Letters Home
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: Yvonne
Date Posted: 12th February 2014
Characters: Alina
Description: Alina writes a letter to her sister
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 5, day 10 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Xandris, Jenackt (not by name), Flita (NPC), Dayf (NPC)
Dear Elana,
I can't wait to hear from you. Why didn't you write last time? Lots has happened here since my last letter, the biggest news is that Dayf got beat up! That Holdless boy gave him a thumping, and I have to say that Dayf's face looks better this way. I think you're right that the Holdless boy is the theif that escaped from Emerald Falls. What they don't mention is that he's actually really handsome-until he opens his mouth! I can't believe the bad language he used when I went to go talk to him. (I wanted to say congratulations on a good fight, but he ended up being impossibly rude and throwing my words back in my face). I'd write down the cussing he used but we'd both get in trouble if Mother or Father read this.
I'm still avoiding Xandris and stupid Flita. Every day that passes makes me more and more sure that Flita will Impress a green dragon-she's totally got the temperament for it. And you know Xandris. I think he'd actually make a pretty good dragonrider, although I have no idea what will happen to his father if he does Impress. I wonder if he'd have come here if he'd had the choice. It wasn't as if any of us were given a choice. If we were, I'd only have come here if you had come too.
There are so many things that I want you to see! Write back soon! I want to hear all about what's happening at home. And send me more paper if you can get Mother to part with some-all I can get my hands on here is stinky hide!
Love, Alina.
~*~
Alina set aside her quill and blew gently on the ink to dry it. Once her words wouldn't smear, she carefully folded the hide and slipped it into an envelope with all the rest of her letters to her sister. The envelope was nearly bursting at the seams; she couldn't seem to write enough to Elana, and yet Elana barely wrote anything back. It was so odd. They'd always talked about everything, and Elana's silence felt like a rebuke. **Although it's not as if I've done anything wrong,** Alina thought as she packed up her writing supplies. **It's all Father's fault. If he'd just sent us both, everything would be perfect.**
Except for the fact that she'd still be stuck at the Weyr. Alina stood, stretched, and stuck the packet of letters into her pocket. The quill and inkpot went into the cupboard before she went outside. Now that it was cool, the Weyrbowl was alive with dragonwings of all colours. She liked to watch them carve circles with their wingtips in the muggy twilight, tails streaming behind them like ribbons on a kite. She wandered a little ways toward the ocean before finding a rock by the side of the trail she could sit on, head tilted back to watch the colour leach from the sky.
For all its debauched reputation, the Weyr wasn't really that bad. There were more people living here who weren't dragonriders than those who were, and they weren't as odd as the dragonriders themselves. Even so, Alina was looking forward to going home. There was no chance she'd Impress. She'd make a terrible dragonrider anyway. The only real downside to the Weyr was that her sister wasn't there with her.
A green dragon's wings momentary blotted out a rising moon. Alina smiled as she watched it, feeling the ache of homesickness ebb a little under the influence of the quiet evening. Somewhere in the ferns behind her an insect began a shrill serenade.
And sometimes, when the air was still and soft and the stars were beginning to come out... Alina found herself actually liking the Weyr. Just a little bit.
Last updated on the February 28th 2014