Get Me Out (1/3)

Writers: Estelle
Date Posted: 24th June 2019
Series: The Great Bandit Trial

Characters: R'fal, Lirena
Description: R'fal and Lirena travel to Emerald Falls to see Terren
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 10, day 24 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Tasni

R'fal had intended to return to Emerald Falls Hold the day after the
trial, but his duties and Marlath's need to hunt did not permit it. Not
for the first time, he chafed against the restrictions of being a
dragonrider in a Pass which kept him from his family. Only during wing
drills did he manage to forget, for a short time, the injustice done to
his father and his own helplessness to prevent it.

The following day, he rose early and made the short jump /between/ with
Marlath to the cothold. His home had become one of the most vivid images
in his mind, even though they'd only been there a few times.

Not home for much longer, though. In less than two months, his family
would have to move out. Some other cotholder would take over and farm
his father's land. Other children would play in the fields and by the
stream where he'd grown up.

R'fal took a deep breath, forcing down the pain for Marlath's sake, and
asked his dragon to land.

As the brown settled to the ground, his mother emerged from the cothold,
carrying a bag. Otherwise, it appeared deserted. The men would be out in
the fields, of course, but nonetheless the place had a gloomy air about
it. R'fal realised that, with the land changing hands, the workers too
would be uncertain about their future, and felt ashamed that he hadn't
thought of that before. The verdict would impact on everyone who'd been
part of his world, growing up.

"I thought you'd come today." Lirena embraced him briefly and handed him
the bag. "Your uncle Evinder arrived last night. He says your brother
and sister are well, and looking forward to seeing us soon."

"I'll bring them back here, if you like," R'fal offered. "After we go to
the Hold."

She shook her head. "They're happy enough with their cousins, and
there's still a lot of work to do here, packing. I hope our neighbours
will buy some of the furniture. It would be a help to have the marks,
and I could pay back Evinder for the harper's fees."

"Don't forget, I can help," R'fal reminded her. "My tips from transport
duty."

"I know." Lirena appreciated the thought, but she worried about him.
Every time R'fal visited he looked thinner, the spark of mischief gone
from his eyes and replaced by a quiet intensity. She couldn't help but
remember how every few days he would be flying Fall, on top of all his
duties and the strain of the trial and its aftermath, and she would
rather he didn't take on extra work just now. She hoped the Weyr was
looking after him.

"I talked to your uncle about the petition to keep the cothold in the
family," she said, hoping to lighten the mood as R'fal helped her up to
Marlath's back. "We decided it can't hurt to try. Holder Galveden came
over and has been a great support. He offered to take care of the land
until your brother comes of age, if the Lord Holder will permit it."

"That's...very generous of him." R'fal buckled the riding straps around
them both. He felt doubtful about their prospects. The Lord Holder had
seemed very severe at the trial, and he worried that his mother was
wasting more precious marks on harpers' fees.

"Well, he would get the revenues from the farm during those Turns, so I
don't think he's being entirely selfless." She smiled. Despite her old
friend's eye for a profit, she knew the gesture was kindly meant. "It
seems the best solution, if it's successful, but we'll see. I'll speak
to Harper Tasni while I'm at the Hold."

"I'll drop you off at the Harper Hall, if you like," R'fal suggested.
"It's not far from the Hold, is it? Then, I can go on and speak with the
guards, try and get to see Da."

Lirena hesitated. Something about letting Terren talk to R'fal alone
made her uneasy. Her son needed to accept the verdict of the court, and
nothing about Terren's conduct over the past months led her to believe
that he would do anything to assist with that. But how could she keep
the boy from speaking with his father?

"We'll see," she said, and grasped the riding straps as Marlath rose to
a crouch, wings poised, ready to spring into the air.

***

R'fal waited outside the guard barracks, watching as a heavyset man with
a bald head and bare, scarred arms barked orders at a group of trainees.
It reminded him a little of weyrling training, except that here the
class consisted entirely of burly young men, moving through their drill
with the smooth skill of much practice. Their wooden swords cracked
against each other forcefully at each step, their faces red and sweating
under the hot sun.

Other guards, passing on the way to their duties, regarded the lone
dragonrider with looks ranging from indifference to suspicion. He
wondered if they had seen him at the trial and knew who he was, or if
they simply distrusted weyrfolk. A cold shiver ran down the young
brownrider's spine as he recalled the recent attack at the Weyr. Even in
the midst of his worry for his father, and though he'd heard rumours to
the contrary, he'd always, deep down, believed that everyone honoured
the Weyr as his family had, and that dragonriders were inviolate.

Marlath was waiting on the cliff heights with the watchdragon. If one of
these men went for him with a knife, or even one of those wooden swords,
his dragon would never reach him in time.

**I'm all right,** he reassured the brown, trying to seem more confident
than he felt.

"You want to see the prisoner?"

R'fal turned to see a lanky, older guard scowling at him. The man was
grey-haired, but was still lean and muscular, with the strength of a
lifetime in the Hold's service.

"Holder Terren. Yes. He's my Da..."

"Any weapons? You'll have to leave them here."

"Ah - no." R'fal followed the guard's gaze to his belt knife. "Well,
just this." He barely thought of it as a weapon, more a tool for hunting
and cutting tangled riding straps in an emergency, and would hardly have
known how to use it as one if he had. Removing it from its sheath, he
handed it over to the guard.

The man nodded briefly. "Good. You won't mind if I check?" He stepped
forward to pat the dragonrider down. R'fal stood still, wondering if
this was an insult or normal practice when visiting a prisoner. If it
was the former, he didn't know what he could do about it. Objecting
surely wouldn't help his father.

The guard knelt to check his boots for hidden knives, then stood,
satisfied. "Right, then. This way."

Last updated on the June 24th 2019

[Prev: The fate of Tedek] Series: The Great Bandit Trial [Next: Get Me Out (2/3)]

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Get Me Out (1/3)