Consequences and Regrets Pt 1

Writers: Avery, Miriah
Date Posted: 5th August 2016

Characters: A'kades, Lanniya
Description: A'kades talks with Lanniya about what she did, and is more sympathetic than expected.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 5, day 20 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: K'sedel, Rhosyn, Lenala, K'ran; Pt 1 of 3

Lanniya

A'kades had decided to wait until the next day to talk to Lanniya on
her own. He agreed with what the Weyrleaders had decided to do as a
punishment, although he privately thought they hadn't gone far enough.
Angry as he was, he didn't want to start a fight with her when she was
someone who would be under his authority. So instead he had a message
passed to talk to him in the morning.

When morning arrived he was at his desk in his office. There was klah
and juice available – he suspected he'd need to moisten his throat -
but no snacks. The desk was cleared of hidework and looked stark and
forbidding, as did his own expression.

Lanniya approached A'kades' door and stared at it before she knocked.
She knew he was upset; they all were. They were _all_ mad at her. She
steeled herself and knocked, then stepped in when she was bidden. She
looked at him, at the bare desk and the dark expression on his face,
and wanted to shrink back, but held her ground and lifted her chin
just a little. "You wanted to see me?"

"Take a seat. There's drinks. How's Anaeryth's wings?" he asked,
observing protocol.

Lanniya took a cup of juice and sat, tucking one foot under her bottom
as was her habit. Her bare toes curled against the stone floor as she
took a sip. "Y'gel says her right wing was sprained, but it's not as
bad as it could have been. She's not allowed to fly for a few seven
days so she can heal." There was a good deal of guilt in her tone; she
knew that Anaeryth's injury was her doing and she could feel her
dragon's pain regularly.

"Is she in a lot of pain, or do they have her well in hand?" he asked.
It had been an honor to train Anaeryth and he and Volaith were almost
paternally concerned about her.

Lanniya couldn't look at him; he was making her feel even worse about
Anaeryth just by those questions. She stared at her juice and took
another quick sip. "She's okay. She says she just sore, but they gave
me stuff to put on her wings to help."

"If you need assistance, feel free to ask a Candidate. They'll be
honored to interact with a gold dragon, and you can teach them a bit
about dragon care," A'kades suggested. The deep anger he felt was
being banked slightly when he saw her body language. It was obvious
that she did regret the harm to Anaeryth and that was a good sign.

"Speaking of teaching, I wanted to go over what you'd be doing with us."

She nodded, but doubted that she would. She doubted that Anaeryth
would allow strange hands to touch her tender areas. While the gold
was normally amiable, with her injury, Lanniya wasn't willing to risk
the gold's temper. Finally looking up, her brow furrowed. "I just
thought I'd have to do lessons again."

"As I understand it, officially you're assigned to us as a
weyrlingstaff assistant. To have a touch of taking responsibility for
others. So yes, you'll sit in on lessons, but you'll be working to
teach the weyrlings as well," he said.

"Oh." Lanniya just looked at him for a long moment, several
expressions flitting over her face: consternation, uncertainty,
reluctance and dread. Teaching was bound to be the ultimate in
boredom. Would it be worse than hidework, or would she have more
hidework? She shifted in her seat and then studied her juice. It was a
worthwhile price, she decided, to have her parents back. "For how
long?"

He saw her face change rapidly and took a drink from his cup before
talking. "Does it really sound that bad?"

"Well, I've never really taught anything and I don't think I'd be
really good at it." She admitted.

"What do you think you're good at. As a goldrider," the
Weyrlingmaster's Second clarified. He leaned back in his chair and
relaxed his shoulders, trying to seem approachable and not
intimidating.

}:Good choice,:{ Volaith chimed in. }:She knows she did wrong. She
needs to know what she does well.:{

"I guess talking to other dragons. None of the other goldriders can do
it." That was the only thing she could really think of. She hated the
hidework; despised it. She only spent time around the other riders
when she had to. Lenala and she had little in common and she found
Rhosyn to be a bit intrusive.

"That's a very small part of being a rider, and especially a
goldrider," he reminded her. "Maybe working with the weyrlings will
help teach you what you're good at. There's helping adjudicate
disagreements, dealing with domestic problems like the Headwoman does,
dealing with wing duties, diplomatic duties, and even the hidework.
You can practice for much of that with the lessons."

The moment he said 'hidework' her expression echoed her dread. She'd
much rather be in the gardens or even just helping in the infirmary
than pouring over dusty hides in a small room. She wanted to beg off
of the hidework. Didn't she do enough of that already? "I thought
Rhosyn and Lenala did the diplomatic things. I mean, it's not like
I'll be a Weyrwoman anytime soon or anything. I usually just get stuck
in the records room."

"None of the other ones on the list?" He noted her look, and wondered
if they were shoving the drudgery on her.

She squirmed a little on her chair. "Well, no. Just the records room.
I haven't done that other stuff. I mean, Lenala tried to give me
etiquette lessons, but it was mostly about being clean, having
manners, dressing nicely and wearing shoes. " Her gaze lifted. "And
it's not like I my grandparents never taught me that sort of thing, I
just think other things are more important." She took a sip of her
juice. "Soliera's taught me some, though, and given me some really
good advice." She admitted. "She said the main thing was to be a good
listener when someone has a problem. She helps out when she can, but
she's pretty busy"

A'kades thought about what she said, and wondered how much of the
standard training for goldrider pairs had actually been given her, and
what she'd absorbed from it. With her reckless stunt, it certainly
seemed like her habit of leaping first and thinking about consequences
second hadn't been changed. And how could she be a goldrider,
responsible for others, when she wasn't even responsible himself?

**There was a flaw in training her,** he thought, and wondered how
much of that was from the other goldriders, and how much was from him
as the weyrlingmaster who'd been overseeing their class.

"You don't like the hidework," he said after a long pause. "Do any of
the other options sound interesting at all?"

"No. It's boring and dusty and I hate being stuck in the records
room." Lanniya replied candidly. "As for the other, like the wing
duties and adjudicating...I've never done any of it, so I don't know.
I mean, I fly with the wings, but Lenala and Rhosyn take care of most
of it. " She tugged on a strand of her hair. "I do like helping people
though, like when they have problems they need to talk about."

Last updated on the August 13th 2016

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Consequences and Regrets Pt 1