The Dark Lady
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: Shawna, Yvonne
Date Posted: 2nd June 2026
Characters: Zariah, F'lin
Description: F’lin tries to return ‘Zariah’s’ missing tunic and ends up with a book subscription
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 3, day 14 of Turn 13
Notes: Mentioned: O’dyn, Panitath, Sybana
“--Zariah’s here today..”
F’lin paused in the hallway, the two greenriders he’d just passed heading back the way he’d come. Their heads were bent together but he could have sworn he’d heard one of them say ‘Zariah’.
**The greenrider from Dolphin Cove.** F’lin winced. That whole flight had been a mistake, but the part he felt worst about was the way she’d run from the flight cot. **I should apologise…** He hadn’t done anything wrong. He still felt bad about it.
Except chances were good that she wouldn’t want to see him again; she’d made it very clear that she’d had no desire to see him in the first place, but the memory of her tousled dark hair and the stricken expression in her pretty green eyes haunted his thoughts. It was concern, he told himself. He was concerned and wanted to apologise. A bruised ego and a beautiful face had nothing to do with it.
And he still had her tunic.
**Shards.** He turned back toward his own weyr with every intention of staying there and leaving Zariah alone, but found himself back in the dining cavern with the tunic over his arm, picking feline hairs off it as he scanned the room for her. The feline had taken to napping on it and had hissed at him when he’d pulled it from beneath her.
“Zariah!”
F’lin turned but it took a moment to realize that the short, slight woman waving back at the greenrider who’d called her name wasn’t the Zariah he’d met. She was older than F’lin and her dark hair was bobbed short. The bronzerider frowned in confusion as he watched the two women speak briefly before exchanging books and the Barrier Lake greenrider left.
F’lin made his way across the room toward her before calling her name. “Zariah?”
“Yes?” Zariah smiled pleasantly at F’lin, “You must be a new subscriber. Name please? Or are you wanting to sign up?” The greenrider looked down at her clipboard of names and books, eyes already scanning for a name she didn't recognize from the month before.
**She’s not her.** The woman from the flight room had lied about her name. It took F’lin a moment to realize that the Zariah before him - the _real_ Zariah - was asking a question. “Subscriber?”
“Book delivery?” Zariah picked up a catalogue from the table next to her. “You can sign up with the printer hall for the monthly book delivery. You select what books you want, I deliver them, then the next month you can either purchase them or return them for your next book.” She offered him the catalogue of books, but also tilted her head slightly, studying him, “Or was there something else you needed from me?” Her eyes flicked towards the shirt he was carrying, and they widened just a little in recognition.
He scanned the list without much interest. “Do you go to Dolphin Cove Weyr often?”
“Not really. That area is handled by O’dyn for the book delivery. Why?” Zariah thought she managed a casual tone well enough.
“Well…” F’lin laughed awkwardly. “Ah… I happened to be at Dolphin Cove Weyr for Panitath’s flight" not on purpose! But the flight moth I met used your name. I thought you ought to know. Or, maybe you know who she is?”
Zariah tried to look surprised, but she wasn’t sure how well she did. Lying had never been a skill. “Really? Maybe you just misheard it? There’s lots of “Za” names out there.” Of course, a lot of them were at Dragonsfall, and related to her. “Do you often accidentally find yourself looking for flight moths at other Weyrs?” She asked cheekily.
“Only when I overhear their names in the hallway,” he countered. “I’m sure she said Zariah. You’ve got yourself an imposter. Lost any knots lately?”
“No, I don’t think I’ve lost any.” Which was absolutely true, since Sybana had borrowed and returned them. “I don’t know why anyone would use my name, though. Everyone knows Relsath is the Book Dragon, so impersonating me wouldn’t last very long, as you’ve just found out… What was your name?”
He held out a hand. “F’lin.”
Zariah offered her own, “And you know I’m Zariah. So, F’lin, what kind of books do you like? Can I interest you in a subscription?”
He didn’t have much time for reading these days, but the bronzerider shrugged anyway. “Sure. Why not. What kind of books do you recommend?”
“Well, I'm partial to a nice cozy romance like this one,” Zariah lifted up a book that had just been returned. “But you seem like you might be into a nice mystery. There's a particularly clever whodunnit making the rounds.”
“Sure. Maybe it’ll inspire me to track down the other Zariah. I have her tunic,” he said, lifting his arm to show off the garment.
“Or maybe, since she didn't give you her name, you should just let it go,” Zariah said. “Sending you to me is the opposite of an invitation.”
“Maybe you’re right. You sure you don’t know her?” F’lin asked.
“I know a lot of people,” again, she gestured towards her books, “but I don’t know why any of them would give you my name. Could you describe her for me?”
He raised an eyebrow but played along. F’lin was rapidly getting the sense that Zariah knew more than she let on. “About this high, long dark hair. Green eyes. Younger than me.”
“I'm afraid that could describe a lot of young riders. And she might not even have been from Dragonsfall. The time difference, you know. Panitath went up in the middle of the night. But I'll keep an eye out for you,” Zariah lied.
“Thanks.” F’lin gestured to the book she’d held up, looking for a graceful way to end the conversation. “Uh… do I just take the book? How does this subscription work?”
“You sign up here, pay the fee,” Zariah pointed to a fee schedule at the top of a notepad, “and you can have a book delivered every month. The next month, you can either buy the book, or trade it in for a new one. Normally you’d make a list of some books you wanted and I’d bring one of them next month, but if you want that to be your first one, it can be.” The librarians grumbled when she didn’t bring back returns, but no one could argue with her subscription sale numbers, “And you know, young ladies like a well-read bronzerider.”
“Sure. Why not.” The fee wasn’t unreasonable, and maybe he would actually read something. It would be good to keep his mind occupied. Books had problems that were solved at the end. “Sign me up.”
Last updated on the September 2nd 2026