The Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey [350]
“Well, what happened? Did they speak to him at all?”
“Did who speak to whom?”
“Did F’lar or Lessa address the Harper?”
“No reason why they would.”
“Plenty of reason why they wouldn’t. What happened?”
Jaxom sighed for patience with her as he rapidly reviewed what had occurred.
“D’ram came here to ask—no, to tell them that he’s stepping down as Istan Weyrleader . . .” Menolly nodded encouragingly as if this were no news to her. “And he said he was invoking an Oldtime custom to throw the first queen’s mating flight open to all bronzes.”
Menolly’s eyes widened and she made her mouth round with surprise. “That must have rocked ’em back on their heels. Any protests?”
“From the Lord Holders, yes.” Jaxom grinned. “From the other Weyrleaders, no. Except that R’mart made a snide remark about G’dened being so strong there’d be no contest.”
“I don’t know G’dened, but he’s a son of D’ram’s.”
“That doesn’t always mean anything.”
“True.”
“D’ram kept saying that he wanted the best leadership for Ista Weyr and this was the way to achieve it.”
“Poor D’ram . . .”
“Poor Fanna, you mean.”
“No, poor D’ram. Poor us. He was very strong as a leader. Did Master Robinton speak at all?” she asked then, throwing off her reflections on D’ram for the more important consideration.
“He spoke to Begamon.”
“Not to the Weyrleaders?”
“No reason to. Why?”
“They’ve been such close friends for so long . . . and they’re so unfair about it. He had to speak up. Dragons can’t fight dragons.”
To which Jaxom stoutly agreed, his comment echoed by a rumble from his stomach so audible that Menolly glared at him. Jaxom was torn between embarrassment and amusement at such an internal betrayal. The laughter won and, even as he apologized to Menolly, he could see that the incident had triggered her sense of the ridiculous.
“Oh, come on. I won’t get any sense out of you until you’ve eaten.”
It was not the most memorable of Hatching feasts nor particularly merry. A restraint touched the dragonriders. Jaxom did not try to figure out how much was due to D’ram’s resignation or how much to the theft of the egg. He preferred not to hear any more about that. He was uncomfortable in Menolly’s company because he couldn’t put aside his feeling that she knew he’d brought the egg back. The fact that she said nothing about her suspicions worried him more because he also felt that she was leaving him in suspense on purpose. He didn’t particularly wish to share a table with F’lessan and Mirrim, who might notice the Threadscore. Benelek was not his choice of a companion at any time and he certainly wouldn’t have been at ease taking the place at the main tables to which his rank entitled him. Menolly had been dragged away from him by Oharan, the Weyr’s Harper, and he could hear them singing. Had there been new music he might have stayed by them, just to be part of some group. But the Lord Holders were asking for their favorite songs and so were the proud parents of boys who had Impressed.
Ruth was enjoying the emotional feast of the newly Hatched dragons but he did miss the ministrations of the fire-lizards.
They don’t like being cooped up in Brekke’s weyr, Ruth told his rider. Why can’t they come out? Ramoth’s asleep with a very full belly. She wouldn’t even know.
“Don’t be too sure of that,” Jaxom said, glancing up at Mnementh, curled on the queen’s ledge, his softly glowing eyes bright points on the other side of the darkening Weyr Bowl.
The outcome was that he and Ruth left the feast as soon after eating as courtesy permitted. While they were circling in to Ruatha Hold Jaxom began to worry about Lytol. His guardian would be extremely upset when Fanna died and her queen suicided. He wished he didn’t have to bring the news of D’ram’s resignation. He knew that Lytol respected the Oldtimer. He wondered what Lytol’s reaction would be to the open mating flight.
Lytol merely grunted, gave a sharp nod of his head and asked Jaxom if any further development over the theft of the egg had been