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 Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:45 pm
It was that time again.
In the age of Kindlely, the High Reaches Weyrwoman would have no business feeling as cocky as Luci did walking--no, strutting--down the halls. She heard stories of an era where Telgar was more prosperous than this Weyr, but those times, like Kindlely's leadership, were no longer among them. Dorath may not have clutched a gold egg before, but she'd at least had more than three psychotic greens, and unlike them, High Reaches at least had a Weyrwoman. What did they have? Two wanna-be girls; one apathetic and one a complete moron.
What did she have? A title, the most lovely of all rank knots and a shiny gold egg waiting to Impress on the sands. Oh, yes, this meeting was going to be sweet like the dozen pastries she'd "borrowed" from the kitchen that morning. (She'd nearly slapped a certain Wingleader when he dared comment if she kept that up, she might crush D'astel during Dorath's next mating flight.)
"Oh, they're not here yet," Luci observed, feigning shock. Of course those no-good Telgar women would arrive last. They had to be slow about something considering how fast they were with everything else.
The meeting room of choice had been one following tradition for many turns now. It was used for nothing else, but in spite of that, was probably more decorative and cared for than any other. The centerpiece of the area was the small, round table covered with the finest cloth and lined with the best, most pleasant brand of chairs.
D'astel didn't say anything, nor would he. Not to her. Not to Malkai. Not to Iva. Let them have their cat fights. Him? He'd had a barrel of whiskey brought in for himself and D'rak and was certain they'd need ever drop to contain the slightest bit of tolerance for the... ladies.
The Weyrwoman and Weyrleader sat down, waiting for the other chairs to fill up before the meeting began.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:59 pm
It was easy to tell when the Telgar queens arrived, as Ranabeth burst from Between with a horrible screech to announce her presence. Clutch or no clutch, Ranabeth was not going to allow her arrival to go unnoticed. Kaveth, for her part, said nothing, and it was clear that Hondonith wasn't much for theatrics either. Whether they stayed silent out of respect for Iva or simply because they thought her dragon was making a fool of herself was unknown. D'rak looked his usual bored self, and Malkai could probably freeze water solid with one look. Nothing more than the usual for the Telgar "leaders".
The room was easy to find – they had been here with Aesri before – and the little group of three made a beeline for the meeting. Both Iva and Malkai seemed to stay perfectly in step with each other, neither one taking the lead nor falling behind. You could have cut the tension between them with a dull butter knife. Upon arriving at the meeting room door, the pair stopped to watch each other, as though daring one to take the first step into the room. D'rak solved the problem easily by ignoring them and walking in before either of them had made up their minds. He was tired from flying all that way – sober he might add – and he was not going to allow them to stand between him and a seat.
The bronzerider flashed D'astel what might have been a grin and managed a small half-bow for Luci, before plunking himself into the nearest chair. Aaaah, he'd forgotten how nice the High Reaches chairs were. It made having meetings her so much more enjoyable. Too bad the goldriders had to come along. But, no doubt, D'astel had provided for the occasion, so to speak, and soon he would be nicely buzzed before they got started.
Iva and Malkai seemed to solve their door problem, and moved to sit on opposite sides of D'rak.
"Weyrwoman Luci, Weyrleader D'astel," Iva acknowledged, her tone only barely entering the realm of polite. Malkai said nothing.
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:33 pm
Ranabeth's introduction was responded in kind by Kentoth, who made his own presence known with an equally ear-piercing cry. This was his Weyr. Gold or not, that needed to made clear. If his queen would not broadcast this truth, he would do so for her. A chorus of unified agreement from more aggressive and patriotic dragons vibrated the foundation of the structure. How dare this loud mouth interrupt their day is what they were thinking, Kentoth thought. Just like him.
The High Reaches queen had brushed the incident off like it was no more than dust on a treasured possession. That it had been there to begin with was no more than a minor annoyance, and with some effort, it would be gone soon enough. She would be gone soon enough. Kaveth was a different gold and as such a different story. She enjoyed Kaveth more than Ranabeth similar to how Luci preferred Malkai over her rider, but for much different reasons. Dorath liked that Kaveth was more quiet and respectful than her counter part; Luci just liked Hers more than Iva based on the fact she wasn't Iva. Shaking her head worriedly, Dorath wrapped her tail around the many eggs as best she could.
Slow and steady was the way D'astel approached the Weyr's problem. Fortunately, this was not a Weyr problem yet. It was a Girl Problem. He knew the difference, and he felt shameless collecting to large glasses of whiskey and sliding one to D'rak. Telephone tag was as much a tradition as having these gatherings in this room. Kentoth, tell Hondonith to ask D'rak how long before he thinks they start pulling hair like little girls fighting over a boy.
D'astel would like to know how long D'rak thinks before the Weyrwomen, present and future, begin to fight, Kentoth recited to Telgar dragon.
"Junior Weyrwoman Iva, Junior Weyrwoman Malkai," D'astel greeted politely, standing to offer a bow. When the gesture concluded he more fell back in his chair than sat down. Yeah, okay, so he was a liar. He did talk to them long enough to get that line out. It was his duty.
Luci had a shorter version of his welcoming line. "Junior Weyrwoman Malkai," she said, nodding to the woman. She was no less polite in addressing Iva when she turned to her, not in tone, expression and gesture. "Iva." Being the clever woman that she was, she'd dare them to prove she intentionally forgot to mention Iva's rank. Which, really, was no rank at all. Maybe she was implying she saw for certain Malkai was due to be the next Weyrwoman. Maybe she only did it to anger the ego-centric Iva. Maybe she did a lot of things.
But no one could prove it, so she'd done nothing wrong.
"Welcome to High Reaches," the Weyrwoman continued. "Since you've both arrived, I take it neither Ranabeth or Kaveth has had the chance to Rise yet." Her eyes lingered on Iva a little longer than the other guests.
How very, very sad for Telgar.
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Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:38 pm
D'rak took the glass with a lopsided grin, and tipped it just slightly towards D'astel in a subtle toast. To men and their ability to have civil conversations. Or something like that at least. He tried not to look too desperate and just sip on his wine. It was hard, however, when it looked like the meeting was going to get started. D'astel wouldn't tattle if he gulped down the wine and refilled would he? Thankfully, he was interrupted by Hondonith, who informed him very slowly that Kentoth's had a question. About the meeting. Did Kentoth say fighting? Yeah, something like that. Hondonith had never been good at this broken telephone game. Luckily, D'rak knew the jist of it.
Tell him it'll be any minute now. Iva was in a sour mood this morning and Malkai isn't doing much better. Malkai just won't say anything.
Hondonith passed the message on, but only reluctantly. He made sure to remind His how much work it was to think this fast. Why was he even here anyways? He wanted to be home sleeping. D'rak wasn't drunk enough yet to tell him to think positively.
Iva bristled instantly when she was addressed, feeling an echoing anger in Ranabeth. The gold snarled from her perch. How dare she not give Hers the rightful respect? They would be Weyrwoman one day and she would produce more queens that Dorath! Just wait! Before Iva could open her mouth, however, Malkai cut her off to answer Luci's question of sorts. There was no need to prolong the meeting with foolishness.
"Not yet, Weyrwoman. We thank you for your hospitality, and congratulate you on Dorath's recent clutch."
Ranabeth's rider shot Malkai a dark look, but she knew her chance had been lost. Instead, she sank a little lower in her chair, barely restraining a pout. Shard that Dorath! If only they had come before she'd clutched. Iva would have loved to remind Luci how her dragon was too pathetic to produce a gold. But it seemed the curse had been broken, leaving Telgar will little ammo against their western neighbours.
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:47 am
The mute celebration among the manfolk had begun. D'astel tapped his glass against the nothingness beside D'rak's so as to make no noise; a silent toast for silent men. Here's to having a p***s, the Weyrleader thought. Some things between them needn't be said. --Or tossed between dragon to rider, anyway. This was one. One gulp, two gulps, some number of gulps later he felt compelled to refill his glass. Empty already? Hm. These ladies really drove him to drink.
From his watch-point Kentoth laughed obnoxiously in the strange way dragons did. Wise words, Mine. You-- The bronze, like much of the Weyr, was silenced by the bitchy visiting gold's outraged snarl. To his utter delight, Dorath addressed the matter on her own, and none too soon. Huddled around the eggs, the queen bellowed a warning. As if to defy not just her, but her mother as well, the largest egg gave an excited quiver. It wouldn't be long now...
"Thank you," Luci appreciatively said to the less annoying of the pair. Good thing they hadn't come before Dorath had clutched or she knew Iva would have reminded her of their lack of golds. She could have just taunted the recent green quadruplets their Weyrwoman's dragon had spawned, but once she remembered one had gone between it seemed in bad taste. Not that the bar was set too high with people like Iva and D'rak in the room. "So, let me see, what is it we need to discuss." A more prepared person would have made a list. "I'll be meeting with the Lord Holder shortly. Has Telgar been able to do so with him yet?"
Man, that Hold must be sharding furious with them for taking so much. Supporting two Weyrs, yikes. The venom they had to harvest to feed the Telgar women alone must have taken forever!
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