remember, and they held no awe for her anymore, although she could imagine that a simple fisherman would no doubt feel out of place.
Although most lords would have kept their studies in a prominent room near the front, Jossian preferred the comfort of a room that opened onto a deck that enjoyed a view of the Arboretum.
Presently, the lord holder, a man well into his sixties, busied himself signing off documents and granted Kesbara a cursory nod, indicating for her to step toward his desk.
"Which longship do you hail from, apprentice?"
"Baraloss' The Windward Lass, my lord."
The man looked thoughtful, a small frown playing across his features.
Kesbara fidgeted. "Our trading permits are in order, sir, if that is what you're wondering."
The lord holder regarded her coolly and she could have kicked herself for speaking out of turn. "That was never in doubt, apprentice. You can place the message scroll there. Please convey the message to your captain that I shall dine with him this evening. You are dismissed."
One day, the likes of him will offer me a seat and a drink of Benden's finest, Kesbara mused. He certainly wouldn't have brushed my da off like that. Then again, the last time I saw him, Lossor was still apprenticed to da and I was just the barefoot " little lass" who was sent about running errands. Not much has changed, has it?
Now Kesbara wore the collar of a Merchant Lord's apprentice and her hair had been knotted in a manner denoting this status. Of course the man would not recognise her as her father's daughter. He'd paid her scant attention then. Now she was just a lowly apprentice, and a female, at that. The man had a reputation for misogyny. Shrugging aside her annoyance, she dropped the message in the basket and retreated, her feet leading her to the Arbour and an opportunity to meet new faces. Her father would be catching up with the craftspeople no doubt. She would tell him about his dinner engagement once she'd satisfied her own curiosity about the green dragon.