The Gig is Up

Writers: Aaron, Devin
Date Posted: 15th April 2024

Characters: Ç'pier, R'lor, Calbarran
Description: Ç'pier can't let Blue take the heat for what he did.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 9 of Turn 11

Ç'pier

R'lor

Calbarran had practice by this point with keeping calm about this
investigation. But he was certain he had finally cracked the case. The
only person he had managed to find who matched the description the
male victim had given was a man by the name of Jarrin, who had been
attempting to enter the Weyr via the main entrance for some time now,
allegedly in order to retrieve his son, a Candidate.

None of the Candidates answered to the name he gave, but it was easy
enough to find out there was one among their number who was living
under an assumed name and who matched the description the man gave.
When given the opportunity to vouch for him to come inside, the boy
had refused.

It did not quite add up. Something was fishy about the whole thing.
Getting back out again would have been relatively trivial, but the
only way that the man could have gotten into the Weyr in the first
place was if Little Boy Blue had vouched for him or let him in some
other way. Calbarran had absolutely no success with getting the boy to
talk, and he seemed a bit dull witted when he had tried to speak to
him. Clearly, he was a pawn in all this, but even if he had not known
at first what his father intended to do, he had enough of his wits
about him to have known that he should have told someone about letting
him into the Weyr around the time when the attack had happened.

And now that he stood to get in trouble about it, he pretended not to
have had anything to do with it. Just as the father claimed to know
nothing about the attack when he had come back to retrieve his son,
the inside man. He had not considered that one or both of his victims
had actually lived to give his description.

Calbarran was not fully ready yet to level the accusation at the
Candidate known as Blue. He wanted to know more about him first. He
was not permitted much time to speak with the erstwhile Pierce, but he
was the only one in the Weyr who knew Blue before he had come to the
Weyr.

"No," said Ç'pier. "No, you've got it all wrong. Blue was _running_
from his father. If that's who attacked us, there's no way Blue would
have let him into the Weyr to do it. He wasn't supposed to even know
we were here."

"The man is from an island hold. I have found no one else in the Weyr
who has any direct ties to him aside from your Blue."

"Well, so what? Who's to say he didn't meet one of Master Shuvan's
goons while he was out looking for Blue? He has the same 'woe is me,
the weyr stole my son' gripe they all have, doesn't he?"

"That's speculation he can save for his trial. The evidence gives me
cause to believe he was involved, and I have found no more plausible
suspect. Now, are you going to answer my questions about him, or
aren't you?"

"No. And I want to talk to R'lor."

"Why?" Calbarran raised an eyebrow.

"That's my business."

The guard shrugged and stood. He could hardly press the man any
farther when he had been given express orders not to upset him lest
his dragon panic. Whether Ç'pier wanted to protect his friend or not,
Calbarran was going to go through with arresting and accusing him
eventually. It would be that much harder to prove his case at trial,
but any reasonable man could see it if they were not blinded by
misguided loyalty. Clearly, Ç'pier did not know the boy as well as he
thought he did.

"I'll let him know on my way out you want to speak with him. Thank you
for your time, Weyrling Ç'pier.

R'lor was more than a little uneasy as he waited outside. Kularth was
watching Yuliuth to keep the brown calm and knew to reach out to
Panitath if the weyrling was in any danger. Much as R'lor didn't want
C'pier to relive the attack, it was important to help catch the man
responsible, who was still on the loose. The guard wasn't in there for
very long before he stepped out and told R'lor that C'pier wanted to
speak with him.

"I hope it wasn't too upsetting," R'lor said as he closed the door behind him.

Ç'pier let out a single dry chuckle.

"Listen... I have to tell you something. I don't want to go to too
much trouble to soften the blow - and it's going to be a big blow -
but before I lay it all out, I just wanted you to know that I really
appreciate everything you've done for me and for Blue. You're probably
one of the most genuinely good men I have ever met."

He took a deep breath. Quick, simple, to the point was probably the
best way to start.

"That guard wants to arrest Blue for letting his father in to attack
Saedyna. But it wasn't him. It wasn't either of them. I did it. And I
blamed it on Blue's father because I thought it would get him away
from Blue forever- and because I thought I could get away with it that
way. Blue didn't have anything to do with it, and he didn't know about
it."

}:I won't abandon you,:{ said Yuliuth. }:I know your heart, and it's
worth saving.:{

R'lor was bound to have questions, of course...

For a moment all R'lor could do was stare. Surely he couldn't have
heard that right. "_You_ attacked Saedyna?" That didn't make any
sense. "But you were injured. Look if you're trying to protect Blue .
. ."

"I was trying to protect him when I did it," said Ç'pier. "I injured
myself, too. Because I knew it would make the story more believable."

"Protect him? From what?" R'lor still couldn't believe this story, but
there was a sick dread building in his stomach.

"You may find this hard to believe, but there's a hard, holdless life
to live when you run away from home," said Ç'pier. "And when I first
escaped, I didn't have a lot of places to go. I made the mistake of
borrowing marks from the wrong person. I thought I'd be beyond their
reach after we came here, but I was wrong. They told me to take her
out, so I tried. If I didn't do what they said, they said they could
take what I owed out of Blue's hide."

R'lor sat down, shaking his head. **Kularth . . .?** He didn't even
fully form the thought, but his dragon understood.

}:Is yours telling the truth? Did he do this terrible thing?:{
Kularth's voice was gentle, but there was an edge of anger lurking
underneath.

Yuliuth pondered for a moment. There was still deception in what
Ç'pier was saying, and he had no idea why he would want to protect the
true culprit. But he clearly did, and everything he had said was
technically true. The best kind of true, as far as Ç'pier was
concerned.

}:He is telling the truth, and he did this terrible thing. I could see
it in him when I chose him. But nevertheless, he did this thing out of
true love and loyalty greater than I could have ever hoped for in a
rider, and I wanted him as mine so badly for it...

}:It is true that much of this loyalty was woefully misplaced and his
trust in the Weyr's ability to protect him sorely lacking... but I
believe I can save him from what he once became. I can help him become
who he was meant to be,:{ said the little brown.

}:The girl did not die. I know this is because he could not bear to
truly and fully go through with what the bad man demanded of him. I
must beg you and your most beneficent rider to take this into account
when you decide what next to do with us.:{

Ç'pier had not thought himself so soft as to be unable to do what he
had set out to do. But it was true that he had never personally wished
for her to die. Maybe there was something to that. Yuliuth believed
there was. But in the end, Ç'pier suspected he was only trying to make
excuses for himself in the hope that his punishment might be
mitigated.

Kularth passed on an abbreviated version to his rider. R'lor's eyes
grew dark and hard. He wasn't generally a violent man, but he had to
stand and take several steps away to avoid doing some kind of harm to
C'pier. He whirled back around to face the weyrling. "You beat a girl
nearly to _death_! You _lied_ to us! You sent the entire _Weyr_ into a
panic thinking we were in danger. You let us think you were a
_victim_."

"Yes, sir," Ç'pier agreed. He had done those things, and R'lor was
right to be angry at him for it.

"The _first_ thing you're going to do is confess to the Weyrleader."
Then R'lor remembered the man who'd been working so diligently to find
the culprit. "No, the _first_ thing you're going to do is apologize to
Guard Sergeant Calbarran for wasting his time."

"Yes, sir." Ç'pier had no reason to argue. He was caught, and now he
would pay the toll for what he had done. It was the way the world
worked.

That was all he had to say for himself? R'lor supposed it would be
worse if the brownrider had tried to argue. He thought of how he'd
comforted C'pier, how badly he'd felt for the poor young man. "And
after you talk to the Weyrleader, if there's anything left of you,
you're going to apologize to Saedyna."

"Yes, sir."

Out of the whole lot of them, it was probably R'lor he regretted
hurting the most. He had not demanded one, and Ç'pier suspected his
apology would sound just as hollow to R'lor as it would to all the
others- especially Saedyna. Still.

"I'm sorry that I betrayed your trust, R'lor. I know you believed in
me. And I know that's something I can never get back."

"You have disgraced yourself," R'lor said tightly. He stepped aside to
provide a clear path to the door. "Go apologize to Guard Calbarran and
then report to the Weyrleader. If he's busy, you will _sit_ and you
will _wait_." Meanwhile R'lor had the unpleasant task of reporting
this to the Weyrlingmaster.

Well. Ç'pier had been disgraced his whole life. So this was not really
anything new, was it?

"Yes, sir."

Last updated on the April 18th 2024

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The Gig is Up