Chapter 7
The departure of Lesara cheered the three remaining Ranking girls considerably; and even Asrina refrained from whining quite as much!
Braid was overjoyed to have met a once Holdless dragonrider-harper, and raised courage to talk to Ferry as the older boy obviously knew her. He and his friends were promptly invited into what Horgey dubbed The Dormitory's junior wing!
Kit lingered after class was dismissed and the other girls were gone.
"I wrote to my father" she said. "Silly, isn't it, he lives not three hundred paces away…..but I'm voluntarily as separate from my kin as any other apprentice" she glanced at Horgey. "I told him how you'd changed a lot and that I was now working with you….he wants to meet you."
Horgey paled a little.
"I guess he has every right to" he said "After all, I DID set upon his little girl – not, I have to confess, because you were a helpless looking little girl, I might have jeered but….it was because I thought you were T'rin's girlfriend or a relative of his and I wanted to hurt HIM!"
She nodded.
"Oh I already figured THAT out" she said. "And I told father too; but he wants to meet you anyway. Can you come to our quarters in the Hold for a meal next Threadfall? He thought it would disrupt your studies and mine less, 'cos no-one manages proper studies during Threadfall anyway. I've been excused Sweep."
"That's very thoughtful of your father to think of that!" Horgey was struck by how remarkable a man Lord Teefer must be to consider so deeply the convenience of others.
"He is" said Kitiara. "He's pretty good really, as parents go, and he's prepared to meet you like he's never met you. He doesn't want an apology or even any reference made to before; that you've apologised to me is enough for him."
Horgey shook his head in wonder.
"A special man indeed" he said.
Lord Teefer and Lady Kiarna greeted Horgey politely, even warmly. Kiarna looked enough like her father, Lord Groghe, for the relationship to be obvious, but not enough to stop her being a very handsome woman. She was a neat, dark haired woman and her light blue eyes had avoided the protuberant appearance of her sire's! Kit had got her red hair from her father's family: Teefer was the younger son of a Runnerholder from Ruatha whose family shared an ancestor or two in common with Lessa of Benden; and probably with the Mulgan trader train too!
"I'm glad to meet Kit's – er, Kitiara's – parents" said Horgey, nervously. "She's not at all like some of the Ranking girls I've been teaching, for she's really nice and – er" he flushed, realising a lack of tact.
Teefer roared with laughter.
"Now that unrehearsed sentence tells me more about the young man I've heard so much about than anything!" he said. "You mean you think we've done a reasonable job as parents in not spoiling her rotten or encouraging her to be a hopeless makeweight?"
Horgey flushed even deeper.
"Er….yes, sir, something along those lines" he said.
"Well, lad, I've fostered a few useless articles before" Teefer said "With her older sister; and I can't say many of them impressed me much."
"Dorasha's all right" said Kitiara "She's seabred like Menolly, which can cause its own problems, but at least they don't breed 'em mimsy; and she's being a real apprentice too. And Varalie's a nice enough kid."
"I'm so glad, my dear" said her mother "That you have some girls you can make friends with."
"Reckon I'll like it more when the Impressed girls come up to be confirmed as Journeymen though" grinned Kit.
"Oh the Ranking girls aren't all bad" said Horgey "And even the ones with….difficult personalities….. are not ENTIRELY bad. It's a bit like being a miner though; you have to dig through an awful lot of dirt to find a gem."
Teefer chuckled.
"A Harper's wicked tongue."
"Well, sir, I have to find things about them to make me laugh; or I'd just get depressed. The problem is that one loud nasty one and one aggressively lazy one can so put the dampners on things it's harder to see the good in the enthusiastic one, the pleasant natured one and the daft but mostly harmless one" Horgey explained.
"Mostly harmless?"
"She has a temper – her firelizard gets a bit nervous because of it. But she's up and down, no sulks" Horgey reflected that the one time Tireena had lost her temper in class she had apologised almost immediately, and quite sincerely!
"Nothing much worse than a sulky girl – save perhaps a sly one" nodded Kiarna. "I heard the girl from Telgar was dismissed in disgrace?"
Horgey looked nonplussed.
"Shards, does news carry so? Yes, she'd been bullying another girl; then she picked on a very small apprentice and she pushed me over when I tried to stop her. I don't actually think she's entirely sane; spoiled beyond the point of rationality."
Kiarna nodded.
"Rank can go to some people's heads" she said. "My brother Benis was VERY impressed with being a younger son of our father; the fosterlings with him flattered him up until he thought he sat higher than a Bronze Rider. HOW I laughed when Menolly hit him so hard. Not that father ever encouraged any such bad behaviour in any of us; I think it was the bad influence of his so-called friends. And when there's spoiling as well as a natural tendency to self importance….well, let me also say that some Weyrbred Riders are more courteous than others too."
"No one in High Reaches better be discourteous or T'bor will know the reason why in short order!" said Horgey, automatically.
"Of course….you've been living in the Weyr with young T'rin. No, sorry, I didn't mean that the way it came out" Teefer grimaced "No offence or reference to sexual preference intended."
"None taken, sir. I have personal reasons for disliking alternative practises; but I keep it to myself and try not to let it colour my opinions of those who are so inclined of choice. It is part of Weyr life, and the beauty of the Weyr is that nobody forces anything on anyone – or they're stopped if they try in the heat of dragonlust, which is taken as excuse for some discourtesy. People – Green Riders, really, I mean – can sequester themselves so their dragons er, needs don't lead to anything they'd regret. Especially the younger boys – and girls."
"That's nice to know" said Kiarna. "Do they let women ride Green Dragons at Fort Weyr, do you know?"
Horgey grimaced.
"Not hardly!" he said. "T'lana – who's only just Turned twenty herself – says N'ton is too young to be anything but ….er, conservative" he modified T'lana's comment of 'a pompous stick in the mud'.
"That sounded like the famous Harper tact exercised there" laughed Teefer.
"Well….differences between Weyrs should be kept Weyr business" said Horgey. "Any dragonrider is brave, man or woman: but they're human like the rest of us and can be as quirky as anyone."
"I think N'ton is afraid of criticism from er, older riders like T'bor if he seems to radical, actually" said Teefer "What I can surmise is that he's been at the forefront of letting young Lord Jaxom have more training on Ruth than either the collective Lords Holder or Benden think appropriate, though I'd rather that remained under Harper discretion; and he also has to handle his Riders carefully. Remember, most of High Reaches went with T'kul; a significant proportion of Fort Riders stayed when T'ron and his closest cronies went South."
"Ah" said Horgey "Discretion is all very well, but if I can hint some, it might lead to better relations, you know."
"I leave it to your Harper wit then" said Teefer "If what I have told you can help Weyr relations I shall be glad."
"The reason I asked about women and Greens" said Kiarna "Because our older daughter has gone as a candidate to Fort Weyr. And I thought if she had a chance at a Green as well as the Queen egg…."
"TEFFIE? By the first egg, mother I'VE more chance at a Queen egg than Teffie. She is the silliest creature!" said Kitiara in disgust.
"Your sister has grown up a lot" said her father. "You've been long away from home. It is her Right whatever chance she may or may not have; you should not be so unkind."
"Sorry, Father" said Kitiara, flushing. "Yes, I've not seen that much of her over the last three turns."
"People do change" said Horgey "When they grow up."
"And that is something to be pleased about, often enough" said Kiarna, quietly, smiling at him. "Teffie had some bad influences in that girl your father sent away and her brother…. I can't even recall their names. I asked if they'd send someone to pick you up for the hatching, Kit….if you'd like?"
"Oh YES!" said Kitiara "Hatchings are splendid! Aren't they, Horgey?"
Horgey nodded.
"When it's someone you know, a protégé say – or I suppose kin – who's standing on the hatching sands it's even better I guess" he said.
"Have you Impressed kin?" asked Teefer.
Horgey shook his head.
"Not as such…though in many ways the Harpers of the Harperweyr have been far more my kin than any I was born with" he said. "And we had two Harper apprentices Impress last time, I'linne and C'lara" he grinned "You could describe them both as wordy girls, but in such different ways; T'arla calls them Silence and Simplicity, for C'lara never stops talking and I'linne uses long words and complex sentences. She's a good kid, and her Impressing stopped a lot of ill natured things some people – out of the Weyr I hasten to add – would say. She's one of Lord Meron's daughters" he added by way of explanation.
Teefer and Kiarna nodded sympathetic understanding.
"Is she someone special to you?" asked Kiarna.
Horgey considered her question.
"Yes; but not romantically, if that was what you meant, My Lady. She was injured, and we spent a lot of time during the day in adjacent beds talking and playing instruments and singing. She's someone who knows all about me and still is my friend. I suppose I look on her was a recently acquired sister" he added. "I feel protective towards her because of that. But the whole group is close; T'rin treats me almost like a foster brother now."
"That's nice" said Kiarna. "If you've never felt you had proper kin, it must be comforting."
He nodded.
"I never knew what proper kin were supposed to be like" he said honestly "And now I'm old enough to think about such things, the idea of getting married and deliberately having children is pretty scary – because parents are such a big influence and can make or mar a child so easily!"
Teefer and Kiarna exchanged a glance. That told them something about Horgey's unhappy early life!
The meal was pleasant; good food and accompanied by pleasant talk. Horgey was grateful that Kitiara's parents wanted to meet him as the youth he had become without dwelling on the boy that he had been; and they were pleasantly surprised by him! He told them far more about himself than he ever realised; especially in the one telling remark, when talk drifted back to the subject of apprentices; for Horgey commented of the more privileged children,
"I find it extraordinary when I find bad behaviour - not mischief, that's normal, but MEAN behaviour – in children who come from homes where there's no violence, and even have parents who love them; I can't see how they would want to be naughty when they've nothing to be unhappy about. And then too I start wondering if someone has inappropriate urges that he has exercised upon them, for that on its own is enough to cause misery even without other factors."
Horgey said to Kit as she wheeled him back towards the Harper Hall,
"You've got fantastic parents, Kit. You don't know how lucky you are."
"I didn't" she admitted honestly. "Now I know about yours, and also about Shoris' family who think singing is a waste of time for a man, I realise that I AM truly lucky. I'm really glad we've adopted you now, us Dormitory Lot as well as the Harperweyr."
He smiled up and back at her over his shoulder.
"Why thank you for adopting me! I feel quite touched, after the way I behaved…"
"Shards, you were unhappy" she said "And us too young to understand and try to help you."
"I reckon I might have taken it amiss if you had tried" he said, seriously. "Breaking my back seemed at the time the very worst thing that could ever happen; but I reckon it's been the best thing, in a peculiar sort of way, you know."
"How much can you actually do?" she asked curiously "You stood to face Her…"
"That was partly sheer anger…I can stand if I've something to hold on to. And take hesitant steps. But I shan't be taking you to the Gather Dance" he added facetiously, grinning.
"You can take me to the Gather if you like" she said.
He looked round sharply; and she coloured slightly.
She shrugged.
"You get paid more than me and can afford more bubbly pies?" she quipped weakly.
"Kit I – I like you an awful lot. And I don't want to play games" said Horgey, seriously. "In fact, I'm wondering if it would be more appropriate if I asked for another apprentice assistant."
Kit stopped and came round to the front of the chair to face him.
"Horgey, I was sweet on T'rin for a long time, and I guess I was also sweet on rose-coloured memories of him as much as the real thing. But…I've got over that. I – I like you a lot too, but I don't want to rush anything. I'd like to spend more time with you socially as well as professionally."
Horgey nodded, his eyes on her face.
"That seems like a good idea" he said "But…. What would your parents think of any…..romance... though? Might they not disapprove? Me being reinstated is one thing….I'm concerned what they'll think"
Kit giggled.
"I'm not sure I'd appreciate you thinking about kissing them, so what they think doesn't matter!" she said.
"Kit!"
She sobered.
"I think they like you. I don't have to marry for alliances; my grandfather is knee deep in daughters and granddaughters. They'll let me pick and choose; and they'd be glad if I picked someone who doesn't rubbish my years of Harper training as a 'nice little hobby'. But I guess they'll want me to be really sure. So I want to make sure I AM really sure. And, after all, so do you need to be. I'm still growing up; you might not like me when I've finished it."
He smiled.
"Somehow I think you'll always be sweet, and true and kind and clever and thoroughly sassy" he said. "But we shall wait and see how it goes. You're such a beautiful girl; so full of fire and animation!"
"Shards, you MUST fancy me" she gurgled her delightful little chuckle "After having a Weyr full of Impresses females to compare me to!"
He shrugged.
"There's a sort of spark I don't feel for any of them….I don't mean desire, though you are….it's more than that, a – a connection. I can see from the way you almost finish my sentences for me and when I ask for things you have what I need almost before I've asked."
She flushed.
"Maybe it's the firelizards" she said. "Flute likes Cadenza."
"Flute likes any female that doesn't try to boss him" said Horgey.
She chuckled.
"There is that!" she said.
By tacit consent, Horgey and Kitiara spoke no more of their tentative attraction to each other; Kitiara had grown up a lot since her violent infatuation for T'rin, and blushed fierily when she recalled what a nuisance she had made of herself to him! Her feelings for Horgey were deep friendship that was deepening into awareness. Horgey himself was concerned that her feelings towards him might stem purely from pity; but looking back carefully over all she had said and the way she acted he could see nothing that suggested that she pitied him. She treated him with the same practical consideration that he had found in the Weyr; and he appreciated that.
In the meantime, they were Journeyman and apprentice in class, and friends outside of classes; and to increase their social life Kit started pushing him on walks around the Hold, to places she had grown up knowing. That it was winter mattered not one jot; though their walks must needs be curtailed, for Horgey's lack of mobility meant that he chilled quickly, even under the quilts Kit loaded him with!
The winter landscape had its own beauty, not the stark, forbidding beauty of the High Reaches; but vistas in pastels, with long mauve shadows, the often leaden skies tinted with roses at dusk and dawn, or coloured like a fading bruise when snow was due. And here and there, frost left gossamer lace in ice-edged leaves, forming patterns in frozen puddles. The nearby stream was particularly lovely at this time of turn when frost had touched it overnight, the stark reeds a silver filigree along its banks.
"I'm glad I'm only halt, not blind" said Horgey, deeply moved. "I'd hate to miss out on all this. I need a xylophone to make a tune for the frost, all tinkley and staccato."
Kit laughed happily.
"I'm glad it inspires you" she said "I'm not clever enough to write tunes, not proper ones."
"Nor am I, really" confessed Horgey. "Though I've studied the craft under T'rin's stringent lectures. It just brought something to mind and I was loath to let it go. I thought if I put something rough together, T'rin might pick up the idea and improve on it."
"What a splendid idea!" said Kit, much struck. "That could mean that maybe my occasional twiddles won't be wasted if he knew what I was thinking when I scrawled them down if he'd do the same for me. It's a shame to waste fresh ideas for the want of the skill in developing them."
Horgey nodded.
"I know he'd feel uncomfortable about claiming authorship, but I guess if it were authored 'Harperweyr' or 'Dormitory' it could be a tacitly acknowledged joint effort."
She nodded.
"It'll be mostly T'rin of course, just taking our ideas as a starting point; but he's so scrupulously fair, I know what you mean about him being likely to refuse to claim authorship!" she said. "And so long as the music happens, it doesn't really matter. I'd be very happy for my twiddles to come out as proper music authored 'Harperweyr'. After all, the more I hear of High Reaches Weyr the more I'd like to move there. I – I guess a lot might depend though on what happens between us; and if you plan to return."
Horgey nodded.
"I want to go back there. I suppose it could be embarrassing if we fell apart; though if we adopt weyr attitudes, where affairs happen, it could be easier, for there are rarely recriminations or uncomfortable atmospheres. And at least the Weyr has a laid back view of lovemates, and there'd be less gossip and ill natured talk if we were still making up our minds."
Kit brightened.
"That's true" she said cheerfully. "Well, we shall see how it goes."