Not The Best Idea (2)

Writers: Devin, Cali
Date Posted: 17th January 2010

Characters: Zanen, Talmina
Description: Zanen takes drastic action to save Talmina from herself.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern, River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 6, day 17 of Turn 5

Zanen went after her and grabbed her arm. "Just give it a chance, Talmina! I'll -- I'll help you find a husband, if that's what you really want."

It made her pause, enough so that she didn't topple out of the back of the wagon. She turned, frowning, searching his face in the dark. "Who would want me? No one that you would ever approve of would want me, so you're just saying that to stall me."

"I'm saying it because you deserve someone that loves you." He didn't want her to settle for anything less.

"No one could ever love me." She replied bitterly before turning back to the wagon edge. She watched the ground for a moment, certain that they weren't moving very fast, and pulled herself over until she dropped to the ground.

Zanen was a second behind her. Jumping to the ground, he grabbed her and pulled her to the side of the road. The next wagon wasn't far behind behind them, and he made sure she was out of harms way. "Shardit, girl! Hold on!"

Talmina shook her head, flustered and frustrated as she looked up at him. "My Hero. Maybe if you hadn't _drugged_ me, I might be a little faster on my feet!"

"Well, you wouldn't listen to reason!"

"UGH!" she cried, so frustrated she actually beat the ground with her fists. Her tantrum over, she stood up, her feet wobbly, but pleased that she was able to keep upright. "So are you going to escort me back to the Weyr, or do I have to walk by myself... in the dark?"

"You're not going anywhere tonight. Now get back in the wagon." He didn't understand how she could think so little of herself and be so stubborn at the same time.

"No." She said firmly. "The wagon is going that way, I am going the opposite way."

"I didn't go through all this trouble so you could turn around and leave." He picked Talmina up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of tubers.

"Put me down!" she screamed, this time wanting someone to hear. If he was going to be an arse, she didn't care if some caravan leader strung him up. "Put me down!"

"Nope." He kept walking until he got back to their wagon. Zanen tossed her gently, but firmly, inside and hopped up after her.

Was everyone in this caravan deaf? How could no one be coming to her rescue? "I can't believe you're doing this Zanen. You said you were my friend, and now you're holding me prisoner!"

"For your own good!" It had been a long time since he was this frustrated.

Talmina stared at him, hatred burning in her eyes. She tried to think of a way out, but whatever he'd told the caravan people had them turning a deaf ear to her cry. She couldn't out run him, couldn't fight him off. She was stuck. "When do I get to leave? You can't keep me here forever."

"The caravan will take us back to the Weyr in two months. The route is shorter in winter," he said, a hint of weariness in his tone.

She looked at him like he was a madman. "Two months! You've already made me miss the Hatching, and now you want me to lose my job! I can't disappear for two months and then expect the Headwoman will just let everything go back to normal. You're condemning me to a life of drudgery. I need to go back now."

Zanen sighed. "Why did you ask me to marry you when you don't even trust me?"

Talmina glared at him, "Because I thought you were my friend. Not a fake friend, not one who turns on me like they all do, but a _real_ friend. But you _did_ turn on me.

She had this all wrong. "I didn't turn on you. I took you here because I couldn't leave you behind in a place you were so desperate to leave."

"So you want me happy?" she said it like she didn't believe it.

"_Yes_."

"Then _marry_ me." Talmina took his hand in hers, her voice pleading. "It's what a friend would do."

"Talmina, I'm twice your age." She was young enough to be his daughter.

She gave a small shrug and moved closer, bringing his hand into her lap. "That's really not that strange. And people marry for much less than friendship. It'll make me happy Zanen, I promise it will."

"I like to travel. I _need_ to. I couldn't stay in one place for long." He didn't think she understood the consequences of what she was asking.

"I have nothing, Zanen. I won't be leaving anything behind." She replied, resting her head against his shoulder. "Life of change and uncertainty is better than dying slowly in the bowels of the Weyr as a laundry maid."

Zanen closed his eyes, thoughts and emotions pulling at him. How was he going to handle this? When he spoke, his mouth was dry. "Would engagement be enough, for now? If you can handle life out here, if it's not too hard for you, then ... then when we get back to the Weyr, I'll marry you."

Talmina's body stilled. Was it a trick? Some sort of ruse to get her to quit fighting him? She wanted to trust him, but her instinct cried foul. She was torn, pulled in two different directions. "Who decides? If I can handle it. You or me?"

"Both of us. Most of it will be up to you, but I want to make sure you're not just _saying_ you can handle it." He didn't like the thought of her struggling to prove she was okay when she was really unhappy. "You did really well on the way to the Weyr," he added.

"That's not good enough." She replied, gripping his hand tighter though her mind was telling her he was poison. "This could be a lie, to get me to travel with the caravan like you said. Then when we get back in two months, you change your mind, say I can't cut it. Then where will I be? I want you to go in front of the Caravan Leader with me, pledge to marry me at the Weyr unless I change my mind. If I can't handle it, I promise to not hold you to your promise."

He opened his mouth to argue, but where would that get him? Talmina was so sharding stubborn he was afraid she would run off in the middle of the night if he didn't put her fears to rest. "We already have friendship, now we need to work on trust. I'm going to trust you to be honest about how hard this life is for you, and you can trust me to take you to the Caravan Leader tomorrow morning." He wondered how his old friend was going to take the news.

"Okay." she replied quietly. Her body relaxed, but she didn't move away from Zanen. The slow rocking of the wagon in the darkness had a calming affect on her, and with the strange place and situation she was in, he was a comfort. Trust was something that was hard to earn from her, she'd never trusted anyone with much of anything in her life. Still, if she was to trust someone, it should be her future husband.

Last updated on the January 19th 2010

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Not The Best Idea (2)