A Night Out

Writers: Avery, Suzee
Date Posted: 12th August 2016

Characters: Bryvin, Zelah
Description: The Lord and Lady at the Hatching.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 6, day 21 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: K'sedel, Rhosyn, K'dee, Yriadha

Bryvin

Zelah

As Xeladrie had gotten dressed, she noticed finery felt like it fit
slightly too tightly, and she mentally resolved to have her seamstress
fix it before the next event they were going to host. **Must be baby
weight,** she thought critically. Now she tugged at the fabric as she
and her husband settled into the prime seats they were entitled to.

"I'm so excited to be watching this," she said.

Bryvin patted her hand with an indulgent smile. It hadn't been that
long for him to be treated as the Lord rather than as a more ordinary
guest of the Weyr. He looked up at the box with the Weyrleaders. "It
seems odd not to see K'sedel up there."

"How well did you know him?" Xeladrie asked. She'd never been to the
Weyr; her father was entitled to go, but he'd never permitted his
female offspring or even his wife. **Too much risk of 'contamination'
by Weyr ways,** she thought with a snort. So she'd only met him at the
wedding, though she'd seen Rhosyn a few times now.

"Not all that well, but he was the Weyrleader for quite a long time."
He turned back toward the eggs on the sand. "It's rather like a Lord
changing at a Hold. It can be a trying time."

"I suppose we'll see how well it's been handled later," she said.

The humming rose in pitch. One of the eggs cracked open. "Oh!" she exclaimed.

For a moment, she was able to forget who she was with and the context
she was there in. She wasn't a Lord Holder's wife, supposed to be
pretty, pampered, and disinterested in the strange Weyr ways. She was
a teenager, excited by the spectacle of hatching eggs. A part of her
longed to be down there on the sands, impressing a dragon. Wouldn't it
be glorious? Wouldn't she be amazing atop one? It was many a child's
dream...

He watched her face and his own eyes crinkled. He'd never seen her so
engaged in something before. Oh sure she managed her duties always
with a pleasant demeanor just as a perfect Lady should. This was a new
side of her and it was always good to know a little something about
another person for use at need. He turned and watched the eggs as they
rocked and candidates stepped toward the emerging dragonets.

"That little green is cute," she said with a wistful sigh as she
watched her stumble across the sand. How pretty she was, how small and
yet so important. She felt in herself a deeper connection to the
dragonets in front of her than she had to the son she'd birthed.

All too soon, the Hatching was over. The dragonets had Impressed their
lifemates. And Xeladrie no longer had anything to watch.

~~~

Bryvin pushed back from the table with a sigh of repletion. "My that
was good. I really liked that sauce on the fish."

"It was fantastic. Do you think we could bribe the Weyr chefs for it?"
she joked.

"I'm willing to pay whatever it takes." He flared his eyebrows in
humor. "Maybe we can bribe the Weyr chef to come to Sunstone?"

"I'd gain so much weight you'd think I was pregnant again, but it
would be worth it," she said with feeling. "Weyrwoman Rhosyn might be
angry, though."

"Well for the sake of your figure I'll have to do without I guess. Not
that I'm afraid of the Weyrwoman's displeasure," he winked at her.
This was good, he thought. They were connecting in a way they hadn't
in the past. Maybe he needed to bring her on more outings.

"Her queen's, perhaps. But I doubt her dragon cares much for the
Weyr's cook."," Xeladrie said, thinking of the way that the golden
dragon had curled about her eggs. Fierce, terrible, the way a mother
should be. That her mother had not been. That she wasn't.

"Ah yes, the queen, she is quite beautiful didn't you think?" He had
seen her before of course, yet each time was a new experience.

"Yes, she is. I'm pleased with Glimmer, of course," she said, thinking
of the pretty green firelizard. "But I must wonder what a dragon is
like. Especially a mother one."

"I saw how much you enjoyed the hatching. Would you have liked to be a
dragonrider?" He maintained a pleasant expression and a stillness
within so as not to give away his own thoughts on the matter.

**Careful, now,** she thought to herself. The topic was a little too
sensitive to answer honestly. Would he complain to her father, or
think her a licentious weyr deviant, or beat her for it?

"I always enjoy the chance to travel by dragon rides, and I would love
if I had my own to love me and fly me around," she said. "Wouldn't
you love to fly through the sky forever?"

"But I have seen K'dee's injuries, and I think that I would not want
to fight Thread. Ones of Blood birth have other obligations to Pern,
my father says."

"Yes," he agreed with her conclusion but then his eyebrow raised
slightly at her mention of a dragon rider with whom she must be
familiar to have seen his injuries. "Have I met this K'dee?"

"He's the bronzerider who's been our watch dragon for several
sevendays now," Xeladrie said. "The one with the leg injury. It looks
terribly painful, and I'm so glad I don't have to do groundcrew."

"Yes," he said again. "Fighting thread is not job for a Lady," he said
and picked up her hand. "I'd never want you exposed to that kind of
danger." He knew which rider she'd described though he hand't dealt
with him directly. "Would you like to dance?"

"Being a goldrider doesn't seem as dangerous," she said, thinking
about how the similarities between a Blood woman and a gold dragon.
Both bred babies. A Blood woman had children to inherit their Hold, to
accomplish great tasks for its prestige, if male, or be married off to
trade power and to breed more children to send out.

And the gold dragons bred the baby dragonets. They grew up and were
sent into the fight against Thread. People existed to live on Pern and
love and do things and have lives, but dragons' sole purpose was the
fight against Thread. In a Pass, there was nothing else for them to
do, no way dragons could have their own independent lives. Did the
golds care about the danger for the children, or was the hatred of
their enemy, Thread, too strong? Did a gold care for all of the babies
hatched or did she forget them over time? There were so many babies,
she couldn't think of how to count it. She hoped Impressing and living
with their lifemates and doing what they were bred to was enough for
the dragons...

She thought about her own son, and how she would have no issue with
sending him into danger, no connection. No, maybe she didn't have the
right temperament to be a goldrider. She would need to be too
nurturing...

"I'm sorry?" she said after a moment, when she realized Bryvin had
spoken again. "I was thinking..."

"Mmhmm," Bryvin mused with a smile. "I could see that. What I asked
was... would you like to dance." He was amused by her obvious delight
with dragons and their riders. As long as she wasn't so enamored she
did something stupid. He resolved to make sure he had this K'dee
under observation.

"Oh. Yes, I would, my Lord," Xeladrie said, turning her smile onto
him. "The music is good and the dancing square is unique, so we should
take advantage of it?"

"I think we should," he said and stood. He tucked her hand into his
elbow and led her to the dancefloor. Then turned to take her into his
arms and follow the music. Bryvin wasn't a brilliant dancer like some
but he did enjoy it and it showed.

She beamed up at him. "I love what they're doing with these hanging
baskets. Do you think we could do something similar for an event at our Hold?"

Bryvin was feeling expansive and generous especially since his wife
was having such a good time for all eyes to see. He'd seen more than
one admiring glance in his direction and took it as a personal victory
that his wife was seen as one of the most beautiful women in the room.
"Of course, my dear," he smiled. "Whatever you wish."

"Let me know the next time there will be an event big enough to show
off, and I'd love to work on coordinating it." She was sure he'd agree
to letting her have responsibility and surely she could get some of
her wants over on that Headwoman.

Because it was going so well she stepped closer to him, as close as
this dance allowed. When it was a slow dance she'd nestle in closer,
make some implications. "Thank you, my Lord," she said in a low tone.

His arm wrapped around her a little more possessively and he simply
enjoyed the closeness. But his mind turned to the lateness of the
evening and nocturnal activities. He'd planned on seeing Xeladrie to
her room and then finding a willing woman in the lower caverns but it
seemed he might have one in his arms this moment. "Of course," he said
warmly and pressed her fingers. "Are you getting tired," he asked when
the dance ended, "or would you like to dance some more?"

"Whatever my Lord desires," she said, fluttering her lashes at him. He
had brought her great pleasure, and he was being so generous about the
Hatching...if she rewarded him, perhaps she could get away with more,
in the future. "We could retire."

"Then come along my dear," he smiled and kissed her fingers. "I have
plans for your pleasure this evening."

Last updated on the November 10th 2016

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A Night Out