Chapter 10
It had been the Turn round since the crafthall had begun; and there was to be a feast to celebrate it. Though confirmations of apprenticeships would in future be posted before Turnover, this was to be an exception, since the first group of apprentices were owed a full Turn to prove their worth. It would also be a good time to post any journeymen from amongst the seniors; and there was much gossip amongst the apprentices over who, if any, would get the coveted promotion!
Jeral grinned therefore when a message runner loped in from the south bringing mail, via relays of such men, all the way from Southern Boll. Most messages were missives from family in the Weaverhall there; but when senior apprentice Silger got one it was a fair guess that it was from an inamorata, since Silger was known for his susceptibilities where the fair sex was concerned. The older boy read the letter, grinning to himself in satisfaction and not a little lust; and Jeral picked up the nearest fire bucket, shouted "FIRE!" and threw its contents at Silger's crotch.
Silger gasped and cried out in shock!
"You little horror!" he spluttered "You wait until you pull and some little wretch makes game of you about it!"
"Sure, and I didn't want to wait any longer to rag ye, in case ye got made Journeyman and it's treatin' ye with respect I'm having to!" said Jeral.
"And in the meantime you'll clear up that mess and spend your evening's leisure helping in the laundry for learning the value of properly washed clothes and the inadvisability of making false inflammatory – no pun intended – outcries" Journeyman Otelek, who had witnessed the whole, declared crisply.
Jeral grinned ruefully, accepting punishment cheerfully as payment for his fun.
"Yes, sir. Sorry, Silger, couldn't resist it!"
"You're a pest" said Silger gathering such remnants as remained of his dignity about him "Thank you Journeyman."
"It's the cry of fire that's the real offence more than the wetting of your ardour I'm afraid" said Otelek. "DO try for some sense, Jeral; you're fourteen turns old, don't act like you're only four!"
Jeral felt very small and chastened by that; and felt the comment far more deeply than his sentence to help with the laundry!
Only three boys were not confirmed to remain apprentices; Lysax had not heeded the warning to pull himself together; a boy called Sibret might have scraped in had he not spoiled so many of his barely adequate efforts with a lack of patience and poor finishing; and Mikize had put too many of HIS efforts into trying to be, as Amrys described it, a second Serry.
This sad dismissal left only three boys left in Blue dormitory; and so the Master also posted that Jaid, Arter and Sajed were to move into that dormitory and Bretine to join the same classes accordingly! Sherek was to move up to Lower Bronze with Tirley and Nelon, and the dormitory established forthwith; and Upper White was to remain empty for the time being, though technically the preserve of Jaid, Arter and Sajed. The Master however felt that associating more closely with those who had been there a full turn round might help pull up the newer comers to the standards needed to eventually move into Brown for the following turn. If any were likely to be left down in Blue it was Sajed; who was enthusiastic and dextrous but not possessed of the sort of technical mind that found counting rows of weaving anything but hard; and Sajed could not, either, see in his mind's eye how a pattern for woven, knit or lacecraft work would look once it was made up, even after three months' experience. He would succeed for sheer hard work; but he would never be the brightest star. Master Lynger hoped to ease the boy into embroidery or printing where he would have a better idea what he was aiming for; and away from tailoring where one must picture the drape of cloth on each figure – and its results!
On due consideration, the Master decided not to make either of the oldest seniors up to journeymen; neither was quite ready. At Turnover they, and Hetel, would perhaps be suitable; and maybe Millsi and Zayven too. Hetel would be young, but he was far and away ahead of any of the others in terms of skill! Master Lynger had told both Larterel and Silger that he did not think them ready yet; and if they were a little disappointed they masked it well. They were still only seventeen turns old, after all; several turns short of the age of twenty-one when it was a disgrace not to have achieved journeymanship – save through injury or other disaster that held one back – and the craft declined further training. Of the two, Larterel was the most technically able; but had relied heavily on his talent and his ability to pick things up quickly. The boy had developed a habit of laziness that would be seriously unbecoming in a journeyman. Lynger had spoken to him seriously about this; and was certain that the boy had taken it as a wake-up call, being denied what the Master had told him would certainly have been able to had he but tried. For Larterel, the knowledge that it was his own fault to be denied his chance to walk the tables at this special feast was a blow that he intended to turn to good intent!
The feast certainly went down well, even if there was not the excitement of new journeymen. It was almost too a farewell feast to the paying students who would be leaving in a little over a month. Vana would be going to High Reaches Weyr to await a clutch; and Keirel would go to Igen Weyr since G'narish had opened Green dragons to female candidates since the last clutch; and that there would be a clutch in good time she knew, for Bretine had told her that Baylith had risen around the time of the last hatching! Keirel had been asking excited questions of Bretine; which as they included queries as to how to behave, the weyrbred girl had answered with good humour. Bretine even wrote to her father asking him to keep an eye out for Keirel, for the older girl was pleasant enough to the apprentices if a little nosy about their doings; or so it seemed to the group of small children being asked questions from someone they perceived as a grown-up!
The next most exciting thing in Amrys' view was when Masterprinter Bronze Rider H'llon turned up with a young man wearing weyrling Green Rider knots, ruffling her hair and Jilamon's as she dragged her friends over to greet him. Nelon grinned at the weyrling.
"Hello, R'rik, congratulations!" Nelon said.
The older boy shot him a wary look, then gave a half smile.
"You look like you actually mean it, Nelon" he said.
Nelon grinned.
"I do. If a dragon figures you're all right, I guess you've lost any bad attitude you had and you're all right!"
R'rik managed a rueful smile that had a shadow in it.
"You could say that" he said "I have irrevocably chosen weyr over kin; but I'm told I don't have to lose craft too."
Nelon blinked.
"But wasn't the old…. I mean your father – wasn't he just the proudest to know you'd Impressed?"
"Not a Green" said R'rik with some bitterness.
"Then you're best out of his way!" declared Nelon indignantly. "It's the most tremendous honour to Impress! And if you don't like men for sex, you know, you can shut yourself off, they explained THAT to me, me being young; and if you do, well, it's all right, isn't it?"
"How simple it seems to a babe like you" sighed R'rik. "Well if you kids here feel that way I'll not have to worry when I come to confirm; but let's just say my father didn't see it in that light."
"We're proud of you, anyway" Nelon punched the older boy's arm in a friendly gesture "Why are you here? Surely you'll wait until – until"
"Dilbeth" supplied Amrys
"Yeah, Dilbeth, until she's bigger?" Nelon finished.
R'rik looked at Amrys with interest.
"Weyrbred?" he asked.
"A little bit….you can ask Sagarra, tell her Amrys said she could tell the story….she and I have fostered together each way as you might say. Why are you here?"
R'rik grinned; the kid had a straightforward face, it was a desire to know, no cheek.
"H'llon had an idea for an invention to make brocade weaving quicker and easier" he said "And if I don't go on in with the bits and pieces we've been building he'll have me melted down for lard to grease his machines!"
"Whoh, that's exciting!" said Amrys. "I thought Ipominea – no, I mean Po'nea – had improved it with pulleys; by the light in H'llon's eyes this goes way past!"
Master Lynger was evidently quite impressed by R'rik; for Amrys squealed with delight to run into the High Reaches Weyrlingmaster on his way from the Master's office as she moved from one class to another; and R'gar was well hugged.
He kissed Amrys firmly on the forehead.
"Now then!" he admonished fiercely "You'll have your friends thinking I'm not the crustiest curmudgeon in the Weyr at this rate when they come to stand!"
Amrys giggled happily.
"Only for good reason, R'gar. Is Sagarra coming here? She never showed much interest in weaving before!"
"No, Sagarra's still pestering all the crafters for as wide an education as possible" laughed R'gar "And as likely as any to end up in Healecraft, for she's deft and gentle enough; and may even prove to be good with human patients too."
Amrys grinned.
"Are you going to tell me why you're here then?" she demanded.
R'gar shrugged.
"Why not? It's no secret. Master Lynger pointed out that a sevenday or two would be enough to test if R'rik was journeyman quality or not yet; and if the boy promises to catch up MY lessons I agreed to let him bring Dilbeth here for so short a space of time."
"Oh I know all the basic formations; I can help him with that" said Amrys "And we shan't let Dilbeth get tail thickened you know."
"It was on such conditions that I agreed" said R'gar. "For YOUR ears, because you're a pest and pick things up anyway, the boy could do with a fillip to his self esteem; and journeyman's knots would help with that and make him a better dragonman for the self confidence."
Amrys nodded seriously.
"We'll take care of him, R'gar" she said, ignoring the irony of the difference in age between herself and R'rik!
"I'm sure you will, pest that you are" laughed R'gar, adding "Now hop off to where you're SUPPOSED to be!"
Amrys hopped; and received only mild rebuke from Designmaster Telarish, her other friends having gone ahead and explained that Amrys was speaking with a visiting Bronze Rider.
In the anticipation of the arrival of an Impressed pair, an extension was quickly built onto the side of the Hall. It was something of a temporary erection; R'rik must needs rough it a little to share sleeping quarters with his dragon, and would come into the main building for bathing facilities and such.
H'llon brought the lad and his excited little Green lifemate; and the Bronze Rider stayed to speak to Journeyman Woodcrafter Benor who was NOT best pleased with H'llon's invention; for the journeyman was sure it would mean a lot of work that he felt unnecessary.
H'llon permitted the sullen man to complain of all this before he smiled sweetly and pointed out that Benor should be delighted then that most of the work was to be accomplished by smithcrafters and that the rest might be done by those specialising in the weaving of brocades.
It pulled the rug from under Benor's feet over the complaint he would doubtless otherwise have made about outsiders coming in to take over his job!
It did NOT however make the Journeyman Woodcrafter any fonder of the ingenious Bronze Rider not of his Green Rider weaver protégé.
H'llon thought it rather fortunate that R'rik need not take any lessons under Benor; having had the forethought to pass the boy's loom building efforts and certificate them as more than adequate!
Amrys and her followers did not anticipate seeing much of R'rik; the youth was to work with the Upper Bronze lads, plus a stint of helping the youngest ones with lessons – notably he was to bring on the four who had just been promoted to Blue status.
Needless to say, Jaid, Sajed, Arter and Bretine were thrilled to have a dragonman as their special tutor acting-journeyman; though Bretine was, naturally, less awed than the boys. This four demanded the right to help oil and bathe Dilbeth; and Bretine pointed out that she at least has weyrbred knowledge to be a real help. Amrys laughed and ceded the right to the four; and quietly suggested to R'rik that it would be a good disciplinary measure to extend or withhold the privilege! R'rik thought it an excellent idea; though he found no need to withhold anything, since his class was so keen, both to please him and to get on! The young Green Rider also asked Nelon to help, as the lad had been through some weyrling training; it was mostly an attempt to get to know better the boy he had caused to be bullied through his previous lack of understanding. As Nelon had every intention of standing again – and was tipped by K'len to Impress a high colour – it seemed too to be a good idea to get to know another future Rider-weavercrafter!
All the Hall knew that Journeyman Kevas fought Journeyman Benor – and won – but only in the matter of mild rumour. Kevanna however shared what had happened with her own set.
"My idiot brother" she said, referring to young Ankevor "Asked me if it was true that R'rik would hurt all the little boys' bottoms. And I asked him where he'd got such a daftlike idea from" she rolled her eyes looking disconcertingly like her father when he was losing patience "and he said Journeyman Benor told his class that they should be glad not to be the three boys who were sent into Blue because Green Riders liked to hurt boys' bottoms and they should steer clear of him."
Amrys gasped in horror.
"What a- a- CALUMNY!" she managed to grasp the right word.
"But f'sure, how WICKED!" said Lyssa.
"Yes" said Kevanna "And I told Ankevor the only thing Benor knew about bottoms was that he talked out of his. So I told my fool of a brother to tell father; and father would sort it out, and he was to tell the other boys that Journeyman Benor told the lie direct. So father was furious at him – at Benor, not Ankevor who's only a silly little boy – for trying to frighten little boys with tall tales, so he whopped him. I wish I'd seen it" she added, aggrieved "But father kept it all quite private because apprentices ought not to watch journeymen whopping other journeymen."
It is a matter of record that Journeyman Woodcrafter Benor left the Rivenhill Weavercraft Hall under something of a cloud to a small craft cot in Lemos where he would build looms to order and no more. And the weavercrafters anticipated the arrival of a new journeyman woodcrafter!
oOoOo
Journeyman Woodcrafter Sadvia was herself quite a skilled weaver, having been trained to it as the oldest daughter of Holder Syal, a cousin onf Lord Asgenar of Lemos himself. She was also quite happy to accept innovations – especially any innovation of H'llon, who – as she cheerfully informed Master Lynger – had more thoughts to rub together in his head at one time than most entire crafthalls managed in an entire turn. Or even a lifetime, she amended!
Master Lynger was much relieved.
The idea that H'llon had proposed was of spring-loaded push-rods that lifted certain threads in the warp to a pattern defined by holes in a sheet of heavy paper, which, when turned, automatically moved the rods to the next set of holes. Once the pattern was worked out onto the paper, all a weaver had to do was to depress a peddle to move the pattern on each time he threw the shuttle; and to remember which colour shuttle he was throwing at which point. The invention should speed up brocade weaving threefold at least!
Sadvia was fascinated; and impressed.
"If you'll let me take a paid smithcrafter course on how to join it all together I'd be happy to make the whole if you buy in rods and springs" she said. "How hard can it be to learn?"
This was the sort of thing Master Lynger liked to hear!
He had borrowed a smith from Master Fandarel – a down-to-earth girl called Jancis, who was the Smithcrafter's own granddaughter – and left her instructing Sadvia on the mysteries of spot welding and soldering.
Anyone prepared to learn more and willing to try new things was close to perfect in Master Lynger's book; and he started listing eligible journeymen to try to fix Sadvia's interest with in hopes of keeping her permanently so she would never feel the need to leave!
It was, he reflected, an ill wind that never blew any good; and this was one of the best ill winds he had ever encountered.
Sadvia requested a couple of volunteer apprentices; and Lynger immediately suggested Brollom, already notorious for his desires to improve looms. Sadvia enthusiastically took the lad as a special apprentice; and also accepted help from her cousin Sajed who was at home working in wood, even if weavercraft was his first joy. It would all go to Sajed's credit on his record as he progressed, as well as standing Brollom in good stead in his desire to work with brocade!
With harmony restored in the Hall, it was not long before Master Lynger had the very pleasant duty of presenting R'rik with his journeyman's knots and one of the new, unforgeable warrants of his status from H'llon's Printshop.
"Visit us whenever you can, my boy" said Lynger "We like to maintain ties with our Weyrcrafters!"
R'rik agreed happily; it was good to feel that there were now TWO places where he belonged and was not on sufferance by most people!