There is a life about to start (1/3)
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Corrin, Estelle
Date Posted: 9th October 2025
Characters: Sybana, L'keri
Description: Galgaith reluctantly allows the candidates to touch her eggs
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 7 of Turn 12
It was raining outside. It slanted down in silver sheets, bathing the stones, slicking every cliff and crevice of Dragonsfall until the whole Weyr seemed carved from wet obsidian. It drove everyone deep into the tunnels and caves, everyone except for the candidates who streamed out into the torrential downpour, rushing across the ‘bowl to the hatching cavern. They had to. It was now or never, this opportunity would not wait.
Sybana and Galgaith had finally consented to an egg touching.
---
The gold pair waited at the mouth of the cavern. Great Galgaith near filled the archway, looming over the candidates as they began to file in one by one, soaked and bedraggled. Her eyes whirled in restless shades of warning as she scrutinized each one and watched them bow, watched them proceed to touch her precious eggs.
She did not like this. In the days since her clutching, Galgaith had gradually become aware of her lifemate’s unease about the eggs. Sybana had tried to keep the thoughts from her, hot and sharp and tangled, but it was inevitable-- Others were judging. Judging the number, the worth of her children. She didn’t understand it, but she didn’t have to. Sybana felt it keenly and that was enough to make Galgaith bristle.
Sybana stood between her dragon’s foreclaws, beautifully pristine and dry, a picture of calm composure-- as she seethed inside. Fifteen eggs was still a mortification. A reminder of her failings, a wound that had not -- would not -- heal. It hurt to reveal them, and it hurt to know _who_ she revealed them too. The holdless. There were over half a dozen in candidacy now. (She had requested and reviewed the weyrlingmasters’ records). The thought of one of them walking off with one of Galgaith’s children was unbearable. But the holdless had done all that Saibra and I’serin decreed they must. She could not bar them from Standing, try as she might. Now she could only watch as they played at manners and tried to steal a future from better men.
Galgaith felt the fire in Sybana’s thoughts and rumbled low and dark. }:Why do we allow this, if you do not like it? Let me chase them off. One snap and they will scatter like herdbeasts.:{
**No, let them.** Sybana lay a gentle hand on the golden foreleg and wrestled back her feelings. **Your children need to meet them, it’s past time.** Besides, the only thing worse than a miniscule clutch would be an unImpressed one. Let them do this one thing right.
The nearest candidates did step back, though, clearing the way for the brown dragon who glided down from the upper entrance to join his mate, catching some of them with a light spray of water droplets as he shook the rain from his wings. He’d come from drilling with his Wing and a faint scent of firestone and ash still clung to his hide, a reminder of what those who Impressed would face in a few short months. He appeared calmer than Galgaith, his faceted eyes glowing mostly green with only a faint swirl of yellow, but this might have been small comfort to the candidates since he was all but hidden in her shadow, his soft brown hide absorbing the light rather than glittering with it.
}:My rider says that after they have gone, we will hunt and bring you a tasty meal,:{ he promised, his voice soothing as he sensed her agitation. He would have liked to bring one now, but L’keri had told him that the newer candidates might not like it and besides, they would need all their attention for the eggs. }:We will both watch closely.:{
The young queen’s rumble eased as Rhalith joined her and she shifted slightly to make room, though her heated gaze never left the candidates. }:Yes. Now we watch.:{
L’keri jogged in, not far behind his dragon, his dark hair damp and flattened by the riding helmet he held under one arm. He’d been relieved when Rhalith had told him - it wasn’t a given that a queen would allow candidates in to see her clutch, and although nobody knew whether or not it affected your chance of Impression, he had heard that a successful egg touching could make all the difference at Hatching time. For the holdbred candidates, at least, it would give them some experience of what it was like to be on the Sands. He tried not to think about how in their day, he and his friends had joked about playing hide-and-seek or teasing the queen. At least they’d never actually dared do it; there was something about the solemnity of the occasion that had dampened even his bold spirits. Hopefully the same would be true today. Particularly with so many Holdless…
“I’m not too late?” He joined Sybana with an easy smile, shrugging out of his heavy jacket. “Rhalith and I thought you could use an extra pair of eyes. Well, two pairs.”
“We only just started,” Sybana said. Despite the tension of the moment, of her dragon and of her own misgivings, something about L’keri’s apparent ease relaxed a bit of the knot in her chest. She returned his smile with a soft one of her own, warmer than any she’d favored the candidates with. “I’m glad you could make it.”
It wasn’t really the time for pleasantries though. The line of dragonrider hopefuls would not wait.
Last updated on the October 18th 2025