“You’ve never seen one, Harper?” asked an amused voice, and Elgion came out of his trance to attend the weyrwoman who’d been serving him food.
“No, I hadn’t.”
She laughed at the wistfulness in his voice. “That’s Grall, F’nor’s little queen,” Felena told him. Then abruptly she asked Elgion if he’d like more stew.
He politely declined because he’d already had two platefuls: food being the weyr’s way of reassuring those they rescued.
“I really should be finding out if I can get back to Half-Circle Sea Hold. They’ll have discovered my absence and…”
“Don’t worry on that account, Harper, for word was passed back through the fighting wings. They’ll let Half-Circle know you’re safely here.”
Elgion expressed proper gratitude, but he couldn’t help fretting over Yanus’s displeasure. He would simply have to make it clear that he’d been following Weyr orders, and Yanus was nothing if not obedient to his Weyr. Nonetheless, Elgion did not relish his return to the Sea Hold. He also couldn’t politely insist on going when he chose because the dragons were tired as they returned to their Weyr, Thread successfully obliterated on this Fall.
Some of the young Harper’s worst apprehensions were relieved by T’gellan, the bronze wingleader in charge of that Fall.
“I myself told them you were safe, and a good thing, too. They were all ready to mount a search. Which, for old Yanus, is a remarkable concession.”
Elgion grimaced. “I suppose it wouldn’t look well to lose two Harpers in a short time.” “Nonsense. Already Yanus prizes you above fish! Or so Alemi said.”
“Was he angry?”
“Who? Yanus?”
“No, Alemi.”
“Why? I’d say he was better pleased than Yanus to hear you were safe and scoreless at Benden. More important, did you see any signs of fire lizard clutches?”
“No.”
T’gellan sighed, stripping off his wide riding belt and opening the heavy wherhide jacket. “How we need the silly creatures.”
“Are they that useful?”
T’gellan gave him a long look. “Possibly not. Lessa thinks them a real nuisance; but they look, and act, like dragons. And they give those narrow-minded, hidebound, insensitive Lord Holders just that necessary glimpse of what it is to ride a dragon. That is going to make life…and progress…easier for us in the Weyrs!”
Elgion rather hoped that this had been made plain to Yanus; and he was going to tactfully suggest that he was ready to go back to the Sea Hold when the bronze rider was called away to check a dragon’s wing injury.
Elgion found the additional delay instructive. He decided he would put his observations to good use in getting back into Yanus’s favor—for he had an opportunity to see Weyr life as unsung in Saga and Ballad. An injured dragon cried as piteously as a child until his wounds were salved with numbweed. A dragon also cried distressingly if his rider was injured. Elgion watched the touching sight of a green dragon, crooning anxiously at her rider as he leaned against her forearm, while the weyrwomen dressed his Threadscored arm. Elgion saw the weyrlings bathing and oiling their young beasts, the Weyr’s several fire lizards assisting. He saw the youngsters of the Weyr refilling firestone sacks for the next Fall, and couldn’t fail to notice that they made less work of the onerous chore than Sea Hold lads would have done. He even ventured to peer into the Hatching Ground where golden Ramoth lay curled protectively around her eggs. He ducked out of sight, hoping she hadn’t seen him.
Time passed so quickly that Elgion was surprised to hear the kitchen women calling everyone in to eat. He hovered at the entrance, wondering what to do when T’gellan grabbed him by the arm and propelled him to an empty table.
“G’sel, come over here with that bronze nuisance of yours. I want the Half-Circle Harper to see him. G’sel has one of the original clutch F’nor discovered in Southern,” T’gellan said in an undertone as they watched the stocky young man weaving his way through the tables towards them, balancing a bronze fire lizard on his forearm.
“This is Rill, Harper,” G’sel said, extending his arm to Elgion. “Rill, be courteous, he’s a Harper!”
With great dignity the fire lizard extended his wings, executing what Elgion construed to be a bow, while the jeweled eyes regarded him intently. Not knowing how one saluted a fire lizard, Elgion tentatively extended his hand.
“Scratch his eye ridges,” G’sel suggested. “They all love that.”
To Elgion’s delight and amazement, the fire lizard accepted the caress, and as Elgion’s stroking eased an itch, Rill’s eyelids began to close in sensuous pleasure.
“He’s another convert,” said T’gellan, laughing and pulling out his chair. The noise roused the fire lizard from somnolence and his hissed softly at T’gellan. “They’re bold creatures, too, you’ll notice, Harper, with no respect for degree.”
This was evidently an old jibe, for G’sel, seating himself, paid it no heed, but coaxed Rill to step onto a padded shoulder rest so he could eat the dinner now being served.
“How much do they understand?” Elgion asked, taking the chair opposite G’sel so he could see Rill better.
“To hear Mirrim talk about her three, everything.”
T’gellan snorted with good-natured derision.
“I can ask Rill to carry a message to any place he’s already been. No, to a person he knows at another Hold or Weyr I’ve taken him to. He follows me no matter where I go. Even during Threadfall.” At T’gellan’s snort, G’sel added, “I told you to watch today, T’gellan. Rill was with us.”
“Yes, so tell Elgion how long it takes Rill to come back from delivering a message.”
“All right, all right,” said G’sel with a laugh as he stroked Rill affectionately. “And when you’ve one of your own, T’gellan…”
“Possibly, possibly,” the bronze rider said easily. “Unless Elgion here finds us another clutch, we’ll just have to stay jealous of you.”
T’gellan changed the subject then to ask about Half-Circle Hold, general questions that did not embarrass or compromise Elgion. T’gellan evidently knew Yanus’s reputation.
“If you feel too isolated there, Harper, don’t fail to fly the signal and we’ll pop you up for an evening here.”
“Hatching’s soon,” G’sel suggested, grinning and giving Elgion a wink.
“He’ll be here for that certainly,” T’gellan agreed.
Then Rill creeled for a bite to eat while the bronze rider chided G’sel for turning the lizard into an importunate beggar. Elgion noticed T’gellan, himself, finding a titbit for the little bronze, however, and he, too, offered Rill some meat, which the creature daintily accepted from the knife.
By the end of the meal Elgion was ready to brave Yanus’s worst displeasure and wrath to find a fire lizard clutch and Impress a fire lizard of his own. That prospect made his inevitable return easier.
“I’d better do you the honors, Elgion,” T’gellan said, rising at last from the table. “And I’d also better get you back early. No sense aggravating Yanus more than necessary.”
Elgion wasn’t certain how to take that remark or the wink that accompanied it, particularly as it was now full dark and for all he knew, the Hold doors were already barred for the night. Too late now to wish he’d gone back as soon as the dragonriders had returned from the Fall. But then he wouldn’t have met Rill.
They were aloft, Elgion reveling in the experience, craning his head to see as much as possible in the clear night air. He had only a glimpse of the Higher Benden Range hills before T’gellan asked Monarth to take them between.
Suddenly, it was no longer full dark: the sun was a handspan above the glowing sea as they burst into the air above Half-Circle Harbor.