Meeting of Weyrwomen

[Memorie]

Merda was let off by Caliath on the edge of Queen Savath's wallow, three scant days after the latter's Hatching Feast. She had come to discuss an exchange of personnel, and perhaps of candidates as well.

"Caliath, please ask Savath to tell Kyparla that I have arrived, and am on my way to her cot."

Okay.

Merda hoped to get a few of Kyparla's candidates left over from her Savath's first clutch, the few left who had been disappointed come Hatching Day. They might not Impress at Caliath's upcoming Hatching either, but it was always good to present the hatchlings with lits of young men and women to choose from. Merda also had with her, waiting in the Bowl, three young people, to see if Kyparla's head cook, Fortine, or her Headwoman, Kezna, could teach them a thing or two. After Lateo's fabulous Feast, Merda hoped the two could find it in their hearts, and kitchens, to take them in. Now, though, she waited patiently.

[Dizzy]

Savath greeted the older gold heartily, her mood and color good after the hatching. Mine, Caliath and her's are here... The gold, her duty discharged, turned over on her side allowing the sun to bake her and the sand to scratch.

Thank you love... Kyparla smiled, sending the dragon a loving caress. Sliding the heavy dark skybroom chair back, the gold rider made her way to the open door. She stood there leaning against the frame, watching for Sodalis' Weyrwoman. Absently the woman's hand went to her stomach, only a small bulge showed signs of the woman's early pregnancy.

[Memorie]

Merda approached the Weyrwoman's cot slowly, taking in the younger woman's look. She was leaning against the doorframe, awaiting her guest. But there was something...different. Merda gasped. Hand raising to her mouth, she hurried across to the younger Weyrwoman's door. She took her by the elbow and leaned into her ear. "Does G'llahar know you're with child, woman?"

Merda's lips pursed. She'd seen the looks Kyparla had laid on E'mion. She didn't dare ask the next question, not yet: would it even be G'llahar's?

[Dizzy]

Taken aback by the woman's abrupt words Kyparla stammared. It took a moment to regain her composure and smile. "Not yet. Lets go inside?" Kyparla stepped back out of the older woman's way , waiting for Merda to enter. Her weyr would be a tad more private... if she knew Merda at all, the woman would not drop the subject easily.

[Memorie]

Merda nodded. "Aye, we'd better," she said, entering first. She did like the Lateo Weyrwoman, she was a good girl with a smart head on her shoulders. And pregnancy wasn't a bad thing. Not at all.

Directing herself to a chair and having a seat daintily, she turned to face her friend and fellow Weyrwoman. "So, tell me about it," she said, gesturing to the woman's belly. Still, she wondered if it was E'mion's, but she dare not ask. It would have been inappropriate. Kyparla might tell her anyway.

[Dizzy]

Kyparla followed the woman in, finding a seat of her own. She sighed a bit, the Lateo heat was making things miserable as always. "Can I offer you some fruit juice?" The Weyrwoman picked up the sweating pitcher and began to pour, not waiting on an answer. After taking a sip of her own juice, she leaned back. "It's not so grand of a story Merda. I don't know why it would interest you. I am pregnant, and no G'llahar doesn't know." Taking another sip, "I am in my second trimester."

[Memorie]

Merda laughed her own brand of chuckle. "Why, my dear, unless I'm quiet mistaken, this would be your first. And that interests me. You ought to know that I have four of my own," she said hautily, taking a sip of the given juice. "Good juice, this. Oh, how I do envy you for your beaches and fruit tree," she said wistfully.

"And, my dear, if you don't mind my saying so, your affections for the wingleader E'mion seem...developed, to say the least."

[Dizzy]

"Yes, I believe they have been mentioned. They have children of their own now?" Kyparla moved a few records, then rested her hand and the cup of juice across her stomach. "My first child yes." Her eye lost focus, thinking of the births she had witnessed... first her mother's and then many at the Weyr. "I don't know what you mean Weyrwoman." She took another sip, not meeting the lady's eyes.

[Memorie]

Merda laughed aloud. "Well, you can deny the knowledge all you like," she said, somewhat guardedly. "But that doesn't make it untrue." She took a healthy drink of the juice. "And yes, I do have my grandchildren, but I rarely see them. Not for lack of trying, though," she said, half-smiling. "One of my granddaughters is named after me, you know. Little Merda, we call her. She's very darling." The woman smiled, thinking of her progeny. She leaned in close for a conspiratoral whisper. "And I don't mind telling you that they are not all J'ren's, either, my children," she whispered, sharing this secret that few knew.

[Dizzy]

"Merda's a fine name... I hope she is just like you." The redhead smiled, "Do you think she will become a rider?"

"They aren't?" It was hard for Kyparla to fathom. She grew up in the Hold... a different life. Guilt racked her for what she had done. "Tell me... are you in love with J'ren?"

[Memorie]

"She had better be a rider. Gold, if I can influence it at all," she said, winking. They both knew she couldn't. "She's a sweetheart, golden locks, you know," Merda said, full of pride. That hair had come from her side of the family. "But no, not all my children are J'ren's as well," she told the woman, thinking of a certain bluerider. At Kyparla's following question, she sighed. "Yes, I do now, but it was not always like that. It's that for the last fifty or so years, Beodith has caught my gold, with almost no interruption. When I became Senior Weyrwoman, he always caught her, no one else. The man has been my Weyrleader for upwards of thirty-three years, my dear. You can learn to love almost anyone in all that time. Even a man like J'ren, m'love," she told Kyparla.

And now, she could no longer resist asking. "Sweetheart, your questions lead me to ask...is your child G'llahar's? Keep in mind, there is no shame in having a child by another man from the Weyrleader, love. I'm proof of that," she said, winking, but still keeping her voice soft in case G'llahar was lurking about.

[Dizzy]

“She sounds beautiful. And I wouldn‘t expect any less from you. Have Caliath order one up straight away for her?” A light laugh colored the redhead’s sweet husky Keroon draw. She quickly turned thoughtful again though.

“Merda, I know the Weyr doesn’t think anything of a woman having more than one man… but that isn’t how I was raised.” Kyparla looked down, “G’llahar is a good man, he loves the Weyr-he was A’dan’s choice, I respect him, I don‘t know if I can ever love him. He makes me wonder if there isn‘t something wrong with me. He hasn‘t touched me since the Flight. “ The Weyrwoman had deliberately not answered Merda’s question. She didn’t know why it hadn’t surprised her.

[Memorie]

"Well, A'dan didn't always make good decisions, my dear," Merda said softly. A lot of people supported and liked A'dan, back when he'd been alive, but Merda had known him as a friend, for his goodness and his faults. "And I know exactly how you were raised, I was raised the very same way, young lady," she said sternly. "You've surely noticed how queens invariably choose hold- and craft-bred girls over Weyrgirls? It's my story, just as well as yours. But what I'm telling you now is that you are going to have to adapt. Weyrlife is different, and while it's good to retain morals and convictions, you can't let them make you feel guilty for every toe you put out of that particular line."

Merda frowned, suddenly realizing that she was giving the young woman a speech she had recieved herself as a junior Weyrowman. "If the child is not G'llahar's, nothing is lost, because you said yourself he seems to be lacking in need for physical contact. You need someone, woman, and if it be G'llahar, that's good. If it be E'mion, even better. But a man to help you through this time is important. Your own mum would say so herself."

[Dizzy]

"I don't know if the child is G'llahar's or not Merda." The small redhead wiped at the tears starting to form on her cheeks. Right then she was thankful Savath was in a deep sleep, she didn't want to upset her gold. She tried in vain to gain control of her feelings. Now that she had finally let go... the torrent didn't want to stop. "I want the Weyr to be stable, G'llahar gives that. I am afraid though that if he finds out... it will lead to more fighting, more hard feelings between E'mion and he." She sniffed just realizing that she had confirmed the other woman's suspicions.

[Memorie]

When the woman started crying, Merda took her in her arms. "Come here, child," she said, holding the girl, and offering a shoulder. "You will be fine. As for G'llahar, if he can't come to terms with the fact that his Weyrwoman is pregnant with another man's baby, he isn't much of a man. My children may not all be J'ren's, but J'ren knows it and doesn't have any problems with the father at all," she told Kyparla, hugging her 'round the shoulders. "And as for the Weyr's stability, who's to say E'mion wouldn't do the same should..." Caliath?

Malekith.

Thank you. "Malekith catch Savath in mating flight?" she asked, patting the girl's back. Pulling back to look at her, she grabbed the cuff of her own shirt and wiped the woman's still tearful face. "You always have to think to the future, past whatever bad things happen. I happen to think this is cause for celebration, though I daresay you won't agree."