G'raden woke the next morning alone in bed. He listened carefully for any hints of Mara's whereabouts. She wasn't in the necessary; light from the glow usually leaked from around the hide curtain. Normond was still sleeping so he couldn't – or wouldn't – ask him about his weyrmate's location either. Finally, he heard the slight clink of metal on metal from the direction of the dragons' weyr.
Klamath? If the brown were sleeping as well, he wouldn't hear.
You're up! We're getting ready for this day, but Normond isn't awake yet, so we're checking our straps again. I grew some more last night!
G'raden laughed as he pulled on his clothing. Of course you grew! You'll keep growing until you're done, Klamath.
Our straps still fit, so we're ready to fly together!
Not until your rider has eaten, and done her morning chores. The first thing she needs to do is run her laps. The brown's mental groan caused G'raden to laugh again, making it difficult to fasten the ties on his tunic.
Mara sat on a chair just outside the riders' weyr with a glow half turned, oiling her riding straps yet again when G'raden walked out still slipping into his vest. Rainy stood on one shoulder, chittering quietly into her ear. Klamath sat watching his rider in a position to block any glow light from reaching Normond. Dragon and fire lizard eyes whirled with excitement and Mara's eyes sparkled even in the dim light.
"You know, it is possible to use too much oil," teased G'raden.
Mara's eyes went wide with concern and then squinted as she cocked her head and grinned. "Will you check them for me?" She handed her weyrmate a section of the straps and stood for an early day kiss.
G'raden, after the lingering kiss, ran the strap through well practiced hands. "What time is it? The sky isn't even lightening yet."
"Morning watch started about a candle-mark ago." Mara checked with Klamath who checked with the watch dragon. "Oops, more like a candle-mark and a half. It's five and a half hours," she said apologetically.
G'raden chuckled as he ran another strap through his hands. "Getting up so early just means you have to wait all that much longer."
"I know, but I had a bad dream about these straps, so I got up to check them again and then wasn't tired."
Head shaking, the big man said, "I'll bet lots in your classmates had dreams last night. What happened in yours?"
Mara sighed. "It was crazy. I picked up our straps and they fell apart, like they had rotted."
"So you decided to oil them again?"
His understanding smile and his thoughts indicated she had done no wrong so Mara shrugged. "They seem fine to me. What do you think?"
"They're quite passable, the best weyrling straps I've ever seen. And they cause no discomfort to Klamath?"
They both looked to the growing brown whose eyes whirled in excitement with vanishing traces of concern. They fit perfect. Can we fly now?
It's too dark to fly, mumbled Normond from the other side of the weyr.
"And we have other work to do first. I have to run laps, and we have to do chores and eat, and we have to go to class . . . and then it will be up to Weyrlingmaster L'ret." Mara rubbed Klamath's muzzle between his eyes as she watched the excitement dissipate. "And I think you need some oil in spots, don't you?"
It could wait. It only itches a little.
"We'll fly together soon, Klamath. We've waited this long. We can wait a few more candle-marks."
Mara rolled up her riding straps and placed them carefully into a carisak while G'raden greeted Normond in his normal loving manner. L'ret did not allow weyrlings to put straps on their dragons without permission and sometimes assistance, except when simply testing fit. Once it was determined that the massive bronze did not need a bath or any oil, but could stand to hunt later this day, the weyrmates mounted and flew down to the Lower Caverns.
Running on such a frigid day, even without the previous day's wind, was done inside the long passageways cut into the depths of Benden Mountain twenty-five hundred Turns earlier. Anyone running this early was careful to be as quiet as possible to avoid waking any of the weyrfolk before their usual time, so G'raden and Mara did not talk.
With their run complete, G'raden asked Normond to check the time with the watch dragon and learned they still had over a candle mark before either was expected to report for duty. So, G'raden introduced Mara to Benden Weyr's ancient exercise room, something weyrlings weren't normally shown until later in their training. The large room, buried in the depths of the Lower Caverns but with efficiently engineered powerless ventilation, contained specially built equipment designed to work on all parts of the human body. Some of Benden's original equipment was still functional – it had been made that well – but as pieces had deteriorated beyond repair, they had been replicated in Skybroom wood or iron or, more recently, in hardwoods.
G'raden was adamant that Mara not overexert herself; even the slightest injury could preclude her flying this day. It took several reminders of that fact to keep her from exhibiting her normal desire to prove herself. After a mere half candle- mark though, she finally admitted that he was right; even lifting what she considered miniscule weights, she was getting tired and a little sore. Much to her dismay she realized she had lost a considerable amount of the strength she had once had.
When Mara asked why weyrlings didn't know about this room, G'raden reminded her of the youthful age of most of her classmates. The Healers believed that youngsters should reach full growth before working too hard on strength building exercises, so weyrlings worked to become functioning dragonriders first. Her class, he said, would probably begin using this room when they got further into self-defense lessons, but only under strict supervision. For now though, he would speak with L'ret about Mara accompanying him on occasion.
G'raden didn't do any of his normal workout routine this day – he only did so every other day and had done so just the previous day. He did, without much trouble, talk Mara into a long soaking bath complete with some of the massage techniques he had learned at Fort Healer Hall to ease her 'underused' muscles.
Afterwards, the day began pretty much as normal: Mara oiled Klamath's slightly itchy spots and reported to the weyrling barracks before the required time. Her class was assigned morning chores while the older weyrlings helped with the newest class this day. She attended morning meal with her equally excited classmates, and then the first class of the day – more on dragon injuries, ailments, treatments and cures.
When the sun touched the floor of the Weyr, weyrlings were directed outside for the routine sevenday dragon assessments. Straps were to be left in the classroom until needed. Mara fretted briefly over leaving hers after last night's bad dream, but did so with mild reluctance.
Each growing dragon was measured at the withers while standing and from muzzle to tail-tip while lying down. Hearts and lungs were listened to both before and after two full laps at the Weyr's ridge top level. And evaluations, with Mara's, Brendeen's and Dalgarn's help, were made of each dragon's readiness for carrying a load, specifically their riders, into the air. All passed to everyone's immense relief and Lessa congratulated the entire class on their care of their dragons. And then the young, excited dragons were sent to 'rest up' while the weyrlings took their midday meal.
The building excitement was hard to control. L'ret, from the newest weyrlings' table, growled for silence several times, but Mara heard him laugh to himself. He loved seeing so much excitement in young people but still had to maintain discipline. Quite a few younger weyrlings had trouble eating their full meals, but Mara, B'roghe and L'ret reminded them repeatedly about the need for energy if one wished to remain astride one's dragon. L'ret finally barked an ultimatum; either eat everything on their plates – they had made the selections after all – or this afternoon would be spent on ground maneuvers. The last spoonfuls of greens and tubers disappeared so quickly, L'ret crouched low to look under the table for any signs of cheating.
The weyrlings were marched to the barracks with quite a few detours caused by laughter or other signs of excitement, and after a brief lecture on the need for discipline, were directed to retrieve their straps. Several of the youngest, including Cally, ran like . . . children until L'ret barked that they were to walk calmly, like true dragonriders. Despite walking, they were still first back into the classroom.
Mara and B'roghe weren't too far behind Cally and the other youngsters. They both heard Cally's disgusted question.
"What's that smell?"
"Don't touch anything!" barked B'roghe one step and one whiff inside the room. "That's HNO3! Everyone out! Now!"
When weyrlings began exiting the hallway without their straps, L'ret grew suspicious. Mara?
The room smells funny. B'roghe says it's HNO3 and had everyone leave.
Good man. I'm on my way.
With one "Clear the way," all the weyrlings, confused as they were, moved against the walls for their weyrlingmaster. He put a thankful hand on B'roghe's shoulder as he entered the classroom. "Definitely HNO3," he nearly mumbled. Then he turned to B'roghe. "Good thinking, having the youngsters leave. You check that side. Mara, you check the other side. Walk carefully. Don't step in it, or touch it if you find it."
L'ret walked down the middle of the classroom, between the rows of tables, carefully looking each way for any signs. "Mara, what can you tell me about HNO3?"
Mara had already been mentally reviewing the lecture of several sevendays past. "HNO3, also known as nitric acid, in its purest, most concentrated form is a colorless liquid, at least at these temperatures. It's extremely corrosive and, under the right conditions, flammable."
"And what does corrosive mean?"
"It eats things like metals and organic things like Thread. It disinte . . ." A sharp intake of breath. "Shards. I found it."
Both men in the room moved quickly, but still carefully to her sides where she stood like a melting statue; motionless, but deflated. "Whose carisak is that?" asked L'ret, even though he had already guessed.
"Mine, sir," said Mara meekly. Her carisak looked almost normal except that the top was open and the bottom appeared melted – or insect eaten with only shreds remaining. She reached to lift the carisak but was slapped away by L'ret. Enough concentrated acid had been poured into her bag to leak out the bottom as it did its work.
"And whose straps are those?" L'ret pointed to a set sitting in the leak.
Now Mara closed her moist eyes and shook her head. "Cally's, sir."
"Shards." L'ret put a hand on Mara's shoulder. "B'roghe, find our weyrleaders, and tell them what we've found. We'll not move anything until they arrive or send word."
"Yes, sir."
"They're in the Council Chambers," mumbled Mara. When B'roghe stopped and turned to look at her and L'ret cleared his throat, she added, "I heard two riders talking about a Weyrleaders' meeting to take place early this afternoon."
B'roghe nodded to L'ret and left the classroom at a jog.
L'ret turned Mara away from the disintegrating straps she stared at with a blank face. "Mara, what's on the minds of the other weyrlings?"
The weyrling blinked at her weyrlingmaster – the first blink he had seen in several minutes – and then looked over his shoulder with unfocused eyes. "They're all worried, confused," a slight smile touched her lips. "They're wondering if we'll get to fly this day."
"And B'rand?"
Mara glared at L'ret. "Did he . . . ?" The memory of Klamath's food being poisoned had surfaced like a frantic dolphin in the sea.
L'ret stopped her quickly. "We don't know." He looked away briefly. "We may never know now." He studied her face, watched the realization sink in, and then squinted as if to see her more clearly. "But he's displayed other worrying behavior."
Mara nodded. B'rand was a troubled boy, very angry most of the time for no apparent reason. But could he have done this? And how? The Weyr's agenothree was all locked away in a storage cavern; easily accessible during Thread Fall, and training and repair sessions, but otherwise locked up for safety reasons. She listened particularly for B'rand's thoughts, and found them rather quickly. "Just like the others, sir, but he's angry at the delay."
"No surprise there," said L'ret. "I'll ask you to keep your ears open this day. To anyone and everyone. We don't know that a weyrling did this Mara; lots of people have access to this room. Let me know if you hear anything suspicious, even slightly."
"Yes, sir." Mara nodded her comprehension and fought to keep tears from escaping her filling eyes. Without straps, she and Klamath would not be flying this day. It would take days of uninterrupted work to replace her straps and L'ret had made it clear to all that using borrowed straps was not acceptable. A dragonrider was responsible for his or her own straps.
"Well," said L'ret in false lightheartedness. "Despite the disappearing food at the tables, it seems we'll still be doing ground maneuvers for awhile this day." He motioned Mara to the door with exaggerated politeness. "Shall we?"
Mara tried to smile at the kind man, but gave up when a tear was squeezed out of one eye. "Yes, sir." She turned to the exit before wiping the tear away.
L'ret put a hand on the big woman's shoulder. "Don't fret, Mara. You'll be flying that big handsome brown very soon."
A smile found its way to her face without effort now. So, L'ret had noticed how big Klamath was. "Thank you, sir."
.
Lessa and F'lar knew long before B'roghe's arrival what had happened at the weyrling barracks. Klamath had bellowed when Mara found their damaged straps and, of course, Ramoth had quickly determined the cause of his distress and helped him to calm down.
Benden's weyrleaders met B'roghe at the bottom of the queen's weyr steps, with the newly consummated Western Weyr weyrleaders right behind.
B'roghe bowed to Lessa and F'lar, and then to the oddly contradictory couple behind them. He didn't know who they were, but recognized their weyrleaders' knots. The gold rider stood quite tall, nearly as tall as B'roghe, thin as a sapling, and had very fair but sunburned skin and long brown curls. The bronze rider was nearly a head shorter, quite stout, and either shaved his head or was bald. Both were quite young, perhaps mid third decade, thought B'roghe. And both seemed not yet comfortable with the heavy responsibilities inherent to their newly braided shoulder knots.
"Weyrlingmaster L'ret . . ." began B'roghe.
"Sent you to repeat what Ramoth has already informed us of with far more speed," snapped Lessa.
B'roghe had heard of Lessa's seeming mood swings and, of course, of her renowned temper, but had never been the focus of either. Having worked from time to time with his own grandfather who could become quite moody under the weight of his self imposed responsibilities, he took it in stride. He bowed with a humble smile and said simply, "Yes, Weyrwoman." When he stood, three of the weyrleaders were smiling. He focused, though, on the most ferocious of them all – Lessa.
"Well," she huffed. "We'll not waste your efforts on something the dragons can do. Please find Harper Selikar. We'll need his help with this incident."
B'roghe bowed again. "Yes, Weyrwoman." And jogged to the other side of the bowl.
G'rald grinned up at F'lar. "That was Lord Holder Groghe's grandson?"
"He has his grandfather's charm," said Prelia.
Lessa grinned at her much younger contemporary. "And, so far, none of his gruff mannerisms."
"That could easily change as he undertakes more responsibility." F'lar now grinned at his weyrmate. "At least he stands up well under pressure."
All chuckled as they walked toward a less amusing task.
Outside the weyrling barracks, as the rest of the class formed up with their dragons for more ground maneuvers, Cally hugged Mara's waist fiercely. She fought a losing battle with tears for her damaged straps and fought with equal intensity anger at Mara's repeated questioning of her willingness to be her friend.
"At least you're not the only one who can't fly this day," said the tiny weyrling into her friend's less bulky waist.
Mara smiled at the unspoken addendum; Cally, and Mynth, still wished someone else had been the other victim.
"Straighten up, weyrlings. Here come the weyrleaders. All four of them," said L'ret.
Cally stood away from Mara. "Four?"
"I can still count Little Weyrling. I'm not that old yet." L'ret put a kind hand on each of the weyrling's shoulders and guided them toward the approaching weyrleaders.
"You're not old!" said Cally.
"Ha! Good answer," said L'ret with a wink that had the desired effect.
Cally walked behind Mara while she wiped her tears away with a smile for her weyrlingmaster.
Mara fought a blush with a touch of anger when the shorter of the men approaching seemed shocked by her "huge" size. When she heard "Fardles, she heard that," she grinned at the man and bowed her head apologetically.
Mara? asked Lessa.
You told them about my hearing?
Yes. We trust them both.
Well, he's just realized you weren't joking.
You didn't talk to him, did you?
No, but I need to work on my reactions to certain thoughts.
Lessa's lips twitched as they closed on the weyrlings. She made introductions all around before they all walked back toward the classroom.
"Weyrling Mara," began F'lar, and paused as he studied her face.
"Yes, Weyrleader?"
"Tell us what happened."
"Yes, sir." Uh oh, thought Mara. That intense stare indicated that he was looking for more than it might seem. Mara resisted the urge to listen to him and gave as detailed a report as she could. She left out nothing and finally offered an observation.
"It looks like someone opened my carisak and poured undiluted HNO3 into the center of the rolls. They used enough that it leaked out of my bag and caught the edge of Weyrling Cally's carisak."
As they approached the entrance to the barracks, F'lar touched his temple as if scratching a minor itch. "Any idea who might have perpetrated this crime?"
Mara glanced around quickly – there were other people far too close, and of course Cally. "No, sir," was all she said.
F'lar nodded and led the way into the classroom. When the door was closed, he turned again to Mara. "Absolutely no idea?" Again, he scratched his temple.
"No, sir." Mara turned to her side. "Cally?"
"I don't know why anyone would want to do this, Weyrleader F'lar. To Mara, or to me."
F'lar nodded at the little girl.
Lessa spoke kindly. "Weyrling Cally, perhaps you should join your classmates outside."
"But . . ." Cally made it no further as L'ret cleared his throat loudly.
The weyrlingmaster growled, "You will follow orders, Weyrling."
Cally almost repeated her last word, mouth poised for the first consonant. Instead, she lowered her eyes with, "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." She turned to leave, but was turned back by yet another throat clearing. A sideways motion of L'ret's head prompted her to turn to the weyrleaders. "Good day, Weyrleaders," she said with a curtsey. Two fingers tapping her weyrlingmaster's chin prompted her to grin. She nodded and left the room.
When the door was closed, Prelia chuckled. "She's adorable!"
"But only eleven?" added G'rald.
Lessa put hands to her waist, cocked her head childishly and tapped a foot much as Cally might do. In a fair approximation of the weyrling's voice she said, "Twelve . . . next month!"
Everyone laughed or giggled at Lessa's impersonation, but G'rald looked worried.
"How . . ?" he began.
Lessa recognized and appreciated his concern for such a young weyrling. "Sequestration," she answered before he could complete his question.
"When?" he asked, not even trying to complete the thought.
F'lar grinned guardedly. "Any day now, according to Mnementh."
Prelia spoke next. "I'd very much like to see how you handle such a situation."
Lessa smiled. "I'll ask Ramoth to inform you when the time comes."
"But now," began F'lar, turning toward Mara. "Do you have any idea who might have done this?" He pointed to the still deteriorating carisak.
To punctuate his last word, the door opened to admit Harper Selikar, slightly out of breath, and Weyrling B'roghe, breathing normally. F'lar's eyes rolled and Mara grinned.
After determining Selikar had all the available information, B'roghe was sent out to join his classmates. His concern for his fellow weyrling was noticed by all in the room. Mara smirked at him to indicate all was as well as could be at the moment. When she turned back to the weyrleaders, F'lar glared at her as if she were to blame for all the interruptions, but with a gleam in his eye.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I have no idea who did this. I've been listening to anyone and everyone – my apologies, Weyrleader G'rald – but I haven't heard anything even slightly suspect."
Both F'lar and Lessa sighed and shook their heads. "Where's Brendeen?" asked Lessa irritably. "I asked her to join us here."
Mara listened briefly and smiled. "She's trying to soothe Saraneth. She's really upset about what happened and is trying to help Ramoth find out who did it."
Lessa glared as if Mara had upset her. "That explains why so many of the other dragons are agitated. Excuse me for a moment." Her eyes lost focus as she spoke to the young gold. Saraneth, dear. Please let Ramoth handle the questioning. You can learn a great deal by simply listening to how she handles the situation.
As you wish, Weyrwoman.
Mara grinned at the impatience of Klamath's golden sister and watched as the four weyrleaders and L'ret walked around the room, opening carisaks, looking for any clues. Dalgarn entered and was questioned with results similar to Mara's – he had heard nothing to arouse any suspicion. Brendeen finally arrived once Saraneth was mollified into resting and listening to Ramoth. Same results.
Prelia, almost apologetically, cleared her throat and said to Lessa, "After you told me about all the telepaths you've been hosting, I did some research at Landing. Did you know it's possible to shield one's thoughts from a telepath?" At nods from both Brendeen and Dalgarn, she continued. "Some people even have that ability quite naturally."
"That I was unaware of," said Brendeen with surprise.
"And in some cases, a mental aberration can conceal certain thoughts," added the Western Weyrwoman.
F'lar harrumphed. "That is not comforting news, Prelia."
"I suppose," said Lessa, "we're forced to discover the culprit using old-fashioned methods."
Mara's mood was beginning to change. She had been quite upset, almost ready to cry over the injustice of this attack on her and Klamath. But now anger was bubbling to the surface as if in a slow boil – just a bubble or two right now, with more sure to follow. So this 'skill' might not be of any use in this case? How many other attacks would she and Klamath have to endure? This one didn't pose any threat to Klamath's health like the last one, but what more would come in the future? If listening wouldn't help, how could she protect her sweet brown?
Mara?
"What," she snapped, and immediately grimaced in chagrin. "I'm sorry, Brendeen."
The gold weyrling smiled sweetly, understandingly as she put a hand on Mara's arm. "The people of Pern have been solving crimes for twenty-five hundred Turns – without our Skills."
"Not all of them," mumbled Mara. She clenched her eyes and fists closed and then turned apologetically to F'lar. "I know everyone tried to find out who put fellis in the meat, but . . ."
F'lar did not flinch. He stood steadfast and with a solemn face, said, "We've failed – you, Klamath, every other weyrling in this Weyr and, indeed, every other dragonrider on Pern."
Lessa put a hand on his arm but spoke to Mara. "We can only hope this criminal was not as thoroughly deceptive."
"And if it's the same person?" asked Mara.
"Eventually," said F'lar with fierce determination. "This . . . person . . . will make a mistake, and we will deal harshly with him – or her."
A knock on the classroom door interrupted Mara's next pessimistic thought.
F'lar kept his eyes on the weyrling as he said, "Enter."
G'regg walked into the room with something in a gloved hand. "We found this, F'lar." He opened his hand to reveal a small glass vial with a glass stopper. "It was in one of the kitchen compost buckets. We're still searching."
Selikar sighed loudly and shook his head. "So, we now know the criminal was in the Lower Caverns sometime since this happened."
"And that includes ninety percent of the people in this Weyr," added Lessa.
F'lar tipped his head slightly at G'regg. "And you've seen or heard nothing to hint at who might have done this?"
"No, sir. We are trying to figure out how anyone could have gotten this," he held up the vial. ". . . out of the storage room."
"And your young protégé – B'rand?"
G'regg raked his ungloved fingers through his short hair, stopping to scratch just forward of his ear. "He's as upset as everyone else about the delay."
Mara was excused to rejoin her class while some full riders cleaned up the mess. A few of her classmates shot her dirty looks over the incident, but most were sympathetic to her plight – until L'ret informed everyone that no one would ride until either the perpetrator of this senseless damage of Weyr property was found or Mara and Cally remade or repaired their straps.
As Mara and Cally couldn't ride without straps – at least as weyrlings under L'ret's control – they were excused to visit the Weyr Tanner during ground maneuvers. Cally needed only one section to fully repair her straps and finished that by the end of the day, but Mara needed a full set. She spent every free moment and considerable sleep time working on her new, improved straps with longer sections to better fit her larger and still growing dragon. She still had to do most of her chores and classes, but was excused from anything involving riding Klamath.
That first evening, Mara worked on cutting her straps in G'raden's weyr while he attended a long ago scheduled research session in Landing. As she worked, she found herself growing more and more angry. Who would do this to her and Klamath? And why? What had she done to deserve this injustice? The thoughts circled round and round in her mind, gaining momentum with each circuit, until she dropped her lengths of wherhide and slammed the rock wall with the palm of first one hand and then the other.
Klamath, frightened awake by the intensity of her anger and frustrated by his inability to calm her, called for help from Normond. Normond, after consulting with G'raden, contacted Arlith who contacted Klamath and assured him that he and his rider would be there soon to help. Klamath, knowing how his rider felt about the obnoxious G'regg, wasn't too sure he had done the right thing, but waited anxiously for Arlith's arrival. Since he didn't seem able to calm his rider, he concentrated on soothing Rainy who was equally distraught.
G'regg arrived to find Mara trying to demolish the wall between weyrs. "Mara!"
"What are you doing here?" she snapped.
"Come with me."
"I will not!"
"Weyrling, you will do as ordered by a Wingleader. Come with me."
She listened very carefully and discovered the man was not in any way teasing. He was dead serious. She smacked the wall one more time before walking toward him.
G'regg deftly grabbed one of her arms to look at her hand. "Shards, woman! You keep that up and you won't fly for another sevenday." He listened to her as well and heard her curse her own stupidity, which only made her even more angry.
Once Mara was seated behind him on Arlith, G'regg directed his bronze to the northern entrance of the lower caverns. He led her into the exercise room which emptied rather quickly, handed her a set of well padded gloves which she scoffed at, and showed her how to use the punching bag. Each time she scoffed, or eventually slowed down, he would taunt her just enough to renew her efforts at reaching him through the bag he held steady.
Mara was angry at far more than the destruction of her riding straps. She had been suppressing anger deep in her mind for the last twenty-five Turns, ever since her mother had died. Her father had punished her for even the slightest hint of anger. And now G'regg, that usually lecherous, always obnoxious, sharding wingleader was bringing it all out, pricking at each festering pustule until it exploded with a ferocity Mara had never experienced and was now so embarrassed about she got even more angry.
Having been notified of an 'incident' by Duranth, L'ret stood at the entrance of the room, shaking his head at the thought of such a sweet and kind woman being driven to so much anger. He could hear in G'regg's taunts that the anger had been building for Turns, but knew this days 'attack' had brought it all to a head.
F'lar too had been notified, and soon joined L'ret. It was good to see her release all that anger in a safe, controlled manner. His estimation of G'regg's Skills rose tremendously as he realized how the man used his Skill to pull out all of Mara's anger, apparently from many Turns past. What an asset this man was to Benden Weyr, and what an asset other Skilled people could be to all of Pern.
As L'ret shook his head yet again, F'lar laid a hand on his shoulder and spoke quietly. "This release will do her good. She can start fresh and learn how to deal with anger as it occurs. Faranth knows, she'll have plenty of opportunity to practice."
Both men left as Mara's tirade shrank to a trickle, with punches accompanied by sobs as often as grunts or growls.
G'regg took her back to G'raden's weyr with little resistance and they talked, each sitting braced against their dragons, until her weyrmate returned from Landing. Anger was natural, said G'regg. How it's dealt with determines the character of a person. He told her, with uncharacteristic sincerity, how he admired her ability to shield others from her anger, and also told her in no uncertain terms, she would need to learn new methods of dealing with even miniscule anger or it would only fester again. They had time to discuss some of those methods before Normond landed on his weyr ledge.
G'regg stood with a mischievous grin to greet G'raden. "Glad you're back brother! My self-restraint was flagging terribly. Another minute or two and I could not have resisted your lovely weyrmate any longer."
G'raden only laughed, having complete trust in his life-long friend, but G'regg watched Mara with an increasingly malevolent grin. "If that bothers you Mara, say so."
Mara knew he was teasing, and testing, but that didn't stop her anger at his lewd behavior. "Go away, G'regg." When the man only laughed and strolled in her direction, she tried one of his recommended methods. She puffed up, glared at him, and repeated, "Go. Away. G'regg. Now."
"And if I choose to stay?"
Mara swung an arm up and slapped his shoulder – not hard, but enough to sting her already sore hand.
G'regg's grin changed to a kind smile. "Feel better?"
Mara continued to glare as she considered his question. She did feel better, but embarrassed. But, she had the right to be angry, or so he had said, and she had expressed that anger without hurting the big fool. So, she looked into his now kind eyes and nodded once. "I'll feel even better when you leave."
Now he laughed, not in his cruel, teasing way, but with honesty. "Fair enough." He turned to leave and as he passed G'raden, said, "She's a quick learner."
The two men clasped forearms before G'regg mounted Arlith. Before he could launch from the ledge though, Mara caught his attention. "G'regg?" When he turned his smile to her, she said sincerely, "Thank you."
He nodded once just before Arlith stepped off the ledge.
.
During the next several days, F'lar and Lessa met several times with all the bronze and gold riders and some of the weyrfolk to review and revise security procedures, and to try to anticipate any future problems with their lady brown rider.
It took Mara four days to complete her new straps, and to soften them enough with oil to not bother Klamath. Both she and Klamath had been tempted to let minor annoyances slide, but they decided together that waiting another day or two would be far better than damaging his hide and possibly having to wait even longer.
When her straps had been approved by L'ret and their comfort confirmed by none other than Ramoth, the class was taken out for their first flights.
Over the last few days, L'ret had the class pay particular attention to older dragons landing and taking off. It became clear to most of the weyrlings that each dragon had his or her own style. Some leaped nearly straight up and some leaped more forward than upward when launching into the air. Landings could be as graceful as a floating feather or as awkward as a running herdbeast depending on the dragon's and rider's moods or any number of other variables.
Cally was first to be ordered to mount Mynth. Her straps were checked by two weyrlingmaster's assistants before L'ret gave her, and all the weyrlings, very concise instructions.
"You are to lie down along your dragon's neck. On your first flight, you will remain along your dragon's neck until after landing. You are not to sit up for even an instant on this first flight. Do you understand, Weyrling Cally?"
"YES, SIR!" Cally beamed and bounced over being first in this class to fly.
"Do so now, Weyrling Cally." When she lay along Mynth's neck, the assistants helped her find where her arms should go; one hooked around a neck ridge and the other down partway around her green's neck. "Now, you will instruct your dragon to launch and fly one complete circuit around the bowl. You will then land right back where you started from. Is that understood, Weyrling Cally?"
"YES, SIR!" Even lying down, she managed to bounce, giggling with anticipation.
Other weyrlings, especially Mara, could not help but smile, giggle or outright laugh at the excitement in their young classmate.
"Repeat your instructions, Weyrling Cally." When the girl repeated almost word for word her weyrlingmaster's instructions, L'ret harrumphed. He grimaced with extra ferocity at the girl who only giggled more. "You may fly, Weyrling Cally."
Mynth took a few steps away from the assistants, reared onto her hind quarters while spreading her nearly translucent wings, and lunged into the air. Cally's squeal of laughter was heard throughout the bowl, and even into some of the lower caverns, causing a considerable number of people to run outdoors. The green weyrling laughed all the way around Benden's Weyr bowl. Weyrfolk, riders and dragons alike laughed and pointed, riders and dragons remembering their first flights together. When Mynth landed, cheers went up throughout the Weyr and Cally cried with joy – or perhaps from the bitter cold of Benden's air.
Mara was next. L'ret told the class that the targets of such a despicable act deserved this preferential treatment – this time. Mara mounted Klamath, fastened her straps, waited not-so-patiently while L'ret's assistants checked them, and lay down along the left side of one neck ridge wrapping her right arm around the next ridge. Her left arm wasn't long enough to reach even the middle of his large neck, but she considered it was at least useful for balance.
When L'ret told her to fly, she squeezed the ridge in her hand as tight as she could. Is that too tight, Klamath?
No. Are you ready, my rider?
I hope so, my handsome brown. Let's go!
Klamath turned his head to either side, checking for clearance, sat back on his haunches and spread his beautiful wings. Are you sure you're ready? he asked with a bit of mischief.
YES. Let's do this. NOW!
So he launched, pushing Mara back into his last neck ridge. Shards, she thought, am I glad these straps are tight. Mara marveled at the play of muscles in Klamath's whole body, especially his chest as he beat his wings to gain altitude. They flew first over the lake toward the northern wall, still increasing their distance from the ground. Mara saw riders near the lake ready to tend their dragons who were in the lake. She saw herd beasts and wherries scattering in the beast pens, and then Klamath banked left.
Mara had tried to remain stoic, but being tipped toward the ground forced a rather loud "Hooooo" from her grinning face.
Are you all right?
Fine, my love. Oh, this is fun!
Klamath huffed as he continued around the bowl. He leveled off at about half the height of the tallest peak and glided more than halfway along the western wall before beating his wings again. As they banked left again and began the flight back toward the lake, Mara caught sight of her weyrleaders standing on Ramoth's ledge. Lessa waved from beneath F'lar's possessive arm, while he merely grinned. Lots of people waved, but Mara didn't dare raise her balancing arm to wave back. She hoped they understood, and then laughed because they probably knew all too well.
Klamath flew all the way to the northern wall before banking sharply to return along the first leg of his flight, and then glided down gracefully, back-winged just above the ground and seemed to float to a smooth landing.
Now Mara laughed. She could not control it. Oh, Klamath, that was wonderful! You are a wonderful flyer!
And you are a wonderful rider. Can we fly Thread now?
Ho ho! No my dear. First I have to learn to ride sitting up so I can give you firestone. And you have to learn to chew firestone, and . . .
Klamath turned somewhat melancholy. When Duranth's rider says we can?
That's right love. When L'ret says we're ready, we can fly Thread.
Will that day ever come?
We flew together this day! That's one more step in the training process, Klamath. We're doing good! It won't be long now, my love.
L'ret grew worried when Mara stayed lying down on Klamath. She grinned like a simpleton, but her eyes were closed and she still held firmly to the brown's neck ridge. "Mara?" Her eyes snapped open and she laughed.
"Oh, sorry, Weyrlingmaster. We were talking."
L'ret nearly laughed when Duranth relayed Klamath's half of the conversation. But instead, he growled. "You can talk after you've dismounted, weyrling."
"Yes, sir," said the still grinning brown weyrling as she sat up and began unfastening her straps.
The class was then separated into several groups, one for each pair of assistants and full riders. Everyone was given a chance to fly their dragon one time around the bowl. Everyone was given the same exact instructions. The order weyrlings were selected seemed to be totally random, but Mara noticed that those showing the least patience were held back longer than those who encouraged their classmates and cheered their achievements.
Brendeen and Tianna were among the first to fly and the whole Weyr watched with delight and pride. B'roghe was the first bronze weyrling to fly this day, and Angalyn one of the first greens, but D'don was held up until several other blue riders had flown. B'rand was the last weyrling to take his first flight, and, sure he knew his dragon's ways better than the weyrlingmaster, he tried to sit up on the last leg of the flight. As a result, Tagamarth's nervous landing caused him to be thrown forward, catching the bronze's rock-solid neck ridge in the center of his chest. After he was removed from his frantic dragon's back and was helped to regain his breath, he was walked to the Healer's Cavern. Mara had calmed Tagamarth during his rider's removal and she and B'roghe removed his riding straps, both assuring him his rider would be fine.
And then class 2553-2 was permitted one more flight around the bowl, and no one complained about lying on their dragon's neck.
By the end of the afternoon, all the weyrlings were excited about future flying exercises, even those who had been fearful up until this day.
.
Later that evening, in their shared weyr, Mara regaled G'raden with every detail of her first flight on Klamath. G'raden smiled and laughed and asked sometimes humorous questions for even more detail. Klamath lay smug on the rock floor near the dragon couch – this would be Normond's night to sleep there – and Rainy flew acrobatic laps around the weyr, barely missing heads and backs.
When Mara started yawning – it had been an extra-long day for her – G'raden coaxed her into bed, where the last of her excited energy was quickly used up.