McCaffrey, Anne - Pern 23 - Sky Dragons by McCaffrey Anne

Author:McCaffrey, Anne [McCaffrey, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: McCaffrey
ISBN: 9780345533500
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The match proved perfect, and under R’ney’s concerned guidance, Danirry began to blossom. They were both ecstatic at being allowed to fly Tazith and, between frequent races to oil their weyrlings, fought like children over who was rider and who passenger. That R’ney was neither threat nor competition was especially easy on the blue rider, and Xhinna was amazed to see near-daily transformations in the way Danirry acted and behaved.

Mirressa was a much easier person to handle, so, remembering R’ney’s sisters, Xhinna assigned Jepara to her.

“She’s a sop!” Jepara complained the next day. “She’ll do anything—anything—I tell her to.”

“And why does this bother you?” Xhinna asked.

“Because—because—oohhh!” Jepara threw her hands up in disgust, unable to find words to describe her feeling.

“So fix it,” Xhinna said quietly. Jepara stopped mid-tirade and turned to her with eyes wide in astonishment.

“You can’t be serious?” Jepara said. “The girl’s got no spine! You might as well put a puddle on her green’s back, instead of a rider.”

“The green chose her,” Xhinna said. Jepara started to say something, probably to castigate Mirressa’s green, but Xhinna forestalled her with a raised hand. “And I chose you.”

The queen rider stopped moving and stood, fuming, her eyes locked with Xhinna’s in a contest of wills.

“I think that behind all that puddle, there’s a real person who’s been hiding all this time, waiting for someone like her Valcanth to find her, to see her true worth.”

“Greens aren’t very smart,” Jepara snapped. She colored slightly as she remembered that Taria rode a green, but pressed on unrepentant. “They don’t always make the best choices.”

“Which is why they have riders,” Xhinna told her calmly. “And why their riders have Weyrwomen to guide them.”

“Well … how will I know when I’ve succeeded?” Jepara demanded. “How will I be able to tell when that puddle of mud grows a spine?”

“When that puddle of mud cuts off all your hair or turns your bottom red,” Xhinna told her, fighting back a grin.

Jepara’s jaw dropped and she raised a finger at the wingleader. “You—how did you—he told you! It was your idea!” One of her hands snaked around to her behind and she gave the Weyrleader a long, simmering look. “I couldn’t sit for a sevenday,” she said, growling.

Xhinna didn’t try to pretend ignorance and merely stood her ground.

“You—oh!” Jepara said, twirling around angrily, waving her hands in the air. She settled herself, then said in a controlled, icy voice, “Very well, Wingleader, it shall be as you order.”

Xhinna decided that silence was the best option and nodded at the queen rider, who walked off, chin in the air, toward where Mirressa was helping Javissa with chores.

Perhaps, Xhinna thought, things were looking up. All she had to do was find Taria and kill J’keran and all would be right with Sky Weyr. Well, maybe not kill, she corrected herself; even if the brown rider’s transgression warranted it, there had to be a better way. The man had been addled out of his wits, after all.

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