A Plot Overheard

Writers: Devin, Estelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 30th November 2020

Characters: Alyena, Unknown Plotters
Description: Alyena overhears a secret meeting in a barn outside her cothold
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 7, day 27 of Turn 10

Alyena stood by the window, looking out to where the dark silhouette of
the old barn rose against the moonlit sky. In the days when the cothold
had been more prosperous, it had been used to store grain, but now it
stood empty, decaying and unused. Ever since the day when her son had
gone in and found his father's body there, hanging from the rafters.

She hadn't been sleeping well lately, waking from vague, ominous dreams.
Tonight it had happened again. She couldn't put into words exactly what
it was. Something she'd seen, not quite consciously, a faint light
moving across her closed eyelids...

Then she caught her breath. Something had moved. A light, dim and
greenish, in the window of the barn.

There was someone in there.

Alyena stepped back, away from the window, her heart racing. **Go back
to bed.** If it was bandits, or holdless people, they'd find precious
little in there to steal.

Or they might move on to the cothold, next. Where her daughter was sleeping.

Or... She remembered what that man had said. Gil, the traveller who
moved like a fighter, who'd brought the bag of marks that still lay,
like a secret, hidden under her mattress.

There are men who need a quiet spot to discuss matters. Where they can
trust what they say won't be overheard.

**Go back to bed.**

But instead, she slipped out of the bedroom and into the darkened
kitchen, picking up her shawl from the back of the chair by the glowing
hearth on her way. With a shiver at the night air, she ran on light feet
across to the barn, keeping to the shadows, until she was outside the
window where she'd seen the light. Now she could see clearly that it
came from glows, and she could hear men's voices, inside.

"So, then. We're decided," said one. "Do we have enough time? Before the
eggs are on the sands?"

"I can get in there, no problem." A husky voice replied. "Our drudge
has access right where she needs to be. All she needs is to know
when."

A third voice said, "The dragons hum before the eggs hatch, and
there's time enough for them dragonriders to fetch guests and such.
Should be plenty of time to get it done."

"They won't know what's hit them," the first man said, with vicious
satisfaction. "It's time someone showed the dragonmen that they aren't
all-powerful. They can't take, and take from us, and not expect
consequences."

There was a low chuckle. "All of Pern will know. It's a pity we can't
all be there to see it. I'd like to see their faces when it happens.
It'd be a right treat. "

"Ha! I'd sure pay good marks to see it."

"Too risky," another voice said, this one more cautious, though with an
undertone of anger. "Remember where we are. Remember what happened to
poor Grevan, and his father."

At the sound of her son's name, Alyena drew in a sharp breath, stifling
a cry.

"If they find any of us, they'll have their revenge," the man went on,
bitterly. "That's why this plan is good. They'll never know who it was."

"Grevan should have listened to us in the first place. We could have
helped." The husky voice sounded irritated. "He rushed in too fast. We
have to be careful and not do the same."

"Aye, I wonder sometimes," the third voice mused. "What he could've
done for us, if he hadn't been caught. Man with that kind of passion,
that kind of commitment."

"There's a younger brother, isn't there?" Alyena tensed, felt the pinch
of her nails digging into her palms as this man spoke. "We should keep
an eye on him. Brother and a father dead at the hands of the Weyr, he's
bound to feel the same way."

"The younger we get them started, the more loyal they'll be. I've
seen the boy and he's aching for a man to look up to." Another man
spoke, this one sounding more silky and cultured in his tone. "I'll
speak to him. Mentor him and guide him. He may prove useful. No one
pays attention to boys when they're about. But they can be taught to
listen well enough. "

"There's a little girl, too. Girls are even better than boys for going
unseen. Very useful for passing along information."

"I don't know," the cautious man said, doubtfully. "They're not
reliable. And there's danger. Heard they sent a girl to those mines
along with Grevan. It's one thing to use some drab from the Weyr, but a
good Holder girl..."

"We can't afford to be sentimental," the first man said, coldly. "This
is a fight for our rights as Holders. We need to use what we have, and
be as ruthless as the Weyr."

The dulcet tones of the other man interjected. "It's no Weyr drab. The
Weyr makes the mistake of accepting anyone seeking refuge. Especially
women if they tell a good tale. She's loyal and she wants revenge for
Grevan. She's smart...for a young woman." There was a soft chuckle.
"But you're right. We use what we have. The girl can be valuable."

Another voice spoke up. "What about the mother? She's letting us use
this as a meeting place, but how deep is her loyalty? She's lost more
than most, husband and son both."

"More useful as a symbol. There's already a lot of sympathy for that
family in the holds." The first man spoke with authority. "We all know
our parts. We strike at the Hatching. And we show the Weyr who holds the
real power in this land."

There were murmurs of agreement from the husky-voiced man. "Agreed,"
the smooth voiced man replied quietly; there was a faint hint of
amusement in his voice. "We'll know when the Hold's watchdragon keens
that it's worked."

"Very well. I'll send a message by the usual method as to when we'll
meet again, and decide our next move."

There were sounds of sighs, grunts and shuffling feet as the meeting
broke up and the men prepared to depart. Alyena backed away from the
barn and ran back across the yard to the cothold, fearing every moment
that there'd be a shout as she was seen. She closed the door softly
behind her and leaned against it in the dark, her breath coming in short
gasps.

She should forget she'd ever heard any of that, but she knew that was
impossible. She'd taken their marks, and now they planned to drag her
family back into this, use them for some unknown purpose. Her children.

Last updated on the December 1st 2020

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A Plot Overheard