Always a Way Back
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: Jane
Date Posted: 16th April 2007
Characters: Rahona, R'harne
Description: Rahona and R'harne discuss her going to live on the riverboat Sungazer.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 3, day 18 of Turn 4
"You're not still thinking about it?" R'harne muttered as his sister sat down opposite him at the dining cavern table. He waved his hand in greeting and farewell to his nephew and niece as they dawdled past the table, clearly under instruction from their mother to carry on to the family's rooms.
"Well, I am," Rahona said when the children were safely out of earshot.
"Lineal says the riverboats aren't like Holds and, really, not all Holds can be like we imagine them, anyway. If they were we'd be overrun with women leaving them."
"You're not trying to convince me," the brownrider pointed out. "And if you need my help to convince yourself then you're not going to get it."
He picked up a bottle of ale and rocked it from side to side, pleased to see how much remained inside the darkened glass. "If you go –"
"I think I will," Rahona said, getting the words out before she lost her nerve. "_We_ will."
R'harne took a long sip of the ale, emptying the bottle and setting it down on the table between them. He had the feeling he was going to need another after their conversation. "If you didn't have the children -"
She nodded in response to his half-finished statement. "Of course I'd go with Lineal then. Almost anywhere."
The brownrider sighed. He trusted the good-looking seacrafter – he couldn't say he didn't – but couldn't anybody misjudge a situation?
Lineal had left his family riverboat twenty-five Turns before. What did a thirteen Turn old boy really know about how women were treated?
Yet Lineal knew the freedoms Rahona had at the Weyr. Knew she was born and bred to them. As were their children; little weyrbrats both of them.
Back to the fact that he trusted Lineal. The seacrafter would do the best by his family and R'harne took comfort in that certainty. All the same, it didn't hurt for anybody to have a back-up plan.
"If you go –"
"You said that before." Rahona was watching her brother's expression carefully, though he wasn't really one to betray his thoughts that way.
She did value his opinion, though, because he was an observer of people, a good judge of them too, and when he could be forced into giving opinions they were worth having.
"I keep getting interrupted," he pointed out, his light green eyes meeting hers. "If you go, Rahona, if you and the children go, I will visit. Every sevenday. And I'll find a firelizard egg for you, so you'll have a way to stay in touch. One word, one look from you when I'm there and I'll have you all on Guieth and back here where you can tell me what's happened without being afraid of who'll overhear."
Rahona tried to speak, but only managed a teary, "Oh." She put out her hand and he clasped it in both of his and she tried to smile though eyes full of unshed tears.
She wouldn't be going if she didn't think it was the right thing for her and the children – as well as for Lineal. And she wouldn't be going if she had any doubts about Lineal's commitment to raising their children with at least the freedoms they had at River Bluff Weyr. Despite that, the knowledge that they would never be trapped there if the situation changed was so much of a relief she didn't have the words to thank R'harne for his support.
She was going so far from her home and family, taking the children away from their weyrbred heritage. The knowledge that there would always be a way back for them, for her if she needed it, was invaluable.
R'harne patted his sister's hand and released it. He wanted to tell her to stay but that wasn't his place. She was a woman well old enough to make her own decisions, and she was doing just that. All he could do something practical by way of support. "Do you want an ale?" he asked, clearing his throat of the lump that had developed there. It was those tears, he thought in silent complaint. He had known he would need another ale after talking to her.
"No. No, thanks." Rahona got to her feet. "I have to go and tell the children."
She didn't say anything else and he found himself smiling as he watched her walk away, wiping at her eyes and pulling out a handkerchief.
Definitely another ale after that, he thought. Or maybe two.
Last updated on the April 17th 2007