Disclaimer: same as always.


Mnementh had instructed her to enter the Council Chamber, so Mara was surprised to see two wingleaders standing stiffly before Weyrleader F'lar. When F'lar looked at her and nodded, she returned his nod.

"My apologies for interrupting, Weyrleader. You asked to be informed when Klamath was fully cleared to fly."

"Yes. Come in. Take a seat, rider." He motioned toward Lessa's end of the table.

"Thank you, Weyrleader." Mara sat straight on the edge of the chair and picked a spot on the wall to study until F'lar was ready. She heard embarrassment in the thoughts of the two wingleaders at the other end of the room, so fought to keep her face expressionless.

"Will there be anything else, Wingleaders?" F'lar's tone indicated his negative expectations.

"No, sir" said one.

"Thank you for your time, Weyrleader" said the other.

Mara was only mildly surprised when each of the men patted her shoulder as they left. She fought even harder to maintain a neutral expression until they were well down the tunnel toward the exit.

F'lar picked up something from the seat of a chair near his and carried it toward Lessa's end of the table. "Do you understand the necessity of this punishment?"

Did she hear a slight emphasis on the word 'you'? Mara dared to smile at her smiling Weyrleader. "Does it matter, sir?"

Still smiling, F'lar sounded stern. "Answer my question, rider."

"Yes, sir, I do understand the necessity."

"Good." He dropped a small carisak on the table and kept walking. "That makes two of us."

"Uh oh."

F'lar chuckled as he moved to meet Lessa at the entrance. "Thank you, my dear." Hands on either side of the tray she carried, he leaned over the tray and kissed her sweetly. As he stood, he removed the tray from her hands and turned back to the table.

Lessa smiled only after spotting Mara at the table. "Hello, Mara."

"Good day, Lessa."

"I take it Klamath is cleared for full duty?" Her smile disappeared as she took her seat.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good for him." She began studiously pouring wine in two of the mugs on the tray.

As Lessa poured wine, Mara reached for the pitcher of water and filled a mug of her own, glancing at F'lar as she did so. Even without listening to their thoughts, Mara could see and feel a rather strong negative tension between her weyrleaders. "I'm sure glad this confinement will only be for a seven-day." A wince from Lessa confirmed this was indeed the subject of their disagreement. "I should think assault could earn far more than that."

The Weyrwoman pushed a mug of wine to her left, never looking at her mate. "Assault normally earns two to three days of confinement."

F'lar forced a tight smile. "Most assaults aren't carried out in full view of the entire Weyr."

As Lessa began to flush with anger, Mara tried to lighten the mood. "It's been a long time since I spent any time alone. I'm rather looking forward to seven days of privacy."

That took Lessa by surprise. "You're kidding!"

Mara's eyes snapped wide open. She hadn't expected that response. She half grinned apologetically to F'lar and then confessed to Lessa. "Yeah, but I would look forward to it, if I had a bit more freedom, and if G'raden weren't waiting for me."

Both weyrleaders laughed at the silly way she phrased her clarification.

"It won't be so bad, Lessa. And with so many weyrlings in training, you really do want to make it clear that such behavior is not acceptable."

Lessa took Mara's hand and squeezed as she smiled. "Very well." She turned a raised chin to F'lar. "My apologies, Weyrleader."

F'lar smiled graciously with only a hint of victory. "Accepted, Weyrwoman. Now, may we get on with our business?"

Lessa pushed the tray out of the way and sat back to observe.

F'lar opened the carisak and laid out a pad of newly crafted lined paper, several carbon sticks, and a hidebound book with no lettering on the cover. "You and Klamath will have until evening meal to get moved into your temporary weyr. It's located about halfway down the western wall, and is marked with a small red spot above the entrance to warn off those who have already suggested they might accidentally land on your ledge." He smiled at Mara's surprise.

He placed the carbon sticks on the pad of paper and pushed it across the table. "Each day you will be given a subject to write about. You will define the subject, you will give examples both good and bad of the subject, and you will write down your thoughts and conclusions on that subject. Each paper will be at least one page long, single spaced, and will be brought to me at the head table before you pick up your morning meal. I will then give you a book to be read before the end of the day, and a new subject to write about before the next morning meal. Any questions?"

"No, sir."

"Good. You won't have much time for reading this day, but your first subject is 'honesty'. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He pushed the untitled book across the table. "This is called a journal. It is for your use, and is not to be seen or reviewed by anyone but you. A journal is used to write down events that should be remembered and your feelings or thoughts about those events. You might be surprised in a few turns at just how much we can forget about even the most important events in our lives. Use this wisely and many will be impressed with your wisdom."

Mara witnessed a meaningful sharing of glances between her weyrleaders. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Your seven-day of confinement begins at evening meal. Lessa and I are your only permitted visitors. We'll see you at morning meal."

"Yes, sir." Mara stood, arranged her writing supplies, and because Lessa pulled the tray back toward her, didn't offer to return it to the kitchen. She nodded at each of her weyrleaders before leaving the Council Chambers.

It wasn't difficult to avoid smiling as she left; all she had to do was wonder why F'lar wanted a paper on honesty – did he doubt her honesty?

She asked G'raden, through Normond, to bring down Klamath's riding straps. She and Klamath moved what she would need to their new temporary weyr, they flew above the ridges of the Weyr for a little while, and then she and G'raden walked the south end of the bowl, holding hands in near silence until mealtime. They kissed and hugged before walking hand in hand to the dining hall.

At the entrance, they separated; G'raden joined his friends, and Mara began her seven days of solitude among the mass of people at Benden Weyr. She loaded a small carisak with food and two mugs, picked up a water skin, and walked outside to Klamath. She merely nodded at anyone who spoke to her, indicating that her confinement was now underway.

When they reached their weyr, Mara removed Klamath's straps and started work on her first paper. Just as T'men had taught her, she first sketched an outline on one piece of paper and then combined the sketchy, scratched out and overwritten outline notes into one cohesive, smooth flowing paper discussing honesty. By the time she finished her one and a half page paper, the sun was long set and she was exhausted.

She flipped through the blank pages of the journal F'lar had given her and smiled. It was a beautiful, thick, hidebound book. The hide had been dyed to a medium brown very close to the coloring on Klamath's face and along his back.

On the inside cover sheet, a quarter of the way down the page, she wrote in capital letters 'MARA – RIDER OF BROWN KLAMATH'. At Klamath's suggestion, she placed a small inverted 'v' after 'BROWN' and wrote above '(most of the time)'.

She found the first lined page and began writing neatly in small print:

'7.12.2555 – Benden Weyr.

'Weyrleader F'lar: "A journal is used to write down events that should be remembered and your feelings or thoughts about those events." "It is for your use, and is not to be seen or reviewed by anyone but you." "Use this wisely and many will be impressed with your wisdom."

'He looked so paternal as he spoke those words. Should I have told him that T'men gave me a journal the first Turn's End I was at Benden Weyr? Should I have told him that I write in it every day, sometimes more? I'm a wherry-brain; I couldn't spoil his surprise. And he only allowed me one book, so I left T'men's gift at G'raden's weyr.

'Approximately two candle-marks after sunset. First day of confinement for assaulting bronze rider B'rand on 7.9.2555. Feelings: we are both so lucky he is alive this day. Thoughts: if I hadn't attacked him, he would still be trying to kill Klamath and me. This day's essay topic is 'honesty' – I hope F'lar and Lessa don't doubt mine. They are the parents I wish I had after Mama died, and the friends I never dared hope for. I could never lie to either of them.'

She grimaced as she reread the first three paragraphs, and added a new line:

'Omission of a fact is not a lie!'

She closed the journal, placed it in the chest at the foot of her bed under a stack of under clothing, and went to bed.

The next morning, she woke shortly before sunrise, before most people were moving around. As Mara adjusted riding straps, Klamath wondered where G'raden was and seemed surprised that he wasn't up yet. Mara ran two laps around the bowl, the first half lap real easy to warm up, a full lap as fast as she could and the last half lap at a more leisurely pace. She stopped near the weyrling barracks and picked up two bags of firestone for exercises requiring weight which she would do inside the weyr. After working up a satisfying sweat, she cooled off while oiling Klamath's scars as they discussed what all confinement would mean. She took a quick bath and was fully dressed by the time Klamath informed her that F'lar had arrived in the dining hall. She neatly folded her first paper and tucked it into her vest before riding Klamath to the floor of the bowl near the dining hall.

The dining hall fell silent as Mara entered. All eyes on her, she walked straight to the head table.

F'lar motioned her up onto the raised platform to stand near him. Mara stood tall and straight and watched a spot on the wall near the entrance as he took his time reading, giving no indication as to his opinion of her first paper. When finished, he refolded the pages and placed them inside the cover of a book, which he handed to Mara, title side down. "I'll be up later to discuss this paper in further depth. This is your book for the day and your subject is written on a scrap of paper inside the front cover." He then turned back to his plate of food, effectively dismissing her.

"Yes, sir." Mara nodded, even though he wouldn't see, placed the book under her arm, and gathered what food and drink she would need. As she walked out of the hall, carisak and skins over her shoulder, she glanced at the title of the book: Agriculture in Southern Hemisphere Pern. She glanced at the head table and caught just a brief grin from F'lar before he turned his attention to Lessa. On returning to their weyr, she learned the subject of her paper for the day: loyalty.

In her new weyr, Mara moved the small table and two chairs to a spot near the ledge for natural lighting, but far enough back that she would not be seen from any part of the bowl. She laid out her morning meal, poured a mug of juice, and started reading Agriculture in Southern Hemisphere Pern while waiting for F'lar's visit.

They talked for nearly half a candle-mark, F'lar asking questions or posing different scenarios, all dealing with the subject of honesty.

As he ended the session, F'lar asked if she needed to make any changes to her paper. He was pleased that she would like to add to the paper, but would not change what was already there. He was also pleased that she had indeed explored both positive and negative uses of honesty. She had put a lot of thought into the paper, indicating the level of seriousness she was giving these assignments. He suggested that she date the paper and keep it in her journal. And then he left.

Mara never got the chance to ask what agriculture might have to do with loyalty. She continued reading the book, with the pad of paper nearby for noting thoughts on loyalty as they popped into her mind. At the top of the page, she had already written the definition according to her dictionary.

Klamath's notification that mid-day meal was beginning came as a surprise to Mara. She had actually become quite engrossed in the book she was reading. She marked her place, noticing that she was nearly half way through, and was surprised to see that her paper was nearly half full as well. As she harnessed Klamath, she wondered what it was about agriculture that would prompt so many thoughts on loyalty.

She was still frowning in thought as she entered the dining hall, and barely noticed all the sympathetic stares coming from the riders. A tearful look from one of the kitchen women, though, snapped her out of her own thoughts. She winked and smiled at the woman before finishing her food collection, and forced the frown to return in a purposefully comical way. The woman winked back and bit her lips, trying not to smile.

Evening meal came far too quick as well. Mara had started a second page of notes, but wasn't quite finished with the book. She collected her meal, leaving dishes and empty skins, and returned to their weyr.

After finishing the last small section of the book, she began her paper and was quite surprised at how easily all her notes fit together. She spent the last bit of her evening contemplating the commonalities of agriculture and loyalty. After a bath and a session with her new journal, she went to bed totally confused.

The next six days were pretty much the same. Mara would exercise, hand her paper to F'lar in front of the entire Weyr, pick up meals and eat them in her weyr while reading or writing notes, and read a book that seemed to have nothing to do with whatever subject she would write about. Books and subjects were as follows: History of Pern Metallurgy and trust, Geology of Pern and pride, Basic Electricity and duty, Edible Native Plants of Pern and killing, and Native Fauna of Pern and leadership.

Most of her papers were two to three full pages long. She tried to include every scenario she could think of, and yet, F'lar always found more examples to question her about.

She had considerable trouble with the paper on killing. After a much longer meeting than usual, F'lar suggested she keep working on it until she reached a conclusion she could live with.

Between the books and the papers, Mara had very little time to think about much else, though she did write in her new journal each day.

She did visit the healers once a day so they could put lotion on the parts of her back she couldn't reach, and she oiled Klamath's scars several times each day.

Klamath was agreeable to letting his scars heal more completely, so ate well and then observed the green's mating flight on the second day. He wanted a bath on the fourth day of their confinement, but was understanding when she refused to play in the lake. He was also quite content to hunt in the Weyr's beast pen until they were free to hunt outside the Weyr, and to fly laps inside the bowl.

He did have trouble sitting on his ledge during the Fall F'nor's wing fought, but Mara was able to soothe him sufficiently with promises of more Thread to fight in the very near future. When a rider was knocked between during a midair collision, Mara and Klamath did drop to the bowl to calm his dragon, but returned to their weyr as soon as the rider regained consciousness. There were no complaints about her breaking confinement, even when she mentioned it to F'lar.

Mara only had to shoo away one unauthorized visitor. Wingleader F'nor was certain that he should have been permitted to visit, but Mara insisted that he speak with F'lar. When he continued asking questions that she wouldn't answer, Mara resorted to visiting the necessary room to hopefully convince him to leave. As she sat on the bench along the wall, she fervently wished she had picked up her book of the day. F'nor didn't leave until she began splashing her hand through the bathing pool. His hearty laughter as he left her weyr let Mara know that this had been another of his little tests.

The last, partial day of confinement was spent working on the paper about killing. F'lar met with her a candle-mark before evening meal to discuss scenarios she hadn't yet considered, asking her if she thought she could kill in this or that situation. Her distress bothered him on one level, but was quite understandable considering the person she was. With no pressure, and no indication of what he was waiting for, he suggested she keep working on the paper, perhaps during her night watches on the fire heights.

Lessa had been a bit annoyed by his seeming obsession with the paper on killing, but finally agreed with his reasoning after he explained. Bronze and brown riders were most likely to accompany them on diplomatic missions, and knowledge of their capabilities, even in the most extreme situations, was imperative. And F'lar planned to have Mara, with her special 'hearing' abilities, begin accompanying them very soon. Discussions and negotiations dealing with 'After' were already growing contentious. Mara just might be able to help smooth some of the rough terrain ahead.

Before F'lar left her weyr on the last day, Mara finally asked him what the books had to do with the papers.

F'lar grinned mischievously. "You tell me, brown rider. Something else to think about on watch duty." He grew more serious. "Your confinement is officially over. You are free this evening, but will be expected in the Records Room first thing tomorrow, and will begin middle night watch tomorrow night." As he walked to Mnementh on Mara's ledge, he turned back, once again grinning. "It's meal time. Are you coming?"

"Yes, sir!" Klamath, love, do you want to go flying?

There was a very near miss as Mnementh dropped off the ledge barely a heartbeat before Klamath landed.

Mara heard F'lar's laughter rise from below. She quickly, but carefully placed and adjusted Klamath's riding straps, climbed excitedly to her place, and held on tight as he dropped from the ledge.

Klamath circled the bowl several more times than necessary, enjoying the feel of his happy rider on his back where she belonged, before landing near the main cavern.

G'raden waited a short distance down the wall from the entrance, big grin beaconing. Klamath landed a respectable distance from the big man, and took a few steps toward his lifemate's weyrmate. G'raden rubbed the big brown's eye ridges as Mara slid from his back.

The weyrmates met without a single word. He held out his arms and she slid hers over his shoulders and around his neck. They simply held on tight as G'raden rocked from side to side and Klamath huffed with pleasure at the reunion.

"Do I get a hug like that?" G'regg's unmistakable voice caused the weyrmates to separate, but very slowly.

Never losing contact, Mara wrapped her arm around G'raden's waist and he wrapped his arm over hers and around her waist.

When G'regg held out his arms for a big hug, the weyrmates responded in unison. "Not a chance, G'regg."

G'regg wore such a defected look as he dropped his left arm, Mara felt just slightly compelled to grasp his other arm. She quickly realized her mistake as he held on tight and moved to her free side. He continued holding that arm as he led the weyrmates into the dining hall, looking truly victorious and far too possessive in Mara's opinion.

A big man on either side, Mara grinned with pleasure. The grin melted as they entered the hall. As more and more people started standing, Mara's eyes grew wider, her brows climbed higher, and her jaw dropped farther. As the diners cheered her freedom, she worried about the appropriateness of such in this situation. Only after F'lar, also standing, started laughing, did she relax into a rather self-deprecating half smile.

G'regg still held her right arm stretched across his stomach. She let loose and backhanded his belly to obtain full release, and raised that hand to wave. Still feeling rather overwhelmed, she only managed to wiggle her fingers, which drew considerable laughter.

G'regg took hold of her upper arm and led both weyrmates to the serving tables. Quite a few people managed to slow their progress to congratulate Mara and welcome her back. As they passed the weyrling table, B'rand stood as well, with a smile that tugged at Mara's heart.

The big woman offered her arm to the handsome young man. When he grasped firmly, she pulled him closer. "And how was your confinement?"

B'rand's eyes rolled. "I wasn't allowed to leave the weyr, but the only time I was alone was when I slept . . . I think. I had so many visitors, I only got about halfway through the weyrlingmaster's transcripts. So, I'm officially still on limited confinement." His smile, though slightly embarrassed, revealed that he wasn't too concerned.

"Visitors?" asked Mara.

B'rand laughed. "I think half of the healers on Pern stopped by to talk to the 'healed killer'." Again his eyes rolled.

"Hey!" someone bellowed.

"What?" responded Mara, and then realized it had been L'ret. "Sir?" she added. Her comically frightened expression caused snickers at the weyrling table and some twitching of the weyrlingmaster's lips.

L'ret walked up behind B'rand and laid his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Go sit with your 'friends'. You're not a weyrling again till you finish that reading."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!"

G'regg helped B'rand collect his meal from the weyrling's table as Mara and G'raden collected their own meals from the serving tables. All four found the table B'nor had been holding patiently.

B'rand listed all the visitors who'd come to question him or just talk. Jostin had some of his co-researchers visit for a full afternoon. G'regg and G'raden had been among his permitted visitors, and of course F'lar and Lessa and L'ret had questioned him on what reading he did manage to complete, and many other things.

As he started describing Masterhealer Oldive's visit, Mara detected some left out facts. "Who brought the Masterhealer?"

"Cally, of course." His cheeks colored just slightly. "She's his apprentice." He told all with a bit of pride how Oldive went on about Cally's natural healing sense. Every time B'rand spoke Cally's name, his breath caught just slightly. He spoke her name with reverence and his blush deepened with each mention of her name.

Each time G'regg took a breath to tease B'rand, Mara jabbed her elbow into his ribs.

When G'regg was about to growl at Mara, B'nor changed the subject by asking where Jostin was this day. G'regg seemingly forgot about the teasing as B'rand continued answering questions from the other four riders.

L'ret ended their meal by reminding B'rand that he had other duties.

As they walked their trays back to the kitchen, B'rand explained to Mara that he was on 'painter watch' this evening. He was tasked with transporting the weyrlings in red tunics up to his old weyr, where he would observe and 'make sure they didn't escape'. L'ret had informed him that the boys were taking their duty quite seriously, so B'rand was actually excited about getting more reading done.

Mara avoided an evening with G'regg and the brothers by insisting that Klamath needed to stretch his wings. G'raden offered to accompany her and she gratefully accepted.

The weyrmates emptied Mara's temporary weyr and then, with proper permissions, left the Weyr flying east on Normond and Klamath.

They flew straight all the way to a large cove on the Eastern Sea, sometimes sprinting and sometimes floating on air currents. Klamath enjoyed working his muscles, Mara enjoyed the wind on her un-masked face, and G'raden enjoyed watching his 'pretty little brown rider'.

They landed at the cove with almost a candle-mark of daylight left. Mara thoroughly inspected Klamath's scars and decided that they could go between to get home.

As Klamath dove into the sea to join Normond in his frolicking, G'raden began stripping. Mara tested the sea water, and after G'raden unpacked his carisak full of furs, she stripped for a swim as well.

Dragons played with each other, riders chased and played with each other, and dragons and riders played for nearly half a candle-mark. Well played out, all four lounged on the sand until sundown, the riders on and under furs.

While they snuggled, G'raden asked Mara about her assignments and laughed at the titles of the books F'lar had given her to read. They talked about the papers she had written, with the exception of the one Mara was still working on; she didn't want his opinions, intentional or not, to influence her work.

She told him about the new journal, and he agreed that her omission had been out of respect and kindness.

They also spoke again of her upcoming month on middle night watch, and how she should change her sleeping and eating schedule. They both agreed that she should skip evening meal and sleep instead. The kitchen staff always kept something ready to eat during the night, so she could eat just before starting her watch, again at morning meal, and then at mid-day meal.

As Rukbat slipped over the western horizon, the weyrmates dressed, harnessed their dragons, and packed up the furs. Mara quickly oiled Klamath's scars before they took off toward home. A quick flight between had them over Benden in time to watch Rukbat set again, this time from chairs on the ledge of their weyr.

Normond, with no prompting, decided that Klamath should have use of the dragon's weyr for the next few days, and found an empty ridge to perch on for the night. Klamath crooned as he circled down into 'his' couch, and fell asleep soon afterwards.

G'raden and Mara took a long, warm, soaking, and rather intimate bath before going to bed. They fell asleep curled up against each other, each comforted by the mere presence of the other.


Well, I've learned two things this last two weeks:

1. I should never try to read Anne Bishop while working on Pern.

2. I don't like paraphrasing – it takes far too long, and is no fun.

Hope you'll stick with me. This short (?) section is almost done, and then I'll get back to Mara's Story and other sections.