Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Pern. I do, however own many of the characters in this story.

Rise high in glory,

Bronze and gold.

Dive together;

Your Weyr make bold.

Count three months and more,

And fire heated weeks,

A day of glory and

In a month, who seeks?

Note: I have recorded the time between a queens' flight, the laying of her clutch, the time on the sands of the Hatching Grounds and Impression as I see them from the song above. My translation is: mating flight, three months until the dragon-queen lays her clutch, five weeks on the Hatching Grounds, then one month more until Impression day. If you have any thoughts that I am wrong as to these points, feel free to give me a review as to this. (I am also open to any criticism as to the variance of spellings between myself and Anne McCaffery)

Chapter Five: Subtle Preparations

Do you think she really is? Sh'voal asked his green dragon. Avaelath replied that of course she was a good candidate to Impress; she already had four fire lizards, cousins of the dragons, so why couldn't she Impress the queen?

Oh, fine. But I don't think we should tell her. We'll have Teal give her a white gown, like the ones the prospective weyrlings will be wearing, and tell her and the Weyrleaders that she is a suitable candidate; you know how shy she is, and she seems to be torn between Half-Circle and Benden. Then I'll lead her onto the grounds, and tell her to stand with the other girls with the queen egg; then just she might Impress. Neither mentioned both knew that the other knew that if she did Impress, there was no way Sh'voal and Calitryi could be weyrmates.

000

About seventeen sevendays before the Threadfall in which Yria had been found, the senior queen of Nais, Aeontellais' Tilardith, had been flown by Th'nayoins' Ligolenath, to no ones' surprise. The supposed Caty had barely missed her laying the clutch of twenty-nine, but now there were a mere day or two until Hatching, and Yria was to be there.

She thought how some of the snotty holdergirls would turn red with fury if they could know that Yria, reduced to almost a drudge, was to witness a Hatching! A Nais Weyr Hatching! There was a queen egg too. And it was a good thing, for one of the junior gold dragons' rider had missed a clump of Thread with her flamethrower, and another junior had flown right into the patch face-first.

Now, Yria wondered who the rider of the new queen would be. Vaguely, she thought she might Impress… but no. She would have been told if she had. Besides, four fire lizards were more than enough for her, and she had no wish to explain to a recently hatched dragonet that she was leaving almost as soon as the Hatching was over.

She still knew that, if she returned to her Hold rather thatn to her cavern, she must find a watch-wher- her father, mother, foster-mother and brother were all wher-handlers, and she would be expected to follow in their path. Still, she wasn't quite sure she wanted to have one of those ugly, malformed, nocturnal draconic creatures bonded to her. To have a dragon, to fight thread, to ride the winds on the back of a magnificent golden beast… it would be a dream come true.

Then she began thinking realistically again. She hasn't been Searched; she had been rescued. Even if she had been Searched, she wasn't sure she truly wanted to Impress a queen. Far to often she had heard in the Weyr how gold and green riders had no choice when their dragons rose to mate as to what the rider of the male dragon who flew their female one would do.

Yria knew she wanted more control than that when it came to such things.

As soon as the last dragon-child had Impressed, she would be on her way away from Benden and back to her room. She had to slip away and forget the Weyr. Especially Sh'voal, whispered her mind, but she pushed the thought away. Sh'voal was a friend she had made; now, like so many other friends, he would be gone from her life.

At last, the very next day, Weyrwoman Aeontellai sent out the call to gather the guests for the Hatching and Impression, and of course the feast. Yria helped cook, prepare, taste and all manner of other things she could do in the kitchen.

When, at last, the humming of the dragons came to announce the Hatching, it sang a bittersweet melody to Yria. It heralded the first, and likely only, Impression she was to see, yet at the same time it also called her to remember her promise to herself to leave after the last two dragon-rider pair had Impressed.

Makin, the headwoman down here in the lower caverns, turned everyone loose to get seats. Yria just joined the throng of people as they hurried toward the hatching grounds in the white garment she had been given by the headwoman.

"Caty! CATY! Over here!" someone roared. The young woman turned to see Sh'voal waving an arm over his head. "We're the one's to bring you." he continued as he reached her. "Come with me and Avaelath. When we drop you off, don't follow the others, understand? Look for the girls with white dresses on and do what they do, and go with them." The green rider imparted all this to Yria as the pair struggled over to his emerald dragon.

When dragon and his rider dropped her off on the hot sands, she followed his instructions, and joined a loose semicircle around-

Ramoth's golden egg.

Oh, what nice job that sly one had done, making sure no one told her, setting it up so very delicately. He wanted her to Impress the queen! She glared at the retreating green and her rider, neither who paid her any attention.

She thought that perhaps she could live out her dreams after all. But where did that leave Sh'voal? They both would have female dragons, so there would be no chance of them ever-

Abruptly, she clamped down on that thought. She would not even try to Impress, and she would be free to leave the Weyr and return to her cavern.

But somewhere deep in her mind she knew that Sh'voal would never leave her heart. Unless…

No. Her fire lizards would be with her, and his green would be with him in Nais Weyr. There would be no chance for her browns or bronze to catch his little green when she rose to mate.

A sudden crack; Yria turned. It had heralded the arrival of the first dragonet, a brown. Then a green hatched, two bronzes at once, and a blue, bronze and green simultaneously. Then one of the girls cried out; the golden egg had cracked.

And for each of the girls, along with her the chance of, perhaps, once in a lifetime.