"H'yu are you really sure about these two?"
There was an audible sigh that bronzerider H'yu, Weyrlingmaster of Southern Weyr didn't bother to try to hide, even in the presence of his Weyrwoman. Even for a man of his patience, it was impossible to keep his irritation at bay during these meetings. "Viranna, if you want me to fill the sands you need to stop questioning every decision I make about these candidates. Would you rather there not be enough to stand for Shevath's eggs?" Despite this being the exact same flow of conversation that they seemed to have every time there were new candidates brought in, the goldrider still drew herself in anger at his tired and bored-sounding tone. H'yu was honestly past caring about offending her at this point; the woman was making his life pure misery over this clutch. Not that Viranna was ever an easy person to deal with exactly, and H'yu could understand the stress over these eggs, but H'yu was at his wit's end with trying to keep the goldrider happy.
"Look," he said after taking a deep breath to try to keep his voice calm. "There's really not much we can do about it. We need the candidates, even if they wouldn't be our first choice. I'm sure you don't want to risk not having a lifemate there for any of Shevath's hatchlings?" It was an argument that seemed almost daily at this point, but for some reason Viranna needed to hear it over and over to keep her pretty blonde head into the task at hand. Which, of course, was to make sure every new dragon impressed. It was not common for a hatchling to fail to find a suitable lifemate, but the one occasion Southern had been witness to it was enough to do everything to make sure it never happened again. They might not adore and champion for every single person to stand for the eggs, but these could be worked with and shaped to be what the Weyr needed. A dead dragon could not be.
Viranna was silent for a long moment before grunting in an irritated acknowledgement and waving a dismissive hand at him. "Fine, fine. I defer to your judgement," was all to be said of that (which H'yu took as a thorough warning that they have betterbe up to snuff). "Keep them to the back."
Over the years 'keep them to the back' had become synonymous with 'try not to let them impress'. It was where newer and younger candidates tended to be pushed to and there was a distinct hierarchy imposed by the more dominant boys and girls. Being closer to the eggs didn't always mean someone was more likely to impress, but there was a stronger trend of success by proximity. Less desirable options were always kept to the very back of the sands and the experienced candidates made sure it stayed that way.
"I want that other holdless boy you picked up kept away as well," the Weyrwoman added with clear contempt.
H'yu nodded. Zakhol had been found by a rider a few weeks prior and he'd had to fight for the lad to even be allowed to stay in the Weyr. Viranna did not trust anyone that came from the outskirts of what she thought was proper civilization and honestly didn't think they were worthy of her dragon's eggs. The two new boys, Kalari and Kobi seemed to have come from very similar situations, though both were in considerably worse condition. The bronzerider made a note to recruit Zakhol to help to the boys settle into Weyr-life.
Honestly, H'yu wasn't against these boys standing. They might not fit the sort of picture that many painted of what they wanted excellent candidates to look like, but there was something to be said about some scrawny kids having the tenacity to survive. They obviously came with some common sense and good instincts, which were things you really couldn't teach a person and H'yu would rather a dragon pick lads with that over someone with notable bloodlines. Propriety could be taught, but having a good head on your shoulders tended to come naturally.
This argument wouldn't go anywhere with Viranna though, so H'yu would do as the Weyrwoman asked. If a baby dragon really wanted one of these kids then it would find him. "I have a few brought in from the Hold," he said, happy to change the subject as he went down the list of new candidates. "There's a couple of promising craft-bred boys, Severoln and Bogaral are both senior apprentices and have solid leadership. Radameej is one of Lady Annashay's nephews. He's one of the young ones and bit excitable, but his brother Joredar seems to keep him well in line." H'yu scanned the page to be sure he hadn't missed anyone before pushing the list across the desk in front of him. "Still no new females for the gold egg to add unfortunately, but we have a solid number of the Weybred girls."
Viranna frowned. "Well, there's still three weeks until the eggs hatch. I'd really like a few more girls to stand, so make sure your searchriders are getting out as much as possible. I want to look over the newest arrivals this afternoon and you may as well have them checked by the healers at the same time."
H'yu nodded. "I'll make sure V'lada gets them all looked over," he assured her and pushed himself out of the chair, sensing a dismissal was imminent. V'lada was one of his assistants and was actually the one who was more in charge of the candidates, but Viranna had a hard time dealing directly with a greenrider who held rank. It rubbed her the wrong way apparently, but H'yu was more than allowed to appoint his own assistants and the man was excellent with the candidates. Viranna was grudging about it, but didn't make too much of a fuss as long as H'yu dealt with her on everything himself.
The bronzerider didn't miss the scowl in response to this, but he couldn't help but take a jibe at her when he could. "I'll have the reports from the healers by the end of tomorrow on this bunch," he said with a nod and swiftly exited the office. It wasn't even midday and he was already tempted to find something very strong to put in his klah just to get through the rest of it.
Pyrakkath, can you tell Kovalth that I need V'lada to gather the new candidates after lunch? And I need Zakhol to meet me in my office right away, please. He could have just as easily gone to find his assistant, but using their dragons to relay the message meant that he would have just a little more time to himself before having to deal with Zakhol; the boy was a snotty and insolent thing that tended to require as much patience as Viranna did.
