A Time for Gossip

Writers: Avery
Date Posted: 11th September 2015

Characters: Kadira, Lokkun, Riveenata, Thanikon, Othalan
Description: Politics, pregnancies, promotions, and other ponderings
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 1, day 26 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Lenala, Rhosyn, Reeva, Lanniya, K'sedel, F'lin, K'reyel, Im're

Riveenata was absolutely starving after drills. It seemed like Savith
had worked even harder than usual to keep up with the golds today. Was
it something about their flying that changed once they'd been caught
and it was time for the eggs? Something triggered in the other dragons
that encouraged them to hover more?

The wherry stew wasn't her favorite but she took a large bowl anyway
and scanned the tables for a place to eat. She caught sight of some
Healers she recognized and went to sit with them. Weyrlinghood has
seperated her from them but she'd been in the Infirmary enough of her
turns that she still knew basically everyone who was there.

"Can I sit?" she asked when she got there.

"Sure," said a journeyman, waving his hand.

"Studying pretty hard. How's the Queen's Wing?" said Kadira, a senior
apprentice.

"Today's drill was hard. Savith put extra effort flying behind
Vilarth. Probably 'cause she'll be getting egg-heavy," she said.

"She's not the only one," another healer commented.

Lokkun looked up from the medical text he had brought to the table,
blinking at everyone in confusion. "Wait, what are we talking about?"

This garnered some laughs. "Pay attention," he was gently chided.
"Haven't you heard? Vilarth and Lenala are pregnant at the same time."

"I don't listen to gossip," Lokkun defended. "Reeva keeps me too busy
for that. Are they really?"

"Aye, but Vilarth's will be over sooner."

"Assuming Lenala keeps it," Kadira said. "Maybe she just wanted to
know for sure before she took it /between/."

Riven contemplated the news. A Turn ago, she never could have imagined
either of River Bluff's goldriders pregnant. Rhosyn seemed too
hard-charging and independent and Lenala seemed like she was too vapid
and occasionally partying. But Rhosyn had kept her child. What would
Lenala do?

"Rhosyn might not like having her grounded that long. If Lenala's
still out when Orlaith's clutch is on the sands, who'd lead Queens?"
she pointed out. Lanniya would be too young, and the last time they'd
had to bring lady Tsaera back for a bit.

Yes, there was indeed that to consider. Talk about a spanner in the
works. "If Lenala does have to choose duty over childbearing, at least
no one will censure her for it," Lokkun said. "We have a better
support system than that."

"It's the smarter call to make, and it shows she's not just thinking
about herself," Riven agreed. Which was something Lenala had done far
too much of.

"If it's gonna be such a big deal to have a gold dragon grounded,
shouldn't Rhosyn have not kept her pregnancy either? It's the same
thing," Kadira piped up.

"Do _you_ wanna explain that to the Weyrwoman?" Thanikon said, staring
at the apprentice.

"Uh." Kadira looked like she hadn't thought about that idea. "Not
really. But it's still true!"

"It's not going to be fair if Rhosyn tells Lenala she can't keep it if
she kept hers," agreed Othalan.

"Rhosyn isn't that bad," Lokkun defended, having met the Weyrwoman
while she was pregnant. "A little intimidating," he amended, "but not
that bad. The problem here is one of logistics, like Riven said. The
hidework can be divided fairly among them as Lenala comes closer to
term -or maybe she would even be able to do more of it and still help
Rhosyn that way-, but the work in the wings can't be." He knew that
much, anyway. "There's always the option of bringing in outside help.
It seemed to be the best choice last time. And who knows? Lenala might
turn out to be a good mother before she has to foster." Which was
optimistic of him to say, perhaps, but sometimes, the most unexpected
people became wonderful parents.

Riven smiled at Lokkun when she heard him back her up. It sounded like
there were a few problems with Lenala being pregnant, but she thought
the logistics one was most important. After all, she'd be the one
flying in the affected Wing!

"It'd be easier if there was a stable wingthird to take over. Maybe
they could use a bronze or brownrider with prior experience," she
said.

"The real interesting question is who the father is, if you ask me."
Othalan said. "Lenala seems to fall in and out of weyrmates."

"Or they fall in and out of her," Thanikon snarked, and got some
laughs and a few good-natured smacks to the shoulder.

"It may be an interesting question, but it's not the most important
part of the problem," Lokkun stated, as parentage didn't always matter
in a Weyr. "I think Riveenata's right; if we can't call in outside
help this time, a rider from another wing should do it."

"What if K'sedel used it as a chance to test out other riders who
might be ready for leadership?" she suggested.

"Like your boyfriend filling in as Wingsecond?" teased Othalan.

"F'lin's not my boyfriend," Riven objected. "But that's not a bad idea
to see how people handle it. Especially with K'reyel gone - he would
have been perfect."

"And if they do a good job and the other queenriders like how they
work, problem solved," Lokkun stated with a nod.

"Maybe a touch of responsibility will keep our riders here and not
running off to other Weyrs," sniffed Kadira. She didn't approve of how
she'd heard that Dragonsfall's high ups had run off.

"That's a possibility. Is that becoming a problem, though?" Lokkun
wanted to know between sips of his drink. If it was, maybe Im're had
heard something about it, and they could talk about it next time they
saw each other. He also looked to Riven for her input.

"It happened to Dragonsfall," the apprentice insisted. "Didn't you
hear about that? They lost a Wingleader _and_ their Weyrwoman.
Windswept Islands lost a goldrider too. Fortunately none of ours
left."

"Can you blame anyone for leaving that snow?" Othalan interjected.

"People leave who feel like they're not going to get promoted, in my
opinion. So if Rhosyn and K'sedel keep giving people chances, they'll
be more likely to say," Riven suggested.

"I did hear; I was wondering if it was a big issue here and in other
Weyrs," Lokkun said. "But Riven's right again."

"K'reyel still left," countered Kadira. "We've had pretty static
leadership for Turns, minus the Weyrwoman Turnover. The Wingleaders
and 'seconds don't rotate much. If I wanted to get somewhere with my
life, I'd leave."

"You're just being mad you can't go to the Healer Hall," muttered Thanikon.

"It's different for you. You could," she snapped back. "You don't have
to stay here and be taught by whoever's Weyr trained or assigned. The
Crafthalls are where the real innovation is, but they don't take
girls."

"Weyr Healers are still skilled Masters."

Lokkun almost suggested that Kadira disguise herself as a boy if she
wanted to go so badly -shards, if he could pass as a girl, she could
pass as a pretty man-, but he figured the notion wouldn't be well
received, so he just shrugged at Riveenata and returned to his meal.

Riveenata understood Kadira's point, but she knew mentioning agreement
wouldn't change much and would send her off on a tantrum. So she
decided to shift the topic slightly. "Speaking of Vilarth, how many
eggs do you think she'll lay this time?"

Bets and suggestions immediately started going around, and Lokkun
smiled thankfully at Riven for her tactful handling of the situation.
If she thought that fast on the ground, then Thread wouldn't know what
hit it the next time it fell.

She grinned back at her fellow Healer, glad to have been of service.
It sure was nice to listen to this kind of chatter. Good thing
Impression hadn't totally cut her off from old friends.

Last updated on the January 31st 2020

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Time for Gossip