Interrogation

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 25th August 2009

Characters: Briata, Zharesti
Description: Zharesti interviews one of RBW's most recent and infamous residents
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 4, day 8 of Turn 5
Notes: Mentioned:Ishek, T'vanen (indirectly)

Briata

Zharesti looked up at the knock on the open door of her office. "Come in!"

"Hello weyrwoman Zharesti." Briata greeted the goldrider with a small
smile as she entered. She paused, then closed the door behind her.

"Have a seat - if you can find one." Zharesti's much-regretted impulse
to tidy her workbench had resulted in piles of papers and hides spread
all around the room, over most of the chairs, and covering the low
tables beside them. Nevertheless, the weyrwoman wasn't going to move as
much as a single item back onto the gleaming bench until she had sorted
through the lot - but that was proving to be a longer job than she had
anticipated.

"Yes ma'am." Briata looked about and finally spied a chair that only
had a little on it. She moved the papers to a second chair, the stack
balancing nicely, then sat down. "You wished to see me weyrwoman?"

"Call me Zharesti, and I'll call you Briata rather than Lady Warder.
Have you -" the weyrwoman waved a hand, "- resolved that? Done whatever
you need to about your marriage?"

"I have sent the necessary paperwork to the Harpers." It was all she
could think to do. As far as she knew there wasn't anything else to do.
She had not received any correspondence. "I am hoping to hear
something soon."

"Good. Have you had any contact from your husband?"

"No, I have not." Of course, it was always possible that any sort of
correspondence had gotten lost. Of course, then there was the other
issue. "I didn't really tell him where I was going."

"Hmm. You know you're safe here - as safe as anybody is anywhere -"
Zharesti amended cautiously, "So it probably wouldn't do too much harm
to let him know. After all, that other Lord's daughter disappeared from
Garnet Valley too, didn't she?" It was before the older woman's time at
River Bluff, but the rider's part in keeping an eye out for the young
woman was recorded in the Cascade Wing notes.

Briata nodded slowly. "He should have received notice of the
dissolution of the marriage by now. I'm not sure I wish to let my
whereabouts be known. I don't think a physical confrontation would go
over well."

"Perhaps you're right." Squabbles between a Lord Holder - or Warder, in
this case - and his former wife weren't something the Weyr needed. And
the papers from the harpers would make it clear to the man that his wife
was alive and well ... somewhere. "And what are your plans, Briata?"

"I'm..not sure. I've been assigned some duties, but...I feel like
there's something more I should be doing." Briata certainly didn't want
to shirk her duties, but she wished she knew better what she was going
to do with herself. All her life she had thought she would go down one
road. Suddenly, the road had been washed away by floods and she was set
adrift upon the muddy waters, uncertain of her direction.

"What duties? What are you good at?" The ridiculous thing was that the
young woman was probably very good at all the same things a Weyrwoman
had to be - with the dragon care responsibilities. If she had been
found suitable to be a Lady Warder then she more than likely had the
skills to help significantly with the running of the Weyr - though how
they would take advantage of that was the problem.

"I sew quite well." Briata offered. She had told the Headwoman the
same thing. "My embroidery is decent. I love children. I can help out
with anything that would require those skills." Well, she _was_ helping out while using those skills.

"I'm sure we can find something that suits your skills -" of which
Zharesti was sure there were more, "- and the Weyr's needs. Unless
you'd be interested in apprenticing here? Some women aren't; which is
fine. But you're welcome to do so if you cared to."

"Apprenticing?" Briata couldn't say the thought hadn't crossed her
mind. "I doubt I would be accepted."

"Why not? Women apprentice here all the time."

"I know, but..." But Briata had it in her mind what she wanted to do
and that dream had been shattered. "Aren't I a bit old?"

Zharesti shook her head. "If you were a holdbred or craftbred boy
apprenticing in a Hall, then you would be. Here, though, most women who
apprentice arrive here somewhat older than the traditional twelve Turns.
It still depends on the master of the craft here at the Weyr
whether he or she accepts any person as an apprentice, but they're fairly flexible."

Briata lowered her gaze. It was certainly something to mull over. Her
original plans for her life had gone completely awry and she wasn't
quite sure what to do with herself. "I will think on it. Thank you for
suggesting it."

"You're welcome. Now, there's one other thing I wanted to speak to you
about, Briata, and that's this ability of yours to speak with dragons.
Well, Veyeth says you can make them hear you, as well as hear them. Is
that right?"

Briata's gaze lifted back to the goldrider and she nodded slowly. "That
is correct." She hadn't asked for it to be kept a secret. Suddenly,
Briata was wondering if she should have done just that.

"It's a rare thing. Sometimes one dragonrider can make himself heard by
another dragon or two, but rarely _any_ dragon. And it can be useful.
Does it bother you?" Some people seemed to suffer worse than others with
a mind full of dragon's voices, but dragonriders almost always seemed to
handle it just fine.

"I...I've had a constant headache since I got here." Briata managed a
small, tight smile. It was getting better, but it was still hard for
her to block it completely.

"Then is this the right place for you?" Zharesti rarely suffered from
headaches and when she did get them she was always convinced they would
prove to be some incurable disease ... until they passed. "Are there
any other options? Back home to your family? Other Holds? Somewhere
in the North?"

"I could never go back to Garnet Valley." Not with Ishek as Lord
Warder. "I could return to my father's home, but it's no longer my
home. I could go North, but I know no one there. I at least have one
friend here." Life was a lot more complicated than Briata wanted it to
be. "It's getting better. It's just going to take some time."

"You could try Standing. Dragonriders don't seem to have the same
problems with the voices - perhaps their own special voice overrides the
others. Have any of the green or blue dragons Searched you?" the
weyrwoman asked, thinking of another Veyeth's first clutch at River
Bluff and how prestigious it would be to have somebody like Briata
Impress a hatchling from it.

"They have not, but I don't wish to stand." As much as her life had
gone awry, Briata knew she wasn't the dragonriding type. Deep within
her she hoped she could still claim that dream, some day. Just not with
Ishek. "I feel I would be better suited to other things."

Zharesti wondered if there was a subtle criticism in that statement. It
wouldn't be uncalled for, perhaps, since she was all but interrogating
the young woman. "All right. Well, I think we've covered most of what
I wanted to know about you and your role here. Is your accommodation
acceptable?"

"Oh yes, very acceptable." Briata had no problems with her quarters and
some of the things she had found in storage had been quite nice. It
just wasn't where she had thought she would end up. She had
thought...well, there was no point in dwelling over that. It wasn't
what had come to pass and she was simply going to have to deal with what
had happened and move on. "I just have to figure out how to get
everywhere I want or need to get."

"It's a big place, even compared to a major Hold," the older woman
admitted with a smile. "Come and see me if there's anything you need
help with, Briata, and please let me know when the harper paperwork is
done and your marital situation resolved."

"Thank you Weyrwoman Zharesti." The smile Briata offered was genuine.
"I appreciate your willingness to make me feel welcome."

"You are welcome," Zharesti assured the younger woman. Lady Warder or
not, she was just another Southern Continent woman who was having to run
away to get the life she deserved.

Last updated on the August 29th 2009

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Interrogation