The Hard Truth

Writers: Heather, Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 24th November 2013

Characters: D'hol, Cyradis, S'avn
Description: D'hol and Cyradis set S'avn straight on the rumors around Dolphin Cove
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 19 of Turn 7
Notes: This post follows "Is It True?"
Mentioned: N'vanik

D'hol

Cyradis

He waited patiently for the weyrlings to be released and as he leaned
against the rock face, D'hol drummed his fingers against his biceps.
His eyes followed the blueriders, but from descriptions he was given,
he was able to pick out this S'avn boy quite easily. As the weyrlings
disbanded, D'hol watched Jeyme walk away with Quinneth and then sent a
quick message through Yumath to call attention to the boy's blue that
his presence was required.

He pushed away from the wall and waited for S'avn to walk his way.

}:Wingleader D'hol would like to see you.:{ Mayfeth reported dutifully
to his rider.

S'avn turned at the mention of the Wingleader's name. His eyes zeroed
in on the stoic visage of the bronzerider. A lot of people were
intimidated by the man, and really when S'avn thought about it, he
could see why. There was a hardness to the man that was a little
disturbing. It made S'avn wonder, not for the first time, what a
holdgirl like Jeyme saw in the man. Still, he approached D'hol. He had
no other choice really as a blue Weyrling than to obey the Wingleaders
of the Weyr.

"You wanted to speak with me, sir?" The tall Weyrling said as he drew
abreast of the bronzerider.

D'hol's gaze slid over the boy coolly, measuring up the much younger
man. "Indeed, I do. Walk with me, Weyrling." He gestured the boy to
walk beside him and clasped his hands behind his back. "You graduate
soon, do you not?"

S'avn walked beside of D'hol, his gaze sliding uncomfortably sideways
to regard the man. Something was definitely up but he couldn't put his
finger on what, or why he had drawn D'hol's attention, "Yes, that's
correct."

"Hmm.." D'hol kept walking, but his face was smooth. "Then I must
infer that you are either extremely naive or extremely stupid,
weyrling." His voice never altered from a conversational tone.
"Because, " he paused and gave a slight smile that did not reach his
eyes. "It's not good practice to make an enemy of a man who may well
be your Wingleader."

The Weyrling's eyebrows shot upward, "I'm sorry sir, I don't know what
you are talking about."

Still walking, D'hol remained calm, but his smile grew slightly more
toothy. "When you purposefully distress my weyrmate after she has just
lost a child, did you not think I would find out about it?" D'hol
stopped suddenly and turned to face the boy and the smile continued
but his eyes glinted dangerously as he took a step closer. "I could
ask that N'vanik place you in my wing after graduation, boy. You think
your life is full of hard work now?" His head tilted to the side. "I
will ride you so hard that you'll think your blue is a green in
Flight."

S'avn had to swallow past the sudden lump that had gathered like a
boulder in this throat, "I wasn't trying to upset her on purpose," he
said hurriedly, "I was just telling her the truth." It took all the
courage he had to finish _that_ sentence.

"Really? The truth?" D'hol took another step closer. "Reconsider that
statement. Very quickly. Jeyme _is_ my weyrmate." His voice dropped
into a dangerously soft whisper. "Do you really want to remain on my
bad side, boy? "

When D'hol took a step forward S'avn took a step back, a tinge of fear
creeping up his spine, "I am sorry, sir, but no one thinks that this
Jeyme thing is serious. You are more often seen with the Weyrwoman in
public, or in your office in an embrace," he added that juicy tidbit
in, "than you are seen with Jeyme."

D'hol stopped him with a hand on the boy's shoulder, fingers digging
in to stop the movement away. It wasn't enough to bruise, but the
strength was there regardless. "Do I look like a man that gives
whershit about what people think? " His eyes glittered. "Or what a boy
and his little friends think? I will tell you what you will do. You
will go to Jeyme and you beg her forgiveness. And _then_ you will
march straight to Cyradis and you apologize for spreading rumors about
her child." He gave the boy a firm shake. "If you do not, I swear upon
my dragon that I _will_ have you placed in my wing and your days will
be spent cursing the moment that your father took your mother. I do
not make idle threats, weyrling. Is that understood?"

Although S'avn's knees suddenly felt weak, he somehow managed to
withstand the grip on his shoulder. The Weyrling might apologize to
Jeyme, after all, he really didn't have anything against the
greenrider, she had always been nice, if not quiet. But there was no
way in 'Fall that S'avn was going to go traipsing up and apologizing
to the Weyrwoman when he had done nothing but repeat what he had heard
everyone else saying.

"I will apologize to Jeyme, but if you are wanting apologies to the
Weyrwoman then you had better be prepared to drag every person in the
Weyr to her doorstep."

"Fine. I can start with you." Gripping him by the scruff of the neck
and the back of his shirt, D'hol began to drag the boy towards the
weyrlake. "And look, there's our Weyrwoman now."

S'avn snorted, he was too tall to be truly lifted, but he walked along
beside of the D'hol, "This public display, Wingleader, is just further
proving to the Weyr how much further your feelings go for the
Weyrwoman. So quick, you are, to jump in and defend her honor. This
incident will be the next piece of gossip swirling around, all making
you look like a heartless oaf stringing along a Weyrling."

"Again, I do _not_ care what people think and I am feeling
particularly heartless, so let them talk. But please, dig yourself in
further." D'hol sent a quick message to Cyradis via Yumath to
Panitath, asking her to turn around and meet them part way.

S'avn sighed, but was resigned that he was going to have to do this on
order to get D'hol off his back, literally, "You will never keep Jeyme
this way." Was all he said as he saw the Weyrwoman turn around.

Cyradis turned and started walking toward the pair of riders with a
neutral expression on her face. She couldn't help but hear the younger
man's final quip though she doubted he knew that. "Well, well, what
have we here?"

D'hol didn't bother answering S'avn. "Weyrwoman, this young man has a
few things to say to you." He shoved the boy forward and waited.

Dark eyes like banked coals burned up at him with curiosity. "Yes?"

"At the behest of the Wingleader, here, I am apologizing, Weyrwoman,
for telling his weyrmate," a snort followed that, "that talk around
the Weyr is that you are pregnant with the Wingleader's baby. Word
going around is that a drudge saw your lip-locking embrace in his
office the other day. I apologize if this is false information, but
now you know what the entire Weyr is saying about you."

"Why thank you S'avn is it?" she looked at D'hol for confirmation of
the name. She was sure he could tell she was in a very dangerous mood
though her tone remained light and face a mask of friendly interest.
Turns of schooling at this sort of repartee gave her the advantage and
the young man didn't even know it. "I'm sure you're aware that as a
gold rider and bronze rider we're under constant scrutiny. So I'm sure
you'll forgive me that I don't much care what the entire Weyr is
saying about me." She took a step closer and her head tilted to the
right. "Beyond that the only people who can be certain of the facts
are myself and D'hol and we can both assure you and anyone else who
actually cares to ask, the child I now carry is not his but K'deren's."

She stepped closer again and roughly pulled S'avn's head to hers and
kissed him fully, thrusting her tongue into his mouth for good
measure. Stepping back she fluttered her lashed and didn't miss the
looks and nervous laughter from other riders and hold folk around
them. "So I guess maybe now _you_ are the father? Or maybe more than a
kiss is needed. What do you think?"

S'avn spat on the ground, "I think I wonder how you are having a baby
at all if that is how you kiss, Weyrwoman. Don't punish me for your
behavior. If you don't want people talking then close the door next
time."

"Be careful bluerider, I'll not punish you for my behavior. However I
will for yours," she said softly and revealed a spike of her fury at
this thoughtless churl who had so injured the feelings of a helpless
woman who had just lost her baby. He had no idea what kind of pain
he'd caused the green rider with his insensitive jabs. She'd gotten
the story of what had happened from Quinneth. Panitath's roar of
displeasure sent riders scattering in all directions. "My concern is
for Jeyme. I need neither your advice nor your admiration. I _will_
have your obedience."

**Call his lifemate** she commanded and Panitath summoned the young
blue to meet her in the weyrbowl. She proceeded to implant the
certainty in her weyrling that Donneth's had flown hers and Yumath's

hadn't been near her since they were mated many turns ago. Cyradis
didn't hear that part of their conversation nor would she have cared.

"Now," she said. "You will go and abjectly apologize to Jeyme for
passing along unconfirmed rumors in such an insensitive fashion after
she has been through so much recently. And trust me, I'll find out
from Quinneth whether you obeyed my instructions with the appropriate
spirit. If you can't get Jeyme to forgive you and tell her that you
now know the rumors to be untrue. Then you'll be mucking out the
weyrling barracks by yourself from now til Turns End. And don't think
I can't come up with other motivations if that is insufficient." If
there was one lesson some riders needed to learn the hard way, it was
respect and obedience to their Queen. Cyradis was not one to use this
tool lightly and she hoped she'd made her point.

She turned and looked at the trembling blue under the angry gaze of
the Senior Queen. "Are we clear?"

S'avn's face was tight as Mayfeth cowered beneath his Queen's words,
"Leave my dragon out of this! You don't have to bully him! He's not
done anything to you!" How heartless were these people to punish an
innocent dragon for his rider's actions? "I'll apologize to the
shardin' greenrider allright?"

}:What have you done this time, mine? The Queen is unhappy with _me_
and I haven't even done anything!:{ Mayfeth complained, his
displeasure and hurt bleeding across his link with S'avn.

There was a quick cuff to the back of the boys head. He'd not
intervened, knowing Cyradis could take care of herself very well, but
the disrespect the boy was showing was an affront. He'd be speaking to
Sh'del as well after this stunt, if the Weyrwoman didn't get to the
Weyrlingmaster first. "Eventually, boy, you'll learn when to shut the
hole in your face as just listen and nod." He looked at Cyradis. "I'll
speak to N'vanik about this lad going in my wing." He gave a sharp,
toothy smile. "After he's done with the mucking."

S'avn sighed, but none of the insolence left his face. He didn't
understand why he was being punished for something that everyone in
the Weyr was doing, but what could he do when the Weyrwoman _and_ a
Wingleader were against him? He would just have to bear the
punishment, no matter how undeserved he felt it was.

His expression made Cyradis shake her head, he still didn't get it.
She didn't give a flying eggshell about what was being said about her.
She _did_ care about the other weyrling he'd hurt with his stupid
attitude.

"Clueless," she said to D'hol and made a shooing motion for the
Wingleader to remove the offal from her sight.

Last updated on the January 17th 2014

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The Hard Truth