K’brin: Chapter 5, Journal 2 – Dragonbound

Posted on May 10, 2019 by K'brin
  • We received an ornate calligraphed invitation by bronze firelizard from Master Mitch to his wedding to Josinia at Turnover. 
  • G’mar told me that he had spoken with the other Weyrleaders, but that they disagreed about how to handle several Lord Holders building siege engines in secret.  They wouldn’t listen to G’mar unless he could tell them exactly what was going on, and that was where I came in.  He needed answers and couldn’t wait seasons or Turns for Harper Hall to provide them.  I told him that it might rock some boats, but I could definitely find the answers he was looking for.
  • Before G’mar left, he warned me to check on my Wing.  He’d heard rumors from the women on his own wing that ‘Zana’s green Kalisith was due to rise any day now.
  • I checked with ‘Zana, and she said that ‘Mala had bluntly suggested that she might want to spend some time at Benden Weyr soon.  ‘Zana teased that ‘Mala thinks she’s subtle, but she’s not.  ‘Zana said that we should leave as soon as possible, and that we could bring L’nos as well – but then casually added that he had absolutely no chance of winning.  She said that we could invite N’lan and T’grim as well, if they wanted to get out of Ista Weyr for a few days.
  • I was getting my Wing riders settled, still marveling at the size and orchestration of Benden Weyr, when I saw Weyrwoman Shanira walking purposefully toward us.  I braced to speak with the infamous Weyrwoman, but she walked right past us to ‘Zana, who squealed excitedly, “Mother!”  She listened attentively at ‘Zana chattered at her – at very high speed – about recent events.
  • N’lan looked dismayed and, when I quietly asked him why no one had told me that ‘Zana’s mother was Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr, he said that he didn’t think it would ever come up.  Weyrwoman Shanira doesn’t normally deign to socialize with ordinary people.  He seriously doubted that she even knew his name, even though he was a Brown rider.
  • N’lan paled and looked stricken a moment later.  He warned me that I needed to be careful with ‘Zana’s mating flight, since Benden Weyr has enough dragons to take ‘Zana completely off rotation for a Turn.  She could bear children.  You could have knocked him over with a wherry feather when I looked thoughtful, and mused that our children would probably be very exotic-looking – and smart.
  • ‘Zana had finished catching up with her mother by the time we had unloaded and settled our dragons, so she and N’lan gave us a tour of Benden Weyr.  It has to be run like a military base because of the sheer number of people who are constantly coming and going.
  • The dissonance between my color (Brown) and rank knot (Wingleader) caused some consternation between several of Benden Weyr’s Blue and Green riders, since they had never seen a Brown Wingleader before.  Fortunately, this issue went away when we all changed into civilian clothes.
  • That night, ‘Zana firmly insisted that I sit with the other Wingleaders and Benden leadership at dinner.  Realizing that this was important to her for some reason, I put my Turns of Harper training to good use and turned on the charm.  By the end of the night, I had learned a lot of names – and some about the internal politics of Benden Weyr.
  • The next afternoon, a call went out through the entire Weyr, “Green rising!”  The normally-bustling Weyr grew strangely still, the quietest I had seen it since arriving.
  • A large number of Browns and Blues watched Kalisith expectantly as she blooded her kill and launched into the air after her.  They were relatively polite as they rose up out of the bowl, but any semblance of civility disappeared the instant they left the Weyr.  Kalisith flew low, hugging the nape of the earth – dangerously close to the ground as she whipped around terrain.  Suddenly, the ground fell away – leaving us about 3,000 feet in the air.
  • Most of the Blues dropped out of the mating flight quickly due to exhaustion.  Others gave up because there were also three Browns flying and they knew they didn’t have a chance.
  • Valenth flew like he had never flown before, exalting in his superior strength, stamina, and dexterity.  He darted around the other dragons gracefully and effortlessly, until one of the Browns dropped out – and then possessively wrapped his tail and neck around Kalisith.  Gloating.
  • Valenth should have been using his powerful wings to level off, but he was too busy displaying his dominance over the other male.  Kalisith did what she could, but they didn’t pull fully out of their controlled fall until I forced my will on Valenth.
  • I don’t clearly remember my first hour with ‘Zana, other than the fact that it was filled with rough, aggressive, animalistic sex.  Later, when we were more ourselves, she proved to be a very open, communicative (both about what she enjoys and what I like), playful, and not at all body-shy lover.  The next morning, she told me that it is customary to go our own separate ways after breakfast – so she made a game of having sex as many times as we could before then.  This included her sneaking us down to an unused bathing pool to clean one another and do it all again.
  • Later that day, ‘Zana said that she had spoken with her mother, Weyrwoman Shanira, and asked if we should keep the child if she was pregnant.  I thought about it for a few long minutes, and then said that I would love to have a child with her – but that I honestly can’t spare her or her intellect from Faranth’s Wing for a whole Turn right now.  I also didn’t want to force T’ria to confront another Green rider, one on her Wing, giving me a child when she herself still couldn’t because of Ista Weyr’s lack of numbers.  I told her that I would be happy to come back to Benden Weyr for her next mating flight, if she would also like that.
  • ‘Zana spoke with her mother late that afternoon, and told me over dinner that her mother would be happy if I had a child with ‘Zana – or with any number of other women at Benden Weyr.  It pleased her that I wanted a child with her daughter, though.
  • We returned to Ista Weyr before dinner that night.  M’din lingered behind a couple of days to stay with a woman he had met during ‘Zana’s mating flight.  T’grim, on the other hand, couldn’t leave fast enough.  Something about Benden Weyr just didn’t agree with him.
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