Its Eyes Were Jewels

Chapter 24

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As way of disclaimer, I own none of Anne McCaffrey's characters nor do I own her world (though I sometimes wish I did), I'm simply borrowing them for the time being.

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"Okay everyone!" Elrenia called out over the shouting laughter of the children she'd been sent to deal with. They'd been done with their food for well over ten minutes already, but had waited patiently for her to finish her own. They weren't quick to quiet down, but slowly the older kids started shushing the younger ones, and they were quiet enough to hear the woman's gentle voice. "If you can promise to behave and mind me, I'll be happy to take you guys outside to play."

The entire group cheered and shot from their seats, marching obediently out into the bowl where they played quietly for all of two minutes, and descended into madness immediately thereafter. There was a moment, a single moment, wherein Elrenia wondered why she even bothered. Promises about behavior meant nothing to children, and she knew this from her own childhood. How her parents and older siblings refrained from beating her to death by her seventh birthday was completely beyond her comprehension, and how she intended to do the same as one child was pushed to the ground and another was nearly trampled was no easier.

"Any suggestions?" she asked the small child that sidled up next to her, pleased to see that his arm was no longer wrapped in a bandage.

"Dunno," he murmured, moving to crawl into her lap when she raised her arms to allow him to do so. "But I don' think story time'll work again."

"I could threaten to make them do chores."

"Nope."

"Oh?"

"They know the ladies'll never let 'em in to do chores."

"Fun." Stroking the child's back, Elrenia spent a few moments thinking. Just a few, and then she was clapping her hands, calling for attention again. "You guys want to be dragonrider's, right?"

"Of course!" one of the kids called, rolling his eyes at her. "I'm gonna be a bronze rider."

"Says you!" another laughed. "I'm gonna be a bronze rider."

"I am!"

"No, I am!"

"Maybe you can both be!"

"What?"

Motioning them all over to her, under the pretense of not wanting to shout and disturb the peace, Elrenia was pleased to have the kids calm for a second. "There's usually more than one bronze in a clutch, isn't there?"

"Yeah, a few if the flight was good."

"Then maybe both of you can be bronze riders. But what's wrong with the other dragons?"

"Nothing," one of the kids murmured with a shrug. "But the bronze's are the best, second the Queen's a'course."

"Yeah! They're the biggest!"

"Except the Queen's."

"Yeah!"

It bothered her a little, to think that the kids had a preference. They were young, and so it was forgivable she supposed… but still. Her favorite dragon, her favorite rider was blue. She, of course, respected them all, but their colors never impacted her opinion. Her brothers always spoke of the bronzes, the occasional mention of a brown, but never the blues. Never the greens. She didn't understand.

People were always saying that everyone at a Weyr was important, but it didn't seem that way. The Bronze riders were the ones who got the make decisions, the Queen riders were the be all end all of everything. Even Mirah, little Mirah, seemed to have greater sway than all those around her, save for Lessa. No one had more sway than Lessa, but that she blamed on the little woman being such a… volatile creature.

Suddenly it occurred to her that she really didn't know the roles of the different riders. Bronze riders were Wingleaders, the younger ones were Wingseconds, the better, bigger brown riders were Wingseconds as well. What were the blues? What were the greens?

She needed to know.

"Do you guys have any idea how the wings work?"

"What?"

"What do green dragons do during fall?"

"Uhh… they fight thread?"

"Don't they all fight thread though?"

"Yup!"

"But, like how the Queen's fly low to catch the stray threads with the flame throwers, and the bronzes lead… what do the greens do?"

A sort of silence descended on the group before they all started murmuring to one another, trying to figure things out. Their curiosity was a good thing really. As long as Elrenia could find something to catch their attention she had no problem taking control of them. But she knew that they wouldn't be distracted by her question for very long, if they weren't able to figure things out they'd expect an answer from her, and when she couldn't provide one they'd move on.

Except moving on meant more rough housing, and the last thing she wanted was for one of the kids to get hurt, let alone after they'd been entrusted to her. The trust that Manora put in her meant more than she thought it would. The parents of the children trusted her to keep their kids safe. She needed to do that, and in order to do that she needed to find a way to keep them occupied. And that came with a squeal and a splash somewhere in the near distance.

The children had all burst into laughter before Elrenia so much as glanced over her shoulder, and spied a young man laying down in what had to have been the ice cold water of the lake, a rather small green dragon sitting above him with a curious expression on her face. For a moment it looked like the young man was angry, but the beast above him let out a little gurgle or sorts and he immediately smile and laughed. His arms went to wrap around the little wedge head, allowing the creature to drag him back to his feet with only a little foot scrabbling.

"Are you all right?" Elrenia called over curiously to the boy, shifting around a little to look at him. His eyes shot over to her even if his head didn't, and he barely lifted a hand in acknowledgement of her query. She wasn't insulted by the slight in the least, but hesitated to get up and check on him. It was the little boy in her lap that stood and led the way over, followed by her and the rest of the group. "What in the world are you doing in the lake?" she asked softly. "It's started to ice over. It must be freezing."

"Freezing or not, Eolith needs a good scrubbing."

"The other dragons don't?" she asked, wondering at the lack of other creatures. Not even the weyrlings were about.

"I… was late. Everyone's gone back to do other stuff."

"Do you need help?" The offer was spur of the moment, but she heard a very quiet excitement wash over the kids.

"No, thanks."

Elrenia nodded her head at the boy, smiled. "Would you like help?"

The boy answered a little less slowly this time. Shook his head, and looked up at her. And, when she smiled at him, he finally conceded, "Yeah. I… I would."

"Okay then," she laughed, "help you shall have."

Leaning over to pull off her boots, she carefully stuck her fingers in the water. It was cool, right on the cusp of cold, but not dangerous. She'd been in freezing water before, and this was not it. She'd over estimated. The ice was only on the outer edge, and incredibly thin. But still, she looked carefully back at the kids, and picked out the three biggest ones, almost old enough to no longer be lumped with the children.

"You can't all come in the water," she said, much to their disappointment, but held up a hand to stop any arguments from erupting. "But that doesn't mean you can't help." The weyrling looked startled, but when Elrenia smiled warmly at him he nodded his consent to whatever she was planning. "What exactly do we need to do… Green Rider?"

"Oh!" He blushed to realize that they did not know each other. "I'm Normon. Oh… er… N'mon. This beautiful girl is Eolith."

"It's a pleasure, N'mon. Eolith. I'm Elrenia. And it's a pleasure to help." She smiled back at the kids, who were all waiting patiently for assignments. "So, are we just scrubbing…?"

"Well, I need to oil her after that, but…"

"If it won't get you in any trouble, we could help with it."

"I… I don't see why not. They all look real excited."

"Okay, so here's what we're going to do." She pulled the three oldest children close to her and said, "You're going to be the leaders. I know I can trust you guys, right?"

"Yes, Elrenia."

"Good. I'd hate for you to lose my trust. You're each going to take a group of kids. You…"

"Karlena."

"Karlena, you're going to take your kids inside, and collect new, clean clothing for everyone. You know where to get everyone's stuff?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Good. Because we're going to need to get changed after we get out of the water." Turning to the next child, she waited patiently for a name before saying, "Okay Talik, you're going to be part of the oiling crew. You're going to have to wait patiently for us to finish scrubbing, but then you'll get to work. Can you keep your group occupied for that long?"

"Of course I can."

"And you…"

"Kadin."

"Kadin, are going to be with me. And you're going to be couriering the kids in and out when they start getting cold, okay?"

"All right."

"Pick your kids."

"But… we're just gathering clothes?"

Realizing the assignment was unfair when the other kids were going to be able to directly deal with the dragon, Elrenia smiled gently and touched the girl's cheek. "Of course not. You're going to gather the clothes, because by the time you're done they're going to be cold and need to go inside. So Kadin will take them, and your group will take over the scrubbing. Fair?"

"Fair."

"Pick your kids."

The group was divided up evenly enough, approved by Elrenia, and everyone went about they're tasks. Elrenia told Kadin and his four to take off their shoes and socks before leading them carefully over to the green dragon, who was watching them curiously. Her eyes started swirling the brightest blue the brunette had ever seen when Elrenia inclined her head politely to the beast, introducing herself quietly. "Thank you for allowing us to help you, Eolith. I'm Elrenia." The green only tilted her head, seeming to listen to the children as they all made similar greetings. "So, N'mon… what do we do?"

"All I have to say," He spoke with a grin, "is scrub hard." He had a handful of sand himself. "Boy does she need it."

Before long the kids were busy scrubbing away, laughing and splashing foolishly when the dragon wiggled about under their tiny hands, inner eyelid closing in pleasure. The youngest in the group started shivering about the time that Karlena returned with her group. And, seeing the quiet quakes, Elrenia poked Kadin and gestured for him to follow her. "It's Karlena's turn now. We're going to go get dry. Listen to N'mon kids." And, more quietly, she leaned to the man and whispered, "Please watch them for a second. I'll be right back."

N'mon nodded his agreement with a smile, and told the new group the same thing Elrenia told the first, to take off their shoes and socks before they got in the water. Seeing him take firm control of the kids, she was happy to lead the first group inside, helping them to dry off adequately before telling them to change. "You guys wait here for a little while," she instructed. And, catching the attention of a passing young woman she murmured, "Can you please bring something warm in here for the children?"

"Yes, of course."

"Thank you." She smiled at Kadin and the others. "I'll be right back in, dears."

"Okay."

"Behave, yes?"

"Mmhmm."

Jogging back out to the lake, almost as nervous about leaving the poor young man in charge of such a little group of monsters as she was about leaving the other kids alone. But she trusted Kadin to do a good job at watching them for a few minutes. She hoped she could trust him. Honestly hoped. No hoping, she told herself, smiling and waving at a laughing N'mon. They're good kids. Just bored. Give them the benefit of the doubt.

"How're things going out here?"

"We're almost done!" Karlena called, laughing when Eolith lifted her wing and leaned to the side so the child could more easily reach high up her flank.

"Good." The brunette couldn't help but notice that her toes were starting to get uncomfortably tingly, and so she didn't reenter the water. "Ready to oil her, guys?"

"Yeah!"

"This is going to be so much fun!"

"They don't usually let us help with the dragons!"

"That's because they're so big, and you guys are so small," Elrenia murmured gently. "No one wants you to get hurt!"

"Then how come we can help with Eolith?"

"Because she's still young, and smaller than the others." At least that's what she thought, and realizing that she didn't actually know the truth of this, she looked over at the green's rider. "N'mon, how old is she?"

"Just over a year. Next spring will be her first time flying thread."

"You've never flown thread before?" one of the boys asked in shocked awe.

"Not yet."

"Are you scared?"

"Of course not!" the rider denied quickly… too quickly.

Looking closely Elrenia thought that he might not be speaking the complete truth, but she didn't mention it. N'mon looked young, perhaps younger than H'val, but she wasn't sure. It was not unheard of for young men to do everything that they could possibly do to look stronger than they actually were. It was not unheard of for young men to be ashamed of weakness. And this young man was a green rider. Unless she was completely mistaken when it was time for Eolith to rise…

"Eolith says that she's done with the water now. She wants to go and be oiled now."

The group of children beside Elrenia immediately started cheering. "Maybe we could do this inside?" The girl suggested hopefully. "Get everyone in out of the cold. You're shivering, N'mon."

"I… I'm not used to the cold yet. I was just down in Ista."

"Oh?"

"My sister just gave birth to her first child. I wanted to visit her."

"That's sweet," she smiled. "Let's get you dry and warm then. Come on. Does she mind going in?"

"No. She says she'll meet us up in my weyr. She expects us to be there immediately."

Laughing Elrenia nodded her head, watching the green take to the air easily, soaring to one of the lower ledges. The kids were just as happy to get inside as the rider was, all of them cold from the water. She sent Talik's group up with the green rider, who was happy to lead them, before leading Karlena's group to where Kadin's was already dry and happily eating warm bread.

"You guys get dry and changed, I'll get bread, juice, klah for everyone and bring it up. Does anyone know where N'mon's weyr is?"

"I do."

"Mirah?" Elrenia startled at the young blonde suddenly at her side.

"I can take you there. But… why?"

"We're helping him take care of Eolith."

"Oh?"

"He was scrubbing her, and the water was freezing. I figured we could speed it up."

"And you could keep everyone distracted."

"It worked, didn't it?" She smiled. "You guys get changed, I'll be back in a second."

Walking away from the group, Elrenia snuck into the kitchen where a woman was preparing an entire tray of food. She didn't know why it shocked her, after a month in the Weyr she should have been used to random acts of kindness, and yet she didn't know what to say when the tray was handed to her. "It's sweet what you're doing," the girl said, touching Elrenia's arms. "I know you've only watched them twice, but the kids really like you. Thank you."

"No… problem. I like kids."

"Good. Because they like you too. Go. They're waiting."

An order she was happy to follow. Elrenia walked away from the woman with the tray she'd been given, smiling at the kids and motioning for them to precede her as Mirah led the way. It felt amazing to actually be doing something for once. Felt amazing to be active again. It wasn't the same as trying fruitlessly to till unusable soil. It didn't hurt as badly as chopping lumber with tools barely capable of slicing withies let alone solid wood. She was actually succeeding at the job she was doing for once, and that is what made her feel best.

"N'mon!" Mirah called as they entered a weyr. "Brought Elrenia and the kids."

"Hey Mirah!" he called back, grinning. "Good to see you."

"Having fun?"

"Always. The kids are a big help."

"Tired?"

"Exhausted."

"I heard your sister had a kid, I figured she had you wrapped around her little finger while you were down there."

"If you had told me that in advance I might have reconsidered going," he laughed, stepping away from his dragon to rub his forehead with his forearm. The kids were happy to continue oiling the beautiful green without the help of her rider. "Why is it that you women do everything you possibly can to take advantage of us men when you're pregnant."

"You try giving birth sometime, and tell me why in the world we'd do that."

"Fair enough," the boy laughed, eyes falling on Elrenia and her tray before he rushed forward. "Oh, let me take that from you!"

"Ick!" Elrenia practically squealed in startled amusement, side stepping in a way Z'den had shown her only hours before to avoid N'mon's helpfully seeking, but oily hands. "Get back! You're covered in oil. I'll just put it down on the table."

"You sure?"

"I'm a woman, not an invalid," the girl explained gently. "I have it." And to prove her point she marched over and put the tray down, going immediately to serve food and drink to the children not covered in the oil. "Huh," she let out an intrigued little noise as she noticed that Talik's small four child oiling squad suddenly contained nine people, not counting the dragon's rider. "Funny how things work out."

"Did you expect them to not join in?"

"Of course not," Elrenia smiled at Mirah, moving to sit in one of the chairs and pour the three adults cups of klah. "I just didn't expect them to move quite so fast." Mirah laughed, and the brunette tried to squirm discreetly in her seat. Now that she was warming up her feet were beginning to hurt, and she definitely didn't enjoy the sensation.

But her squirming wasn't discreet enough, it seemed. N'mon touched her shoulder gently and gestured to the appendages. "You okay?"

"Oh, of course."

"No, you're not, Elrenia," Mirah sighed. "Come on." She pulled one of the chairs forward and patted her lap. "Lift them up."

"They're fine."

"They're red."

"It's from the water."

"Water? What water?"

"She was helping me scrub Eolith with the kids."

"Elrenia…"

"A little cold water isn't going to hurt me," she explained herself, feeling mighty self conscious, with an outrageous desire to put her boots back on. "I just have prickly skin right now. It'll go away in a few minutes."

"Can I see them anyway? Just to clear my own mind?"

Wanting to say no so badly, Elrenia sighed. What she wanted didn't really matter in this case, the blonde was being kind, she was concerned. To dismiss such concern for no reason would have been horribly rude. So she nodded her head and lifted one of her feet to Mirah's lap. The girl tsked in a rather motherly way, rubbing each foot gently as she turned it this way and that to get a good look at the bottom of it.

"Doesn't look too bad. You sure you didn't overexert—"

"Mirah!" she breathed in exasperation. "Please. Don't."

"Okay. Okay." And she put the foot back to the ground. "I'll leave it alone."

"Thank you."

"Uhh…"

Both girls looked up at the confused green rider, Mirah looking over at Elrenia for permission before explaining, "She walked her feet raw about a month ago. Then she got sick." After a moment she nodded her head and said, "You'd already gone down south when she arrived. She's the one everyone's been worried about. I still worry sometimes. H'val sort of put me in charge of making sure she doesn't work herself to death."

"Mirah," Elrenia muttered in exasperation. "I'm fine," she smiled up at N'mon. "I'm just happy to help out with things at this point, you know?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I know."

"Has Eolith had enough?"

"She'll never have enough, but she's well oiled now. You can call off the kids if you want."

Smiling, Elrenia did exactly that. Calling the attention of the children, she instructed, "Finish up now. Get yourselves clean, and you can have a snack."

"I'm hungry," one of the children complained, stepping away from the green creature. "I want dinner."

"Well, dinner will be done real soon. In the meantime, we've got bread for you to munch on. Is that okay with all of you?"

"Yes, Elrenia."

"Good. Wash up."

The children all did as they were told, and once they were out of earshot the young green rider said, "I've never seen them so obedient."

"All they wanted was a little attention," she explained. "That's really all kids ever want. And I really do appreciate you allowing them to work with Eolith. They love dragons so much."

"They're weyrbrats," he laughed, "it's practically a requirement for them."

"Still. The way it looks to me is that lately they've just been sent out of the way. No one wants to deal with them around right now. It means a lot to them that they're able to get involved. And Eolith is so beautiful, for her to allow it as well means so much."

The longer she spoke, the redder the boy's face got, flushing with both embarrassment and pride. But he seemed to like what he was hearing, judging by the way he didn't try to make her stop talking. In fact, when she finally did, he asked, "They… they told you that?"

"Not in so many words," she explained. "But I remember how it felt to be too little to really contribute, and too big to just be toted around all day. They want something to do, but it's getting colder by the day, and everyone's so busy. With one imminent hatching right after another, no one can really blame them, but still. They have nothing to do, and they get antsy. They're good kids."

"We're done!" One of the children announced, marching forward and putting his hands out not just for examination. "Bread please."

"Here you are my love."

And the food was happily doled out, the children going to sit by the contented green after they were given permission. They actually talked quietly amongst themselves, too tired after the hard work they'd put in to mess around too much. There was a little pushing among the older kids, but a hard look and a sharp, "Behave," cured them of that just as soon as it started.

The boy with the burned arm, whose name Elrenia still did not know, walked over to her rubbing his eyes. And when she lifted him into her lap, he dozed quietly. It was a truly peaceful affair, in the small weyr. And Eolith certainly didn't mind laying amongst the throng of children when one of them hesitantly raised a hand to scratch above her eye the way he'd been shown to do so on Koth.

Everything was quiet, a small blessing in such a busy place, and everyone seemed happy. Warm, fed, and happy. Happy was good. Happy meant things were okay for the time being. Happy meant everything, absolutely everything to a girl who'd been anything, and everything but happy for a short eternity. And, as though sensing that she was thinking about, Mirah reached forward and touched Elrenia's hand.

"Good day?"

"Great day," Elrenia confirmed. Returning the question, "Good day?"

"Interesting day. N'mon? Good day?"

"Excellent day." And, with a smile, he assured, "You and the kids can help me scrub Eolith any time."