To Distraction

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 30th March 2006

Characters: Harki, U'kaiah
Description: Harki, frightened by the rumors circulating in the Weyr about a brownrider and a certain missing drudge, runs to U'kaiah for the truth - and gets something else instead
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 12 of Turn 3
Notes: Follows 'Who Tells the Truth?'

"Shards and shells - U'kaiah!" Harki pushed open his door without
knocking and barged into his weyr, wildly searching the shadows for
the bronzerider. "Shard it! I know you're here!"

"Yes, yes, I'm here," he groaned from his sleeping chambers. "What
sharding time is it?"

"You're _sleeping_?!" Harki pushed through into his bedroom and threw
herself across the foot of his bed. "At a time like this!? You need
to wake up and talk to me!"

"I _am_ up now." **Thanks to you...**

Wide-eyed, the greenrider plucked a pillow from the mess of furs and
blankets and cuddled it on her lap. She tucked her hair behind her
ears and took a deep breath. "Be honest with me. I need to know."

U'kaiah shrugged. "All right. Yes, I was sleeping."

She whacked him with the pillow. "Be serious! This is important!"

"Well, then, tell me what you want me to be honest about," he sighed
as he rolled over on his back, digging the heels of his hands into
his eyes until he could see little flashes of light.

Harki was quiet for a moment. "Did K'far really kill someone?" she
asked in a small voice.

"Who?" The name sounded vaguely familiar.

"_K'far_! A brownrider!" Harki sounded a little desperate as she
hefted her pillow a second time, but smacking U'kaiah around wasn't
going to pull information out of him any faster. "Big man, flies in
my Wing? Brown hair and a big nose? Did he kill that drudge or not!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," U'kaiah growled as he threw
his pillow back at her. "I heard a rumor about a drudge having been
killed, but that's it."

"Yes, but the Weyrwoman brought him in to ask him questions, and they
think that _he_ killed her. Or, at least, that's what people are
saying." She frowned and set the second pillow aside. "Nobody'll tell
someone like me anything, but they'd tell _you_ if he was a
murderer."

"Why would they tell me? I'm not a wingleader anymore. I'm rank and
file, same as you." He probably would have known. Before he would
have known.

Harki stared at him in shock. Then her eyes narrowed. "Scorch it - I
come to you with a _real_ problem and you turn it into whining about
the knots that you _temporarily_ lost. Thanks a lot!" She threw her
pillow at him - hard - and slid off the bed. "I hope you enjoy your
sharding nap."

"I wasn't whining," the bronzerider shot back. "I'm telling you I
know no more than you!"

Harki spun on her heel in the threshold to face him. "Well, you
could find out!" she snapped. Distantly she realized that she was
shaking, and she hoped it was because of anger. "Nobody would
sharding talk to a 'rank and file' _greenrider_, but they'd talk to
_you_, and maybe, just _maybe_ I need to know the truth!"

What was she getting so upset over? Was it really that big a deal?
"Shards, Harki! What is so sharding important about the truth?"

"Because I don't want to die too!" It came out closer to a wail than
the snappy retort she'd been going for. She looked horrified, and
retreated back the way she'd come. "Never mind. Just- just go back to
bed!"

"What the..." U'kaiah swung his legs over the bed and followed her.
"Harki, what are you talking about? Why would _you_ die? It's only
one drudge..."

"Shards and shells. Don't you _listen_?!" The rumors were flying
across the Weyr faster than a grassfire. "She and K'far were lovers,
and now _I've_ gone and slept with K'far too! What if he-" -if he got
annoyed with her, the way he got annoyed with Nineba? If something
she did set him off? If he dragged _her_ off somewhere where
Cerillith couldn't find her, and- and- She threw up her hands in
disgust, although whether it was at herself or U'kaiah she wasn't
sure. "Scorch it! I _said_ never mind! Go back to bed."

Faranth's name! "Harki, if they really thought that dragonrider
_did_ hurt her or kill her, don't you think they would have made it
known? Don't you think they would have caught him and punished him by
now?" He walked over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm
sure its just rumors. No one would ever hurt you."

"He's _smart_, U'kaiah. And there's no- no body." She shook off his
hand. "And I got punched in the sharding face two months ago,
smartass."

"He punched you?" _No_one_ punched his friends! If he did, U'kaiah
would rather lose his knots for a while longer...

"No, the dead girl did!" Harki abruptly sat down on the couch and put
her head in her hands. "And then he _killed_ her."

He sat down next to her. "Now, wait. There is no body, so you don't
even know that she _is_ dead."

"She's _gone_, U'kaiah. Gone! She's not back at Dolphin Cove, and
she's obviously not in another part of the Weyr since she'd have
spoken up by now. And none of the caravans have her. It's the middle
of winter - people don't just _vanish_ in the middle of winter." The
greenrider shook her head. "She was crazy, but not _that_ crazy. And
K'far even said he'd kill her."

"Do you want me to talk to him? To tell him to stay away from you?"

She shook her head miserably. "I just want to know the truth. And-"
**And if I'm next...**

A spark of anger was beginning to rise in U'kaiah. He didn't know
who the drudge was, who K'far was, or what in truth had actually
happened, but if he ever tried to do anything to Harki... "Cerillith
will never let anything happen to you. If he's as smart as you say,
he'd know she'd rouse the Weyr if he ever tried to hurt you. And if
he ever scares you, you just tell Kalamath and I will be there in a
heartbeat. I promise. No one will hurt you."

"Yeah, but what if he sneaks into my weyr while I'm asleep and- cuts
my throat? Or strangles me from behind? Or puts an axe through my
skull, or bashes my head in with a tree branch, or stabs me and
throws me off the cliff?" She'd had far too much time to think about
it. "I told you - he's _smart_. Too smart to get caught. And Nineba
is _gone_."

"His dragon would know if he harmed another dragonrider. You know
they wouldn't be able to live with that," U'kaiah said reassuringly.

"Would you like to stay here tonight?"

She hesitated - very tempting. "Torth sleeps _sometimes_. And- I'm
sure that you've got company. I don't want to be in the way."

U'kaiah rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I have company? You came
and woke me up. Did you _see_ anyone in my bed?"

"Knowing you, I'm sure that you have a couple of busty, nubile
drudges stashed under your bed," she mumbled. "Or maybe they're
painting themselves with cream and about to knock on your door."

"Hmmmm... That is a pretty picture," the bronzerider said with a
grin. "Do you think the kitchen can deliver cream up here?"

Harki punched his arm. "Pervert." But she was smiling, even though
she didn't want to.

"Oh come on, I can see it in your eyes," he chuckled. "You want to
try it as much as I do. It might take all night, after all."

"Well... maybe." She paused. "But I should warn you that there's
every possibility that your mattress will smell like soured milk for
sevendays afterwards."

At least she wouldn't be thinking about K'far anymore. "I'm sure
we'll find a way around it. Its worth a try at least."

The greenrider hesitated, then shrugged. Scorch it. It was worth a
try.

Last updated on the April 9th 2006

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