A Talk Between The Ladies

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 23rd November 2017

Characters: Saibra, Jadirah
Description: Jadirah is very free with gossip and Saibra's a perfect audience.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 2 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: A'kades, R'enh, Lanniya, Cyradis, Teseada

Saibra

"So tell me about yourself," Saibra said to Jadirah as she gave a nod
of thanks to the drudge that had delivered their lunch. Today's
appointment had taken place in Saibra's weyr because she liked the
privacy it afforded. "I know you are connected to A'kades, he
mentioned you the first time I met him."

"Let me guess, he mentioned the children and then me? His stoic,
professional bronzerider routine is absolutely ruined by how much he
loves them," the Healer said with a bit of a laugh.

She wondered what the Weyrwoman might find interesting, and decided to
rattle off a few facts. "Let's see... I'm a Healer, as you know. I
lived at Far Island for 20 Turns before moving to River Bluff - I saw
you Impress Chioneth, it was right before I left. And unlike most
weyrbred folk, I never once wanted to Impress to a dragon. Though I
wouldn't turn down a firelizard."

"Ah yes, gangly, fifteen Turn old me," Saibra smiled at the fact.
"What made you decide to move to River Bluff?"

"I wanted to stay in my Craft, and I didn't want to be near my parents
anymore," Jadirah said. "So when I reached my Journey knots, I wrote
out to all the Weyrs and took the first spot offered."

"Did you get to work with Rhosyn any while you were at River Bluff?"
Saibra asked curiously, her tone taking on a slightly gossipy pitch.

"I wasn't her primary Healer for her pregnancy or anything, but I did
go over Wing casualties with her," Jadirah said, wrinkling her nose.
"She was an interesting personality for sure. I will say she wasn't my
favorite River Bluff Weyrwoman."

Saibra grabbed a roll from the tray and tucked her feet under herself
on the couch, getting in the optimal position for gossping, "Well, she
considered herself 'best friends' with R'enh," she pointed to her
belly, "father of my child. So whenever she had a problem she would go
running and crying to him," she rolled her eyes, "which seemed like
too often to me. And then on days when Vilarth was rising and she had
to go somewhere else, she would always show up at Dolphin Cove and
lounge around like she owned the place."

"She spent an awful lot of time at Dolphin Cove, as opposed to going
back to whatever. I mean, we all know about her relationship with
N'vanik. I was surprised he put up with it for so long," Jadirah
admitted. "I didn't know she had any other attachments there. Maybe
she felt sent to the wrong Weyr."

"She really liked her bronzeriders, it seems." Saibra said and then
hesitated. "Well, I guess that's true of several goldriders." Even
though she was with R'enh, she'd never limited herself to just
bronzeriders in the past. "Well, what about when Lanniya caused a
stir? I bet everything hit the wall then."

"I was just about to ask if all goldriders got possessive of
bronzeriders. I couldn't blame you if you do. I mean, they _do_ have
some very fun attributes, most of them," she said with a cheerful
grin. "But there' enjoying the charms of one who's frequently with
you, and then trying to hoard ones who you aren't involved with as
well. One's just petty and greedy. Share some with the rest of us."

The mention of the incident with Lanniya sobered her good cheer a bit.
"I wish I knew what exactly happened to get everyone so angry,"
Jadirah admitted.

What could have caused the goldrider to stay away for three days? Why
had the senior dragons freaked out? She'd asked A'kades, but all he
could say was that it was 'senior rider business' and he couldn't tell
her.

"From what I heard, Rhosyn was furious and yelled at her and Lenala
didn't stand up to her or got overruled. I could believe either of
those - Lenala didn't always show much of a spine, but when she tried
to, Rhosyn's bluster often stomped all over her."

Saibra nodded, she knew the exact particulars from Cyradis, but
couldn't openly share them with Jadirah. "In my opinion it's the
Weyrleader's job to step in when the Weyrwoman is overstepping her
boundaries, especially with her own Wingsecond. Now, granted, Lenala
needed to find a backbone and not let Rhosyn step on her all the
time...." Saibra trailed off, not wanting to speak ill of the dead.
"Well, it's not public yet, but I believe young Lanniya will be
transferring here now that Dolphin Cove has yet another gold on the
sands." There was just a touch of resentment in her voice.

"I think Lenala deserved a better Weyrwoman over her than Rhosyn, for
sure. Lenala was a surprisingly good woman under the vapidity. I think
it was a defense, honestly. When Kad got her pregnant, I was looking
forward to helping her through her pregnancy," Jadirah said, a bit of
wistfulness in her voice. "They were so happy together, and it was a
sharding shame how it all turned out."

The other piece of news was interesting. "Are you excited about adding
the talents of a hears-all to your wing?"

The Dragonsfall Weyrwoman made a face before she could hide it, "I
know I should be excited, being able to hear-all dragons is an amazing
gift and should be an excellent tool but... Lanniya is young and
untested, still learning, and from what happened at River Bluff,
perhaps not the best in judgement. Don't get me wrong, Cyradis is an
excellent instructor for goldriders, but she's not been under her care
for long."

"Have you ever trained up a gold weyrling before?" Jadirah asked
curiously. "Maybe you'll be the one to provide her the stability and
assurance she needs."

"I trained a couple while I was at Far Island. I didn't get the chance
with Genna here, her egg came from Onnyth so Teseada handled that, and
then of course she left. It's easier to train a gold when their
dragonet was began from your own Queen. At least, I find that to be
true if the senior rider isn't insane." Saibra lifted her eyebrows on
that last word.

"Are we thinking of the same senior rider here, or do you have
criticisms of the one who trained you?" the Healer asked quizzically.
"I'm sure any gold you train would have fine training, you seem a
practical sort."

"Oh I believe we're both thinking of Rhosyn..." and here she trailed
off, "and Zharesti." Saibra waggled her eyebrows with a laugh.

"Shards, but her forcing absolutely everyone to stand was appalling.
If I'd still have been of age, I would have had Kad take me out the
Weyr. He did go to visit his other son and took our daughter out for
that Hatching," Jadirah revealed.

"Scandalous. I love it!" Saibra was finding Jadirah's company
enjoyable. It was nice having someone near her in age, who was also a
mother, to share things with, and she even liked it better because
Jadirah wasn't a rider. Saibra was around riders all the time, change
was nice. "I never had the pleasure of meeting Zharesti, so all I have
to go on is hearsay."

"She didn't last long, anyway, so that's probably good for you. I
don't know how well you know other goldriders? I imagine that
Weyrwomen all know each other, but before you're one, how well do you
know others."

"There were several golds at Far Island so I was one of a couple
juniors besides the Weyrwoman's second. I knew the names and lifemates
of golds at other Weyrs, it's a duty to memorize them, but I didn't
get to know many of them personally."

"Hopefully you like most of the ones you know, and people like Rhosyn
are really the outliers," Jadirah said. "It's always unpleasant to
dislike someone you have to work with day by day, and it's still not
fun to have to make nice to someone you only see at important events
you still can't stand."

"I have met many fine goldriders. It's just easy to think more of them
have problems since they're a small percentage of the population." And
they were in the spotlight often.

"That's fair. Master Crafters seem to have the range of being few of
us and we all have problems in some way. It seems like you must have
some...quirks... in order to achieve a high rank in life."

The Healer found she still had a question lingering from earlier. "So
is R'enh the only man in your life right now?"

"Yes, it was an agreement we came to when we decided we wanted to try
for a baby together." In truth, Saibra had thought she would miss her
other bed partners, but she found that she didn't. It just made her
look forward to her next visit from R'enh.

"For love, or just for paternity assurance? I'm a gossipy woman, I'm
sorry," the Healer said.

"Both," Saibra answered honestly. "We've both had our fair share of
partners but right now it just feels good to be the two of us. The
only time I've ever done something like this was with my last
weyrmate, my children's father."

"I wish you both happiness, then. And that you find it easy to juggle
being far apart - though /between/ makes it easier for him to visit
you." Since the visits could only go one way until Saibra reached the
next trimester.

Saibra lifted her glass of juice, "I'll drink to that and may you find
many good looking men to keep you company here."

Last updated on the November 27th 2017

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A Talk Between The Ladies