I'm sticking up a double header because of my personal life which means I shall be rather out of things on Wednesday and I want to be between fics where i can. I may be off the scene for a little while in which case my apologies.
21 Lasolly
The Blue Rider who brought in the expensive looking Ranking girl was quite plainly dazzled by her. She undid the fine soft furs she had worn for riding to reveal her voluptuous assets on display pushed well up and forward by her stiff brocade gown in of pale gold covered in pink and blue flowers outlined in real gold thread. It suited her rosebud complexion and soft blonde curls; but the softness stopped there. Her face had a look of petulance already ingrained.
Everyone else was dismayed.
B'lova took one look at her and groaned.
"Lasolly!" she said to her friend and fellow Green Rider, J'nara. "She's worse than I ever was."
J'nara chuckled.
"Is that possible?" she teased.
It was possible.
Lasolly recognised B'lova – though barely. She looked scorn on the girl.
"Whatever kind of revolting scrub have you turned into, young Bellova?" she sneered.
J'nara flushed angrily for her friend.
"Would you be intending to be a candidate?" she asked, levelly.
"Indeed!" Lasolly smiled condescension.
"Then I suggest, candidate, that you mend your manners in the manner of your address to an Impressed weyrwoman like B'lova" said J'nara coldly.
B'lova, who was contemplating hanging one on the girl, was well impressed by her friend's growing assurance!
Lasolly was not. She stared in outrage.
"And who do you think YOU are?" she almost yelped.
"I KNOW I am Green Rider J'nara" said J'nara, firmly not swallowing on her dry mouth, working on not being intimidated. "I will assume that the excitement of the moment is what has robbed you of your manners towards us; and expect that you will do better when you have settled in. Now if the Blue Rider will show you to your quarters, you will then be able to change into more suitable clothes for a candidate's duties."
Lasolly stared.
"What do you mean – Green Rider? What duties?"
B'lova grinned maliciously.
"Why Lasolly, did not the Blue Rider explain? It is expected that candidates help with bagging both blackrock and firestone; and also undertake fitness exercises to help make them fir in case they Impress. And keep their dormitories clean, of course. In addition to theory lessons, naturally."
Lasolly stared in horror.
"I SHAN'T!" she cried.
B'lova shrugged.
"Fine, you'd better ask the Blue Rider to take you back home; for if you stay you will do the duties or risk being well spanked and thrown out."
Lasolly held forth about B'lova's impudence in shrill cadences.
Pilgra turned up in the middle while B'lova and J'nara were wondering what they were actually entitled to do for such colossal cheek.
"What's going on?" the Weyrwoman demanded crisply.
The Blue Rider shuffled uncomfortably.
"The uh, Lady Lasolly wanted to come on search for, uh, the Gold egg….Uh, weyrwoman B'lova tried to explain her duties to her…."
Fascinated he might be; but he knew as well as any that the duties fitted a dragonrider for the gruelling business of raising a young dragon.
Pilgra found herself unable to acquire th attention of the now almost hysterical Lasolly; and resorted to tipping the jug of iced water she had been taking to her weyr to add to pressed fruit juice over the girl.
Lasolly squealed!
As a lump of ice slid down her rather prominent cleavage this was not surprising.
B'lova and J'nara had to hide grins behind their hands!
"How DARE you!" Lasolly whinnied, rounding on Pilgra.
"I dare because you evidently needed cooling down" said Pilgra "It's a well known treatment for hysterics. Here, one of you boys go fill this for me again since I've wasted it; explain to Keerana" she passed the empty jug to a grinning weyrling. "I do NOT permit histrionics in MY Weyr. You, a new candidate, have shown insolence to a dragonrider. I will consider the punishment duty to set you: I will speak to Weyrlingmaster R'gar when you have settled in. Now get out of my sight and under control and into more suitable clothing; you look like a fairing doll. If you've no breeches, tell Keerana and she'll find you some" and Pilgra bounced off in a manner that showed she expected to be obeyed.
Lasolly gave her a fulminating look; but moved off towards the weyrling barracks with her escort. By her manner she was asking questions; and the shocked set of her shoulders told the story that she had just become aware that she had been told off by the Primary Queen Rider of the Weyr.
Lasolly had no breeches; and scorned to ask for any. Consequently she ran afoul of R'gar, who explained – rather pointedly – both the dangers and the potential for immodesty of a skirt both in flight and undertaking any activity requiring a degree of activity: the former being the most important. He also pointed out that if she really wanted to be short of breath, and to risk a breast popping out when bending over by all means carry on wearing such ridiculous bodices, because she'd have to replace them soon enough when that flimsy fabric tore and became soiled. He also threatened to cut off her expensive skirts above the knee of she did not find herself more suitable lower body garb; and Lasolly believed him. He seemed immune to her being winsome and merely threw water on her when she had a tantrum.
Rather sullenly she agreed to wear breeches.
Naturally when Keerana found her some that were suitable she complained that the materials were inferior.
"Nonsense" said Keerana. "Both pairs are hard wearing; the Weyr has the pick of cloths from tithing. You'd scarce wear silks or velvet to bag firestone, would you now? Don't be such a silly little girl!"
Something about Keerana's air of authority, like Pilgra's made Lasolly hold back from making comments about lower cavern drudges. Keerana's knots besides proclaimed her as Headwoman; and Lasolly was uncertain where she stood in relation to the other weyrfolk.
That a Bronze Rider had waited deferentially to speak to Keerana and addressed her with 'please, Keerana' as his opening words convinced the girl that this woman would take no nonsense; it never occurred to her that a 'please' was considered a necessary courtesy to everyone in the lower caverns by most of the Riders!
The girl did reconcile herself that the tight-fitting trews were an advantage to her full, not quite fat figure. She filled them rather more than they were designed to be filled; dragonfolk were almost paranoid about keeping thin, after the awful example of Jora. Even Pilgra, who put on weight too easily for her own comfort, filled her own breeches with more muscle than flesh!
Having discovered herself well satisfied with her tightly clad legs, and keeping one of her tight bodices to wear with them, Lasolly started working out which Bronze Rider was the best to seduce to best persuade to arrange her duties reduced and to put people like Pilgra and that Brat T'lana in their place. T'lana as weyrlingmistress had had even less patience than R'gar and had emptied the weyrling porcine swill bucket down her, telling her she had then no option but to change and it better be something sensible or she'd soon run out of clean gowns. And that there were worse things than porcine swill to be had. Lasolly thought of T'lana as a brat merely because of the little weyrwoman's diminutive size and thought her a scarce Impressed weyrling of barely double figures. Why such might be in charge of candidates she never troubled to wonder. And coming as she did from a male oriented society, assumed that it was the Bronze Riders who had the most of the real ordering of things; hence her search for a manipulable lover. The concept of a matriarchy was foreign to her; for after all it was Weyrleaders that had conferences and spoke to Lords Holder. The inbuilt habit of deferring to the senior Queenrider, a habit induced by the dragons deference to their Queen had not yet impinged on her rather superficial consciousness.
T'bor did not cross Lasolly's orbit; as soon as he had discovered what sort of girl had come as a candidate he found as many duties as possible to take him out of the Weyr between Threadfalls. He was exceedingly grateful to Green Rider B'lova who had had the forethought to run to his weyr and explain matters; because B'lova knew quite well how girls like Lasolly operated. T'bor believed B'lova; she had favourably impressed him since her Impression, and where once he might have wondered if she spoke in spite, now accepted her assessment without question.
Female Green Riders were very useful, dealing with the same practicalities as junior Queen Riders, and able to spread the duties out. T'bor approved the idea. They also seemed less histrionic than some of the boys!
With T'bor unavailable, and L'gani the same – B'lova had warned him too – and that horrid R'gar out of the question, as well as being ugly and scarred, she decided that the Bronze Rider a lot deferred was M'gol. He weyred with that blonde chit who had ticked her off for her natural scorn of what Bellova had done to herself – she refused in her own mind to contract B'lova – who was not a real Weyrwoman but only a Green Rider. Lasolly missed the subtleties of the way in which the honourific capital referring to a Queenrider was emphasised in speech and that people like Keerana were also accorded the lesser honourific 'weyrwoman' without capitalisation. Lasolly contemplated taking M'gol from J'nara just to prove that she could; after all she could have no graces, and was plainly low born, completely unknown to HER. She proceeded to coo at the Flightleader.
M'gol was experienced with women; and he knew fine well that common courtesy to such as Lasolly would be misconstrued as opportunity; and that Lasolly was the type to extract all she could from an innocent situation to hurt J'nara. He had seen the spiteful little look Lasolly had shot at his beloved weyrmate when the girl had undulated up to him with her assets set in full sail. Hence when she asked him if he had time to show her around he slapped her familiarly across the rump and spoke loud enough for his voice to carry.
"Sorry, pretty – but I don't play with you Ranking loving wenches. I'm a respectable married man and I've not got the time or inclination to roll in the furs with you. I might catch something."
Lasolly gasped as if she had been slapped; and went to return the favour with a real slap to his face.
He caught her hand before it connected and bore it down inexorably.
"If you weren't after a roll in the furs I'll apologise" he said coldly "But that's what your body language and almost bare tits said. And from experience Ranking girls with too much opinion of themselves have been known to be promiscuous. Prove me wrong by your future actions; and I'll grovel appropriately. But don't strike someone if you don't know how to do it properly; and don't assume that because you're a bit feeble you won't be struck back. Word to the wise" he added and turned away.
"HAH! I'll watch you come running when I Impress a Golden Queen!" she shouted.
M'gol turned and gave a lazy grin.
"Oh yes, when dragonlust is involved we will take any old thing – even Jora" he drawled.
Lasolly flushed and ground her teeth. How DARE he turn her words around so!
Lasolly turned her next attentions to H'llon, whose name was also much mentioned and who was wingleader of a special wing of some kind. She commented brightly on the beauty of a chest that he was making.
For Lasolly this was a conversational gambit for him to at least notice, even if he did not directly comment, on her own beautiful chest.
H'llon chatted cheerfully about his work. He was a lot more worldly than he had been when he had first come to the Weyr; but was cunning enough – as Elexa had surmised – to continue to act the wood-obsessed innocent when types he now recognised as predatory moved in on him.
Lasolly tried leading remark after leading remark to make H'llon compliment her; holding up curly wood shavings beside her hair and commenting on how close they were in colour, talking about how sensitive his hands must be to feel the softness of whatever he was working on. It was to no avail; the weyrwoodcrafter's face remained as wooden as his work, though Lasolly would never realise how hard a time he had at keeping it so and not merely telling her to go get lost Between! T'rin came in quietly to watch the fun – he took a malicious enjoyment in watching the growing frustrations of would-be H'llon seducers. Elexa and J'red managed to find an errand covertly in the woodcraft workshop too!
Finally Lasolly lost her temper, having asked H'llon if he found working on decorative chests enjoyable to be told that he preferred a good plain chair.
"You wooden headed NINNY!" she screamed. "Did you leave your wits Between? Look at me – tell me what you see!"
H'llon gave her his best and most bucolic stare.
"I see a candidate who appears to have forgotten some of her garb who is asking silly questions" he said.
She slapped him.
Instants later she was picked up by the back of her tight bodice and the seat of her trews – no mean feat because there was very little play in them – and given a good shaking by T'rin before being dropped unceremoniously in a pile of woodshavings.
"Listen to me, candidate" he declared in a harper-trained bawling out bellow that made it possible for not only Lasolly but half the Weyr to listen to him "Stupid as you undoubtedly are, you might notice that in addition to being a Bronze Rider and Wing leader, the said Bronze Rider is also not merely a woodcrafter but a Journeyman. This is a position achieved by hard work, and is as deserving of respect as his position of Wingleader in the Wing that takes the most dangerous role in the entire flight! This position is so far above that of a flatulent scrub like you as to be out of sight; whatever your inflated and erroneous ideas of your own importance, the which may I add comes merely as a result of being squirted out of the august prick of your overfed sire!"
Lasolly gasped.
"No-one has EVER spoken to me like that!" she gasped in outrage, squirming as wood shavings insinuated themselves uncomfortably into her cleavage.
"About time somebody did, then" said T'rin dryly. "If you're planning on attacking all the Bronze Riders in the Weyr that turn down your dubious sexual charms. I strongly suggest you shape up or get out."
"I'll be telling my father about you!" she cried.
T'rin shrugged.
"By all means. Do you think you can manage to remember everything I said that was more than one syllable? I can repeat it if you like."
Lasolly was almost crying with rage as she flung off. Did they not CARE what her father thought of them?
Of course they did not. A minor Holder was not such as to trouble a Harper Journeyman Blue Rider, let alone Bronze Rider even without H'llon's other titles. And Hold did not interfere in the running of Weyr any more the Weyr interfered in the running of Hold; however much the logicators might advise they would never undertake to interfere with internal Hold discipline.
Lasolly was consoling herself with the thought of the punishment she could enact on these low-borns when she was a Queenrider; only that thought determined her to stay!
Conveniently she forgot that other Queenriders had NOT exercised the Right she so blithely assumed would be hers to punish her contumely. Not that the thought had not crossed the minds of all four Queenriders to date so far as Lasolly was concerned!
Lasolly had no idea – because she had neither the wit, nor the inclination, to notice – how different was society in the Weyr to that which she was used to; and therefore made no effort to understand it even, let alone fit in!
She even complained to Pilgra about T'rin's insulting behaviour. Pilgra lisened to the tirade coldly.
"Yes, I heard of your insolence to Journeyman Bronze Rider H'llon" she said. Her voice seemed to come from Between "And how Journeyman Blue Rider T'rin had to reprove you. He was quite correct to do so. If you cannot manage to avoid interfering in other folk's duties I shall ask R'gar to find you enough extra duties to keep you occupied from dawn until dusk; or have you confined to your sleeping quarters when not actually engaged on your own duties."
Lasolly stared.
"But he MANHANDLED me!" she yelped "And the things he said…."
"Were relatively mild" snapped Pilgra. "YOU talk manhandling when you've tried to slap two Bronze Riders? Mind your manners girl or you'll be leaving – and on foot, not dragonback! We had enough of your sort in Meron's time and we do NOT put up with it!"
Lasolly took herself to her bunk – another bone of contention that she should be living communally with the other candidates – and indulged in a fine fit of histrionics.
If she hoped for sympathy from the Ranking candidates she did not get it; for hearing the noisy and pointed sobs, Elexa headed off the other female candidates in order to leave Lasolly to it, and regaled them instead with great delight, the tale of H'llon's studied bovine incogitance.
No-one laughed louder than H'llon's weyrmate Zaira!