Liar, Liar

Writers: Curious, Devin
Date Posted: 9th March 2024

Characters: L'saz, R'lor
Description: L'saz confesses that he bribed a rider to be Searched . . . and that he lied to his family about Faelath.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 9 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: K'don

R'lor

It was late in the evening - right in the verge of bedtime, when
Faelath reached out to Kularth. }: Can L'saz come speak to yours? :{
the green asked, her usual pep and excitement markedly subdued. }: I
know he's chosen an awful time to do this, but you should say yes
before he gets nervous again and wimps out. :{

R'lor had just finished speaking with another Weyrling when Kularth
passed on the message. He sighed and shook his head, but a little
smile tugged at his mouth too. All part of the job. }:Tell him to meet
me in my office.:{

Unfortunately for R'lor, L'saz took his time getting to his office.
When he did show up, however, he looked like death warmed over.
"Weyrlingmaster," he dully said. "I... Have something to tell you. And
I don't think you're going to like it."

"What's the matter lad? Faelath is all right, isn't she?" Kularth
would have mentioned something, surely.

"She's fine. Just-" L'saz took in a deep breath and, like tearing off
a bandage, blurting it out at once. "She shouldn't have been able to
pick me. I wasn't actually searched, I bribed a rider to take me here
and say he did. It was only supposed to be for one hatching, to get my
parents off my back. He _said_ that I wasn't supposed to impress, and
I..."

Don't have a sharding clue what to do now.

R'lor's eyes widened as he took in that information. "You bribed a
rider to Search you?" There were unscrupulous riders who "Searched"
pretty girls or attractive boys, although that was highly frowned
upon. Other times, kind riders took pity on those hold and hallfolk in
difficult situations and used Search as a cover to get them to safety.
Bribery . . . that was certainly unusual. "Who is this rider?"

L'saz grimaced and looked away. "I'd rather not say," he grumbled.
"He's... I don't want to deal with what would happen if he found out I
told. Plus he's gone anyway, so. I just. Wanted to tell you that I
didn't choose this. Threadfall and all that."

"What do you think he could do to you? You're a dragonrider now."
R'lor frowned at the unpleasant implications. "Has he threatened you?"

"Threats are kinda part of the deal." L'saz shrugged lamely. "Besides,
it could mean bad things for the other people he searched, right? I
mean, I only bribed him because I was rich and spoiled and wanted to
pretend that I was doing something with my life..." A pause. A
strained, empty smile before he continued. "But he told me enough for
me to know that there are people who had situations that they
genuinely needed to get out of. I've got enough weighing on me without
also being responsible for them getting kicked out of candidacy."

R'lor's anger rose, and he felt on the edge of becoming furious. But
he realized L'saz hadn't come to him so the Searchrider could be
disciplined, or to get anyone else in trouble, no matter how
dishonorable they'd been. L'saz was here to confess his _own_ guilt
and admit just how much he was struggling with a duty he'd never
actually wanted. R'lor let out a slow breath. "All right. So you paid
a Searchrider to lie so you could what? Brag to your friends back
home?"

"That's part of it," L'saz admitted. He only managed to hold R'lor's
gaze for a moment longer before dropping his gaze down to his lap,
where he was wringing his hands together. "I wasn't really doing much
with my life. My father was sick of me being a lazy layabout, so I
decided I'd play candidate for a little while to get him off my back.
I was going to accept search, stand for one clutch, and come home
saying that I couldn't handle the depraved lifestyle. He wouldn't be
able to complain with an excuse like that and wouldn't be able to
complain, since I _did_ try. It... didn't work out, as you can see."
He glanced up at R'lor for a brief second before looking back down and
muttering, "I told them I impressed bronze."

"You . . . _lied_ about your dragon?" He was so shocked that for a
moment that was all he could manage.

"I didn't know what else to do," L'saz grumbled. "I never planned to
impress at all, and I'd get disowned for a green."

"I am sorry about your family's views, but you must _never_ disrespect
your dragon like that again." R'lor knew that hold and hallfolk could
react very poorly to boys Impressing green or even blue. He'd
witnessed a few terrible scenes at Hatchings. But that was no excuse
for what L'saz had done.

"I'm not telling them about her, if that's what you're saying," L'saz
flatly, albeit hoarsely, said. "They can find out after thread kills
me and I don't have to deal with it."

"No." R'lor folded his hands on the desk and leaned closer. "You're
going to write a letter to your family and tell them the truth about
Faelath. Or else I will."

L'saz eyes widened. Then they narrowed into one of the most venomous
glares of his life. "No," he snarled. "I don't care if you're the
weyrlingmaster, you don't get to choose to get me _disowned_."

"I would be more sympathetic if you hadn't lied about your dragon. You
lied about your dragon's color, you lied to get here. I'm sensing a
pattern, Weyrling L'saz." He certainly didn't want the boy to be cut
off from his family, but R'lor couldn't overlook this. "You need to
start telling the truth."

"I'll start somewhere else," L'saz frantically said. "I'll tell the
truth about everything else from now on, I promise. Just... please,
weyrlingmaster, not _this_."

"What's the worst thing that could happen if you told your family
you'd Impressed a green?"

"They'll cut me off, tell everyone else, and I'll never be able to see
any of the people I grew up with again. I'll be alone with Faelath in
this sharding Weyr, and it will stay that way until I die."

"You're not alone, L'saz. You have thirty-nine clutchmates and an
entire Weyr to support you. You can't control how your family will
react, but you can hold your head high and refuse to be shamed, or to
deny Faelath. You are a _dragonrider_ now and you should demand
respect from the holders you will one day soon protect." R'lor wished
he could go to that Hold and shake some sense into L'saz's family.

"An entire Weyr full of strangers." And maybe it was L'saz's own fault
that he wasn't close to anyone but K'don, but that was besides the
point. With a desperate shake of his head, he said, "Please,
Weyrlingmaster, I'll do anything. Just don't sharding _tell them_."

"What happens if you don't tell them?" R'lor asked. "What does your
relationship with them look like then?"

"I don't know, but I'll figure something out," L'saz said. "I'll still
be able to write letters, at least."

"Letters where you lie about Faelath and yourself." R'lor was still
shocked the boy had done something so disrespectful. If he had simply
not mentioned his dragon's color, maybe . . . but R'lor couldn't let
this stand. "I'll give you a choice. You either write them and tell
them the truth, or once you learn to /between/ I'm going with you to
the Hold and we'll explain together."

"But why do I need to tell them?" L'saz protested. "What's the harm in
them not knowing? Please, I... If I tell, I'll lose everything."

"You will still have your dragon," R'lor said coolly.

"So I'm supposed to be okay with having no family?"

"You're supposed to be okay with putting your dragon above everything
else," R'lor said. "You lied to get here, but Faelath still chose you.
Standing is no game, and you learned that the hard way. I'm being
_extremely_ lenient about the fact that you bribed a rider to lie for
you. I _should_ be dragging you in to explain yourself to the
Weyrleader." He waited a beat but went on before L'saz could say
anything. "But as to lying about your dragon's color, there will be no
more argument. A letter, or a visit. Your choice."

L'saz deflated, every biting thing that he wanted to say to R'lor
visibly draining away. His jaw worked in frustration, but he primarily
looked defeated as he looked down at the ground and said, "Great.
Fan-freaking-tastic. And which do you think would screw me over less?"

R'lor's stern expression eased slightly and there was even a faint
twitch of his lips. "If I take you to the Hold, I can yell at your
family if they're rude to you."

"Let's go with that then," L'saz murmured, still not looking up.

Meanwhile, Kularth received a quiet, }: Tell yours thank you. :{

Kularth passed on the message and crooned to the little green. }:Yours
is not happy now, but we will help both of you feel better.:{

Last updated on the March 14th 2024

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Liar, Liar