No More Fear
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Devin
Date Posted: 21st April 2024
Characters: Saedyna
Description: Saedyna considers what to do next.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 9 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Ç'pier, Ay'ell, Blue (Jarril)
Content warning for mentions of abuse. Follows "Sorry About That Whole Murder Thing".
Saedyna wandered down to the beach and just kept walking. The sounds
of the Weyr faded away and after a while all she could hear was the
wind and the waves crashing against the shore. A tiny spiderclaw
darted away from her sandaled feet and scuttled across the hot sand.
An avian called off in the distance.
Pierce " C’pier " had tried to _kill_ her over her debt to Ay’ell.
He’d beaten her so badly she couldn’t even remember it. That was the
second time she’d been attacked, and she was all but sure that thug
had been the one to break her thumb also. How on Pern had _he_
Impressed if he was under Ay’ell’s thumb for the same reason? Maybe
Blue was the one who wasn’t a real Candidate. C’pier had said he’d
done it to keep Blue safe.
Did Ay’ell have others still lurking here? Ready to finish the job?
Despite the heat of the late afternoon sun, she shivered and wrapped
her arms around herself. She had hoped that Ay’ell leaving would be
the end of it. She needed to pay him back _now_.
Somehow.
C’pier had to pay her everything he earned, but it would be months yet
before he could go /between/ and would have time to do those tasks.
She couldn’t wait that long. Maybe she could beg money from her fellow
Candidates, from the other weyrfolk. Use the sympathy from her attack.
People had certainly been extra nice to her since she’d gotten out of
the infirmary. But what would she even say it was for? How long would
it take her to scrounge together ten whole marks?
Fear beat inside her, roaring like a stormy sea. Shards and shells,
she’d been afraid for _so_ long.
Saedyna stopped and looked out over the ocean, watching the waves roll
in. Faranth, she was so tired of being afraid. She’d spent more than a
Turn flinching every time Koaz stood or lifted his hand. Worried over
every little detail of their rooms " was it clean enough? Was the food
made exactly the right way? Had she folded his clothes properly? Was
she demure yet welcoming when he came home? And in the bedroom . . .
It was a nightmare she had to escape, and she’d been desperate enough
to take Ay’ell’s offer without much thought for how she was going to
pay that extravagant sum. The Weyr was . . . A breath of fresh air.
Most people were kind, the work expected of her was reasonable, and
after a while that tight ball of nervous dread inside her had started
to loosen.
And yet she still wasn’t safe. She had to fear every time she was
alone. Any time she went into a storeroom.
She clenched her fists and yelled into the wind, “I’m sick of being afraid!”
No. No more. Saedyna wasn’t going to live her life in fear. It was
time for someone _else_ to be afraid. Things began to click together
in her mind. She wasn’t helpless anymore. She refused to be. And if
she lost this gamble? Then so be it.
Saedyna took a deep breath and turned back toward the Weyr. With each
step she felt lighter and lighter.
Last updated on the April 22nd 2024