Tand is now just under 22 years old, brother Tanner is next at 20, and Natti is 19. They all share a strong work ethic, able to put in long hours in conditions which others often despise.
As the eldest, Tand expects to inherit from his father's side of the family, a small amount of land near the weyr. If everything else fails, he will share this plot of land with his siblings, and they can run whatever business they need to from it. His skills and education are geared toward Stewardship, he trained under the headwoman and steward of Blackstone for many years before even entering a class with a harper. His organizational skills are quite strong.
Natti enjoys the kitchens, so much so that she rarely leaves them. It is not a cook's job for her, however, she does ordering and cleaning, making sure that menus are made and kept to. Again, her organizational ability is notorious -- she's a McInnes, after all.
Tanner fiddles with things, the only one in the family to take a trade that no one else has. He is a tinker, though his skills are put to use in the weyr in the form of making sure that the dens and tunnels are all secure, lighting is in working order, and cleanup crews are sent by him to help when newcomers arrive or visitors leave.
"He's lookin' at you, Tand! D'you think you'd want t' marry that lord's girl? She's a looker!"
Tand glanced at the lord and his frilly-made-up daughter. He'd seen so many visitors through the weyr, that he only eyed her because she carried two cases worth of clothing. Were they planning on settling here permanently with all that ... that STUFF?
"No, I--"
"You boy!" Bellowed the Paveh lord, "Come here immediately."
"Y'see! Y'see?" Tittered the older drudge, scurrying away from Tand.
"Sir!" Tand said, snapping into his Junior Steward mode. He hadn't adopted it because the headwoman was there and tending to the pair already. She glanced from the Lord to her trainee, and raised an eyebrow at him.
"How long have you been in the weyr, boy?" The lord asked, his pale blond and greying hair not moving as he turned.
"All my life sir, near on twenty two years." Tand replied curtly. He did not meet the lord's eyes. It was informally accepted that if he were hoping to court the beautiful if fluff-headed girl this lord brought, he'd already be complimenting her and fawning over her.
This was not lost on the lordling. "Aye... Too long out of a House, then. You spend time in a Guild boy?"
"Not much, sir. I am trained for stewardship here in the weyr, by Headwoman Ular." He indicated her with a bow of his head.
The lord grunted again. Without another word, he picked his daughter's elbow from the folds of her dress, and escorted her away, past the group of onlookers and leaving Tand standing there stiffly. When he'd gone, Tand breathed out a sigh of relief, while the drudges and weyrbrats collected around him.
"Why'd you do that? She was worth having!" One of them mocked.
"Because I don't want to marry a lord's daughter..." Tand said, his tone indicating that it ought to have been obvious, even to a drudge.
"But ... Why?" Whined others, but Tand was already off to find his brother. He left the pack of young weyr folk behind, walking at a quick clip into the tunnels. Tanner would be somewhere among the staff working to get the lord and his daughter settled.
For someone who had just been examined and then turned down for a marriage to a rich Lady, Tand seemed pretty calm. Many others wouldn't have his half-grin either. When he found the group, he indeed found his flaxen-headed brother. Elbowing Tanner in the back -- in a friendly way -- he clamped his hand down over Tanner's mouth so he didn't exclaim something he'd regret while in the presence of the Lord.
"Talk," Tand said quietly, nothing more. They left the group, moving into a nearby half-kitchen. There were small groups of dens in the weyr which held visitors who could fend for themselves, kitchenettes like this served their food needs and were stocked carefully, watched by ones like their sister.
"What is it you want? I was busy," Tanner groaned, still rubbing his back where his brother had stuck his hard elbow.
"That lord's daughter is up for grabs." He said, "you want a shot at her you might straighten yourself up and present yourself."
Tanner glanced out of the kitchenette's doorway, spying half the girl's dress, the Lord pacing about trying to get everything perfect, and four drudges helpless to their proper job while he did so.
"Why would I ever want that?" Tanner asked, grinning. "Besides, word spread more quickly than you. If you're trying to set me up for a joke like usual, it's not going to work this time."
Half disappointed, but half relieved that he didn't have to bear out the prank he'd indeed been planning, Tand slapped Tanner on the shoulder and tossed his head.
"Let's get something to eat."
"We're IN a kitchen," Tanner pointed out, waving his hand. But his brother meant something that someone ELSE had prepared, that they could just dig into and get yelled at about. Tanner followed his brother, wondering why he took the long route to the kitchen, when there was a perfectly good dumb-waiter which served drudges -- and Tanner -- for getting up and down through the halls quickly.
The kitchen was as usual busy in the weyr this time of day. With the evening meal coming up in a couple hours, most of the adults were concerning themselves with getting the right garnishings on the meats, making sure the spices for the soups were proper, and telling the younger drudges where to go and what to hold for them.
Natti was among them, of course, weaving her way around the large marble slabs which served as preparation surfaces, checking off things on multiple lists she had. Someone stopped her briefly, holding a wooden spoon up at her face.
"Taste this!" She bellowed, and Natti obliged the cook. She smacked her lips a bit, looked left and right, and then nodded.
"More garlic?" The cook asked, and Natti shook her head. "It can't be perfect yet! We've hours to go!" The cook trundled off as Natti giggled and made a mark on her pad.
Her brothers appeared out of nowhere, but they never startled her. In a kitchen for a weyr this size, no cook, drudge or worker could afford to be surprised by anything. She tossed her head, she'd always make time for the boys if only they'd hold on to a stew ladle for a minute.
Tand was the one who opted to actually work, since he'd not been doing much physical activities earlier in the day. The stew would be brewed until late in the evening, though, not eaten until the next day. The meat in it was practically raw, so he didn't take a taste.
The bread that Natti sampled went around to the three of them, though. The baker was working on a new mixure and had Natti keeping track of the ingredients.
"He's getting better and better at that cardomom thing," She commented around a mouthful of the still-hot bread. "I bet this will cool down to be superb!"
"Well it better be," Tand said, swinging the heavy ladle around in the pot, "there's a lord and his daughter here for the duration looking for prime meat to marry her off to."
"They passed on him, though, wonder why?" Tanner thumbed at his brother, grinning.
"No manners, all mouth." Natti said. They laughed a moment later. "But thank you for the heads up. They're always making trouble in here. Telling us how to serve this or that, and which forks to use. They're in a Weyr, by the stars, and they're lucky to GET forks."
"Don't much like lords, do you?" Tanner jibed.
"No I do not," Natti said. "They're filth. All they want is money or land, or babies. You've the money," she nodded to Tanner, "you've the land..." she indicated Tand, "but I'm not going to be making babies for any man, lord or no!"
"Not even a rider?" Tanner hinted, leaning close to her and snatching another piece of that cardomom loaf. "I mean, we're surrounded by hardy, handsome healthy men all the time, you like men don't you sister?"
"I love them. I just don't want to be passing babies out my nether end without some very good reason."
"What a completely tasteless conversation I've happened upon..." Someone said, passing the trio. He chuckled and seemed to be looking for something.
"Can we help you?" Natti asked, "you're not from this weyr, but you've got riding gear. Are you here for supplies? There isn't a supply train leaving for a while."
"Oh no, nothing like that," the man said, glancing at the bread they shared, and eventually his puppy-eyebrowed expression got him a piece of it. "I'm K'ral, search rider from Tripaldi weyr. New place, I don't know if you've heard of it."
Only Tand nodded with some recognition. "Yes, some of the weyrleaders have spoken about the sands there. I don't doubt that Blackstone will send some candidates there. Or dragons, to mate. Now, what I don't know is why a search rider is wandering around the kitchens unattended?"
"Oh, why weren't you informed the moment he landed?" Tanner joked. "He's a junior Steward so he's a bit preoccupied with order and information."
"And you're not concerned with those things?" Tand snipped. "You and your hopeless mounds of gears and doodads? It's everything we can do to keep your nose out of an ancient manual on something, just to get you in the sun!"
"Boys boys," Natti said, sagely picking up a plate and handing it to one of the nearby drudges. "All this poor man needs is something to warm his belly, there's nothing saying that a search rider -- or any rider -- isn't welcome in my kitchens."
"Ah so now they're YOUR kitchens?" The brothers intoned together. The rider stood glancing among the trio and finally took the now-full plate the drudge had piled high with hot bread and cold cheese. Content for the moment to watch them, the rider made mental notes until he came to a realization.
He wasn't here to eat. He was here to search, and search he had.
"We've got a small clutch on the sands right now. Gold Frinaith and bronze Dritenth. And well, as you said, Blackstone is frequently sending candidates to other weyrs. I think perhaps you three might want to come along with me to have my blue Binerth take a sniff at you."
"All of us?" They said at once.
"All of you. Now, I don't know if a weyr this size can afford to lose a steward in training or a kitchen mistress, or even a tinker..."
"There are always more of us where we came from," Tanner smirked.
"Then out we go!" K'ral said, and after a bit of work-finishing in the kitchen, Natti, Tand and Tanner were officially Searched for Tripaldi weyr!
