A New Life (1/3)

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 9th April 2019

Characters: Elana, Alina, Palbran, Elibra
Description: Alina arrives at Nadol Cothold to take her sister to Emerald Falls Hold to foster
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 10, day 18 of Turn 9

Alina

"There she is!" Palbran pointed to the sky where a glimmer of green wings appeared against the grey of the sky. "Alina's here!"

Elana shaded her face with her hand and looked up. The familiar shape of her sister's dragon was almost a shadow against the clouds. Her stomach did a little nervous flip. It was really happening. She was going to leave Nadol Cothold!

"Are you sure about this?" her mother said quietly. "You could change your mind and stay here, with us. Your Great Aunt would understand."

"Mother." Elana turned and took her mother's hands in her own. "You know as well as I do that _nothing_ will ever happen to me here. I need to go to Emerald Falls Hold. _You_ fostered there. Be happy for me!"

"I am, but I worry too." Elibra managed a small smile as she squeezed her daughter's hands in her own. Getting into nothing was safer, and her daughter had been so sheltered... "My little girl has grown up, and I'm going to miss you very much."

"Can I come visit you at Emerald Falls Hold?" Palbran asked.

Elana wrinkled her nose at him. "I doubt that somewhere as refined as Emerald Falls Hold allows stinky little brothers through their front doors. But maybe you can come to my wedding."

"Poor sucker, whoever is dumb enough to marry you," Palbran shot back.

Behind them, Imarith landed in the courtyard in a flurry of dust. Alina waved from atop her dragon's back before busying herself with loosening her riding straps.

Elana turned back to her mother with a brilliant, broad smile. "This is it! I'm ready to go."

Elibra enfolded her eldest daughter into a hug. "Please write, every sevenday at the very least. And behave yourself. You carry our good name with you. Oh--" She plucked a small, wrapped packet from her pocket and pressed it into Elana's palm. "From your father. He would have very much liked to say goodbye, but…"

"But the herdbeasts and wheat fields needed him more. I know." Elana pocketed the package and gave her mother another hug. "I promise I will write."

"Write to me too." Palbran wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a tight, quick hug. He had grown, and he was nearly up to her shoulder now. "I'm not going to miss you."

"I won't miss you either," Elana said with considerably more confidence. She disentangled herself from her family as Alina walked up. "Ready to go?"

"Whenever you are." Alina gave her mother a quick hug, then tousled Palbran's hair. "What are you eating? You're growing like a weed!"

"Don't do that!" Palbran retreated a safe distance and tried to smush down his messed up hair.

"Remember: once you get there, talk to the Watch dragon or whoever is around at the front of the Hold to get them to bring you to Great Aunt Panna." Elibra brushed imaginary dirt from the collar of Elana's dress. "Make sure that someone escorts you there."

"Mother!"

"I know," Alina put a hand on her mother's arm. "I've delivered passengers to the Hold before. I'll take care of her." The greenrider gestured to the two small bags at Elana's feet. "Is that all you're bringing?"

"What were you expecting, boxes and boxes of gowns?" Elana picked up the lighter of the two bags with two hands. "Your dragon can fly with all this, right?"

Alina picked up the second bag one-handed and casually slung it over her shoulder. "Firestone weighs more than this. She'll be fine." The greenrider walked back to Imarith and began lashing the bags onto her riding straps. Elana followed, but both Elibra and Palbran lingered in the shade of the Cothold walls.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," Elana whispered. "I just wish you were coming with me. I'll be fine on my own, but it would have been more fun with you there."

"I know." Alina tugged on a strap a bit harder than she needed to. It was harder than she'd thought to see her twin off on the adventure that they'd planned to have together. They'd spent so many nights lying side by side, imagining the places they'd go and the people they'd meet… that had all come to a crashing halt when she'd been Searched and sent to the Weyr, all on the same day. The bags secured, she turned to her sister. "Do you want a boost?"

"Please." Elana gathered her skirts in one hand, then used Alina's interlaced hands as a stepping stone onto Imarith's elbow. She sat sidesaddle and waited patiently as she was buckled in.

Alina leapt onto Imarith's back and settled herself behind her sister and quickly fastened her straps. "Are you ready to go?"

Elana looked back at her family, her mother standing next to her brother, their faces showing a mix of pride, envy and sadness. The cothold was bathed in mid-morning light, its sturdy walls looking plain and dusty against the green of the fields beyond. The courtyard seemed small and shabby from the back of a dragon. **I'm not going to miss this place.**

She took a deep breath. A wild grin spread over her face as she turned to look up into the impossibly blue sky. "Let's go."

Imarith spread her wings and leapt into the air. Elana watched as it dwindled into a toy-sized collection of buildings next to a gleaming river. Her mother became a doll, insignificant against the tapestry of stones that made up the courtyard. She was waving.

They winked /between/ and left Nadol Cothold behind.

Last updated on the April 12th 2019

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A New Life (1/3)