Uninvited Guests (Ashela's Party 3/3)
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyrhold
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr (NPC)
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall
Writers: Devin, Estelle, Miriah, Suzee, Yvonne
Date Posted: 18th February 2022
Characters: Ashela, Ma'din, Harki, K'mai, L'keri, H'run, R'enh
Description: Ashela's party is interrupted by some uninvited guests
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 20 of Turn 10
The evening was going beautifully, Ashela thought as she sipped her wine
and listened to a pair of bronzeriders describing their latest feats in
wing drills. Her guests were a select group of high-ranking bronzeriders
and brownriders, promising younger riders, some senior crafters and
weyrfolk she knew to be of good birth and capable of behaving
themselves. The conversation flowed, polite laughter mingling with the
delicate notes of H'run's gitar and the clinking of glasses.
She glanced over towards R'enh. Her companions of the moment were
handsome enough, but they couldn't compare. How long would it be before
she could properly rejoin him?
As she did so, her eye caught the door opening. Funny, she'd thought all
of the guests had arrived. Had she forgotten someone? Her brow creased
delicately as a greenrider entered, arm in arm with...two brownriders.
Did she know them?
Ma'din's smirk couldn't be hidden as he stroked his fingers over
Harki's arm. "My my, looks like quite the party."
"I know. I was _thrilled_ to be invited!" Harki trilled, her eyes
roving around the opulent weyr. Goldriders had it _good_. Her gaze lit
upon the sideboard and she started toward it eagerly. "Is that-- that
isn't a Bendan red is it? How delightful!"
"Harki, good to see you!" K'mai called.
L'keri tore his gaze away from the bottles when he heard his friend's
voice, and waved. "K'mai! Fancy seeing you here. By the Egg, this party
has class, hasn't it?" He picked up a delicate pastry from a tray and
sniffed at it, then popped it into his mouth.
The other guests were giving the new arrivals rather bemused looks.
Ashela's eyes narrowed, and excusing herself from her two companions,
she glided over to the harper's side. "H'run, _darling_, do you know
those riders?"
"I do, although at this moment I rather wish I didn't," the harper muttered.
Ma'din gave a false gasp of concern, holding his hand to his chest.
"I'm hurt! Especially after that wonderful song you sang for me. I was
hoping you'd sing it again!"
K'mai's eyebrows rose as he glanced between the new arrivals and
Ashela. It sounded like they hadn't been invited. This could be
trouble.
"Surely you didn't invite them to my private, select gathering. Did you,
H'run?" There was a dangerously sweet note in Ashela's voice as she
watched the other brownrider pour a generous glass of wine for the
woman. Expensive red droplets scattered as he set the bottle back down
on the table with a flourish.
"Don't be absurd," he said quietly, lowering his voice enough that it
couldn't be heard by anyone else but the goldrider. "I can't believe
you'd think me so ill-bred as to invite someone without asking you first."
"Of course not," Ashela replied through brightly smiling teeth. She
certainly wouldn't have put it past him to engineer an embarrassing
scene at her party for his own amusement. "But since they seem to know
you, perhaps you can assist me and get - rid - of - them. Now."
H'run sighed in a very put-upon fashion as he set his gitar aside and
approached who he thought might be the ringleader. Crashing a party
wasn't the sort of thing he thought Ma'din or Harki would initiate, but
L'keri was smart... likely he was the ringleader. The bluerider joined
him and the greenrider by the wine. "This is such a surprise, L'keri."
"Isn't it just?" Harki said. She sipped at her wine, then closed her
eyes in delight. "This is _so_ good. Ashela, you have very good taste!
R'enh, may I refill your glass?"
R'enh looked at the trio puzzled at their entrance and the sudden
seeming chill in the air. Ashela's smile was too bright and he
recognized that as a danger sign. "Sure," he said from where he sat on
the couch where he'd been enjoying H'run's performance. He lifted his
glass with a wry smile at Harki followed by a brow lift in Ashela's
direction.
Ma'din tilted his head at H'run, his blue eyes wide in affected
confusion. "A surprise?" He tsked his tongue. "Why would we miss such
a wonderful party?" Honestly, the feeling of some Holder nonsense with
the polite talk and music that surrounded the gathering was certainly
not how he would enjoy an evening, but this little prank had such
potential. "I think I'll go say hello to our darling goldrider. I'll
even ask her for a dance...once you're back to playing of course."
"I'm sure that she'd rather you didn't," H'runs said, before turning
pleading eyes on L'keri.
K'mai shifted a little further away from the uninvited guests. He
hated confrontation and arguments, and the tension in the room was
rising.
Turning to Harki, the gleam in Ma'din's eye couldn't be mistaken.
"Excuse me, Harki. I simply have to take the chance."
Ashela watched the scene unfold through narrowed eyes, her irritation
growing when she saw the greenrider pouring more of her good wine into
R'enh's glass. **Shards!** If she had them ejected now, the bronzerider
would think she was too much of a snob to have the lower ranks in her
weyr, and she sensed he wouldn't approve. She'd just have to let them
stay a while and hope they behaved and didn't break anything. Hastily,
she put down her glass and crossed the room to join them.
"H'run! You simply must introduce me to your friends..." Her voice
trailed off as one of the brownriders stepped into her path.
And then R'enh was at her side with a smile and a hand raised to take
hers if she wished. "Would you like to dance," he asked smoothly.
"H'run, please play something lively," he said.
"I'd be delighted." Ashela set her glass aside with a brilliant smile
and rested her hand lightly in R'enh's, letting him lead her to the
center of the room, where they were soon joined by a few other couples.
**Well, well...perhaps I have something to thank H'run's disreputable
friends for after all.**
L'keri scoffed down the rest of his third pastry. "Too slow," he said
with a grin at Ma'din. "Better luck next time, eh?"
K'mai let out a breath, his shoulders dropping. Ashela seemed to be
pleasantly distracted, at least for the moment.
R'enh swept her around him in a broad circle to show off her lovely
dress and allow her a chance to shine before he began the dance he'd
taught her for their hatching. The music matched their tempo if only
slightly slower. "You remember this, right," he murmured into her ear
and began the lovely waltz that would sweep them around the floor.
Ma'din held up a finger at L'keri and winked at Harki. "Be right
back." With pure devilish intent he slid his way towards R'enh and the
goldrider. He purposefully slipped beside the couple and laid a hand
on R'enh's hand before he could turn Ashela again. "Allow me to cut
in? I haven't been really introduced."
"No. You haven't." Ashela directed a freezing stare at the intruder,
before remembering that she was supposed to be a gracious hostess. The
sheer insolence! They had just been getting to the best part of the
dance. She frowned as she studied the man's strong jaw and high
cheekbones. Why did he look so familiar?
L'keri's eyes went round as he watched the three of them, impressed by
his wingmate's daring. Not wanting to miss out, he thought for a moment,
then swept a deep bow before Harki. "M'lady! Would you permit me the
honor of a dance?"
She giggled and held out a hand. "I'd be delighted!"
R'enh's eyes swiveled from the smirk on Ma'din's face to the frown on
Ashela's. His eyes lightened a bit with humor. Perhaps the younger man
deserved a sample of the gold rider's displeasure. "My Lady," he bowed
to her and stepped back. "Perhaps I should return to my weyr. This has
been a delightful diversion. Thank you for inviting me." He turned on
his heel and strode to the door. Saibra was going to want to hear all
about this.
Ashela watched him go, her polite farewell choking in her throat. Though
she continued to follow the steps of the dance, the look that she turned
on Ma'din was frankly murderous. "What a shame. R'enh is such a good
dancer. I was _really_ enjoying his company." She lowered her voice to a
hiss as they turned away from another couple. "You're going to regret
this, you loathsome little grub. You and your pathetic friends."
H'run sent a desperate, silent apology across the room to K'mai. This
was not what he intended for the evening, and it was not going to end
well. Just to be on the safe side, he ended his current song with a
flourish and set his gitar down. "I could really use a refreshment. What
about you, Ma'din? Will you join me for a drink?" Anything to get that
boor away from Ashela.
K'mai refilled his glass and edged toward the door. If this had been
his own party or a friend's, he would have tried to smooth things
over, but with Ashela hosting he was too worried about things turning
volatile. Maybe H'run could manage to calm things down.
"Oh, no - you're not leaving as well, are you?" Ashela turned her
too-bright smile on K'mai. Had _he_ been the one responsible for the
unwanted guests?
"Well...perhaps this had better be our last drink." Even L'keri's rather
rusty sense of self-preservation was raising the alarm at the
goldrider's expression. "It has, as the Wingleader said, been delightful."
A flutter of panic went through K'mai when Ashela addressed him. "Oh,
no. Just making room. It's getting a bit crowded." He forced a smile.
"I should have known your party would be popular."
"Indeed, I'm surprised myself." Ashela watched in suppressed fury as
another couple, a wingsecond and his weyrmate, nodded politely to her
and made a hasty departure. "So popular that people I've never even
heard of, let alone been introduced to, have somehow found themselves at
my private occasion. My skills as a hostess must be more renowned than I
knew."
Ma'din's grin was just as toothy. "Your skills are certainly not in
question, Goldrider Ashela. Didn't you know that they are certainly
whispered about in awe among some circles?" He glanced at H'run and
then carefully spun Ashela just as the tune stopped and dipped her
lightly, then drew her back upwards, flush against him for only a
moment. "You can't blame us for wanting to partake."
Ashela flushed scarlet and, rather than make a graceful curtsy as the
music came to an end, she stepped back as if she'd been scalded, nearly
colliding with another dance pair. "How dare you?" She clenched her
fists, all her refined airs forgotten. "Get out of my weyr, you - you
unutterable oaf!"
Rather than be offended by her outrage, Ma'din offered a flourishing
bow, amused by the sudden shift in her manner. Instead of answering
her, he looked at the pair that she had nearly collided with. "Forgive
the Goldrider. I think she stumbled or she's had a bit too much fun."
He winked and with a smirk, stepped back, moving towards the door.
Harki trailed after him with a bright, uneasy smile as she dragged
L'keri after her. There was danger, and then there was _danger_. "Thanks
for the wine!" she trilled as she followed Ma'din out the door.
H'run moved up to stand behind Ashela, his eyes narrowed as he watched
the trio go. "What an utter boor," he said as the door closed behind
them. "And a bore. A boor and a bore. I have a suggestion," he said,
turning to face the remainder of the party. "Why don't we play a little
word game?"
"What a marvelous idea." Ashela managed to recover some of her composure
before any more of the important guests made excuses to leave. She
laughed lightly. "I've certainly got some choice words for those, ah,
unexpected visitors, but I oughtn't to share them in polite company.
Who'll join me in challenging our harper to a game of wits?"
With a brief look of gratitude towards H'run, she led the way over to
the couches and sat, graciously accepting a glass of wine from a
bronzerider. There still remained that ominous glint in her eyes,
though, and as the game began, her mind was partly occupied with
thoughts of revenge.
Last updated on the July 15th 2022