Where to from here?

Writers: Kaysea
Date Posted: 27th April 2007

Characters: Xara
Description: Xara considers her options if she doesn't Impress at the next Hatching
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 28 of Turn 4

Bending to her task Xara was unobserved by most, just another drudge was the impression she gave everyone who saw her. This was the third turn she had been at the Weyr; and in those three turns she had stood six times on the hot Sands of the Hatching cavern.

This turn would be her last; the change in her over that time meant that if she didn't Impress, then her father would have no compunction in coming to retrieve what he saw as his possession. She was a far different girl than the one her family had ridiculed, the one who had been passed over time and again in the marriage stakes. And vastly different from the girl a man had once offered to take off her fathers hands, along with the herdbeast her father had been selling.

She pushed back the hair that hung down limply around her eyes. Tendrils of the burnished red that had escaped from the plait she wore, bunched up under her cap. It had always been the most attractive thing about her, her hair. Wave upon wave of red, flowing down her back, like the lava she had heard flowed from the volcano's along the Eastern Ring Islands, at least that had been how one rider had described it, when he had come to their families Hold on search.

** ** **

Her father had laughed, loudly, when the dragon rider had asked for any children of Impression age that might be willing to Stand. Laughed so loudly that the other cotholders had come to ask what the joke was. It hadn't taken long for her father to drag her from the small cot, and almost throw her, terrified, at the feet of the dragonrider.

"I never thought I'd be able to find _anyone_ willing to take her." he'd called out harshly.

Some agreements, and some jeers, had echoed from the crowd, but none had been willing to nay-say her father, not even the rider - atleast, not openly. But he also hadn't left her there. Th'nant had been kind to her, kinder than most in her life, and for that she would be eternally grateful.

He had brought her here to the Weyr, and though she hadn't Impressed, the folk of the Weyr had been kind enough to allow her to stay and try again at the next Hatching, and again, and again. Until six times she had stood, and six times she had been overlooked. After the second time, some had been heard to say the dragonets had been scared of having to carry her bulk, and that was why she had remained on the Sands.

The third time she had Stood, there had been less of her there. Not much less -
it was true, but she had been a little smaller in the girth. Not enough that the jibes had stopped, but enough that some hadn't recognised her at first.

By the fifth time she had walked out onto the hot Sands of the Hatching Cavern, no one who had known her previously would have recognised her. Not only had she lost the bulk of her weight, but she had also lost her palor, and her skin no longer looked clogged and dirty.

She was a changling, and long since had dismissed the cruel jibe about not being chosen for her looks and weight. She had gained self confidence and now understood her self worth.

Her father would have a more difficult time removing her from the Weyr, than he expected; that was if he even bothered to turn up to the next Hatching. He hadn't shown the last two times she had stood, so the chances of his appearing now, were slim.

And if he did show, would he recognise her? She doubted it. She looked nothing like the drudge that had been brought to the Weyr. The fat, homely, some would even have said, just plain, ugly girl. The sallow skin, filled with spots and looking grimey, was now smooth, clean and clear of spots. All that remained now were a few small pock marks, which looked more like small dimples, on her cheeks.

Her skin, though still pale, was a healthy pale now, not the grey, pallid look she had worn before, from being kept inside the cramped and dirty cot her father kept. She knew now that the treatment she had received, while not uncommon, was not tolerated within the Weyr walls. Many had had to change their perceptions since being Searched, some had, some had yet to; but she had no doubts that eventually these men and boys, would see that a female was not just another breeding beast to be kept pregnant.

Her father had agreed to let her go, that time the offer was made on her; but she had been returned later that night by the stranger. He hadn't been able to stop her crying, had smacked her hard a few times, before dragging her back to her fathers cot.

That was the last time anyone had made an offer on her; so when the dragonrider had appeared her father hadn't been as reluctant, as some in the cothold, to release his daughter to Search. She often wondered if that had been yet another attempt to totally humiliate her? If it had been, the joke was on him now; she had prospered at the Weyr, not monetarily, but the benefits had been greater than anything marks could buy.

** ** **

Finally she sat back on her haunches, and surveyed the floor. While it didn't sparkle, she could guarantee people could eat of it, if they were clumsy enough to drop their platter on the way to a table. She pushed herself to her feet, collected the pail of water and dropped her scrubbing brush into it.

"Finished for the day?" a soft voice sounded in her ear, and wamrth breath caressed the sensitive shell. She turned, a smile on her face, Th'nant stood behind her, smiling down as usual.

"Yes, it's all done, can't you tell?" she gave a mock frown.

"Hmm... I think you missed a smidge." he said, and pointed to a spot on her nose.

For a moment she looked confused, then swatted him across the chest. "You wherry!"

"Yeah, but you love me anyway." he laughed, then he became semi serious, "Look, if you're not busy, I was wondering if you wanted to come for a swim with Ocketh and I? He needs a swim and I just want to relax."

"I need a bath, but yes, why not? A swim sounds good and I can always come back and soak in the bathing chamber when we get back."

"A quarter candlemark just outside the staff quarters?"

She nodded, "Yep! I'll be there." then watched as he turned and left.

Yes, her father's plan had backfired well and truly. Not only had he given her a new lease on life, he had also handed her over to the kindest man she had ever met. Th'nant was the closest friend she had ever had, and she could honestly say she loved him more than she had ever loved anyone before.

She must remember that if her father ever appeared at the Weyr again, she should thank him for his one _kind_ act towards the daughter he had always despised, releasing her into Th'nant's care.

Last updated on the April 30th 2007

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