Holdless Scum

Writers: Estelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 14th December 2020

Characters: R'fal, J'ackt, Nalore, V'kaden
Description: R'fal and friends are overheard insulting the Holdless
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 26 of Turn 10

J'ackt

After the morning class with the dragonhealers, R'fal headed for the
dining cavern for a mug of klah and a bite to eat before the afternoon's
drill. One of the greenriders from his wing waved him over to a table
where she was sitting with another young rider.

"Hey, R'fal. How was class?"

"Hey, Nalore, V'kaden. Not too bad. We were studying firelizards today,
actually. What they have in common, what's different." He slid onto the
bench and set down his notes beside him. "How was your sweepride?"

"Rough." V'kaden grimaced. "Waroth and I found a cothold that had been
robbed. They got in at night, forced the family into the children's
bedroom and ransacked the place. Took food, tools, blankets, all the
marks they'd saved. Holdless, they think. The mother was near
hysterical, not knowing how she'd feed the kids over winter, and the
tithe due."

"They were lucky to be alive," Nalore said darkly. "That sort are
vicious. Might have burned the cot down around them, so as not to leave
witnesses."

The bluerider sighed. "We circled around a bit, but never saw a trace of
them, so I went and reported it to the Steward at the nearest big hold.
They're going to send guards. Seems to happen more often lately, the
sweeprider just misses them. It happened to one of my clutchmates last
month. It's like they know we're coming."

"I guess you'd know, R'fal." Nalore started, and then caught herself,
flustered. "Um, I mean, you're from a cothold, aren't you?"

R'fal had been listening with growing concern, thinking of his uncle's
farm, where his mother now lived. There were his two grown cousins, and
the fieldhands were sturdy men. Surely they'd be able to drive off a
band of holdless... But as the greenrider stumbled over her words, a
more insidious doubt wormed its way into his thoughts. Had she been
thinking of his father, and what he'd been accused of? Was there
suspicion in V'kaden's glance?

"Yes, back home, we had to have watchers out every night, guarding the
herds, and there was still always one or two that got stolen." He spoke
more forcefully and a little louder than he'd meant. "Holdless people
are scum. Why can't they work like everyone else, instead of stealing
what honest folk toiled hard to make?"

Their conversation had been nothing but a murmur in the background of
J'ackt's mind as he sat nearby, trying to finish his meal. It wasn't
anything he hadn't heard before, and as always it annoyed him, but
not enough for him to speak up. The last comment though, brought his
head up and he slowly turned around in his seat to look at the group.
Now irritated, he rose and walked over, making a point to put his tray
down beside the greenrider, whose flight he'd won only last month. He
sat, then calmly thrust his eating knife point down into the table
with a solid thunk. "Hello, Nalore. So, do you think all Holdless are
scum like R'fal seems to?"

All three wingriders jumped at the sound of the knife hitting the table,
and Nalore and V'kaden glanced at each other, then at R'fal. The
greenrider winced. "Well, not _all_ Holdless. Obviously."

"The ones who held up that cothold were," V'kaden said, frowning. "They
terrorized that poor family...ow!" He flinched as Nalore trod on his
toes under the table.

"There's a difference, you know." J'ackt said smoothly, plucking his
knife from the table and tapping it idly against the table top.
"Between Holdless and bandits. Most Holdless are by themselves. Alone.
They only steal what they need to survive." His smile was thin. "And
some are that way from no fault of their own. It could have been a
family member that got them cast out." He looked at R'fal pointedly
before looking at the other two.

R'fal's jaw tightened as he remembered the trial at Emerald Falls, the
moment when the Lord Holder had stripped his father of the family hold.
If it hadn't been for his uncle's generosity... But his mother would
never have allowed her family to live Holdless. He scowled at the
bronzerider. "It's still stealing, when there's honest work to be had.
Seems to me there's not much difference between that and turning bandit."

J'ackt leaned closer and curled his fingers at R'fal and the other two
to get them closer. His voice lowered. "Really? Tell me, R'fal, What
kind of _honest_ work do you think someone who's been made Holdless
would be able to do? Who would let them work? Who would trust a piece
of _scum_ to work their cothold? And do you really think that after
being tossed out of the Hold, that the Holdless person would have any
trust whatsoever of anything offered?" He tilted his head but didn't
wait for an answer. "Think about this, all three of you...weather at
Emerald Falls is getting pretty cold at night right now. Pickings in
the wild are slim and hunting isn't that great, so you're cold and
starving, but right over the next ridge is a nice warm cothold with
plenty of food in their storage. You want to live. What would you do?
Do you think the cotholders would let some _criminal_ into their home
and feed you?"

"We gave them food. Sometimes." R'fal spoke defensively. He remembered
his mother doing that. But she had never let one inside, and his Da had
always said she was an easy touch and they'd come back with half a dozen
friends next time, or worse. "Anyway, if we're putting ourselves in the
place of the poor, starving holdless wanderer, what about the poor
cotholders who work all Turn to raise a beast or plant a crop and then
have some thief walk off with it, and leave them with nothing to put on
the table for their family?"

A worried frown creased V'kaden's brow, and he put a hand on the young
brownrider's shoulder. "Hey, R'fal. Let's keep calm, okay?" He cast a
wary look at the knife in J'ackt's hand. "He outranks us."

R'fal shrugged him off. "Being Holdless isn't supposed to be an easy
life. It's a punishment. For a crime. If they didn't want to live like
that, they shouldn't have broken the law."

"And the Lord Holder's justice for crimes is always right and fair,
right? No mistakes are ever made. " J'ackt waved off V'kaden's concern
as his eyes remained on R'fal, razor sharp. "Wives and children aren't
affected by Hold justice, when someone in their family commits a crime."

"There was a mistake, but it wasn't the Lord Holder's fault." R'fal
tensed, his hands gripping the edge of the table as if ready to rise.
"My Da was convicted because a holdless man lied about him. But at least
he's got family who care about him, unlike..."

"Okay! It's time we were going!" V'kaden leapt to his feet and hauled
the brownrider up with him. He gave Nalore a meaningful look and tilted
his head towards J'ackt, receiving an eyeroll in return. "Come on, R'fal."

J'ackt's answering smile was toothy and not the least bit amused as he
leaned back, slipping his knife into the sheath at his side. He
glanced over at Nalore and slowly rose, picking up his tray. "Keep
telling yourself that, R'fal." J'ackt stepped away from the table.
"Maybe none of you should talk about things that you don't
understand."

"We won't, Bronzerider. Sorry to have bothered you." The bluerider, a
stocky young man, managed to haul his wingmate away before R'fal could
say anything more. Nalore sighed and gathered up their abandoned meals,
not without a wistful look over her shoulder.

R'fal's look after the departing bronzerider was far less friendly.
"What does he mean, I don't understand? I understand plenty! We had to
deal with those thieving vermin all the time back home."

"Ssh!" V'kaden grasped his shoulder and gave him a shake. "Are you
stupid? You were this close to insulting him directly! He could have
challenged you, and we all know he'd have wiped the floor with you. You
want to air your opinion of holdless folk so much, it's worth ending up
in the infirmary?"

"He insulted _my_ family. He called my Da a criminal."

"He didn't even mention your Da. Just forget about it, all right? You
can't pick fights with bronzeriders, and especially not that one."

Nalore came up to them with the trays and a sardonic twist to her lips.
"Well, that's one bronze I don't expect will chase my Rosalth again for
a while. Thanks, R'fal."

"Ah, you know you like blueriders the best." V'kaden grinned, lightening
the mood. "Come on, both of you. We need to get ready for drills."

R'fal followed them out, but though he knew that V'kaden was right, the
hot coals of anger still burned in him. All the more, perhaps, since he
knew, though he could hardly admit it even to himself, that he shouldn't
have said what he had.

Last updated on the January 13th 2021

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Holdless Scum