Take Care of Her (PG-17)

Writers: Aaron
Date Posted: 12th March 2024

Characters: Ç'pier, Saedyna
Description: Pierce (Fettonen) takes care of Ay'ell's problem.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 3 of Turn 10
Notes: Content Warning: acknowledgment of SA in internal monologue (none occurs), murder
Rating: PG-17

Ç'pier

It had taken Pierce a little while to work out how he was going to make this work without getting caught. But the Holders' absurd preoccupation with killing the people who protected them and their food from the flesh-eating rain was going to accrue to his benefit in one very important way. He had a perfect scapegoat.

Saedyna knew who Pierce was. It was impossible to avoid coming into contact with the other Candidates at the Weyr. But so far, he had not gone out of his way to speak to her. When he had broken her thumb, he had covered his face, used a false accent, slouched to conceal his full height. But there was no reason to risk her putting it together that it had been him.

And besides, he wanted this to be as impersonal as possible. Because he knew that someday, especially if she threatened to turn him in, Ay'ell would call on Pierce to dispose of his problem. She had used Ay'ell's services to escape a violent husband. And now, in trying to escape the price, she had run right into the arms of violence.

Pierce doubted that she would be so obliging as to follow him off to a storeroom to play grabarse without even the pretense of courting. But if he waited long enough, there would be a goldflight. And he did not have long to wait, indeed.

A fortnight to the day after Ay'ell demanded he take care of his problem, Santhiath obliged Pierce. Even better, it seemed Saedyna was one of those who tended to slink off to hide during goldflights, too. When she wandered off down the lower caverns corridors to get to her hidey hole, Pierce followed her.

Luckily for him, her mind was set enough on avoiding a sexual encounter that he was not tempted (enough) to give in to the flight lust himself when the time came to do the deed. He would kill her, but thank fate, Ay'ell was not paying him to violate her that way.

It was a gruesome sort of thing, but he waited until it was over with to put the girl's body into a state of undress. It had to be convincing when the Healers came to find her. His own mind was addled enough by Santhiath's flight that when he had to smash his own face and arm, it was easier than he had feared to push past his own self-preservation instinct.

But it also hurt more than he anticipated.

By the time he made it to the infirmary, clutching his broken forearm in nothing but his undershorts, the flight was over. He interrupted the barrage of questions with his own frantic insistence that they had to get to the storeroom to help the girl. She would not wake, and he could not carry her.

On the way there, he told them his entire rehearsed story. They had sneaked off to the storerooms to enjoy the flight. But when they were just about to get down to business, someone else revealed he was in the room. He gave them a description that matched Blue's father. Two birds with one stone.

"He... he said we would pay for what the Weyr has done to the Holds. We tried to tell him we weren't born weyrfolk, but... he didn't... he didn't care, he said we had already seen him. He couldn't let us give him away."

Everything had gone to plan. Except.

"Oh, thank Faranth. She's breathing."

Pierce's blood froze. It took every bit of his restraint to keep the panic off of his face. She was not dead.

"You can save her, can't you?"

"We'll do our best. Here." The last Healer out of the room after the others had carried Saedyna out tossed Pierce his trousers. "Let's go get you patched up. The guards will want to talk to you about this, obviously. One of K'sedel's people. Probably N'vanik."

"Yeah..."

Pierce had to keep playing along for now. But if she woke up... He was going to have to start making an escape plan.

- - -

Last updated on the March 14th 2024

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Take Care of Her (PG-17)