That Old Rivalry

Writers: Estelle
Date Posted: 4th April 2026

Characters: V'karel, Devalka
Description: V'karel catches up with a relative after returning to Dragonsfall
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 12 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: K'valdran, I'serin

As the evening began to draw in on his first day back at Dragonsfall, V'karel knew there was one visit he couldn't put off any longer. **Have you told Ingaveth I've arrived?**

}:She knows,:{ the bronze replied succinctly.

**I don't suppose you want a bath? Or to hunt?**

Novath turned his head towards the weyr entrance, listening. }:It is raining.:{

Resigned, V'karel put down his pen. He didn't need to ask where he would find Ingaveth's rider at this time of day, and he was pleased when he only took one wrong turning on his way down from his weyr. He'd not often been up in that part of Dragonsfall in the old days - thankfully, since there was rarely a good reason for a young rider to be summoned to the Weyrsecond's office - and it seemed he still remembered enough to navigate the lower caverns.

He found her sitting at a table near one of the hearths in the dining cavern, a favourite cosy corner for the Weyr's retired riders.

"Mother! It's good to see you again."

"V'karel, you found your way here at last. Welcome back." Devalka rose and embraced him, then stepped back at arm's length, her gaze going straight to the new knots on his shoulder. Now in her seventieth Turn, her cropped hair more grey than brown, she stood as straight as ever and despite her formal retirement from the fighting Wings, appeared as ready to fly as her younger comrades. "It's about time."

"I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be near my family again. Or old friends," V'karel said, with a polite gesture towards the other riders at the table. Most of them were familiar faces, his mother's wingmates, and he greeted them by name and asked after their dragons. The mood was cheerful, they looked pleased to see him and congratulated him on his promotion, though one elderly bluerider seemed slightly confused about who he was.

"L'gonil's Turns are catching up with him, I'm afraid," his mother explained when the conversation had moved on, and they'd found seats a little apart from the others.

"Never mind. There's worse people to be mistaken for," V'karel said easily as he poured klah for them both. "Great-uncle V'kost was a fine rider."

"That's true, though he didn't rise as high. For some reason."

"That old rivalry?" He supposed the other faction would have been firmly in charge in those days, and if V'kost had been as outspoken as his niece it might not have served him well. On the other hand, it was as likely he'd been more interested in his work on the farm than seeking promotion at the Weyrhold. Wing rank hadn't had quite the significance in the Interval that it did now.

Not in his family, anyway.

From her sharp nod, he suspected his mother didn't see it as a thing of the past. "Now one of K'valdur's kin is Weyrleader again. You should have seen them the day after. Smug doesn't begin to describe it. They were grinning like a pack of felines. You could practically see the fresh cream dripping from their jaws."

V'karel managed to turn his choke into a cough and hastily set down his mug. "Excuse me. Klah's hotter than I thought. I thought you'd be pleased, having a Dragonsfall native leading again?"

"Anyone would be an improvement over the last incumbent." Her blue eyes snapped. "What a disaster that man was. I wouldn't put him in charge of a junior waterball team, let alone the Weyr. We had holdless people from who knows where camping all over the place, some very doubtful individuals being allowed to Stand, and then - "

"Mother." He restrained himself from making a number of remarks. "Be nice. It's a harder job than it looks, and the Weyr's still here."

"Barely." Devalka pursed her lips. "You should have been here six months ago."

"I couldn't leave my Wing, not then. Besides, there's only a certain number of bronzerider transfers any Weyrleader is going to approve in a given time, and K'valdran had already gone."

"He moved first. And look where that got him."

"Fair point." He held up his hands in surrender. "Still, it's worked out well for both of us."

"Hmm." She didn't sound convinced. "I don't deny K'valdur's son seems more compelling than I'serin, but whether there's any substance to his fine words remains to be seen. That family have always had more of the showman's gift than was good for them. Too much Harper blood and not enough plain honest workers."

"He was a strong Weyrleader at Fort. One of the best we've had."

"It still sounds odd to hear you say that." Devalka raised an eyebrow. "You two used to despise each other when you were weyrlings."

"That was before Thread returned. We're not weyrlings any more." V'karel's thoughts drifted back to the conversation with his friend that morning. Back then, he would have scoffed at talk of ancient families; he'd never cared a toss whether his wingriders were scions of a long line of dragonmen going back to the Ninth Pass, transfers seeking a fresh start, or former cotholders who'd rarely seen a dragon before they were Searched. Anything else would have felt like a rejection of his father's people, those ancestors who'd worked the land rather than flying over it. That was still true, but there was something in what K'valdran had said. He hadn't been brought up as one of the heirs to that heritage, but he was one nonetheless. His ties to Dragonsfall ran deep.

Coming home had meant more to him than he'd anticipated.

He sighed - he wasn't sure he'd ever convince his mother when he hardly understood himself. "We have a duty, even if it wasn't one I ever expected when I came to the Weyr to Stand. K'valdran was right about that."

His mother tutted. "You've grown far too accommodating, V'karel. You put your Wing first, the Weyr first, your duties first. If you're going to lead, at some point you'll have to put _you_ first."

"Don't worry." The fine lines of amusement at the corners of V'karel's eyes crinkled. "My loyalty is to the Weyr, but next time the senior queen rises, Novath and I will do everything we can to snatch those Weyrleader's knots from K'valdran's iron grip."

"Good, but you need to start thinking about it now. That family thinks those knots belong to them by right, and they've got power and connections on their side. You've got a lot to do before Chioneth rises again."

Sometimes, V'karel thought, it was easier to simply agree with certain of his relatives - or appear to. "Yes, Mother. I'll keep that in mind."

Last updated on the May 1st 2026

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That Old Rivalry