The New Lord... Sort Of

Writers: Aaron, Heather
Date Posted: 15th April 2024

Characters: Zathris, Corofel
Description: Zathris tells Corofel what the Lord Holders' Conclave decided.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 10, day 12 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Reven, Karhal, Corowal, Benani

Zathris

Corofel

As soon as the last Lord Holder was gone from Amber Hills, Zathris downed a glass of wine and headed straight for Corofel's rooms. Corowal's heir had been fostering with them at Amber Hills for five Turns. Zathris had watched him grow from a boy of thirteen to a young man of eighteen. In many ways, Zathris felt fatherly toward Corofel, and it pained him to think that it was time for his fosterling to return to Emerald Falls.

Still, this exact moment was what they had been training and working on for the last five Turns.

"Cori?" he called, knocking on Corofel's door. The nickname had been given early on, and for Zathris it had just stuck, even after all this time.

It should not have felt so strange being back at Amber Hills so soon. But his old room was empty now, just a plain guest quarters, and the reason for his return weight heavily on his mind.

"You can come in, sir." He stood from where he had been staring at the ceiling. The patterns in the stone had reminded him of stars. He used to stare at them while he was falling asleep. At least those were still there.

Zathris pushed the door open. He too was struck by the emptiness of the room.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Fine. I guess." More like 'not great', but he could hardly say that. It had only been a little while. But no one had been able to locate his father in any of the places he might ordinarily goâ€" and, of course, neither had any of the other Lords Holder. And Emerald Falls had no permanent Steward or Headwoman. Things would not continue to run smoothly forever without help.

Which was why, of course, he had asked for help from the next closest person he had to a father besides his father.

"I... What's going to happen?"

Zathris took a deep breath before launching into the contents of the Lord Holder's Conclave.

"The general consensus was that you need to return to Emerald Falls as Acting Lord Holder. With your father's absence, and the absence of a Lady, Steward, or Headwoman, Emerald Falls is being held up by a thread. We don't want you to have to take all of that on alone, however, so Reven of Green Valley is going to be installed there as well as your Provisional Warder. Think of him as your co-leader. He's well versed in Emerald Falls policies, he was a friend of your father's, and he'll help support you while you fill positions there."

A co-leader. It was an odd sort of feeling. Relief at not having to do this alone. Annoyance or maybe indignance at being thought incapable of doing it himself.

**But I'm _not_ capable of doing it all by myself. That was the whole reason I asked Zathris for help,** he thought. It did not make the slight bothersome feeling go away. But the relief and gratitude was much stronger. With that settled, there was really only one most important question left.

"Will you keep looking for him?"

"Absolutely. We will look for your father until there's evidence one way or the other." Zathris could only imagine something nefarious would take Corowal away from his Hold. "I'm also going to send Karhal with you. Emerald Falls has been experiencing much unrest with anti-Weyr sentiments, and now with your father's disappearance? I want Karhal to audit the guards and Guard Captain there to make sure security is what it needs to be for you."

"Hm." That was important. If someone had abducted his father, he could be next. But at some point, his people were going to resent authorities from other holds coming in to tell them what to do. After all, Corofel could not stop himself from feeling that way, at least a little bit, and he had asked for it.

"Is there a way to do that without making it look like I don't trust them? Or that Karhal is taking over?"

"You could say he's your security consultant. It's Emerald Falls' own fault that they've allowed themselves to become so understaffed. I don't trust that they have the proper measures in place to ensure that you're not the next person to disappear. Karhal doesn't have to stay long, just a couple of days to figure out which guard there seems most qualified to be your Guard Captain. You'll be the Acting Lord, so the final decision will be up to you, but Karhal's advice would be invaluable."

Corofel frowned. If it was Emerald Falls's fault, then it was his fault. He had heard that a thousand timesâ€" when you're the Lord Holder, everything that happens in your Hold is ultimately your responsibility.

"Alright, fine. But I want him to say that I personally asked him to come because I know him from while I was here."

Zathris's mouth twitched with the hint of a smile. "I don't think that will be a problem, because you _will_ be the person to ask Karhal.... Lord Corofel."

The title filled him with equal parts pride and dread. He never expected to have to do this so soon. And the more real it became, the more it felt like his father was not coming back.

He nodded.

"Right. Of course. I... Thanks."

"Hey," Zathris reached out and squeezed Corofel's shoulder. "I know this is not how we ever envisioned you being Lord Holder, but we've worked for this and you are ready. Reven will just be there as guidance, as I would be if I weren't obligated to be here."

Corofel laid his hand on top of Zathris's and closed his eyes for a moment.

"I know," he said. "I know you would be. I'll always cherish the Turns I spent here. And you and Lady Benani."

"So will we. Just think, Benaris and Zathan will be fostering with you in Emerald Falls before you know it." It was hard to think of his twin sons getting old enough to foster, but Zathris knew the next eight Turns would go by in a flash. "They already think you're their awesome uncle," he smiled a little.

Corofel squeezed his eyes shut and pretended that he did not squeeze tears out of both of them.

"Thank you. They will be welcome at Emerald Falls." With his own young children, he supposed. "And you will always be family to me. No matter what." And at that moment, Corofel truly understood the purpose of fostering.

"Come on, let's go tell Benani what the conclave decided," Zathris said.

Last updated on the April 18th 2024

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

The New Lord... Sort Of