Thank you for your reviews so far, and enjoying the story. I have not made too much of the hatching because it is covered extensively in canon stories.

14.1.196

An urgent thrumming, felt through the soles of his boots even this deep into the storage caverns of the Weyr roused H'ric and the Headwoman Lavand from their counting and checking.

"Hatching!" Lavand cried. "I didn't think it would be today!"

"Nor did I!"

They both set out at a run, H'ric making for the Hatching Grounds and Lavand to the kitchens to make sure there was enough raw meat for the new dragonets, and that the evening meal would be something special.

"I didn't know!" H'ric fumed.

- it has come early but there is plenty of time

H'ric emerged, blinking in the stormy daylight. As if to emphasise the unusual tenor of the day, snow drifted down from a leaden sky, already coating the weyr ledges with white.

H'ric bounded into his weyr and took time to have a hasty wash down, drying himself and dressing in the outfit Jiverny had made for him. White shirt, green trousers and jacket, trimmed with tawny fur, and a pair of new boots. He stamped them on, pausing to admire the deep sheen of the polished leather. The Tannercrafters could make leather boots like this but not durable parchment, he thought irrelevantly, then he was hurrying down to join the Weyrwoman and their important guests.

"Why today?" he hissed.

"I don't know. I thought it would be at least another day! Good day to you, Lord Holder Arun."

H'ric turned to greet the Lord Holder of Benden. He had issued invitations to all the Holders, but only Benden and Telgar had responded, and had been here for a couple of days, interested in seeing the activities of the Weyr. Even Bitra and Lemos, his other particular responsibilities, had declined. Masterhealer Perera was here, however, stepping out of the crowd of weyrfolk. H'ric had left the organisation of the collection and return of their guests to C'lin and the Wingleader had not disappointed him, even wringing supplies out of those who declined his invitations, so that, as he assured them, the guests at the Weyr would know of their generosity.

"Greetings, Weyrleader, Weyrwoman. An auspicious day for Benden and indeed for Pern as a whole!"

"Thank you, Lord Arun," Jiverny responded graciously, and they led the way into the Hatching Grounds. It was uncomfortably warm in here, and H'ric glanced along the benches to make sure everyone was seated. The Weyrlingmaster and Candidate Master had begun bringing the Candidates in, and H'ric spared a thought for how young and frail they looked, dwarfed by the massive shapes of the dragons as they gathered on the ledges, humming deep in their throats, multi-faceted eyes fixed on their Queen and her brood of eggs.

Jiverny had gone down to supervise the six girls selected to try and Impress the gold. She at least looked cool and calm, and the girls were responding, having been nervous and ill at ease before her arrival, despite their familiarity with the Weyr and the people gathered all around. The Queen Candidates who did not succeed would have a chance at other Impressions, and H'ric knew Jiverny thought Panath would rise soon and have a modest clutch.

"This is kind of you to invite me," Lord Cantin said. "This is the first Impression I've attended. Ah - there are the two boys from Telgar!"

He leaned forward to see the two well grown youths. H'ric knew the Candidate Master had hopes they would both impress brown, but it was impossible to know what eggs contained which colour, as the Candidates were repeatedly warned.

The eggs were rocking now, and the boys grouped themselves where they could see and be seen. The queen egg cracked first, however, and the dragons' hum grew louder as the gold, their potential mate of the future, staggered free of the egg membrane. H'ric thought the young dragonet had already made a choice in the egg, because she dipped a wing to the sands, freed it, and fell over at the feet of a tall lithe young woman, one of the two from Fort, and Impression was made.

After that it was a chaos of breaking shells and creeling youngsters, the ecstatic cries of the youths as they made Impression and spoke their dragons' names for the first time. H'ric glanced up at Haveneth on her upper ledge, and the Queen was watching as fiercely as the dragon riders, it seemed, and even reached to nudge one youth forward to get a better view of one of the hatching dragons. The boy stumbled, fell to his knees, reached out, and embraced the still wet neck of the bronze dragon, and H'ric was sure Haveneth gave a satisfied hum of approval.

"And now they are a race apart," Lord Arun said softly, nodding his head. "Sworn to protect Pern."

"Indeed, my lord, that is so," H'ric replied, still shaken by his own reaction and recall of the way he and Galanath had Impressed.

"It is - quite wonderful - to see it - as it is in the ballads," the Masterhealer said from where he had been making quick notes. "I see some injuries - nothing serious?"

"Scratches and perhaps some grazes, but they heal quickly. The young dragons will be fed now, so if you want to follow me? A glass of something rich and red from your vineyards, my lord, is called for, I think?"

He shepherded them out, joining the weyr folk whose sons and foster sons had Impressed.

"Every Candidate can stand at least three times, Weyrleader?" Lord Cantin asked. "So even if they did not Impress this time, they can remain in the Weyr?"

"Yes, they remain."

"And if they are never a dragon's choice?"

"There's plenty of work, crafting, training, in the Weyr."

"Yes, you seem relatively self sufficient," the Masterhealer agreed. "Were it not for the fact that you live in such an inhospitable land, there would be farming to be done?"

H'ric nodded. "It's a trade-off. The dragons need the huge spaces of Benden Weyr, but because it was once an active volcano, even now only the lower slopes are able to be grazed. Up here - well - you saw it when you overflew it as the dragons brought you in."

"It was an amazing sight, to see these stark mountains, and realise how many people live in the valleys, and then to come into the Bowl of the Weyr and find this thriving community. May it continue to thrive, Weyrleader, under able leadership."

H'ric bowed his acknowledgement of that compliment and brought his guests into the Records Room where he wanted to show them the progress of the Red Star and take the opportunity to conference with them.