The Erroneous Eggs Chapter 11

Things did not return to normal after Cardith's mating flight. Among the small weyrling class, stress levels were rising, both among the riders and among their dragons. No dragon actually attacked another dragon, but they were getting snappy and belligerent toward each other, and if things kept going in this direction, it was just a matter of time before someone's dragon crossed that unimaginable line. It would probably be either Spyroth or Smaugth; those two were the most hot-headed of the seven anyway. The riders were also irritable and short-tempered, and they were getting worse.

F'nor went to F'lar for advice, but he didn't get much. "F'nor, I'd love to help you, but your timing is terrible," the Weyrleader told him. "We got badly beaten up during our last two Threadfalls; riders and dragons were going down left and right with Thread injuries. Part of it was that the Thread fell in more clumps than usual, and I think part of it was overconfidence on our part. S'lel's wing got so badly hurt, I may have to disband it and spread the remaining healthy dragons out among the other wings, to replace the casualties they took. I just don't have time to consider anything else. I'll try to give your problem some thought, but it may take a few days."

K'lune, the Weyrlingmaster, gave him a similar answer. "If you had come to me a few days ago, F'nor, I could have helped you. But we just had a three-way mid-air collision yesterday. Now I've got three injured dragons, I've got three banged-up weyrling riders who are nervous about flying, and the rest of the weyrlings are forming factions and deciding whom to blame for the accident. I have to defuse the tension, get everyone back on the same team, and encourage the riders who are afraid of another accident. I'm swamped!"

F'nor didn't know where else to turn for help. But, as K'lune had correctly noted, black rider L'rance had become the de facto leader among the members of the special training wing. L'rance had also noticed that something was very wrong among his friends, and he decided to try and solve the problem himself. He turned to Temerairth for help, and his dragon helped him narrow down the source of the tension. He went to talk to Sinder, with Temerairth's heavy footsteps thudding to the ground behind him.

"We all know that our training wing is having a problem with stress," he began. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Why are you assuming that our problems are all my fault?" she shot back.

"I'm not trying to blame anybody," he replied, trying not to let his voice rise like hers did, "All I know is that something is making all of us act short-tempered. That kind of thing can't spread from person to person, but it can spread from dragon to dragon, and then on to each rider through their dragons. Temerairth says that the source of the short tempers is your Spyroth. He has always been a feisty little dragon, and I –"

"Do you have to remind me how small he is?" she snapped.

"Sorry! Sorry!" he exclaimed, holding up his hands. "Bad choice of words. I'm sorry. But Spyroth is setting all the other dragons' tempers off. A dragon won't do something like that unless his rider is having issues as well. So what's wrong, Sinder? Please talk to me."

"What do you want me to talk to you about?" she said sullenly. Spyroth walked over and lay down on the ground between them, watching L'rance warily.

"Talk to me about anything," he said, "as long as it has something to do with the problems we're having with each other."

For a moment, she glared at him. "Are you really that thick in the head?"

He paused before answering. "For the sake of argument, let's say I really am that thick in the head. Tell me what you think I ought to know."

She let out an exasperated sigh and turned away from him.

If he is trying to make her happier, Spyroth thought, then he is failing badly, and he is making me unhappy.

Give him time before you think unkind thoughts about him, Temerairth urged the little dragon. The humans are not like us. They cannot twine necks in the air. They have to work these things out with many words.

Too many words, Spyroth muttered mentally.

"Okay, I'll try and guess," L'rance went on, "but I have to warn you, I'm a bad guesser when it comes to what people are thinking. Our problems started just after Cardith's mating flight. Was there something about that flight that made you angry, or sad, or upset?" She didn't respond. "Is it because none of the boys approached you for... I mean, they didn't want you when the dragons' mating made everybody want to... you know?"

She spun to face him, eyes blazing. "You really don't get it? Nobody could be as stupid as that! I didn't want just any boy! I wanted..." She stopped herself and turned away again.

"Atrayou and Arigon both approached me," she sniffed, "but I didn't want them, so Spyroth chased them away. They never laid a finger on me. Nobody has ever laid a finger on me."

"Well... then who did you want?" he asked. She didn't answer, but he could hear her sniffling.

He thought, "Temerairth, she doesn't mean me, does she?"

I think she does.

Huzzah! Spyroth sarcastically cut in. I think he finally figured it out!

Again, be patient with him, Temerairth answered. These things are much more complicated with humans than they are with us dragons. They do not just chase each other and catch each other in the air.

Maybe they should try it, the purple dragon retorted. It would be a lot easier than all this talk, and much faster, too.

"Sinder, is this about... you and me?"

She wiped away a tear as she turned to face him. "Who else?" she began. "Is there anybody else in this training wing who's even worth looking at? You're cute, you're good to your dragon, you're patient and kind to everyone! Everywhere we go, my dragon and I have to ride on your dragon. You're close enough to touch, I have to hold onto you when your dragon takes off, you don't talk down at me because my dragon is the smallest... and then Annia sweeps you up and carries you off to her weyr, and you can't wait to get under the sheets with her!" She turned away, the tears openly streaming down her face now.

"That wasn't under my control!" he protested.

"Then whose control was it under?" she sniffed. "Hers?"

"That was all about the dragons!" he tried to explain. "You've heard F'nor teaching us about mating flights! You've seen what happens to the big weyrling class when a green dragon rises! It's totally impersonal!"

"It sounds pretty personal to me," she retorted.

"But it's not," he said desperately. "It's all about who is closest when the dragons catch each other in the air. When a dragon with a male rider catches a dragon with a female rider, the two of them... it's like they're overcome by their dragons' passion. People who would never choose to be weyrmates find themselves in the same bed, because of their dragons. When it's done, it's done. They go their separate ways, like nothing even happened."

"And do you think that's going to comfort a woman who just watched her man bed someone else?" she demanded.

"Sinder, I'm not your man!" After a moment, he added, "Am I?"

"What do you mean, 'am I?' What do you think I'm talking about?"

L'rance took a step back. "I... I never thought that you... I mean, why would you look twice at a guy like me? I'm just a fisherman, the son of a fisherman, the grandson of a fisherman. I'm not much to look at; my family has no money and no influence. No girl ever looked twice at me! I figured my father would fix me up with a fisherman's daughter someday, and that's the only way I'd ever get a girl. Why would I think... Sinder, are you saying that you wanted me?"

"Yes, you stupid, wonderful idiot!" she burst out, and threw her arms around him. He held her awkwardly for several minutes until they both stopped shaking.

Why is he having so much trouble accepting the fact that she likes him? Spyroth said, perplexed.

I have spent my entire life telling him that he is wonderful, Temerairth answered, but it is hard for him to believe that other humans might also think he is wonderful. This is a new idea for him. He is not used to thinking he is worthy of another person's approval.

Well, I hope he gets over it soon, Spyroth muttered in his mind. He is upsetting my rider, and that upsets me.

He is also upset by this situation, the big dragon said sternly. You would know this if you would stop focusing on yourself.

"It doesn't matter now," she said into his shoulder, shaking her head. "You went to Annia, you were with her, and there's nothing more to say."

"There's a lot more to say," he said softly. "For one thing, Annia is not my type, and I guess I'm not her type, either. As soon as the dragons' passion faded, she kicked me out of her weyr even faster than she dragged me in! Frankly, she could have been a lot kinder about it."

"Does that matter?" she asked. "I'm Holdbred! When you sleep with someone, that's supposed to be a marriage commitment!"

"But the rules change when you Impress a dragon," L'rance reminded her. "Don't you remember what F'nor told us about how the leadership of Monaco Bay Weyr works? T'gellan and Mirrim are weyrmates, but in order to remain Weyrleader, his bronze Monarth has to fly the Weyrwoman Talina's gold Arwith once a year. And when his dragon catches hers, then he and Talina... well, they do what they do. And Mirrim doesn't have a problem with that! She and Talina are friends. She knows it's nothing personal, and she'll get her weyrmate back as soon as the dragons are done with each other. The worst case between Annia and me would have been something like that."

"Please don't talk about her," Sinder murmured.

"Okay, then I'll talk about me, so I'll know what I'm talking about. I haven't thought much about... well, you know, boys and girls... ever since I Impressed Temerairth. He's kept me very busy, and our Weyrlingmasters have also kept me busy. We've all been busy. You're such a good dragon rider, I never spent much time thinking about you as a girl. I just wasn't thinking along those lines when I worked with you."

"But you thought along those lines when she was around," she argued.

"That was the dragons' fault!" he exclaimed. "The only reason I had Temerairth join that mating flight was because F'nor told me it would be good for my future as a possible Wingleader if my dragon caught a gold. I wasn't looking for a girlfriend, and I wasn't looking for a roll in the hay, either. I wasn't even thinking about that part... until my dragon caught her dragon, and then I couldn't think about anything else for a while."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she said dismally.

"Probably not," he admitted. "I'm not that good with smooth words. Actually, I'm not good at much of anything, except flying with Temerairth."

I will admit, he is good at flying with you, Spyroth commented. Maybe there are other things he is good at, as well.

He is good at a great many things, Temerairth answered, including being patient with purple dragons. I have learned from him. Now stop talking and listen! This moment could be very important to both our riders.

"She really means nothing to you?" Sinder sniffled doubtfully.

"Less than nothing," L'rance tried to reassure her. "The way she treated me after we were done... I felt used. She just threw me aside like a dirty towel. All she thought about was her dragon. She'll make a great weyrmate for a randy bronze rider who likes multiple girlfriends and no commitments." He took a deep breath. "She's not a bit like you."

Sinder tried to figure out where he was going with this. "She's pretty, she's shapely, and she rides a gold dragon," she said hesitantly.

"She's self-centered, she's inconsiderate, and she doesn't ride a purple dragon," he retorted.

"I don't ride one of those, either," she reminded him.

"Close enough," he shrugged. "I'm craftbred, remember? I believe in commitment, too. She doesn't. You and I are alike in that way, and in a lot of other ways."

She pulled away from him and dried her eyes on her sleeve. "I know I'm not very pretty or shapely," she admitted. "I don't have any money or influence, either. I don't even have an awesome dragon like you do." Spyroth glanced at her, startled.

"Yes, you do," he corrected her gently, which earned him a grateful look from the purple dragon. "And you do an amazing job of working with him and bringing out the best in him. So what if he's not the biggest? At least he can breathe fire, which is something my dragon can't do. Someday, your dragon is going to fight Thread!"

"But he'll need your dragon's help to do it," she countered.

"I don't have a problem with that," he admitted. "At least my dragon will get a piece of the action by working with Spyroth. Each of them compensates for what the other one lacks. The two of them make a good team."

She took his hands in hers; he didn't resist. "Seeing how our dragons have to work together like that, is there any chance... that you and I could make a good team, too?"

"I'll be honest," he began, and she tensed up. "I don't have any feelings for you in that way." She tried to pull away, but he held onto her hands. "Sinder, please look at me!" He took a deep breath. "I'm willing to give you a chance, feelings or no feelings. I like you, I respect you, and I don't ever, ever want to make you cry again. I really feel bad about that. Like you said, our dragons are going to be a team, so it would make sense if the two of us teamed up as well." He paused. "That didn't sound very romantic, did it?"

"It's a start," she sighed, and embraced him hesitantly. "I won't make you sorry; I promise you that," she murmured. "But will you promise me something in return? Will you promise me that, the next time her dragon flies, your dragon won't try to catch her?"

"Deal!" he nodded. "I don't have to think twice about that one. I'd rather sleep in a watch-wher's den than be in her weyr again. But what happens when some other queen, or one of the greens, goes on a flight? Is Temerairth never allowed to catch a female again?"

She pulled away enough to look him in the eye. "The next time that happens, I am going to stay right next to you, even though Spyroth won't be part of the mating flight. And as soon as your dragon catches his female, I am going to drag you away and ravish you before anyone else can sink her claws into you! Your days of letting Temerairth run your love life are over, black rider!" She started to kiss him, but backed off at his alarmed expression. She embraced him again instead.

He put his mouth down next to her ear and whispered, "I think I can live with that."

"Do you mind that I'm being so forward?" she asked.

"I can think of worse faults in a girl," he smiled. "Besides, I think your dragon's personality is rubbing off on you. F'nor says that happens sometimes. If it's true, then it's not your fault; there's nothing you can do about it."

"You use that excuse a lot," she murmured with a smile.

"Only when it's the truth," he answered quietly. He hesitantly stroked her hair. She closed her eyes and held him tightly.

Your rider had better take good care of my rider, Spyroth told Temerairth. Or else! A flicker of flame passed across his lips for a moment.

You need not worry, the much bigger dragon answered tolerantly, and you can save your fire for Thread. My rider takes good care of me, so he will take good care of her as well. He is a very good man.

He must be, Spyroth nodded mentally, or my rider would not have chosen him. At least he thinks I am awesome.

By the next day, the tensions among the dragons and riders had noticeably faded, and the problem was gone by the day after that. F'nor never did figure it out for himself; Canth could have explained it to him, but he never asked. Brekke had listened to the dragons' conversation and put two and two together, and she told him all about it a week later. For now, he was just glad that he had one less complication to deal with, and that he could get on with training his select class of weyrlings.