K’brin: Chapter 5, Journal 8 – A Meeting of Minds
- I received a response for Lady Eurielle at Ruatha Hold telling me that her mother, Lady Amandia, would love to see her grandchildren for Turnover – and that she thought she could handle Lord Gavrien.
- I sent letters to Lady Eurielle and Lord Colton, working out the final details of our visit. I was to drop the twins off the night before Turnover, or early the morning of the first day of Turnover, and then return on the morning of the third day to attend the runnerbeast races.
- I also sent Chance with a letter to Masterharper Cameron to confirm that Master Lancaster is entitled to know everything that he knows. He was.
- At one of the weekly poker games with the other Brown riders, B’dir startled most of the riders – making D’rin splutter his drink – by casually mentioning that he was seriously thinking about visiting the Holds where he might have fathered children to see if there were any worth brining back to the Weyr. He slyly asked for my help in remembering where he might have left them. I annoyed R’nal by agreeing, and then volunteered to have L’nos go with him to make certain that the ones he came back with might make good dragonriders one day. L’nos immediately agreed, and explained that this would a great way to make a list of all the loose women in the nearby Holds. I told him he could go, but only if he shared the list with me. Half-joking, I told R’nal that someone with a cooler head should go with B’dir and L’nos to insure that they didn’t cause a diplomatic incident. He grudgingly agreed and volunteered for the job – pointedly mentioning that I didn’t have the best track record on that account myself.
- I arranged to pick up Master Lancaster from Harper Hall a few days later. I left early so that I could visit with Tumar and Master Salinda beforehand.
- Tumar now has a boyfriend, Raife. Raife took me aside at one point to thank me, since Tumar’s second visit to Ista Weyr was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. Seeing homosexual dragonriders accepted so casually really made him question his discomfort with his own sexuality.
- Master Salinda was glad to see me, and told me that she was making good progress organizing my symphony. The first real performance would probably be at Turnover, since the Master of Dance said she was so inspired that she was working on an entirely new form of dance for it. I was really uncomfortable with this, since I had written the music for myself – to play for Daena and Senesta. When I tried to deflect by saying that I thought I would always be remembered for “The Chicken Song”, she pointed out that it has already become a staple of education – used by Harpers and teachers across Pern to encourage children to play and get exercise, even on days with Threadfall.
- I gave Lancaster a tour of Mountain View and discussed our plans to visit the Old World with him at length. He suggested that I be very, very careful about bringing anyone back with me from Varlada until we can tell whether or not they’re infected – and even if they’re just a bad fit, a breach in security could be absolutely catastrophic.
- ‘Mala invited us to the hatching at Igen Weyr a few weeks later. Only T’ria and I accepted her offer to attend. She had us wear civilian clothes, since T’ria and I both probably had bad reputations here at Igen Weyr. Fortunately, no one noticed us – at least not enough to say something on a Hatching Day.
- Kyloth had clutched 25 eggs, one Gold and one dud.
- I paid rapt attention, since this was my first trip to Igen Weyr.
- Due to the oppressive heat, all of the festivities were indoors.
- Lower Caverns staff were serving light food and ice water, ice water, and more ice water from large barrels. There was little alcohol, to prevent people from drinking too much – and what they did have was weak.
- Eventually, humming indicated that the eggs were about to hatch. ‘Mala bullied weyrfolk out of seats to make room for us in the galleries above the wide, bean-shaped hatching sands.
- I tried to use my Talent – completely passively – to watch the Hatching, but was instantly overcome by the absolute cacophony of conflicting, competing emotions.
- T’ria followed my lead and announced with a gasp a few minutes later that she could see Impression happening.
- I concentrated hard and focused my Talent only on the hatching sands this time.
- A cloud of flickering emotional color surrounded each hatchling. The hatchlings stumbled across the sands, intentionally overlapping these clouds of color with those of the candidates. Eventually, two clouds briefly fell into sync – sometimes perfectly, sometimes not – and then the hatchling’s cloud collapsed into itself. We could then hear thoughts echoing oddly between the two minds, a storm of emotions and confused cross-thought traffic.
- I noticed that Bronze and Brown hatchlings had considerably longer range than Blue and Green hatchlings.
- When the new Queen hatchling Impressed, it was more like a battle than Impression. She Impressed the first mind that she came into contact with that didn’t recoil in terror, collapse, or completely block her out.
- I woke up a couple of hours later with my heart pounding in my ears, and the overwhelming scent of ammonia in my nostrils. I had become Mind Lost during the Hatching.
- We enjoyed the festivities in the Lower Caverns for an hour or so, and then returned to Ista Weyr.
- ‘Mala said that the new Queen was Caylinn of Gold Aldabith. Unlike Ista Weyr, where leadership is determined by seniority, Caylinn will become the Senior Queen as soon as she can garner enough support from the Bronze riders. At Igen Weyr, the strongest Queen commands. There is seldom an old senior Queen.
- Candidates who don’t Impress aren’t returned home like at Ista Weyr, either. They’re assigned craft duties, and Igen Search Riders favor possible candidates who already know at least a little about a craft. Sending candidates home after a Hatching is viewed as something of an insult.
