Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. Quira and Anira are the only ones I fabricated myself. Everyone else is straight from the books of Anne McCaffery.

Chapter 2 – And Rescue

Brand opened his mouth to explain… and shut it again, shuffling his feet and glaring defiantly at the flagstones beneath his feet.

"Brand! Answer me!" Jaxom said, taking a threatening step towards his steward … ex-steward, now.

Brand flinched. "She is my daughter," he said, glancing defiantly at Jaxom.

Anira gasped. Who could do this to their own flesh and blood? She paused in cleaning the blood of the drudge's back, looking at her matted hair, bedraggled dress, dirty hands. She noticed her dark eyes glistening under a snarl of hair, unshed tears threatening to spill. "Shh… he won't harm you anymore," she whispered, stroking the matted hair.

Quira could barely keep her eyes open… she'd never been beaten like that before. The dragonrider was walking towards her, but his image kept swimming in tears before her eyes. She wiped them away.

Canth had roused as soon as F'nor had moved to intervene. Now he was sure. She is the one.

Are you sure, F'nor asked, frowning. He felt for a pulse: weak but steady. The drudge was staring at Brand, tensing as the man took a step in her direction.

"No, Brand. You will not touch her again," Jaxom said, stepping in front of Quira.

"Quira is nothing but trouble!" Brand exploded, "My beloved wife died birthing her, one of her brothers died saving her from a house fire and the other brother…" here Brand paused, clenching his hands. He blamed the tragic and untimely deaths of his wife and two other children on Quira for being the only member of his family to survive. He felt she had to be punished to try to remove this curse from his family.

Jaxom was stunned. He knew Brand had had a hard life before he came to Ruatha, but this was no reason to doom a daughter to a lifetime of drudgery.

"Brand, I understand that your life has been hard, but this is no reason to…" Jaxom started.

"She has no right to live when the others died!" Brand exploded, making a rush at Quira and raising the riding crop again.

F'nor tripped the man neatly and sent him crashing into a table. The tray of fruit and pitcher of klah went flying and Brand fell to the floor with a thud and a sigh.

Jaxom called for someone to retrieve Master Bertine, the Hold's Healer, and sent a nearby drudge for restraints. Indeed, he had no lack of helpers; the entire kitchen had stopped its doings to gape at the ongoing scene. Anira frowned and the drudges scattered.

"Jaxom, this girl,…" F'nor began.

"Quira," Anira said pointedly, "She's been nameless long enough." Jaxom was surprised by the sudden vehemence which surrounded the normally calm and dignified headwoman.

F'nor frowned again. You're sure, he asked Canth again. He could see Canth roll to his side and curl up away from the Hold, pointedly not answering. F'nor sighed. "Jaxom, Canth says Quira is the one we're looking for."

Jaxom stared in disbelief; the resemblance to Lessa's finding was uncanny. Quira seemed oblivious to what was going on around her. He was mystified. What in Shells did the brown dragon see in this half-starved, filthy girl? "You're welcome to take her, F'nor," he said with a shrug, "I'd invite you to stay, but you'll probably want to get her back to the Weyr and cleaned up a bit. She'll need some time to settle before the Hatching," Jaxom said.

F'nor nodded and knelt by the table, putting himself at eye-level with the drudge… Quira, he reminded himself, glancing at Anira.

Quira was more comfortable now that her shoulder and upper arm had been covered with numbweed and bandages. The sharp, searing pains had faded to the slightest dull throbbing and was fading faster. She saw the dragonrider crouch down and look her in the eyes.

"Quira, are you well enough to come with us?" F'nor asked. Those dark eyes… she'll be a heart-breaker for sure, he thought to himself. His Brekke had pretty dark eyes, too, and soft dark hair that he loved to wind his hands in. He jerked himself back to the present.

Quira hesitated, then straightend. Her legs shook with shock and some nervousness, but her voice was steady and the words were clear, "Yes, I feel well enough."

Anira mixed up a concontion of wine and various herbs and held it up to Quira's lips. "Here Quira," she said, "This is wine and some herbs to give you strength." She frowned as she glanced down at Brand: pale, prone and staring. "F'nor is going to take to Benden Weyr. You will never have to see your… Brand again," she whispered, moving to block Brand's vengeful gaze.

Quira mechanically took the cup and sipped quietly. She raised her dark eyes to Anira. "You don't know him then. He'll not stop til this curse as he calls it is lifted. He's sworn never to marry until it's gone… until I'm gone. It's a miracle he's left me alone this long. I suppose I should be grateful he couldn't justify killing me in cold blood," she said sadly, her voice a sweet, low murmur.

"He'll not reach you where we're going," F'nor said emphatically. He didn't know why, but he was drawn to this girl. Oh no, not like he was drawn to Brekke. More like, he wanted to protect her, to give her a chance at life without fear. He hated to see young life crushed out before it had a chance to grow, to develop.

Quira had drained the cup. She felt life flowing into her limbs, her vision grew clear and her head stopped spinning. She looked down on the prone body of her father, flinching as he struggled to get up. She wished she could feel sorry for him.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Jaxom," F'nor said, gesturing towards a waiting Canth in the square, "but I'm afraid we'd better go."

Jaxom shrugged, looking down at the furious man on the floor. He was going to have his hands full dealing with his ex-steward anyway. He absently asked Ruth to see if he could contact Lytol. He never forgot his manners though and, while a drudge was none-too-gently tying up Brand, he walked F'nor to the square.

Quira was amazed at the sight of the enormous brown dragon sitting in the square. As they approached, he lifted his magnificent, wedge-shaped head and fixed whirling, multi-faceted eyes on them. F'nor waved a jaunty good bye and, in two leaps, was astride Canth and reaching down for Quira. She grabbed the long fighting strap dangling down towards her and hesitated. She heard dragon skin was soft, but she had no shoes, and those scales looked rough to her.

I will not harm you. See for yourself, a voice in her head said. The dragon leaned gently against her, filling her nostrils with pleasantly musky dragon odor and she felt the surprisingly soft hide rub against her face.

Was that you, she thought, looking up at the dragon's huge eye, now on her level.

Yes, came the simple reply.

She smiled in wonder and rubbed her cheeks against his leg. She felt, rather than heard, the dragon's quiet rumble of pleasure.

"Quira? We need to go," F'nor prompted.

She looked up and reached for the strap again. Suddenly, she turned.

"F'nor sighed. We're going to be here all day, he thought.

"My Lord, thank you," Quira said, kneeling on the ground in a deep bow, her lips quivering with sudden emotion.

Jaxom inclined his head with a distracted smile and gestured for her to go. Quira reached for the strap again and scrambled awkwardly up the dragon's leg.

It's no easy feat to climb a dragon with one good hand, F'nor thought, pleased with her determination and strength, for all she was so skinny, at least she was able to take care of herself. F'nor helped her seat herself just in front of him and wrapped the fighting straps around her, securing her to Canth's harness. No use having her fall off, he thought. He gave a quick salute to Jaxom and gave Canth the direction to go to home.

With a mighty leap and the all-important downstroke, Canth was airborn and headed home.

"Between is very cold, but it only lasts as long is takes to cough three times," F'nor said, automatically giving the rehersed speech prepared for other Impression candidates.

He felt Quira's back tense against his chest and patted her shoulder.

"You won't be able to feel anything, but remember that Canth is beneath us and he knows the way home."

"His name is Canth?" Quira asked, "Thank you, Canth."

Canth rumbled with gentle pleasure.

"Here we go" F'nor said, giving the command to go between out loud for a warning to Quira. Canth, you really like her, don't you, F'nor asked.

She will Impress, came the reply, and then they were between.