Gone Away, Gone Ahead - 37. Prejudice

In the few days that had passed since Thread fell over the Weyr, T’rai had recounted his story of the rescue many times since D’gar first heard it at the post-Fall Wing meeting. In all fairness to T’rai, he’d not elaborated much but others who’d heard the tale had added their own flourishes. Among the Benden green riders, he’d become something of a hero.

‘I think we should hold a party for him,’ H’rek suggested, after he came back from one of their regular meetings. ‘Everyone thinks it would be a great idea.’

‘Everyone?’

‘Well, you know, at the meeting.’

‘So I’ll have a weyr full of green riders if I say yes?’

H’rek cuddled up to him. ‘And what’s wrong with green riders? Anyway, didn’t you used to have famously wild parties back at Fort Weyr.’

‘I was young then.’

H’rek made a face. ‘So now you’re four hundred and twenty-three Turns old all that’s in the past?’

‘No. It’s just… the last party I had here didn’t turn out too well.’ It had been the night after he and H’rek argued, when he’d had too much to drink.

‘Oh, that. Well, I’ll be here this time, so if N’bras tries to get in bed with us, I’ll just push him out.’

‘I suppose it might be all right,’ he conceded reluctantly. It would be good for Wing morale and also to get riders from the different Weyrs mixing.

‘Also, Sh’ran told me he’d like to do something to mark J’rud being back in his own weyr again. There isn’t really enough room in either of their weyrs for a lot of people.’

J’rud had made good enough progress to be finally allowed out of the infirmary. Zurinth’s wing had also healed sufficiently for her to make a few cautious circuits of the Bowl each afternoon.

‘So you’re thinking we should hold a combined party to celebrate T’rai’s rescue and J’rud’s recovery?’

H’rek nodded. ‘If you want to, that is.’

‘It’s as good a reason as any.’ He was warming to the idea. ‘Who should we invite?’

‘Well, all of your Wing, obviously. A few of the green riders T’rai and I are friends with. Then as Sh’ran will be here, any of his clutchmates he’d like to come. And mine, too.’

‘Including those annoying bronzes I suppose.’ They’d all have to be invited. Not to do so would cause even more bad feeling. ‘How have they been with you lately?’

H’rek shrugged. ‘A few comments, but nothing I can’t handle. They’re not as nasty here as they were when we were away. I guess that’s because they’re not seeing F’drun every day.’

During the sevenday since they’d swapped around, D’gar hadn’t heard anything from S’fyn. He supposed that no news was good news, although it might just be that he’d not had the opportunity to report back. They’d agreed he’d pass any messages to riders from Benden who were sent down on standby for Threadfall days.

‘They’ve not been too bad in the drills we’ve done either.’ He’d carried on with the training sessions at F’lar’s request. There had been a few grumbles but nothing like the open hostility he’d encountered at the firestone dump in Southern. Maybe H’rek was right. Taken away from F’drun’s influence, the riders were far less objectionable.

‘So shall I pass on invites?’

‘Sure. I’ll sort out my lot. And maybe you could invite Bavi and some of her friends. I know M’rell was pining for some female company and a few of my wingriders wouldn’t be averse either.’

‘I’ll ask her. Hmm, you think she and M’rell might hit it off?’

‘You never know. Attraction’s a weird thing. I mean, I ended up with you.’ He ducked as H’rek threw a cushion at him.

Once J’rud got to know it was happening, he insisted on helping to organise the party. He sat and gave orders while H’rek, with Sh’ran’s assistance, spent most of an afternoon bringing extra tables and seats to the weyr. Zurinth wasn’t yet up to carrying furniture, so Rioth and Herebeth were roped in to help.

I hope there won’t be too many dragons on my ledge this time. Herebeth sounded grumpy.

D’gar was surprised he still remembered; dragons tended to forget things quickly. It just went to show how upset he’d been by the invasion. I’ll make sure they drop their riders off then go back to their own weyrs, all right?

Good.

‘Could you just move that second table a bit closer to the wall?’ J’rud asked.

D’gar rolled his eyes. ‘How many times have we moved this stuff around?’

‘Too many,’ Sh’ran sighed. ‘Still, at least he’s happy.’

‘It has to be right,’ J’rud insisted, having overheard them. ‘People need to be able to circulate freely and to get to the food easily.’

Eventually he approved the arrangement and they were able to start putting out platters of food. The kitchens had excelled themselves. It had cost D’gar a few marks and he’d had to promise the use of four dragons from his Wing to ferry some of the Lower Caverns folk to pick herbs down in Nerat. It seemed like a fair exchange and the riders wouldn’t mind a day out anyway.

People started to arrive as the sun turned the evening sky orange and pink. Even the grey walls of the Bowl were lit up in warm colours. As those who hadn’t been before had a good look around the weyr, D’gar made sure J’rud was comfortable and that he had plenty to eat and drink. Within a short time, he was telling some of Sh’ran’s clutchmates exactly how his accident had happened. T’rai already had a circle around him and was answering all their questions with enthusiasm.

‘This is all very civilised,’ V’vil said, sipping from his cup. ‘Benden white and food fit for a Lord Holder’s banquet.’

‘Wait until they’ve had some more to drink and it’ll all go downhill.’ D’gar wondered if he’d have to try and stop someone climbing into the service hatch as had happened before. ‘Still, it’s good to see everyone enjoying themselves.’

‘Pity R’feem couldn’t be here.’

‘I did invite him, but he couldn’t get away. They had a late afternoon Fall over Fort today. Anyway, he seems to be enjoying his enforced rest. It’s always tough being separated from the one you love.’

‘Happens to us all sometimes.’

D’gar remembered that V’vil was involved with that young weyrwoman at High Reaches. Unlike R’feem, or even himself with H’rek, his trips back were infrequent. ‘How’s Pilgra?’

V’vil shrugged. ‘She’s getting by. The Weyr is more or less back to how it used to be and they’ve managed to repair the heating in the archives.’

‘Good.’ It had been freezing in there, he remembered. ‘Have you ever considered a transfer?’ He knew that V’vil wasn’t popular at High Reaches.

‘Don’t know as Benden would want me here permanently. And even if they did, I doubt Pilgra would be allowed to leave so easily.’

‘I suppose not.’ Similar to Fort, the gold dragons at High Reaches had been breeding less frequently as the Pass drew to a close. They’d want to keep hold of all their own queens now they were fighting Thread again.

‘In any case, High Reaches is my home. It’s T’kul who’s made it difficult.’ He sighed. ‘Still, he’s getting on in Turns and won’t be Weyrleader forever.’

‘There is that.’

‘How about you? Are you thinking about staying here?’

‘I have done.’ D’gar chose his words carefully, trying to distil the way he felt. ‘And it’s not just because I met H’rek. Coming here was like starting from square one again. Leaving behind my past.’

‘We all did that, in a single night.’ V’vil looked thoughtful. ‘But I understand what you’re saying. You lost your weyrmate back then, didn’t you?’

He nodded. ‘I was a mess after that. It’s thanks to R’feem I got through it. He’s a good Wingleader.’

‘You’re not doing a bad job of it yourself.’

‘I didn’t do so well the other day.’

‘You did fine. Even if you’d had more riders on sweep, it wouldn’t have made much difference.’

That was more or less what H’rek had said at the time, but it meant a lot more coming from someone with V’vil’s experience.

He carried on. ‘Anyway, T’rai’s never been so popular. Reckon he’ll have a lot of dragons after Hinarth next time she rises.’

‘Looks as if he’s doing all right for himself tonight.’ He glanced over to where T’rai was sitting very closely with one of the Benden riders.

‘So what happened to those lads? Have you heard?’

‘Manora put in a good word for them and they’ve been allowed to stay. She can always use extra workers in the Lower Caverns.’

‘What’s going on here?’ T’burrad joined them. ‘Any juicy gossip I’ve missed?’

‘Nothing much,’ V’vil said. ‘Just talking about those lads T’rai rescued.’

‘I found out all about them.’ T’burrad waved his cup toward the back of the weyr. ‘Some of those girls from the laundry told us.’

‘Really?’ D’gar wondered what other tales had been spun since the last version he’d heard.

‘Apparently they’re from eastern Bitra. Some farmhold in the foothills.’

It sounded more likely than the one about them being the illegitimate offspring of a Holder who wanted to murder them both, having already hunted down and killed their unfortunate mother.

‘Yeah.’ He turned to V’vil. ‘Remember those two women who trekked through the mountains to High Reaches? It’s the same story, more or less.’

V’vil nodded. ‘They were lucky to make it.'

‘Sorry?’ D’gar didn’t know what they were talking about.

‘Well, you must have had a few folk turn up at Fort who’d been disowned by families. Girls in trouble, lads who fancied other lads and the like.’

‘Now and then.’ Every Turn one or two pregnant girls would arrive, often implying that the fathers of their babies were dragonriders. Whether that was the truth or not, the Weyr always took them in and found work for them.

‘That’s what happened to those two,’ T’burrad continued. ‘One of ‘em’s father found them messing about with each other in the barn and turfed ‘em out. Said he hoped Thread got them both.’

‘Holdbred attitudes,’ V’vil shook his head. ‘They’ll be better off here. Might even end up with dragons if they’re lucky.’

D’gar felt slightly sorrier for the lads. ‘How far did they travel?’

‘On the road for three days, so they said.’

It must have been a frightening journey, not knowing when - or where - Thread might fall. He wondered how many other similar journeys had ended tragically. ‘Makes you glad to be Weyrbred, doesn’t it?’

‘More wine?’ H’rek appeared, carrying a half-full skin.

‘If it’s the good stuff, yes.’ D’gar held out his cup for a refill.

‘Mind you don’t drink too much or you might end up in bed with the wrong person again.’ It was clear from his expression that he was teasing.

D’gar groaned. ‘He’s never going to let me forget that night.’ The other two chuckled.

‘I think J’rud wants a word with you,’ H’rek told him.

‘I’d better see what he’s after then. Excuse me,’ he said to the High Reaches pair. He made his way round the crowded weyr. J’rud had been right about placing the tables the way he’d insisted. It definitely made for easier access to the food and gave people places to stand so they weren’t in the way.

J’rud was talking with Sh’ran and N’bras. ‘Ah, there you are,’ he said. ‘We just wanted to ask you something.’ He patted the space on the couch next to him.

D’gar sat down. ‘Is it about the lads T’rai rescued?’

He shook his head. ’No. N’bras here was telling me how his weyrmate was getting it in the neck from F’drun.’

D’gar looked at N’bras. ‘Is that still happening?’ He’d hoped F’nor would have been concerned enough to do something about it.

N’bras shook his head. ‘No, it’s fine now. That was what we found odd. One minute F’drun’s going out of his way to pick on C’vash, the next he’s totally ignoring him.’

So, maybe F’nor had put in a word. ‘Well, I’m glad to hear that, anyway.’

J’rud spoke again. ‘I was saying to these two how F’drun decided to hate you from day one and it seems as if he did the same to C’vash. What we wanted to ask you was if you had any idea why?’

D’gar glanced around the room. Many of H’rek’s clutchmates were here and some of them had been friends with F’drun when they were in the south. It might be paranoid, but he didn’t want them to overhear anything that might be said. ‘Could we maybe talk about this another time, when there are less people around?’

‘Sure, if that’s what you want.’ J’rud had known him for long enough to understand he didn’t feel comfortable discussing it right now. He changed the subject smoothly. ‘So, what was it you were saying about those kids T’rai rescued?’

‘Well, they’re from Bitra…’

‘Figures,’ N’bras said.

He filled them in on what he knew so far, then carried on working his way around the room, as a good host should. Several people had decided to make use of the pool. M’rell was in there with a woman on either side of him. Both were listening intently as he told them some story or other and as he caught D’gar’s eye he gave a quick smile. Yes, he seemed happy enough. He got some funny looks from L’cal, M’shol and a couple of their friends and noticed that their conversation stopped while he was close. If they felt like that, why had they bothered to come along? Probably for the booze, he decided, or because they hadn’t wanted to miss out on the latest gossip. He wondered if his suspicions were right and they’d be reporting back to F’drun on anything they overheard.

As the evening wore on and more alcohol was consumed, the low buzz of conversation became louder. Someone fell - or was pushed - into the pool fully dressed, amid shrieks of laughter. G’kal had brought his gitar and started singing bawdy ballads. Several others joined in, using an empty platter as a makeshift drum. They even got T’rai up with them and began to improvise a song commemorating his daring rescue of the two poor lads. It wasn’t Harper standard by any means, but by the way people joined in, D’gar suspected it would be popular at the Weyr for a couple of sevendays at least.

Eventually, people began to leave. Once the first few had gone, the rest soon followed. It was always the way at parties, D’gar had noticed, almost as if it needed the impetus of seeing people leaving to get others to make up their mind. Within a fairly short space of time, the weyr was almost empty. T’rai had stumbled out with his chosen companion, still singing. Sh’ran and N’bras stayed to help pick up the debris while J’rud chatted to H’rek. M’rell lounged at the side of the pool with one of the women.

‘Are you going to be able to make it back to your weyr safely?’ D’gar asked, gathering up empty cups around them. ‘You can both stay here if you like.’

The woman giggled. ‘Let’s go back to yours,’ she said, nibbling on M’rell’s ear. ‘It’s a bit more private.’

‘I’ll just call Toth.’ He got to his feet carefully. D’gar suspected he wasn’t as drunk as he was making out. The pair supported each other as they made their slow way out to the ledge. ‘Bye, everyone,’ M’rell called back.

‘Bye-eee,’ shrieked his partner, dissolving into laughter that echoed around the weyr. ‘Ooh, I just fell over a dragon’s tail…’

‘Parties are fun.’ H’rek piled a few platters into the service shaft. ‘It’s clearing up the mess afterwards that’s not so nice.’

‘That was a good one,’ J’rud said. ‘Not as wild as some we’ve had, mind…’

‘We’re getting old.’ D’gar sank down gratefully on one of the chairs. His feet hurt. He’d been standing for most of the evening.

‘What was all that about earlier,’ J’rud said. ‘When you stopped us talking about F’drun?’

‘Thanks for catching on so fast. I didn’t want to talk about him in front of everyone.’

‘Some of my clutchmates might report back,’ H’rek said. ‘A few of them got very friendly with him when we were down south.’

‘What was it you wanted to know, anyway?’ It was so many conversations ago, he’d forgotten.

‘It was about C’vash,’ N’bras said.

‘And why F’drun picked on him,’ J’rud added. ‘Or you, for that matter.’

H’rek came over and perched on the arm of the chair next to D’gar. ‘We tried to figure that out before. We wondered if it was to do with the way someone looked, or the colour of dragon they rode. D’gar even went to High Reaches to try and find out more.’

‘And did you?’ Sh’ran asked.

‘A little. Not enough to figure out his reasons. But I managed to fill in some history and that’s why I’m cautious around him.’

‘Do tell,’ Sh’ran prompted.

D’gar hesitated. He’d told H’rek, of course and R’feem and B’lin also knew, but apart from that, he’d kept his mouth shut. He decided that there was no harm in them knowing the facts. ‘There’s a fair amount of speculation concerning how he got promoted. Let’s just say his former Wingleader died in circumstances that might have been accidental…’

‘Or might not,’ H’rek finished.

‘You think he killed the man?’ N’bras asked, clearly shocked.

‘Well, the High Reaches records say it was an accident, but people who were there at the time have their doubts. Mind you, we all know how Weyr gossip can exaggerate things…’

‘That’s as may be,’ J’rud put in. ‘But he definitely tried to drown you. Lots of us saw that.’

H’rek nodded agreement.

‘I could have drowned,’ D’gar agreed. ‘It certainly felt like it at the time. But dunking people in the lake was something he liked to use as a punishment when he was Wingleader. No-one ever died from it. If Herebeth hadn’t been there, he’d have got Ryth to pull me out.’

‘It was still pretty irresponsible,’ Sh’ran said. ‘I can’t imagine any of the Wingleaders here doing that to anyone. Or the Weyrleader allowing them to, for that matter.’

‘It wouldn’t happen at Fort, either.’ D’gar was quick to reassure him, in case he believed that was normal behaviour in the other five Weyrs.

N’bras sat on the arm of J’rud’s couch. ‘Anything else you found out at High Reaches?’

‘Bullying is definitely something F’drun enjoys. C’vash is just the last in a long line of victims.’

‘So, I wonder why he stopped taking it out on C’vash? Not that either of us are complaining about it.'

D’gar thought it best not to mention his part in that. ‘Well, maybe someone in authority noticed,’ he suggested. ‘Perhaps he was told to stop.’

Sh’ran nodded. ‘That’s possible. Southern’s not a large Weyr, after all.’

‘I’ll bet he’ll do it again, though, to someone else,’ H’rek said. ‘It’s in his nature. It didn’t take him that long to persuade some of my clutchmates to behave in a similar way. He’s a bad influence.’

‘Unfortunately, with Kylara on his side he’ll probably get away with it.’ N’bras shook his head. ‘She can be a bit of a bitch herself.’

‘I’ve noticed,’ D’gar felt edgy. Talking about F’drun was bringing back unpleasant memories of their last encounter. He’d still not mentioned anything to H’rek about the threat that F’drun had made.

‘I still can’t figure out why he’d take a dislike to C’vash.’

‘Or D’gar, for that matter,’ H’rek added, putting an arm over his shoulder. ‘Or that rider at High Reaches who died because of his bullying.’

‘Really?’ J’rud raised his eyebrows. ‘I didn’t know about that one.’

‘It was another thing I found out when I was there. I don’t like to gossip about people.’

‘Yeah, but F’drun deserves it,’ J’rud said. ‘So come on. You can’t not tell us the story now.’

D’gar cast his mind back. ‘They told me about one of the riders F’drun decided to pick on. S’rul was his name. He had a drink problem and F’drun played on that. He got the whole Wing involved in a drinking game and encouraged S’rul to have way too much. The poor bastard went back to his weyr afterwards and choked on his own vomit.’

J’rud made a face. ‘That’s horrible.’

‘And I’m guessing F’drun didn’t get into any trouble for it?’ Sh’ran asked.

‘No. It got brushed aside, just like the Wingleader’s “accident”. V’vil was shaken up by it, though.’

‘Didn’t you tell me something about this rider having lost his weyrmate?’ H’rek asked suddenly.

‘Yes, that’s right. They said that was what started him off drinking too much.’

‘Well, you lost someone too. Maybe that’s the connection?’ H’rek sounded excited.

D’gar wished it was so simple. ‘What about C’vash? His weyrmate is very much alive and well.’ He gestured toward N’bras. ‘So I don’t reckon that’s it.’

H’rek’s face showed he was thinking. ‘Maybe. But there has to be something. C’vash is still getting his strength back after his injuries. I remember one day when we were working, he had to keep taking breaks. He felt really bad about it.’

N’bras nodded agreement. ‘He’s like that. Hates it when he can’t pull his weight.’

‘So he’s vulnerable in that way,’ H’rek concluded. ‘You and S’rul were vulnerable in a different way. But you all had weak points he could use to get at you.’

D’gar considered that for a moment. ‘He’d have known about S’rul’s loss, being at the same Weyr. He’d also have known C’vash had been sent south to recover. But he started on me the day after we’d arrived. How would he have found out about my past so quickly?’

‘Maybe R’feem let it slip? Wouldn’t he have given his new Wingseconds some information on all of the riders?’

‘It’s possible. Except I’m sure I wasn’t the only one in the Wing to have lost someone close to me. We’d all been fighting Thread a long time.’

‘Well, we already ruled out the way you looked, age and the colour of your dragons.’ H’rek sighed. ‘I’m beginning to think it really is random.’

‘What colour did this S’rul ride?’ J’rud asked.

D’gar tried to remember what he’d been told. ’Green, I think.’

‘Same as C’vash,’ N’bras put in.

‘Herebeth’s a brown, though. Although, F’drun has said some nasty things about greens.’

‘Has he? What?’ H’rek asked sharply.

‘There was something when we were on support duty. “Greens die all the time,” he said. He’d been trying to needle me about the way I’d behaved after I’d lost my weyrmate.’ D’gar paused. He’d never discovered how F’drun had found out about his risk-taking, although it could have been as simple as overhearing something said by one of the other riders from Fort. The others still looked puzzled. D’gar explained further. ‘If you’re weyrmates with a Lower Cavern woman, she’s not going to be out in Threadfall, is she? And golds don’t get injured - or die - very often. But greens do. He said that was why they don’t have people like me as Wingseconds at High Reaches.’

‘That’s a bit stupid,’ J’rud put in. ‘So, if you’ve a green weyrmate you can’t be a Wingsecond? Any colour of dragon - except gold, as you said - is just as likely to get hit during Fall. Didn’t R’feem have a blue weyrmate who died?’

‘Yes, it doesn’t really make sense,’ D’gar agreed. ‘Although green dragons make up the highest percentage of any colour in a weyr so obviously there’ll be more green casualties too.’ Something else was nagging at his mind, though. Ryth had only ever been able to catch green dragons; he didn’t have the stamina for the length of a gold flight. That might have caused some resentment on F’drun’s part; it certainly meant he’d never get to become Weyrleader. Maybe that was why he had it in for greens?

‘People like you…’ H’rek mused. ‘And green riders. F’drun’s not Holdbred, is he?’

‘I don’t think so. I’m fairly sure V’vil mentioned he grew up in the Weyr.’ D’gar wasn’t sure what he was getting at.

‘You mean he’s got the same attitudes as most Holdbred folk?’ Sh’ran asked.

H’rek nodded. ‘Exactly.’ He looked at D’gar. ‘You’re Weyrbred. No-one ever criticised you for falling in love with S’brin, did they?’

‘No. Of course not.’ He and S’brin had got together even before they had their own dragons. Agarra’s only reservations had been that they might be a bit too young to get into a long-term relationship.

N’bras gave a grim little smile. ‘If I’d not been Searched, I’d probably be dead by now. I got beaten up enough times at home that even if I’d not Impressed, I’d have opted to stay at the Weyr. It’s much more tolerant here.’

‘Yes, look at those lads who got rescued by T’rai,’ H’rek put in. ‘They were thrown out of their homes and no-one cared if they got eaten by Thread. A lot of Holdbred folk feel that way.’

‘So what you’re saying is that F’drun hates people because of their sexual preferences?’

‘Yes. Exactly. Just like my mother’s husband,’ H’rek said.

D’gar considered that. ’But his dragon catches greens all the time.’

’That probably makes it worse for him,’ H’rek continued. ‘He has to go along with what his dragon wants. Didn’t I hear he deliberately hurt one of the green riders in your Wing?’

’T’rai.’ J’rud offered. ‘Ryth flew his dragon and F’drun beat him up while they were in the flight cave. That’s why I was so uptight about the mating flights when Prideth rose. I was scared that if Ryth didn’t catch Prideth he might settle for Zurinth.’ He smiled at Sh’ran. ‘Guess I was lucky Izaeth caught her.’

H’rek was warming to his theory. ‘I bet if you could find out more of the folk he’s picked on, that’d be proof of the pattern. You see, I said there’s always a reason, even if it’s not immediately obvious.’

‘Maybe you’re right.’ He still didn’t understand F’drun’s reasoning, especially as he was Weyrbred. He needed to ask the three from High Reaches for more information to check if the theory was correct. ‘Mind you, even if we know why F’drun chooses certain people to bully, it’s not going to stop him, is it?’

‘No, it’s not.’ H’rek fell silent. ‘But there has to be something we can do.’

D’gar considered the options. T’kul had got rid of F’drun when he had the opportunity. Maybe F’lar could do the same? Although that only moved the problem onto someone else’s plate. He remembered what had been said to him on that first evening. “All you can do is hope that Thread gets him.” But that left an awful lot to chance. How many other lives might the man damage in the mean time?