Family Living

Writers: Aaron, Emma
Date Posted: 18th March 2019

Characters: K'sedel, T'ner
Description: K'sedel interviews Tener, a new Candidate, and discusses the difficulties of family life for riders.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 8 of Turn 9

K'sedel

Tener tried not to quiver with nerves as he entered the weyrlingmaster's
office. He was bound to be separated for a while from Ayressa as it was if
he Impressed, but he very much did not want to begin that separation any
earlier than he absolutely had to.

His first instinct had been to introduce himself as the brother of one of
the weyr's tithing holders, but he had a feeling that the weyrfolk would not
be impressed by that connection. And the weyrlingmaster might even react in
the opposite way, deciding to be harder on him than be otherwise would for
trying to curry favor through his connections.

Instead, he would try to stay humble. Calm, respectful. That was the way to
get what he wanted if he was ever going to get it at all.

"Thank you for seeing me, Weyrlingmaster," he greeted the man once he had been asked to enter. "I'm Tener, a new Candidate. My wife and son have been assigned quarters, and I've been allowed to stay with them since we arrived yesterday, but... Er. That is, sir, it's been explained to me that if I'm to
stay with them on a permanent basis, I've got to have your permission, and
I've come to ask you for it, please."

"I see," K'sedel said as he gestured to a chair. "Take a seat and tell me
about yourself."

Tener held in a sigh. Of course, there would have to be an interview about
it. He supposed the weyrlingmaster would have wanted to interview him anyway as he was joining the program. He took the seat and sat up straight on the edge of the chair, holding onto his trouser legs to keep himself from
fidgeting.

"I'm a senior apprentice smith," said Tener. "My wife and I have been
married for almost two Turns," he added. A little bit of an underexaggeration, but he did not want to lead off by admitting they had only been married from the first because he had gotten her with child.

"And our son is just about one Turn old. I was Searched from Green Valley
out of Emerald Falls's territory. And my wife and I decided together that
moving here was the best thing for our family, sir."

K'sedel had been taking notes. "Right, and you are aware that dragonriders
do not marry?" Many, like himself took weyrmates, but marriage like in the
holds and halls wasn't possible, not when a rider's primary relationship was
with his or her dragon."

"I've heard that, sir, yes," said Tener, quivering visibly. So much for no
nerves. He was not a dragonrider yet. But dragon or no dragon, he was not
breaking up his family. Not ever. His dragon would be an addition, not a
division.

"Should you impress, your marriage would be formally dissolved. If you did
decide to stay together, it might be permitted once you become senior
weyrlings, which is most of the way through training," K'sedel explained.
"Things can change during weyrlinghood." Some of these young people could not deal with their partner's impression at all, others had an issue with what the colour of the dragon impressed meant. "And your family, hers too would need to be informed of that for their records."

"Yes, sir, we have talked about that, um... formality," said Tener. He had
not, however, considered that their families would have to be notified. He
suspected they would assume, given that they knew where they were going. But somehow, a formal notification seemed harsher to him than he expected it would.

"And I understand I'll be separated from my wife and son while I'm in
training," he said. "And that weyrmating is permitted once that time is finished." Tener had heard the word 'weyrmating' even before he and Ayressa had made this plan. He was not actually sure, he realized then, how formal of an arrangement it was, but the legality and officiality of the relationship was less important to him than the promise he made and the relationship itself.

And all that beside, there was no guarantee he ever would actually Impress. And then all of this would be a moot point.

"You'd be permitted to see them during your free time, once your dragon is
old enough to understand, but you won't able to be a husband to her. There
is a reason for that, which candidate classes will cover. And only once you
both decide it's the right thing will you able to weyrmate." K'sedel wanted
to be sure the lad understood. "This can be different then."

Tener nodded, quivering again. He certainly did not understand what would
keep him from being a husband. Of course, he realized that caring for his
dragon had to be his first priority and that mating flights might put him
into another woman's bed. Or a man's, he supposed. But they both knew those
things, had discussed those things. The vow he had taken to forsake all
others had to bend to allow him to put the dragon first, but he saw no
reason why that should mean it must be broken all together.

"We both? Ayressa and I, both, or the dragon and I, both?" he asked. It
seemed silly to think that his outlook nor hers should be so different then
that they would not immediately restore as much recognition to their
relationship as they could as soon as they could. Dragons, he supposed,
might have other thoughts. But what dragon would choose him who would not
agree that his oaths and his responsibilities to his family were still
important?

Tener was skeptical that these classes could conjure up a reason that he
would not be able to be Ayressa's husband as a matter of fact if not as a
matter of law.

"Being a husband isn't just about the physical relationship," K'sedel
explained, glad again that he'd had that before he'd impressed. "I'm sure
you know that already. And as a weyrling you won't have the time, plus
you'll be working on developing the bond with your dragon and other duties.
That physical relationship will be forbidden, because your dragon won't
understand, and there is a great risk that it can cause them to go /between/
forever. You may find that we have to limit your contact initially because
of that, dragonets take time to understand human relationships."

Tener nodded, relaxing a bit. That was expected. Or, they had already come
to terms with the fact that they would be separated for a little while at
first. He was sure it would be much more difficult when they actually had to
do it, but they knew it was coming if he Impressed, and they had at least
agreed in principle that they could weather it and be stronger for it once
the time was over.

"Yes, sir," he said. "We understand there will be a time we have to be apart
once I Impress." But it would not be forever.

"I'd advise that the two of you perhaps sit down with a mind healer and talk
it through first, just to be sure you are aware of all the implications. I'm
not going to make that a condition of your candidacy, but I am strongly
recommending it." Some found words easy, and didn't cope with the reality
that well. Sometimes the non-candidate partner couldn't take it when
impression did occur and caused great trials to a newly impressed weyrling
my taking another partner, or even leaving the weyr itself.

Tener tried his best not to show offense in his expression, but he was
likely nowhere near as successful as he thought. A mind healer! As though
they were not capable of discussing this with each other like adults on
their own! Hmph. Well, if the weyrlingmaster insisted, he would mention it to Ayressa. But he doubted this mind healer was going to uncover anything they did not already know.

"Yes, sir," he said. "Does that mean you'll let me live with them, then?"
That was the real goal. He would deal with whatever he needed to in order to
make that happen.

"For now, but if there are any hints of things going wrong, I will be
reassessing the situation."

Tener breathed a sigh of relief, a smile finally gracing his expression. And
the quivering finally stopped. Perfect. What could possibly make the
weyrlingmaster change his mind?

"Thank you, sir. I'll make sure I don't disappoint you."

Last updated on the March 23rd 2019

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Family Living