There was very little fanfare when the LadyHolder arrived, much to Minket's private relief. While the flight under the double full moons had been breathtakingly beautiful over the snowcovered uplands, she was quite tired by the time they arrived and Joith landed gently, laying down to make her dismounting that much easier. Tress helped her down, then pulled her into a tight hug. The gesture was so unexpected, so warm and so utterly genuine that Minket felt tears she thought she had wept out entirely during the funeral trickle down her face. Nor was Tess the only one to greet her so completely - both of the women who came with Tress hugged the former LadyHolder like a dear sibling.
"Welcome home." The last one said, lanky Ionya, as she released Minket. "You'll be staying with me, sister. Come. Let's get you something to warm you up." Ionya and Bedtha helped her into the Lower Caverns.
"Will she be alright?" L'stur asked, joining Tress on the ground.
"She should be. " Tress pat his shoulder. "Jurille asked me to thank you for volunteering to go get her."
"The Queens still talking?" He asked, although the presence of almost thirty gold dragons answered his question.
Tress smiled. "You could say that. Did Minket's lizard come with her?"
Grig has not been seen since she arrived to High Lookout. I will ask Telgarsk. Joith told his rider, sitting down and looking Rimward, admiring the many golden bodies beyond normal sight. There was a long moment, while L'stur relayed his message, then a bronze firelizard, more grey than bronze popped in front of Joith, and landed on L'stur's outstretched arm, his eyeshine as muted as his color.
He wants to join his mindmate, but she sent him away, because he was a wedding gift from Kestle, and the memory only makes her sadder. Joith informed both this time, his eyes changing from green to shot with yellow, offended for his cousin.
"Poor dear. Have you eaten at all?" Tress queried, gently caressing his head.
No. Both lizard and dragon responded, as Tress scooped the lizard up into her arms.
"For pity's sake." She huffed. "You're coming with me, you're going to eat what I put in front of you and you are going to warm yourself by my hearth. " She told the little bronze as she walked off, much to L'stur's amusement.
"How long before Minket notices he's here, do you think?" He asked his bronze, climbing back up onto his neck.
She is trying very hard not to hear him. Grig is trying very hard to be quiet. She still loves him, though. He won't leave her because he loves her too. Joith sounded annoyed at the LadyHolder's stubbornness. L'stur pat his neck.
"Love makes us do strange things, handsome. Back to our weyr, please?"
Regeaj told the harper to pack lightly, and they saddled up and followed the holder back, away from the Turn Over party and out of the canyon and onto the moonlit desert, following the grieving holder back to his holding. They traveled without stop until dawn, stopping only because the runnerbeasts needed watering. The cot was built under a thick rock overhang in the mountain side. There they met his mate and two surviving children, two little girls, both too young to apprentice. No welcoming cup was offered, and the hunter and harper ate from their own road rations, before bedding down with the runners to catch a little sleep before striking out to find the marauding wher. The trip had been mostly silent, but now, safe from prying ears, Bukset rolled over in his sleeping roll and stared at Regeaj, who was staring at the ceiling of the cave where the runners were stabled.
"What are you think so hard about?" He asked in a hushed whisper.
"I'm wondering if I somehow missed signs that the wher I killed had a mate, or eggs." She replied in an equally soft voice. "I always check the area for their weyrs, but in this case I wasn't able to find one." She fell silent, thinking.
"Is that uncommon?"
"No. In half of my hunts I'm not able to find a weyr. This is because wild whers have such large ranges in the desert. In Nerat there are four times as many whers in the same territory as a single mated pair here. We searched the immediate area," she stroked her queens, curled up on top of her, indicating who she meant by 'we', "but there was no point in trying to stake out the entire territory - I could have just as easily found another weyr of a non-related wher." Like most hunters, she despised wasteful hunting.
"Could it have been something other than a wher attack?" Bukset queried after a long moment of thought.
"Tunnelsnake can grow pretty big out here, it might have been one of them, but I won't know until I see the site of the attack." Regeaj murmured. "We'll know this afternoon."
Recognizing a dismissal when he was given one, Bukset closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The rest of the Meet was spent settling small matters and telling stories. The younger queenriders listened whenever the Magnificent Eight spoke, soaking up what they could from the older riders about how things were before the Pass, knowing that in a few short Turns they would need to find new ways to earn the goodwill as well as the tithe from the Holders and Crafthalls.
"Did you do sweep flights even during the Interval?" Gettia, junior queenrider from High Reaches, asked, sipping her klah liquor.
"It's technically the call of the Weyrleader, but it's a policy we have always encouraged in the Interval." Brinda nodded.
"It also makes the Holders feel safe, seeing the dragons in the skies, and it's a good way to familiarize younger riders with various areas." Meredad added.
"There will be longer times between Mating Flights and Hatchings, you can and should encourage riders to take up hobbies and Crafts." Jurille warned. "I have already had several younger riders petition me to enroll in the CraftHalls once Thread ceases, and B'ton is very much in favor of this course of action."
"The CraftHalls too will be happy to take on students interested in learning some aspect of the craft, rather than seeking journymanship." Diretta added. "They may ask for a small student's fee, but the Weyr should be able to cover any student costs." Like half of the queenriders, she came from the CraftHalls.
"What about riders who turn a profit from their labors?" Wytly asked.
"They tithe, just like we always have, to the Weyr coffers." Asvi spoke up. "Just like when one the Lower Caverns' has a nest of lizard eggs." It was a common practice for the owner of the clutching lizard to offer the Weyr one in ten eggs. Particularly large clutches had one or even two eggs offered to the main Hold, for the LordHolder to distribute as he saw fit, the rest of them traded or given out to whomever the lizard's owner wished. Several of the the Lower Caverns women made a tidy sum of Marks from their greens.
"What about us, queenriders?" Yolandis of Ista asked. She was the youngest, after Koru, and realistically saw no chance of being senior queenrider.
"We're no different than the other riders." Pilana piped up. "I plan to return to my cartography studies." Jurille nodded.
"Was there something you wanted to do, 'Landi?" Brinda asked kindly. Yolandis looked down at her hands, pinking slightly. "I was hoping to raise my own children." She said quietly. Ofsee reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. "In two Turns, we'll have more time to be mothers." She promised.
The oldest queen riders exchanged glances, but none refute the claim. Somethings, they knew, required life experience. And who knew, maybe this younger group of riders would be able to balance the two loves of their lives, their dragons and their children.