111Disclaimer: Pern and the Dragons of Pern belong to Anne McCaffrey
'G'zul! G'zul!' Lystar waved an arm to attract the attention of the old, scarred weyrling master, who raised a hand in acknowledgement and strolled across the Weyr bowl to meet her. It was very hot already, and the sun was pouring down on Ista out of a cloudless blue sky. Lystar sighed with frustration, shrugging sweaty shoulders. Usually she liked summer, but this was the hottest year that anyone at Ista could remember.
'What's up, Lystar?' G'zul asked her as he arrived. 'Got a problem?'
'Not really,' she said, cheerfully. 'Just wondering if Oreth'd had time to take a look at Meliana yet?'
'Oh, yes, I should've told you,' said G'zul. 'I wanted to ask… Oreth thinks she's a fantastic candidate. He wanted to know what Rosith thought she was doing not to Search her.'
Lystar drew her eyebrows together. She'd now had the full story out of K'beth about the unusual circumstances of his meeting with Meliana, and although they'd told R'lan and Reia, the Weyrleaders, they'd said that it didn't need to go any further. Lystar was perfectly ready to keep the dark girl's secret. She knew that she wouldn't want that kind of history widely known around the Weyr, and she'd gone out of her way to help provide Meliana with the things that she needed without drawing attention to the fact that she hadn't even brought the most basic items from home.
But G'zul knew part of the story, so it was safe to speculate a little. 'I don't know,' Lystar admitted. 'They didn't meet Meliana until after their Search was officially ended, that's why Rosith wasn't on the lookout. But I've no idea why they – or anyone else – didn't come across her during their official Search. I mean, I know Searching is a bit flaky sometimes, you can't really visit every Hold, but…' She frowned. 'But none of our other candidates are from that part of Pern, either, are they?' Cal, she added, can you ask Ilmeth – he was the big bronze belonging to K'beth's wing leader – if anybody Searched that area?
Caliath grunted in acknowledgement. A couple of minutes later, he came back to her with the answer. No. Ilmeth tells me that they personally would have been responsible for eastern Keroon, but when they touched down at the Lord's Hold they were warned not to go that way for fear of plague.
Lystar blinked. Plague?
'Plague?' asked K'beth. 'Well, that would explain things, I guess. People panic, when that kind of thing happens. That could be what Meliana ended up on the receiving end of. Or maybe she's a young thief who took advantage of the circumstances. If you're bold enough to go into a plague Hold to steal… well, there isn't anyone mad enough to stop you. Or she could… I don't know. I like her and I don't want to believe bad stuff, but I can't pretend I know anything about her.'
'No,' said Lystar, turning her head to watch the shadows chase each other across the rippling surface of the lake. She and K'beth were sitting by the water's edge, watching their dragons floating lazily on their backs, occasionally flipping over to blow a stream of bubbles at each other or their riders. 'She's hard to get through to. I don't know if I'm making any progress, even. She's so silent.'
K'beth looked down at her, concerned. 'Hey, you can't solve Pern's problems, Lystar. You shouldn't let it get to you so much. You're not responsible for her.'
'But I know she's unhappy, K'beth!' Lystar turned her head to face him. 'She never says a word except in answer to a direct question, she does everything you tell her quickly and quietly, she never cries or shows any emotion at all, and I know she's unhappy!'
K'beth put an arm around her and gently smoothed back her wild mane of hair. 'I know. And she's been scared. But if she isn't going to trust you, then you can't help her. Not yet. Give her time. When she's used to the Weyr, how things work here, when she's used to you, then let her talk when she's ready. And meanwhile, don't worry yourself to death over her.'
Lystar sighed, and leaned her head against K'beth's chest. 'I suppose. You know, sometimes I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with the weyrlings. Or, you know, the candidates now. I mean, it's not just Meliana, although she's probably my biggest problem. There's Robren too, who's about as responsive to dragons as a block of wood, but he's weyrborn so it's his right to stand – his father's R'lor, you know, and he won't even hear of Robren maybe taking up a craft instead, which is what he'd like and be best suited for. And Jedris, who's so hypersensitive that he's on the brink of tears every few minutes, but so loaded with Power that he's bound to Impress anyway. Actually, I think that's most of his problem, he's so sensitive because he's picking up on people's thoughts and emotions around him, but… it sure doesn't make him easy to deal with. And then there's all the others, and they've all got their own personalities and their own problems, and there's fifty-three of them!'
'And you know every one of them and all about them, and you remember it all,' said K'beth, gently. 'You always think you can't manage, Lystar. I think you go through life afraid of that, but you always do cope. You can do anything – remember?'
Lystar lifted her head and smiled at him. 'I remember. It's easy when you're around. Come on, let's go get some dinner.' She slipped an arm through K'beth's and they turned to walk back towards the Weyr.
Meliana was sitting in a shadowy corner of the dining cavern, alone as usual. She'd finished her food long ago, but there was a half-drunk beaker of klah sitting on the table in front of her, which she sipped from occasionally, keeping her eyes on the room. She wanted to know everything that was going on. She wanted to know where people were and what they were doing, who was who and where everything was kept. That way she'd be able to look after herself, whatever happened. Even if they wanted to get rid of her.
She was able to be completely alone because most of the Weyr were clustered at the other end of the hall, sitting on a series of benches arranged in a rough semicircle around where a visiting Harper was sitting, laughing as he chatted to the assembled company in between playing and singing requested songs on his gitar.
Melania eyed them all with distaste. It all seemed so trivial, like the idle chatter of the other female candidates, the girls she was sharing a room with. They were up there now, she saw, along with most of the male candidates too, and they seemed to be asking the Harper to play something that they could dance to. She watched them steadily, taking in every persons' movements. Half unconciously, she was tensed to run. Through the storeroom would be the best route, then she could grab some food on her way through. There was a tunnel that led out of the Weyr on foot, she'd checked out its location a few days back. Yes, she could escape.
But it'd be nice not to have to…
A movement caught her eye, and she looked up sharply as a figure broke away from the group around the Harper and came towards her. She vaguely recognised the tall sandy-haired man as one of a pair of twin weyrling brownriders – G'den or G'shar, she couldn't tell which. She narrowed her eyes. Why did he want to talk to her?
'Meliana!' said the young man, as he arrived. 'Why are you over here in the corner by yourself?'
She eyed him silently. It wasn't the kind of question that she ever bothered to answer.
G'den – or possibly G'shar – seemed slightly discomforted by her response. He paused, a little bit too long, and then, recovering himself, said pleadingly, 'You'll come over and join the rest of us, won't you? Will you dance with me?'
Meliana blinked. Would she what? 'No,' she said, automatically, sounding cool and calm, but her thoughts were racing. What? She didn't even know his name – well, she did, but she didn't know which twin he was, which was almost as bad.
'Oh,' said the dragonrider, disappointed. 'Well – still think about coming over, won't you? Everyone wants you to.' He paused for a minute, but when Meliana said nothing else he turned slowly on his heel and went away, glancing back over his shoulder. When he reached the far end of the hall he was quickly absorbed into a group of young men his own age, his brother among them. Meliana watched him go.
They all wanted her to go and join in? Nonsense. She knew that the other candidates thought that she was haughty and unfriendly – and frankly, she didn't care. What did that matter to anything? What mattered was to be independent and cautious, and always have an escape route.
Meliana blinked again. She'd liked dancing, once…
She sensed a movement in the corner of her eye, and flicked her head up to see K'beth and Lystar entering the room, arm in arm and laughing, through the main door from the Weyr bowl. Involuntarily, the corner of her mouth twitched upwards, and she forced it down again, so that when Lystar looked around and met her eyes a second later she was scowling ferociously.
Inside, she was shocked. She knew – it made sense – it was the only way – to keep to herself, to keep her own secrets, to trust no one. But something in her was warming towards Lystar's own overflowing brightness and warmth. Meliana admired the older girl, who seemed to have time for everyone and to always know who needed help, and she respected her and she liked her.
And K'beth… Meliana might be growing to like Lystar, but the feeling she had for K'beth, who'd saved her, was much more like passionate devotion.
Lystar'd been vaguely aware that the Masterharper had come to see R'lan and Reia – she'd noticed Halenth, an obliging and friendly brown who was often his transport, arriving at the Weyrleader's weyr ledge, but she hadn't realised that he'd brought another Harper with him until she heard the sound of music floating towards her. Beside her, K'beth picked up his step. 'Oh, it should be a good evening, then,' he said, happily.
'For some,' Lystar said, mock-sourly. 'I know what you're like, dancing with every girl in the place except for me.'
In her mind, Caliath said with a flick of amusement, Rosith reminds him that he should not be dancing with any girl except her, but she'll make an exception in your case.
Lystar flicked a hand into the air in acknowledgement, knowing that Caliath would pass the message along. 'Thanks, Rosith. There, you see?'
K'beth grinned. 'Why are all the women in my life out to get me? Someone of my grace and skill could not possibly dance with you.'
Once that would have hurt, but Lystar was much more stable now, and she knew that he was joking. She grimaced, half-laughing. She'd grown out of the worst of her youthful clumsiness, but K'beth was right in that her dancing still left a lot to be desired.
'Anyway,' K'beth carried on, 'I don't know why you're worried. I won't be able to get near you! I'm the one who should be worried.'
Lystar poked him in the ribs and they both laughed as they stepped through into the dining cavern. She flicked a glance around, and almost at once spotted Meliana sitting by herself in a shadowy corner. She met the gaze of Lystar's good eye, but Meliana was looking so fierce that Lystar hesitated to approach her. The next minute she had no choice. K'beth suddenly froze, grabbing her arm so tightly that she looked round, wondering what was wrong. Then he took off across the hall, dragging Lystar with him. 'Jarrin!'
Meliana's eyes narrowed as she watched the pair dash across the cavern. The Harper's music had broken off mid-note as K'beth shouted, and the slim, dark young man stepped free of the crowd just in time for Lystar to fling both arms around him. Then K'beth joined them, pounding the Harper on the back, all three of them talking at once so that neither Meliana nor – she was sure – they themselves could make out a word of what they were saying. It didn't seem to matter to them. They were clearly very old friends delighted to be seeing one another again.
Meliana felt a twinge of jealousy.
Later, K'beth, Lystar and Jarrin sat high up on the rim of the Weyr bowl, enjoying the last flickers of evening sunshine.
'I'm staying here for a bit,' Jarrin explained to his friends. 'At least, Master Dannen is asking the Weyrleaders now whether I may. I've been running a couple of errands for him… you know…' Lystar and K'beth nodded. They'd first met Jarrin through one of the slightly shady tasks he undertook for the Masterhaper from time to time. '… and, uh, I've annoyed a couple of important people. Master Dannen thought it might be better for me to come stay somewhere where I won't really come to the notice of any Holders.'
'That's great!' K'beth smiled. 'It's time you took a holiday. You work too hard.'
Jarrin laughed. 'What, as compared to, say, you?'
'Yep.' K'beth folded both hands behind his head and lay back on the rock. 'I don't do anything at all. Well, hardly anything. I mean, flying against thread every once in a while isn't a big deal. Compared to the pair of you, I feel positively lazy.'
'You only just came back from a Search,' Lystar pointed out, mildly. 'And you're such a soft touch, you do practically all the jobs Gilda and the other women want done. And stuff for R'lan, too.'
K'beth laughed. 'All right. Just don't tell Rosith. She thinks I try and give her as much rest as I can.'
Rosith knows exactly how much work she does compared to the rest of the greens, Caliath commented tartly, and Lystar creased up laughing. When she opened her eyes, K'beth was laughing too, and Jarrin was half-frowning as he looked at them in confusion, wondering what the joke was.
'Alright, c'mon.' Lystar climbed to her feet. Cal, come pick us up, please? 'It's getting dark, and K'beth, you're flying thread tomorrow. I'll get Gilda to sort out a room for Jarrin, and then we'd better turn in.'