Going Home 2/3

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 11th March 2025

Characters: Ketlyn, Kemmin, Ketarmain, Nevalyn, Verraki, Vekal, Minteran, Kevan, Trisalyn, Milyn, Aralyn
Description: Ketlyn goes home to introduce her family to Varinth
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 4, day 14 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: N'kayden

It wasn't long before the cothold was full of bodies and voices. Ketlyn grinned so hard that her cheeks hurt. The afternoon slipped by and then it was time for dinner, a simple meal of whatever her sister had thrown into the pot that morning that tasted better than all the fancy things that came out of the Weyr's kitchens. Her father even broke out some of the salt cured ham to go with their vegetable soup, and Tris and Ketlyn blew on their burning fingertips while they made a batch of flatbread together by the fire.

Except that everyone was bigger and... different. Her brothers and sisters were happy to see her but Ketlyn also had moments where she felt like a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit. The three younger boys, born between Tris and Verraki, were all... children, instead of tots. Kevan and Minteran whispered constantly and pulled faces, while the youngest, Vekal, followed them around like a grinning shadow. Milyn, who was born before Tris but after Ketlyn, had the gangly, awkward limbs of a teenager, and Kemmin, who was the eldest of them all, looked like a man.

They sat together around the table after their meal as Tris put the kettle on for mint tea, and her father moved from his seat at the table to one of the two comfortable chairs by the fire. "All right, Ketlyn. Tell us about how you Impressed your Varinth out there," he said.

Her brothers and sisters quieted and turned their eyes to her, and Ketlyn suddenly wished that she had a better story to share with them. "Oh, well. The day started off like usual until the dragons started humming."

"Does Varinth hum?" Verraki asked.

Ketlyn smiled at the little girl. Verraki had just started walking when she'd accepted the Search token and left home. "I've never heard her hum, but dragons only do it when the dragon eggs are about to hatch. Anyway, all the candidates are brought to the Hatching Caverns. We all wear matching white robes and slippers to keep our feet from burning on the hot sands."

"I had a white dress once," Nevalyn said wistfully. "It was edged with blue ribbons, and I wore a white ribbon in my hair..."

Her father chuckled and put an affectionate hand on his wife's arm. "I remember that dress. You were stunning in it when you danced."

"Maybe you ought to buy me some white fabric and I'll make myself another," her mother said, batting her eyelashes.

Ketlyn's little brother Kevan made a gagging gesture behind his father's back, and Tris slapped his arm. He grinned and bumped fists with Minteran, the boys clearly pleased with themselves.

"What happened next?" Kemmin asked. Kemmin was looking more and more like their father, but he still lacked the breadth in his shoulders and width of his arms. His voice had changed. He didn't sound like her brother, but he was.

"The eggs started hatching. The first one was a bronze dragon, which is considered a good sign. N'kayden, one of the goldriders' sons, Impressed him. I started feeling... not sick, but like I had a headache or something... and then Varinth spoke in my mind." Ketlyn smiled at the memory. "Having a dragon talk in your mind is like someone whispering in your ear. You hear them perfectly but no one else can. And then... then there's this _feeling_."

"What kind of feeling?" her brother Milyn asked. His eyes were shining as he leaned forward, hanging on every word.

But before she could start talking, her mother jumped in with a laugh and a wave of her hand. "Oh, it all sounds very grand and exciting. But it can't compare to giving birth. There's so much pain, and then you're holding a whole new person in your arms! Have I told you about Aralyn's birth? You ought to have been here, I'm still quite mad at you for abandoning your family when we needed you most."

Kemmin rolled his eyes and Milyn looked annoyed, but it was her little brother Kevan who spoke up. "We've heard that lots, we want to hear about Varinth!"

"Kevan, mind your mother," her father said sharply.

"Well, I knew she was coming the day before contractions started. I just _knew_. It's a mother's intuition," Nevalyn began. She sat up a little straighter, happy now that the attention in the room was back where she felt it belonged.

Ketlyn winked at Milyn and Kemmin and mouthed, 'later.' This too was part of coming home. Her mother's whims, her father's doting, and her siblings banding together in a parent-free alliance. She caught Tris smiling at them from across the room, Verraki clinging to her skirts as she rose to pour the tea.

And Ketlyn no longer felt like she didn't fit.

Last updated on the March 26th 2025

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Going Home 2/3