Something Just as Precious

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 29th March 2026

Characters: Gilbek, Alyena, Talryne
Description: Gil asks the Headwoman for help with a gift, and Talryne is eager to offer her skills.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 16 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Tr'vel, R'ayl

Talryne

"Gil! That's beautiful!" Alyena leaned forward to look more closely at the blue stone sparkling on the finger of the man who'd come to by see her after his morning's work. They were sitting in the pair of cosy armchairs by the hearth in her office that she kept for less formal occasions. She reached out and took his sun-browned hand in hers, turning it over to see how the entwined bands curved around each other. "Congratulations."

"Well, I thought you'd like to know. And I ought to tell you I'm moving out of my bunk in the worker's dorm, into his weyr," Gilbek said, his cheeks a little flushed with embarrassment.

"You've hardly used that bunk since I assigned it to you," she teased. "But thank you for letting me know."

"It's true, when I went back this morning I found my roommates had been piling their laundry on it," he admitted. "I suppose it should be freed up for someone else."

"We're not so short of space, but it's good to know. I'm very glad for you." She squeezed his hand, then let go. "After all you've done for us, for my children, you deserve your happiness."

"It was only doing what was right." He glanced down at his hands. "But - if it's no trouble - there was something I wanted to ask. More for advice, really."

"Of course." Alyena regarded him with curiosity. "How can I help?"

"This ring, it's a precious gift." Gil's words came haltingly, as if he was uncertain of the propriety of what he was asking. "It must be a Master's work, and the stone - I don't know how much Tr'vel must have spent on it. And now he's bringing me into his home. I wish I could do something for him. Give him something that shows how much he means to me. I don't have much, but - perhaps a loan, and I could pay it back over time, if that's something the Weyr could do...I'm not even certain what he would like," he admitted at last.

"I'm sure he knows how you feel. If it's any comfort, I believe that Mastersmith gives good prices to dragonriders," the Headwoman added, nodding towards the ring. "But I do understand. I owe a great deal to the Weyr, too." She leaned back in her chair, considering his request. "I don't think you know how many people here have good will towards you, Gil. You saved the life of a young rider, and by that, his dragon." When she thought back to that night, and how close that conspirator's knife had come to her son, it chilled her heart all over again.

"Well, like I said, it was the right thing to do. I'm not trying to ask for recompense..."

"I'd never imagine you would." An idea came to Alyena, and she sat up, then got to her feet. "Come with me. I think I might have a solution to your problem."

**

"The weavers?" Gil had never been right inside their workshop before, though he'd helped carry rolls of cloth and boxes of supplies back and forth, and he found himself almost overwhelmed by the rich colors surrounding him. Shelves stacked with wool and thread and bales of fabric, looms bearing half-finished work and swags of cloth rolled out on the tables with patterns pinned to them. It was quiet, at least, since like him the apprentices would be taking their noon break. "I don't know. I don't often see Tr'vel wearing fancy clothes." Though he couldn't deny the bluerider would look good. He felt a secret warmth deep within him at the thought.

"That's not all they make here," Alyena said with a smile. She raised a hand in greeting as a young woman looked up from her work. "Good day, Talryne."

"Hi." It took Talryne a brief moment to recognize the man with her. "Oh, hi Gil."

"Ma'am." Gil nodded politely. He'd heard from gossip around the Lower Caverns that the woman who'd been with R'ayl that night when they'd been attacked had been the Weyrleader's weyrmate, though he'd not known at the time.

"I hope we're not interrupting your work, but Gil is looking for a gift for a dragonrider, and we hoped we might find something suitable here," Alyena explained. She took the man's hand and lifted it, showing the ring. "He's just become weyrmated."

Talryne's eyes widened. "Let me see!" She got up and hurried over to admire the ring. "Gil, that's gorgeous! Congratulations."

"Thank you." His shyness eased a little as he turned his hand over to show off the entwined bands. "I've never been given anything so precious before. I was hoping to find something just as beautiful for Tr'vel, so that he knows how much he means to me, too."

"What were you thinking of?" Talryne asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied, hesitant once more. "Only that it would be something he might see every day and think of how much I love him, and that it would last as long as this..." He touched the ring on his finger.

"Wingleader Tr'vel was recently promoted and moved into a new weyr, but his furnishings are mostly from the common store, rather than personal," Alyena suggested. "Perhaps something decorative - a rug, or a throw or a tapestry."

Talryne lit with excitement. "I can make you a tapestry! I mean, I'm only an apprentice and I'm not very good, but I'd be happy to make you one. As a gift."

"Oh - that's too generous - I couldn't..." Gil seemed both overwhelmed and worried. "The cost of the materials..."

"I'll take care of that," the Headwoman said firmly. "You just carry on working hard and looking after your weyrmate, Gil. And as for the quality, I've seen some of your work, Talryne. I know it's lovely and worthy of hanging in a dragonrider's weyr."

"Well, then...thank you, both." A tentative smile appeared on his face. "That would be perfect."

Talryne's cheeks warmed at the praise. The Senior Journeymen and Masters who trained her had said much the same about her tapestries. "You saved R'ayl," she told Gil. And possibly her as well, if she'd tried to intervene or if the attacker decided to lash out at anyone nearby. "Maybe a tapestry of Eboroth?" She was fairly confident in her ability to depict dragons.

"I like that idea." Gil held his hand flat, palm down, so the pale aquamarine glittered in the light. "Tr'vel told me that Eboroth wanted this stone to match his color. I didn't think of it before, but if my gift also represented him, that would be wonderful."

"That's adorable," Talryne said with a little laugh. Then she grew thoughtful as she pictured what the tapestry might look like. "Do you think I should show him from the side, with just his good eye? Or have him turned more to show his missing eye, too?"

Gil twisted the ring around his finger, considering. "I'm not certain. I wouldn't want it to be a reminder to Tr'vel and Eboroth of what they've lost, but at the same time it doesn't seem right to hide his scars. He got them fighting Thread, protecting all of us." He was keenly aware of his own scars, concealed under his clothes. Would he want to show them to the world? Was he ashamed of them, or proud? With a soft shiver, he thought of how Tr'vel would gently trace their lines with his fingers or his lips. Sometimes he longed for smooth, unmarked skin, but he also remembered what his weyrmate had told him, that they were a badge of honor, not shame.

"Perhaps if his head was turned part way, so that you could tell, but - when you look at him, you don't just see an injury, you see his strength, his grace... Does that make any sense?"

Talryne drew in a breath. "That's beautiful!" The image filled her mind and she hoped her weaving might be even half as good as Gil's words.

"I hope it's the right choice." He doubted his own judgment, but her reaction reassured him. "I'm not weyrbred, but they seem to see scars differently here, and Threadscore most of all." He smiled, his mood lightening. "But the most important part is the color. He's very proud of his handsome light blue hide."

"He is a pretty color. I'll make sure to find a good match for his hide." Then it occurred to Talryne that they could use the ring to compare. "Oh! Why don't we go see if we have something on the shelves?"

"Good idea." Gil's gaze rose from the jewel on his finger to the long shelves, laden with spools of thread and bundles of yarn in a myriad different colors, in awe. "There's so much..."

"I'll leave you to it," Alyena said, smiling, and turned to go - knowing that, engrossed in their search for the perfect thread to match blue Eboroth, neither of the two of them would notice her leaving.

Last updated on the April 26th 2026

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Something Just as Precious