Author's Note
I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern.
Apologies for the long wait for this chapter, because of my situation in life I ultimately had to put a hold on all my stories for a month. Things should be going back to normal now though, so fingers crossed.
Big thank you and shoutout to artri, who reread and reviewed all the chapters during the unplanned for hiatus. Glad you're enjoying it and I appreciate the support.
The entire Weyr was in mourning.
Not just for Desuneth and Lulorth, or for their lost bronzes and browns, but for the Queens and dragons of all colours that had been lost across Pern.
Sirena gathered them all in the common room in the morning to explain the situation they were in. The twins were holding hands and looked paler than usual, Diazaikko-Lovea looked like she had been crying all night, as did Rasia and the random boy (and assorted small children) with her, and even Annaliessa was quiet. All the girls were in various states of shock and disarray. Only Dorasa, Azizelia, and Princess Lilyen Adalicia Midnight looked to be in any state of composure. Sirena waited until they were on sat the floor before she started.
"There are over a hundred dragons d-d-d-gone from across all the Weyrs. Most are – were – bronzes and bigger browns, who were the most vulnerable in the Fall, but some a- were blues and greens, and many of the Queen dragons are also d-d-gone, since as the biggest dragons on Pern, they were the most vulnerable." She paused for a moment while they all let that sink in. "High Reaches has lost two, the Senior and one of the Juniors. So have Benden, Telgar, Ista, and Southern. Igen and Fort only lost one. Dawnfall's lost all three. Edgelan only had one to begin with, and she wasn't flying this fall since she's egg heavy. As of right now, Benden, Telgar and Fort are the only Weyrs with more than one Queen."
Faranth help them.
A Weyr could run on having one Queen during a pass, and many did, but during a Fall…
"That's likely to change, since at least one will need to be transferred to Dawnfall. There are fourteen Queens left across Pern, with three of them still being Weyrlings. It is above importance that the two Queens on our sands hatch and impress safely. We cannot make any mistakes, there can't be any accidents on the of us impresses is going to have a huge responsibility, not just to our Weyr, but to all of Pern."
Mia raised her hand. Sirena sighed and pointed at her. "Yes."
"We do have enough dragons and strength to protect everyone don't we?"
"Dragons will fly when Thread is in the sky," Sirena replied. "Are there any more questions?"
Several of the girls put their hands up. Sirena pointed at Kimberlee first.
"What about the small gold egg?"
"Good question. I think for now we should treat it as another Queen. There's a chance it might not hatch, and if it does, and it is a Queen, she's going to be undersized, but the egg is gold, which suggests a Queen of some sort, even if she's a Sport."
"What about the big egg?" asked Mary Sue.
"We should be careful around all the hatchlings of course. It would be even more of a tragedy for any of them to go between at this time."
"No, I mean, that one's bigger than the Queen eggs. Could it be a Queen?"
"Queen eggs have golden shells."
"Firelizard Queens don't," Dorasa pointed out larconically.
"We've no reason to believe that one's a Queen. My mum actually thinks it could be some sort of freak dud, she's never seen an egg so big before."
"Is one of the new Queen riders going to have to transfer?" asked Brizala.
"Almost certainly."
"How will it be decided which one?"
"They can play rock paper scissors. Anyone else?"
"Can I go home?" asked Diazaikko-Lovea. Sirena blinked. The other girls stared at her.
"… say what?"
Diazaikko-Lovea's lower lip trembled. "Yesterday was the worst day of my life. I don't think I've ever been so scared. I can't fight Thread, I can't do what you did, I can't. I want to go home."
Sirena sighed. "Takes a lot of bravery to admit that. Go and pack your things, I'll find someone to take you home. Does anyone else want to leave?"
Surprisingly, no one did, though it looked like Sherazzo Connifer Bluebel had some doubts that were soothed by her siblings. It made sense, Revina supposed. A surprising amount of the candidates for this Hatching appeared to be orphans with nowhere to go and no reason for leaving the Weyr.
With that sorted out for now, they headed down for breakfast. Since R'ton had been injured in the Fall and there was still a mass of otherwise confusion, morning exercises and lessons were cancelled for the day. Sirena hurried over to join her mother at the head table. Revina eyed the seat next to Yariel and moved towards it as Dorasa was fetching dishes. Mia was already sat on his other side. Revina sauntered towards him. Yariel groaned and waved a hand at her. His Queen firelizard was wrapped around his neck.
"Dorasa's sat there."
"Don't you want a different kind of comfort than your sister can give you?"
His firelizard hissed crossly and snapped her teeth.
"Not from you."
"Are you sure?" Revina reached out to his shoulder. He slapped her away.
"So not in the mood," said a new voice. Dorasa shouldered her aside with effortless strength and set a plate down in front of Yariel before sliding into the chair next to him.
"Please go away, thank you very much."
Revina took a seat on the other side of the table. "I don't think he needs you to babysit him."
Yariel picked at his food. He looked tired and drawn. "What do you want?"
"I wondered if you wanted to go for a walk later. I can show you some secret parts of the island."
"You mean the island that's been ravanged by Thread? No thank you."
Revina sighed heavily. "You know, some of us are going to be Weyrlings and riders in the same class. You really should make more friends."
"We have more friends. You're just not one of them," replied Yariel.
"But-"
His eyes flashed gold. "Back off. Not in the mood."
Revina backed off, taking her plate and moving across the room to sit with Brizala and Kimberlee. Perhaps she should wait to try getting close to him once they had impressed. And there would be nothing he could do once her dragon rose. Her mother had told her so many stories about the Son of the Sun, the Chosen One. It had to be fate that he was here now.
"Girl, you have got it bad," said Kimberlee. Revina flushed scarlet, clashing with her hair.
"I have not."
"You have," agreed Brizala.
"He's literally the Chosen One. He's strong, and beautiful, and he's destined to be my weyrmate."
Kimberlee shook her head. "Agreeing on the first two, not so much on the last."
"You'll see."
"Aye, I'm sure we will."
It was an odd kind of day. There was still plenty to be done, but they were duties that weren't normally so… massive. Treating injured riders and wounded dragons, sweeping the island for any missed Thread burrows, and helping with the cooking since some of the lower caverns workers and cooks had been injured in the Fall too were the main ones. No one smiled, and what talk there was was mostly about the lost riders and dragons or the terrifying Fall. Revina barely knew what to do with herself.
Sirena seemed to be taking it the worst. Why it should be worse for her than anyone else Revina was unsure. Maybe Little Miss Perfect just had to continue being the centre of attention.
The problem with getting close to Yariel was that he never seemed to be apart from Dorasa and Mia. If she could just talk to him while he was alone-!
She was sure he would fall to her charms. Most boys did. She always got what she wanted in the end.
But getting him alone…
Was proving an impossible task. Revina had been trying since the third day, but especially since Desiree, he never appeared to go anywhere on his own.
If only she'd had a bronze – or even brown – firelizard. She could have tried to get close to him by offering it as a mate for his little Queen. Unfortunately, it was only that that caught her interest in the little flits – she'd never really cared for them before, more interested in the idea of Impressing a great fighting dragon.
Who would want a firelizard when they could have a dragon?
Certainly not her.
She finally saw her chance the following day when Dorasa stopped midway through changing a basket of glows, frowned, and then leant over to whisper something to Yariel. He nodded and waved a casual hand at the end of the tunnel. Dorasa hurried up it. Revina smiled and edged towards him.
"Still not in the mood."
"Come on, it's not like big sister's here to see." She gave him a coy smile, leaning against the wall.
"I've played boytoy for one female candidate; it's not happening again. Thanks but no thanks Revina."
"You know, I always thought you were some big hero."
"I'm not into fangirls."
"I'm not a fangirl. I've heard all your stories; I know-"
"You sound like a fangirl."
Revina blushed scarlet. "I don't get you. How can you be like this?"
"Easily. Please leave me in peace Revina; I don't bother you."
She grinned. "I wouldn't mind it if you did."
He walked away.
Was he always going to be like this?
Revina had never known a boy his age so difficult to fluster!
Maybe he was into men.
That would be disappointing for the Chosen One.