Very Disappointed

Writers: Bree, Dana, Emma, Yvonne
Date Posted: 10th June 2006

Characters: Lenala, K'sedel, Tsaera, Ar'lis
Description: Very Disappointed
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 10, day 6 of Turn 3
Notes: Follows 'Pern Needs Dragonriders'

Lenala

K'sedel

The cooler air of her office and the quiet that thick stone walls afforded helped Tsaera cool her temper. She sat at her desk with her head in her hands and her eyes closed, listening to her heart beat. Eighteen eggs.
Eighteen! **The woman's a bloody dimglow. How did I get stuck with her?!**

Tabanirth sent soothing thoughts her way, and Tsaera wished that she could take her dragon and fly off and away from the mess. Somewhere quiet, with the sun on her skin and a breeze soft against her cheek...

}:Vilarth is upset, Tsaera,:{ Tabanirth said, somewhat reproachfully. }:You are cruel to her rider, even though there aren't enough eggs. It is not Vilarth's fault.:{
**I'm not being cruel. Lenala's a bloody dimglow!**

There was a small silence as Tabanirth considered this. }:Perhaps,:{ she finally said, }:But she is anxious to please.:{
**Anxious to please isn't good enough when there's no action that follows it up.**

A light knock on the door made Tsaera glance at the candle; there was still a little time before Lenala and Ar'lis were to arrive. It must be K'sedel, then. "Come in."

"I heard," was all K'sedel had to say when he entered Tsaera's office.

Tsaera sighed and rested her elbows on her desk. "What am I going to do?"

The Weyrleader took a deep breath as he thought about it. "I don't know. We need to find out what happened and take it from there I guess."

"Lenala says that she lost _control_." She snorted. "A decade as a goldrider, and she _loses_control_. Ridiculous. But what's worse, in my opinion, is that she and Ar'lis _hid_ that fact from us. This is my Weyr and I deserve to know what's going on, especially when things happen that will affect us all!"

"It's our Weyr," he reminded her gently, taking a seat. "But you are right, not letting us find about the problem until it cannot be hidden any longer..."

Tsaera ignored the correction. "I don't know what to do with that woman. She led my Wing well enough while Tabanirth was on the Sands, but her hidework isn't done consistently and then she pulls a stunt like _this_. If she'd only _apply_ herself." She stared at her hands, but an almost inaudible knock on the door made her look at the candle. It had burned right down to the quarter mark - it had to be Ar'lis and Lenala. "Come in."

Lenala came through the door with her shoulders held stiffly and her chin high, but her red eyes and splotchy complexion made it clear that the goldrider had spent most of the intervening time in frantic tears. The Weyrleaders waited until the bronzerider behind her had shut the door before speaking.

"Well. This is a fine mess." Tsaera folded her hands on her desk and fixed the pair of them with an iron stare. "What am I going to do with you."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you," Lenala said quietly, her eyes fixed on her hands, which were folded together so tightly in her lap that her knuckled were white. "But I had no idea this would happen, Tsaera. Honestly, I didn't."

"Neither did I." Ar'lis glanced at Lenala. If he'd have known the clutch would be _this_ sharding small...

"Perhaps not, but you both knew that something went wrong. And you downplayed it rather than bringing it to K'sedel and I's attention." Tsaera sighed. "I am very, very disappointed in you both. Are K'sedel and I really that unapproachable?"

Lenala glanced up. "It wasn't a very pleasant experience. I don't think we wanted to... talk about it."

"A goldflight is _not_ a private matter the way choosing to spend an evening together is!" Tsaera snapped, then leaned back in her chair. **Keep your temper,** she told herself. "I'm sorry that you had a bad flight, and I'm sorry that it had to come to this. I wish it had never happened, and not just because of the small Clutch size." The hurt in Lenala's eyes, and the anger in Ar'lis', made her want to go back in time to change it. But what was done was done. "But no matter how badly I feel for you two, I can't let this slide, either.

"Lenala - I'm sorry, but as of this moment you are stripped of Weyrwoman Second's knots, and will regain them once Vilarth's clutch Hatches. In the mean time, you will still be doing most of your hidework and duties - but I know that this is a stressful time for you, so you'll be splitting them with a junior goldrider until you feel sure of yourself again. This will give you the opportunity to... fix whatever went wrong, and to prove to me that you're serious about your position within the Weyr."

Ar'lis's jaw tightened as he glanced from his Weyrwoman to Lenala. Shards and shells... _Stripped_ from her knots?

K'sedel glanced to Tsaera, having let her do most of the talking. It did sound harsh, but lessons needed to be learnt from this. "There is one more thing, I think that perhaps you might both speak to the weyrlings about mating flight control. You've both been riders long enough to know how it should be, and now you unfortunately have the experience to make sure that the current class are properly informed of all the facts about things."

Lenala snapped her gaze from Tsaera to K'sedel, thinking she'd rather spend the rest of her life stripped of her knots than have to stand before the weyrlings and talk about that flight. But there was no one to appeal to...
the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader had spoken. Lenala had no choice but obey. "I understand," she replied in an uncertain voice that failed to hide her despair.

"And Ar'lis, I'll see you in my office later today," K'sedel looked grim.
"We'll have a talk about this ourselves."

Ar'lis's jaw was so tight his teeth hurt, but he nodded stiffly. "As you wish, Weyrleader."

Lenala looked back to Tsaera, trying to keep her voice level. "Are we excused, Weyrwoman?"

"You are. For now. Meet me in my office tomorrow morning a half candlemark before drills and we'll decide how to divide your duties." Tsaera sighed, suddenly looking old and tired behind her desk. "I'm sorry, Lenala."

The younger goldrider was out of the chair before Tsaera finished her sentence, brushing tears from her eyes before they could fall. She didn't look at Tsaera--didn't look at anyone as she opened the door and fled.

Last updated on the January 30th 2006

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Very Disappointed