No More Excitement Than Usual

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 15th September 2026

Characters: Alyena, R'lor
Description: The Headwoman and Weyrlingmaster meet up for their regular pre-hatching gossip
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 23 of Turn 13
Notes: Mentioned: *deep breath* N'vanik, Cyradis, M'gan, Fidarras, Chandrany, Vianne, Lindora, R'ayl, Zaidi, Tindral, Koserlen, Rhysalen, Cirina, J'nic, Talryne, Kapera, V'dryn, T'lin

R'lor

The Weyr had a rhythm that Alyena had grown accustomed to since she'd come to live at Dolphin Cove. The queen rose, a Weyrleader was confirmed and the Search dragons flew out, bringing back hopeful candidates from the holds and halls. She welcomed them and found them accommodation and duties, dealt with the occasional difficulties of homesickness, culture shock and disputes between young people from various backgrounds. The gold laid her eggs and preparations for the Hatching began, anticipation built, bets were placed, and it seemed as though they'd never quite be ready for the feast in time...and then the dragons began to hum and the guests arrived, and all too soon the new weyrlings were stumbling, dazed, from off the sands with their new lifemates at their sides. The Weyr celebrated, and next day their training began, and in a few short months the cycle began again.

It wasn't often that the steady flow from rising to clutching to hatching was disrupted, but this time, Alyena sensed that something wasn't right. Although Loseth had won Panitath as expected, there were several bronzes in the dragons' infirmary, one seriously injured, and rumors were rife. No one knew exactly what had happened in the skies. She advised anyone who asked to wait for word from the Weyrleaders, but not being weyrbred she felt she understood even less about what it all meant than anyone else.

She managed to suppress those anxious thoughts, at least until she dropped by the Weyrlingmaster's office for their usual meeting, to make arrangements for the new candidates.

"I brought klah." She managed a smile as she set down the tray, but it couldn't disguise the strain in the lines of her face and her voice.

"Thank you, Headwoman." R'lor inclined his head. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not wrong, exactly. More unsettled." Alyena was relieved he'd brought it up so quickly - she was always impressed by the Weyrlingmaster's perception - and she considered what to say as she poured their klah. "I heard that Isarth was hurt. Perhaps it's dragonrider business, but..."

She exhaled, closing her eyes briefly. "There was a time, when I was living at Emerald Falls, when the Lord Holder was disputing the succession with his brother. My husband was in the guards and they discussed quietly who they would support if it came to a choice. I didn't know what would happen to us. Now there's all this talk, and dragons in the infirmary. Of course, I don't think it would come to anything like that with the Weyrleader, but I'm not easy in my mind."

"Ah." R'lor was unsettled by what he'd heard, too. "Kularth has been speaking with the other dragons and it seems there might have been . . . an unusual level of rider influence on the Flight. I'm sure the Weyrleader will handle anything that needs to be addressed. But if it helps allay your fears, you report to the Weyrwoman so any change in Weyrleader shouldn't affect you. My rank is certainly more at risk." That wasn't a pleasant thought.

"I'm sure that can't be true. You're very well respected," Alyena said swiftly, though privately, she wondered about the kind of rider who'd put other dragons at risk for a chance at the Weyrleader's knots. Who knew what such a person might do? "It would be foolish to put your experience to waste."

"Thank you. I'd like to think so. But a new Weyrleader may wish to seem more . . . traditional and want to have a bronze or brownrider as Weyrleader instead," R'lor said. "Thankfully, I don't need to worry about that again for a while." Loseth had prevailed despite the interference, and while anything could happen, the bronze's consistency with winning Senior Queens did make the chances good for N'vanik staying Weyrleader for a while yet.

"There's no chance that the riders concerned might try to take over by - other means?" She'd seen enough to know what the desire for power could drive some men to. Alyena had never thought she'd be relieved to see N'vanik still wearing the Weyrleader's knots but in this case, it was better the danger you knew.

He considered that for a moment. "I would like to think a dragonrider would never harm another, but . . . people can be capable of terrible things. I think it's extremely unlikely, though."

"I hope you're right. Everyone's shocked about what happened, the weyrbred most of all. Perhaps experience has made me less trusting, even about dragonriders." She smiled in apology, her voice lightening. "Present company excepted, of course. Anyway, whatever they were trying to do, it seems it didn't succeed and there'll soon be another clutch for you."

The Weyrlingmaster nodded. "I don't want to speculate too much, since I don't have all the details, but if S'zor and L'mel really did force their dragons to push Loseth out of the chase, I don't imagine the Weyrleader will let that go unpunished."

"Nor the Weyrwoman. If nothing else, they'll want to be sure nothing like that ever happens again." She shivered despite the warmth of the klah. Though it didn't seem that way, they'd been lucky. Isarth was badly injured, but still alive.

"I heard there are several bronzes in the infirmary, at least some of which were injured by Panitath, which is . . . highly unusual," R'lor said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few transfers soon."

"That may be for the best. Though if there was a deliberate attempt to interfere with her flight, then I can't imagine who'd want to take on those who were behind it." Or what price the Weyr would have to pay to get rid of them, she thought. Still, that was a matter for the dragonriders.

"They may be willing to overlook the incident if they have need of experienced bronzeriders." And, R'lor thought, the fact that they had tried to unseat N'vanik might not seem so negative to some of the more traditional Weyrleaders.

"Well, I'm not sure I'd take them on, even to scrub the floor in the Dining Cavern," Alyena said tartly. She surprised herself by how protective she'd grown over the last Turns, not so much of the Weyrleader himself but the traditions of the Weyr and the peace of its people. "Panitath's choice is her own and if anyone tried to hinder her, I hope they end up somewhere freezing cold and damp."

Her vehemence made R'lor give a small, soft laugh. "Me too." Then he sobered again and shook his head. "Endangering dragons and enraging the Queen . . . I don't like to think what kind of leader any of those involved would be if they'd succeeded."

"Let's hope we never find out. I suppose they didn't reckon with the queen's anger..." A slight smile lifted the corner of her mouth. "Quite typical of a certain type of man."

"Indeed. Sometimes they need to be reminded who's really in charge." He echoed her smile.

"Perhaps this will be a lesson to them. Though I do wish it hadn't come at such a cost to Isarth." Alyena sobered, remembering what she'd heard about the pitiful state of the bronze in the infirmary. "I hope he recovers. For all the strange stories about M'gan's disappearance, he seems a decent man."

"I certainly don't wish ill on his dragon." R'lor wondered how much of the truth might have reached the Headwoman's ears.

"Nor the other injured dragons. They weren't to blame, whether their riders were involved or not." She reminded herself to visit the infirmary later, to see if ground-level weyrs would need to be prepared. "Well, on a happier note, I expect we'll be getting a new influx of candidates soon."

"Always interesting to see who the Searchriders bring in," R'lor said with an amused smile.

"Yes. There's quite a few around twenty Turns already." Alyena knew older weyrlings were favored since they'd cope better with training and could join the Wings straight away, but there was also the prospect of several of them nearing the age limit, when she'd have to talk to them about their future. She put that thought aside and returned his smile. "Anyone you're hoping to have in your next class?"

The Weyrlingmaster thought a moment. "Fidarras has been Standing for a bit. He's clearly had a rough life, but he's steady and respecful, and I think he'd make a strong rider."

"His support for his family does him credit," Alyena agreed. She knew that the young man had come from White Hollow, and she'd had some inward concerns about that after what the holder there had tried to do to her family, but by all accounts he'd treated his people just as badly. "I don't always know what to hope for. The Candidates dream of Impression, and I want them all to get their wish, but then I'd lose them. Chandrany would make an excellent dragonrider, I'm sure..." She smiled. "But also maybe a strong Headwoman, one day."

"She certainly needs some direction in her life. Have you considered giving her a bit more responsibility, to see if she might make a good assistant?" R'lor asked. Her fierce determination would make Chandrany a strong rider, but it was up to the hatchlings if that happened.

"That's a good idea, though I'd have to think how to approach it. I don't want her to think we've given her up as a lost cause as far as candidacy," Alyena said, with a rueful smile. "That could make everything worse. Then there's Vianne and Lindora, who are also very capable, but their children are so young. The thought of parents risking their lives in Fall...I tell myself it's different here and our foster parents are wonderful, but still I don't like to think of it."

R'lor nodded. "That's part of why the system exists, though the loss of a parent is still hard. The loss of _anyone_ is hard . . ."

"Yes..." Her voice trailed off, as she remembered how every day that passed brought her son and his dragon closer to a wing assignment, and the fight against Thread. Soon R'ayl would be fifteen, with only one Turn remaining with the weyrlings. "But then there's the Hatching day, and the looks on the faces of the newly Impressed. Perhaps it's always going to be bittersweet, but - " The smile returned, more warmly this time. "More sweet than bitter, I hope."

"There's nothing like being bonded to a dragon," R'lor said as he reached instinctively for Kularth. "It's worth everything."

Alyena caught the familiar soft, faraway look of a rider sharing a moment with his dragon, that she'd seen so many times on R'ayl's face, and she gave the Weyrlingmaster the time to indulge it. She couldn't know, but she imagined it must be a little like the intense wave of love and protectiveness that she'd felt at the births of her children. "It's hard sometimes, but I'm glad R'ayl has that with his Delorth. Though I hope it's a few more Turns at least before a hatchling even thinks about looking at Evalya."

"I prefer weyrlings to be a little older myself, but the dragons choose when the time is right for them." He thought of Zaidi and Tindral and how the pressures of weyrlinghood were such a challenge for kids so young.

"Perhaps when Panitath lays her eggs, I'll go and tell them that Evalya's right time will be her eighteenth Turn," Alyena said, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement. "And they can choose one of the others. Koserlen, perhaps, or Rhysalen. They both have crafts, which helps, but neither one they can practice at the Weyr."

"I think they would both do well on dragons." Then he arched an eyebrow. "Do you miss Cirina? I do."

"She certainly made life interesting," Alyena said, recalling the incident with Panitath's eggs. "Since she's been gone, there seem to be fewer parties, and not so many messy mornings after..." For a moment, her smile gave a glimpse of the girl she'd been at the candidates' age. "You're right, I do miss her! Though it seems entirely in character that she'd Impress blue from the Stands while paying a visit to another Weyr."

"I started to worry she might Impress a gold." He chuckled, and then his expression faded into a frown. "I hope the Weyrlingstaff there isn't too hard on her."

"Do you know them?" she asked. Her only experience of the weyrling training staff was R'lor and his assistants, and she couldn't imagine Cirina having trouble with any of them.

"I know J'nic. I've spoken with him a few times," R'lor said. "But I'm not familiar with the others."

"You could pay a visit and find out if they're particularly strict," Alyena suggested, with a touch of mischief in her voice. "I've heard it's very beautiful at that Weyr, and everything is new. Or you could ask R'ayl for the gossip. He's got a friend there."

"Oh really? Who's his friend?" R'lor knew R'ayl had been to Barrier Lake several times, taking Talryne to visit Kapera.

"Another young bluerider. V'dryn?" She'd been so pleased to see that her shy son was making friends his own age that she'd taken note of the name. "I think he's holdbred too."

"Ah, I'm not familiar with him, but I'm very glad R'ayl has made a friend," R'lor said. "I know he's close with T'lin, but he's a bit older."

"Oh, yes, T'lin." Amusement lightened her voice. "I hear a great deal about how brave and wise and kind he is every time R'ayl gets back from his Searchrider training. I think he's found himself a hero."

**And maybe a crush, too.** But R'lor kept that thought to himself. "T'lin is a fine young man and he has a lot of praise for how well your son and Delorth are doing in their training."

"He'll have plenty of opportunity to use what he's learned, with a clutch expected. I wonder how many eggs there'll be." Would the disruption to Panitath's flight make a difference? She hoped not, or it'd be another thing to hold against the guilty bronzeriders. "I expect the betting's started already."

R'lor chuckled. "A time-honored tradition. Do you indulge in any wagering, Headwoman?" he asked with a light tease.

"Not on the candidates, but I have had a flutter on the first to hatch," she admitted, an unrepentant sparkle in her eyes. "Never won anything so far, so I'm hoping for a little blue to change my fortunes this time. You? Or is it beneath the Weyrlingmaster's dignity?"

"I used to, in my younger days." He'd stopped when he joined the Weyrlingstaff at Rising Moons. Partly because it felt a bit in poor taste to bet on the people and dragons he'd be helping to train, and partly because he didn't want to know what would happen if M'talis found out about it. "But I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to bet on the clutch size, or the first color to hatch. An Impression from the Stands might be a safe bet these days considering how many there've been lately in the South."

"Or a girl Impressing a blue. According to the latest odds, it seems more likely than not. You have to wager on two or more to make it worthwhile." Alyena sipped her klah. "Or so I've heard."

"The Headwoman does her research," he said with a little smile before taking a drink as well.

"It's important to be familiar with the customs of the Weyr." Alyena raised a brow in rather un-Headwoman-like innocence. "But I'm satisfied with my little bet on a blue hatching first. Not too obvious, not too impossible - just the right odds to get a thrill. Though perhaps you get excited enough waiting to see who's going to be in your next class?"

"I certainly don't need to _add_ any excitement to a Hatching," he said. "It's enough to wonder who's going to Impress and worry about trying to keep anyone from being injured." And hope that no one tried to poison the weyrlings again.

"While I hope there's enough food, and none of the guests get drunk and insult the Weyrleader," Alyena said ruefully. She raised her mug. "Here's to a trouble-free Hatching, with no more excitement than usual."

Last updated on the October 27th 2026

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No More Excitement Than Usual