4 - The Wrong Weyrwoman
Rulame's feeble body laid collapsed on the table in her quarters. Judging from her fingers moving around the emptied wine glass though, she wasn't asleep. The Weyrwoman had gotten up late that day and all she's done was ordering wine from the private reserves of the Weyrleaders in the lower caverns. Since then, she's refused to do anything other than drink and drown in the thoughts of madness that had gripped her new Weyrleader and her own dragon.
I'm not mad. I did what is good for the Weyr. Dinuth told her for a hundredth time.
How is someone like T'rax good for the Weyr? she asked, for a hundredth time, too. T'rax, the first blue Weyrleader in history hasn't shown up since the mating flight two days ago. Young Rulame had found him to be harsh, cruel and lunatic. When he claimed her, he was hard, quick and wasted no time. Maybe it's good that I drink so much, I don't want a child to see the chaos he will bring, she thought.
Weyrs need respect. They lack it. Dragons are mighty and beautiful, holders fail to see it. I have to change that. We have to change that. Dinuth persisted.
You never should've impressed me. I'm not a good Weyrwoman.
Don't say that, I love you! Tirazith loves you too! And he loves me! The queen tried to comfort her rider.
He's a blue. Rulame snorted in her thoughts. Tirazith was so slow Dinuth had to outfly all the bronzes and then race back into his embrace and mate with him.
He's strong. There's something about him that no bronze has. He's brave, really brave. I'm telling you, he will bring us to where we should- where we have to be.
Ashes. That is what Pern will become if you let T'rax and Tirazith do what they want. Thread might have not returned, but what if the dragons have been destined to replace it? To plague this world and burn it's people, leaving innocents scarred, children motherless, women used as slaves in the beds of riders, men sent to mines to dig gold and gems for the Weyrs. That's not what I want Pern to become.
That's nothing what Pern will be like! Never! We would never allow that! The queen sounded almost ashamed her rider thought they would let such a thing happen.
Say what you want. I don't like how this will end.
"Weyrwoman!" Rulame heard and felt strong hands shaking her. She jumped up, but her feet knew no balance and lost ground seemed as alien as tithe from the holds. She fell over, half-hoping to knock herself out and get a good sleep, but those arms showed up again and prevented it. So, I will suffer and have to explain why, great, she thought. Why did that man yell so loud, though? Even Dinuth knew better than to scream at her when she tried to drown in endless anxiety.
"What's wrong with you? You don't have to yell at me right from the start!" she yelled at the large figure that made her jump.
"I was trying to wake you for three minutes!" the man complained. After recovering from the sudden lift of her head, squinting and taking a rather long time realizing his identity, Rulame found him to be one of the wingleaders, L'cet. His hard, square face stared her down with troubled eyes. He's so old, she thought to herself. He was only twice her age, but he looked thrice that number. It made her uncomfortable, so she started twisting around, forcing him to let go of her. Luckily, her chair was nearby so Rulame could quickly collapse into it and not on the hard ground of her weyr. After taking a few deep breaths, she asked lethargically: "What do you want, wingleader?"
"To see if you are alright." L'cet answered, measuring her up and down. A feeling of being undressed made her cover herself nervously with one hand while taking the wine glass with the other to numb the pain from the mating flight that had come back with this stare. Only when nothing came pouring into her mouth did she realized that she had steadily emptied her reserves of fine drinks. Irritated, she placed it back on the table with a loud thud.
"Alright! Yes, I'm good. My 'mate' is off in Ista, slaughtering holders and taking the rest as slaves, but I'm good. Not enough wine, though. Be chivalrous and fetch me some." she waved him off. Instead of going away like she desperately wanted him to, he kneeled before her and reached out for her hand, grabbing it easily. She was too weak to resist him.
Why does he have to touch me? She thought, shivering. The last thing she wanted was a bronze rider gripping her.
"T'rax had sent thirty dragons, lead by the brown R'wan to Igen Weyr." he told her like it was a big deal.
"So? He wants to make allies there, what do I have to do with it?" she shrugged, trying to keep the conversation as short as possible.
"Igen is gone." he sounded so serious. Rulame found it hard to focus on his words, and took her time answering. Surely it was nothing to be concerned about. "Gone? Where to?" But through her tired voice, a feeling of unease growing deep inside her.."They're still there," L'cet said. Good, she sighed. The feeling was gone.
"Their corpses are. Igen has starved out because of the holders." And here it was again. The terrible sense of dread overtook her. Dinuth roared in her weyr, disgusted. Rulame found it hard to breathe, the arrogance and cruelty of the holders' was pressing against her chest. Now she finally saw why Dinuth chose Tirazith.
"R'wan is supposed to clear it out. For you. T'rax is going to send you to Igen where Dinuth will clutch. That way, T'rax will have two Weyrs under his direct control and will demand tithe from Igen Hold and the minor holds in southern Bended and Telgar." L'cet continued relentlessly. Why was he telling her all this? Was he planning to foil the Weyrleader's plans somehow? At least this part of his plan didn't involve her suffering. She wouldn't see all the terror he would inflict, the slaves that would work the mines for firestone and gems.
"Rulame!" he made her snap out of the somewhat pleasant and selfish thoughts.
"What do you want from me?" she cried out, annoyed and confused. "Tell me!"
"I want you to end T'rax's rule." he whispered. Somewhere behind him, Dinuth growled uncomfortably.
Shut up, let him talk. Rulame barked at her dragon, gasping when she caught herself speaking like this to her. She knew she would regret damaging the only nice relationship she still had left. The bronze rider noticed it and hopelessly tried to shift the Weyrwoman's attention back to the future coming for her.
"T'rax will never let me go with you. He will be very careful of Dinuth rising to mate again so he doesn't lose two Weyrs at once," he explained. You have to sway the three bronzes coming with you to your side. Their authority is being undermined by T'rax, they shouldn't be hard to convince. Send them to Benden, they will have a mating flight soon. T'rax is going to send H'jit there to fly their queen. He's weak-minded but loyal to T'rax. You have to get your own bronzes there and have them fly the senior Benden queen. We will have two Weyrs and T'rax only one, excluding High Reaches.
"He's decided to send out spies and decoys to Telgar holds. They'll be having a Search soon, and it's likely the blues will snatch most of our weyrfolk there. He plans on impressing all of them in Telgar, those that fail will make their job undermining S'nar's authority through manipulation of the wingleaders. Most of them are young and we have many pretty girls here. I will persuade as many of those spies and candidates as I can to warn S'nar. Hopefully they will realize the danger before it's too late.
"I hate T'rax, but I have to admit he is a good schemer. He didn't even include me in the attack at Ista, neither has he sent me to Igen. He wants me here because he thinks I'm the biggest threat. He's right about that, and I will do everything I can to undermine his authority." L'cet whispered most of it. Rulame knew why, her queen was just a room away, and wouldn't be pleased to hear L'cet wanting to get rid of her mate.
Even through that, Rulame knew her queen heard at least some of the words. "What then, though? Will you fight dragon with dragon? Cause so much suffering and break bonds that are supposed to last entire lives?" Rulame asked, maybe a bit too loudly. L'cet looked grim, but did offer her an answer. "I don't want it to come to that, and I know you don't either. My hope is that when T'rax sees that we have the numbers advantage of three Weyrs to two, with Fort maybe joining us, he will back down. But I know better than to rely on hopes, and T'rax is way too crazed by his crusade against the holders to see the consequences of his actions." the bronze rider then leaned in, too close for Rulame's liking, whispering: "If all fails, I will be prepared to kill T'rax for the sake of Pern."