I Promise Not to Steal You

Writers: Jane, Vix
Date Posted: 9th August 2007

Characters: Rikka, Benider
Description: Rikka starts another day with Benaran's son tagging along.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 5, day 5 of Turn 4

"You, again. Still." The words weren't very welcoming but Rikka was getting used to having the Lord Holder's grandson as her shadow.Yesterday, though, had been Threadfall and she had been free of him and had almost missed him. Almost.

He grinned at her words, having become accustomed to her tone. "Sorry that I'm late - my father insisted that we sit down and have breakfast, although he was in no mood to talk while I was there." Benider almost sighed at that - Benaran seldom had anything to say to him that was not criticism - but quickly switched his attention to the technician. "What are we doing today?"

"We're on routine maintenance. Preventative stuff. We're going to have a look around the distribution building where the electricity comes in from the dam in the canyon. I'll do a series of checks that help indicate if there are any problems developing. Are you getting sick of electricity yet? The next sevenday will be something more mechanical."

"Not yet," he replied. "I find all of it fascinating. I just wish that I could learn more of it hands-on instead of watching."

"What would your father think!" Rikka said in exaggerated horror. She knew the boy better now, and felt comfortable teasing him, as well as feeling a little sorry for him since his interest in _doing_ things seemed to be genuine.

"That would bring on the lecture to end all lectures." Benider continued in an exasperated tone. "First there would be the usual assertion of the 'privileges' of my birth, followed by how much better 'we' are than everyone else, and then probably something sneering about how mundane my wishes are." He sighed heavily. "I've heard portions of each of those before and have learned not to speak without thinking _very_ carefully."

"It's not _very_ careful confiding in me, is it?" she asked, unable to prevent herself from glancing around to check who was nearby.

He waved his hand dismissively. "I meant not speaking to _him_. He tears apart every word I say. No one else treats me that way."

"Is it because you might one day inherit the Hold? You know, higher standard and all that?" She turned slightly to reach into the press and pull out the right toolbag for the job she would be taking the young man along to. She left a tag there, one with her name on it so everybody would know where the tools were.

"I suppose so," he mused, "though it's not certain. After all, he doesn't even know if he'll be the one to inherit, does he? He has an older brother and plenty of younger brothers and who knows who my grandfather will choose. Why shouldn't I do something else instead of training just for that?"

"Perhaps if he doesn't inherit then he will consider a craft for you?"
she suggested. "Perhaps you just need to - Wait. That's unkind, isn't it? When it's your grandfather's death I'm talking about."

He shrugged and shook his head. "In my family, it seems that everyone is looking toward his death and speculating what will happen. Yes, my father and all of my uncles go about their work, but you can almost see their minds working, weighing every option."

"Hmm." Rikka indicated the door. "We'd better get going but I don't know that you should say those sorts of things to me. We have craft secrets -" not many, she thought, "- and families have secrets too."

"Too many secrets," he grumbled as he followed her. "At least in my family." He glanced toward her with curiosity. "How long must you be in the craft to be entrusted with those types of secrets?"

"I don't know that I've been entrusted with any yet," she said with a grin. "So longer than ten Turns or so. Probably just like families."

"What's it like when you first apprentice? What do they teach you in the beginning?"

"Basic repairs - like the stuff we did that first day. Hand skills.
Metallurgy. A lot of our initial study is common to smithcraft, too."
She stepped out into the day and hefted the toolbag over her shoulder.
"I enjoyed it."

"So would I," he murmured, and then louder, "Do you want me to carry anything?"

She pretended not to have heard his first comment. After all, it wasn't her place to encourage an interest in crafting in a young man who might one day be the Lord Holder's son. "The tool bag is all we're taking and I'm fine with it."

He nodded, accustomed to her independence, but his upbringing requiring him to have asked. "I've never been to the distribution building and really pay little attention to it, though I know where it is.
Considering how we've come to rely on electricity, it's a pretty important place, isn't it?"

"Very. Imagine when would happen if there was a problem there. What services would you lose from around the Hold?"

"Well, lights." Benider had to think very hard about this, wanting to provide an intelligent answer to the woman and yet not having considered the topic before this. "And I think I heard that the kitchens use it for cooking. Oh - we wouldn't have hot water for bathing, would we?"

"No," Rikka said with a smile. "Heating for the building in winter?
Cool rooms in the kitchens?"

His mouth formed an o-shape in surprise. "Sorry, but I guess I hadn't considered all that you do and how much we rely on it."

"This is a very electricity reliant Hold. Perhaps because you have it freely available here - I don't know. But that's why I'm here, you know."

"Well, whether I've noticed it or not, it will be interesting to find out how it is produced." He glanced over at her as they walked. "So where are you from originally?"

"The Hall. One of them. Well, two of them, because my parents moved around. Not a Hold, or any particular place. Just Hall-bred."

"At least you've been some place else. Have you traveled other than from Hall to Hall to here?"

"No. Not really travelled. Occasionally we would go to different places to work in different areas of the craft. Short visits. We went by dragon," she said, her smile wide and delighted at the memory.

"My father took me along to a meeting once at Coral Bay," Benider told her. "But I had to stay right beside him and listen to dull conversations and couldn't explore at all. I was supposed to be allowed to go to the next Gather but since what happened with my aunt, that probably won't happen for a long time."

"You aunt?" Rikka asked, before blushing as she remembered. "Oh! I forgot. Sorry. Has there been any word at all about her?"

The boy shook his head. "My father thinks she ran away but I can't see her doing that. Hopefully, we'll find out soon, but in the meantime, the rest of us are being watched more closely."

"I promise not to steal you away then," Rikka said with a grin.

Benider grinned in return. "Alright, but at least keep me away from where my father can watch over me all the time." He bounced along beside her, cheerful now that he was leaving the main Hold.

Last updated on the August 11th 2007

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

I Promise Not to Steal You