"Ryslen Weyr isn't too far that way," T'nor indicated. "And here is Two River Hold."
"Look at those fields! I've never seen so many berries in my life! They've as many berries as we've got cherry trees!" Baryn exclaimed.
"They probably do," T'nor laughed. The lad had obviously not been fazed by being between. At that thought, T'nor turned and asked, "so, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"What?... Oh! No, it was like... I don't know, nothing. Cold nothing. But by the Egg! It sure is warm here!"
"Welcome to the south," the trader replied with a smile. "With that tan of yours you'll fit right in, so I wish you luck. There's the area we must land in, see it?"
"It's not far from the vintner stands. Good! Hey... maybe when the competitions start, Razelth could go between with the wine again..."
Laughing, T'nor urged his blue to land, and was greeted happily by some of the locals.
"You go on and take these things to the stall ... There's Ablan's hold flag, they'll take you in, I think." T'nor said, once they'd landed and taken down the crates.
"Good to have you with us, Baryn," announced one of the Master vintners. "Your work will get something... All those berries are--"
"They're fresh-pressed! They'll have to bring out last season's brews if they want to compete with ours!" Baryn said, excited. He helped put out their wines, and noticed that there were at least two dragons who had come along from 'somewhere' with huge chunks of ice to serve at the Gather.
"Berried Alive," muttered Baryn. "It sure is... Look at them all!"
"Go look at them closely, boy," said Baryn's father. "I want to see if you know what to do with them. We'll be taking home as much as we're allowed. We've quite a lot of buying power here at this Gather."
"Ah! That's right!" Baryn said, "you brought cherries fresh picked too..."
Someone poked Baryn with a baguette, and held out a cup with a hot mixture of berry sauce. "You have to try this. I have NEVER tasted anything so sweet!"
Baryn was soon lost in the brilliant wonder of the Gather. He looked over the berry patch, noting that the dark soil here certainly wouldn't support the cherry trees like Ablan's did, and that they probably would have a hard time with these little berry plants at Ablan. It was good they could compete this way, then.
The baking competitions held wonderful surprises. Everyone got something passed to them with a berry topping, a crumbled-pastry, sauces, or scattered among the plates. Water and wine were exchanged liberally to make sure everyone's palate was cleared each time they tried something new.
And the smells! Coming from the stalls alone, there were breads and stews and more sweet berry scent than even the Cherry festival held. And, Baryn noted with a grin, berries rarely had to be pitted the way cherries did...
By noon, the entire Gather was in full swing. There were people with flitters racing, there were dragons over head with banners tied to their tails -- Baryn laughed, and wondered if the dragons could read what their signs said? There was a tight knit clump of blue riders, looking oddly at everyone who passed by them. Shrugging them off, Baryn moved by to the dancing square.
A candlemark later, he returned to the Ablan booth, to help with the wine tasting. T'nor couldn't be located, so Baryn's idea of having their wines sent between to freshen its chill wasn't going to happen. He was halfway disappointed that he couldn't just summon the beautiful blue dragon himself, he after all had 'ridden' once, and could probably do so again.
One of the blue riders from Ryslen came ambling by, with another of his cohorts shortly behind him. They looked as if they had enjoyed little of the wines, but much of the pastries that the Gather had to offer. Perhaps they had to ride sober.
As if to allay that worry, one of them flipped a coin at Baryn, and asked for one of the skins he'd brought with him.
"You don't want to just try it first?" Baryn asked, astonished.
"I know it'll be a change from the berry wines," said one of them. "Don't you think, J'lenn?"
"I think you spend too much money on things," J'lenn replied. "You could save some for the--"
"I don't need to save anything, wherry-brain, this is a Gather, after all." Both riders looked at Baryn with the same strange out-of-focus look at the same time, and then glanced at each other. "Besides, I'll be back here. They'll owe me more wine, right?" He nudged Baryn after the vintner had handed him his skin of wine.
"S-- sure," he said, looking oddly at his father. His father shrugged, and went back to his discussion with one of the local bakers about which wine and bread went best with what meats. By the time Baryn had turned back to the pair of riders, they were both vanishing into the crowd.
"Huh," Baryn sighed. He flipped the mark into the air, and admired it. It was a dragonrider's mark, valued far higher than most traders or crafters. The work those dragonriders did for the world was ... well, it was too precious for words let alone Marks in value. Baryn turned back to his work, as the sun dipped lower.
Three crates of berries were delivered to Ablan's tent, good ones. Ones which Baryn had a hand in selecting. They were not-quite-ripe, just perfect for waiting in the warm climate here, and then transport to the more temperate area of Ablan to be used in wines there. Perhaps Baryn would be using some...
There was a blast of noise, coming from the dragons. Had something happened?
That didn't seem likely, the dragons were all just crooning as if they were happy. Yes, they had to be, Baryn could see close enough to them from Ablan's tent that their eyes were whirling a pleased blue-color. He remembered his harper lessons, that his mother taught, well: each shade of dragon eye meant something new. Sea blue was going to mean something nice had happened.
Then, people on foot began clearing a wide path through the tents and stalls. Baryn had wondered why the gather grounds were so spread out, but then his wonder ceased: there were four blue dragons walking slowly through the area. The riders, the same two riders who had come paying exorbinant prices for their wine, passed by the stall.
Two blue dragons, one lighter and the other a medium shade, peered into the stall under the tent flap. Their warm breath and swirling eyes entranced Baryn, though it seemed to unnerve the others in the tent.
"Well well," said the one rider, "I thought so." He nodded and had a huge grin on his silly face.
"You thought? Amitath thought." J'lenn grunted. "But so did Scith."
"... Amitath, Scith?" Said Baryn weakly, looking from the riders to their dragons.
"Boy catches on quick," said J'rin. "We're searching boy, and you've been found." He thumbed toward the nearby dragon. "Amitath insists it's you I've been looking for over here. He's been eager at me like this ever since you arrived."
"But... But, searching means that I'd be standing. And standing might mean I'd impress. I'm a Vintner! How could I impress?"
"You could impress a blue," suggested T'nor who had appeared to startle the other pair of riders, "and you could do as I do, and travel for your wares... It's worth a try, isn't it lad?"
With a glazed look on his soft face, Baryn realized that he could indeed impress, if a dragon found him proper. And if that happened, he'd surely be able to show how much more he really was, to everyone!
