"Tell me again about the weed," Acriculeth asked of his rider as they entered the record room. It had been explained to him perhaps a day or two ago, but the details had gone fuzzy. He could just rifle through his rider's mind for the information of course, but it would be good for him to practice mind-speaking.

"Mystweed," A'nos began as he sauntered over to collect a basket of scrolls, "mystweed is connected to the fertility of dragons. If the beasts you eat haven't eaten it, it affects you. Mystweed seems to be rare even around the new Weyrs, but thus far their animals eat enough of it to keep their dragons fertile." The sooner Benden could start successfully growing the stuff the better; he didn't fancy belonging to a Weyr that couldn't produce queen eggs.

"Would you like to seek a transfer once I'm grown?" Acriculeth asked as they moved to take a table and to await whoever had been assigned to work alongside A'nos today. "Benden is home to us, but I'm sure we could make somewhere else our home if needs be."

"Humm... Worth bearing in mind, but let's not think too much about it," A'nos replied, "things may yet improve here after all."

"Of course," the young bronze rumbled softly, "no call to be hasty."