Z'linda 9-07-2521 – 12-04-2521

I

Z'linda had decided to take her cousin T'lana's advice over the first mating flight of her young Green dragon, Zith, and leave the choice of mate to Zith's preference. As Z'linda had formed no attachments, it seemed a reasonably sensible thing to do; and all the Weyrwomen had assured her that the experience was a good one. She was a little nervous; and this did NOT improve her mood, already made irritable by Zith's pre-nubile bad temper. Z'linda was not the only person to be glad when the little Green blooded her kill, and screamed challenge at the waiting Blues and Browns. She was not, however, prepared for the sheer intensity of dragon generated feelings; and was soon caught up in Zith's delight in the chase and her pride and pleasure in being brought home by a handsome Brown. Z'linda shared Zith's pleasure with the Brown rider; and fell, like the dragons, happily asleep from exhaustion after it was over.

When Z'linda awoke, she was under the scrutiny of the Oldtimer Z'kan, who was propped on one elbow, watching her thoughtfully. She had not even been aware that he had been in the Weyr, and blurted out,

"YOU?"

The half-smile which had been forming at the edges of his mouth dissipated and he looked down his nose.

"And what is wrong with me – Green rider?" he asked in icy tones.

"That for one!" she exploded, having failed to notice the change of expression in her shock at who had flown her. "Your supercilious manner, and pulling rank, and generally being arrogant!"

Z'kan compressed his lips. He looked, had he realised it, even more supercilious; the armour had become automatic. He had been pleased to give Adeth a chance at a mating flight, and with such a very pretty girl as the rider. Z'kan had discovered that she was T'lan's cousin, and had not been displeased; he appreciated the help the little Weyrwoman was giving his daughter and hoped that her cousin would have some similarities of personality. This rebuff, however, had taken him rather by surprise after the general acceptance he felt he had gained around the Weyr when he came to visit Zaira.

"In that case, I suppose I'd better leave" he said coldly.

"Yes. Please." Z'linda had not entirely forgotten her manners. She was actually a little ashamed of having let herself be provoked into shouting at him; she had been working on calming down her rather hot temper before Zith rose, and had been quite pleased with herself. However, the result was desirable; he was leaving without argument.

At the doorway, Z'kan paused and looked back.

"Z'linda – if this should result in pregnancy would you think twice before using between to terminate? I value my daughter very much – if you didn't want to bring up a baby I could foster it…"

Z'linda's good resolutions disappeared.

"WHAT?" she screeched. "Breed babies for you to take back to Southern for T'kul to defile? Or become arrogant little snots like the rest of you? No thank you!"

Z'kan's face darkened and he strode back to the sleeping couch and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"How DARE you suggest such a thing?" He roared. "After the trouble I went to, to keep Zaira out of his way, even stretching my honour to bring her here – and if we talk arrogant, my girl, what do you think you are? Too good for a Southerner are you? Think we're all tarred with the same brush, do you? Well let me tell you that making assumptions like that is haughty in the extreme!"

He shook her hard, then threw her back against the pillows, scowling. He added,

"And if you look at life that way, believe me, Green rider, I'm glad to leave you to yourself."

With that he turned on his heel and strode into the larger cavern, calling to Adeth to bestir himself so that they might go.

Z'linda managed to wait until she heard the rush of Adeth's wings before she dissolved into tears; and it was in this lachrymose state that T'lana found her, having been alerted by Zith. She had requested a lift from the little dragon as her own Mirrith would have trouble fitting in the weyr; and put an arm around the sobbing girl.

"Dear one – I'm so sorry if I made the wrong suggestion" she said. "I had thought you had enjoyed it."

Z'linda snuffled in self pity.

"I DID" she said. "Then I found out who it was."

"Z'kan? What's wrong with him?" T'lana was genuinely puzzled.

"You grew up under T'kul's lot!" exclaimed Z'linda. "You know what those Oldtimers are like – always coming and stealing and calling it tithe, demanding kisses from girls, and likely more from the older ones! One of Lindanna's brood could be a dragonman's, you know!"

"Unlikely, since they're all unfortunate enough to resemble their father" said T'lana dryly. "Kellis is a very worthy man and a good husband but it's a shame about the nose. Still, considering the number of brats they have, maybe it's true what they say about men with big noses…"

Z'linda thumped her cousin.

"That's not the point. I remember a Brown rider paying ALL too much attention to her."

T'lana nodded, understanding.

"And that's what this is all about? That a Brown rider from the Oldtimers may have forced his attentions on your sister, so all Oldtimers and especially Brown riders are bad news and will use you?"

Z'linda glared at T'lana, furious at her bluntness; then managed a shaky laugh.

"You make it sound so childish" she complained.

"Isn't it?"

"Fardles, T'lana, it was a shock – I didn't even know he was around. And he IS arrogant."

"Granted" admitted T'lana. "If you compare him to our relaxed crew. But he's no more arrogant than many a modern day Brown rider from other Weyrs. T'bor chose people who'd take a gentle approach here BECAUSE of T'kul and his people's depredations. Also, Z'kan was based at Fort; and whilst T'ron's attitude was execrable, he never went to the extent of having his people routinely flame holders." T'lana was worried that her cousin held this prejudice, but felt sure that she could overcome it. She added, "And if you have any ability as a Logicator, you must have noticed that he's a lot less arrogant when he feels at ease. Why, he's been quite normal the last time or two he's visited, not like the first time."

"Well… maybe… but he was so formal – pulled rank – called me 'Green rider' like I hadn't a name."

T'lana raised an eyebrow.

"And you'd said nothing to him first to make him feel defensive?"

Z'linda blushed.

"I – I did express some er, surprise." She muttered.

"Well, that'd be guaranteed to set in sudden droop when in the expectation of more fun, wouldn't it?" said T'lana, prosaically. Z'linda blushed again.

"Have I been an idiot?" she asked in small voice. T'lana hugged her.

"Maybe just a little, dear one" she said, gently. "Did you at least enjoy it during?"

Z'linda's colour deepened, and a dimple appeared.

"Well…since you mention it, yes!" she admitted. "Actually, I think he was more considerate than P'rall, Bedemath's rider, even in the throes of dragonlust."

T'lana nodded, and hugged the girl again.

"I'm glad about that." She said. "But, dear one, I think maybe you owe him an explanation…"

Z'linda looked at her in lively horror.

"I don't know where to start!" she cried. "How embarrassing!"

"Yes it will be." Said T'lana. "But if he doesn't accept it, you're no worse off; and if he does, you might even gain a friend, even if you don't want Adeth to fly Zith again. Let me remind you, though, that a man who can be considerate while his dragon is involved is probably worth hanging on to – if he's still prepared to be interested and you haven't already lost him."

Z'linda stared at her cousin in exasperation.

"Honestly. T'lana, do you have to matchmake?" she asked. "You're assuming I want anyone, let alone him!"

T'lana grinned, and Z'linda scowled.

"Well I'll apologise. I'll not give him cause to call me haughty" she said. "But I'll not want to see him again, and if I'm pregnant, I'll take it between before I let him foster it."

T'lana had smiled approvingly at her cousin's words, but looked shocked at this last statement.

"Z'linda, he doesn't have to foster any child you have if you don't want him to." She said. "I'm sure Lanelly and I can manage another child between us if you want to foster. Don't make any hasty decisions about having or not having a baby – even supposing you might be pregnant – without thinking carefully. Never make a decision like that from peevishness, in case you regret it. You can't bring a baby back from between."

Z'linda hunched her shoulders.

"Don't be so fardling logical, T'lan" she growled. "I KNOW I'm being peevish. Just let me peeve it out of my system and then I can think clearly and be back to my sunny-natured self, all right?"

T'lana laughed.

"Very well, dear one" she agreed. "But get Zith to call Adeth back before sundown. Don't sleep on it."

Z'linda stuck out her tongue; but she nodded.

II

When Adeth relayed the message from Zith, Z'kan was very much in two minds; but he decided to accept the invitation. Z'linda was, after all, an attractive and spirited girl and her shrewishness seemed to be directed solely at him. Z'kan's general experience of female dragonriders was not encouraging; and he found the women of High Reaches refreshing and exciting. However, he was not without reservations, and so it was that when he met with Z'linda he opened with the repressive monosyllable,

"Well?"

Z'linda almost fled at that point, and visibly quailed. Z'kan added more gently,

"I have come to your summons, you see, weyrwoman."

She looked for mockery in his form of address, but found none, and launched rather haltingly into her explanation.

"I was unfair, Z'kan" she began, "and I want to tell you why. It's because my family were bullied by a Brown rider in T'kul's time, and my sister may have been raped, and it was all very frightening." She finished in a rush.

Z'kan scowled.

"Can't you tell one Brown rider from another?"

"Behind a dragon that's flaming to show us that they can? Frankly no!" She scowled back. He pulled a face.

"I see your point. But I've never been involved in anything like that. Shards, girl, can't you tell the difference between a man of honour and an inadequate who needs to bully?"

"I was only a little girl, Z'kan" she managed not to shout. "How do you expect a child to remember details beyond fear and its source?"

"I suppose not." He conceded. "Look, why don't you visit your sister, find out the details, and I'll do what I can to redress the balance?"

"Why would you?" she was wary.

"It is something I might be able to do something about – I wasn't able to do anything about the behaviour of my fellows before we were banished."

"Didn't you speak up at all?"

He stared at her in surprise.

"Of course not! I'm only a Brown rider. I doubt T'ron even knew I existed, beyond knowing my position in the Wing. He'd certainly have taken no criticism from me."

"You see?" this time her volume did rise. "That's what I'm saying. You Oldtimers have an in-built arrogance that segregates people by rank and size of dragon. If T'ron would think YOU lowly, a dragonman, doesn't that explain how he and T'kul could discount those without dragons as less than nothing? Why, T'bor knows the names and troubles of all the people in the Weyr, down to the drudges – he's not as good as Pilgra, but he does do his duty by people, even if he DOES keep notes to remind himself! THAT'S what being a leader is about."

Z'kan took half a step backwards from the onslaught of her words that almost had a physical presence. She had, he reflected, a very good point. He said,

"I hear what you say. But we were brought up to formality and respect. By the end of the Pass, everyone was tired, and often bad tempered; and discipline was all that kept us going. There were few enough dragonriders who had not spent their entire adult lives fighting Thread. And then when it was over, I don't think it was unreasonable to expect a certain amount of gratitude. But the arrogance of the small holders particularly was just incredible – now they needed us no longer, they just whined continually about how expensive it was to keep dragons. You must understand how that affected our attitudes towards them!"

She grimaced.

"Yes, I can see that – I do feel that I'm owed a certain respect for risking my skin for the folks on the ground, and I do expect them to do their share with the ground-sweeps. As my family have always done EVEN through the Long Interval. We've always heeded the teaching songs and we always respected dragonfolk. Father always said that T'kul was just a mad buck, and the bad times would pass."

"And of course if T'kul had been there before the crisis, he would have known that, known that your family were reliable. Under Fax, that must have been hard."

She shrugged.

"We're a very self sufficient family. We've survived Fax, T'kul and Meron and come out of it well. We're both lucky – and good at surviving. I just don't understand, though, how come you opted to go off with the other Oldtimers to Southern instead of staying and working with T'bor."

He shrugged.

"I swore an oath to follow T'ron wherever he went. It was easy when we first came Forward – he was dashing and full of boyish enthusiasm for the enterprise. I'd be a fine man to desert him just because the following got harder."

"Shells, you mean it's because you're stubborn and pig-headed as well as arrogant?" she blurted.

He stiffened; then his mouth twitched as he saw the funny side.

"If you like to put it that way" he said. "But most people have more tact."

She flushed, and muttered an apology, staring at her feet. He raised her chin gently and looked down at her.

"We've made a bad start, Z'linda" he told her, "But I'm going to come back and see you again – and Adeth is going to come back to see Zith" she made an inarticulate noise of half-protest and he shushed her. "And you ARE going to find out about that Brown rider for me, aren't you?"

Dumbly she nodded. Shells, the man was autocratic as well!

"Zith makes her own choice" she managed. He grinned.

"Well, I shall just have to make sure I persuade her to choose Adeth, won't I?" he said. "She won't, you know, if you really dislike the idea – deep down where it counts" and he left her, blushing furiously for she knew not what reason.

III

Z'linda managed a visit to her sister within the next week, squeezing it in around her duties. Lindanna was overjoyed to see her little sister, and to meet Zith; the young Green dragon had all the attention she could have asked for from her rider's nieces and nephews; and Z'linda noticed with some surprise that she could pick out the one who had rider potential although he was still very small. She explained that she had met someone who was trying to redress some of the wrongs of the Oldtimers – for some reason she was chary about mentioning Z'kan in more detail – and asked Lindanna if it would be painful to her to talk about her experiences with the Brown rider. To her surprise, her sister laughed!

"Oh he was a right one!" she declared. "All squeak and no substance! Yes, to be sure he tried it on – even got as far as taking his trousers down once; but I was sitting down and he was standing up, so I bit it."

"You mean his…" Z'linda put her hand to her mouth as she giggled.

"Precisely." her sister nodded. "Seemed to cool his ardour. Of course, he threatened retribution – but we produce the best milk that's tithed to the Weyr, and he wasn't too keen on raising his Weyrwoman's ire by losing that if anything happened to us!" she grinned. "Father was quite matter of fact about it in explaining the economics to him. I think it made a greater impression than if he had shown the anger that he was feeling."

Z'linda had a lot to think about; but she did ascertain that the rider's name was P'ren. He had, after all, tried to take her sister, and had maybe succeeded with less feisty girls. She rode home after Lindanna had fed her in a pensive mood; and slept on what she had discovered before asking Zith to bespeak Adeth.

As it happened, Z'kan took an equally dim view of a failed rape as a successful attempt; and applauded Lindanna's bravery. Z'linda felt just a little irritable that he should be lauding to the skies her sister, whom he had never met. After all, she had behaved with reasonable calmness during the time that the Holdless ruffians had abducted her, T'lana, L'rilly and Y'lara! And she felt that her cousin had been even braver than Lindanna in submitting to rape to save the rest of them and protect their dragons from crossbow bolts. Goaded, she said so.

Z'kan had not heard the story; and encouraged her to tell him. He smiled to himself at her partisan defence of T'lana, but agreed with Z'linda's contention that she had been truly heroic. Privately he thought that all the girls had shown remarkable courage and presence of mind to conceal their status to protect their dragons. Many would have called in their partners – and if the men had got off a lucky shot, well! It did not bear thinking about! He appreciated Z'linda's honesty in her confession of pure terror, and said,

"Sometimes it takes more courage to accept a passive role than to act. I suppose the trick is to know when is the right time for which. But I WILL find this P'ren and have…words with him" he grinned, rather nastily. "Of course, I'd not kill him – for the sake of his dragon. But his dragon won't suicide if he's at all…mauled."

Z'linda raised an eyebrow; but Z'kan refused to enlarge upon his intentions. He was not entirely sure himself just what he intended to do; it depended very much what he found out. He took his leave of her formally; and departed.

Back on Southern, Z'kan sought out P'ren. By asking around the folk of Southern Hold it appeared that his manners had not improved, and Z'kan had to listen to several complaints of his behaviour. Most girls living on this challenging continent were well able to take care of themselves and had escaped his finer attentions, but there were one or two unhappy tales. Z'kan's desire to meet P'ren grew.

The meeting was of P'ren's choosing. He sought out Z'kan, asking,

"I hear you were looking for me."

"Yes, that is correct" Z'kan was at his most formal. "I have received a number of complaints about your behaviour, Brown rider, with particular reference to the way you treat women."

P'ren actually laughed.

"Oh, women always complain about nothing." He declared airily. "Why they should fuss about performing their natural function, especially when honoured by being picked by a dragonrider I don't know. Probably to get attention. A way of boasting about who they've attracted."

Z'kan ground his teeth.

"If you truly believe that, you are one sick individual" he asseverated. "But I don't think you do believe it. I think that you are trying to excuse your bad behaviour and cover for the fact that you can't get a girl to bed with you willingly. I contend that you have bad breath and undersized organs with bite marks on them."

The other man gasped. The insults were pointed and uncompromising.

"I'll fight you for that!" he growled.

"Good" Z'kan smiled. It was not a pretty smile.

The outcome of the fight was never in much doubt from the moment it started. Z'kan prided himself on his fighting skills, and soon knew he could end the fight in a manner of his own choosing. He felt it poetic to strike in a discouraging sort of region and brought his knife in low, travelling a precise distance upwards. P'ren howled in anguish, and Z'kan was well satisfied. He knew he had made another enemy; but was frankly unconcerned. His uncompromising moral standards of honour had made him more than a few, in the old time as well as in the present, and as his daughter was safe from attack, he cared little. He asked Adeth to relay to Zith the information that some justice had been meted out; and resolved to try to stay away from Z'linda for a while in the hopes that his absence would make her miss him.

IV

Meanwhile the young female riders of High Reaches Weyr were discovering that being female had a few disadvantages. Some of those riders of Brown and Blue dragons who did NOT prefer boys seemed to consider that A'ira and Z'linda had been provided by the universe for their personal satisfaction; and their attentions could be wearing. (Nobody even considered making a play for Y'lara. Her seabred temper and invective were too notorious.) A'ira replied firmly to any overtures that she already had a weyrmate, thank you; and made sure to be around R'cal or his extended family for added protection. Z'linda could not, however, truthfully claim to have an attachment, and had to fend off a number off eager men who knew that Zith would rise with the monotonous regularity that characterised Green dragons. Indeed, there were even visitors from Fort Weyr; the most persistent being one S'lonag, rider of Brown Fierth. T'lana told Z'linda as the girls undertook an inventory for Keerana that she had come across S'lonag in an oblique fashion when she had been investigating the rape of the blind girl, Seela. Fierth had been one of the dragons involved in the mating flight with Green Ninth, and his rider was rabidly opposed to the idea of being with another man.

"However, I know nothing against him" T'lana told Z'linda. "It was a Blue rider, T'kar, who was the culprit; he also has inhibitions concerning his Someth's tastes."

Z'linda grunted. T'kar had come calling, but she had got rid of him by pretending that the sweet oil he habitually smoothed his hair down with made her sneeze. He had found trying to kiss her while she sneezed in his face rather off-putting. T'lana might know nothing against S'lonag, but she, Z'linda, didn't like him. She could find no reason why she did not like him; and had not liked to send him packing without good reason. She had been tipped off about T'kar by a lower cavern woman who had transferred from Fort; he was well known to be, as the woman described it, abrupt. Besides, Z'linda had already noted that the man bit his nails; and felt that this indicated a lack of self-respect. Meanwhile, S'lonag was quite urbane, witty and charming. Many of the lower cavern women had already started ribbing Z'linda about getting such a catch, better looking and SO much more obliging than Z'kan. Z'linda had to agree that he was all of that, but for some reason her agreement seemed to lack conviction.

S'lonag was waiting outside when Z'linda had finished helping T'lana.

"So how's the loveliest girl on Pern?" he asked. Z'linda looked at him levelly.

"I do not admire hyperbole" she said, having asked the young Weyrharper L'gal for the correct term for this extravagant form of praise. S'lonag gave her a slightly fixed smile, and she guessed he'd never heard the word before.

"It's a lovely day for the time of year" he persevered. "What say you that we take a picnic to some quiet spot and have fun this afternoon?"

Z'linda repressed a shudder at the word 'picnic'.

"I have duties" she said firmly. "Besides, I'm not sure I want to go out alone with you. It's nothing personal, but I don't think you're my type." She was careful to be conciliatory and polite, keeping in mind her poor start with Z'kan. Even so, S'lonag's face darkened, and an ugly look crossed it. It was quickly gone, and Z'linda almost wondered if she had imagined it.

"Z'linda, how can you say that when you scarcely know me?" his tone was light and teasing. "I just want to correct that omission."

"I'd rather get to know you in an everyday environment" she told him firmly. "Here in the Weyr, not gallivanting off on private gathers."

He laughed.

"Why of course, my dear funny one!" he said, smiling at her. It bothered Z'linda that his smile reached no higher than his well shaped lips. She could not help thinking of Z'kan, who rarely smiled with more than a quirk at the corner of his mouth, but whose eyes crinkled up when he was amused or happy. It came to her as a sudden revelation that he and R'gar were not dissimilar people; grim on the surface, cultivating a reputation for touchiness; and could he be as kind and gentle underneath as she knew her cousin's Lover to be? He was certainly adored by his daughter. Z'linda felt rather uncomfortable thinking about some of the things she had said to Z'kan. In the meantime, however, S'lonag was looking quizzically at her. She forced a smile of her own.

"I'm happy to get to know you, S'lonag" she said firmly, "But on my terms, and with the understanding that there's nothing proprietorial. I am not 'your' anything, funny or otherwise. I hope that's clear?"

This time the look which flashed across his face was unmistakably ugly; and her own face must have shown her consternation for he smiled again in an apologetic fashion.

"I'm so sorry, Z'linda" he said. "I did not mean to get irritable. You just awaken such a passion in my breast that I want to express it." His voice was deep and sounded very sincere, but Z'linda was almost literally backing off. How often had she dreamed of a handsome man – and a dragonrider at that! - Professing undying passion for her in just such a manner. Yet here was the situation she had imagined, almost exactly and with the added advantage of having her own dragon to share through, and there was something wrong.

"I don't think this is the time or place to talk of such things" she was trying to extricate herself from him as he took her hand. From the corner of her eye she saw that Adeth had come in to land; and after a quick look in her direction, Z'kan had strode past her and into the kitchen. Drat the man, why couldn't he come and interrupt?

Z'kan had decided to drop by and see how his daughter was, and also see Z'linda. He had missed her shouting at him, of all things. However, when he arrived she was deep in what appeared to be a most intimate conversation with a younger, better looking man than he who was leaning towards her possessively. Z'kan strode into the kitchen, not wanting to look at the sight any longer.

"Z'linda's got a new boyfriend, has she?" he asked nonchalantly of one of Calla's daughters. The girl nodded eagerly.

"Yes, lucky girl!" she told him. "He's MOST particular in his attentions, comes over from Fort every time his duties permit it!"

"Good looking" he commented.

"Oh yes, and such lovely manners too! I wish he'd notice me. I can't think why she hasn't taken him to her weyr yet!"

"She hasn't?" Z'kan kept his tone neutral, trying not to sound hopeful. The girl giggled.

"Maybe she's keeping him dangling to make sure of him" she dimpled. "Perhaps he'll not dangle too long – then the rest of us will have a look in."

Z'kan made a non-committal noise, and returned the way he had come. S'lonag was still there with Z'linda, talking caressingly to her, promising to charm her out of her unhappy mood. Z'linda was rapidly losing her patience, but unsure how to extricate herself without being rude – and to a rider from another Weyr who might complain to T'bor and give High Reaches a bad name. She caught Z'kan's eye and he read the plea in it. He walked up to the two.

"C'mon, Girl, you can't dally all day with your fancy man" he growled. "I haven't got that much time to wait on your convenience you know."

"And who" asked S'lonag "The fardling shards are you?"

Z'kan put on his best supercilious look.

"Your elder, for one, puppy" he snarled. "And probably your better at that."

S'lonag flushed.

"You might have some authority over Z'linda, but you've none over me. I'm from Fort; and I'll be asking if Z'linda can transfer there too."

Z'kan froze; but Z'linda said quietly,

"And I'd refuse the transfer unless my Weyrleader wanted rid of me. And he's not complained yet. I like High Reaches."

S'lonag turned to her.

"My dear, I thought you'd like it. I thought this man was bullying you."

"He is. I'm used to it. I prefer it to your mooning about after me" she was finally sick of it, ready to fall back on her native bluntness. S'lonag looked furious.

"Are you refusing me? ME?" he was incredulous. She sighed.

"I've been trying to refuse you since you started. I was just trying to be tactful about it" she said. "If you hadn't got the hide of a geriatric Wher, you'd have realised" she added, "I'm at your disposal, Z'kan. Shall we depart?"

Z'linda walked across the bowl with Z'kan while Fierth swooped in to pick up the fuming S'lonag.

"I'm told" said Z'kan carefully "That he's the answer to a maiden's dreams, and anyone who turned him down would be foolish."

Z'linda made a rude noise.

"He's very charming, I grant you" she said. "And I suppose – well, yes, he's very handsome. But – but there's something I can't quite put my finger on….and he seems to lose his charm when he's thwarted in any way."

Z'kan nodded.

"A lovely fellow providing you don't cross him. It's a description I've heard before, and I'd say it defines a bully quite well."

Z'linda nodded.

"I see what you mean. Oh dear, but now I've lost my cool and been rude to him!"

He stared at her.

"Coming from you, that's rich. What are you to me?"

"That's different."

He looked a query. She continued,

"He's an outsider. He could damage the reputation of the Weyr. And I was trying so hard to be good, especially as I'd behaved so badly to you" her face was woebegone. He laughed gently.

"I think you've actually given me a compliment!" he said; and when she looked up at him questioningly, he told her, "You implied that I'm NOT an outsider."

She gave him a watery smile.

"You sort of belong to the Logicators" she told him. "And you're Zaira's father; and she's got definite plans for our H'llon."

"HAS she now!" he was taken aback.

Z'linda laughed.

"He'll be the last to know, of course. He's so naïve and modest! I tried to win his attention myself at first, but he didn't even notice. And I didn't think I'd persevere. He's only going to get involved with the right woman; and I guess it'll be after Melth catches a certain un-hatched Queen."

"Well he's a good hearted lad" mused Z'kan. "He takes good care of her. She could do a lot worse" he added, "Do you want me to see T'bor and tell him that it was I who disgruntled prettyboy?"

She shook her head.

"I'll go the back route through T'lana. But I was trying!"

He laughed.

"Very!" He said.

V

Z'kan was privately delighted that Z'linda thought him a safe sort of person to shout at; it suggested an acceptance of him that had been at times belied by her words. He decided not to push the issue, and having told her that he was glad to have been on hand to rescue her from a boring young puppy, went off in search of his daughter.

Z'linda felt vaguely cheated that he had left her. She did not grudge the time Zaira had with her father – she herself liked to visit her parents from time to time – but she had half suspected the man of coming to visit her too. She took Zith across the Bowl for an oiling next to Adeth.

"Adeth is happy to visit me" the young Green informed her. "He likes me. I might just let him catch me another time."

"That's if he just happens to be around next time you rise." Z'linda said. "He might not be, you know. Z'kan has his own duties – even if most of the duties in Southern consist of serious study of the effect of sunbathing and the scientific study of whether it is more efficient to lie on your back with legend scroll in your right hand scratching your balls with your left, or whether it is better to sometimes hold the scroll in your left hand and scratch your balls with the right."

"Definitely the latter." She jumped as Z'kan spoke, having come up quietly from the other side of Adeth. The well-grown Brown snorted, and Z'linda 'heard' the buzz that indicated that dragon and rider were communicating. She had not so well developed a sense as T'lana but lived in hopes that a child of hers would be more fortunate. Indeed, it was something she wanted to talk to the Brown rider about – and he did not seem to have taken offence at her description of Southern Weyr activities. In fact he remarked,

"Adeth has just told me that he doubts many Southern dragonriders could raise enough energy to do any two things together, even in a prone position!"

Z'linda laughed, then said,

"Z'kan, can I talk to you?"

"You are talking to me, weyrwoman."

She stamped her foot.

"Don't be irritating!" she flared.

"I'm listening" he was serious in an instant. "It's as private here as anywhere."

She dug her toe into the mud by the lake's edge.

"If I'm pregnant" she began carefully "- not that I'm certain – I'd want the baby to be brought up here in High Reaches. I was….tactless about it before…"

"One way of describing it." He murmured. She frowned a little.

"But I meant most of it." She said. "You've protected Zaira – but could you guarantee to always be around for another youngling? And she had some of her life, the early years that count most, when people around her were behaving as dragonmen should. How would the attitudes that prevail now affect a small child?"

He mulled her words carefully, a frown of concentration on his face. She drew back from him, thinking him angry. He noticed her set shoulders; and said testily,

"I'm just thinking, girl. Do you think I'm going to offer you violence?"

Her chin came up.

"You did shake me once."

"I was out of line. I apologise. I was still caught up in the backwash of dragonfeeling" he added, "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"I would not hurt you on purpose" he told her. "Or a child of mine. I think you could be right about the upbringing at Southern being detrimental. I just didn't want to have a baby fostered by strangers."

"You great idiot!" she cried, shaking her head at him. "I'd have any babies I have fostered by Lanelly – she's wonderful with them, and it would keep it in the family too!"

Z'kan was more or less acquainted with the ramifications of T'lana's family, though not knowing the full story of Sagarra he assumed that Lanelly was R'gar's mother or milk-mother. He nodded, satisfied.

"Are you going to keep a baby if there is one?" he asked, trying not to let any clues to his feelings show in his voice. He sighed happily when she nodded.

"I may have very few breeding years" she told him. "And my family seems good material; I can tell WHEN dragons are talking, though I can't hear them and I was hoping that any children I have will have more of the talent, like T'lana.

"I don't know what talent T'lana has" he told her. She looked surprised.

"Oh, I thought everyone knew that, now. T'lana hears all dragons. She co-ordinates" she explained. He looked impressed.

"And you have this in a lesser form? Then it would be a great thing if your children had it too" he added, "But if you are carrying my child, it would not matter to me if he or she had any talent at all or even if he Impressed or not. I'd still ask to see my child and love him, or her."

Z'linda was looking at him with a strange expression on her face. In the light of her earlier ruminations on his similarities to R'gar, this softer streak was almost uncanny. She sniffed firmly, nodded, and said,

"That's all settled then" and returned to oiling Zith determinedly.

VI

As time passed, there were frequent visits from Fort riders, including S'lonag, who hung around Z'linda scowling at any other riders who came close. Z'linda told him that his presence was unwelcome; but he only laughed and said,

"You'll change your mind. Besides, you'd better get used to it; I've asked to move here."

Z'linda stared at him in dismay.

"Excuse me" she muttered, and fled to find T'lana.

T'lana told Z'linda bluntly that she would have to see T'bor herself and explain the situation; and with some trepidation, the girl made an appointment to see the Weyrleader. To her surprise he was very ready to listen to her tale, told rather haltingly, of S'lonag's unwanted attentions. T'bor knew better than most how the balance of a Weyr could be upset by the emotional vagaries of its members, and he promised to refuse N'ton if he passed on S'lonag's request. Z'linda was much relieved, and she startled T'bor by kissing him on the cheek and calling him a perfect sweetie.

S'lonag did not seem to take his disappointment as a serious bar to his visits to High Reaches, and T'bor grumbled that the young man seemed to have virtually moved in. he asked N'ton to do something about it; and whilst N'ton promised to have a word, he said that he could scarcely forbid his riders from visiting High Reaches without a good reason. The irritation of a Green rider – touchy lot anyway – was not in N'ton's book a good enough reason. T'bor sighed, and tried to find ways to discourage S'lonag ranging from having him served cold Klah to arranging for the weyrlings to have an early snow-fight where the man was bound to pass on his determined pursuit of Z'linda. On this occasion he was able to take S'lonag to task for losing his temper with a weyrling whose snowball had caught the Brown rider full in the face. T'bor had been lying in wait, and as soon as the man started twisting the child's arm, he erupted from his weyr to send him about his business and forbid him to enter the Weyr again except on business. R'gar had joined them, and grunted agreement. He would not have his boys bullied!

S'lonag had to test his ingenuity to engineer legitimate business thereafter, and Z'linda was grateful. He managed, however, to be there often enough to test her mood; and one day Z'linda found herself unable to prevent herself from screaming at him,

"JUST GO AWAY!"

S'lonag grinned.

"So she's ready to rise again" he said, satisfied. "The best way to hurry that up is to excite her, you know; and if you're already with someone, why then, his dragon's more likely to catch her. That'll give him an edge another time; and he can be satisfied without me having to avoid those girl-boys."

"I doubt if even dragonlust would excite me if you were involved" Z'linda said scornfully. "You have the sexual appeal for me of second-hand Fellis."

His face darkened in fury, and he pursed his lips.

"You'll change your mind" he told her. "But you'll force her up at this point by the very act" he grabbed her arm, and pushed her towards the empty Queen's weyr. He had been adroit in steering her close before she realised his intentions, but she fought and bit at him. He slapped her, hard.

"You can make this easy or hard on yourself" he told her grimly. "She's very close – she didn't even come to your defence because she's confused about the feelings she has herself. All I have to do is get your body involved, and it's all mine and Fierth's."

Z'linda bit him again, hard; she was determined to make him keep hurting her so Zith would resolve the conflict of her own sexuality and refuse to rise while her rider was distressed. Zith was indeed calling, and questioning Z'linda's feelings even as her own desires threatened to carry her away.

"GET ADETH!" Z'linda screamed mentally, and she felt the fuddled little Green reach out for her first suitor.

Adeth informed his rider that he had had a most peculiar message from Zith.

"I think she is about to rise." he said. Z'kan finished his business in the necessary in record time and leaped onto Adeth's back.

"Get there!" he yelled. Adeth did not need to be told twice.

T'lana had seen that S'lonag and Z'linda had both disappeared, and that Zith was hovering about the feeding grounds indecisively. She made her way to the empty Queen's weyr, her arrival coinciding with Adeth's appearance from between. She directed him to land by the weyr and almost pulled Z'kan off and inside. Adeth took off for the feeding ground.

Inside, Z'linda was beginning to be affected by Zith's increasing lust; and S'lonag was carried away by Fierth's interest. She was resisting the feeling with all her might, when the weight from her increasingly uncontrolled body was violently lifted. She opened her tear filled eyes.

"OH! It's YOU!"

Her tone was very different from the last time she had uttered similar words and she writhed happily at Z'kan.

"There is no decision until the dragons join." T'lana said, inexorably. "Shame on you S'lonag! I'll be saying more to you later!"

Other riders filed into the weyr in more or less controlled fashions as their dragons watched Zith. Now Z'linda was relaxed, Zith knew exactly what she wanted. T'lana wondered briefly whether to cheat, and trickle her intentions to Adeth; but decided to let nature take its course. Unless, of course, Fierth looked like winning the little dragon.

Zith growled at her suitors one more time, and took off! It was definitely a two dragon chase, Fierth a Benden bred Brown, but Adeth big for his time, strong and well developed; and having flown Zith once before. Zith liked Adeth; she did not like Fierth, and nor did her rider like his. She jinked left and right, then right again, employing every trick she had learned from Mirrith. It had been very obliging of the golden Queen to pass on these tricks! Zith did not know that T'lana had suggested to Mirrith that the right dragon would have a better chance if Zith knew a ploy or two; and Mirrith had unbent enough to chat to the little Green. Not that Mirrith was particularly stand-offish anyway; but Segrith was inclined to remind her that if you were giving the orders, it didn't do to be too chatty in case orders were queried and it killed someone. Segrith had, for a dragon, a remarkable grasp of consequences.

As Zith played her games, most of her suitors were lost. Few Greens had any subtleties and they were not used to it. Fierth was also confused, and angry. Green dragons were supposed to be straightforward! Only Adeth was now a serious contender. He was experienced enough a dragon to accept any peculiarities, and had besides tried occasionally for Queens on account of his size.

Finally he had her, his superior size and strength telling; and with his neck about hers, he brought her home.

Z'linda surrendered to Z'kan joyfully, making happy little noises into his chest as T'lana shooed the rest of the riders away. S'lonag she did not shoo away. She led him by the ear to T'bor.

Z'kan and Z'linda knew nothing of S'lonag's chewing out and threatened punishments; they were too wrapped up in each other and their dragons. And when they finally awoke in full possession of their senses, Z'linda turned into Z'kan's chest and held him fiercely.

"Do you like me better this time?" he asked. She nodded, blushing fiercely.

"What a fool I was!" she said. "This could all have been decided last time and there'd not have been that creature S'lonag!"

"I'm going to skin him alive!" declared Z'kan, vehemently.

"Get in the queue" she growled. "If I'd had my knife on me…"

He kissed her.

"Perhaps as well you didn't" he said. "You'd have felt bad about his dragon if you'd killed him."

She considered; and nodded.

"I wasn't winning; but I wasn't losing" she told him. "I was holding Zith back. Then you came." She gazed up at him. "I never realised, but I think I love you!" she declared, sounding surprised. He laughed, joyfully.

"And I know I love you. Of course, with the completeness of having a dragon, there can be no loneliness; but company of one's own kind….especially when we can share our dragon's feelings" tenderly he smoothed one of her curls from her face. She sighed contentedly and snuggled.

"And we can share something more" she told him. "I'm now certain of what I only suspected before – we're going to have a baby!"

He held her to him; and knew that no man could be happier!