The End of a Very Long Day

Writers: Avery, Devin
Date Posted: 13th March 2021

Characters: N'vanik, A'kades
Description: After a very long day, N'vanik talks to his friend and 'Second A'kades.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 10 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: J'ackt, Cyradis, K'deren, K'sedel, Irrkali, Sh'del, T'lin, Talryne
Follows "A Leadership Proposal" and the many other posts on this date.

N'vanik

Shards, it had been a long day. Starting with the early morning wake
up from J'ackt with his bad news, then several meetings and decisions
after that. And there was still so much more to do. One of the things
weighing on him was how many more people they should tell about the
holders' plot against the Weyr. N'vanik wanted only the minimum amount
of people to know to prevent word from getting back to the holders. It
wasn't so much that he didn't trust his fellow riders, but _dragons_
sure liked to talk. It wouldn't take much for the rumor to spread to
the woman the plotters had working for them inside the Weyr.

But if something happened to N'vanik in Fall . . . }:Could you ask
Volaith if his rider could come to my weyr?:{

It was sufficiently late in the evening that A'kades was extremely
surprised to receive the summons. He knocked on N'vanik's weyr door
ten minutes later, a mug of steaming tea in one hand. "Weyrleader, how
are you?" he asked.

"I've been better," N'vanik said with a sigh. "Come on in." He had a
skin of wine and a bottle of whiskey set out on the table in his
seating area, along with two glasses. The Weyrleader had already been
sipping at his glass of whiskey. "Today's been a shell of a day."

A'kades raised an eyebrow. "Looks like it. What's going on?"

N'vanik ran a hand through his hair. "First I need to tell you about
the holders who are planning some kind of attack against the Weyr." He
explained what he'd learned from the "note" as well as the information
J'ackt had brought him that morning.

A'kades' eyes widened as he took himself some whiskey and listened to
the tale. He breathed out heavy and ran his finger around the rim of
the glass. "That tensions were simmering between Hold and Weyr, I
knew. That some people might be disgruntled enough to _still_ want to
do something about perceived injustices, I can see. But that someone
would want to poison the Weyrwoman, or maybe other riders... I can't
imagine anyone would want to risk Thread eating their lands!"

"I don't know _what_ they're thinking." N'vanik took a drink. "Or what
exactly they plan to do. Could be just about anything." Shards it made
his stomach churn to imagine the possibilities. "I want to keep this
quiet though. We know they have at least on person in the Weyr, and I
don't want them to find out that we know anything. At least now we
have _some_ information. If they get wind and change their plans, then
we've got nothing."

A'kades nodded. "I won't say anything. I assume you're letting me know
because as your second, if something happens to you and it's not
during Threadfall, I should assume it may have been foul play?"

"That, and if something _does_ happen to me in Fall, then you'll know
what's going on without Cyradis needing to catch you up."

"I hope by the Dawn Sisters that neither occurs," A'kades said with a deep sigh.

"_And_," N'vanik said as he reached for the whiskey bottle. "On top of
all that, Cyradis told me she's pregnant. And it might be mine." He
poured more liquor into his glass.

"Yours? Not K'deren's? Oh," he said in bigger surprise. "Are you happy?"

"I am, but I wish there wasn't . . ." N'vanik gestured vaguely. "All
this muddying it up. Cyradis thinks it was the Flight because the
timing matches."

"Well, that's exciting news...though I can see how it complicates
things with her wing."

"Yep." N'vanik took a sip, feeling the alcohol burn down his throat.
"K'sedel is going to take over while she's grounded, which means we'll
be short on the weyrlingstaff, but Sh'del's been Weyrlingmaster
before, and we've got that new 'Third. I'm not too worried about that.
One interesting idea Cyradis came up with is to rotate some of the
young bronzeriders as 'Seconds in Volcano. Give them good leadership
experience in the least dangerous Wing."

"Interesting idea. With K'sedel to watch them they won't be able to
get into too much trouble, and it'll give us a chance to see who might
be ready for the position in the future."

N'vanik nodded. "We've got a few that'll be eager for it. L'cor and
I'lan would be good. We'll see if we can convince J'ackt to give it a
try." He snorted. They'd probably have more luck getting a porcine to
fly.

"What age cutoff are you using for rider and dragon?"

"Cyradis and I were thinking at least 20 turns for the rider, and
three for the dragon. Younger than we'd normally consider, but their
Wingleaders and K'sedel will both assess them before we give them a
trial." This subject at least was one N'vanik felt positive about.
"And she's bringing in Irrkali from the weyrlingstaff to be her
'Third, so the young bronzes will have steady guidance on both sides."

"Oh good, that's going to make it easy. Weyrlingstaff have a gift for
watching young riders and if Irrkali has been working with K'sedel
before that's better. I assume we'll be making a list of who falls
into the category both right now, and who's eligible soon depending on
how long she's grounded?" he said. "Because I can think of a couple
bronzeriders who will be soon, Thadath from the clutch Anaeryth
hatched in at River Bluff for one."

"Sure. You can make a list of those and note when they'll be eligible,
and we can assess them once they reach that point." Talking about Wing
matters with A'kades was familiar and made N'vanik feel a little
calmer.

"I will do so. Is there anything you want to adjust in terms of the
earlier-mentioned issue? In terms of who we're posting on watchduties,
or if we should have accompaniments on Search rides to Holds with
known problems?"

"I think we should avoid putting young riders on watch duty for
punishment. We need those who'll actually focus on the job, though we
shouldn't alter the rotation any more than necessary to avoid
suspicion. As for Search, we should have all Search pairs accompanied
by an older bronze or brown. That we can explain as a general concern
for tension in the Holds, and the attitudes holders can have about
blue and greenriders." N'vanik had been considering something like
that before he heard about the plot.

A'kades thought about young T'lin flying a solo Search and he nodded
emphatically. "I agree with that. Perhaps if we could see if there are
holdbred bronze and brownriders, maybe blueriders if we need, we could
assign to the watch duties at the holds of concern? Ones who might
know the area's normal patterns socially and thus be more tuned for
what might be abnormal, or someone that might still be trusted if he's
seen as a local man?"

"Hmm, not a bad idea. But we'd have to be careful. Again, too much
change and people will start to talk. If we have an opportunity,
someone needing to switch shifts for some reason or a newly retired
rider needing an assignment, then take it," N'vanik said. "I've also
got J'ackt looking over the Weyr and seeing where we might have
vulnerabilities."

"Sounds like you've already hit on almost every angle I could think of."

"I can probably come up with more when I'm not so sharding exhausted."
N'vanik took another sip of whiskey. "All this flaming mess aside, I
do kinda hope Cyradis's baby is mine."

"Would that make three you know about?"

"Yeah." N'vanik looked at the amber liquid in his glass. "Not that I
want to take anything away from K'deren, but I like the idea of us
having a kid together. We had a rough start, but she's become a really
good friend." In those early days when they clashed so often, he never
would have guessed they'd come this far.

"It makes you Weyr family, not just leadership partners." He
hesitated, but was pretty sure he was close enough to ask. "How does
Talryne feel?"

"She's not jealous or anything." The subject of kids was still a
little uncomfortable between them even after Turns, and they probably
_should_ have a serious discussion about it soon. "She likes Cyradis,
and she took it a lot better than when I told her Nisha was coming
along."

A'kades nodded and resisted the urge to say he couldn't blame her, as
that would be impolite. "I'm glad to hear it's well."

"On that subject, at least. She's terrified about the threat to the
Weyr. To me." It had taken both him and Loseth to reassure her that
they'd be vigilant and that N'vanik would be fine.

"It's hard having to worry about someone you love needing protection,"
he agreed. "If Lenala was here as Cyradis' second, I'd be frightened
for her. I can't blame Talryne for her fear."

"Yeah. Not that it's a comforting thought, but we face more danger in
Thread on a regular basis." Then again, Thread was mindless, and those
planning this attack were people with intelligence.

"That's something dragonriders know how to handle. Dragons know how to
fight Thread. But the Holder sabotage we've been seeing, like people
going after J'ackt directly or now Cyradis, well.. That's different."

"True." N'vanik tipped back another mouthful of whiskey. "Shards, I
hope we can figure out whatever they're planning." Targeting him or
Cyradis? Going after J'ackt again? Attacking people at random?

"Anything I can do, you let me know. Even if it's just taking more
Wing and Weyr duties off you so you can investigate."

"Thanks, A'kades. I feel better having you around." And that was a
comfort, to have good people around him. People he could rely on.

"I'm happy to be here. So, let's discuss something a little more
cheerful before you brood too much, hmm?"

Last updated on the July 21st 2021

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The End of a Very Long Day