People Can Change

Writers: Estelle, Yvonne
Date Posted: 19th June 2022

Characters: Alina, Alyena, Evalya
Description: Alina visits Alyena and Evalya after the events of the Hatching
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 18 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: J'ackt, R'ayl

Alina

Alina had begged off wing duties the day after the Hatching and the
events at the cothold, still too shaken to want to do much more than sit
in her weyr wrapped in a blanket. Soon enough, though, her thoughts
drifted to Alyena and her daughter who were now hidden away somewhere in
the Weyr. It was awful enough for her, so how would they be feeling?

Reluctantly Alina roused herself, brushed her long hair, and put on a
comfortable old dress before heading down to the Lower Caverns to try to
find Alyena. It took a little asking around, but soon enough she found
what she hoped was the right door, and knocked.

The door opened a crack, and a pair of wide, fearful eyes looked out.
When Alyena saw it was the greenrider from the night before, though, she
let out the breath she'd been holding in relief and stepped back,
opening the door to allow her to enter, though she glanced anxiously at
the empty corridor behind. Her left cheek was swollen with a dark
reddish-purple bruise.

"Greenrider, I'm glad you've come." She glanced over at the young girl,
who was sitting on the bed in their small guest room, her dark hair
neatly braided, resting her injured ankle. "We wanted to thank you for -
for last night. There was so much, I couldn't remember if I'd said..."

Alina looked down, suddenly shy. "It's all right. I just... wanted to
check in on you and your daughter, to make sure that you were all right.
Being treated all right."

"Oh, yes. Everyone's been so kind. I didn't expect it, after all that's
happened." Alyena stepped back from the door, wrapping her arms tightly
around herself. "We're so grateful. It's only that it's...a lot to take
in." Their home was gone, burned, those men wanted her dead. They were
in the Weyr, where she'd made her children promise never to go, and her
son was here, a dragonrider.

Alina took a tentative step inside. "I know. I... I'm so sorry about
your cothold. I wish that J'ackt and I arrived earlier."

"I'm glad you didn't. You might have been there when those men came,
when the fire started," Alyena said quickly. "My daughter is safe,
that's all that matters." She rested a hand on the young girl's
shoulder. "This is Evalya."

"Hello," the girl said shyly.

"Hello, Evalya." Alina knelt so that she wouldn't loom over the girl.
"My name is Alina. How is your ankle feeling?"

"It's a bit sore, but it's all right." Evalya looked up at her mother,
who smiled down at her, encouraging. "Thank you for saving Mama."

"Well, I don't know about that." The greenrider felt herself flush. "I
think your mama was quite brave all on her own."

"Still, if you hadn't been there, you and your dragon..." Alyena sat
down on the bed beside her daughter, leaving the room's one chair for
Alina. "You're both all right? And J'ackt and Zith?"

"Yes, we're fine. Imarith has a tough hide and I'm just glad that I had
my riding leathers on," Alina said, retreating to the chair. "Your poor
legs must be so scratched up from those thorns."

"They'll heal. It could have been much worse." She shivered at the
memory of the man's fingers digging into her throat, the flash of the
blade. "The healers gave me some ointment. You know, I'd heard that
women could be healers here, but I wasn't sure if it was true, or just a
story."

"I was surprised to see women as healers, too. You hear about it, but..."
Alina shook her head, remembering how she'd stared at the women wearing
knots and pants when she'd first arrived. "There are women in other
Crafts, too. I suppose in some ways the Weyr is more like it was before
the Plague changed everything."

"I wonder if it'll ever be like that again, in the Hold." Alyena glanced
down at her daughter, who was watching the greenrider with sudden
interest. "You're not from the Weyr, then?"

"No. I grew up in a cothold. I was Searched when I was sixteen Turns,
which is why I know that..." The greenrider shifted in her seat.
"Weyrfolk mean well, but it can be... very different here. I came here
because I wanted to let you know that if you needed anything or had
questions, or if anyone gives you a hard time, you can come find me. I
know what it's like."

"Thank you." The relief and gratitude showed in the woman's eyes, some
of the tension ebbing from her posture. "It's so...big. The Weyr. So
many people. It's just been me and the children, this last Turn." She
paused. "I don't know if you know - my other son, he's here too. He
Impressed."

"Congratulations," Alina said automatically, then paused. Her eyes
flickered to Evalya. "I mean... I, uh, I'm sorry that you both were
unable to attend the Hatching."

"I didn't know. I never could have imagined this would happen." She
thought of her frail, shy son, already standing taller and speaking with
a new confidence since his Impression. "His little Delorth is beautiful.
But he's so young, only twelve Turns."

"He won't be doing anything more dangerous than delivering firestone
during 'Falls," Alina said, trying to sound comforting. Firestone
delivery wasn't without risk. "And with any luck, by the time he's old
enough to join a fighting Wing the Pass will be over."

"Oh, I hope so." Alyena could scarcely even imagine a young woman like
Alina fighting Thread, let alone her son. "And I hope the others will
accept him, after what happened to his brother." She'd been anxious
about the boys at the Weaver Hall teasing him - surely it'd be even
worse here. "Furayl...R'ayl is a very gentle boy. He would never hurt
another person."

**Perhaps,** Alina thought, but she smiled and kept the thought to
herself. "I'm sure that he'll be fine. And if R'yal is having a hard
time, let the Weyrlingmasters know. Or have his dragon speak privately
to my Imarith, if that's easier. I can speak on his behalf." Although
she wondered what J'ackt would think if she did.

"Thank you." The tension in the woman's face relaxed visibly. "I would
speak up for him myself, but - there might be the same difficulty, with
what happened before with our family. It's a weight off my mind." She
wasn't sure how far the Weyrleader's gratitude would stretch to letting
them stay, either, though she hoped it would be long enough for Evalya's
ankle to heal, and for the men who'd come after her to lose interest.
She tried to put it out of her mind, for now. "You're from a cothold,
you said? In Emerald Falls?"

The greenrider nodded. "About a day's journey from the main Hold. We
grow mostly wheat. It was pretty small... when I was Searched five of us
were taken and I can tell you that some of the men were not happy to
lose three young men before the harvest."

"Five? Goodness, that's a lot, for a cothold." Alyena remembered the
dragonriders coming to Emerald Falls from time to time. She'd always
been quietly relieved that they had not taken Grevan, knowing what the
dragonriders had to face, and her other children had been too small.
"But it must have been a comfort to have friends from your home with
you. Did any of them Impress, or were you the only one?"

"One did-- X'dris Impressed a brown dragon. But to be honest, I
didn't... I don't get along well with him. Or his friends." Alina
twisted her braid over her shoulder. "J'ackt was actually part of my
class, and I got along better with him than most of the others that
Impressed at the same time. I... didn't have an easy time, coming here.
I was very angry back then."

"Angry?" Alyena repeated, surprised. "You didn't want to come? Or...I
suppose it must be a great change. From living in a cothold, to being a
dragonrider." She hesitated. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry."

Alina smiled. "No, it's all right. When I was Searched, my twin sister
wasn't. Within a candlemark my father had shipped me off to the Weyr and
my entire future..." she trailled off and looked down at her hands. "I
wanted to get married and have a family and grow old with my sister.
Thread scares me. It was a huge change for me. But I'm happy now."

"I'm glad. He's a good person...J'ackt, I mean." She surprised herself
with her own words. She'd never said it out loud before, and after all
the anger and fear she'd once felt towards him, it was a strange
feeling. Even her daughter looked up at her in confusion.

The greenrider's smile widened. "You're right. He is. Perhaps he wasn't
always, but people can change. I did."

"And now you fight Thread." Alyena thought how she'd never talked for so
long to a dragonrider before - a dragonrider who'd come from a hold, not
so different to her. "Your family must be very proud."

"Most of them." Alina hesitated. "There's... a lot of people who aren't
as fond of the Weyrs. But you know that, and more than most."

"Yes." She wondered what her own parents would say if they knew where
she was now. They had retired to live with her mother's family, and
since her husband's death they had written only once, a short note
expressing regret that they weren't able to help, because the hold was
too small to support any more children. Alyena had never written back.
"Do you see your sister sometimes, though? I always wanted one myself,
but I only had brothers."

The greenrider looked away. "She's fostering right now," she said,
sounding uncomfortable and a little sad. "It's... easier for her to find
a husband if I'm not around."

"I'm sorry." She did understand, though, that mistrust that so many
felt. Alyena thought of that, the conflict between Hold and Weyr, all
the pain and the waste. Alina and her sister. J'ackt. Grevan...

A tug at her sleeve distracted her and she looked down at her daughter,
who leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Oh. I think you could ask her
yourself, couldn't you?"

The girl looked back at Alina. "Can we see your dragon again? To say
thank you to her?"

"Of course!" That made the greenrider smile. "Imarith would be happy to
see you, but not until the Healers say that you can go for walks, all
right?"

"All right." For the first time since they'd arrived at the Weyr, Evalya
smiled, a little. "I like her name...Imarith. It's pretty."

"Thank you!" Alina leaned a little closer so she could whisper, almost
consipratorially, "Did you know that dragons choose their own names?
They tell their riders their name right after they Hatch. Isn't that
amazing?"

The girl looked back at her with round eyes. "They choose their names?
When they're only babies?"

"And talk to their riders." Alyena felt the knot of tension in her chest
ease a fraction, and she reached out to touch her daughter's dark hair.
"I never thought about it that way before, but they _are_ rather
amazing. When I had to - to come to the Weyr before, I thought I'd be
afraid to ride on the dragon, but it wasn't like that. There was
something about being near them that made me feel good. Safe."

"They do, don't they? When I first Impressed I was terrified, but
Imarith was so... good." Alina felt a pleased glow from her dragon,
who'd been snooping at Alyena and Evalya through Alina's eyes. The
greenrider tipped her head for a moment, listening. "Imarith says that
if you ever want to go sit with her, she'd like that."

"She would?" Alyena saw the distant look and realized the greenrider
must be speaking to her lifemate, even though they were deep inside the
Weyr cliffs. Like her daughter, she smiled, tentatively. She didn't know
how long they'd be allowed to stay, but even once would be wonderful.
"I'd like that as well. Please thank her for me?"

"Can I come too?" Evalya asked eagerly. "When my ankle is better?"

"Of course! She's often at the beach, although to be honest I can't
swim." The admission was much easier to make to other Hold women;
everyone at Dolphin Cove seemed to swim like dolphins themselves. "She's
very good at being shady in the heat of the day, so please feel free to
sit beneath her wings. And," she added, looking at Evalya, "She _loves_
getting skritches on her eye ridges. Just about here?" Alina reached out
and touched the arch of the girl's eyebrow.

Evalya giggled, putting up a hand to cover her mouth, and her mother
smiled. "We'll remember, if you're sure she wouldn't mind. I haven't
swum since I was her age." She tilted her head towards her daughter.
"But it would be lovely to sit by the water. I've only seen it from the
air."

"You should make the time to go. It can... ah,' Alina flushed. "I should
mention that the Weyrfolk don't... wear... much, at the beach. Perhaps
once Evalya's ankle is a bit better I can take you somewhere a little
more isolated." How foolish that she'd forgotten! It wasn't all that
long ago that she'd avoided the beach for that very reason. "Or the
Weyrlake. The Weyrlake tends not to be as... and its very pretty," she
finished in a rush.

Alyena was bewildered for a moment - surely they would dress lightly in
the heat, and to swim - before she remembered some of the stories she'd
heard, Turns ago, about the Weyr and understood. "Oh! Oh, I see. Perhaps
that would be best, for..." She glanced at Evalya.

Fortunately, the little girl didn't seem troubled by the thought of
missing the beach. "There'll be dragons at the Weyrlake, right?"

"Oh yes, there's always some and Imarith will be there for sure," Alina
said quickly. She glanced again at Alyena. "Also... if you are... uh,
need to bathe... if you'd rather use the Weyrhealer's unused weyr please
do, or if anyone gives you trouble you can use the one in J'ackt and I's
weyr... just tell them that I said so." She would gladly take the grief
if anyone asked. Evalya was too young for the Weyr, in her opinion.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Alyena replied, uncertain. She hadn't even
thought that the communal bathing room she'd been shown wouldn't be for
women only, but then - there were the stories. It might be all right for
the smallest children, but how could the Weyr women bathe together with
grown men?

The greenrider waved her hand. "It's not. Honestly, I wish someone had
made me the offer when I first got here. If you let me, or Imarith or
even Zith know if you are in our weyr to bathe, J'ackt won't walk in on
you." And if he did, he'd certainly get an earful.

"Thank you." It would only be for a few days, Alyena thought. Perhaps it
wouldn't be too much of an imposition. "It's very kind of you.
After...everything."

"What about Imarith? Does she have to bathe, too?" Evalya had found her
voice, and with it a seemingly boundless curiosity about the green
dragon. "She's too big for the pools!"

"That's why she bathes in the weyrlake," Alina said, grateful to turn to
the girl and ease the discomfort she felt at Alyena's gratitude. "Every
time we fly Thread she gets covered in crackdust so I have to wash it
off, and she likes baths at other times too. And then afterwards I must
oil her hide so that it doesn't get too dry. Kind of like putting lotion
on your hands after laundry day."

Evalya giggled at the mental image of a dragon doing the laundry. "That
must be a lot of oil! But what's crackdust?"

Alyena listened in relief as her daughter eagerly questioned the
greenrider. It had been so long since she'd been able to act like the
young girl she was. Not since Grevan had left, and even before that
they'd all worked themselves to exhaustion, trying and failing to make
the farm prosper. Now even that was gone, but she was glad that Evalya
had these few days to rest and be a child, until she had to decide what
to do.

Last updated on the July 15th 2022

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People Can Change