Chapter 2 - Ominous messages
"If my father sees you like this, he will never approve of us two," a young woman laughed. "Well, good thing I'm not planning to greet him with you naked in my arms." Medric told her while eyeing himself in the mirror. His large brown mane was messy from yesterday's night, and he probably should've shaved back then too. Nevermind, he can do that this morning.
"Are you bringing Medrisk too?" Amada asked. He having already gone into the bathroom, he couldn't see her, but she probably already got up.
"To the hall? A gold wher beside the Lord Holder? Absolutely not. I may be a revered guest, but I don't think Lord Takodak would appreciate her there. She'll have plenty of food in the wherstables, and a lot of other holders will be calmer, too." Medric meanwhile fixed his hair and started shaving his short but unkept beard.
"When do you plan on telling him?" Amada sneaked up behind him, already dressed, and ran her long fingers on his bare back.
"When do you plan on telling your father about us? Also, good luck sneaking out of my quarters in broad daylight."
"Why should I be sneaking? Isn't it considered an honor being a partner to a master wherhandler?" she whispered teasingly.
"Well, certainly bigger honor than sleeping with a dragonrider." Merdic spat out. Adama pulled out, walking away and leaning against the doorframe. Finished with his shaving, Merdic turned around and eyed her back. "What they did to your mother was a disgusting crime. Irredeemable. I would never do anything like that to you."
"Oh, I'm sure of it. But if they are allowed to do such things to us unchecked, I wonder, where will be the end of it? What will they do next?"
"Nothing. A dragon would never harm a human." he tried assuring her. She let out a nervous laugh. "It's not the dragons I'm worried about. It's the power they give to their riders I fear." she turned around, eyes glimming with tears.
Medric, much later, finally put on his shirt and then the jacket of wherry hide, with the Wherhandlers' badge sewn on the left breast and both shoulders. A black shield with two large, golden eyes of a wher.
The masterhandler made his way out of his guest quarters to the stables that were right ahead. His home was special, built some hundred turns ago when the Wherhandlers got much of their respect throughout Pern. Almost all major Holds now had guest quarters and stables specifically for a masterhandler or even the Whermaster, if he were to arrive, and his or her wher. Also, there were dozens of wherholds scattered, at least two in each Hold's territory. A wherhandler was a revered guest, the opposite of what a dragonrider was regarded as.
Most Weyrs demanded tithe the same as in a pass. Even with more than two and a half hundred turns without a single thread, they still thought of themselves as the saviours of Pern that had to be abided to. The more daring Weyrleaders, such as the late J'nuk of Ista, even ordered raids to those who wouldn't give them what they wanted, taking metal, cloths and even women and children as their 'tithe'.
Medrisk was already moving around in her large lair, disturbed by her handler's anger. He sent apologizing and then soothing feelings her way, coming over and rubbing her eye ridges and scratching her neck. He stayed for a little while, but soon several stableboys came in to replace him. Medric payed his respects to Medrisk and walked out, heading to the great hall. It would be quite the hike. The wherstables were located at the eastern gate to Keroon Hold, so neither wher nor the master would have to walk through the busy streets. It layed above the city that grew up in the interval, (if it could be called an interval anymore) but still below the main hold, that was carved inside a rock above all of it.
Medric, when taking all the steps and being let in by the guards who even bowed their heads to him, walked through one courtyard and then the second, upper courtyard, where the giant doors led directly to the hall. An older man was walking around impatiently before them. When he noticed Medric, as if he dropped all his worries.
"Oh, masterhandler Medric! Finally, everything is ready, we are waiting just for you!" he rushed on his small legs to him. Medric held up his hand, stopping him.
"I would never forgive myself dishonoring Lord Holder Takodak by making him wait any further. Shall we?" he smile and motioned to the great doors. The old man bowed. "Of course!" he waved at the guards who stood at the entrance. Medric came right into the middle of it, waiting for the men to open the giant doors. That servant disappeared all of a sudden, but he had no time of investigating where he's gone, because the doors opened and he was presented with the great hall of Keroon.
It truly was great, at least thirty men on each side rose from their tables, greeting him as he walked past them to the high table where the Lord Holder sat. The seat on his right side was occupied by his daughter Amada and the left one yet empty, with two edge seats taken by what Medric assumed to be Amada's uncle and the hold harper.
He came all the way to them and bowed his head to the large man with long black hair and short beard. They had seen each other yesterday already, but there was no time for a feast, so it was to take place today.
"Masterhandler Medric! What a pleasure to see you in my hall! Have you had a pleasant ride?" his booming voice echoed in the hall.
"Yes, I have! Keroon is as beautiful as always, the harvests had to be rich this turn!" Medric answered politely. He did come all the way from Dalor's Wherhold south of Red Butte here on foot. Although he could've just blinked between in a moment, he thought it more polite to announce his arrival few days prior and take the time to see Keroon's wide plains and fields for himself.
"Oh, the harvests were fruitful, that much is true! From what I've heard, you were busy too!"
"Certainly, two hatchings in two months, we had quite a lot of things to do," this was the reason he decided to see the plains. He's spent too much time organizing training of new handlers, their distribution at holds and many other things, having no time to do evening flights with Medrisk like they did before. "I would love to talk more about it during the feast." he continued.
"Of course! Come! Let the feast begin!"
"I really should come here more often." Medric laughed while being served another wherry leg. "I dare you! We haven't seen you for far too long. Tell me, have you found a wife yet?" Takodak said inbetween the moments when he was stuffing food in his mouth.
"Not yet, I'm looking for the right one." Medric make sure Amada heard it. Her father look up from his plate, raising an eyebrow at him. "Truly?"
"Yes. Isn't that what the harpers say," he turned to the other side, eyeing Peotal, the hold's harper with whom he exchanged a few words already. "The wait is worth it a thousand times if it brings new lives?" Medric desparately tried to cite the old saying, much to Peotal's amusement. "Yes, something like that, I'm sure." he chuckled.
"And have you found her yet?" Takodak inquired more.
"Well, I-" a flash of brown blinded him. Roar, teeth, blood, pain, fire. Wrath and power and death all falling from the sky, burying into the ground, eating whatever they find and destroying the rest, leaving motherless babies, skeletons, broken bodies, burnt down houses and dead fields and forests behind. All of it was to come, very soon.
"Medric! Are you alright?" the Lord Holder's cry brought him back from the terrible image. The dozens of men and women at the lower tables were all looking at him, pointing and whispering things among themselves. "What happened to you?" Peotal asked.
"I think it was Medrisk. She wanted to tell me something." he tried to explain. Roar outside alerted everyone in the hall. Takodak twitched, turning his eyes to the great doors. The mighty scream was not that of a man, and many old enough in this hall knew what it meant. A dragonrider has arrived.
More cries outside, this time those of men, then one more roar by the dragon, and the huge doors blew open, revealing the rider. All in the hall were right at their feet in an instant, yelling insults at him. The Lord Holder was among them. "How dare you walk in these halls unannounced! How dare you come here at all! Get out of my Hold!"
Despite Takodak's anger, the rider kept on marching to the high table. Medric could finally recognize his jacket to be bearing the shield of a black volcano on orange. Ista. And judging from the markers on his shoulders, this was a brown rider.
Takodak waved his hand and four guards came rushing to seize the intruder. "I bring message from the new Weyrleader!" the rider screamed in his defense, still walking forward. It surprisingly worked, the Lord Holder had him tell what the rider had to say.
"Dinuth has risen! Weyrleader T'rax, rider of blue Tirazith-"
"Blue!" some men cried at the tables. "Your Dinuth must be pretty weak to have a blue catch her!" others followed. Despite this, the rider continued with a risen voice.
"-has sent out a message to all holds beholden to Ista Weyr!" he rolled up a scroll and started reading, insults still showering his back.
"All holds that, by the latest conclave of Weyrleaders, Lord Holders and Craftmasters of the tenth turn of the fourth interval-" That's more than two hundred years ago. Medric thought.
"are listed to be beholden to Ista Weyr, are thus ordered to gather their tithe, including: harvests, products such as cloth and leather, raw material- and three young boys and one girl as candidates for the upcoming clutch." his last words were almost not audible because of the uproar by all those present in the hall. From all sides, disgusting insults were thrown at him. The rider meanwhile started rolling up his scroll, but before he could finish it, a piece of meat landed flat on his face, splashing juice all over him. A dagger appeared in his hand out of the blue. "You dare attack a dragonrider!" he cried in the direction of the thrower.
"You DARE draw blade in my hall!" Lord Takodak silenced everyone except that rider. "I do!" he barked back. "The Weyr has long enough tolerated the disobedience of the Holds! Those that do not wish to live in our world may burn in their old one!" he roared. Silence spread out like bad air in the hall at first, then it combusted into a frenzy of rageful insults. The four guards Takodak previously stopped were right at the rider, surrounding him with spears. "You never kill a messanger!" he screamed at the Lord Holder in fury.
"A messanger also never threatens his host!"
"Try to hurt me and my Morenth will burn you all alive!"
"A dragon never hurts a man!" many objected.
"We shall see!" the rider answered and bolted down, then back, getting out of the circle of guards and then ran right to the exit while being showered with food and cutlery. His persecutors were too slow to get him. The brown Morenth blew the giant doors out with his head and let the rider jump on his neck. And right as they were there, they disappeared, blinking between without even getting off the ground.
Cold air swept through their defeated opponent's hall. They were all quiet, not guessing what to say. Even the Lord Holder stared at the spot where they vanished.
"So this is how it begins." Medric whispered, finally guessing what Medrisk's images said.
