Making Herself Useful

Writers: Devin, Bree
Date Posted: 21st April 2007

Characters: Jynrek, Shalai
Description: When Jynrek brings Shalai to her new weyr, the quilt that she brought with her from the healer hall brings up some very old and bittersweet memories.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 3, day 9 of Turn 4

Shalai hesitated on the threshold of the small weyr, her eyes going wide. "This is all... all mine?"

Behind her, Jynrek smiled gently and urged her over the threshold. "It is. And one of the apprentices brought your things over earlier. If you need anything from the stores, you need only to ask. There is sure to be someone willing to help you set things up.

She couldn't stop staring. It wasn't a large space, but it had a table and several chairs, a comfortable looking couch, and a tiny hearth. Deeper into the weyr was another room which she assumed held the bed and clothes press. "It's so much." For longer than she cared to remember, she'd been locked up in a tiny room, most of the time with other patients.

Jynrek nodded his understanding. "Why don't I leave you here to settle in. You still will come by the infirmary every afternoon to check with us, but you don't need to sleep there anymore."

"All right." After Jynrek closed the door quietly behind him, Shalai finally ventured deeper into her new weyr. The couch had an old but comfortable looking throw on the back, and someone had brought a small vase of flowers and put them on the table. The thoughtfulness almost brought tears to her eyes.

Then she reached the sleeping chamber, and she really did have to fight back tears. Someone had brought her quilt and made up the bed. The quilt was old and faded and often patched, but it had been one of the few things she'd refused to part with when she'd been sent to the Healer Hall. Moving to the bed, she ran her fingers over the fabric, remembering a time when the colors had been bright and beautiful. She'd put every stitch into this quilt herself, laboring over it because it had been for the only person in her life who had ever given her any joy.

~*~

Shalai curled up in a large chair near the hearth, expecting to have her husband's study to herself for the afternoon. Yanthi had been disappointed when she admitted she wasn't feeling up to visiting the nearby cothold with him, but he'd given her permission to stay behind and rest. In truth she simply couldn't being paraded in front of yet _another_ man old enough to be her father while Yanthi smugly congratulated himself on his good fortune.

She'd forgotten about Thian. She'd just started sketching the design for her first tapestry when her eldest step-son paused in the doorway of his father's study, looking somewhat surprised to find her there. "Oh!
Hello, Thian. Did you need this room?"

"No, no! I just came in here to look for something to read." Not that he was likely to find anything _good_ in his father's study. "I thought you weren't feeling well?"

Her cheeks turned a little pink, but hopefully she could pass it off as sitting too close to the fire. "I wasn't up to riding in the cold, but I thought perhaps I could still be useful."

Thian stepped closer. "What do you have there?"

"I'm trying to sketch a pattern for a tapestry," she admitted. "I think I might be making it more complicated than I can handle, though."

"Can I see?" he asked.

Shalai hesitated for a moment and then handed him the sketch shyly. "I had to learn on my own, so it's probably not very good."

Thian's eyes widened. "You drew this yourself? This is good." He wondered what other talents his quiet new stepmother might be hiding.

"I like to draw. It gives me something to do, at least..." She accepted the drawing back and brushed a few imaginary specks off of it. "I know it's not very useful, but I thought it would be acceptable if I was planning a tapestry."

"Does my father expect everything you do to be useful?" Thian asked.

Shalai's face turned wary, but she faked a smile. "Oh, no. He's very kind. But it wouldn't be right to abuse his kindness." And she would much rather have him proudly showing off her work than proudly showing off her.

"I don't think it would be abusing his kindness if you had a little free time, to do something you enjoy." Thain thought that he would at least try to encourage her to draw more. "What do you enjoy to do, Shalai?"

"I..." She seemed more than a little surprised at the question. "Well, I like to draw. And I enjoy quilting."

Thian smiled at her. "Maybe you could make a quilt for me. Mine is getting a little old."

"I'd be happy to. You'll have to chose some colors for me." Making a new quilt would give her something to do, and she'd always found it soothing to fit the pieces together.

"Maybe we can go to the storeroom tomorrow after dinner and see what we can find? There should be plenty of fabric scraps in there." His mother had enjoyed sewing as well, and she had saved anything that might be useful later.

Shalai perked up a little. "Your father hadn't taken me to the storeroom. He seemed to think there wasn't anything interesting there for me." Which was to say he'd told her not to worry her pretty little head about anything but getting to know her husband this winter.

"Well, he's wrong," Thian said, smiling. "There are plenty of interesting things in there."

For a moment she felt almost excited for the first time since her marriage. Then her face fell a little. "I'll have to ask your father first, of course. He might not want me poking around in there." Thian knew that might be the case. "I'll ask him, too. If I tell him you want to find material to make me a blanket, and that I'll be with you, I don't think he'll object."

Feeling less like a step-mother than a younger sister who had been granted a favor, Shalai smiled shyly. "Thank you, Thian. That would be very nice." "You're welcome." He smiled back, noticing again how close she was to his own age.

The same thought had obviously occurred to her. Shalai looked back down at her sketch and cleared her throat. "Well, I won't keep you from what you're doing. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me."

"No trouble at all," Thian said before turning to his father's bookshelf.

Last updated on the April 22nd 2007

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Making Herself Useful