Too Close a Reminder
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: Eimi, Paula
Date Posted: 12th September 2007
Characters: Birigundi, Naerella, Naerigga
Description: Difficult decisions must be made regarding the baby's body, and
Rigella's future
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 5, day 21 of Turn 4
"I definitely don't want him to be dropped /between/," Birigundi nodded.
He just couldn't stomach the idea of his little boy floating in all that empty blackness.
"Me neither," Rigella's mother, Naerella agreed. "It's such a cold and lonely place."
"Why not, he was weyrfolk?" Naerigga, Rigella's sister asked.
"But not a dragonrider," Naerella said.
"I don't want him /between/," Birigundi re-affirmed. "I don't think Rigella would either."
"What do you think of idea that he would be buried next to his grandfather and namesake, Birigundi?" Naerella asked, wiping her eyes.
She felt like she had aged decades during the past sevendays. She kept wondering how much sorrow a one woman could bear. The only bright spot lately had been her son's impression and that had happened in completely different weyr!
"That's so far away," he replied softly. And the child's family was all here anyway. _He_ was there. Birigundi had a dead father too, burried near the river behind the tavern where he was raised. It was a beautiful place, with trees rustling overhead and the sound of the river bubbling by. His mother had planted flowers there so that in the spring his grave was alive with color. He could just imagine his son being burried there. There was nothing cold or lonely about that place. It was warm and full of life. That was were Rigmor ought to be burried.
He would be remembered there.
"What is your suggestion then?" Naerella asked.
Rigella would never agree to him taking their child back to his home.
"Burry him here."
"Is that what you really want?" Naerella wanted to know.
Was any of this what he wanted? "No," he said, shaking his head and looking down at his hands gripping his knees, fighting down the feeling of loneliness that had brought him to his knees the night before. "No, I want to burry him by _my_ father. My mother is there. She would take good care of the grave." It wouldn't be in a place where no one cared about just another new stone. "But Rigella has no connection to that place. I don't know what she would want."
"And what place that woud be?" Naerella asked gently. "I realized just now that I know next to nothign about _you_. You are after all father of my grandchild. No matter how brief his life was." Tears threathened to overwhelm her again.
"My father was the Station Master at a Runner Station not so far from what used to be Amethyst Cliff Hold. After he died my mother took over the running of the Tavern that was adjacent to it." His eyes hold a far off look as he thought of his childhood home. "It's beautiful there.
It's in a valley, surrounded by hills and trees, with a river running behind the Tavern. My mother has a garden in the back where she grows all kinds of veggitables and herbs. She's loves growing things. It's a hobby of hers I guess." He felt a lump in his throat as he thought of his mother, chatting and laughing out back with one of her girls as they plated seeds or pulled up weeds. The air was sweet, and the sun warm.
**I wish I were home...**
"Sounds like a lovely place," Naerella said. She was thoughtfully quiet for a long while. She glanced speculatively her younger daughter and the dragonrider's knots on her shoulder. "No matter where he is buried, I can visit him. I do have two children who call dragon's life-mates. I'm sure they won't mind give their old mother a ride once and while?"
"Of course I can take you anywhere, when I'm not in duty, " the young greenrider assured. "And you too, Biri," she added.
Birigundi nodded and gave the Naerigga a small, forced, but grateful smile. "Maybe it would be best for Rigella if he was not burried here. It might be too close a reminder."
"Yes," Naerella agreed.
"Will she go to the Healer Hall?" he asked quietly, afraid he already knew the answer.
"Yes," Naerella replied again. "This place holds too many painful memories to her and it does have the best specialists."
"I'm so sorry," Birigundi said, not able to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry for all this. I should never have... I was just trying to be there for her, I didn't intend for... anything to happen."
"Of course you didn't. Who would. Who would have been able to predict any of this? Who would have been able to predict that my son in will impress a bronze in Dolphin Cove weyr of all places or that my daughter will lose her mind?" her voice broke down.
"She'll find it again," he said softly, not sure if he was trying to convince her or himself more.
Naerella gather her composure again. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered to get up on mornings at all, but still something kept her going. The same something that had worn down Rigmor's resistance to marry her and had convinced her parents that the healer was best possible mate for her despite the age difference. It was sad that Rigella had not inherited that same strenght.
Last updated on the September 13th 2007