Sense and Sensibilities (1/2)
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: Corrin, Yvonne
Date Posted: 4th September 2025
Characters: Sybana, Tsaera
Description: The current holdless situation offends Sybana's sensibilities
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 5, day 8 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Saibra, Iserin, Holdless Scum
Follows Rain and Responsibilities 1 and 2
The torrential rains had broken at last. The sun returned, peeking anemically from the clouds to shine weakly on a world that still carried the faint, wet chill of the storm. At least it was warm in Tsaera’s weyr. Sybana had met her there for their usual lesson time and while she was diligent and attentive to the lecture on a gold’s duties in Threadfall, she was really biding her time until the official end of the lesson, until she could finally ask--
“You told me to ask again in a few days,” Sybana said, even as she closed her notebook and capped her ink. “What would you have done with the Holdless, were the decision up to you?” Her voice was carefully light, as though they were talking about nothing more than the weather and not what she considered to be a dire calamity.
Tsaera raised an eyebrow. "Been thinking about it, have you?"
"It would be hard not to," Sybana replied, her words edged with dry force. "There was the ruckus in the dining hall last night, and then that vicious _brawl_ in their own camp. And now word in the lower caverns is that Saibra 's offered them a permanent place here? I've held my tongue outside this room, but I'm _not_ the only one that finds this concerning. Have you _talked_ with her? You can't-- you don't-- Don't you think that's _dangerous_?"
The older goldrider folded her hands and considered her response. "Well... in some ways, yes. We don't know why these people are Holdless and quite frankly probably never will for most of them. If I was Holdless and had a lick of sense, I'd certainly not give out my real name and place of origin so that a Harper could track down my history. But in some ways, no. If you had lived in a cave for the past five turns and someone offered you a chance to rejoin a Hold, what would you do?"
Confusion and frustration flashed across Sybana's pretty face. She wanted _answers_, not more questions, but as she mastered the initial indignation it dawned on her what Tsaera was getting at. "I'd do whatever it took to keep from going back to the caves," she began grudgingly, but her voice soon hardened. "I'd be on my best behavior-- but Tsaera, they _aren't_. That was clear enough from yesterday. And you're right, there's no way to know how many hardened criminals are in their ranks. Murderers or worse! Doesn't that make you uneasy? The Weyr is taking on a great risk at a time when all of Pern needs it at its strongest."
"It does make me uneasy," Tsaera admitted. "And that fight yesterday is certainly not the behaviour I expect in my Weyr."
Heartened by this show of sense, Sybana leaned in and continued earnestly, "We have a _duty_ to countless others. Others without a shadow of villainy. Others who strive every day in the fields and the mines and who tithe and rightfully have Expectations of us. We aren't just gambling with the Weyr's safety, it's the smallfolk too. It's too far."
Tsaera raised an eyebrow. "By that logic, we should let the Holds who shorted or withheld their tithe obligations during the Interval fall to Thread. They are villains."
Sybana’s mouth opened, then closed again. She flushed faintly, caught between the rare discomfort of being challenged and the fierce logic of her upbringing. “That’s different,” she insisted at last. “A Hold that withholds tithe is still a Hold. It can be shamed, fined, or brought to account before its peers. The Lord Holder can be replaced. There are systems for that, safeguards. They still belong to society.
“The Holdless belong nowhere. They’ve already set themselves apart from the laws of Hold and Hall and Weyr-- whether by their own action or misfortune of birth or association. Either way, it is how they live now. What they're used to. There’s no chain of duty to appeal to, no Lord Holder to take responsibility for them. They answer to no one but themselves-- and if their conduct yesterday is any indication, they don’t even manage that well.”
She caught herself, drew a breath, and softened her tone just slightly. “I’m not saying they should be abandoned to die of exposure. Allowing them shelter for the winter is the right thing to do. And perhaps some of the younger children can stay and be raised to a better life." She was still a little uneasy about that. "But a Weyr is not a charity. The stakes are higher here. What if the next fight involves riders? How much is their safety worth? Or their dragons?”
"Anyone who dares raise a hand against a dragonrider will be cast out again, sent to a prison mine or staked out for Thread. The men and women camping in the Weyrbowl know that." Tseara sighed. "You talk of systems and safeguards, but those safeguards are only as good as the people who manage them. Tell me, who was responsible for attacking Kapera, and poisoning the meat at the hatching at Dolphin Cove Weyr?"
Sybana lifted her chin. "It was a dragonless man that attacked Kapera and it was holders that poisoned the meat-- but doesn't that just prove how _dangerous_ this is for the Weyr? Those were devastating incidents! A clutch was nearly wiped out, a weyrwoman and her gold were lost, all due to a few malcontents. You're right that safeguards are only as good as those that manage them-- but aren't _we_ those people? Where are _our_ safeguards in this blanket invitation to join the Weyr?"
Tsaera lifted an eyebrow. "What it proves is that no matter how many safeguards we put in place, someone with enough ill intent will find a way. Saibra and I'serin know this. There's extra guards in the Weyrbowl and the dragonriders with Harper training are doing their best to find out who the Holdless in the Weyrbowl really are." She paused, considering the young woman before her. "I understand that you're scared. I've asked a lot of you, to put on a brave face for the Weyr."
“…I’m glad to know there are harpers looking into matters. I hadn’t heard that,” Sybana admitted. It was a modicum of comfort.
"I think I'm cautious, not scared," she continued defensively. "But if I'm scared, it's only because I care about what's at stake. So many good people rely on us. We cannot fail them." She met Tsaera's eyes, her own bright with conviction. "And you don't ask for any more than you should. I may disagree -- and I do -- but I know how important a united front in public is. I mean to be a good weyrwoman and I know my duty. I just wish the decisions they're making at the top were more in line with what I thought that duty was."
"I have often thought the same thing," Tsaera said dryly, "but if I have learned anything since Impressing Tabanirth, it's that there is more than one path to the same destination. Just because it's not what I would have chosen doesn't mean that it doesn't mean that it's not got merit.”
Last updated on the October 3rd 2025