The Real Reason
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Avery, Yvonne
Date Posted: 27th June 2017
Characters: Ikalis, Alina
Description: Ikalis has some gossip for Alina.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 23 of Turn 8
Ikalis was lugging cleaning supplies through the corridors leading from individual weyrs out into the lower caverns. Dolphin Cove was hosting some wounded people from River Bluff, and if the rumors were true and the Weyr was destroyed, they'd be needing more permanent spaces. And if it wasn't true then there was still a weyrling class who'd need rooms soon. So she was cleaning spaces out.
A familiar figure rounded the corner. "Alina!" Ikalis called. The caverns worker waved the mop she was carrying to signal her friend's attention.
"Hi, Ikalis!" Alina stopped and waited for her friend to catch up before putting a hand on one of the bucket handles Ikalis was carrying. "You look like a beast of burden. Want some help with that?"
"If you have a moment, please." Ikalis gratefully relinquished one of them to her friend. "I've got soooo much to carry since we're cleaning out all these unused weyrs."
The greenrider's smile slipped. "Because of all the people from River Bluff Weyr?"
"And Lanniya's weyrling class. They're moving out the barracks soon," Ikalis said.
So many new faces. For someone from a small Holding, the amount of change was overwhelming. "I just don't understand how there's room for everyone. How are all those people going to _fit_? We only have so many caverns."
"Dolphin Cove had - an accident - a few Turns back. We've been less staffed than some of the other Weyrs since then. The riders can get housed in any unused weyrs. You'd be surprised how many of those we have!" Ikalis said as they walked down the hallway. "And the lower caverns staff can get put in where the Harpers used to be and the little Technicians group is using now. They're not full up. I know we've been looking at space maps for days thinking about it. If the River Bluff people have to leave their Weyr, they'll probably get split over all six Weyrs, so it's not like we're taking them all."
"Even so." The greenrider wrinkled her nose as she followed Ikalis. "I hope they can stay where they are. I have no idea what kind of trouble it would cause for the Wings for coverage if the Weyr was... wasn't there." It seemed incomprehensible to lose a Weyr. That sort of thing just didn't happen. But she'd been sent to River Bluff to bring supplies, and the shattered cliff face and caved in Hatching Cavern was the stuff of nightmares. Even if the Weyr was salvageable, who would want to stay?
"I wish I knew what was going to happen. If the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader head out to a Conclave then we'll know it's something serious," Ikalis said.
She opened up the first weyr on her list to clean. "Eugh. Nobody's been in here in a bit," she said as they walked in. The layer of dust was heavy. And there was a tunnselsnake track in it.
Alina dropped the bucket by the bedframe and immediately went to rattle the door that led to the dragon's couch, but it was locked. Disappointed, she turned back to the room and perched delicately on the edge of a battered desk in one corner. "Who will this be for, do you think?"
Ikalis pulled out the map of the level and showed it to Alina. The map had which weyrs she was going to clean marked off plus it had notes on ledge size. "Smaller couch - not big enough for a bronze or brown, so it must go to a blue or green," she said. "It's not too far of a walk to the upper-level bathing pool, or the stairs. So I could see someone really social who wants to go out and meet folks a lot liking here as it's easy to get around. Or maybe someone with extra duties, so they can bathe and get back here to pass out quickly."
"Or someone with a rotating stable of bedmates," Alina said, waggling her eyebrows at Ikalis. "You know. So they can get back here to 'pass out' quickly."
"There's a few who need it. Hey, speaking of bedmates and rotating, did you hear why Jeyme left? The real reason?"
The greenrider leaned a little closer. "No! I just assumed that she got tired of D'hol. There's something else?"
"He cheated on her, and she got angry, and she went to Cyradis for a transfer," Ikalis confided.
"What?! No way! I can't believe D'hol would do that to his _weyrmate_!" Alina laughed, delighted by the scandal. "I wonder what Cyradis said when she heard what D'hol had done! Was that why she and D'hol are no longer together? Did he cheat on her too!?"
"I don't know what she said to D'hol, but she blew up at Kapera about it at the bathing pools when she found out what they'd done. I heard about it from my sister, who said Kapera wasn't at drills the next day because she'd been told to get out of Cyradis' sight," Ikalis relayed.
"I dunno why D'hol did it. He slept with Cyradis, he probably slept with other goldriders. Maybe he got bored of greenriders and that's why he slept with Kapera," she said. "I feel bad for Jeyme. She was probably blindsided by it."
The greenrider shook her head. "Hopefully Jeyme finds someone who will actually respect her more than Kapera and D'hol do. I was under the impression that she and Kapera were friendly."
"They're wingmates so I assume they must have been at least kind of close. Maybe she slept with him before that and that's why Yumath won her flight. Or he wants to win the next one. He might be trying to increase his odds," Ikalis speculated.
"Maybe." It still seemed like a mean thing to do to his weyrmate, though. Alina tapped her finger against the edge of the bed frame. "I still find it hard to believe that D'hol is-- was weyrmated, let alone another woman would want to cheat with him. He's kind of... gruff."
"And not handsome either. It must be that he's a bronzerider and ladies go for it." Not her. She was above it.
"Do you know where Jeyme's transferring to?"
"Somewhere far away on the other side of the continent. Far Island or Vista Point, maybe?" Ikalis had never been that far away.
A betrayal of that magnitude would make the bitter ends of Pern seem like paradise. Alina shook her head. "Poor Jeyme. That's so far away. But I wonder if it will be far enough?"
Last updated on the July 6th 2017