"Missing Pieces"

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 21st May 2014

Characters: Meledei, Esiah
Description: Esiah goes toask Meledei for a portrait appointment, but ends up helping out in an unexpected way.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 1 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: T'nom, Cyradis

Esiah

His plan was really coming together, Esiah decided, the smallest hints
of a smile twitching across his face. Not that you could see it with
the neatly trimmed beard that he sported. First he had done Cyradis's
portrait, and then that had led to Saibra's, and now here he was with
the Weyr's last goldrider, Meledei. He had, of course, seen her from a
distance before, as she sat the Head Table in the Dining Cavern, but
today he would get to meet her a little more personally.

So far the goldriders he had met at Dolphin Cove had all been vastly
different from one another. Cyradis had been the traditional Weyrwoman
that he had expected: beautiful, poised, elegant, and always firmly in
charge. Saibra had given off an air of authority, but he had kept
glimpsing that hint of wildness behind her blue eyes... Right up until
he had joined her in her bed.

**That had been unexpected.** He decided.

He wondered what kind of woman Meledei would be as he knocked on her door.

"Yeah! Come in!" Meledei wasn't the sort to keep an untidy weyr.
While not obsessive about cleanliness, she did like to keep things in
their proper places for the most part. Occasionally her place got
mussy, but it wasn't usually much more than that.

Usually.

The scene that greeted Esiah as he entered the weyr of the youngest
dragon was a scattered issue of chaos. Two quilts that normally
occupied the backs of a couch and a chair respectively had been tugged
off, rumpled, then tossed back on without thought as to their state.
A fur rug scrunched almost fearfully against one side of the room,
leaving the floor in front of the fire place bare. Two tiny boxes
which normally held Meledei's even smaller collection of jewelry had
been emptied, the contents scattered across the table. Movement
indicated the inhabitant of the weyr exited the room just as the
harper entered it.

Esiah pushed open the door and his eyes grew wide. He didn't step
immediately over the threshold, but let the door swing fully open as
he looked around at the disheveled contents of the goldrider's weyr.
He had an appointment with Meledei and.... Well, usually women,
especially women, tidied up before having company over.

"Miss Meledei?" he called out, taking a cautious step in.

"Yeah, here, sorry!" A head popped around the door and she waved,
then disappeared again. "I'm sorry, I can't find it!" That wasn't
very detailed and a moment later she appeared again, a crease in her
brow and her eyes searching here, there, everywhere. "I'm sorry. I'm
missing something I've been trying to find it for over an hour."

"Er..." Esiah looked around, "What is it? Maybe I can help?"

"It's a pendant. The necklace broke and it must have fallen
somewhere. It's gotta be around here _some_where." Meledei heaved a
sigh and picked up a pillow to check beneath before plopping it back
upon her couch. "It's tear drop shaped, but with a flower etched
inside."

Esiah began putting his detail-honed eyes to use as he looked around,
"I take it that this pendant is very important?"

"It was my mother's." Was. The pendant had been one of the few
physical possessions that somehow survived the earthquake. She'd worn
it at the last gather she'd attended the previous rest day, and
Meledei knew she'd had it when they had returned. She'd put it away,
so how had it disappeared? Had a drudge come and misplaced it when
cleaning her weyr? She'd moved the jewelry box, so perhaps she
herself was to blame. Regardless, Meledei wanted it found.

The harper began gently lifting things with his forefinger and thumb,
trying to be sensitive to the woman's things while still helping her
look for the lost pendent. The past tense reference of her mother did
not escape Esiah's notice and so he knew what the necklace must mean
to Meledei.

A glint from atop the fireplace caught Esiah's attention, and he
cocked an eyebrow as he picked up a necklace there, "Is this it?"

Meledei had returned to a position on the floor hands flat as she bent
down to peer underneath her couch. Her head popped over the edge of
the small table and as soon as she saw the item, the goldrider
scrambled to her feet! "Yes! Yes! Thank you thank you thank you!"
Although she was excited that her precious pendant had been found, she
managed to refrain from simply snatching it from the harper's grasp.
She waited til he handed it over, then carefully returned it and her
other jewelry to her box. "So...I guess I should clean up. You want
to talk about what you wished to see me about while I do so?"

"I was hoping you would agree to sit for me so I could make a
portrait? I'm a harper," he added, "and I am making portraits of the
leaders of the Weyr to keep in the archives. I have already painted
Cyradis and Saibra, and yes, I am name dropping in the hopes that you
will allow me the chance to paint you..." A small flush met his
cheeks, "I mean, your portrait."

"I guess so. But why do you want to paint my portrait?" As she
spoke, Meledei plucked various items from where they'd been strew
around the room in her madness to find her pendant. "I'm not
particularly important or anything."

Esiah quirked an eyebrow, "Of course you are important, Miss Meledei,
you are a queen's rider." He pointed his out as if it were obvious.
Being a non-rider himself Esiah really cared little for titles such as
Wingleader-this, or Weyrsecond-that, but judged mostly off of the
color of a dragon. He knew that the metallics were largely in
leadership roles, or would be, except for the few Wingthird positions
that heralded other dragonic colors.

Meledei's lips quirked up a bit. "Well, not as important as the
Weyrwoman or Weyrsecond, but if you really want to draw me, I suppose
I shouldn't refuse. So what's the portrait for? A gallery of
goldriders?" That would be interesting, though, to see the various
portraits of all the goldriders of Dolphin Cove. It spurred the
inclination to go find them, if they existed. Surely at least those
who had risen to positions of Weyrwomen and Weyrleaders were archived
or displayed somewhere, even if she hadn't noticed in all her turns.

"I am starting with the goldriders." Esiah conceded, "And then I hope
to talk the Weyrleader, and his Wingriders into portraits as well so
that we have a historical record of the leaders of Dolphin Cove Weyr
from this Turn. I know that leaders change hands often around a Weyr
but I still think it could be interesting and valuable information for
future generations."

"I bet there are some, but I haven't heard of any portraits done for a
while. It sounds like a good idea. Be right back." Meledei
disappeared into her room for a moment to put away some of the items
she'd straightened. When she returned, her hands went right back to
work. "So when do you want to do this portrait?"

"I am sure your schedule is busier than mine so I will be here
whenever you tell me." Esiah smiled at that. Life as a harper-artist
left his schedule pretty loose as he could paint and work from
anywhere.

"Well, my next rest day is free. Or would you prefer to keep your
rest day to yourself?" Meledei might as well take up the time with a
portrait. She was still reeling from the situation with T'nom and
didn't really feel like doing a whole lot anyway.

Esiah tapped his lips as if he had to mull over the decision, "Let's
see... Spend my Restday painting a portrait of a beautiful goldrider?
I think I can handle that. Would you like an indoor or outdoor
portrait?"

"Outdoor. With the ocean." There was no hesitation in that. Meledei
had taken to the ocean as if she had been born there, even though
she'd been a child when the catastrophe had occurred and they'd moved
to Dolphin Cove. "Is that all right?"

"I think the ocean would be the perfect backdrop for your portrait,
ma'am. Should I come by here, or meet you in the Weyrbowl? I am afraid
I am restricted to only reaching places on foot." Esiah chuckled a
little at that.

That did elicit a pause, but only a brief one. "Here's fine. In
fact, I think I know where I'd like you to do it. Do I have to be
dressed fancy or can I wear normal clothing?"

Esiah shook his head, "You can wear whatever you would like. I want to
capture you as you are."

"All right. So next sevenday, here, after breakfast. How does that sound?"

"That will be perfect, ma'am. Thank you!"

Last updated on the June 2nd 2014

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"Missing Pieces"