Broke flute

Writers: Emma, Paula
Date Posted: 24th April 2007

Characters: Demalia, Aileyan
Description: Demalia drops by to invite Aileyan for dinner and helps to retrieve an unexpeted item.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 7 of Turn 4

"Aileyan, can I come in?" asked Demalia.

"Of course you can!" Aileyan called and invited her friend in.

"How've you been?" The young greenrider smiled at her friend, "I've been busy, so I've not had chance to catch up with you before now."

"I've been well," Aileyan replied bit absently. She was on her knees on the floor and peered under small cabinet. "Shells, too dark," she muttered.

"You lost something?" queried Demalia, getting down herself. "Can I help you look?"

"A hairpin. I dropped it and it rolled somewhere here," Aileyan replied.
She pushed her hand under the furniture and just gropped around. Her fingers touched something and she pulled it out. It was not a hairpin but a flute. A very expensive looking flute, with her name encraved to it.
"Oh," she said weakly and turned pale.

"From your Pa?" asked Demalia gently.

"Yes," Aileyan replied curtly and turned the instrument in her hands. She could remember how it had ended up there. He had come to tell her that he was transferring away with his family, a hold assigment. He felt the weyr had too many temptations to a man like him, and his marriage was in
trouble. Maybe he could get it work in a hold. The truth was that the harper was a incurable skirtchaser and there were temptations even in hold. Isn't that how he ended up married in a first place? Getting her pregnant. A dragon didn't change the color of his hide. And she had been foolish to
believe that she could have a real family with him. So, when he had left, she had taken ou her disappointment on to the instrument he had given. She had thrown it, jumped on it and finally hurled it away. It had landed under there.

"I'm... I... How's this, does it help with the light?" asked Demalia as she moved a glow basket closer to where her friend was. Changing the subject back to the hairpin seemed safer than discussing Aileyan's father.

Aileyan tossed the flute to the table and peered to look under the furniture. "Yes, it helps, here it is!" Aileyan said triuphantly and pulled the pin out, with some dustbunnies.

"Good." Demalia put the glow back down where it had come from. "Did you want to join me for dinner later? That's why I came over."

"Certainly. We haven't talked properly for a while," Aileyan replied with a smile. She wiped off the dust and attached the pin back to her klah-brown hair.

"It looks good like that."

"Thank's. I have to keep it braided when I'm on duty, so I like to have it free when I'm not. How are you settling into Azure wing?" Aileyan said and asked.

"Slowly, it's a lot different to working with the weyrlings. They used to do what I said. Now I do what someone else says." She grinned. "But lots of other riders have done it through the turns, so I suppose I can manage."

"I'm sure you will. Cyan had has it's troubles with wingleaders, but now U'kaiah is back," Aileyan replied.

"He's a good guy to work with, I saw that with the Weyrlings."

"Yes, he is," Aileyan said.

"One day he could be a Weyrleader."

"Well, that's up to the goldrider's, isn't it," Aileyan shrugged.

"And you never know who they will choose."

"Suprises happen," Aileyan agreed.

"Indeed they do," Demalia laughed. "Shall we go get that dinner now?"

"Yes, I'm hungry," Aileyan replied.

~*~ a while later ~*~

Aileyan returned to her weyr after the dinner. She had said byes to Demalia on hallway. Her eyes fell on the flute. It brought bitter memories. Absently she picked it up and blew to it. What came was discordant sound and inside something rattled. She walked the flute in her hand to the weyrledge and leaned against Kjarliheth. "It's broken," she whispered, tears in her eyes.

}: Well, something is broken, :{ the green said and she was not talking about the instrument.

"Maybe I should just concentrate to this day, and what I have: you, Ravyan, good friends like Demalia and not dwell on past."

}: That is exactly what I do. :{

"Yes, let's get rid of the past," Aileyan said and walked to the weyrledge. She tossed the flute into the air and watched it to make an arch and then fall down, down, untill she could no longer see it.

Last updated on the April 26th 2007

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Broke flute