Chapter Eight
Weyrlingmaster B'mezal stomped into the council room, scowling. It was mid afternoon which meant that he had left the latest group of weyrlings alone and it didn't bode well. His foul mood of the last two months was explained by the one girl rider he was expected to train. F'lar and the wingleaders look up. "A word, Weyrleader, please," he growled, his jaw grinding. T'gellan watched them move to the hall between the Weryleaders' chambers and the council room. He heard F'lar call to Lessa, then F'nor. When Lessa entered the council room she beckoned to him. He followed her up to the first room of her private quarters where the other three stood in a small knot, talking low. As he entered the room, all eyes turned to him.
"T'gellan," began F'nor, "It's Mirrim."
His chest tightened. "Is she hurt? Is something the matter with Path? What…" he turned to B'mezal whose scowl had deepened.
"She's miscarried," continued F'nor.
T'gellan found that he was holding onto the wall and he couldn't gather a full breath. She hadn't told him. How could she have? The night of impression was the last time they had been together. She had his child; it would have to be his child. "Where is she now? I want to see her," he looked first to Lessa then to Brekke who had entered from without.
"I can't maintain discipline among 20 boys and a bleeding girl," snarled B'mezal, then he flushed at the inappropriateness of his oath. "Weyrleader, I have tried. I know what head need knocking, what needs stitching and what needs my boot in a rear but, but this?! Thirty-five turns of training riders, I have no experience for this and I'm done gaining any."
F'lar and F'nor both spoke at the same time, contradicting each other about Mirrim and Path's training.
"She stays."
"Bring her out".
Lessa and Brekke looked intently at each other and they spoke at the same time too, also contradicting each other.
"She must complete weyrling training."
"She will need to be brought to the Infirmary."
"Get her out of my barracks. This is another sign that training a girl to fight is ridiculous." B'mezal raised his voice.
"I want to see her. NOW, F'lar," T'gellan interrupted angrily. Several dragons roared then silence. Lessa was holding up her hands.
Lessa insinuated herself between the Weyrlingmaster and the tall wingleader. "T'gellan, she has to stay with the rest of the weyrlings and finish her and Path's training. B'mezal, Brekke will examine her, make her comfortable in the barracks but she stays there unless Brekke says she needs to be moved to the infirmary."
F'nor assisted his weyrmate to the exit through Ramoth's couch to the bowl. B'mezal gave one parting glower to F'lar and stumped behind them. F'lar touched Lessa's arm which she flinched away. He shrugged, returning to the council room. T'gellan continued to stare blankly before him not realizing she had called his name, probably more than once. He looked at her.
"So Talina is in her fifth month, not ready to call the child yours until she's had a good look at it, but you'll gladly claim Mirrim's. Am I right?" Lessa had seated herself and gestured to the one next to her. T'gellan walked over and fell into it. He shook his head slowly and put it in his hands as he leaned forward and tried to get his mind around the matter.
His last look at Mirrim was in his arms before he fell asleep on the night she impressed Path. He seemed confident that she, Path and the fire lizards would move into his weyr. A babe, their baby, in their weyr, he thought for the first time. It was another happy future he hadn't imagined he had wanted until it was taken away.
"Of course, it was my child," he finally replied. "I want to see her; talk with her."
"When we ordered that B'mezal include Mirrim and Path with the rest of the weyrlings' training, we knew we'd be in for a trial," Lessa stated after a few moments of silence. If they train well; if they're a viable fighting team, we will start putting more girls to the eggs." She paused, "I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for the two of you."
"I want to talk with her."
"You know how the first six months of training are. No family while riders and dragons learn each other." Lessa replied with a sigh.
When he looked up, Lessa was gazing across her room, deep in thought. F'lessan was one of the 21 new riders under the authority of the Weyrlingmaster. He stood, resigned, "I thank you Weyrwoman. I guess we have no choice but to wait until next month on that first restday."
He exited the chamber and returned to the council room joining in the discussions with the other wingleaders. No questions were asked and he provided no explanation. At the end of the session, F'lar regarded him with sympathy and he nodded as he departed.
# # #
Brekke and F'nor entered B'mezal's realm at the cavern behind the lake, close to the beasthold. The boys and young men were seated in two rows listening to a brown rider's lecture. F'nor guided her to the barracks. Mirrim was in the back row of cots. Two green riders sat vigil on a cot beside her. When they saw who approached their eyes grew like saucers as they stood to salute the wingleader and Brekke. F'nor nodded his release as his weyrmate stepped to her foster daughter's bedside. As the two began a low conversation, F'nor motioned to the two boys to step away.
"F'nor, sir," began the blond, wiry one. "Don't take Mirrim away. She needs to stay with the rest of us." The other, darker boy nodded his head in agreement.
He regarded both, "G'lenan and …" he looked pointedly at the darker boy.
"S'bald, F'nor sir," the boy crossed his arm over his chest in deferential salute.
"G'lenan and S'bald, you do your hatchmate honor," he smiled at them briefly. "But let the healer finish her evaluation." They looked sideways to where Brekke and Mirrim were seated, next to each other, heads together, Brekke's arm about Mirrim's shoulder. He beckoned to the boys to move further down the hall.
S'bald continued, "Mirrim's only fault is she's a girl, sir. Otherwise she'd make a fine green rider."
"Yeah, she's the smartest on dragon anatomy and care." G'lenan added.
"As she should," F'nor replied. So she holds her own in the Weyrlingmaster's realm. Good, thought F'nor. He was relieved to know she had champions. F'nor and F'lar had impressed together and trained under B'mezal. They may have been brothers through their father but their training made them closer than blood. Perhaps Lessa and F'lar were right; Mirrim must train with her hatchmates.
He was more than fond of Brekke's fosterling. Dependable, intelligent and downright blunt when it came to getting people to do what's necessary, Mirrim was a bit of a worry. He credited her for saving Brekke in those crucial moments after she lost Wirenth. He knew her constant care after Brekke turned that corner afterwards was why he had a woman to love at all. He was grateful to Mirrim who cared for him and Canth during their long, painful recovery from going to the red star. But, officious and abrupt, she had few friends or confidants. Although he didn't doubt T'gellan's affection, he was a bronze rider. He was certain that circumstances would break their attachment some day.
The three of them looked up to see Brekke walking towards them. He stepped aside to confer with her.
"She can stay so long as B'mezal agrees that she is restricted for a sevenday from strenuous activity and heavy lifting. I will check her every morning until then. Brekke lifted mournful eyes to her weyrmate. "She won't leave of her own volition. I can't force her."
"Come," he replied taking Brekke by the elbow and escorting her out of the barracks. The two green riders watched them stop to speak to the Weyrlingmaster who was standing with his feet apart and fists on hips. He scowled, nodding his head curtly at intervals.
They both looked back at the last bed with its covered form. "Wingleader F'nor and his weyrmate came to administer to her," S'bald said in astonishment.
"That's Brekke, former rider of Wirenth," G'lenan replied reverently, "Mirrim is her foster daughter. They turned to the door again but the mass of the Weyrlingmaster stood before them.
"Get to class," he gruffed.
# # #
The first restday when the future riders were allowed to visit their families was rainy. But, the twenty young men and one girl were ready to tear across the wet bowl to family and friends after feeding and bedding their dragons. If the rider was new to weyrlife, they were greeted warmly by the weyrfolk. The weyrborn were met by their families, Mirrim among them.
T'gellan stood with F'nor and Brekke much to Talina's annoyance. In her gravid condition she had opted to rest in her weyr and not subject herself to the reunion.
When Mirrim came into view through the sheeting rain, T'gellan stepped out to her grabbing her by the waist and twirling her around before running her back to the cavern where F'nor and Brekke waited. Unexpectedly both F'nor and Brekke hugged the two of them, although they were wet. T'gellan thought to disentangle himself but realized he was being included in her family. Brekke wasn't objecting. As the four of them sat down to klah and some hot cereal, Mirrim and Brekke began speaking rapidly, discussing the women and children in the lower caverns, how their fire lizards were faring and what was happening in the Infirmary. F'nor and T'gellan shrugged at each other and contented themselves with their breakfast.
When the women took a breath, T'gellan cut in, "There's a Gather today in Boll. I'd like to take Mirrim to it." Mirrim looked up in surprised delight then schooled her features to gauge Brekke's reaction.
"When do you intend to go?" Brekke asked. "It's still night in the west."
"I figured we'd leave about mid-afternoon. Then walk around the stalls for a while and be back by supper." T'gellan replied, looking to F'nor then Brekke and finally to Mirrim. Brekke shrugged while F'nor and Mirrim smiled.
"I'd love to go." Mirrim interjected before Brekke could change her mind. "Brekke and I are going to see Sanra's new baby first then she wants to show me the new centrifuge in the infirmary. Can we meet back in the dining hall before lunch?"
After a leisurely few hours talking with the latest riders who were also new to Benden, T'gellan decided to pass the rest of the morning in his weyr. All three of Mirrim's fire lizards were crawling over Monarth's back in little mincing steps. "I itch when it rains."
"We'll go to Boll this afternoon. You'll have a warm ocean to swim in." T'gellan said as he crossed to Monarth's couch to rub his eye ridges.
"Lioth says the sky is clear," replied Monarth, his eyes swirling blue.
Reppa chirped and looked to the lip of the weyr. T'gellan could hear somebody running up the steps. Swinging a bag and covering her head with an oilskin Mirrim came into view. She shook off the oilskin and draped it on a small outcrop of rock.
"Saw the baby; saw the centrifuge," she said between breaths.
"What's in the bag?" T'gellan asked as he approached her.
"Brekke gave me a proper gather gown and F'nor gave me two and a half marks," she answered stepping into his arms. "Brrr, I'm cold. Let's have a soak."
T'gellan laughed. "I forgot that you have to haul water from the lake for washings in the barracks." They headed to the bed chamber but it took a bit longer to get to the bathing room.
# # #
Lunch was shared with F'nor, Brekke, F'lar, Lessa and F'lessan. T'gellan and the brothers shared stories of their days in the barracks. F'lessan was animated in his own tales but it was clear that the best behaved and most conscientious weryling was Mirrim who spoke little while they ate. Many of F'lessan's stories involved boys' antics, tricks and practical jokes and he ended most of them with "But not Mirrim, she stayed out of it." The rain had slackened and T'gellan wanted to leave before it started up again. They did get a bit damp as Monarth rose above the bowl to a height safe enough to jump between.
Instead of Boll they were above Half Circle. T'gellan directed Monarth to the dragon stones where he perched on his usual flat rock. Mirrim hugged him from behind and put her chin on his shoulder. "What are we doing here?" she asked.
"We've got "time" before we go to Boll yet," he replied. "We like coming here to think sometimes. See that hole in the cliff?" He pointed to the shore.
"What about it?"
"That's Menolly's cave. If you come here pre-dawn you will see three stars low on the horizon right over there." He pointed southeasterly.
"The Dawn Sisters, yes." Mirrim adjusted her hold on T'gellan's waist then moved to his other ear. "I know."
"You can't see them in the deep night. You have to wait until the sun is just below the horizon and then they shine for only a short while. Right after the sun clears the horizon they disappear."
"We couldn't see them from Southern Weyr," Mirrim replied after a few moments of silence.
"Have you ever seen them?"
"No."
"Wanna see 'em now?" T'gellan asked, moving his head back in order to see her face. She had frozen.
"You mean 'time' it?" She leaned further out to get a better look at his face. "It's forbidden."
T'gellan laughed out loud. "C'mon Mirrim, you've been so well behaved, following ol' B'mezal orders. And I know those hatchmates are putting on you."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I would have if I had a girl hatchmate in the barracks." After a pause, T'gellan continued. "Think on it when B'mezal is picking on you." He paused again. "Share it with younger ones who look up to you."
Mirrim rested her chin back on T'gellan's shoulder. "Who is telling you what is going on in the barracks?"
"Nobody has to tell me. I know you". He could feel her breathing against his neck.
"Don't you get disoriented when you go back in time?" She asked. "It unsettles you and some people lose their minds".
"Mirrim, what were you doing before dawn this morning?" T'gellan laughed.
"Sleeping."
"So was I. So the worst part of timing it is meeting yourself. We're not going to do that," he waited, enjoying her predicament. "So, do you want to be the first of your hatchmates to 'Time' it?"
She squirmed behind him. He could tell her principles were warring with her yearning. "Do you want to see them or not?"
"YES, yes I want to see them." She lightly punched his shoulder. "Will B'mezal be able to tell I timed it?"
"Only if you tell him."
"No chance of that." She shrugged down behind him.
"Ok, then. You need to know that the jump is a bit longer than between places at the same time. It will be colder too. Are you ready?"
"What about my fire lizards? Will they follow?" Mirrim looked for them.
"Monarth sent them on to Boll. They won't miss us".
"I'm glad I wore trousers under this dress."
Monarth spread his wings grabbing the wind and lifting. With two sweeps he had climbed sufficiently. "Get ready… now."
"I am with you too, little one."
Monarth set back down on his perch. The predawn sky was clear. Both moons had set. The sky was purpling. Low on the southeastern horizon the three stars appeared. They shone at first faintly then brighter. "Do you see them?"
Mirrim raised herself higher pushing up from his shoulders. She rose as high as the riding straps allowed. "Oh, I have always wanted to see them and there they are. Look how bright they get. I've always heard that they don't act like normal stars. None of the ones that have fixed paths or wander like the Red Star or the blue or green ones. Oh they're more spectacular than I could have imagined." As the sun peaked over the horizon they abruptly disappeared. "Oh thank you, T'gellan," she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his check. "I will remember this moment forever."
T'gellan was exceedingly pleased with himself.
# # #
It was still early in the day when the two dragonriders walked the stalls in Boll. Reppa perched on Mirrim's shoulder while Tolly decided that T'gellan made a sufficient roost. Lok was skimming the waves in the harbor with Monarth and a few other Fort dragons. The breeze from the wharf carried the briny scent of the ocean and drying fish nets. Mirrim exclaimed over the glass smith's wares. She ignored the rows of delicate stemware and ornamented carafes for the glass weights placed on the corners of the stand. The heavy spheres held tiny scenes within. Some held glass-blown flowers, others simple swirls of primary colors but one held a queen fire lizard in flight. Mirrim looked to the man behind the stall before lifting it to the sun. Both Reppa and Tolly leaned forward to look into the bauble that their mistress held.
"They're my wind weights, miss." The glassblower said. "I made them to hold the cloth to the table. But I'd let that one go for three marks."
Mirrim blanched, curtsied quickly placing the glass back on the table and walking away. T'gellan shrugged at the man and hurried after her. "You were supposed to start haggling with him if you wanted it." He said as he caught up to her.
"Spend all my marks on a trinket?" Mirrim made a disparaging sound in her throat.
"I could get him down to a mark, maybe half a mark." T'gellan replied. "Do you want the queen fire lizard? You always said you wanted one."
She smiled faintly then shook her head. "It's just a bauble and I'd be more interested if it had a green or brown fire lizard." She stroked Reppa.
The gather was becoming crowded which irritated the fire lizards which really meant Mirrim was irritated. Mirrim chose to wait in a line that was away from the throngs. It was for bubbly pies which Menolly had recommended highly. All three of her fire lizards stayed with her while T'gellan said he wanted to run back up the line to talk to a Fort bronze rider he knew. He rounded back to visit the glassblower's stall and didn't see her sneak off to the tanners.
Later, along the seawall, each ate a bubbly pie and watched several dragons cavort in the harbor with their tiny cousins in attendance. Several riders walked by from the wharf on their way to sit on the beach below them. As they passed, giving T'gellan and idle salute, one old man started then laughed aloud. He gave a proper salute and a deep bow to them while booming, "T'gellan bronze Monarth's rider and is this little Mirrim, green Path's rider?!" His companions stopped as one and turned back around. Mirrim leaned into T'gellan.
"Greetings, G'nareth, blue Bleth's rider." Mirrim smiled and curtsied. T'gellan echoed her but stepped forward to grip G'nareth's forearm in a gesture of equals.
G'nareth reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. "I am so pleased to see you and your bronze rider. I warrant that Path is growing well under your expert care?"
"You walk with barely a limp, sir," she replied, pushing herself further back into T'gellan. G'nareth laughed and extolled to the riders Mirrim's ministrations as a healer's apprentice to both T'gellan and him when Southern was still open. He all but dropped his trousers to show the tangled scarring about his calf and thigh and how she had rubbed salve into it and exercised him back to health.
The other men introduced themselves, each taking her hand from the next gripping it or kissing it. Contemplation spoke from their eyes and she began to tremble.
A group of young women approached. They had been following the men down to the beach and all soon left. Mirrim took a few deep breaths, looked to T'gellan and said, "I think I'd better return to Benden now."
Once aloft on Monarth, T'gellan directed them to an alpine lake north of Ruatha. As Monarth landed, Mirrim tapped him impatiently on his shoulder and said, "I do think it's time to return to the Weyr."
"I'm not returning you to Brekke while you are upset," he replied. "Step down." Mirrim slid into T'gellan's arm. As he put her on her feet, he reached for her hand and led her to the tall grass. He laid his jacket down and sat on it, pulling her to sit in front of him, facing him. "Weren't you enjoying yourself at the Gather? I half hoped that we'd get at least one dance set in."
"But I was enjoying myself," she protested looking down.
He put his hand under her chin to raise it. "Until the Telgar riders came by. They were a jovial group. I was pleased to see G'nareth. What bothered you?"
Mirrim turned aside. T'gellan scooted closer pressing his hand to her back. She looked across the peaceful lake at the snowy mountains ringing it. "It was the way those men looked at me once they heard I was Path's rider. I haven't even ridden her yet."
"She's not grown enough to ride yet; but she will grow. That shouldn't bother you." He watched her profile as she stared across the lake. She looked briefly to him then away. "You're still upset."
Mirrim let out a huge sigh. "It's the way they look at me, brown and blue riders."
"Hmmph," he mused. "They appreciated you. A bit too much for you comfort, then. Wait until they see you on Path. She's the most beautifully shaped dragon, perfect proportions!"
"You haven't seen her since the day she hatched." Mirrim protested.
T'gellan laughed, partly because of her reaction and partly for being able to raise her spirits. "She's perfect because she's yours." He pulled closer to her, raising his leg behind her so she could rest her back against his knee. He leaned forward to kiss her below her ear, "And Monarth says he wants to share his couch with her."
Monarth looked back at them; his eyes swirling a languid light blue. T'gellan slipped one hand down to sit low on her belly. "And, you come with her."
Mirrim rested her hands over his and pressed. She turned to look into his eyes. He loved her eyes when she looked directly into his. They could reach deep into his being and he could see to the very depth of hers. A tear slipped. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about being … about the baby." She turned away.
"I wish I had known. That you could have told me, I mean. They wouldn't let me talk to you or see you. I've spent the last month thinking about what you must have been going through." T'gellan replied.
"Brekke told me when F'nor brought her to examine me. She said you shouted at F'lar and B'mezal. She said that Lessa had to call on Monarth to get you to back down. I asked her to tell you I was sorry." She looked back at him for confirmation.
"Brekke never said anything to me except that you would recover and you refused to leave your hatchmates. Then she asked me to breakfast with all of you today." T'gellan reached for her waist trying to pull her closer. She slid her arms around him and they held the awkward embrace. He knew she was trying to control herself and not cry. When her breathing calmed, he continued, "When your training is done, when you're assigned to a wing, I want us to share a weyr and maybe try to have another baby."
She pulled away to look at him in disbelief. "Really? You want children?"
"I've already got one child in the lower caverns and there's probably another on the way. I've had a month to think about it and the idea of us sharing a child, well, I like that idea."
"But, we're riders so the babe would have to be fostered out," she added.
"And who better than Brekke?"
A broad smile spread across Mirrim's face. "I do want to have at least one child."
"It'd be great but first I want us to live together. Will you consider it?"
Mirrim answered by throwing her arms around his neck pushing him back into the grass. She kissed him thoroughly then leaned back. "I've considered it but before I say yes you must accept this one thing."
"What's that?"
"I don't dance."