Chapter 19 – Kendra
Disclaimer: Anne McCaffrey owns all the rights to the Dragonriders series; I am merely employing her settings for my enjoyment.
A/n: I apologize for the delay, but RL sent an unexpected twist. Sometimes I hate real life. Thank you for your patience and all your kind reviews.
A special shout out to eminempern for beta-ing these past few chapters, despite her own hectic real life issues. Her insights and remembrance of other people's insights on her own stories has greatly improved the quality of the chapters I'm posting.
This wouldn't be possible without her…well, it probably could if I really thought about it or if I had another beta, but I don't and I like her as my beta and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather indulge upon…I'm rambling.
This one's for you Shelly, a little Touch of Jealousy!
Previously:"Brownrider of Thread's End, what are you doing here?"
"I was invited, Wingleader," was the brown rider's cool rejoinder, void of inflection.
K'dra looked up in some surprise as she saw R'ahvin standing there with goblet in hand, glaring at her friend. K'vic was flanking him, a curiously unreadable expression on his usually mobile face.
This cannot be good, K'dra thought faintly.
Have you ever been in a silence so charged with potential, whether it be good or bad, sexual or violent, intensity to the nth degree? That was the kind of silence that gripped the table as the rest of Thread's Bane Wing joined their brethren at the table, eyes darting between their Wingleader, K'vic, and the not so familiar brown rider.
There was electricity in the air, powerfully intense, and the silence soon seemed to be oppressive, as no one knew what to say next, if it would help at all. As far as anyone knew, nothing had gone wrong, and yet their Wingleader, whom they respected and obeyed, was acting as if Et'an had called insult upon him.
K'dra almost opened her mouth, but some instinct warned against it, and she clenched her lips tight. Somehow…this wasn't her fight, and she'd only complicate matters further, she could sense. Her face was grim as she studied the men around her like the Wing was.
R'ahvin looked rough. Sweat was still upon his brow, his hair in sweaty, spiked disarray, dirt turned to mud due to the moisture clung in spots giving him a five o'clock shadowed look, one that K'dra didn't usually mind. But was that…blood on the side of his mouth? Looking closely, she could see the faintest traces, as if he'd swiped it away. Her eyes tracked toward his hands but she couldn't tell as his gloves were stuffed in his belt.
If she wasn't mistaken, not all the darkening on his face was from dust or firestone smoke. Was that the beginnings of a…bruise? Did R'ahvin get in a fight before he came inside? There was a wariness mixed with the weariness, and he was tense, tightly coiled as if ready to snap.
She was surprised to see that he was and couldn't figure it out. Terranth hadn't reported anything disastrous happening to the Wing with the ending of Fall, or that there had been any excitement between the dragons, and the injuries suffered were from other Wings and non-life threatening so she didn't know why R'ahvin looked as if he wanted to tear Et'an apart.
Frowning, she realized that it was Et'an, and Et'an only, that his ire seemed directed at and she felt dread begin to pool in her stomach.
"I think your welcome is over, brownrider." K'vic's quiet rumble broke the silence, everybody jumping at the unexpected sound.
What's with all the 'brownrider' nonsense? K'dra wanted to say but once again held her tongue, sticking instead to gaping incredulously at K'vic.
Where had her lighthearted wingsecond gone? There was no humor on K'vic's face right now, nothing at all, eyes hooded and his stance…wary? Why were R'ahvin and K'vic acting this way to one of her oldest and dearest friends?
"My name is Et'an," the younger rider said slowly, carefully. "And I am Tilanth's rider."
K'dra was mistrustful of the dark look passing through R'ahvin's eyes at Et'an's not-so- subtle correction. While respectfully phrased and delivered, there had been a hint of steel behind all the cordiality.
For his part, Et'an never took his eyes off the two riders in standing over him, and very watchfully started to rise from his seated position.
"You should take your dragon and go back to your Weyr and weyrmate, boy," R'ahvin added in a low, dangerous tone that had the entire Wing shifting uneasily.
K'dra's mouth dropped open with a shocked 'oh' and she stared at the bronze rider as if she'd never seen him before. So that's what this was about, or at least, that's what the majority of it was about. Et'an tensed from across the table and his eyes flashed with anger.
"I see," was all he said, sending the pair an unfriendly look. "I suppose I'll just take my leave, then."
"You should." The bronze rider nodded in agreement, his eyes intent upon Et'an's lack of progress leaving the Great Hall.
"I'll escort you," K'dra blurted out, not able to contain herself any longer, and not about to abandon her buddy.
She was furious and she was sure her body language was giving that away. She was doing all she could do to hold back angry words, and if her body was shaking and trembling with the effort, what of it?
"K'dra," K'vic began, eyes turning to her for the first time, but she cut him off with an angry jerk of her head and a tight grip on Et'an's arm.
"He's not myweyrmate, but he is my friend. Someone has to show common courtesy," she clipped icily, stalking off with her friend in tow, not caring one iota what the others thought.
R'ahvin and K'vic may have each at one point shared her bed –that could be remedied- but she would never, ever, give up her friendship with Et'an.
Et'an's arm and his grip on her hand was the only thing that kept her walking, as her legs had suddenly seemed to have the consistency of mush, and she followed him in silence as they made for a concerned Tilanth and Terranth crooning anxiously in the Weyr Bowl.
"I…" K'dra began, and then stopped. Et'an paused by Tilanth's foreleg, seemingly to stare into his dragon's hide, waiting.
"I don't know what to say," she finally got out. "I want to say I'm sorry, but I don't know what for! They were being such…such jerks! I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," Et'an spoke quietly, finally turning his head to look at his friend.
She was almost in tears again, this time at the betrayal and injustice done to her best friend, by men she'd come to trust inexplicably.
"Yes, it is. I don't know why they're acting that way, but it was my fault you came, if I hadn't have lost my grip on my emotions…"
"You would have later," he cut her off, tugging her toward him, and embracing her once more.
"I'm just glad I was here when you needed me," he whispered before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. K'dra leaned into his strong chest, wrapping her arms around him, and letting his strength once more pour through her.
He rubbed her lower back in circles, arms about her waist, humming in his throat to calm her down like he would a frightened animal. Tilanth and Terranth twined their necks about their riders, ensconcing them from anyone trying to observe the two, crooning love and support though they didn't necessarily understand what was going on.
She had a feeling Et'an might know a little more about the situation than he was letting on, which reminded her that he had been keeping things from her. Namely, the lack of telling her about him and Bria not having the typical weyrmate relationship. Not that the thought bothered her, about Et'an and Bria, though that was unfortunate. She was more worried about how Et'an was handling it, and she didn't like him hurting, so it was for his sake she hurt. She also suspected S'na knew - there was little that bubbly blond didn't- and that brought back some of her own hurt. Put it that way, they didn't sound like the best of friends, but then again, the past seven-days had been a killer on all of them and her emotions were still riotous from Terranth's flight.
Speaking of which, the thought of her own weyrmate and lover waiting for her in the Great Hall made her stomach knot, and definitely not that good, tingly knotting of earlier. This was more of an I'm-dreading-looking-and-speaking-to-you kind of knotting.
"Not your fault," he repeated. K'dra only sighed in response and he smiled into her hair.
Tilanth's sudden hissing broke the mutually comforting hug apart, and they turned around to see what was going on. The nearly black dragon was very nearly growling, a clear stay back warning if there ever was one. Terranth's eyes started to whirl with alarm at her playmate's sudden challenge and she gave a delicate hiss as well.
Xenith's large, bronze head rose above the two smaller dragons, eyes whirling mild colors and his answering thrum was more to reassure them of his intentions than anything. Tilanth still hissed, wings slightly unfurling, neck snaking in the air over the human pair, as if to protect them. He had nothing against Xenith, except that for some reason, Xenith's rider had made Et'an angry and he didn't want the larger dragon anywhere near his precious rider.
Terranth bobbed her head, unsure of the threat her weyrmate and leader was causing for her rider and Tilanth's, but couldn't deny Tilanth's reaction to her mate. She warbled at the two males, her indecision apparent. But she stuck by Tilanth's side, her own Beloved underneath that snaking brown head.
If K'dra didn't know better, she'd think the great bronze was apologetic- whether for his rider's actions or not was yet to be determined. She knew it wasn't Xenith's fault that R'ahvin was being such a dray butt so she tried not to take it out on him.
Besides, she liked the big bronze.
"I think that's my cue to leave," Et'an noted wryly, glancing at the bigger dragon.
"Alright." K'dra reluctantly stepped back, toward Terranth as Et'an used an obliging foreleg to leap upward.
Terranth, Xenith, and K'dra stepped further back even as Tilanth backed away some to give the lithe brown room to maneuver and lift off. K'dra shielded her eyes against the wind and sand cast up by Tilanth's take off, seeking shelter against Terranth's glossy hide.
She uncovered her face and eyes long enough to look up and see the pair suspended in the air before they winked between.
For several moments she was silent, then she hardened her features, and pushing off from Terranth, she stomped toward the Great Hall.
What are you doing? She asked herself as she marched through the Cavern's doors, striding in with a firm step and purpose to her walk.
What are you doing? Terranth chimed in.
I don't know, but I'll think of something. She pursed her lips into a thin, irritated line as her eyes caught sight of her Wing, who hushed as she approached them.
Head high, shoulders back, and spine straight, she bypassed both the men she was irritated with, grabbed her food and drink, mumbled a prim 'excuse me' to her Wing and stormed away to sit at a table that weyrlings usually occupied. It was empty, as the weyrlings were busy elsewhere, most likely drafted into helping with the injured dragons, and having impromptu dragon healing lectures to endure.
How well she remembered those days when she was a weyrling herself, almost two Turns in the making, and how glad she was when she and Terranth graduated and became 'real' fighters.
Her stew was cold and her wine was tepid but she paid no heed, going through the motions of eating only because she knew her stomach would make her pay later, and she didn't want to have that queasy unfulfilled feeling that came when she didn't eat. She had already eaten a good portion of it prior to the fiasco, so in no time at all she was almost finished, with a few dregs of wine left in her cup to swish it down.
Satisfied now, she used the cloth napkin she'd grabbed along with her food, wiping her mouth and hands daintily as she'd been taught and gathering the empty accessories together. Her spoon, fork, and cup went in the bowl, which was placed over top of the plate that had held her bread and the napkin tossed over that.
Taking the used accoutrements to drudges' washing station, she once again separated them into the appropriate bins, the napkin balled and heaved with the others to be washed, and headed back out. This time she didn't even glance in her Wing's direction, her mission accomplished, nodding and greeting other riders who called greetings to her but never stopping.
She was so not in the mood.
"They did what?"
K'tal winced at his weyrmate's sudden screech, putting a hand to the ear that was currently ringing, and trying not to shake his head too quickly.
They had been in the middle of some good, old-fashioned pre-loving cuddling, when S'na had suddenly snapped backwards, eyes unfocused as Shrith informed her of something. That was when the screech had come into play, and that was why he was doing his best to ignore the temporary loss of hearing in his left ear.
"I'll tear them to pieces! I'll skewer them with the canine spits, and drag their bloody carcasses between!" his weyrmate continued on, thankfully away from him and his ears, her face flushed a deep, pinky red.
K'tal could only stare in helpless disbelief as S'na ranted. His loveable, if easily excitable, weyrmate didn't get mad very often in general due to her very sunny and optimistic outlook in even the worst of times. But she was mad, genuinely mad, and it gave him cause for concern.
He'd never seen her like this before, face flushed, arms straight at her sides tense with compressing her hands into fists, sapphire eyes nearly purplish-black with her anger, mouth clenched so tight the corners of it were white with the effort and her jawbone was starkly defined under the taut flesh. She was so fierce, so amazing, and in that moment he fell in love with her all over again even as his mind reached out to the one who would help him deal with this.
Can you tell me what's upsetting her?Kittith was just as perplexed as his rider, and the large blue questioned his mate, Shrith.
Shrith says Tilanth is angry. While they were visiting Terranth's rider a bronze and a brown rider insulted Tilanth's rider. Tilanth will not even name the rider's dragons. Terranth and her rider are upset, as well, and now Shrith is also.
The blue dragon sounded more aggrieved at that last bit than anything else, not that K'tal could blame him. He wasn't about to interrupt S'na and inform her that the torturing and eventual killing of these men would be nearly impossible, as their dragons would intervene well before they reached that point. He decided the better part of valor was to remain silent about a woman threatening very painful things to certain male anatomy. Why did irate women always threaten the manlihood?
He didn't like how this had affected S'na so extremely, though he thought there might have been more to it than the summary he'd been given. Or perhaps the bond he'd taken for granted between the three ran deeper and further than he'd ever imagined.
This thought unsettled him, and he came back to the present abruptly. There was only the sound of silence and the stern glare of his weyrmate that stiffened his spine. It was too reminiscent of the Weyrwoman's look when she was in a snit for his liking. Did all women master that look at some point?
"What?" he demanded, fixing her with a stare of his own. He wasn't going to take the flack for something a pair of idiot riders had done, and he wasn't shy about making that known, either.
"Nothing," S'na sniped, a tone and look so unlike the S'na he'd loved and come to know these few Turns, and it chilled him.
She was frowning, her brow furrowed in thought, but she wasn't looking at him, more like looking through him.
"I'm not mad at you." She waved a hand in front of her dismissively. "I'm mad at those…those, dragonriders," she fairly spat the last word out, "who were such imbeciles."
She turned around and started walking toward the weyr entrance. K'tal frowned, afraid for her and of what she might do. She was in no condition or state of mind to be taking Shrith between while being so angry. The possibility of her leaving him was unacceptable.
"Where are you going?" he asked quickly, reaching out to grab her arm and stop her.
"To see Et'an, of course!" She looked over her shoulder back at him, surprised and confused, as if to ask why shouldn't she be going to her friend.
K'tal didn't see that this was any better than her storming off to another Weyr to give some higher-ranking dragonriders the what for. Here he was, in the letdown of pre coitus interruptus, when they were disrupted because Tilanth just had to share the debacle with Shrith, who in turn relayed it S'na, who screeched in his ear and started to rant, and was now going to leave him to attend a friend who should have had better control over his dragon and emotions, just because he'd been insulted.
All in all, this wasn't cause to make K'tal happy; moreso that S'na would get so worked up over the other rider's distress, someone who was not K'tal, her weyrmate. To K'tal's knowledge, she'd never become all that worked up over him. Not that K'tal had given her reason to blow up like that.
This fall-out of emotions, hormones, and adrenaline thrummed through his body and needed some sort of outlet.
"I don't think so. Et'an's a big boy, supposedly a man, he doesn't need you to hold his hand."
"Excuse you?"
Ouch. Maybe that wasn't the best outlet.
S'na's eyes, which had lightened up to their almost normal sapphire, started to darken again to that purplish black as she became irritated. That angry glare which had been directed previously toward the unknown offenders was now being turned in his direction and he forced himself not to flinch under that gaze.
S'na yanked her arm out from under his hand, turning around and backing away so she would be both closer to the weyr entrance and able to face him at the same time. Her hands went to her hips, one leg balancing all her weight as she tapped the other foot.
How did he suddenly rate the glare, the hip, and the foot? K'tal quickly tried to think of someway to appease her yet keep her here.
"Well, he probably isn't in the best of moods, and I don't think he'd appreciate you meddling."
Even as the words left his mouth, K'tal wished he could take them back as those gorgeous eyes widened and her jaw clenched.
Perhaps 'meddling' hadn't been the wisest of word choices.
"Since when has being there for a friend constituted 'meddling'?" her voice had suddenly gone several octaves lower, more precise.
When his outspoken and very vocal mate unexpectedly became controlled and soft- spoken, he knew he was in trouble.
"Well, it's a guy thing…" he began but stopped at the arched brow directed his way.
"And I…being one of his best friends, and female, wouldn't get it, hmm? I'd be prone to…what was it, meddle?"
"What I meant was…"
"What you meant was that you don't want me to go over there," she cut him off, blond hair tossed to the side over one shoulder.
"Well, get this straight, K'tal. My friend is hurting. He needs me, even if it's just to sit there and say nothing, and I will not abandon him just to appease this sudden bout of alpha male jealousy."
"So it doesn't matter what I want, eh? Is that it?"
K'tal didn't want S'na to see how much that had hurt. He'd heard the rumors, had carefully considered them, concerning S'na, Et'an, and K'dra, before he started his pursuit of S'na. Rumor had it the three were more of a threesome in more ways than one. He didn't want to think that his lover had some residual feelings for a boy nearly half his age, despite the fact S'na denied having ever felt more than friendship for Et'an.
"That is not an issue here, so don't try to make it so!" S'na couldn't believe that this was happening.
Their first major fight - it was bound to happen- but…K'tal had so understood…or so she'd thought.
"I'm going over there as a friend, nothing more. I will not ravish him, I leave my ravishments for you," she pointed out in her usual blunt manner. "I cannot believe you would think that. I can't believe that you doubt me so much you could entertain the very possibility. Have I ever once given you any reason to doubt my love for you?"
K'tal took a deep breath and let it out, but he didn't speak. He didn't know what to say. By the First Egg he'd never had to deal with this before in any of his other mates. It was usually wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Why did S'na have to be so different and so frustrating?
Obviously he'd waited too long to find an answer because S'na suddenly straightened, her face smoothing away into that curious blankness she got whenever she didn't want anyone to see how she felt.
"Apparently you think such little of what we have that you would think I would turn to a man," she stressed the word, "who can't even see any girl for being blinded by his own love for another. Another who is not me."
K'tal finally managed to meet her eyes, and he was struck by the incredible look of sadness and resignation in those beautiful, sapphire eyes.
"I am going to my friend. Because the one he needs is not here. I hope that later, when he doesn't need me, that I'm still welcome in this weyr."
She didn't wait for anything else to be said, knowing that if she did, she'd probably say some things that she and he would regret later on. Enough of those had been spoken already.
Shrith and Kittith were waiting upon the ledge anxiously peering inside having felt their riders' turmoil, knowing something had upset them terribly. They looked so beautiful together, Shrith's sea-green hide and Kittith's powdered sky blue. The weyrmated dragons were like their riders, rarely seen without the other's company.
The older blue graciously flew off the ledge to hover nearby and allow S'na a chance to mount her dragon before the green pair took to the air. Turning her head, she saw Kittith gracefully re-land, his neck twisted around so he could watch his mate and her rider fly off before going inside to comfort his rider.
Are you all right? Shrith rumbled anxiously, knowing without question to head for Et'an and Tilanth's weyr. She didn't like this, didn't like it at all. First Tilanth, Et'an, Terranth, and K'dra were upset, and now her Beloved was as well. Only, it felt like her heart was breaking, and as soul-tied as the pair was she felt the pain as if it were her own.
I don't know, S'na admitted, even her mind voice muted.
They had landed upon Tilanth's ledge, and Shrith was free to twist her head and neck around to peer up at her Beloved. She crooned out a wordless burst of love, calm, and support, tongue snaking out to gently caress the Beloved's arm. Her Beloved looked up at her through watery eyes and leaned in against the oil-softened muzzle, gently placing her forehead against dragon hide and taking a few moments to compose herself.
From within, she heard Tilanth's warbling welcome, slightly inquisitive but ever so polite and a great deal relieved that S'na was here. He too, crooned softly in support, even if he didn't know why S'na would need it.
"Thank you," she whispered against that beautiful hide, knowing that Shrith would 'hear' her thoughts, instead of the spoken words that were slightly muffled.
With a quick caress and a kiss, S'na headed through the entrance and quickly passed into the outer weyr where the nearly ember colored dragon lay curled up. The forked tail rose up and down with agitated thumps, and those whirling eyes were at a decent clip, not fast enough for panic or outright rage, but more consistent.
S'na.
Tilanth's rich, mellow 'voice' greeted her, and as always, S'na shivered slightly at the distinctly male presence in her mind. When Terranth spoke to her, it wasn't nearly as unnerving, perhaps since she was female and not as unusual. Tilanth's voice was very similar to Et'an's but deeper, far more resonant and melodious if that were possible.
"Tilanth, thank you for letting me come." She bowed to the dragon, who could give one of the smaller bronzes a run for his money.
He is in the bath.
The brown sounded so wistful and S'na had to hold back her laugh. It was obvious to everyone within moments of breaking his shell that Tilanth was very fond of baths. He loved them even more when Et'an 'took' a bath with him. This bathing ritual usually involved Et'an becoming halfway drowned and coughing up water for the better part of the evening following.
"Well, in that case, I'll wait." She smiled even though her mind thought, Better not give K'tal another reason to doubt me.
The lithe brown nodded his head, tilting away toward the direction S'na knew lead to the bathing chamber.
"Did you have a nice visit with Terranth?" She queried the male dragon, as was her wont.
I did, thank you. The brown sounded pleased to be addressed; even though S'na was sure Shrith was hounding him for the details. Like rider, like dragon. S'na's mouth quirked.
"S'na."
The emotionally frayed blond turned her dramatic eyes to one half of her best friends, and suddenly grinned outright.
Water beaded on the small slash of skin visible through the unbuttoned shirt, making small, damp splotches showing that he'd toweled off very little. He was in a pair of trousers and aside from his shirt, nothing else. A towel was slung over his head as he attacked the black mop using both hands and a burst of intensity that had to have been due to the aftermath of the incident at Halcyon.
"So, who were the wherry-whore's sons and what are we going to do about 'em?" she asked him, grin in place but dead seriousness in her glinting, sapphire eyes.