Mercantilism

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 19th April 2007

Characters: J'nus
Description: J'nus takes his news of Cairn Hold to his family
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 3, day 7 of Turn 4
Notes: Follows 'Cairn Hold'

"A dragon! It's Kopth!"

The childish yell was audible even though J'nus and Kopth were in the air. He grinned as their shadow raced over the caravan below making the runners snort and shy and the herdbeasts low uneasily. Several people waved and J'nus waved back. **Let's go on ahead and find somewhere to land.** There was no room on the road for the large bronze dragon to alight, but not too much further on there was a meadow filled with wildflowers. Kopth squished most of them when he landed. They waited patiently for the caravan to catch up, and J'nus let himself enjoy the sun and warmth. After the chill from Cairn Hold it felt divine.

With a rumble of wheels and snorts from nervous animals the caravan lumbered into view. Two small boys and a girl squealed in delight and raced across the grass to throw themselves on Kopth, the canine following them stopping a good distance away and barking furiously in distress.

"Crazy! Shut up!" one of the men called. He followed after the children at a much more sedate pace and stopped to give the noisy canine a boot on the rear. The canine looked guiltily at its master before slinking off back toward the caravan. "J'nus! It's good to see you."

"You too, Jarvis." J'nus stood to greet his brother. Jarvis was a few turns older, a little taller, and slightly heavier than his dragonriding brother, but unlike J'nus the weight he carried was all flab, and all around his middle. His skin was the same leathery brown, however, and his eyes the same middling brown. "You look well."

"I'm fat and happy." Jarvis slapped his belly, then gave J'nus a back-slapping hug. "We're making excellent time and should reach Eastern Point Hold within the week. The weather is holding, my wife's sister is pregnant, and with any luck Tillja's arm will be well enough to juggle before we get to where we're going."

"Pirrit is pregnant again?" J'nus peered around his brother at the rest of the caravan. Jarvis' wife, Inga, waved as she tied down one of the runners, but he couldn't spot Pirrit or her husband. "Congratulations! Shards and shells, this'll be the sixth?"

"Yup. Six brats all within a turn of each other." Jarvis' eyes twinkled with pleasure. "Scalt is one sorry son of a bitch!"

"Shards and shells." J'nus shook his head. Another child to feed, on top of Pirrit's five, Inga's three, and Jubla's two. No wonder Jarvis had asked him to scout out things they could scavenge! "In that case, you'll be doubly happy with my news."

"You've found Cairn Hold!"

The bronzerider grinned. "That I have. And the wood panels are in excellent shape. They need a little cleaning and polishing but...
they're a Masterwork."

"Thank the Egg!" Jarvis raised his hands to the sky and did a little jig that made his belly wiggle. "Lord Irskin will give us a good price for those! Did you scout out the way in?"

"Sort of. I looked at the pass from the Hold - it looks steep. And-
hello Inga."

Inga had finished securing her runners and had joined J'nus and Jarvis in the middle of the field. She was a small, stout woman with prematurely grey hair and a bright red kerchief to keep the curly mess contained. She stood on tip-toe to give J'nus a kiss on the cheek. "It's good to see you, J'nus. You've got new knots, I see."

"What? New knots?!" Jarvis peered nearsightedly at J'nus' shoulder as the bronzerider sighed. "But those are Wingsecond knots, am I right?
How is that right?"

"U'kaiah got his Wing back. I was just a temporary leader. Apparently that makes me good enough to be Wingsecond to K'sedel." J'nus did his best to hide the bitterness in his voice, but Inga's sharp-eyed glare made it clear that he hadn't done _that_ good a job of it. "It's a good position."

"But still. To give the Wing back to someone who obviously isn't capable of leading it-"

"Nonsense, Inga! I'm sure that the Weyrleader knows what he's doing.
Who'd want an old drunk like you in charge of a Wing for good, anyway? We'd all die of Thread." Jarvis slapped J'nus on the back, raising a cloud of dust. "Phew! You're a mess!"

"Cairn Hold hasn't had the benefit of drudges in thirty-odd turns,"
J'nus replied dryly.

"I'd offer you a bath but the last stream was a league or so behind."

Jarvis winked. "I can offer you lunch in exchange for information about the Hold."

"I'll do you one better." J'nus unslung his backpack and withdrew one of the bed knobs, which he tossed at his brother. "A set of these for lunch. What do you say?"

The Trader was examining the offering with a critical eye. Inga peered over his shoulder at the carving, then glanced up at J'nus and smiled. After a moment, Jarvis grunted. "Not bad. You find this at the Hold?"

"There's a storeroom half-full of carvings of various sorts, I assume to be traded. There might be more. I didn't go that far in." J'nus shrugged. "You can steal them all, if you want."

"Ah, but it's not stealing if everybody's dead!" Jarvis winked and turned back to the Caravan. "It's opportunism! Mercantilism!
Sophilism!"

"Egotism," Inga said dryly. She hooked her arm through J'nus' elbow and steered him back toward the Caravan. "Come on, J'nus. Let's you and I go for lunch and leave this dimglow to his ravings."

"Egotism..." Jarvis harrumphed and led the way back toward the Caravan. Inga winked at him and tightened her grip on J'nus' arm, and the bronzerider let himself be led back into the Caravan's fold. Some things changed, like knots and hairlines, but some things never did.
Once a Trader, always a Trader. He glanced at Inga. He'd been a dragonman over thirty turns, but he hadn't lost his eye for a good deal.

Last updated on the April 19th 2007

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Mercantilism