[Disclaimer. I own only the characters. Pern and all associated names and places are the property of Anne McCaffrey]

Sorry for the delay. This chapter underwent several revisions. I'll be more prompt with the next chapter. Keep the reviews coming. The feedback's kept me going!]

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In a strange way, Daruwinth's ravening served to disconnect Luru from the wonder of Impression. Walking off the Hatching Ground, Luru struggled to comprehend the immensity of this new person attached to every feeling she had. As weyrfolk passed her bowls of food, it was as if she were touching the earthenware through gloved fingers. Even the new bond between her and Daruwinth felt more approximate to balancing something on the end of her nose: if she touched it, it would feel like cheating. The process of feeding felt somewhat mundane given the enormity of this pairing.

Daruwinth took food from Luru's fingers surprisingly delicately, separating the meat from Luru's fingers with her discerning tongue before taking it between her teeth. This small wonder fascinated Luru for some time, slightly penetrating the numbness she felt. She lost count of how many bowls of food the little queen consumed, repeating that marvellous action of passing food from bowl, to hand to dragon over and over.

I'm full.

Luru blinked. Her dragon had spoken to her. In her head. Yet another marvel. A delirious grin plastered itself on her face and she swayed on her feet. I can talk to my dragon, she thought.

I love you.

Who was to say whose thought that was? Luru set down the empty bowl and stroked her precious friend.

"Luru?" The Weyrwoman had appeared at her side. Luru turned to attend. She saw the girl who had Impressed the first queen earlier.

"Yes Weyrwoman?"

The Weyrwoman waved a hand. "Maeli, please," she said with a friendly look that dispelled the formality from the setting. She drew the other girl forward by the hand, and stepped backwards so that the girls could meet. "This is Leila."

Male dragonriders would clasp forearms in greeting. Unsure of the proper custom between queen riders, the two girls were shy for a moment.

Their dragons broke the awkwardness. Halith is her queen. She is pleased that you and Leila are to be friends in the weyr.. Both girls stared in surprise at their dragons. Then, perhaps the same thought occurring to both of them, the girls warmly extended their hands in greeting.

The Weyrwoman left them alone, presumably to see to the other new riders. Leila waited until she was out of sight before winking at Luru, "I'm glad that if I'm going to be training under her, I'm going to be in good company."

Luru glanced in the Weyrwoman's direction. "She seemed so nice."

Leila shook her head quickly. "She is. Very well-meaning and all. But you should have heard the speech she gave before introducing us. This great rigmarole about how the queens are the most important creatures on Pern, how the fate of Pern rests with us. She wouldn't give it to you, not being weyrbred and all." She shook her head again, noticing Luru's look of apprehension. "I'm the headwoman's fosterling that's all. Maeli's known me since I had barely eight turns. She'll go a little easier on you to begin with. Don't worry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Luru felt a little shy with Leila; she used a lot of words. If not for Daruwinth, she might have been put off by her. However, she knew Leila meant well. She would certainly be worth making friends with.

Daruwinth yawned beside her. Leila noticed and gestured behind her to where some of the new weyrlings were leading their dragonets.

"We're meant to take our dragons to bed them down now. They'll sleep until tomorrow morning digesting their first meal. I'll show you to the barracks if you like. Then we can change ready for the feast."

Luru gratefully accepted the offer and the two weyrlings led their queens out of the feeding area.

*

As Daruwinth had fallen asleep, their bond had seemed to diminish slightly, as if part of her mind had closed off to Luru. It was still there, but the bond seemed more fragile.

Leila had come into her quarters already changed into a stunning robe-dress which reminded Luru of riding gear, except it was made out of red thick-pile velvet rather than wherhide. Luru had only just settled her dragon and had half-convinced herself not to go to the feast. Leila dismissed Luru's protests – "You're going!" – and practically stripped her out of her now slightly pink candidate's robe and began lacing her into a form-fitting but full skirted dress of green silk which Luru had never seen before. Her efficiency and no-nonsense attitude impressed Luru. Leila was clearly handling Impression much better than she was.

Luru would have been content with just the dress, but Leila wasn't through. By the time they were heading towards the dining cavern, Luru's hair had been gathered and braided at the back, close up to her skull in a style very befitting a queen rider and her thick leather boots had been replaced by some slippers that had presumably been requisitioned from the same place as the dress.

It felt strange leaving Daruwinth behind. As they got further away from the barracks, walking briskly through the well-lit tunnels towards the inner caverns, Luru found herself faltering. Leila tugged at her arm, but Luru stopped.

"What's the matter?" Leila stopped tugging. Luru wondered how she wasn't feeling the same thing.

"What if it breaks? The Impression, leaving her so soon. Are you not worried too?" she asked the other gold rider, desperate for some solidarity.

Leila smiled knowingly, and with understanding.

"You poor hold-bred thing," she said, laughing a little. "That's impossible."

Leila must have intuited both the great gap in Luru's knowledge and the sense of awe which threatened to overwhelm her. She took Luru's hand.

"You're probably trying to understand everything at once, thinking you have to know it all right away. And you feel it will crush you if you don't. It's beautiful and frightening and it almost hurts it's so big."

Luru nodded and wiped her eyes.

"It feels like I'm trying to balance something really precious and really big that I'm far too precarious to hold," she said, squeezing Leila's hand a little. "And it's so big and dazzling and so heavy and I can't really appreciate it because I'm trying to keep it steady. Now she's asleep and I feel really cut off and like I'm missing something."

Leila went on. "The reason they go to sleep is to digest and to adjust to the Impression. It's good for you both. They get to know you as they sleep and their personalities start to take shape. You're not really supposed to feel much at this point, but it's normal to feel anxious, I can assure you."

Luru angled a sceptical glance at the self-assured and confident weyrling. "You feel anxious?"

Leila laughed out loud and shook her head.

"If you're brought up in the Weyr, you're taught this by the Weyrling Master. I'm a bit scared about leaving Halith but I know that nothing's going to go wrong. I'd be an aberration among thousands of dragonriders if it did."

Luru found that strangely comforting. She'd never been particularly reassured by the achievements of others. In a harper class, she would still be the one person to repeat a scale poorly even though she'd been the taught the same as everybody else in the class. Impression however, wasn't taught. It was a natural thing that she would develop just like walking and talking. Even though her sister had walked at five months and she a little later at eight, she had managed that. She was a normal person.

You're actually very special.

It was Daruwinth. Luru felt her wake up just enough to communicate those beautiful words across their bond. As the dragon returned to her slumber, Luru was left with the feeling of the most peaceful contentment she knew she could now feel, along with the immense pleasure that someone could love her so unconditionally.

Something must have shown in her face. Leila patted her hand and began to lead her again towards the dining cavern.

"We're still going to the feast then?"

"Well what's the point in Impressing a gold if you can't show off about it a little?"

It was a little unseemly, but Leila had a point. They progressed on towards the dining cavern.

*

Most of the weyr was present in the dining cavern, with both dragonriders and the staff of the Lower Caverns turned out in their finery to mark the happy occasion. A surplus of guests made up the numbers.

Luru noticed that there didn't seem to be that many new weyrlings present. Certainly not as many as there had been eggs on the sands. She wondered if all the eggs had hatched. A quick count showed no more than fifteen new weyrlings, some of whom she recognised from the Hatching Ground, others from the distracted expressions which turned with the rest of the guests to greet the two new Weyrwomen.

The harpers struck up an impromptu fanfare as Leila and Luru made their entrance. They were both embarrassed, and the applause from everyone in the room deepening the blush in their cheeks.

Luru was unsure of the proper procedure from here. It was an awkward moment for both of them at the top of the short stairway leading down to the festivities. Then, Luru noticed the Weyrwoman making her way through the tables towards them, and she nudged Leila.

The Weyrwoman seemed to disperse the crowd's attention as she led the two girls down to the feast. They returned to the succulent roasts and the crisp wine which had been prepared for the celebrations. Luru had been able to smell the roasts since early that morning. The Weyr must be intuitive to these occasions.

Luru was aghast to find herself seated at the high table, among the most esteemed guests, including the Lord and Lady Holders of Ista. Even Leila seemed a little shy as they were introduced to the Holders and their family.

"Our hope for the future of Pern, Weyrwoman Luru, rider of Daruwinth, and Weyrwoman Leila, rider of Halith. Weyrwomen, may I present Boran, his wife Sia and their children, Sian, Ira and Bagor." Luru raised her eyebrows ever so slightly at Leila, surprised at the queen rider's order of introductions and her eschewal of the holders' formal titles. It was not lost on the Lord Holder's wife. She was glaring at Luru and Leila with an air of expectancy and Luru wondered if she ought to repair the Weyrwoman's error. She saw Leila shake her head subtly, eyes down. Don't get involved.

"They're both charming Maeli," the Lord Holder nodded at them both and smiled appreciatively. He turned to his son and daughters, who were staring with saucer-shaped eyes at the two young queen riders. Luru noticed he touched his wife's wrist in some discreet instruction. Her fingers clenched slightly, but whether it was in recoil or submission Luru couldn't tell.

"My children wanted to say something to you both," the Lord Holder said, indicating Leila and Luru to his children, who shuffled their feet, exchanged looks to check they were ready and finally chirruped in perfectly rehearsed chorus:

"Congratulations from Ista, gold riders. Welcome to your queens Hallilith and Daluwith." Luru's heart melted as they stumbled over the dragon names. Their faces were sweetly earnest. They weren't that old. The eldest, Sian, was probably about seven turns and the other two were maybe four and five. It was probably their first Hatching and in all likelihood the first formal address any of them had ever had to make.

"Halith and Daruwinth heard you," Leila said, winking at Luru. "They say hello and thank you to all of you."

Bagor's eyes went even rounder, and the girls giggled in delight. Luru could sense her dragon sleeping soundly. She guessed Halith was doing just the same. Leila was like the Lord Holder; quite the diplomat. Sian had tugged at her skirt and she was crouched down next to her, engaged in a serious conversation about Halith, how much meat Halith had eaten, how many hands she was and so forth.

Luru felt awkward again. Leila had done the right thing, ducking down to the children and excusing herself from the Lady Sia's frosty attention. She glared at Luru, a convenient target who had failed to find herself elsewhere from the tense atmosphere of the adult heights. The Weyrwoman and the Lord Holder were engaged in conversation which appeared to exclude them both. Luru caught some of it.

"…the Weyrleader is needed."

"Your numbers certainly need replenishing…"

"Was that your sister then, who you intercepted at the Hatching?"

"Hmm?" Sia had spoken to her directly. She hadn't been expecting it.

"On the sands." There was an unpleasant edge to the Lady Holder's tone: provocative, goading and not nearly blatant enough for Luru to be able to justify taking offence. Needless to say, it was a tone Luru was familiar with.

Luru decided to try a demure approach with this woman.

"There was a misunderstanding between with my sister and my dragon," she said, firmly emphasising the possessive. "She believed she had impressed Daruwinth, hearing another dragon's voice. The Weyrwoman dealt with the situation." She quickly concluded the conversation, deferring back to the Weyrwoman. Sia was either a gossip or she found being vindictive pleasurable; it would do to keep the story light on details. Though as she thought about it, Luru realised she hadn't heard anything else about Lexir since she had Impressed Daruwinth.

Sia merely smirked, her expression slicing right through Luru's attempt at a diplomatic reply.

"If that's what you say my dear."

It was a devastating remark Sia turned away from her to sidle up to her husband. She sat down next to him, adopting a meek pose and taking delicate sips from her wine cup

Luru was truly stunned. What a cruel aspersion to cast over her Impression of Daruwinth. They had Impressed as soon as the little gold had broken shell. No hesitation, no consideration of anyone else. It hadn't even been a competition between herself and the others. They hadn't even been in the race.

Luru tried to remember that fabulous moment and couldn't quite. It was like remembering a taste but not having the satisfaction that came from the food being in the mouth. Desperately, she reached for Daruwinth and found her sleeping soundly. She was there, but Luru's earlier fear had returned.

She glared at Sia, nearly beside herself with fury. She could not contain herself.

"WHAT could you POSSIBLY know about Impression, you drudging piece of coarse." Luru had raised her voice in anger. The startled silence spread from the surrounding tables to the rest of the cavern. The harpers continued to play however. Ever the purveyors of tact, Luru thought their playing actually intensified. They could defuse the tense scene unfolding at the top table though.

Luru froze with embarrassed panic. She caught the Weyrwoman's eye, but there was no instruction communicated between them. She was on her own.

Luru knew she couldn't continue with this. A quick review of the words that had actually passed between them reminded her that Sia had said nothing that could be reasonably regarded as untoward. Her behaviour had been un-ladylike, but that surely set a baseline for Luru herself to rise above, not sink further below.

Sia's expression was neutral for the moment. It bordered on several things however, contempt curling the corners of her mouth. Luru could see she would play this situation to her own advantage, and she would not cede a single point to Luru. Embarrassing a junior Weyrwoman further would be all to easy for this lady holder, especially if the gold rider in question had done so herself to such a huge audience.

A man's voice abruptly rang out across the silent cavern.

"May I have your attention?"

Luru and everyone else in the cavern turned towards the sudden interruption. It came from the entrance, where Luru recognised the Weyrleader, J'mur. Luru was irrationally paralysed with worry at the thought that he might have overheard her, that he had come to punish her, that she was now in disgrace. She had certainly disgraced herself. She felt incredibly ashamed. And quite alone.

He didn't seem to be aware of what had distracted the guests however, nor did he seem to care. He took advantage of the sudden polarisation of the attention of the gathering to make his announcement.

"Some of you may have noticed that the guests of honour are somewhat deficit…" Luru cringed. "…in numbers tonight."

The vast majority of those present in the Dining Cavern had not overheard Luru's angry outburst. They gave their full attention to J'mur and forgot whatever had happened moments before.

"We are ever at our dragons' pleasure," J'mur went on, quoting a well-known phrase. "The rest of the hatchlings have deferred their Impression until a time more convenient to themselves. We must abide by them." The dragonriders laughed, leading the guests to embrace the humour in the Weyrleader's words.

"The dragons and our Weyrling Master assure me that there is every indication that the remaining eggs will hatch tomorrow. We at the Weyr invite you all to share in this second happy occasion. Those of you still awaiting news from candidates on the sands, I can tell you that they are resting tonight, and have elected not to join in the festivities tonight. For their sake, please respect their privacy and indulge in the hospitality of Ista Weyr tonight. We will welcome all the new candidates formally tomorrow, and toast them according to their new status as part of the guardian force of Pern. To those of you most recently charged with this duty, the Weyr rises in salutation to you tonight." He raised a crystal goblet of wine.

"To shells cracked, and bonds forged."

Every dragonrider in the room rose and followed suit, each turning to the weyrling closest to him.

"TO SHELLS CRACKED AND BONDS FORGED!"

Afterwards the guests echoed the salute themselves. Then someone who was carried away with it all took it into their head to salute the weyrling closest to him, ignoring J'mur.

"T'mak!"

"L'ran!"

"K'sel!"

Cheers followed each announcement of a newly contracted dragonrider name. Luru tensed, worried about further attention being brought to herself. However, the crowds seemed to have forgotten the incident already. The whole cavern raised their cups and glasses to them, with one obvious exception.

"Leila and Luru!"

The wine flowed freely after that, with good cheer restored to the proceedings. Nevertheless, Luru excused herself. She could feel it in her bones that Sia would be a dangerous enemy to have. Insulted as she had been, Luru knew that it would not do to risk another confrontation with her. It might only be a war of manners, but Luru suddenly knew the scale on which her every word and movement was now played out. She was no longer an anonymous girl fighting her corner in a minor beasthold.

As she walked back to the barracks, Luru realised that twice that day, Lexir's animosity towards her had caused her to be shown up in public. She wondered where Lexir was now, and how she was doing. Her name had not been toasted earlier.

She would have to distance herself from Lexir. It could be devastating to her position as a weyrwoman to have an enemy among her own ranks. It could be a sore spot, a source of embarrassment and a weakness which people like Sia could expose and provoke. Sia had got the measure of her immediately, Luru admitted to herself as she turned the last glow-lit corner before reaching the barracks.

I'm going to have to grow up a bit, she thought, opening the door to the small room which would house her and Daruwinth for the next turn. Daruwinth was bedded down on a slightly elevated wooden couch, her sides heaving with steady, restful breaths, wings covering her eyes.

I'll concentrate on you, dearling. No one will ever interfere with us.