Chapter 2
Glenlys was a granddaughter of Lord Sangel of Boll; and was unlike her cousin Pona, who had played at crafting by being a paying student at the Harpercraft Hall, to the discomfort of Menolly when that true Harper had first arrived there. Glenlys felt that a proper craft could give her more independence than a Ranking girl might usually expect, and gladly laid aside her Rank to train in Smithcrafting. This new craft of printing appealed to her; and though she was expecting to be made a Journeyman Smithcrafter before long she had volunteered for the experience.
Glenlys was also a loyal girl; and H'llon heard her hotly defend Lord Sangel when he was listed in those too hidebound to accept printing.
"He's not so much hidebound, as – as inclined to cling to the past, because he can't always remember what happened more recently!" she said.
Sangel was failing then, thought H'llon. Well, by the estimation of some, it would not notice; T'lana apostrophised him as the stupidest creature she had ever met that did not actually bleat. The girl's obvious love for the old man showed another side of him, though; and Glenlys also went on to say that Sangel had chosen his heir, his youngest daughter Janissian, both for her efficiency and to irritate all the truly hidebound who would hate his choice of a female heir!
Sangel could not be that stupid then, to display something of a sense of humour! All of his sons had died in a plague, and many might have expected him to pass over his daughters for grandsons or nephews and great nephews, of which he had a few. If he could accept a daughter as heir, he was not bereft of common sense. Maybe feigning stupidity was a way he had used to get his way at times! H'llon had also heard that the man had closed his own borders during the plague, in order to contain it; the act of a good and self-sacrificing man of stern duty, more complex than he at first appeared.
Glenlys at least seemed to have any brains that were in the family!
H'llon entered the conversation.
"Discussing Lords Holder so freely and disparagingly is not something I can let pass," he said. "It's not proper."
"With due respect, Master," said the oldest Harper, Elerel, sporting senior tassels like Glenlys, "I beg to differ. Where there are those Lords who are likely to be a danger to our craft we need to be aware."
"That is a point; but please confine comments to where that may be relevant, and not to personal comment," said H'llon.
"Heh," said Saralsi, "it'll depend if they see advantages to themselves. Take the most hidebound of all, Lord Sifer of Bitra. Bitrans are willing to share everything YOU own."
"Generalities are not always accurate," said H'llon, unwilling to rebuke a Journeyman more fully in front of apprentices.
"Sirs, I disagree again, with the Journeyman this time," said Elerel. "Lord Sifer does not like Harpers. He does not like the commons having too much knowledge though he dares not go as far as Fax. He would see printing as a way knowledge could spread too readily; it is my belief that it would be dangerous to EVER have a Printcrafter under his dubious aegis, because if he did permit them to work it would only be in printing those things the Lord Holder wanted printed, presented the way HE wanted them presented, and therefore not necessarily a completely, er, accurate representation of factual actuality."
"I see," said H'llon. "In some respects you actually agree with Journeyman Saralsi, as you qualified your suggestion that this Lord Holder would be likely to usurp any Printcrafter's skill to disseminate his own concept of the truth, whilst recognising that he would prefer to have no Printers anywhere in his lands. It is a matter I shall have to discuss with the Masterharper. But I think it will be a long time before we will be sending Journeymen anywhere; we need to have more here than the two we have at present, hmmm?"
The apprentices laughed.
H'llon marked Elerel down as a shrewd youth with an eye to the long term; and not afraid to put a view if he believed in it. The new craft looked to have a decent bunch so far.
The two older Woodcraft boys approached H'llon.
"I don't suppose you remember us at all, sir," said one, looking wistful as a wild look came into H'llon's eyes. "We were just scab-kneed apprentices when you left."
"Ah, that explains it," said H'llon in relief. "I knew I had seen your faces. I have your names; I presume one of you is Sebarek and the other Falom."
"I'm Sebarek," said the one who had spoken, "and you may be assured, Master, that we shall make every effort to do what we can to make the craft as successful as we may, and to try to squash the boy Haster's wilder impulses."
"Oh, I doubt Master Bendarek would have sent him if his impulses were too wild," said H'llon, appreciating the obvious sincerity in the boy's tone whilst secretly feeling every sympathy for the unfortunate Haster. The younger lad should be well sequestered from these two! "I welcome you to the Printcrafter Hall!" said H'llon, to make up for the gentle rebuke, and hoping he did not sound too pompous.
If he did, the boys appeared not to notice, but bowed, and looked pleased.
oOoOo
Tahnee knew the former Woodcrafters, of course; and hoped that H'llon would split the apprentices by age, even though all could be accommodated in one dormitory. The older boys would relish having 'kids' in with them about as much as thirteen and fourteen turn olds would like the more serious older ones in with them. Though of the older ones, Elerel seemed decent, and the oldest Smithcraft boy Corellan looked jolly; and Duthi she knew vaguely from stories. The older Woodcrafters Tahnee frankly considered stodgy; rather like badly-made porridge, perfectly nutritious and nothing BAD, but a little unpalatable to choke down too often. Sebarek and Falom had faintly resented her senior tassels after so short a time in the Woodcrafter Hall, and might well resent her Journeyman's knots too, regardless that they had NOT done anything to found this new craft. That could not be helped; they could have volunteered to help earlier with printing when it was still part of the Woodcrafter Hall. Haster had helped out occasionally, and therefore knew more than the older boys; though the other two did at least have knowledge of paper making. Tahnee hoped there would be no awkwardness; but it seemed that the pair both had a healthy respect for rules, conventions and usage such that they would show respect for her knots and make no real trouble whatever their private feelings and hopes that she might be shown up.
Haster seemed to have struck up a camaraderie with the youngest Smithcrafter boy, a turn or so younger than he; the boy's name was Selom, and he appeared to combine a serious streak with cheerful and humorous eyes that were bright with intelligence. That friendship would probably be good for Haster, inclined as he was to go off on the odd wild, impulsive freak, always for the best reason but without always taking reference to any thought processes first.
The next oldest Smithcrafter, nearer, Tahnee thought, to Haster in age, but with a hardness to his look, was introduced in her hearing.
"This is Faleran," said Selom. "He was born Holdless."
"What of it?" Faleran flared up. "I'm as good as anyone!"
Tahnee stepped in.
"We'll have no birth issues in this Hall if you please, boys; we are what we make of ourselves. There's nothing extra special about being Holdless, just because half a dozen or so of our Riders were born or have been Holdless. There's equally nothing special about being Ranking, Craftbred, Weyrbred or any specie of Holdbred. We have different backgrounds which mean we bring different views and experiences to the craft, each as valuable as the other," she said.
"Jays, Journeyman, I wasn't making no judgement about his birth, only as a matter of interest, like what you just said!" said Selom, sounding injured, "he just took it awry!"
"Then the matter is closed," said Tahnee, "on both sides. Your grammatical construction of that awful sentence is NOT a matter to be closed, however, young Selom; I will ask the Master to see you have an hour extra daily with the Harper assigned to teach ordinary lessons. We CANNOT have potential senior apprentices speaking as though they were raised under Fax's rules of ignorance, and likely by one of his runnerbeasts!"
Selom flushed, but grinned.
"Sorry, Journeyman," he said, "bad habits."
"Which you will break," said Tahnee, inexorably.
"Say, Journeyman, did you mean that – that there's Impressed Holdless?" asked Faleran, something close to a softening on his closed expression.
"Oh yes! Gold Rider Sh'rilla, her brother Blue Rider Journeyman Harper T'rin, Bronze Rider D're, his sister Green Rider M'ielle, Green Rider Harper Senior Apprentice T'arla, her cousin Bronze Rider Ch'vul and a couple more that I've forgotten offhand for not knowing. I don't know every Rider in the Weyr, I'm afraid, especially not scrubby Weyrlings!" laughed Tahnee. "As to a breakdown of backgrounds, I'm not wholly sure, save that if a Rider is loud, they are probably Seabred."
There was laughter, especially from the oldest Smith boy, Corellan.
"That's me, too, I'm afraid," Corellan chuckled.
"Will – well we ever have a chance to stand for Impression?" Faleran asked.
"Oh, of course!" said Tahnee. "They want me to stand for the coming clutch, though I'm dubious about it; it's a courtesy to Journeymen though. You lot will be crafting and learning for at least half a turn though, before being put to egg; to get the basic skills honed before the chance of all that extra hard work. It is extended to you lot as a right, and it makes sense to have some at least of the senior printcrafters able to travel independently; but we ask that you abide by THAT as a matter of courtesy to Master H'llon."
"Shells," said Elerel, the oldest Harper. "Are the High Reaches people deliberately blurring the edges of Craft and Weyr?"
"It's no more a blurring than having Ranking members of a Hold within the Crafthalls hosted by the Hold, or Journeymen marrying into the Ranking family," shrugged Tahnee, who had wondered the same thing herself. "The only person on Pern qualified to be Printmaster is H'llon; and you can't separate the man from the dragon. So the ties are perhaps closer than otherwise. If anyone does not want to take advantage of the opportunity to follow craft as well as standing, you need not stand for Impression, you know; it's not compulsory. Journeyman Saralsi has turned it down this time at least, and I would too if I felt there was any likelihood of me Impressing yet."
"Oh, I'd love to stand," said Elerel, hungrily. "I'm just concerned about what people – outsiders – will say."
Tahnee laughed.
"Y'know what they'll really say in all probability?" she said.
"What?"
"Where's that paper I ordered? Aren't my wedding invitations printed yet? Who's going to come and record me a copy of the Harper singing for my Birthing day feast?" she said in a nasal whine.
The apprentices hooted with mirth; even Elerel the worrier chuckled.
"Why, Journeyman, I withdraw all objections; you're quite right!" he grinned. "Though I swear they'll complain if it is because we all have dragonets!"
"We don't tell 'em," said Tahnee. "None of their business so long as we fulfil the orders on time, and we can probably draft in the Harperweyr to help with a lot if everyone else is busy with baby dragons."
"There may be murmurs when it does get out," said Glenlys, "but if they want printing they must accept the only man capable of running the craft; and when they have Journeyman Rider Printers able to deliver orders faster than a trader train, I wager any murmurs will stop."
"Are we allowed into the Weyr?" asked the younger girl, Moora.
"The rule at present is that you may go if you are invited or on specific business; you'll all be shown around, of course. If you make a friend who speaks to someone in authority, that's taken as an invitation. You do NOT get underfoot of craftsmen, lower cavern women or Blooded Riders on pain of being cuffed and a complaint made to H'llon," said Tahnee. "Offering to help oil dragons does not constitute getting underfoot, nor asking sensible questions; or appealing to the logicators if you have a problem. But as our own Master is a leading logicator, there's no problem. You girls can appeal to any female – and some of the male – Green Riders or a Queenrider for feminine advice if you think there's something out of my experience. One of the Queenriders is H'llon's weyrmate, Z'ira. She's pretty down to earth. I'd advise not asking Pilgra, as Weyrwoman, as she has a lot to do. Try, all of you, to avoid disappointed Blue and Brown Riders after a Green has risen; they can be snippy and not quite rational until they've come back down to the ground, and I mean that fairly literally. They are NOT themselves at that time, and to avoid insult, it's best just to avoid them. The new intake will NOT have the freedoms you people will enjoy, nor will they get the automatic chance to be put to egg; only if they get Searched while they are here. You dozen will enjoy privileges above future Printcrafters. Please don't let H'llon down by abusing them!"
"We'll do our best not to," said Glenlys, speaking for all. The others nodded seriously.
"Why Do we have extra privileges – not that I'm complaining about it – apart from the use to the craft to carry stuff for people on a dragon?" asked Elerel.
"Because you are the ones tipped to become some of our first Journeymen; and it's more comfortable for H'llon to have colleagues amongst his Journeymen," said Tahnee. "I'm his first apprentice's fosterling, so I have a familial relationship, as well as having helped found printing, so if I Impress or not doesn't matter."
"Surely you WANT to, though!" said Moora.
"At the moment? Frankly, I'm not sure I do," said Tahnee. "I'd rather get used to the responsibility of being one of only two Journeymen in a new craft, without added responsibilities. Po – Ipominea – will stand this time because she's an experienced printer, just not old enough for Journeyman; and because three of her sisters are already Impressed. That's always been understood, before the crafthall was built, and I'll make that clear now so there's no muttering. She could teach equally as well as I, so she'd not be losing out time, as she has to wait, essentially until she's old enough to be a Journeyman. She helped develop the phonograph, incidentally, so if she suggests something to help, I hope you older but less experienced apprentices won't feel like ignoring her on grounds of age."
Ipominea had been sitting quietly absorbing her own impression of the apprentices.
"I have been fortunate in my association with the Master to the enhancement of my knowledge and attainment of technical expertise," said Ipominea.
"Shells, does she always talk like that?" Elerel's eyes lit up.
"You wait 'til you hear her sister, Green Rider I'linne," grinned Tahnee. "SHE's a Harper. Po, my child, be kind to those with dismayed expressions and moderate your excursions into, er, prolixic loquacity."
"It shall be as you wish, Journeyman," murmured Ipominea, with her little smile of private mirth.
:oOoOo
H'llon, apprised by Tahnee, had not thought of splitting the boys by age: but saw her point immediately.
"The three girls will have to make do," he said.
"Well, in the Woodcraft Hall, Moora would be with the seniors in Isrona's cot anyway," said Tahnee, "and Po is older than any of them in some ways. Glenlys seems a decent type, not likely to be throwing her age in anyone's face, so that shouldn't be a problem. You put me next to them; and I'm surely glad Glenlys is decent; dealing with the self opinionated Ranking girl four turns older than me would have been exceedingly trying."
"It's a bit much to pitchfork you into being a journeyman so young, isn't it?" Said H'llon sympathetically. "You should have more time to enjoy yourself."
"I am," said Tahnee. "It's fun being part of this from the ground up. Sandrina stole my childhood, and some things you never really get back. Having love and approval of the chance to prove myself make up for a awful lot though, you know."
"I'm glad," said H'llon, soberly "you're family to me, Tahnee, you know that, don't you?"
"Yes, H'llon. And thank you," she said, softly, "and Lissan and Ella have accepted me as their daughter's fosterling, and their children and fosterlings are family too – though coping with Stoffer is hard."
H'llon shrugged.
"He needs to be treated like any child who is simple," he said. "He's capable in some ways, but, well, not in others. He doesn't crave companionship: just wood to carve. I'd not worry about trying to be friendly with him."
"Good," said Tahnee. "Thanks for that. Ah, well time to get them bedded down?"
H'llon nodded.
"You journeymen get that sorted out," he said. "Carry on!"
What fun it was, he thought, to say that!
