"Weyrwoman Kayta," N'kar turned to face her and gave her a little bow.

Her smile faltered at his formal greeting. "I was not expecting to see you here - R'nahl has kept you on a short leash lately."

"I could say the same for you, Queenrider." Now her smile had completely disappeared, and he groaned again; he had not meant to cast thread over her gather day. "I convinced him that constantly drilling the riders would only make them tired and sloppy and that we needed a day to relax."

"He's worried that we will not be prepared for Benden's inspection and that the council will decide to disband us." There was a sound of wood creaking nearby and Kayta looked back over her shoulder at the booth she had just left. The journeyman smith manning it was leaning out over the table, struggling to listen to their conversation. He would have a treasure trove of gossip for his master tonight, N'kar thought. Gossip that hopefully the other smiths would ignore. Kayta sighed and slid her arm through the space between N'kar's elbow and his body, "Walk with me, brownrider."

"Of course," He gave a nod to the journeyman smith who was gaping at them and let Kayta pull him further down the row of gather stalls. He waited until they were out of hearing before he said, "I thought you were not allowed out unless you have someone with you."

"I'm not a babe who needs to be watched constantly to make sure they don't put their fingers in the fire."

"No you aren't," N'kar replied. "But it's not safe for you to be alone right now."

"Do you really think anything is going to happen to me here? At a gather with all these people about?" She gestured at the holders and crafters wandering around them.

"Men and women have purses stolen from them all the time at gathers. Masterharper Robinton was also kidnapped at a gather, and there was a dead body found at one in Ista."

"Rare incidents. Besides, it's Turnover season."

He snorted. "Yes, because people pay attention to what season it is when they set out to hurt other people. But it's not just that Kayta - what if Lysith rises?"

"I would think I would know when my own dragon is about to rise."

He decided not to reply to that one, though a part of him wondered if the happy event was imminent based on the Weyrwoman's sudden waspishness. "I'll ask Elanth to bespeak Xanth to have R'nahl..."

"No, no." She stepped in front of him and held her hands out placatingly. "There's no need for that. You're here now, so I'm not really alone anymore, am I?"

"Actually, I was about to leave..."

"Oh."

"...And you probably should too if you don't want to get yelled at."

Weren't we going to pretend we never saw her? Elanth asked

She saw us.

She could agree to pretend she didn't see us.

"What is so amusing?" Kayta asked, interrupting his conversation with his dragon.

"Hm?"

"You're smiling."

"I smile all the time."

"Actually you haven't since you found out who I was."

"Elanth just made an amusing suggestion - that's all."

"Oh, and what was it?"

"Nothing important."

She arched an eyebrow. "I could ask Lysith to ask him what he said. She is his Queen after all."

"You wouldn't."

She didn't say anything - she just smiled at him, that one eyebrow of hers still arched up imperiously as if to say 'try it'. He ground his teeth together: is this what R'nahl had to suffer through on a daily basis? Between managing this wherry and Malena no wonder the man was always so irritable!

"Fine. Elanth suggested that we pretend that we didn't see each other here." Her eyes lit up as he spoke, her expression suddenly hopeful, but N'kar shook his head, his next words dispelling any ideas she might have had. "While I might have been amenable to the idea earlier, I believe the best thing for you now is to go back to the Weyr."

"I am the Weyrwoman..."

"Maybe once things have settled you can do what you wish - within reason of course - but until then it's best to..."

"... to pretend like we don't exist? I came to Benden for help so we could stop hiding."

"And that day will come..."

"Is this some sort of punishment for what the Weyr has done?" Her voice was rising, attracting attention from the holders passing by. "The decision to hide ourselves away was made long before I was ever born."

"Kayta..." He pleaded with her, but she wouldn't listen. She continued to rant and rave about about the injustices the Island Weyr was being forced to suffer due to the crimes Mainlanders felt they had committed and how it was unfair because they weren't all evil. He attempted to grab her arm, intending to drag her to a quiet part of the gather square where their conversation wouldn't cause such a scene. She flinched away from his touch and Lysith's bugle echoed through the mountains that made up Tillek hold.

Gentle. Elanth cautioned.

You tell her dragon I'm not going to hurt her rider and calm her down - I'll handle Kayta. Now holders were looking around for the source of the upset dragon, and more than few pair of eyes settled on N'kar and Kayta suspiciously. So much for trying to prevent news of them visiting Tillek from reaching Benden's ears. "Kai, you have to calm down." This time when N'kar reached out to her, he took her hand instead. Although she didn't flinch this time he could still feel fine tremors running across her skin. Damn Z'char and what he had done to her. "Kai, please."

"I'm fine." She took a deep breath but didn't meet his eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know..."

"Let's go get a cup of klah."