Chapter 15

Most of the dragonriders were out of the Weyr attending Fall over Keroon; and V'sheren was directing the candidates and Impressed Weyrlings in passing firestone sacks to L'issa and her clutch to take to the fighting wing; a chain was organised.

V'sheren sent Jessenia to get a shovel to clear up some spilled firestone before someone tripped on it; and she ran quickly towards the store room where such things were kept.

She gasped in shock as simultaneously each leg and arm was grabbed from behind as she came out of the storeroom and a hand snaked over her shoulder and clamped onto her mouth.

It was the bully and his two cronies: learning how deadly free legs could be from Roban, he had instructed his two jolly boys each to grab an arm and a leg, and after the bullies tied a rough gag over Jessenia's mouth, they carted her unceremoniously back into the store and held her on her back on a packing crate.

"You are going to be punished for your brother's insolence," hissed the bully, "you are nothing but jumped up guttersnipes – and there's only one thing to do to women of your kind!"

He ripped her tunic all the way down; then his hot hands briefly explored her breasts before one hand reached inside her trews, grasping them to rip them too.

Jessenia was terrified. She could smell his lust, and held spreadeagled on the packing box she was utterly helpless. Would V'sheren notice she was gone a long time?

"Asreth, oh dear Asreth, if you can hear me, oh please tell him to help me!" her mind screamed silently.

"He comes" the great Bronze dragon's voice rang in her mind like a bell.

Jessenia tried to relax; if V'sheren were delayed, if she seemed cowed, she might have a chance, if the bullies relaxed their guard.

The main bully sneered,

"Not so feisty now, eh?" he undid his own trews, leering at her.

The door burst open.

V'sheren's right arm might be weak, even after Fordel's exercises, but his left had strengthened to compensate, and connected with a CRACK! To the bully's jaw. The boy went down like a sack of firestone himself.

V'sheren stared at the other two.

"My office. NOW!" he barked.

They hesitated; he only had one functional arm, after all; but his air of command was enough.

They let go of Jessenia and went meekly out.

Jessenia tore the gag from her mouth and tried to pull her tattered garments to cover her nakedness, blushing in shame. V'sehren was already stripping off his jacket to wrap around her, and she gave an inarticulate sob and clung to his tunic.

He gave her an awkward hug.

"Did he…" he left the question hanging.

"No," she was muffled against his chest. "You got her in time! Oh THANK you!"

"Asreth thinks you were clever to call him. So do I, for that matter," added the Weyrlingmaster. "There, it's all right to cry, Jess!"

The door opened, and Roban walked in.

The first thing he saw was his sister crying, her trousers torn and round her ankles, and the Weyrlingmaster with an arm around her; and an ugly look crossed his face. Then he saw the bully on the floor and took in that Jessenia was wrapped in V'sheren's jacket. Roban was no fool; and in his heart he trusted V'sheren.

"Had a bad feeling about m'sister," he said, "always know where family members are if I'm fond of them," he went over to the stirring bully and kicked him viciously in the ribs.

"It's G'narish's place to punish really, you know," said V'sheren, mildly. "But if my back is to you so I can't see, you can give him another one for me."

Roban grinned; it was not a nice grin. He gave the bully another.

V'sheren nodded to him.

"And now, Roban, ask Carya for a set of clothing for your sister," the Weyrlingmaster said. "She needs everything – Carya will know."

Roban nodded; and ruffled Jessenia's hair.

"Love you, sis," he said, gruffly.

"He didn't get far enough to…" said Jessenia. "V'sheren got here first."

Roban looked at V'sheren thoughtfully; then grinned suddenly, and went off on his quest to find Carya.

Jessenia felt sick; but she was safe now, and covered by V'sheren's heavy jacket that smelled both of him, and the heavier, musky scent of Asreth.

"Thank Asreth for me, please, for relaying the message?" she asked, looking up.

V'sheren smiled.

"You can do it yourself; you've reached him once, you can do it again. Dragons can hear anyone they want to; they just don't usually bother. Especially scrubby weyrlings!" he grinned, "but as you sense Thread, it might not be such a bad idea to get to know all the dragons of the Wingleaders to pass information to them."

"Oh, do you think that'll help?" asked Jessenia.

"Oh yes! When you Impresss, it takes a little time to bespeak another dragon through your own; vital seconds that can be lost. That's why those Weyrs that have people who can hear all dragons are so much better co-ordinated, because the Queenrider involved can reach everyone. You have a clear mind voice, Asreth says; I wager any child you had with a dragonman would have a chance of hearing all dragons."

"That makes it my duty to breed, then," said Jessenia, "though I don't feel a whole lot like the act of getting, right now."

V'sheren made a dismissive gesture with his weak arm.

"And what that fellow planned has as much to do with sex as – as wrestling a greased porcine has to do with acrobatics!" he said, angrily. "You are too strong, Jessenia, to let it affect you for long; you are bigger than that. Excuse me," he stepped backwards hard onto the now groaning bully.

Jessenia managed a giggle, then pulled a face.

"Will – will he complain?" she whispered. "He has Rank knots – he could make things hard for Rob and me even if he can't get a Bronze Rider!"

V'sheren stared at her.

"You are weyrlings," he said, "and destined for the Weyr, WHATEVER the outcome of Impression. Technically, for your use to the Weyr, you are a weyrwoman – with a small w – and we protect our own. And we shall see that your family doesn't suffer either if he is so mean spirited as to try to take it out on them. And HE will be subject to Weyr discipline, and G'narish is going to take a dim view of this. Ah, Carya," he added as the girl came in, curious and scared, followed by Leealla. "Girls – take care of Jessenia, while I remove this offensive object from her sight. You're excused further duty, today, Jess."

The bully was a big boy; but V'sheren hoisted him by the neck of his tunic effortlessly in his good hand, and dragged him out, his trews still gaping and his manhood shrivelling in the cool air of the early dry season.

oOo

"Oh Jess! Did he…" Carya was big eyed.

Jessenia shook her head.

"V'sheren hit him as he was about to," she said. "Very nice timing."

"How come you didn't half kill him first?" asked Leealla, "you're faster than him."

"His jolly boys held my arms and legs," said Jessenia, "and they're waiting in V'sheren's office – or they'd better be. I'm going to bathe when I'm dressed."

"Your clothes will get wet," said Carya, practically.

"Idiot! I need them to walk to our quarters to find the bath!" said Jessenia. "Oh, V'sheren's jacket – can you give it back to him, please? He'll take cold!"

"Just like you, Jessenia, to be worrying about others," said Leealla, "I'll take it," she hurried off, her limp scarcely impeding her movement now!

Jessenia dressed hastily and stared doubtfully at her torn clothing.

"Shall I burn it to get rid of the memory?" asked Carya.

Jessenia hesitated.

"No; that would be wasteful. Take it to…oh, it's Salima who's acting in Nadeena's stead, isn't it, and ask her if anything can be done with it; you'd better explain what happened. There's enough for patchwork if nothing else, and a pair of perfectly good sleeves."

Carya nodded.

Relda too had taught her stepdaughter never to be profligate and wasteful of resources!

oOoOo

After bathing, Jessenia went to lie down; and fell asleep! She was awakened by Silaya shaking her, and saying,

"So who's skiving now?" in a voice of triumph.

"Oh go stick your head in a wherry," said Jessenia, "I'm not discussing with YOU why I'm here!"

"Well, I think V'sheren ought to know," smirked Silaya.

The other girls had come in with her; and it was Leealla who raised her hand and gave Silaya a hard slap!

"You have NO idea, you filthy little tunnel snake!" roared the Weyrartist. "And V'sheren DOES know – he sent her to rest! Go bend a tail!"

Silaya screeched, of course.

"I'll tell him you hit me!" she said.

"Do!" said Leealla, cordially, "maybe he'll give me an award for heroism for touching something so slimy!"

There was laughter.

"I wouldn't normally think hitting was a good idea, but you asked for it, Silaya," said Geetta. "You've been asking for it for a long time, actually. And as the Weyr bullies have been hied off before the Weyrleader I guess she's been fighting three great big boys on her brother's account, and DESERVES to be left alone!"

Silaya had little support; and just fell to muttering darkly that the bullies were to be pitied for being near Jessenia. Being hit by a cripple of uncertain antecedents did not improve her disposition, but she strongly suspected that if she retaliated, more than one of the other girls would defend Leealla!

In this she was quite correct.

If Nadeena had been there and had not been being consulted by her twin with regards to the attack on Jessenia, she would have told Leealla off for slapping another girl, whilst telling off Silaya for waking the sleeping Jessenia, but Nadeena was not there; and the majority of the other girls approved Leealla's actions.

Melvi went over to Jessenia and patted her hand.

"It's hard, but – but we all believe you, you know, about them hurting you," she said.

Jessenia, fully awake now, shot a surreptitious look at Bannoria; who gave an almost imperceptible nod to say that she had picked up on THAT piece of information.

"They didn't hurt me too badly," said Jessenia, "V'sheren interrupted them, and laid the leader out. I'm a little bruised in body and spirit, is all."

Melvi patted her hand again.

"I think we should all bathe quietly and leave her to sleep," she said, rather timidly.

"Seconded," said Bannoria, briskly.

Silaya opened her mouth.

"Voluntarily, or frogmarched by the rest of us if need be," said Carya, ominously.

Silaya subsided.

oOoOo

V'sheren ripped verbal shreds off the two cronies; he told them in no uncertain terms that they were totally unworthy to be dragonmen; but that he would give them the benefit of the doubt that they were just weak and easily led to even consider aiding so iniquitous a plan, and therefore would only be sent home with a full report forwarded to their parents AND their Holder.

One boy sobbed the excuse that he had not know just what Restin, their leader, had planned. V'sheren looked on him coldly.

"When he tore her clothing and started fumbling with his tackle, I should have thought that his plans became obvious," he said. "Had you even protested then, or better yet, had you let go of the girl, I might have given you a second chance. But you are either so lost to shame that you did not care, or so stupid you did not act, and either one of those makes you ineligible to aspire to ride a dragon. You will go and pack forthwith."

oOoOo

V'sheren wanted G'narish to decide the fate of Restin, the leader; and locked the boy in a storeroom until the Weyrleader had returned from fighting Thread and had had the chance to bathe.

G'narish was appalled.

"We can't let it go," he said, "it's an offence against all weyrwomen and potential weyrwomen as well as an act of barbarity."

"Pity she's not Impressed yet so we could send him to the Eastern Isles," growled V'sheren. "you can't have him drudge here; not fair on the girl if she runs across him – and he might hurt lower cavern kids too. He's not fit to be around women."

G'narish nodded.

"I'll have a word with the Minercraft; bound to be some men-only mine that's manned in rotation for some small seam. They can always do with cleaning drudges."

V'sheren nodded.

"Seems a good solution," he approved.

G'narish made arrangements duly; and then saw the by now rather cowed Restin, who had cooled his heels overnight.

He regained some spirit to declare that G'narish had no RIGHT to treat a Ranking man of the Blood so badly, especially as he'd only been giving what every acrobat girl was gagging for, and it was not his fault if V'sheren was jealous they someone else might get what he obviously got.

G'narish floored him for that.

Then he went hot-foot to see Corman of Keroon to inform that worthy of the steps being taken against the son of one of his under-Holders and why; and asked Corman to ratify the judgement.

Corman respected dragonkind; and was horrified by the insult to a potential weyrwoman, and the poisonous comments about the Weyrlingmaster!

"Can't have that being spread, dear me no!" he said. "No parents will let their girls come to the Weyr if they thing the Weyrlingmaster is going to lay their daughters," he grunted. "Know young Telara would kick up a stink – unless it was her idea in the first place, she's a spirited filly – but not all would."

"V'sheren would never dream of betraying his duty by using his position of course," said G'narish, coldly. "You're quite right; that slander is a more serious offence than perhaps I thought. Though I did hit him for it," he added candidly.

Corman nodded, blowing down his large nose to clear his ears as was his habit.

"Boy needs to be punished. Need to be careful though; hard labour can embitter a man and make him seek revenge. But as he didn't complete the act is it worth a life sentence?"

G'narish pulled a face.

"Probably not; though not for being a FAILED rapist, but because he did not attempt to kill. His wages must pay her compensation for insult, and the Weyr compensation for insult; and I ask nicely that you strip his Rank from him."

"It shall be so," said Corman. "I'd give him ten turns and ask to be tipped the wink when he's due for release so I could have him watched, if I were you."

G'narish nodded.

"Thank you, Lord Corman. You have more experience in passing judgement than I; normally the worst I have to do is throw lads out, as I have his two companions who held her down."

Corman's bushy white eyebrows went up, and he honked his large nose.

"Coward needed help with one small girl? Definitely I'd have him watched! Personally, I'd consider arranging an accident for him," he added.

"Dragonmen avoid killing," said G'narish, "it upsets our dragons. We'll see how he copes when he comes out; he might be chastened."

The old Holder sniffed, cynically.

"Well, I'll have him watched, too," he said, "and make sure my son knows of this; might not last ten turns myself. You might be busy halfway through the Pass. Don't want him doing a male Thella, all hard done by."

"Absolutely NOT!" agreed G'narish.

oOoOo

Armed with support from the youth's overlord, and a written order to strip Restin of his knots, he felt happier to act as he saw fit.

Restin had left off demanding and resorted to blubbing and pleading as he was loaded onto dragonback to begin his sentence. As Roban said, it was a disgusting display for a young man already Turned seventeen!