We all face trials we feel we cannot face and each of us responds in a different way. You may not agree with the decisions I've made for my life, but do not think ill of me for them, I would not change them.
I may not always be happy with the path behind me, but the future is ever brighter and I would not change that for the life of me.
Every mistake helps us form a part of who we are; every mistake is worth the pain for the knowledge it brings.
Here are some of my mistakes; the joys that have come out of them are few, but one outshines the rest. I know who I am, I like who I am. How many of you could say the same?
Katara’s eyes flew over the pages in front of her, a half smile on her face as she was nearing the end of another novel. She read the last words and the book fell from her hands as she heaved a contented sigh and let her gaze lift to the clouds above her, though she was far from actually seeing them. Several moments passed this way, until at last she heaved another sigh and stood picking up her book and tucking it carefully into the pocket of her dress. She looked up at the clouds making the same wish she always made upon finishing a book and then headed back into the hold.
“Katara! There you are, Mama has been asking for you,” called her sister Lilian from the stairs as she closed the door behind her. “You’d better get up to her rooms, dear.”
Katara sighed and nodded her head as she headed up the stairs, giving her elder sister a small smile as she passed her.
“Don’t look so forlorn, dear, it’s not likely to be anything bad.”
“I’ve been reading again,” was the only response Katara gave and Lilian sighed and shook her head with a smile as Katara hurried on past her.
Katara reached her mother’s rooms and took a deep breath before knocking lightly and pushing the door open. “Mama? You asked to see me?”
“Katara, child! You haven’t been off reading again have you?” asked her mother, whirling around to face her daughter as she entered the room, a displeased look on her face as she saw her daughter’s guilty look. “You must get your nose out of those books, child, they do you no good.”
“But-”
“No buts, did you get your chores done today?”
“No, Ma’am,” replied Katara, her gaze resting on the floor in front of her.
“Get off with you then, come see me when you’re finished.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Katara turned to go, closing the door behind her and heading down to the kitchens. Her brother was there, sitting at a table covered in dirt and hay and she frowned as she walked in.
“Tarlon, what’s wrong with you? You’re getting dirt all over the kitchen! Go get cleaned up!”
“Not until I get the meal Hally’s making for me,” he replied with a rakish grin and a wink. “You just now getting in here to do your chores? Where’ve you been, out in the sun reading again?”
Katara shot him a warning look and went about straightening the kitchen.
“Oho, not talking to me now, are you?” said Tarlon with a laugh. “I don’t know why you try to avoid your chores so much, at least you don’t have to muck out the barn everyday.”
“I’ve told you before I would much rather care for the horses than be stuck in here all the time, but apparently horse care is a task unbefitting a lady.”
Tarlon snickered, “That’s right, horse care is a man’s job!”
Just then Hally, one of the younger, more attractive kitchen hands came over with a plate of steaming hot food for Tarlon and he occupied himself with inhaling it between casting smiles and winks at a blushing Hally. Katara rolled her eyes and went about her work, doing her best to ignore her brother’s antics.
Later that day Katara finally found time after receiving a lecture from her mother on the detriments of having your nose in a book to return to her room and put her book lovingly back in her secret cabinet. She lay down on the bed and sighed, staring up at the ceiling and letting her mind wander to the events of her book and the happy romantic ending it had come to.
She must have dosed off because the next thing she knew there was a light weight on her chest and she opened her eyes to find a bronze fire lizard peering down at her with a package clutched in his arms. She smiled and reached up a hand to lightly scratch the fire lizard’s eye ridges. He crooned and hopped off her chest as she sat up.
“Nice to see you too, Inker, what do you have for me this time?” she said to the tiny bronze reaching out to take the parcel from his claws. It was wrapped in paper with a note written on the front:
Katara smiled and pulled the paper wrapping carefully off the new book. The cover read “Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen” and Katara’s smile widened to a grin as she opened it up and quickly read the first page. Indeed the book seemed to be just the sort she enjoyed and she reluctantly put it down to scratch out a thank you to the Masterprinter. She tied the note to Inker’s leg and as soon as he felt it secured the bronze fire lizard butted her affectionately and leapt up to return to his master.
Katara smiled after him for a moment, wishing she had her own fire lizard. She’d always been fond of dragons but as she’d never been searched she had long ago given up that dream and a fire lizard would be a nice compromise. However, her mother was among those who felt fire lizards were a nuisance and had refused every offer of eggs the Weyrs had made them. Heaving a sigh, Katara silently got up and turned the lock on her door, then returned to her bed to curl up and pore over her new book.
A week later, her ‘new’ book tucked lovingly in her pocket, showing signs of wear and tear as she’d read it all the way through twice already, Katara stood in the center of the courtyard, trying to appear uninterested as her eyes scanned the crowds arriving for the Gather. Her parents threw a Gather regularly as her mother enjoyed having their home and grounds admired, not to mention it was an excellent way to bring money into the Hold.
Finally Katara spotted the person she’d been looking for, Masterprinter Karleton was just entering through the main gates, Inker perched alertly on his shoulder and receiving a terse hello from her mother. Katara tried to contain the grin that threatened to split her face upon seeing her friend and feigned disinterest as she briefly met the Masterprinter’s gaze and then let her gaze wander elsewhere, but not before she caught the interested half-smile that wrinkled Karleton’s cheek upon meeting her gaze.
Gathers were always the same for the two of them. Katara didn’t want her parents to know the source of her books, though they certainly had to suspect she knew someone in the Printing Hall, and Karleton was new enough to his post as Masterprinter that he couldn’t afford to be on any Holder’s bad side. Still, he had a great respect for a young woman so committed to books and reading and so always found a way for the two of them to converse on the latest book he’d sent her.
Katara left the courtyard, walking off in the direction of the booths, pausing here and there to give an appearance of admiring objects she hardly saw, her attention on the people around her. She caught Lilian’s eye at one point and gave her sister a meaningful look. Lilian seemed to sigh but nodded her head and looked around for their parents. She spotted their mother in the direction Katara had been coming from and pointed her out to her younger sister. Katara nodded her head in thanks and continued in the direction she had been going, meandering along, and knowing her sister would keep their mother from following her when she went around the corner.
The Printing Hall’s booth was the last in line as they had been among the last to arrive and Katara walked quickly past the booth, not pausing for a moment, nor even glancing in that direction. She headed around the corner, out of sight of the gather and her mother’s watchful gaze.
Karleton smiled as he saw Katara pass his Hall’s booth and disappear around the corner. He immediately turned to his assistant, Lopartin, opening his mouth to make some excuse but the older man merely shook his head and waved him away.
“Go on, no use making any excuses, I’ll get things set up,” said Lopartin with a knowing smile and Karleton grinned, reaching into a nearby box to pull out two small packages as Lopartin chuckled. “You crazy kids with your wild fancies. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on!”
“Thanks Lopartin, you know sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to be named Masterprinter instead of you,” and with another grin at his assistant’s baffled expression, Karleton dashed off around the same corner Katara had rounded, the parcels clutched gently, but firmly in his hand.
Katara ducked into some shrubbery after rounding the corner, making her way to a small clearing up against the wall of the hold. There she waited, but not for long. Karleton soon joined her there and she pulled the well-loved book out of her pocket as he pushed through the brush. He held his hands behind his back but she thought nothing of it as she began to thank him profusely for the book.
“I’m so glad we finally get the chance to talk! I can’t thank you enough for sending Inker to me with this book,” she said, ruffling the pages with a chuckle to show him how much she’d enjoyed it. “I’ve read it through twice already and plan to read it again soon. This is by far the best book you’ve ever managed to unearth for me!”
"I’m glad to hear you liked it. I didn’t read it myself but I’ll be sure to now, one of the apprentices read it and told me about it. I’m always on the lookout for romances for you.”
“Well, this book was almost comical compared to some of the others written at the time. Jane Austen has a very interesting sense of humor, though I admit it took me reading it through twice before I picked up on the sarcasm in many of the character’s tones.” Katara chuckled softly at remembered pleasure, keeping her eyes lovingly on the book, before lifting them to look hopefully at the Masterprinter. “I don’t suppose you have anything else in the archives by Jane Austen, do you?”
“I will have to check, but Katara, I- I have something else for you,” said Karleton with a boyish, nervous smile as he finally pulled his hands from behind his back.
“Another book? How do you manage to find and print so many?” asked Katara but her excited smile fell a bit as she saw the parcels he held out to her, neither of them being at all book shaped. “What’s this?”
“A little something I thought you might appreciate,” replied Karleton with a smile, indicating that she should take the parcels and open them.
Katara did that, casting suspicious glances at Karleton as she did so. She unwrapped the smaller of the two first and was rather disturbed to find it contained several meat rolls. “What on Pern?”
“Open the other one,” was all Karleton would say, though Katara gave him questioning looks as they both settled to the ground and she pried the string off of the other parcel.
Katara pulled all the paper off the parcel and found a hard, well-sealed container inside. She frowned in question at Karleton but he refused to say anything and she was forced to pry open the lid to find out what was inside. The lid came off to reveal that the container was well insulated, and filled with hot sand! Katara’s mouth fell open as she saw the sand shift to reveal two small flit eggs nestled together. “Oh my Lord!”
“I thought you could use your own flit to send messages with from time to time. That way I don’t have to wait until the next Gather to find out what you thought of the most recent books I’ve sent you,” explained Karleton with a smile at Katara’s delighted expression. “I brought two just in case one of them doesn’t hatch. These aren’t normal Pernese flits; they came all the way from Caer Brynmor on Alskyr. The nearby Weyr has been trading candidates, riders and now flits with them for quite some time.”
“When will they hatch?”
“Probably pretty soon, that’s what the meat rolls are for.”
As if those words were magic one of the eggs began to rock at that very moment and Katara gasped as she lifted it gently from the sand and grabbed a meat roll, holding it ready to feed to the hatchling as soon as it managed to break it’s shell. Cracks rippled down the side of the egg and before long they widened, a beautiful little red head poking it’s way out and creeling demandingly. Katara gasped in wonder at the rich color of the tiny creature and immediately stuffed the meat roll into the flit’s mouth. The little female gobbled it down and creeled for more as Katara fumbled for another meat roll which Karleton placed gently in her hand for her. Unable to speak Katara just glanced at him in thanks and returned her amazed gaze to the tiny red flit on her palm. Just then the other egg burst, egg shards flying as a purple male staggered to his feet in the hot sand. Katara placed the female down using both hands to feed both the flits as much meat roll as they could swallow.
Finally the two flits seemed sated, their tiny bellies distended with all the meat they’d stuffed down and Katara lifted them both up, tucking them securely into her arms as she watched them sleep and listened to the contented noises they each made. Finally she looked up at Karleton, wonder still in her eyes as the contented emotions of the flits swirled lightly in the back of her mind. “Thank you so much.”
“I thought you’d like them,” the Masterprinter said softly, then looked up as Inker appeared over their heads, chittering angrily. “I’d better be getting back, people have probably started wondering where I am.”
Katara’s eyes widened suddenly as reality sank back in. “How am I going to explain these to my mother? You know how she hates flits and these are too obviously not from Pern for me to say I found a clutch!”
“The Weyr I got them from has a stand that is selling them to worthy recipients, if you manage to impress one you’re allowed to keep it for a small price,” explained Karleton as Katara heaved a sigh of relief. “Now I’d best be off, take good care of them and train them well, I’ll send Inker with another book as soon as we find something suitable.”
Karleton stood, helping Katara to her feet, his hand lingering but a moment longer than it should on her arm and then he pushed through the brush and back toward the path, Inker settling on his shoulder with a farewell chirp to Katara.
Katara’s mother was, as expected, most displeased with the flits, though Katara trained them so well that by the time they were full grown they knew where they could and could not be and were perfectly reliable for taking messages. Even Katara’s mother resorted to using their assistance from time to time and grudgingly admitted they were more useful than she had previously thought. The red was a saucy thing that always had something to say to everyone and mostly in a rather disdainful tone as if she thought she was far above the rest of her company. The purple was far less lofty in his ideals but refused to have anything to do with anyone who slighted him even in so little a way as to move as he was about to alight on their shoulder. In fact Katara was the only person he’d ever forgiven for that and then only because he shared the bond of impression with her. Katara found their antics quite delightful as it allowed her to name them most appropriately Pride and Prejudice.
Katara and Karleton kept in touch much more frequently though Katara soon found that sending Prejudice to deliver her notes often had disastrous results. The purple had formed a dislike for Inker and only in Katara’s presence would he tolerate the bronze without trying to attack him. So Pride most often made her deliveries and so it should not have come as too great a shock to Katara to find Pride and Inker had become very close.
“Katara! There you are, Mama has been asking for you,” called her sister Lilian from the stairs as she closed the door behind her. “You’d better get up to her rooms, dear.”
Katara sighed and nodded her head as she headed up the stairs, giving her elder sister a small smile as she passed her.
“Don’t look so forlorn, dear, it’s not likely to be anything bad.”
“I’ve been reading again,” was the only response Katara gave and Lilian sighed and shook her head with a smile as Katara hurried on past her.
Katara reached her mother’s rooms and took a deep breath before knocking lightly and pushing the door open. “Mama? You asked to see me?”
“Katara, child! You haven’t been off reading again have you?” asked her mother, whirling around to face her daughter as she entered the room, a displeased look on her face as she saw her daughter’s guilty look. “You must get your nose out of those books, child, they do you no good.”
“But-”
“No buts, did you get your chores done today?”
“No, Ma’am,” replied Katara, her gaze resting on the floor in front of her.
“Get off with you then, come see me when you’re finished.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Katara turned to go, closing the door behind her and heading down to the kitchens. Her brother was there, sitting at a table covered in dirt and hay and she frowned as she walked in.
“Tarlon, what’s wrong with you? You’re getting dirt all over the kitchen! Go get cleaned up!”
“Not until I get the meal Hally’s making for me,” he replied with a rakish grin and a wink. “You just now getting in here to do your chores? Where’ve you been, out in the sun reading again?”
Katara shot him a warning look and went about straightening the kitchen.
“Oho, not talking to me now, are you?” said Tarlon with a laugh. “I don’t know why you try to avoid your chores so much, at least you don’t have to muck out the barn everyday.”
“I’ve told you before I would much rather care for the horses than be stuck in here all the time, but apparently horse care is a task unbefitting a lady.”
Tarlon snickered, “That’s right, horse care is a man’s job!”
Just then Hally, one of the younger, more attractive kitchen hands came over with a plate of steaming hot food for Tarlon and he occupied himself with inhaling it between casting smiles and winks at a blushing Hally. Katara rolled her eyes and went about her work, doing her best to ignore her brother’s antics.
Later that day Katara finally found time after receiving a lecture from her mother on the detriments of having your nose in a book to return to her room and put her book lovingly back in her secret cabinet. She lay down on the bed and sighed, staring up at the ceiling and letting her mind wander to the events of her book and the happy romantic ending it had come to.
She must have dosed off because the next thing she knew there was a light weight on her chest and she opened her eyes to find a bronze fire lizard peering down at her with a package clutched in his arms. She smiled and reached up a hand to lightly scratch the fire lizard’s eye ridges. He crooned and hopped off her chest as she sat up.
“Nice to see you too, Inker, what do you have for me this time?” she said to the tiny bronze reaching out to take the parcel from his claws. It was wrapped in paper with a note written on the front:
|
Katara, Found this in the archives of the computers and thought it was right up your alley. You’ve finished the last one by now I’m sure. You’ll have to let us know what you think. We’re all very curious to hear your review, my dear. Enjoy! |
| Masterprinter Karleton |
Katara smiled and pulled the paper wrapping carefully off the new book. The cover read “Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen” and Katara’s smile widened to a grin as she opened it up and quickly read the first page. Indeed the book seemed to be just the sort she enjoyed and she reluctantly put it down to scratch out a thank you to the Masterprinter. She tied the note to Inker’s leg and as soon as he felt it secured the bronze fire lizard butted her affectionately and leapt up to return to his master.
Katara smiled after him for a moment, wishing she had her own fire lizard. She’d always been fond of dragons but as she’d never been searched she had long ago given up that dream and a fire lizard would be a nice compromise. However, her mother was among those who felt fire lizards were a nuisance and had refused every offer of eggs the Weyrs had made them. Heaving a sigh, Katara silently got up and turned the lock on her door, then returned to her bed to curl up and pore over her new book.
A week later, her ‘new’ book tucked lovingly in her pocket, showing signs of wear and tear as she’d read it all the way through twice already, Katara stood in the center of the courtyard, trying to appear uninterested as her eyes scanned the crowds arriving for the Gather. Her parents threw a Gather regularly as her mother enjoyed having their home and grounds admired, not to mention it was an excellent way to bring money into the Hold.
Finally Katara spotted the person she’d been looking for, Masterprinter Karleton was just entering through the main gates, Inker perched alertly on his shoulder and receiving a terse hello from her mother. Katara tried to contain the grin that threatened to split her face upon seeing her friend and feigned disinterest as she briefly met the Masterprinter’s gaze and then let her gaze wander elsewhere, but not before she caught the interested half-smile that wrinkled Karleton’s cheek upon meeting her gaze.
Gathers were always the same for the two of them. Katara didn’t want her parents to know the source of her books, though they certainly had to suspect she knew someone in the Printing Hall, and Karleton was new enough to his post as Masterprinter that he couldn’t afford to be on any Holder’s bad side. Still, he had a great respect for a young woman so committed to books and reading and so always found a way for the two of them to converse on the latest book he’d sent her.
Katara left the courtyard, walking off in the direction of the booths, pausing here and there to give an appearance of admiring objects she hardly saw, her attention on the people around her. She caught Lilian’s eye at one point and gave her sister a meaningful look. Lilian seemed to sigh but nodded her head and looked around for their parents. She spotted their mother in the direction Katara had been coming from and pointed her out to her younger sister. Katara nodded her head in thanks and continued in the direction she had been going, meandering along, and knowing her sister would keep their mother from following her when she went around the corner.
The Printing Hall’s booth was the last in line as they had been among the last to arrive and Katara walked quickly past the booth, not pausing for a moment, nor even glancing in that direction. She headed around the corner, out of sight of the gather and her mother’s watchful gaze.
Karleton smiled as he saw Katara pass his Hall’s booth and disappear around the corner. He immediately turned to his assistant, Lopartin, opening his mouth to make some excuse but the older man merely shook his head and waved him away.
“Go on, no use making any excuses, I’ll get things set up,” said Lopartin with a knowing smile and Karleton grinned, reaching into a nearby box to pull out two small packages as Lopartin chuckled. “You crazy kids with your wild fancies. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on!”
“Thanks Lopartin, you know sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to be named Masterprinter instead of you,” and with another grin at his assistant’s baffled expression, Karleton dashed off around the same corner Katara had rounded, the parcels clutched gently, but firmly in his hand.
Katara ducked into some shrubbery after rounding the corner, making her way to a small clearing up against the wall of the hold. There she waited, but not for long. Karleton soon joined her there and she pulled the well-loved book out of her pocket as he pushed through the brush. He held his hands behind his back but she thought nothing of it as she began to thank him profusely for the book.
“I’m so glad we finally get the chance to talk! I can’t thank you enough for sending Inker to me with this book,” she said, ruffling the pages with a chuckle to show him how much she’d enjoyed it. “I’ve read it through twice already and plan to read it again soon. This is by far the best book you’ve ever managed to unearth for me!”
"I’m glad to hear you liked it. I didn’t read it myself but I’ll be sure to now, one of the apprentices read it and told me about it. I’m always on the lookout for romances for you.”
“Well, this book was almost comical compared to some of the others written at the time. Jane Austen has a very interesting sense of humor, though I admit it took me reading it through twice before I picked up on the sarcasm in many of the character’s tones.” Katara chuckled softly at remembered pleasure, keeping her eyes lovingly on the book, before lifting them to look hopefully at the Masterprinter. “I don’t suppose you have anything else in the archives by Jane Austen, do you?”
“I will have to check, but Katara, I- I have something else for you,” said Karleton with a boyish, nervous smile as he finally pulled his hands from behind his back.
“Another book? How do you manage to find and print so many?” asked Katara but her excited smile fell a bit as she saw the parcels he held out to her, neither of them being at all book shaped. “What’s this?”
“A little something I thought you might appreciate,” replied Karleton with a smile, indicating that she should take the parcels and open them.
Katara did that, casting suspicious glances at Karleton as she did so. She unwrapped the smaller of the two first and was rather disturbed to find it contained several meat rolls. “What on Pern?”
“Open the other one,” was all Karleton would say, though Katara gave him questioning looks as they both settled to the ground and she pried the string off of the other parcel.
Katara pulled all the paper off the parcel and found a hard, well-sealed container inside. She frowned in question at Karleton but he refused to say anything and she was forced to pry open the lid to find out what was inside. The lid came off to reveal that the container was well insulated, and filled with hot sand! Katara’s mouth fell open as she saw the sand shift to reveal two small flit eggs nestled together. “Oh my Lord!”
“I thought you could use your own flit to send messages with from time to time. That way I don’t have to wait until the next Gather to find out what you thought of the most recent books I’ve sent you,” explained Karleton with a smile at Katara’s delighted expression. “I brought two just in case one of them doesn’t hatch. These aren’t normal Pernese flits; they came all the way from Caer Brynmor on Alskyr. The nearby Weyr has been trading candidates, riders and now flits with them for quite some time.”
“When will they hatch?”
“Probably pretty soon, that’s what the meat rolls are for.”
As if those words were magic one of the eggs began to rock at that very moment and Katara gasped as she lifted it gently from the sand and grabbed a meat roll, holding it ready to feed to the hatchling as soon as it managed to break it’s shell. Cracks rippled down the side of the egg and before long they widened, a beautiful little red head poking it’s way out and creeling demandingly. Katara gasped in wonder at the rich color of the tiny creature and immediately stuffed the meat roll into the flit’s mouth. The little female gobbled it down and creeled for more as Katara fumbled for another meat roll which Karleton placed gently in her hand for her. Unable to speak Katara just glanced at him in thanks and returned her amazed gaze to the tiny red flit on her palm. Just then the other egg burst, egg shards flying as a purple male staggered to his feet in the hot sand. Katara placed the female down using both hands to feed both the flits as much meat roll as they could swallow.
Finally the two flits seemed sated, their tiny bellies distended with all the meat they’d stuffed down and Katara lifted them both up, tucking them securely into her arms as she watched them sleep and listened to the contented noises they each made. Finally she looked up at Karleton, wonder still in her eyes as the contented emotions of the flits swirled lightly in the back of her mind. “Thank you so much.”
“I thought you’d like them,” the Masterprinter said softly, then looked up as Inker appeared over their heads, chittering angrily. “I’d better be getting back, people have probably started wondering where I am.”
Katara’s eyes widened suddenly as reality sank back in. “How am I going to explain these to my mother? You know how she hates flits and these are too obviously not from Pern for me to say I found a clutch!”
“The Weyr I got them from has a stand that is selling them to worthy recipients, if you manage to impress one you’re allowed to keep it for a small price,” explained Karleton as Katara heaved a sigh of relief. “Now I’d best be off, take good care of them and train them well, I’ll send Inker with another book as soon as we find something suitable.”
Karleton stood, helping Katara to her feet, his hand lingering but a moment longer than it should on her arm and then he pushed through the brush and back toward the path, Inker settling on his shoulder with a farewell chirp to Katara.
Katara’s mother was, as expected, most displeased with the flits, though Katara trained them so well that by the time they were full grown they knew where they could and could not be and were perfectly reliable for taking messages. Even Katara’s mother resorted to using their assistance from time to time and grudgingly admitted they were more useful than she had previously thought. The red was a saucy thing that always had something to say to everyone and mostly in a rather disdainful tone as if she thought she was far above the rest of her company. The purple was far less lofty in his ideals but refused to have anything to do with anyone who slighted him even in so little a way as to move as he was about to alight on their shoulder. In fact Katara was the only person he’d ever forgiven for that and then only because he shared the bond of impression with her. Katara found their antics quite delightful as it allowed her to name them most appropriately Pride and Prejudice.
Katara and Karleton kept in touch much more frequently though Katara soon found that sending Prejudice to deliver her notes often had disastrous results. The purple had formed a dislike for Inker and only in Katara’s presence would he tolerate the bronze without trying to attack him. So Pride most often made her deliveries and so it should not have come as too great a shock to Katara to find Pride and Inker had become very close.
At the next convenient Gather Katara and Karleton made plans ahead of time to meet after dinner instead of meeting briefly as the Gather was getting underway and not having enough time to do more than exchange brief words about the latest book Katara had received. After dinner most people would assume the Masterprinter had headed back to the Printing Hall and no one would be searching for him. Likewise Katara could more easily slip away from her parents after dinner, claiming the need for some fresh air after the stuffiness of the dining hall.
The two of them met in the same small clearing they usually did, Pride and Prejudice perched on Katara’s shoulders and Inker on Karleton’s. As soon as Pride and Inker saw each other they both left their masters and landed on a tree limb up above to croon and nuzzle each other. Katara’s mouth fell open in surprise at the apparent intimacy between the two flits, Pride’s horns making her look almost alien next to Inker and his simple headnobs. Katara shut her mouth with a snap at Karleton’s chuckle and looked at him instead.
“Didn’t you realize that the two of them had been forming an attachment?”
“No, I suppose I was always too busy keeping Prejudice from attacking Inker when he came by to notice how Pride reacted to his presence,” Katara replied, watching as Prejudice almost growled and leapt to a branch directly above her head, watching Pride and Inker quite jealously. Katara shook her head in disbelief and turned her gaze to Karleton. “Well, do you have another book for me?”
“I do indeed, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did,” he replied as he pulled a book out of the pocket of his coat. Katara gasped in delight as she saw the author’s name on the cover.
“Another Jane Austen novel! You found one!”
“I did, this one is called Emma, and it’s quite entertaining. I hope you like it.”
“I’m sure I will...” Katara trailed off as she felt a rather strange and disturbing emotion from Pride. She looked up to see the red flit snapping her jaws playfully at Inker and out of the corner of her eye noticed Prejudice ruffling his wings, his eyes wide with apparent anticipation. “What’s going on?”
“It would appear that Pride is ready to rise,” said Karleton, his gaze returning to Katara. Just then Pride let out a cry and took off, both Inker and Prejudice giving chase and Katara gasped at the strength of the emotions she felt through Pride. She knew the emotions she received from her flits were nothing compared to the bond between dragon and rider and she very suddenly understood better than she’d ever done before why dragonriders were the way they were.
Katara felt Pride’s passion growing as she flew and the desire she felt for Inker. She also felt Prejudice’s disappointment as he realized Inker would be the one to catch her, but those emotions were overshadowed by the intensity of her other flit’s lust. So consumed by it was she that she hardly noticed as Karleton began undoing the buttons on the front of her Gather dress, nor did she protest when he laid her on the ground and kissed her soundly. The lust of her flit caused her to respond in a way that almost scared her, but she was helpless to stop it and she felt the moment when Inker finally caught her feisty red flit in more than one way and found herself surrendering to the sensations.
Much later Katara woke to find Karleton sound asleep on the ground beside her and all three flits once again in the trees above them. Pride and Inker were contentedly curled up together and Prejudice was perched a ways away sulking. Katara shook her head and stood; unable to close her mouth she was so ashamed of what she’d let happen. She straightened her dress, silently called Pride and Prejudice to her, the former of which came rather reluctantly, and left as quickly and quietly as she could.
Katara snuck back into the Hold as silently as she could, reaching her rooms without being heard. Just as she was about to slip through her door though she heard the sound of motion to her right and froze, turning just her head toward the sound. It was only her sister, Lilian, and she sighed in relief, turning the rest of her body to face her and placing a hand to her chest to indicate how much her sister had frightened her.
Lilian’s worried look did not fade however and she quietly ushered her younger sister into the room and shut the door as soundlessly as possible. As soon as the door was closed Lilian rounded on her sister with as much worry in her voice as a whisper could betray. “Where have you been? Mama was asking after you earlier and I had to lie and tell her you were already in bed.”
“Well I thank you for that,” replied Katara with a sigh as she turned to sink into the bed. “As to where I’ve been I’d rather forget.”
“What?” asked Lilian, concern replacing the anger in her voice.
“I’ve been with Masterprinter Karleton.”
“There’s nothing terrible about that, I know the two of you are good friends.”
“But even I didn’t realize how close Pride and his flit Inker had gotten,” said Katara, letting her head fall into her hands in shame.
“Pride and Inker?” queried Lilian then stopped as her mouth formed an ‘o’ of realization. “Did Pride fly tonight?”
Katara merely nodded her head in misery, keeping her face concealed in her hands.
“And you? Oh my,” said Lilian, moving to sit gingerly on the bed beside her sister. “I knew you and the Masterprinter were close, but I had no idea that you were that close.”
“I didn’t either!” cried Katara, jumping up in a fit of sudden rage. “I thought we were just friends, but what if he felt something more? It’s one thing for flit induced desire to bring us together like that, but if he feels something for me things will never be the same!”
“You don’t feel that way for him?”
“Not at all! He’s a wonderful man, but just not my type. I’m looking for more than what he can offer me.”
“Dear, I think you need to stop reading so much, how could you possibly do better than marrying the Masterprinter?”
“I just know there’s something better out there for me!” snapped Katara turning her back on her sister as she stared out at the darkness beyond her windows. She hadn’t meant to snap at her sister and turned in surprise as she heard the click of the door latch closing behind Lilian. Katara felt the tears begin to flow down her cheeks and she threw herself to her bed and cried herself to sleep.
Katara refused to respond to any of the messages Inker brought to her; in fact she seldom even read them, merely discarding them. Those she did read left her in tears, as it was obvious that Karleton felt more for her than she could ever feel for him.
Several sevendays passed and another Gather rapidly approached. Katara finally realized that she couldn’t avoid the Masterprinter forever and sent him a brief, perfunctory note as to when and where to meet her at the Gather. She requested that he meet her after dinner and so Katara spent the entire Gather nervously wandering the stalls, staying as far from the Printer Hall booth as she could.
When the time came for her to meet Karleton Katara was feeling terrible, one hand pressed to her stomach she sat on the bench and waited. She didn’t have to wait long before Karleton found her. He walked up, love in his eyes and his manner, but he maintained a healthy distance, no doubt worried as to why she’d never answered any of his letters.
“Katara,” he began, his voice betraying the feelings she’d tried to convince herself he didn’t feel, “how are you?”
Katara shook her head, trying to suppress a wave of nausea that suddenly gripped her and opened her mouth to reply, but the words that left her lips were not the indifferent response she’d intended to give. “Pregnant.”
Karleton gasped in shock and Katara closed her eyes in regret as she hadn’t intended to tell him what she’d merely suspected. “Are you sure?”
Katara nodded miserably; there was no point in denying it, even to herself, as she was showing all the symptoms.
“Darling, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I only just admitted it to myself recently. It’s not exactly something one wants to believe.”
“But you had to know that I’ll take care of you,” said Karleton, settling beside her on the bench and putting an arm around her shoulders, which she immediately shrugged off.
“I don’t want you to ‘take care of’ me!” she said, standing too quickly and having to steady herself on a nearby tree as another bout of nausea gripped her. “I wasn’t even going to tell you.”
“But Katara, I love you, why wouldn’t you tell me that you’re going to have my baby?”
“Not your baby!” Katara almost growled, through clenched teeth. “My baby, no matter who sired it.”
“Katara, you’re obviously not well, let me take you inside,” said Karleton, frowning in concern. “Once you feel better we’ll talk about this more rationally.”
“I’m perfectly rational!” snapped Katara, turning to walk away, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks, though she couldn’t for the life of her say why she was crying.
Karleton just remained sitting there, somewhat dumbfounded by her behavior and Katara was glad of the chance to escape his loving gaze. As she stumbled back into the hold Pride came flying over to her, chirping and crooning happily. Katara glared up at the flit, “What do you want? Want to get me in trouble again?”
Pride squawked in surprise and offense and immediately winked out of sight. Katara shook her head and sighed, heading towards her bedroom but was forced to make a detour to the bathroom on her way. She curled up in her bed, Prejudice crooning soothingly and curling up at her back while Pride chirped angrily from the corner of the room.
“Katara!” boomed her mother as she stormed down the hall towards her daughter’s door. “Katara, you wretched girl, why haven’t you been to see me?”
She threw the door open so hard to bounced back and would have hit her as she strode into the room had she not put an arm out to stop it. Her scowl deepened as she saw the state the room was in and the two flits curled up by the window, chirping indignantly at the commotion she was making. Katara wasn’t in her room and the woman whirled around preparing to bellow for her when her daughter came stumbling in from the direction of the bathroom. Katara groaned when she saw her mother standing there and immediately brushed past her, barely keeping herself on her feet long enough to collapse onto the bed and curl up under her covers.
Her mother just stood there, mouth agape in astonishment, but fury simmering in her eyes. When she’d regained her voice she closed her mouth and scowled at her youngest daughter. “What’s this I hear about you refusing a perfectly good marriage proposal?”
“I did no such thing,” moaned Katara, pulling the covers over her head, in no mood to deal with her mother’s temper when she was fighting morning sickness.
“Yes you did, I heard it from Masterprinter Karleton himself. Came to seek my approval in approaching you again. I may not like the Printer Hall much myself but much of Pern would think it a great honor to be married to the man in charge of it. I’ll not let you throw away that opportunity especially the way the Masterprinter hangs all over you. Don’t you think I haven’t seen the way you run off to meet with him every chance you get! And now you would refuse him and shame us all!” Finally her mother sat, her face screwing up as she tried a different tack to get her daughter to listen to her and false sobs escaped her throat.
Katara threw the covers off of her standing up in a hurry ready to scream at her mother for being so manipulative but in her anger she’d forgotten that standing too quickly caused her stomach to become unsettled. Placing one hand over her mouth and another on her stomach she ran from the room, back to the bathroom where she hung over the chamber pot while her stomach relieved itself of what little she had left in there.
Her mother soon came into the bathroom behind her as she’d been unable to shut the door in her haste and as soon as she could Katara sat back and turned to stare in misery at her mother, whose expression had become one of wide-eyed revelation.
“It’s even worse than I thought, isn’t it? You let that Printer man get you pregnant, didn’t you? And still you would refuse his hand?”
“I didn’t let him, mother, it just happened,” replied Katara, swallowing hard to avoid throwing up again.
“But still you would refuse to marry him when he asked, and he must know about the baby!”
“Yes, I would still refuse him, mother. I’ll not spend my life married to someone I don’t love just because I was foolish enough to ‘let him’ get me pregnant,” yelled Katara, pulling herself to her feet, disdain dripping from her every word. “And I’ll not let you bully me into marrying him either. I’d rather be a disgrace and have a child out of wedlock than live my life wishing I’d followed my dreams!”
At that moment Pride, obviously egg-heavy and Prejudice came zipping into the room drawn by their master’s roiling emotions. Katara’s mother took one look at Pride’s distended belly and her mouth fell open in an ‘O’ of comprehension and then her disapproving scowl returned.
“You’d best find somewhere else to live with your bastard then, Katara, I’ll be danged if I’ll let you raise the ill-begotten child of a dratted flit’s flight in my house! Pack your things and find yourself a new home!” and with that she turned and stormed away muttering to herself about the ungratefulness of her youngest girl.
Katara sagged, and would have toppled to the ground if Lilian hadn’t rushed into the room then and supported her sister as they made their way back to Katara’s bedroom.
The two of them met in the same small clearing they usually did, Pride and Prejudice perched on Katara’s shoulders and Inker on Karleton’s. As soon as Pride and Inker saw each other they both left their masters and landed on a tree limb up above to croon and nuzzle each other. Katara’s mouth fell open in surprise at the apparent intimacy between the two flits, Pride’s horns making her look almost alien next to Inker and his simple headnobs. Katara shut her mouth with a snap at Karleton’s chuckle and looked at him instead.
“Didn’t you realize that the two of them had been forming an attachment?”
“No, I suppose I was always too busy keeping Prejudice from attacking Inker when he came by to notice how Pride reacted to his presence,” Katara replied, watching as Prejudice almost growled and leapt to a branch directly above her head, watching Pride and Inker quite jealously. Katara shook her head in disbelief and turned her gaze to Karleton. “Well, do you have another book for me?”
“I do indeed, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did,” he replied as he pulled a book out of the pocket of his coat. Katara gasped in delight as she saw the author’s name on the cover.
“Another Jane Austen novel! You found one!”
“I did, this one is called Emma, and it’s quite entertaining. I hope you like it.”
“I’m sure I will...” Katara trailed off as she felt a rather strange and disturbing emotion from Pride. She looked up to see the red flit snapping her jaws playfully at Inker and out of the corner of her eye noticed Prejudice ruffling his wings, his eyes wide with apparent anticipation. “What’s going on?”
“It would appear that Pride is ready to rise,” said Karleton, his gaze returning to Katara. Just then Pride let out a cry and took off, both Inker and Prejudice giving chase and Katara gasped at the strength of the emotions she felt through Pride. She knew the emotions she received from her flits were nothing compared to the bond between dragon and rider and she very suddenly understood better than she’d ever done before why dragonriders were the way they were.
Katara felt Pride’s passion growing as she flew and the desire she felt for Inker. She also felt Prejudice’s disappointment as he realized Inker would be the one to catch her, but those emotions were overshadowed by the intensity of her other flit’s lust. So consumed by it was she that she hardly noticed as Karleton began undoing the buttons on the front of her Gather dress, nor did she protest when he laid her on the ground and kissed her soundly. The lust of her flit caused her to respond in a way that almost scared her, but she was helpless to stop it and she felt the moment when Inker finally caught her feisty red flit in more than one way and found herself surrendering to the sensations.
Much later Katara woke to find Karleton sound asleep on the ground beside her and all three flits once again in the trees above them. Pride and Inker were contentedly curled up together and Prejudice was perched a ways away sulking. Katara shook her head and stood; unable to close her mouth she was so ashamed of what she’d let happen. She straightened her dress, silently called Pride and Prejudice to her, the former of which came rather reluctantly, and left as quickly and quietly as she could.
Katara snuck back into the Hold as silently as she could, reaching her rooms without being heard. Just as she was about to slip through her door though she heard the sound of motion to her right and froze, turning just her head toward the sound. It was only her sister, Lilian, and she sighed in relief, turning the rest of her body to face her and placing a hand to her chest to indicate how much her sister had frightened her.
Lilian’s worried look did not fade however and she quietly ushered her younger sister into the room and shut the door as soundlessly as possible. As soon as the door was closed Lilian rounded on her sister with as much worry in her voice as a whisper could betray. “Where have you been? Mama was asking after you earlier and I had to lie and tell her you were already in bed.”
“Well I thank you for that,” replied Katara with a sigh as she turned to sink into the bed. “As to where I’ve been I’d rather forget.”
“What?” asked Lilian, concern replacing the anger in her voice.
“I’ve been with Masterprinter Karleton.”
“There’s nothing terrible about that, I know the two of you are good friends.”
“But even I didn’t realize how close Pride and his flit Inker had gotten,” said Katara, letting her head fall into her hands in shame.
“Pride and Inker?” queried Lilian then stopped as her mouth formed an ‘o’ of realization. “Did Pride fly tonight?”
Katara merely nodded her head in misery, keeping her face concealed in her hands.
“And you? Oh my,” said Lilian, moving to sit gingerly on the bed beside her sister. “I knew you and the Masterprinter were close, but I had no idea that you were that close.”
“I didn’t either!” cried Katara, jumping up in a fit of sudden rage. “I thought we were just friends, but what if he felt something more? It’s one thing for flit induced desire to bring us together like that, but if he feels something for me things will never be the same!”
“You don’t feel that way for him?”
“Not at all! He’s a wonderful man, but just not my type. I’m looking for more than what he can offer me.”
“Dear, I think you need to stop reading so much, how could you possibly do better than marrying the Masterprinter?”
“I just know there’s something better out there for me!” snapped Katara turning her back on her sister as she stared out at the darkness beyond her windows. She hadn’t meant to snap at her sister and turned in surprise as she heard the click of the door latch closing behind Lilian. Katara felt the tears begin to flow down her cheeks and she threw herself to her bed and cried herself to sleep.
Katara refused to respond to any of the messages Inker brought to her; in fact she seldom even read them, merely discarding them. Those she did read left her in tears, as it was obvious that Karleton felt more for her than she could ever feel for him.
Several sevendays passed and another Gather rapidly approached. Katara finally realized that she couldn’t avoid the Masterprinter forever and sent him a brief, perfunctory note as to when and where to meet her at the Gather. She requested that he meet her after dinner and so Katara spent the entire Gather nervously wandering the stalls, staying as far from the Printer Hall booth as she could.
When the time came for her to meet Karleton Katara was feeling terrible, one hand pressed to her stomach she sat on the bench and waited. She didn’t have to wait long before Karleton found her. He walked up, love in his eyes and his manner, but he maintained a healthy distance, no doubt worried as to why she’d never answered any of his letters.
“Katara,” he began, his voice betraying the feelings she’d tried to convince herself he didn’t feel, “how are you?”
Katara shook her head, trying to suppress a wave of nausea that suddenly gripped her and opened her mouth to reply, but the words that left her lips were not the indifferent response she’d intended to give. “Pregnant.”
Karleton gasped in shock and Katara closed her eyes in regret as she hadn’t intended to tell him what she’d merely suspected. “Are you sure?”
Katara nodded miserably; there was no point in denying it, even to herself, as she was showing all the symptoms.
“Darling, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I only just admitted it to myself recently. It’s not exactly something one wants to believe.”
“But you had to know that I’ll take care of you,” said Karleton, settling beside her on the bench and putting an arm around her shoulders, which she immediately shrugged off.
“I don’t want you to ‘take care of’ me!” she said, standing too quickly and having to steady herself on a nearby tree as another bout of nausea gripped her. “I wasn’t even going to tell you.”
“But Katara, I love you, why wouldn’t you tell me that you’re going to have my baby?”
“Not your baby!” Katara almost growled, through clenched teeth. “My baby, no matter who sired it.”
“Katara, you’re obviously not well, let me take you inside,” said Karleton, frowning in concern. “Once you feel better we’ll talk about this more rationally.”
“I’m perfectly rational!” snapped Katara, turning to walk away, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks, though she couldn’t for the life of her say why she was crying.
Karleton just remained sitting there, somewhat dumbfounded by her behavior and Katara was glad of the chance to escape his loving gaze. As she stumbled back into the hold Pride came flying over to her, chirping and crooning happily. Katara glared up at the flit, “What do you want? Want to get me in trouble again?”
Pride squawked in surprise and offense and immediately winked out of sight. Katara shook her head and sighed, heading towards her bedroom but was forced to make a detour to the bathroom on her way. She curled up in her bed, Prejudice crooning soothingly and curling up at her back while Pride chirped angrily from the corner of the room.
“Katara!” boomed her mother as she stormed down the hall towards her daughter’s door. “Katara, you wretched girl, why haven’t you been to see me?”
She threw the door open so hard to bounced back and would have hit her as she strode into the room had she not put an arm out to stop it. Her scowl deepened as she saw the state the room was in and the two flits curled up by the window, chirping indignantly at the commotion she was making. Katara wasn’t in her room and the woman whirled around preparing to bellow for her when her daughter came stumbling in from the direction of the bathroom. Katara groaned when she saw her mother standing there and immediately brushed past her, barely keeping herself on her feet long enough to collapse onto the bed and curl up under her covers.
Her mother just stood there, mouth agape in astonishment, but fury simmering in her eyes. When she’d regained her voice she closed her mouth and scowled at her youngest daughter. “What’s this I hear about you refusing a perfectly good marriage proposal?”
“I did no such thing,” moaned Katara, pulling the covers over her head, in no mood to deal with her mother’s temper when she was fighting morning sickness.
“Yes you did, I heard it from Masterprinter Karleton himself. Came to seek my approval in approaching you again. I may not like the Printer Hall much myself but much of Pern would think it a great honor to be married to the man in charge of it. I’ll not let you throw away that opportunity especially the way the Masterprinter hangs all over you. Don’t you think I haven’t seen the way you run off to meet with him every chance you get! And now you would refuse him and shame us all!” Finally her mother sat, her face screwing up as she tried a different tack to get her daughter to listen to her and false sobs escaped her throat.
Katara threw the covers off of her standing up in a hurry ready to scream at her mother for being so manipulative but in her anger she’d forgotten that standing too quickly caused her stomach to become unsettled. Placing one hand over her mouth and another on her stomach she ran from the room, back to the bathroom where she hung over the chamber pot while her stomach relieved itself of what little she had left in there.
Her mother soon came into the bathroom behind her as she’d been unable to shut the door in her haste and as soon as she could Katara sat back and turned to stare in misery at her mother, whose expression had become one of wide-eyed revelation.
“It’s even worse than I thought, isn’t it? You let that Printer man get you pregnant, didn’t you? And still you would refuse his hand?”
“I didn’t let him, mother, it just happened,” replied Katara, swallowing hard to avoid throwing up again.
“But still you would refuse to marry him when he asked, and he must know about the baby!”
“Yes, I would still refuse him, mother. I’ll not spend my life married to someone I don’t love just because I was foolish enough to ‘let him’ get me pregnant,” yelled Katara, pulling herself to her feet, disdain dripping from her every word. “And I’ll not let you bully me into marrying him either. I’d rather be a disgrace and have a child out of wedlock than live my life wishing I’d followed my dreams!”
At that moment Pride, obviously egg-heavy and Prejudice came zipping into the room drawn by their master’s roiling emotions. Katara’s mother took one look at Pride’s distended belly and her mouth fell open in an ‘O’ of comprehension and then her disapproving scowl returned.
“You’d best find somewhere else to live with your bastard then, Katara, I’ll be danged if I’ll let you raise the ill-begotten child of a dratted flit’s flight in my house! Pack your things and find yourself a new home!” and with that she turned and stormed away muttering to herself about the ungratefulness of her youngest girl.
Katara sagged, and would have toppled to the ground if Lilian hadn’t rushed into the room then and supported her sister as they made their way back to Katara’s bedroom.
Katara stood by her bed, carefully folding her garments and placing them in the carryall she’d managed to scrounge. Her eyes periodically filled with tears then went cold and hard in anger as her pregnancy affected her emotions. She didn’t know where she was going, but her mother had made it abundantly clear that she was to leave the hold no matter what. She soon found herself overcome with her tears and she slid to the floor leaning forward on the bed and letting her tears be absorbed by the thick blankets.
The soft click of the door being carefully opened caused her to look up and wipe the tears away. Lilian walked softly across the room holding out a piece of paper to her sister. Frowning in puzzlement Katara stood long enough to sit herself more comfortably on the bed as she took the paper and read the note written there.
Lilian,
I’m quite glad you chose to write to me on this subject. The Weyr would be most pleased to take in your sister and her unborn child. As I’m sure you realized the Weyrs do not look so scornfully on being pregnant out of wedlock as each new life brought into this world is a blessing, and not to mention another pair of helping hands that is always welcome! I would send transport for your sister but in her condition she should by no means be going between and I suspect she would have an easier time coming on runnerback. If that isn’t possible please contact me again and we’ll see what we can arrange. Don’t worry, we won’t let your sister go homeless, but be sure you inform her that she’ll be expected to earn her keep when she gets here for as long as the pregnancy will allow it.
Clear Skies,
Weyrwoman Yakima of Falas Weyr
Katara looked up at her sister in disbelief then read through the note again and again. “Is it true?”
“Of course it’s true, you read it didn’t you?” said Lilian, sitting down on the bed beside her sister. “I couldn’t bear to think of you leaving here with no where to go so I lured Pride to me and had her send Prejudice, he won’t listen to me you know, I shooed him away from my shoulder one too many times.”
Katara threw her arms around her sister and muttered a stream of thank you’s as she did so. “I can’t believe it. I’m to go live in the Weyr! I knew everything happened for a reason and some good came out of every mistake but I was having a hard time coming up with any good in this situation. Thank you so much, Lilian!”
“Well,” Lilian laughed softly as she pushed her sister back, “you have to promise to send one of your flits with messages from time to time and let me know when the baby’s born so I can find an excuse to visit.”
“Of course, of course!” cried Katara hugging her sister tightly again and then returning to her packing, wiping tears from her cheeks as she resumed folding her garments with new enthusiasm. “I just can’t believe it, Weyrwoman Yakima must be a wonderful woman indeed to accept me into her Weyr like this.”
Months later Katara was well settled in at Falas. Her experience helping in the kitchen back at the hold allowed her to fit into the kitchen staff quite nicely and she spent much of her time there. Or had until the Weyr Healer had informed her that she needed to take things easy until the baby was born. Her belly was now quite large and the Weyr Healer expected her to give birth within the next month or two.
Katara took a deep breath and heaved herself up onto her feet. She was tired of lying about her small room in the lower caverns and as the Weyr Healer was not entirely opposed to her walking around occasionally she decided to stretch her legs. Katara wandered past the kitchens, wishing she could go in and help but knowing her gravid form would have difficulty maneuvering around the bustling kitchen. She heaved a sigh, her hands unconsciously moving to her belly. She kept walking and soon found herself at the entrance to the hatching grounds. Having heard that a new clutch had been laid recently she wandered quietly down toward the sands. There were actually three clutches on the sands, two looking rather close to hatching and the other the most recent. Katara sighed as she suddenly felt weary and found herself a place to sit and rest for a moment.
Three sets of dragon eyes swung to regard her as she sat and she suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious under all those searching gazes. The green and the white disregarded her rather quickly but the third dragon, silver-white Silivrosth continued to watch her. Katara frowned in discomfort and would have left if she’d had the energy to haul herself to her feet, but as it was she was stuck where she was until her energy returned to her. Silivrosth’s gaze didn’t stray until another woman entered the huge cavern that contained the hatching sands. The silver-white’s eyes swirled in excitement as the woman walked up to her and Katara realized she must be the dragon’s rider. She relaxed with the dragon’s intense gaze off of her but was soon disturbed by a voice.
“Excuse me? I’m sorry to bother you, but-” said the woman and Katara started as she realized she was being addressed. “Who are you?”
“Katara, I work- Well, I used to work in the kitchens but I’m kind of out of commission for a while,” she replied, blushing as she ran a hand over her distended belly. “I didn’t mean to disturb the dragons I just wandered down here and then became too tired to get back to my room. It’s a long walk, and it is rather peaceful in here.”
“Oh no, you’re not disturbing anyone. Silivrosth merely called me in here to meet you.” With that the woman glanced at her dragon with a questioning look in her eyes and then walked back out of the cavern.
Katara frowned in confusion as she watched the woman leave but then shrugged and started working on hauling herself to her tired, swollen feet. She managed to get as far as the entrance before the woman, Maeve she thought her name was, came back with the Weyrwoman in tow. Katara gulped and froze, leaning against the wall; afraid she was about to get into trouble.
Yakima smiled though and Katara relaxed as much as her condition and her confusion would allow. But still she worried as Yakima stopped to talk to her and she immediately began trying to explain. “I’m sorry Weyrwoman, I didn’t mean to disturb the dragons I merely wandered down here and didn’t have the energy to walk back to my room immediately.”
Yakima smiled and shook her head. “You’re not in trouble Katara, it seems Silivrosth, who usually does the Searching for the FGPC, has picked you out and wishes you to be a candidate for her clutch.”
“Me?” squeaked Katara in disbelief, feeling her knees grow weak beneath her. She sagged against the wall, one arm attempting to support her against the wall the other clutched protectively around her belly. Once she could support herself again she turned back to face Yakima and Maeve, who were both watching her with concern in their eyes. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“Quite serious,” replied Maeve with an understanding smile. “Dragons are seldom wrong about these things.”
Katara didn’t reply but her gaze fell to her stomach and she ran a self-conscious hand over her belly. Yakima seemed to sense her concern and attempted to reassure her. “The child would have to be fostered if you impressed but I believe you were planning that anyway, weren’t you? So you could return to your work in the kitchens, right? Well, you’ll just be caring for a dragon instead of working in the kitchens.”
“You really think I would impress?”
“You’ve got a shot and if the mother of the clutch wants you you’ve got an even better chance.”
It took a full minute for Katara to remember to breathe and Yakima and Maeve exchanged a glance that showed they understood her shock. Once Katara could draw breath again she nodded vigorously and Yakima smiled. “I’ll take care of getting you signed up then. You just take care of yourself until the hatching, if the baby’s not born by then I don’t want the Weyr Healer putting you on full bed rest and forcing you to miss the hatching.”
Katara nodded mutely and turned to waddle back to her room. Her, a candidate for silver-white Silivrosth’s clutch? She could hardly believe it. Suddenly her mandatory rest seemed less tedious than it had. Katara returned to her room and laid down on the bed, her mind swimming with the thought of actually being a dragonrider.
The soft click of the door being carefully opened caused her to look up and wipe the tears away. Lilian walked softly across the room holding out a piece of paper to her sister. Frowning in puzzlement Katara stood long enough to sit herself more comfortably on the bed as she took the paper and read the note written there.
Lilian,
I’m quite glad you chose to write to me on this subject. The Weyr would be most pleased to take in your sister and her unborn child. As I’m sure you realized the Weyrs do not look so scornfully on being pregnant out of wedlock as each new life brought into this world is a blessing, and not to mention another pair of helping hands that is always welcome! I would send transport for your sister but in her condition she should by no means be going between and I suspect she would have an easier time coming on runnerback. If that isn’t possible please contact me again and we’ll see what we can arrange. Don’t worry, we won’t let your sister go homeless, but be sure you inform her that she’ll be expected to earn her keep when she gets here for as long as the pregnancy will allow it.
Clear Skies,
Weyrwoman Yakima of Falas Weyr
Katara looked up at her sister in disbelief then read through the note again and again. “Is it true?”
“Of course it’s true, you read it didn’t you?” said Lilian, sitting down on the bed beside her sister. “I couldn’t bear to think of you leaving here with no where to go so I lured Pride to me and had her send Prejudice, he won’t listen to me you know, I shooed him away from my shoulder one too many times.”
Katara threw her arms around her sister and muttered a stream of thank you’s as she did so. “I can’t believe it. I’m to go live in the Weyr! I knew everything happened for a reason and some good came out of every mistake but I was having a hard time coming up with any good in this situation. Thank you so much, Lilian!”
“Well,” Lilian laughed softly as she pushed her sister back, “you have to promise to send one of your flits with messages from time to time and let me know when the baby’s born so I can find an excuse to visit.”
“Of course, of course!” cried Katara hugging her sister tightly again and then returning to her packing, wiping tears from her cheeks as she resumed folding her garments with new enthusiasm. “I just can’t believe it, Weyrwoman Yakima must be a wonderful woman indeed to accept me into her Weyr like this.”
Months later Katara was well settled in at Falas. Her experience helping in the kitchen back at the hold allowed her to fit into the kitchen staff quite nicely and she spent much of her time there. Or had until the Weyr Healer had informed her that she needed to take things easy until the baby was born. Her belly was now quite large and the Weyr Healer expected her to give birth within the next month or two.
Katara took a deep breath and heaved herself up onto her feet. She was tired of lying about her small room in the lower caverns and as the Weyr Healer was not entirely opposed to her walking around occasionally she decided to stretch her legs. Katara wandered past the kitchens, wishing she could go in and help but knowing her gravid form would have difficulty maneuvering around the bustling kitchen. She heaved a sigh, her hands unconsciously moving to her belly. She kept walking and soon found herself at the entrance to the hatching grounds. Having heard that a new clutch had been laid recently she wandered quietly down toward the sands. There were actually three clutches on the sands, two looking rather close to hatching and the other the most recent. Katara sighed as she suddenly felt weary and found herself a place to sit and rest for a moment.
Three sets of dragon eyes swung to regard her as she sat and she suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious under all those searching gazes. The green and the white disregarded her rather quickly but the third dragon, silver-white Silivrosth continued to watch her. Katara frowned in discomfort and would have left if she’d had the energy to haul herself to her feet, but as it was she was stuck where she was until her energy returned to her. Silivrosth’s gaze didn’t stray until another woman entered the huge cavern that contained the hatching sands. The silver-white’s eyes swirled in excitement as the woman walked up to her and Katara realized she must be the dragon’s rider. She relaxed with the dragon’s intense gaze off of her but was soon disturbed by a voice.
“Excuse me? I’m sorry to bother you, but-” said the woman and Katara started as she realized she was being addressed. “Who are you?”
“Katara, I work- Well, I used to work in the kitchens but I’m kind of out of commission for a while,” she replied, blushing as she ran a hand over her distended belly. “I didn’t mean to disturb the dragons I just wandered down here and then became too tired to get back to my room. It’s a long walk, and it is rather peaceful in here.”
“Oh no, you’re not disturbing anyone. Silivrosth merely called me in here to meet you.” With that the woman glanced at her dragon with a questioning look in her eyes and then walked back out of the cavern.
Katara frowned in confusion as she watched the woman leave but then shrugged and started working on hauling herself to her tired, swollen feet. She managed to get as far as the entrance before the woman, Maeve she thought her name was, came back with the Weyrwoman in tow. Katara gulped and froze, leaning against the wall; afraid she was about to get into trouble.
Yakima smiled though and Katara relaxed as much as her condition and her confusion would allow. But still she worried as Yakima stopped to talk to her and she immediately began trying to explain. “I’m sorry Weyrwoman, I didn’t mean to disturb the dragons I merely wandered down here and didn’t have the energy to walk back to my room immediately.”
Yakima smiled and shook her head. “You’re not in trouble Katara, it seems Silivrosth, who usually does the Searching for the FGPC, has picked you out and wishes you to be a candidate for her clutch.”
“Me?” squeaked Katara in disbelief, feeling her knees grow weak beneath her. She sagged against the wall, one arm attempting to support her against the wall the other clutched protectively around her belly. Once she could support herself again she turned back to face Yakima and Maeve, who were both watching her with concern in their eyes. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“Quite serious,” replied Maeve with an understanding smile. “Dragons are seldom wrong about these things.”
Katara didn’t reply but her gaze fell to her stomach and she ran a self-conscious hand over her belly. Yakima seemed to sense her concern and attempted to reassure her. “The child would have to be fostered if you impressed but I believe you were planning that anyway, weren’t you? So you could return to your work in the kitchens, right? Well, you’ll just be caring for a dragon instead of working in the kitchens.”
“You really think I would impress?”
“You’ve got a shot and if the mother of the clutch wants you you’ve got an even better chance.”
It took a full minute for Katara to remember to breathe and Yakima and Maeve exchanged a glance that showed they understood her shock. Once Katara could draw breath again she nodded vigorously and Yakima smiled. “I’ll take care of getting you signed up then. You just take care of yourself until the hatching, if the baby’s not born by then I don’t want the Weyr Healer putting you on full bed rest and forcing you to miss the hatching.”
Katara nodded mutely and turned to waddle back to her room. Her, a candidate for silver-white Silivrosth’s clutch? She could hardly believe it. Suddenly her mandatory rest seemed less tedious than it had. Katara returned to her room and laid down on the bed, her mind swimming with the thought of actually being a dragonrider.
The day of the hatching finally arrived and Katara pulled her white candidate robe over her now largely protruding belly. A searing pain suddenly lanced through her middle and Katara gasped as she doubled over and supported herself with one hand on her bed. The other hand clutched at her stomach as the pain subsided. Eyes wide in apprehension and remembered pain Katara looked frantically about her room. The humming from the sands became louder and more intense and as the memory of the pain subsided Katara chose to shrug it off. She raced, as fast as her gravid form allowed, to the sands and found herself a spot in the middle of the group where it would be less likely for someone not on the sands to notice that the pregnant candidate was in the beginning stages of labor.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice. All spectator eyes were on the rapidly rocking eggs and all the candidates were all too wrapped up in their own fears, doubts, and hopes to notice. Katara kept one hand pressed to her belly at all times and almost doubled over with a sharp intake of breath with each contraction. She barely saw the hatchlings that impressed, having only a vague impression of green, bronze, blue and then green again. She tried to pay attention but her mind was on overload. She would not miss the hatching though and no matter how badly she needed something to lean on or how much her stomach pained her she would not leave the sands.
Katara pressed her other hand to her stomach and gasped her face scrunching up as she fought back the urge to cry out. The contractions were coming more frequently now and she winced at the pain as it subsided slowly. (You are not well. You should see a healer,) said a voice and Katara’s head snapped up to find Silivrosth watching her in concern. Katara tried to smile, but could tell it was weak and managed to whisper in an obviously strained voice, “I’ll be fine.”
::Katara! I'm here now. You don't have to wait anymore. Let's go:: came a voice and Katara gasped as she turned her head from the mother to see the daughter. And a beautiful daughter she was, too. Not quite white; she was pale in color, yes, but the late sunlight shimmered on her hide to show crystalline specks of blue dotting her hide everywhere. Katara gasped at the beauty of the little creature and, for one glorious moment able to ignore the pain lancing through her, reached out to caress the beautiful snow-crystal’s head knobs.
“We should get you fed first, Siveth,” Katara said, her voice still strained and weak despite the strength her newfound bond was lending her. Siveth crooned softly, shaking her tiny head wildly. ::I'll eat when you see a Healer,:: was the response and Katara could hardly argue as she winced and all but fell, Siveth moving just in time to support her as the two of them made their slow awkward way out of the sands.
The Weyrhealer was waiting at the edge of the sands and with assistants to take the burden of supporting Katara from the little hatchling, she quickly removed Katara from the vicinity. Katara, now almost entirely supported by a person on each side of her, allowed her head to roll back so she could look behind her, where little Siveth had been left all alone in the Weyrbowl. “Siveth!” she called weakly and the Weyrhealer called back orders for someone to see to the hatchling’s needs.
Katara began to weep then, ashamed that she could not be there to take care of her own hatchling and frightened of the pain she still felt in her stomach. Surely it was not supposed to hurt like this? She tried to inquire of one of the healers but at that point they were all business and calmly helped her onto the birthing table, muttering soothing words as the Weyrhealer tried desperately to get Katara to calm down and listen.
A sharp sting across her cheek brought Katara back from her emotional down spiral and she looked up in surprise as the Weyrhealer was rubbing her hand after smacking her across the cheek. “Now listen, girl, or we’ll never get this baby out of you. You’re going to have to push, and pushing will be even more painful than the contractions, but you still have to do it. When it’s all over we’ll let you breastfeed the baby and then you can go back to your dragon, she’ll be fine until then, I promise you.”
Katara nodded her understanding and got ready. The Weyrhealer had instructed her in what to do before but she was glad of the woman’s frank reminders now with the pain of the contractions and the joy of her impression muddling her thoughts. ::I am here with you:: said Siveth in her head and Katara gasped in relief to hear her dragon’s voice at a time like this.
Are you being fed, love? asked Katara as she prepared for her first push, glad of the ability to focus on something other than the pain and the strain of labor.
::I am hungry but I will wait for you to feed me:: came the gentle reply and Katara could almost hear the soothing croon of her dragon in her gentle voice. Katara could no longer remove herself from the situation though as she was forced to push and focus all her mental and physical energy on sustaining it.
Several long bouts of pushing with short periods of rest later and Katara gasped as she fell back on the table, the loud wailing of her child soothing her frazzled nerves and the gentle reassuring touch of Siveth’s mind relaxing her further. The Weyrhealer wrapped the child in soft furs and brought her to her mother. Katara smiled softly at the infant, a tiny little boy, and laid her head back so one of the healers could open her robe enough for the baby to be able to breastfeed.
Katara laid back, the sensation strange and yet oddly relaxing and felt herself begin to drift to sleep. More than halfway there she snapped awake again as she felt Siveth’s hunger like a knife. “Siveth!” she cried, or at least she thought she did. It came out more of a croak and the Weyrhealer shook her head.
::I am here.::
“That little one’s been refusing food, or so I’m told. If you’re up to a move we’ll take you to your room. Siveth can join you there and you can feed her.”
“Please,” croaked Katara, glancing down to see her son had fallen asleep in her arms. She smiled softly and closed her eyes for a moment.
Several drowsy minutes later Katara was back in her own bed, Siveth snoozing contentedly on the floor beside it, her belly distended from all the meat she’d devoured. Katara heaved a happy sigh and allowed herself to drift into a very pleasant, deep sleep.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice. All spectator eyes were on the rapidly rocking eggs and all the candidates were all too wrapped up in their own fears, doubts, and hopes to notice. Katara kept one hand pressed to her belly at all times and almost doubled over with a sharp intake of breath with each contraction. She barely saw the hatchlings that impressed, having only a vague impression of green, bronze, blue and then green again. She tried to pay attention but her mind was on overload. She would not miss the hatching though and no matter how badly she needed something to lean on or how much her stomach pained her she would not leave the sands.
Katara pressed her other hand to her stomach and gasped her face scrunching up as she fought back the urge to cry out. The contractions were coming more frequently now and she winced at the pain as it subsided slowly. (You are not well. You should see a healer,) said a voice and Katara’s head snapped up to find Silivrosth watching her in concern. Katara tried to smile, but could tell it was weak and managed to whisper in an obviously strained voice, “I’ll be fine.”
::Katara! I'm here now. You don't have to wait anymore. Let's go:: came a voice and Katara gasped as she turned her head from the mother to see the daughter. And a beautiful daughter she was, too. Not quite white; she was pale in color, yes, but the late sunlight shimmered on her hide to show crystalline specks of blue dotting her hide everywhere. Katara gasped at the beauty of the little creature and, for one glorious moment able to ignore the pain lancing through her, reached out to caress the beautiful snow-crystal’s head knobs.
“We should get you fed first, Siveth,” Katara said, her voice still strained and weak despite the strength her newfound bond was lending her. Siveth crooned softly, shaking her tiny head wildly. ::I'll eat when you see a Healer,:: was the response and Katara could hardly argue as she winced and all but fell, Siveth moving just in time to support her as the two of them made their slow awkward way out of the sands.
The Weyrhealer was waiting at the edge of the sands and with assistants to take the burden of supporting Katara from the little hatchling, she quickly removed Katara from the vicinity. Katara, now almost entirely supported by a person on each side of her, allowed her head to roll back so she could look behind her, where little Siveth had been left all alone in the Weyrbowl. “Siveth!” she called weakly and the Weyrhealer called back orders for someone to see to the hatchling’s needs.
Katara began to weep then, ashamed that she could not be there to take care of her own hatchling and frightened of the pain she still felt in her stomach. Surely it was not supposed to hurt like this? She tried to inquire of one of the healers but at that point they were all business and calmly helped her onto the birthing table, muttering soothing words as the Weyrhealer tried desperately to get Katara to calm down and listen.
A sharp sting across her cheek brought Katara back from her emotional down spiral and she looked up in surprise as the Weyrhealer was rubbing her hand after smacking her across the cheek. “Now listen, girl, or we’ll never get this baby out of you. You’re going to have to push, and pushing will be even more painful than the contractions, but you still have to do it. When it’s all over we’ll let you breastfeed the baby and then you can go back to your dragon, she’ll be fine until then, I promise you.”
Katara nodded her understanding and got ready. The Weyrhealer had instructed her in what to do before but she was glad of the woman’s frank reminders now with the pain of the contractions and the joy of her impression muddling her thoughts. ::I am here with you:: said Siveth in her head and Katara gasped in relief to hear her dragon’s voice at a time like this.
Are you being fed, love? asked Katara as she prepared for her first push, glad of the ability to focus on something other than the pain and the strain of labor.
::I am hungry but I will wait for you to feed me:: came the gentle reply and Katara could almost hear the soothing croon of her dragon in her gentle voice. Katara could no longer remove herself from the situation though as she was forced to push and focus all her mental and physical energy on sustaining it.
Several long bouts of pushing with short periods of rest later and Katara gasped as she fell back on the table, the loud wailing of her child soothing her frazzled nerves and the gentle reassuring touch of Siveth’s mind relaxing her further. The Weyrhealer wrapped the child in soft furs and brought her to her mother. Katara smiled softly at the infant, a tiny little boy, and laid her head back so one of the healers could open her robe enough for the baby to be able to breastfeed.
Katara laid back, the sensation strange and yet oddly relaxing and felt herself begin to drift to sleep. More than halfway there she snapped awake again as she felt Siveth’s hunger like a knife. “Siveth!” she cried, or at least she thought she did. It came out more of a croak and the Weyrhealer shook her head.
::I am here.::
“That little one’s been refusing food, or so I’m told. If you’re up to a move we’ll take you to your room. Siveth can join you there and you can feed her.”
“Please,” croaked Katara, glancing down to see her son had fallen asleep in her arms. She smiled softly and closed her eyes for a moment.
Several drowsy minutes later Katara was back in her own bed, Siveth snoozing contentedly on the floor beside it, her belly distended from all the meat she’d devoured. Katara heaved a happy sigh and allowed herself to drift into a very pleasant, deep sleep.
Not yet...
Not yet...
Not yet...
