Escaping from Death

Writers: Anaria
Date Posted: 22nd March 2011

Characters: Mardria, Lyranel
Description: Mardria volunteers for a sweepride.
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 1, day 12 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Zelanka

Mardria didn't normally do sweeprides, as she wasn't part of a
fighting wing. But on occasion, when another rider was sick or injured
and there was no better option, she got asked to cover some of the
territory. That had been the case today, as the greenrider who was
supposed to handle it was ill, and Mardria had volunteered to take it
over just to get out of the Weyr.

As she was flying over one of the cotholds, she noticed that the flag
was up, indicating that someone needed assistance. She directed
Soravath to land nearby, taking a close look at her surroundings as
she did so. As a younger rider, she'd been surprised by a pack of
hungry felines that had attempted to attack Soravath when she landed,
and that experience had made her far more cautious.

A woman who she gauged at 21 turns old ran out, tears streaming down
her face. "You...you have to do something! He's dead... I think he's
dead... I don't know!" The words came out quickly, and Mardria had to
concentrate hard to understand them.

"Show me where he is," Mardria said brusquely. If whoever "he" was was
that ill, chances are he needed to see a healer immediately.

Mardria wasn't prepared for what met her inside the cothold. Five
young men, all looking to be in their late teens to early twenties sat
in the main area, glaring at Mardria. The greenrider was momentarily
taken aback, but caught herself. "Take me to him," she said, to anyone
who would listen. Mardria was forced to wonder just what kind of a
situation she'd marched into.

The woman - who had stopped in the doorway when the men had noticed
them - remembered her duty, and pushed forward, trying to ignore the
stares of obvious disgust. It was then that Mardria realized that
these men weren't glaring at her, they were glaring at the young
woman.

Mardria was lead into a dimly lit room, and she had to duck to get
through the doorway. She blinked, forcing herself to adjust to the
lower light. The room was small, and bore little more than a cot and a
bedside table. A man lay in the cot, obviously not breathing. Mardria
gauged him to be in his mid-50s, but it was hard to tell as his body
bore the traits of someone who'd lived a hard life. She reached out a
tentative hand and found that his skin was already cool. She jumped
back in surprise and disgust.

"Sweety..." she started to say comfortingly, noticing that the tears
were filling up in the girl's eyes again. "What's your name?"

"Ly....Lyranel," she said. "Is.... is he..."

"He's dead, sweety. I'm sorry. But he's far beyond what a healer can
fix," Mardria said, trying to school her expression. She suddenly had
newfound respect for healers that had to deal with these sorts of
things every day. "Is he... your father?"

Lyranel looked almost angry at the comment. "My husband. And he can't be dead!"

"I'm sorry, I understand that you must have loved him..." Mardria started.

"Love him? Is there such a thing as love?" She spit out, the words
filled with venom. Now that her fears had been confirmed, her demeanor
had taken a dangerous turn. "After he fecked that strumpet of a first
wife of his to death, he realized none of the sons she'd born him were
worth a lick. You saw 'em all, chewing their cud out there like
herdbeasts, and not a wit smarter than a herdbeast either. He bought
my parents off to convince them to marry me off to him, hoping for a
better heir to this cothold."

Mardria's heart went out to the woman. She could tell that she was
born soft, and that the hardships of cothold life were new to her -
the callouses on her hands were recent, and her back far too straight
for a woman born into this station. "Can I help you with anything? Did
you want me to take his body /between/?" She asked, not knowing how to
help.

Lyranel shook her head, her expression full of misery. "No. The
boy's'll be scuffling any minute to fight for the cothold, since
Gorial didn't specify who was to take it over. I reckon none of them
want me here. Let them deal with his body."

"Do you really think they'll turn you out?" Mardria asked.

"I was brought here to ensure none of em got Gorial's cothold. Begging
your pardon, greenrider, but at what point did you think they might
harbor fond feelings regarding me?"

Mardria debated for a moment. Hold business wasn't Weyr business, that
she knew. "Listen, Lyranel. I can't necessarily help you. I can't make
them keep you around, and I can't make your Hold take you back in. But
I can take you somewhere, and if you want to go back to Garnet
Valley..."

"No! Not there!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear.

"Well I could likely convince the Headwoman of the Weyr..." Mardria
started, but Lyranel shook her head. "Is there anywhere you'd like to
go?"

"I... I would like to go back to a Hold, but I don't know what I'd do
there. I know how to cook a little, but I'm not good with kids. My
parents raised me to help run a cothold, that's the only skill I
have," Lyranel lamented.

"Listen, I can't help you much with that. But I know some people at
Amber Hills, I might have some pull with someone there. Their
Headwoman seems to be quite nice, and I am sure she'd let you try your
hand at a few things around the Hold to see what you're good at. She's
not going to throw you out on your ear," Mardria said.

Lyranel nodded, "Al....alright."

"Come on, let's get you out of here before the canines out there start
getting rough," Mardria said in reference to Gorial's sons. "Do you
need help gathering your things?"

"I don't have anything here that I'd want to bring with," Lyranel
said. "Let's leave, before they do something they won't regret."

Mardria nodded, leading Lyranel out of the cothold. The sons of Gorial
still glared, one of them tossing out an insult as she left, "Get out
of here, killer."

"Killer?!" Lyranel said, stopping despite her better instincts. "I did
nothing to that man but wait on him hand and foot!"

Mardria grabbed Lyranel by the elbow, physically removing her from the
cothold. She wondered for a minute if it was possible that Lyranel
killed the man, but dismissed the thought. It didn't seem prudent for
her to do so, not with the way his sons were. And beyond that, she
wouldn't have necessarily blamed the girl if she had.

Assisting her onto Soravath, Mardria gave the green dragon directions
to Amber Hill. She only hoped that Lyranel could find some sort of
happiness there.

Last updated on the April 3rd 2011

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Escaping from Death