Should I Believe It?

Writers: Emma, Miriah
Date Posted: 28th July 2015

Characters: Teseada, Ninaine
Description: Ninaine hears a rumor and goes to Teseada about it.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 25 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: N'call

Teseada

Ninaine

She couldn't have helped but hear the rumors and each time she did, it
felt like a little stab in her gut. N'call had said that _her_ child
would be his first born. Hers. So it couldn't be true. It was true
that she didn't know how far along Teseada was, but the goldrider
looked about as far along as she was and that could have been from the
goldflight that N'call had been so proud of.

Ninaine stared at Teseada's door, trying to urge herself to knock upon
it. She had to know. Maybe it wasn't any of her business and she still
was just a weyrling with no status whatsoever, but she had to know.
**Please let it not be true.** She took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," the goldrider wasn't expecting any visitors, but there were
always those unexpected ones, and sometimes they were the most fun.

Ninaine came in and quietly closed the door behind her. Her hands
clasped at her abdomen, she cleared her throat softly. "Goldrider,
might I speak with you a moment?"

"Of course," Teseada looked at the weyrling, realising that something was
clearly amiss to have brought the girl here. "Please, sit down."

Finding a seat, Ninaine looked at the other woman and visibly
struggled with what she wanted to ask. She shifted on her chair and
her fingers fluttered over her abdomen in nervous twitches as she
tried to find a polite way of finding out the information she wanted.
She couldn't just demand to know; Teseada outranked her and it would
be, quite simply, rude. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it and
tugged at her shirt again before clearing her throat. She glanced at
Teseada's abdomen and then straightened. "I apologize for just showing
up at your door, Goldrider but..." She finally looked up at the other
woman's face. "I heard some things that I'm not sure how to take or if
I should believe them."

"I see." It didn't take much to figure out what those things were likely to
be, she was more than aware of the gossip that had to be flooding the place
by now. it seemed trying to be discreet had had the opposite effect on the
weyrfolk. Well, the least she could do was to try and make the greenrider
comfortable. So she stood, and reached for a small box of cookies and opened
them, offering one to her.

Being polite, Ninaine took one, but didn't eat it, just held it in her
fingers and murmured her thanks."I know it's none of my business
but..." She took a breath and sat straighter as she exhaled. "I would
like to know if my child will have a sibling." And if N'call had lied
to her.

She was direct, Teseada had to give her that, and it had clearly taken some
effort and some courage to come and face her today. "Yes, it is true. I am
pregnant, and N'call is the father."

She tried to keep her face straight but her expression crumbled just a
little. "I see." She looked down at the cookie in her hand and her
voice was strained. "How long has he known?"

"Since the hatching," honesty at least, that was one thing Teseada could
give her. And as it looked like Ninaine could crumble like the cookie she
seemed to be playing with, maybe that would help. "I didn't plan it, he
didn't either."

That was a bit of a relief. He hadn't known about it when he had found
out about her own. But he still hadn't told her. Her words echoed her
thoughts. "He didn't tell me anything. I thought that..." Her voice
trailed off. She had thought her pregnancy would be something special
to him. Now it was just one of two. Was anyone else pregnant by him
that she didn't know about? "I guess he didn't tell you about mine
either?"

"Not all the details," not that it was really her business anyway, unless
N'call wanted her to be involved beyond that fact. "In my case, well flights
happen."

Ninaine finally took a small nibble of the cookie, trying to find the
words to how she felt. "But he did tell you." She stared at the cookie
before speaking softly. "I wish I could be angry with you, but it's
not your fault. I was...I was really jealous because he was spending
so much time with you after he won your flight." She looked up at
Teseada and her voice was soft. "Does he love you?"

"We're just good friends." Teseada was aware of how lame that sounded. So
she got up to sit beside Ninaine. "Listen to me, that isn't what matters
right now. What does matter is that our babies will be loved, by us, by
each other, and they'll both have a father who will adore them."

Staring at the cookie, Ninaine's fingers stroked over the edges of her
nibble. "I'm angry at him." She admitted. "For not telling me. For
letting me hear it from someone else." She took a deep breath. "I'm
really angry at him. But I guess it wasn't any of my business. Babies
happen all the time here. I guess...I guess it's just something I have
to accept." She took another small nibble of the cookie. She'd done a
lot of accepting lately and she was pretty sure that she really didn't
have any other choice but to do so, even if she didn't like it. Her
head lifted at a thought and she looked Teseada right in the eyes. "I
know you're a goldrider and more important than me, but I won't let
him treat our babies differently." A hint of stubbornness flashed in
her eyes. "He doesn't need to choose one over the other. Ever."

"Do you know about my father?" asked Teseada. It was a pretty open secret
among the weyrbred that D'nev had had two families on the go, in and out of
the weyr, and the trouble it had caused when it came out.

Ninaine's brows furrowed at what seemed to be a change of subject.
"No. What does he have to do about it?"

"He, he had another family, another wife and children outside the Weyr, I
didn't find out until Onnyth's first hatching when my brother impressed. It
hurt." Teseada said simply. "I felt like he'd betrayed me and my mother, by
choosing them over us, and I would never, ever do that to a child. You have
my word, as Onnyth's rider that neither my child, or your child would be
allowed to feel that their father preferred the other."

She didn't know what to say about what Teseada had revealed, but it
had put her more at ease. Ninaine visibly relaxed and relief showed
clearly on her face. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the words came with force of habit. "Listen," Teseada said
after a moment, attempting to hold Ninaine's gaze for a second or two. "I, I
think it would be good, for the babies if nothing else, if we could try to
be friends."

Her immediate instinctive response, that Teseada was of a higher rank
than she, was swallowed back forcefully as she met Teseada's eyes with
hers. The older woman was prettier, weyrbred and higher ranked than
she. She had to remind herself firmly that she had to accept that
things were different here and in this instance, it might well be a
good thing. She nodded slowly. "I think that would be a good idea. I
think I would like that." She frowned a little. "But I _am_ still mad
at him."

Teseada laughed. "He probably deserves that much at least."

"He does."

Last updated on the July 29th 2015

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