Vinna spent very little time at the Hatching celebration, which she now suspected, was thrown in part to placate the Masters and Holders who had been privileged enough to be attend.
She'd fed Pyramanth, trying to make sure the dragonet didn't choke on the cubes of meat she'd ravenously snapped at; led her to their new, temporary weyr at the edge of the Bowl, beneath Yiirmith and Omath's; and had fallen asleep at her dragon's side. The next morning she was woken by Pyramanth's hunger, the golden beauty butting her head against her rider's side. Tired, and not wanting to leave her queen's side, Vinna called Yiirmith, asking the dragon to send Branna.
Dont't let her eat too much, Yiirmith warned sleepily as the Weyrwoman appeared at Vinna's side. That was quick.
"Here," the old woman smiled breathlessly, handing Vinna a large bowl full of raw meat. "I had Yori preparing for the dragonets last night. All they do is eat, sleep and outgrow their own hide,"
As the weeks went by, Pyramanth grew comfortable with killing for her meat instead of being offered handfuls at a time. She had to be oiled and bathed daily to prevent any serious cracking or flaking of her soft hide. And she grew. Within the first month the gold beast had almost tripled in size.
"She'll end up eating us out of the Weyr," Vinna shook her head as she sat at breakfast with the other weyrlings.
"Mornthmenth is just as bad," Traseb, no, T'seb now, sighed, but beamed none the less at the thought of his bronze.
Again Vinna mentally went over the names those who she knew had impressed. She still sometimes slipped and called them by their original names.
The brothers, now Z'ror and S'rlle, had both impressed. S'rlle's green Franth was a sweet little thing, but was dwarfed by Z'ror's bronze Glyoranth. Gadriel, G'riel, had also impressed a bronze, Brannongeth. D'iiel to brown Edeth, N'aniel to brown Esthneth. N'non, J'den, R'jer and A'ander all impressed blues; Pyath, Hollth, Kath, and Arruth. K'vin and T'mmas had impressed greens, Lanth and Rogeth. A'onis had impressed a brown too, Prenneth? Yes. There were others but she couldn't recall their names.
"Have any of you gotten to talk to those bronze riders from Igen?" N'non leaned forward, peering expectantly at T'seb, G'riel and Z'ror.
G'riel shook his head, "Not personally, but Brannongeth has been talking to their dragons,"
"Glyoranth too, has Mornthmeth?" Z'ror asked.
T'seb nodded, "A few times,"
"Even my brown spoke to them," D'iiel grinned.
"Rank isn't so important to dragons," E'an reminded. A'onis rolled his eyes.
"It is sometimes. Dragons all listen to bronzes and queens, and if rank didn't matter, you'd have blues flying queens,"
N'non and R'jer stiffened, but Z'ror only frowned,"Blues aren't strong or big enough to fly queens," then be quickly look at N'non and R'jer, holding ups his hands, "no offense,"
R'jer shook his head, offering a forgiving smile as N'non cocked his head.
"Pyath says queens are scary," he announced.
Vinna threw back her head and laughed. With how quickly Pyramanth was growing, it was easy to see why a little blue would be frightened, and of course there was Yiirmith. A fully grown dragon queen was the biggest creature to be found on all of Pern!
"Do you think they'll be teaching us to fly soon?" D'iiel was suddenly eager.
"Probably," T'seb nodded, "those bronzes from Igen aren't that old,"
"What!" D'iiel exclaimed, "But they're so big," he breathed.
"Bronzes grow quickly," G'riel said smugly.
"I spoke with a one of them," Vinna said, reaching for the pitcher of klah, "they impressed half-a-turn ago,"
"That's right," T'seb mussed, "I faintly recall hearing about Igen Weyr's hatching, the daughter of Igen's Lord Holder was injured on the sands,"
"Was it serious?" R'jer gasped.
"Not that I remember," T'seb shrugged,"
"Why didn't the new queen come with Shalth then?" N'non asked
"Imeroth didn't lay one, besides, it was probably hard enough for Yiirmith to have one foreign queen at the hatching,"
"It was unnecessary for Shalth and Serina to come at all," Z'ror grumbled, "They didn't need to send a queen,"
"I think one of the girls standing from Igen was Serina's sister," A'onis crossed his arms, "They're both raised at Igen Weyr,"
"So they're weyrbreed?"
"I guess, I overhear R'mar talking to D'avi," A'onis admitted sheepishly.
Suddenly T'seb rose from the table, "Mornthmeth's awake, and itches," he announces, picking up his dishes. Vinna follow suite.
"Pyramanth's waking anyway," she explained as she followed T'seb out of the main dining hall. He stopped unexpectedly as they approached the doors and bowed, "Weyrewoman," he gestured for her to lead.
Vinna tried very hard to hide her blush.
Is something wrong? Pyramanth asked, still groggy.
Nothing, love, just some unexpected courtesy, Vinna reassured.
I itch, Pyramanth informed. Vinna shook her head in wonder and exasperation.
By the time both Mornthmeth and Pyramanth had been had been brought to the lake for the bathing, a few other weyrlings had been summoned by their waking dragonets. Many paused to watch the young queen, her golden hide dazzling in the morning light.
"She's growing swiftly,"
Vinna jumped a little as she noticed the Weyrwoman at her side, gray hair bound tightly at the base of her skull. She was wearing riding gear, fists placed on her wide riding belt.
"Aren't they all?" Vinna raised an eyebrow, brushing back some of her fine brown hair. Branna chuckled and eyed Mornthmeth, the bronze was already as big as most of the full-grown greens.
"They'll all be big beasts, that's good,"
"But no longer necessary," Vinna cast a sideways glance at the Weyrwoman, wondering if she'd spoke out of turn. The Pass would soon be over, they would never have the opportunity to fight Thread.
"Still, the Lords may need reminding who they owe their lives to," Branna cackled, clearly pleased with Vinna's reaction.
"You think they won't send tithe?" Vinna's eyes widened.
"Now? With the Pass only just ending? They'll send, though I worry what will happen as the Turns lengthen. Two hundred Turns is a long time,"
"The dragons won't be affected?"
"Only in numbers. Queens won't rise so often now that Red Star has passed,"
"Hmmm,"
They watched for awhile in silence as Pyramanth made tiny waves with her translucent wings. She was bigger than Mornthmeth, who was proving to be the largest bronze in the clutch. Abruptly Vinna realized that the shore was dotting with young riders, letting the queen have her moment.
"Pyramanth, my little queen, you can't soak all day," she finally called.
Am I not a queen? The dragon ducked her head, blowing air up to the surface.
"Let the others have their washing, love, and you can sun after you eat,"
Pyramanth's rainbow eyes whirled excitedly under the water, and she willingly wadded out onto the shore, shaking her wings before flipping them onto her back.
"She's been asking about flying," Vinna commented, knowing she wasn't being subtle.
"Hmmm," Branna hummed, "Yes, B'luyi said he was going to start early with you lot,"
"Have S'rlle and E'an been pestering him that much?" Vinna scowled.
"No, well, probably yes... though I know G'riel and N'aniel have been watching those boys from Igen. Nothing like flying on your own dragon, gold, bronze, brown, blue or green," Her eyes softened.
"Are you and Yiirmith going off for a ride?" Vinna gestered to Branna's heavy jacket, too thick for the warm spring air.
"Gather at Telgar Hold, to celebrate the end of the Pass. I actually came down to invite you,"
Vinna shook her head, "I appreciate the offer but I don't want to be separated for Pyramanth,"
Branna nodded sharply in understanding.
"No dress?" Vinna asked.
"I stopped wearing skirts long ago," Branna grinned, she wore a finely-crafted tunic of pure white, with heavy gold embroidery.
"I never really wore them to begin with," Vinna admitted sheepishly. She'd grown up on a tiny farm hold with few luxuries.
Her parents had always been strict and sour tempered, with little toleration for fantasy and lies. So when Vinna had first accidentally spoken to a brown dragon passing overhead, she'd kept the incident to herself. The dragon had not been so secretive. Two days later the Weyrleader himself had appeared with half-a-wing of dragons, gently asking her to speak to any of the dragons present. That same day D'gran had whisked her away to speak with the Weyrwoman. Secretively, Vinna thought her parents had been glad to be rid of her. She'd lived at the Weyr for nearly a full Turn before the Hatching, being prepared to become a weyrwoman.
"I remember when Yiirmith was that small," Branna said absentmindedly.
"Small!" Vinna's eyes flashed.
"Yes, small," the Weyrwoman teased.
A shadow passed overhead, both weyrwomen looked up to see the huge golden queen swooping down to land beside Pyramanth. Yes, Vinna admitted grudgingly. Compared to the majestic bulk of the senior queen, Pyramanth was small.
"She'll grow quickly, eating as she does," Branna assured, giving Vinna a comforting shake.
Yiirmith arched her neck to touch her man-sized head to Pyramanth in a rare display of affection.
"Pyramanth could be smaller than any green and I would love her so," Vinna declared.
But I am no green, Pyramanth countered, and Vinna put her hand to her cheek in shock.
"If Yori comes to you with anything you can't handle, feel free to call on Yiirmith and I," Branna thumped Vinna's back as she started forward.
"Oh?" Vinna brushed back a few strands of hair in confusion.
Branna paused, looking back at her, " You are junior weyrwoman now. Whenever I am not in the Weyr, the Headwoman will go to you,"
"Oh!"
Branna grinned, then gracefully swung onto her dragon's neck. With no visible prompting, Yiirmith leaped up, bringing down her wings and taking off into the sky where she was quickly joined by Omath and another bronze that she guessed was P'yapo's Ayeth. The watchdragon bugled a farewell, and the three dragons winked between.
When will we fly? Pyramanth asked as she walked up to Vinna.
"Soon, little queen," Vinna answered tenderly as she scratched the dragon's eye ridges.