I Know Who You Are

Writers: Devin, Miriah
Date Posted: 13th December 2013

Characters: N'vanik, J'ackt
Description: N'vanik confronts Jenackt
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 13 of Turn 7

N'vanik

J'ackt

A green dragon landed in front of Jenackt. "Candidate Amikto," the
rider called. "The Weyrleader wants to speak with you."

**How in the bloody...** Jenackt stopped as the green rider landed,
his face set in a scowl. He'd only been able to get outside of the weyr and
with no immediate pursuit, had believed that no one had even noticed his
absence.

Now, he stared at the green dragon and its rider before flicking a
glance at the trees in the distance. The dragon would be faster if he
tried to make a run for the sheltering branches. The pack he carried
was light, but the meager supplies he had purloined were too much to just
abandon in
a futile race to escape; he needed them. Frustrated, he glared at the
rider. "Good for him. I'm not going."

"My orders are to take you to him. This is not a request." **Please
tell Loseth the young man is refusing.**

Shaffit, he had followed up on his end of the bargain! **Between take
Lord Holders and Weyrleaders both!** His fists clenched as panic began
to set in. Was N'vanik going to send him back to Emerald Falls now?
His mind worked quickly. If he ran now, the dragons would have little
trouble finding him; it was pointless. He should have known better
than to trust them. He should have known! What had his father told
him, time and time again? Weyr and Hold were never to be trusted.
**Stupid, sharding fool!**

He stared at the greenrider and then with a scowl, lifted his chin. "Make
me."

The rider's eyes went distant as he listened to his dragon. "The
Weyrleader says he'll come get you if he has to, but I think he'll be
in a better mood if you don't make him leave in the middle of a
Hatching feast."

Jenackt took a longing look at the distant trees and then looked back
at the rider. He was well and truly stuck. Gritting his teeth, his
shoulders slumped. All he needed was to have the Weyrleader's big
bronze chasing after him and knowing N'vanik, the man would do it.
"Fine. Take me to bloody man."

The rider got Jenackt strapped in, wondering what the Weyrleader
wanted with the young man. It wasn't his place to ask, but he couldn't
help being curious. It wasn't far to the Weyr so they flew straight
and in minutes they were landing in the bowl. The greenrider escorted
Jenackt to the Weyrleader's office and ushered him inside.

N'vanik's expression was carefully neutral. "Thanks, F'rinn, you can
go now." The greenrider closed the door behind him. "Sit," he told
Jenackt.

Sitting, his jaw tight, Jenackt placed his pack by his feet and met
N'vanik's gaze squarely. "Why can't I leave? I Stood, I didn't
Impress, but I did what you wanted."

"We have a few things to talk about, starting with your name...
Jenackt." N'vanik watched him carefully.

Jenackt went still but looked away. "The Lord Holder recognized me."
His voice was soft. "So that's why I can't leave. You're sending me
back."

"You can't leave because he's looking for you. Do you want to go back
to jail?" N'vanik wanted to tell him he could stay, but he needed to
know something first. "Tell me, what happened with the guard? Corowal
said you injured one."

Paling, Jenackt shifted in his seat. His jaw worked from side to side
before he looked up at N'vanik. His hands clenched around the arms of
the chair. "Yes." His eyes narrowed. "They were punishing me for being
what they made me. I had to get out. Yes, I escaped. I kicked that man
in the head, knocked him out and
then I held a crossbow on him. But I didn't fire it. I just did what I
had to do to get out. I didn't like having to hurt that old man, but
it was the only way." His lips thinned. "To survive, you have to do
things you don't like sometimes."

"I know." N'vanik agreed. "Lord Corowal can't touch you
here, but if you leave the Weyr he'll be looking for you."

Staring at him, Jenackt slumped a little in his chair. It hit him that
he had exchanged one small cell at the Hold for a larger one. The
larger one didn't have bars, true, and it was bigger, but already he
felt the walls closing in on him. "So, you're telling me I don't have
a choice."

"There's always a choice, but I think it's best if you stay here. I'd
like you to stay a Candidate, but I won't force you. We can find other
things for you to do, Crafting if you'd like." N'vanik leaned on his
desk. "As long as you can promise me you won't hurt my people, that
you're not a danger to them, I'll be on your side Jenackt."

Frustration bloomed on his face. "You know, I haven't hurt anyone this
whole time I've been here. I've done everything that's been asked of
me. You wanted me to work doing something and I did. And then that
dragon gets into my head and up and decides that I'd make a great
rider." Jenackt's expression became pinched. "The shaffing classes,
dealing with your Weyrlingmaster who can't stand the sight of me and
your Headwoman who thinks that the moment she turns her back on me,
I'm going to do something horrible. I even stood on those bloody
hatching sands...like you asked." His fists clenched tightly. "And
I've not hurt anyone or tried to. "

"I'm not accusing you of anything, but I still want you to promise. If
you give me your word, I'll believe it." Again, he wondered if he was
seeing too much of himself in the boy and might end up regretting
this. "You came here full of lies but I'm still willing to trust you."

**Then you're a fool.** Jenackt stared at N'vanik. **Trust nobody.**
He exhaled slowly. "Fine, as long as no one tries to hurt me, I won't
hurt them. That's the only thing I will promise."

"All right. That's good enough for me." N'vanik didn't want to push
him more on that. He had something else to address. "Now, I know that
people will look at you differently, treat you differently if they
know you're an escaped criminal. So I'm going to leave it up to you
what you want to tell everyone else. One thing, though. I want you to
use your real name."

Which of course would lead to questions about why he had been using a
different name. Jenackt's eye twitched. N'vanik was slick, he had to
give the Weyrleader that. And once questions began, the attitudes he
already faced from Weyrlingstaff and the Headwoman would only worsen.
A nice little trap he had stepped into. A big cell, or a little
cramped one? The lesser of the two evils was obvious. His answer was
short. "Yes, Weyrleader."

"Good. And if anyone gives you too much of a hard time, you come see
me." He wanted Jenackt to understand he shouldn't be treated unfairly.

**When between gets warm.** But Jenackt nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"That's all." N'vanik hoped he would eventually see this as an
opportunity instead of some kind of punishment.

Rising, Jenackt picked up his pack. "So I'm to go back to the barracks?"

"For tonight. I'm not going to force you to stay a Candidate, but I
hope you'll consider Standing again. There weren't even any bronzes
this time," the Weyrleader said with a little smile.

He shouldered the pack. "I don't care about bronzes." Maybe he _had_
been a little foolishly hopeful on the sands but none of the
hatchlings had even looked at him. He'd figure it out tomorrow. He
felt drained and irritable and no longer wanted to talk about
Standing, or Impressing or anything foolish. He turned on his heel
and walked out of the office, his footsteps jarring.

**I hope things get easier for him soon,** N'vanik thought.

Last updated on the January 19th 2014

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I Know Who You Are