Mebeckle wandered through the harvest Gather, his carry sack heavy with his purchases. While the Gather goers made merry in the sprawling Gather, the heightened security was hard to miss. The attack on the Ladyholder, barely three days past, was all that the holders talked about. And if nothing else exciting happened, they would still be discussing it at Turn Over, he realized with a bemused thought. There was even a rumor that the harpers already had a song titled 'Minket's Wild Ride'. Mebeckle hoped it also doubled as a dancing song. For the first time in nearly three turns he felt like dancing.
He hadn't when B'ton showed up all smiles and laughter, but now he was glad he insisted they fly to the Gather. And fly they did, straight from his Cliffside cothold beside it's seasonal waterfall, to the gaily decorated Telgar Hold. Not that Mebeckle minded. If anything it gave him the opportunity to enjoy the rare leisurely flight that not even many adult dragons enjoyed, despite the draconic axiom that 'dragons fly'. Perhaps in three Turns...
Mebeckle's eye was caught by a gold firelizard, sleeping on an awning in the afternoon light. Someone was in for a very good time, he thought with the faintest hint of a grin. That little queen was vibrant in her colors, a sure sign to anyone with Weyr breeding that she was close to rising. The weyrling in him hoped it was an unusually loud and exciting mating flight, something to properly scandalize the holders, while the Craftmaster in him merely hoped for a clutch for the lucky bondmate. Firelizard eggs were easy enough to come by, if one didn't mind green and blues, but there was a serious dearth of browns, bronzes and golds in both Hold and Craft. Not even the Weyrs, which frequently hatched firelizards on their own Hatching sands had a larger color hatch in recent Turns. Mebeckle's gaze lingered on the small queen a moment longer, wondering if perhaps someone was visiting from Southern Boll or Ista, the only regions he had heard of where craftmen had impressed the rarer colors.
He ambled over to the wine seller and purchased a cup of Tillek white. Most people complained of acidic bite, but in truth Mebeckle preferred the drier, bolder flavor of the whites from Tillek. Benden could keep it's smooth, lackluster wines.
"Tell them you bought from me, and the cheesemaker will discount your purchase by a full quarter of the price." The vintner told him with a wink. Mebeckle thanked him and made his way over to the indicated stall, only to chuckle - clearly the two vendors were siblings feeding one another business. Privately he admired that. Good business acumen shouldn't only belong to Traders, he felt. He paid for his semi-round, a fist sized ball of smoked cheese, and dutifully received his discount. As he turned to locate the tent selling kebobs a roar went up from the crowd, which parted to reveal Minket walking arm in arm with her Lordholder mate, and wearing a hat that served to highlight, rather than hide, the bandages over her ears. The cheers quickly turned to clapping, as the duo made their way through the crowd.
"She's certainly enjoying the attention." Muttered a familiar voice, and Mebeckle turned to see Fulsa standing at his elbow. The wherhandler winked at the Farmer. Although one won't call it a particularly close acquaintance, they knew each other from encounters while on ground crew duty.
"Welmet, Terror of Telgar." Mebeckle greeted her with a ghost of a smile.
"Welcome, grower of all things green." Fulsa retorted good naturedly. "How are your trees treating you these days?" Fulsa grinned at him, carefully avoid the subject of his dead wife.
"Oh, they're alright, if a bit taciturn." He replied glibly enough. "And your mate, how might he be?" The rumors did not spell a good fate for the Guard's wherhandler.
"Ach, pissin' and moanin' like a babe. You'd think it was the wher that landed on him, not the runner, the way he carries on." She lamented, but her smile softened. "Mind you, I'm dead grateful he's still alive to be complainin', but really, he acts like he's the only person to ever be deafened by wher-shriek before."
"He's certainly the first I've ever heard of before, him and the Ladyholder." Mebeckle tilted his head in the direction of the Lord and Lady. "It that why they are clapping? Because she's deafened?"
Fulsa nodded. "It was Harper Lirva's doing. Since she couldn't hear the cheers, he started clapping, and the idea caught on from there. And of course she's loving every moment of it." Annoyed bemusement crossed her features. "If she weren't limited to receiving all her information by writing, she'd be absolutely insufferable."
"It must be a nice change for her, to play the daring heroine, rather than the sharp tongued Ladyholder." Mebeckle suggested, and Fulsa responded with a thoughtful look.
"Mmmm... You're probably right. She tends to live vicariously through her brood. Hopefully she's regain enough hearing to actually hear the tune Songcrafter Mati wrote for her. She can't read a note of music."
"So she'll regain her hearing?" Mebeckle asked, sipping his wine.
"That's the hope. Master Marduk, the healer who works with all the deaf babies, she thinks they should both regain some of their hearing once their eardrums heal. Fortunately, Namul only burst one ear drum." Fulsa stated factually.
"The shriek damaged them?" He queried, startled to think that mere noise had such power behind it.
"Burst them. Scared the life out of Kesmin. Poor boy fainted dead away when she was brought in, ears bleeding."
"Poor lad."
"Aye. Which reminds me, you might offer to take Kesmin on when Lord Kestle speaks with you next." Fulsa added as the crowd moved around them.
"Oh?" Mebeckle favored her with a curious glance.
"He's been helping me with the watchwhers, and I asked him if he could be anything what would he be? He said he wanted to be an Arborist, and plant the Valley with cerasus orchards for as far as the eye could see."
"Is he merely fond of cerasus, or is there a particular reason for that?" Mebeckle asked, finishing his wine.
"I didn't get the whole story out of him, but Telly seemed to think it was terribly important to him. And he has the most amazing results with Lady Minket's orchis."
"Really?" Orchis flowers were notoriously hard to cultivate, particularly in more Northern climes. Ladyholders would present one another with a spray of the flowers when visiting, and it was an unspoken competition between them to outdo one another. Only in Ista where they grew wild did the locals utilize the flowers in their hair and woven into necklaces to be given to visitors.
"Yes, but please don't pass that nugget of information about." Fulsa grinned unabashedly. "Minket has a reputation to maintain, you know~" She winked.
Whatever Mebeckle was going to say in response was lost in a firelizard shriek. Every head in the crowd turned at the little gold slowly rose above the fish monger's stall, her muzzle flecked with blood. The air above the Gather was suddenly full of blues and browns and even the handful of bronzes as the little queen trumpted a challenge to the massed males, then shot straight up, like an arrow released from a bow.
Breathlessly the crowd watched as every male firelizard surged after her.
"What were you say-" Fulsa's question was cut short by a second shriek, but not from any lizard.
Lady Minket clutched at her mate's arm as he slowly sank to the ground, a throwing blade protruding from his chest.
"No-!" Fulsa sprang forward, her first instinct to get Minket safely away. Mebeckle turned and scanned the crowd, looking for the assassin. While most of the crowd moved forward in the direction of their fallen Lord Holder, three heads moved away, one of them at a near panicked speed.
Mebeckle gave chase.
Cerasus = cherry
orchis = orchids
On names, while I have no idea why McCaffery insisted on renaming everything I have decided to fall back on the scientific classifications of everything she didn't name in her novels. Forgive me, I can only create so much before it distracts from the story.
Also, cliffhanger - sorry. See you June 8th! (It should hopefully be another long chapter.)
If you see an spelling or grammatical errors, let me know. Thank you!