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Antoya, a general labourer in Benden, was holding a bucket of water to her chest as she watched the Wherholders bustle about in the Weyrbowl. The chaos of poisoned goods in Malvren, of pinpoint rescues deep beneath her feet, and any number of other attacks on her community had left everyone feeling particularly down. She’d be assigned the cleaning of one of the entryways onto the grass, where dragon and wher talons ripped the greenery into mud and spattered it all over the floor.

It was a dirty job but people generally gave her smiles and laughed genially in their conversation. The reason? A Gather had been scheduled and people were getting ready. With the change in ranking that the Revolution had brought, no real holidays had been observed in the past few years and so this first time was an important time – especially since it was sanctioned by Keller himself, nasty, dirty snot that he was. Antoya didn’t like the man but she respected his vision , the very core of what he wanted – an equal Pern.

The effects were visible in Benden – dragonriders of all colours worked alongside Wherhandlers and common drudges as just another person. There was no servitude implied. Oh, you could tell those higher ranking in society but these were men and women of virtue and loyalty, not women of gold and men of bronze. It was a beautiful day, sunny but chilly, as Antoya tossed the bucket on the ground and took up the scrubbing mop to push the muck to the side.

She tended to muse as she worked – her intuition was strong and her observational skills excellent. For all the joy and laughter that had gripped the Wherhold, there was an iron undertone as well. Leathers were being repaired, the Firestone supplies looked restocked and in easy reach… they were expecting a Threadfall soon. How soon? She had no idea… but with the Gather planned to open in a few days, she rather hoped it wouldn’t be above them. The mutlicoloured stalls with their merrily flapping canvases were too pretty a sight to be devoured by silvery Thread.

Or the food. Great roasting fires had been set up and whole Wherries set to slow roast. It was entertaining to watch the cooks fend off dragon, wher, and human alike. And flits. Ah flits… she hated the things, flighty and unfocused – more a distraction then a boon in her opinion.

She pushed the muck once more, pausing again to lean on the pole and gaze out over the forming Gather.

Antoya looked up when someone close by shouted and turned just in time to find the wher plunk his rump down right beside her. She frowned and set her hand on her hip, "Oi! Mr. Wher, The sooner you get yer work done, the sooner the cool, dark tunnels'll have ya." She pointed her mop's handle at him, wanting all at once to poke the sharding creature and fearing for her life - she knew they could kill a human in a blink of an eye.

She leaned over to regard the log laid out behind the wher and puffed out a sigh, "Hey, they might feed 'im if he takes the log to the fires..." She suggested to Rilli, trying to catch the handler's eye. "You going to the Gather in a few days?"

There was going to be a Gather, the first one since the Revolution, and the first proper fun anyone had had since...well, at least since Threadfall, S'aak suspected, though he hadn't been at Benden during that time. It would be nice, he thought, to have something fun to do, a reward for everyone. Even if the preparation wasn't exactly the most fun he'd ever had in his life.

"Need a hand?" he said gently to Antoya as he drew alongside her, a bucket in each hand. It looked like rough, dirty work, and there was only the young woman in the entryway. S'aak smiled at her, sloshing the water over the muddied stone and picking up a broom to begin chasing the mud back to the outdoors, where it belonged. "If everyone keeps up at this pace, this place'll be beautiful in no time. Even the dragonkin are into it." A brief smile at Rilli and Rillisk, and then S'aak looked over to where his dragon lay very still, using his muzzle as a prop for the poles of an awning as someone staked the structure out.

Doing all right over there, Anferth?

Well enough. There was a shrug in the brown's voice. If this is 'contributing to the good of the wherholds,' then that's what it is. I would like a bath later, though.

You'll get one. We both will. But S'aak's attention was already drifting away from his brown and toward the bronzerider who had just arrived.

"Malvern wines for a Benden gather," he said quietly, a laugh in his voice as he inclined his head to A'nos. "Not one you hear every day - but I'm not sure who's in charge of that, myself. My guess is that you can dump it in any old place and the vintners' awning will sprout up around it. I could be wrong." He shrugged slightly, giving the bronzerider a smile. "Any chance we can crack one of them ahead of time?" He was hopeful but not particularly expectant