Short Legend

Blue writing equal Rayna
Gray writing equals M’rtagh
Plain writing equals other

Please enjoy the insane antics of two star-cross’d lovers who take almost a lifetime to admit their love…
(The above line is a poor attempt in turning a line from Shakespeare into a pitiful pun.)

Weyrs

The pale morning sunlight flooded the Senior Weyrwoman's weyr, giving the room an almost unreal glow to it. The rays of light reflected off the smooth hide of the dragon queen, making her sparkle beautifully. Her multi-faceted eyes slowly opened, revealing a pleased shade of sapphire blue. She stretched her wings out a bit, trying to get all the kinks out of them. She turned her gaze towards the silver sleeping beside her and snorted- half in approval and half in irritation. She'd liked this silver when she first met him. He'd been polite and he and His weren't that bad looking. On the other hand though, she hadn't liked the idea of being caught. She could've soared across the night skies of Sonsa forever, but even she knew that that wasn't possible. Oh well, she'd been caught by a worthy dragon.

On the other side of the weyr, sleeping peacefully, Rayna lay with her head resting on M'rtagh's chest. Even though she should've been up at least an hour ago, she slept on. That wasn't exactly unusual for her though; when given the chance she'd sleep most of the day. Despite the fact that she'd slowly grown accostom to waking early, that didn't mean she was at all a morning person. She simply hated waking up a full hour before the sun and needed a cup of strong klah to get her going. Now though, she had a valid excuse for sleeping in.

{Rayna dear, wake up.}

Rayna moaned and only pulled the sleeping furs tighter around her. She didn't want to wake up, not just now. She was so warm and comfy and what ever her head was laying on was such a nice pillow. It took a moment for her mind to register just what her head was laying on and when it popped into her head, Rayna immediately sat up, pulling up the furs with her. Her gray eyes, no longer closed in peaceful sleep, were wide in surprise. She nearly let out a shout of surprise, but managed to tone it down to a muffled yelp. What was he doing here and why in Faranth's name was he in her bed?!

{You have a very bad memory, mine,} Fayneth commented as she draconicly chuckled in amusement.

Rayna turned to look at her dragon, gray eyes filled with confusion. What was she on about? Suddenly it hit her- the Flight. Her heart almost stopped beating and she froze. Fayneth had flown. The one thing she'd been dreading ever since the previous Turn had actually happened. With out a word to her dragon, Rayna slowly slid back down onto the bed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. She didn't know how to exactly feel about this at the moment, seeing as she hadn't gotten over the initial shock of realizing that her dragon had flown. Was she supposed to be happy, sad or angry?

{Aren't you even interested in knowing who was the lucky winner of the Flight?}
[Uhh...]

Rayna truly did not know if she did or did not want to know who had won the Flight. She didn't even recall who had participated in the Flight, she'd been too caught up in Fayneth's lust to even care. A part of her wanted to know who the first Weyrleader of Sonsa was, but the other part of her dreaded who she'd find on the other side of the bed. She tried to think of all the bronze and silver riders in the Weyr, but all their names suddenly eluded her. She sighed and pulled the sleeping furs up to her chin, not daring to look at the man sleeping next to her, fearful it would be someone she didn't know or didn't like.

{Oh, Rayna. You're being a baby!}
[And your point is?]
{You're going to have to face it sometime.}
[So?]

Fayneth grumbled in annoyance. Why did Hers have to be so impossible when it came to things such as flirting and boyfriends? It wouldn't kill her to pay some attention to the boys! She snorted and stretched a bit more before laying down again. Sometimes she just wished that she could slap some sense into her girl...

The beautiful morning really gives a lot of energy to little girls that already are on the verge of having too much energy. It's really disgusting how happy and bouncing Kefira could be in the morning. Any little kid, really. Generally just disgusting. But there's nothing to be done about it. Usually they don't bore themselves bothering the boring sleepy adults that do nothing but grump and mope and yawn and tell you to go away. Usually. But, you know, Kefira isn't the usual little girl...plus there aren't any other kids in the Weyr to play with! Who else does she have. No one. Her little brown curls bounced as she skipped down to Rayna's weyr. Usually she was up by now! Why was she still sleeping...well, in any case, she needed a wake up call. The sun was up and she should be too!

The little forest green playdress that she was dressed in flounced around her little frame as she flung the door open, disgusted to see her big sister still sleeping. She stood in the doorway for a moment, her little mind devising and evil little plan of how to wake the weyrwoman so that she'd get up and be useful. Starting into a run she flung herself ontop of Rayna on the bed, yelling, Way-Way, Way-Way, Way-Way! She smiled sweetly at Rayna as she landed on her.

It took her a moment to realize that there was actually someone else in the bed. Wide-eyed, she slowly turned her head to look at him and whispered loudly to Rayna. Way-Way, there's a boy in you're bed! She gaped at him like...WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN MY SISTER'S BED?!?!?? which was really quite comical because Rayna's the big one, but this is Kefira we're talking about, so really, it's rather understandable.

Rayna was just beginning to drift back to sleep when she heard someone enter her weyr. She gave a groan, figuring it was the Headwoman coming to wake her up, and was about to hurl a pillow or something at the intruder when she felt something, or someone rather, land on top of her. She immediately sat up again, pulling the sleeping furs up with her. The wind had obviously been knocked out of her and she was gasping, trying to be able to breathe again. After a moment or two, when she managed to breathe again, she looked up at Kefira, gray eyes wide with surprise. "What are you doing in here?" She asked, trying not to sound angry. It wouldn't do any good to upset her little sister now.

{What is she doing here?!} Fayneth demanded, her multi-faceted eyes yellow with irritation.

[I don't know! I guess she came to wake me up.]

{Well get her out of here!} The white-gold ordered, snorting in annoyance. From the moment Rayna had introduced them, Fayneth had taken an immediate disliking to the weyrbrat. She was bouncy and loud and always full of energy! How annoying! A grumble was sounded from the queen as she watched the girl, looking like she was tempted to gobble her up in one bite. That would permanently rid her of the little pest, but she would probably taste bad. Plus, she didn’t think Rayna would be too happy if she did devour her little sister.

Trouble, who had been down at the beaches with the clutch, popped into the room from between. Even though Rayna hadn't called him, he'd sensed her emotions and curiosity had brought him here. He chirped a greeting to all before zooming over to His, fluttering about her and Kefira's head. He happily chirped at Kefira, glad to see her. Unlike Fayneth, he liked the little girl. She was so much fun and she reminded him of Rayna when she had been younger. He affectionately and gently pulled at Kefira’s dark curls and then doing the same to Rayna’s wavy blonde hair, performing the same good morning ritual he did every morning.

Rayna's face immediately turned a bright shade of red when Kefira informed her that there was a boy in her bed. Even though she had known that there had been a boy in her bed, she was embarrassed for some odd reason she didn't know. She opened her mouth to provide an explanation as to why there was a boy in her bed, but no words came out. It was highly unusually for Rayna to blush, let alone become speechless. But, in her current situation, one could probably understand as to why she might be slightly embarrassed.

I’m waking you up silly! She giggled at the question. What a silly thing to ask. It was rather obvious, don’t you think? But Kefira heard in her voice that she was mad, even if she wasn’t speaking in a mad tone. Her face softened into a…well, not exactly frown…but she looked kinda sad. Awe you mad at me, Way-Way? I’m sowwy I woke you up. I jus’ thought…thought you might wanna be up and not weally know it cause you wewe asleep…I din’t mean to make you mad… She was speaking loudly now, and her bright eyes were focused solemnly on her big sister’s face. She idolized the weyrwoman. She didn’t like making her mad. And her dragon. She was absolutely beautiful and the most wonderful thing ever, but she had a feeling the dragon didn’t like her because she was always grumbling and snorting when she was around. And this boy. She’d seen him around. He rode a pretty silver dragon. He was in the room too. She really hadn’t intended for them to be mad. Maybe the boy and his dragon would be mad at her too. Maybe they’d make her go to an icky foster mommy.

As the thoughts ran through her pretty little head, her eyes became wider…and wider…and her face became more and more upset-looking. She was still sitting on top of Rayna, but when her mind wasn’t as focused on staying there, she started to slide. Her figure slowly inched it’s way to the edge of the bed, her mind focused on all the horrible things that they might do to her. She had heard some people call her a weyrbrat, but generally Rayna was nice to her. Maybe Ray-Ray would start calling her a weyrbrat too…and even hate her. By the end of that thought she had slid to the edge of the bed and was tumbled off, landing in an awkward and rather painful position. This started to make her cry, but she was a brave little girl and tried not to make any noise , even though she wanted to bawl at the top of her lungs the way any normal four year old would. But she had to be brave. Because Ray-Ray’s brave and she wants to be just like her! She attempted to untangle herself silently, sniffing, and her lower lip trembling as the only part of bawling she allowed were the tears, and she’d have stopped that if she could have. But it hurt. And she couldn’t.

It was at times like these that she wished she could go between times. Go back to before she came in and stop herself from going in so that Ray-Ray wouldn’t be angry and then she wouldn’t fall off the bed and start to cry. Still without the noise of course. But she couldn’t go between times and change things. She was stuck with what she’d done, and was trying to fix it like a good girl would do. Good girls fixed things. But Kefira thought she must be a bad girl because Ray-Ray was angry at her. So she must’ve been bad. Poor little Keffy didn’t mean to be bad.

Rayna felt immediately sorry that even the slightest trace of anger had edged its way into her voice. The one thing she hadn't wanted to happen had happened. Kefira was upset and probably near tears. She was about to try and comfort her little sister when she slid off the bed and fell onto the floor. Rayna quickly stood up, wrapping one of the sleeping furs around her slender figure, and kneeled down next to her sister. "Kefira, are you alright?" she asked, her tone full of concern for her little sister. What would her father think of her now? Surely he wouldn't have greeted her like that...

As a few tears fell down Kefira's face, Rayna gently brushed them away and smiled reassuringly. "Now Keffy, don't cry. I'm not mad at you and I'm sure, umm, he isn't mad at you either." Rayna's attention had been all on her younger sibling, and she hadn't even bothered to find out who the man next to her was. From her current position, she could see a silver dragon next to Fayneth, but she couldn't tell which dragon it was. Although, at the moment, that was the least of her worries. All that mattered now was making Kefira feel better.

When Kefira hit the floor, Trouble squawked in surprise and concern, much like an overprotective mother would if her child fell. He was instantly at her side and zooming about her, chirping his concern. When Rayna kneeled neck to her, he calmed a bit and landed on her shoulder, nudging her cheek affectionately. He didn't like to see this cute little girl sad! He buried himself in her dark curls and chirped brightly, trying to cheer her up.

Even Fayneth, who didn't exactly like the weyrbrats, felt a tug on her heartstrings when Kefira started to cry. Her eyes lost their shade of irritated yellow and softened to a bright shade of blue-green. Even though she didn't exactly like the girl, she didn't want her to start crying. She crooned softly to the girl, trying to get her to stop crying.

[I thought you wanted her out of the weyr.]

{Well, yes, I do. But I don't want to send her away crying. That wouldn't look good on my reputation!} An amused smile tugged at Rayna's mouth. Even though she often played her regal queen act, Fayneth could be quite sweet and caring at times. The white-gold always seemed to surprise Rayna, but this time it was a good surprise. Even though she said that she wanted her to stop crying so it wouldn’t tarnish her reputation, Rayna felt that maybe Fayneth actually didn’t want to make her sad. Her eyes twinkled in amusement at Trouble's actions. Every since Mithrim had clutched, he's been unusually untroublesome. Could it be that fatherhood had made him put a stop to his antics? Maybe once Fayneth clutched she'd be more sweet and caring...

{Don't count on it missy.}

Rayna couldn't help but giggle at her dragon's comment. [Oh trust me, I won't. You'll always be my demanding Fayneth who won't let anyone forget that she's the best queen to ever fly Pern's skies.]

Her little hands reached for Rayna when she kneeled down next to her. Ray-Ray. Her idol. Her sister. Her guardian. Realizing what she was doing she quickly snatched her hands back, occupying them by stroking Trouble, trying to make a brave face. I’m ok. I a big giwl. She assured Ray-Ray, trying her best to at least look it. Maybe that would convince Rayna that she was a big girl. Well, she at least put in the effort. Her father tended to grab her and hold her when she had done that, but he had still grumbled a bit. He just never seemed mad. Well he did when there was a girl in his bed. Maybe Ray-Ray was mad because there was a boy in her bed? Well, she didn’t understand such things, and no matter how she tried, she probably wouldn’t until she was older and understood why people wanted things like…privacy and such stuff. It was a curious thing, but Kefira wouldn’t bother her little head about it until there was hope that she might understand.

Hearing the dragon actually making a friendly sound brought a delighted, yet tentative and slow coming, smile to her face. She didn’t remember Fayneth ever sounding friendly. She couldn’t hear what she was saying, but from the noises the big white-gold made, she could tell whether she was being friendly or not. And this was a friendly noise, and the other noises weren’t so friendly. She liked the friendly noises much better though…because they were…friendly. (ok. I had a hayday with the word friendly. And I’m done.) But as soon as the male was mentioned, Kefira cocked her head slightly to the side, making sure that Trouble wouldn’t be made uncomfortable by it, but it wasn’t exactly a voluntary movement. It was just…what she did when she was curious. What’s his name? She asked of her sister. She wanted to know who this man was. Cause if he wasn’t a nice one, she might have to yell at him.

Life was so interesting at weyrs. Silly people didn’t know which beds they belonged in. That happened at High Reaches too. People were always finding the wrong beds. But no one seemed to mind someone else finding their bed and mistaking it for their own. Keffy knew that if someone tried to sleep in her bed, she would kindly direct them to the right bed, but it just didn’t make sense that people said nothing. No sense at all. But that’s adults for you. They never make sense. Keffy knew that when she grew up she’d be sensible, unlike these silly adults. Apparently adult dragons are as silly as adult humans. Because his dragon got lost and found the wrong weyr to sleep in too. Maybe he just believed the boy when he said this was their weyr. But maybe they’re both just silly and got lost.

M’rtagh too heard somebody enter the weyr. He wondered who it could be. He hoped it wasn’t the headwoman, how he disliked the woman. He opened his eyes and saw the little girl sitting atop Rayna. He couldn’t help but allow a grin to tug at the corner of his mouth. He watched as Rayna stood and went to the girl’s side shortly after the girl had fallen from the bed. He listened to what the girl said and what Rayna said. He then sat up, the furs falling from his torso. He ran a hand through his black hair again and his eyes of gold were dancing with a sort of laughter as he watched the young girl.

{Careful M’rtagh. You may scare the child.} Ampthrith had entered his mind just then. The silver watched the girl from his position alongside Fayneth and wondered why Fayneth seemed to have a disliking for the young one. The child seemed cute, and interesting. [I’ll be careful Ampthrith. Besides, it’s about time Rayna figures out who she shared a bed with last night.] {Very true M’rtagh.} [Thank you.] Ampthrith too crooned softly, which seemed rather unbecoming of the majestic silver.

’My name little one? I am M’rtagh.’ His voice was light as he looked at Rayna and Kefira. The little girl had awoken both Rayna and himself, which he didn’t entirely mind. It was about time that he made himself known to his new weyrmate. He hoped he wouldn’t startle Rayna too much. How he wanted to be accepted by the beautiful woman, the Weyrwoman, the queen rider.

It was just then that he heard a pop and Mithrim appeared over his head. Why wasn’t she at her clutch? The opal queen trilled with a slight edge of anger to it. She fluttered over to where Trouble lay in Kefira’s curls. She looked at the teary eyed girl and began to sing in her sweet, melodious voice. Her eyes whirled soft shades of blue-green and she looked at Trouble. /Sing with me Trouble.\ She spoke in her sweet voice to him without missing a single rhythm in her song.

Ampthrith looked at Fayneth and a draconic grin spread across his maw, though it looked more like a sneer, grinning wasn’t a dragon thing. A dragon-like chuckle came from his throat as he watched Fayneth’s change of mood and her reason why her mood changed. {Yes Fayneth, it’s bad for your reputation. That is why you should always be nice to weyrbrats; it’ll help your reputation.} Ampthrith knew that that worked, he had done it all the time and Fort. He allowed the weyrbrats to climb all over him, and it had worked. The Headwoman and all the weyrbrats respected him and he earned the nickname, Ampthrith the Gentle Giant, it always handed him a laugh.

M’rtagh had moved over in the bed so he sat on the side that Rayna had been laying in a moment before. Now he was stuck between indecision, what was he to do. If he tried to help Rayna calm the little girl, he may scare the girl; he didn’t want to do that. His Threadscored chest now showed clearly, but he didn’t care. Battle scars is what he called them, just signs of his experiences. His golden eyes danced over the girl and the Rayna, they looked rather alike, were they related? He wasn’t sure if he should ask, so remained quiet as he watched the girl and the Weyrwoman...

A smile crept across Rayna's face when Keffy put on a brave smile and declared that she was a big girl. She could remember acting like her when she was about her age. She was about to say something, when Kefira asked the name of the man who had been laying next to her. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't stand up and see who she had been laying next to. In her opinion, that'd make her look silly. She was just about to ask Fayneth who had flown her when M'rtagh spoke. She looked up at him, a surprised look upon her face. It wasn't the bad kind of surprise to her, it was just a surprise.

Fayneth gave a draconic laugh at Rayna's reaction to M'rtagh. Even though she'd expected her act something like this once she found out, it was still amusing to see her act like this. She was about to bespeak Hers, when Ampthrith commented on what she had said to Rayna. She snorted at him and twitched her tail in annoyance. {Eavesdropper.} She hissed at him. She didn’t need any advice from him! She was queen of this Weyr and she didn’t need any advice from any body!

Trouble's eyes whirled a happy blue-green when Kefira made a brave face. That was more like it! He nuzzled her cheek once more before untangling himself from her curls and launching himself into the air. He squeaked in surprise as Mithrim popped out from between. What was she doing here? What about their clutch! He was about to scold her for abandoning their babies when she told him to sing. Well, he'd do anything to make the little girl happy. Following the opal's orders, Trouble began to "sing", but the only noises that were emitted from him were off pitch and shrill squawks and chirps. His "singing" could, by no means, be called beautiful or melodious. Actually, he was creating an awful din.

Rayna cringed and resisted the urge to cover her ears when her bronze flit started making those awful noises. "Trouble!" she shouted, "What in Faranth's name do you think you're doing?!" Trouble stopped his noise making for a moment and looked at His. |Trouble sing like Mith-Mith told Trouble to!| The tone-deaf bronze replied innocently enough, cocking his head in confusion. Did His know what singing was?

{Singing?! Is that what you call that racket?!} Fayneth mentally shouted at Rayna and the flit.

Trouble snorted arrogantly and turned his head away from the white-gold queen, |Trouble sing better than Fay-Fay! All Fay-Fay do is grumble and whine!|

{I do not!}

|Grumble, grumble! Whine, whine!| Trouble imitated Fayneth as he swooped and darted.

{You stupid little winged tunnel snake! I'll eat you for breakfast if you don't shut up!}

Rayna chuckled and shook her head, listening to her dragon and flit. Those two could argue like no other. They were as different as day and night; Fayneth was flirtatious, demanding and regal while Trouble was carefree, laid back and playful. These differences made their relationship quite interesting. Some times they got along, and well, some times they didn’t.

{What are you laughing at?!}

[You and Trouble, you act like little children.]

{Do not!}

[I stand correct.]

Rayna turned her attention back to Kefira and M’rtagh, smiling pleasantly. This smile lighted up her features, making her look quite friendly and, dare we say it, pretty? She brushed back a stray lock of golden hair as she stood up. “Kefira, why don't you, Trouble and Mithrim, if she’d like to go, head down to the dining hall? I’ll get dressed and meet you down there, okay?” Rayna suggested, her tone bright and cheery, “And maybe after breakfast, you, Fayneth, Trouble and I can go down to the beaches.” Rayna looked down at Kefira, the smile still lingering on her face. She hoped she’d take up her offer. She wanted to get dressed and perhaps congratulate M’rtagh on becoming Weyrleader.

A handsome grin played across M’rtagh’s features as he saw Rayna’s look of surprise. He sensed Fayneth’s annoyance and grinned, guessing as to what Ampthrith had said. He could only dream of how the relationship between Fayneth and Ampthrith would be. It caused him to release a deep chuckle from his throat. M’rtagh couldn’t help but admire the young girl, Kefira he had heard her name to be. His eyes roved over the flits and the two girls before resting on the other side of the weyr, where the dragon pair lay. He had begun to relax as Mithrim broke into her beautiful song but he quickly put his hands to his ears as Trouble began to sing, if you could call it that. He looked at Mithrim, who had stopped singing.

Mithrim fluttered over to Trouble, a draconic little grin on her snout. Her eyes whirled a slightly agitated shade of yellow. /Trouble maybe not good singer, but Trouble good daddy.\ She then popped between, coming out above the head of Fayneth. /I queen, you queen. You big, I little, but both still queens. Good-good unders-s-s…\ She had a small problem getting the word out. /…understanding make better queen.\ Now, having made her point to the other queen, she went back to Trouble, Rayna, Kefira and Hers. She landed on M’rtagh’s bare shoulder, careful not to dig her claws into his flesh, she had learnt about that the hard way. M’rtagh still carried the small scars from it.

M’rtagh had a feeling Mithrim had left to talk to Fayneth and his thoughts were confirmed. He stroked the opal flit as he watched. He was vaguely aware of Ampthrith speaking to Fayneth. {Now, now Fayneth. No need to get sour about it. Besides, I wasn't eavesdropping, you speak loud enough I'm surprised the whole Weyr doesn't hear.} As though like an after thought, he stopped his chuckling and said rapidly. {Joking, joking, I'm only joking around Fayneth. Besides, I like you just the way you are. A fine example of queen.} Amp crooned softly to the queen, eyes whirling shades of pale blue as he practically begged for mercy. M'rtagh laughed as he heard the crooning and shook his head softly.

'A fine idea Rayna. It's about time Mithrim gets some food, she's hardly left her nest. She must have buried them though, so nobody but her could find them.' He looked at Mithrim who confirmed his judgement with a trill and a nod of her little head. 'I'm sure Mith would gladly go down to the Dining Hall with you.' He grinned as Mithrim took off from his shoulder to flutter over to Kefira. The opal settled down onto Kefira's shoulder and gently rubbed her head against the girl's cheek. This was, as always, a sign that Mithrim favoured you. Then, kind of as an after thought, Mithrim rose from Kefira's shoulder to go and rest on that of Rayna. The opal trilled softly and, just as she had done with Kefira and, at one time, M'rtagh, she rubbed her warm cheek against that of Rayna. /Mithrim like Rayna. Rayna make Mithrim's very happy.\p> M'rtagh heard this and kind of winced. Ack! What was that flit doing?! She may be an opal queen, but she could do some of the dumbest things. M'rtagh wasn't sure if what Mithrim had said would offend Rayna, and definitely hoped it would not anger her. M'rtagh just took a breath and closed his eyes momentarily, hoping Mith's words would not anger or embarrass Rayna. He had to admit, as Rayna smiled, she was more than pretty, so much more. He couldn't help but think she was knockout beautiful! He watched her flick the stray strand of golden hair away and as she stood. He had a hard time taking his eyes off of the woman. 'Pardon me, but I think Ampthrith and I would enjoy going down to the shores for a while, and maybe we can show Kefira Mith's clutch, or whatever is left of it.' That handsome grin once more spread across his features, lighting up his brilliant golden eyes. The pink that rimmed his irises became more apparent and took up about half of the normally almost solid gold ring.

{I'm glad you told them M'rtagh. I want to go down to the shores, but I didn't want to butt in on Rayna's thoughts.} [What do you mean, butt in on Rayna's thoughts?] {Didn't you know she was a HAD?} [She's a HAD! Why didn't you tell me Amp!?] {I didn't think it mattered.} [It doesn't really, but it would have been nice to know. Does she know I'm a SAD?] {Not that I know of. Fayneth might though. But from what I can tell about Fayneth, she doesn't always tell Rayna everything she knows.} [Kind of like another dragon I know.] M'rtagh's mind voice was flat and dry as he spoke the last comment. {Oh really, who?} [You! You silver meat roll!] {Silver meat roll! I beg your pardon sir!} Then Ampthrith began to chuckle and M'rtagh could not contain his laughter. He began laughing aloud, seemingly at nothing. He didn't realise he looked like a fool until it was practically too late. He quickly shut his mouth and a soft blush of embarrassment came onto his face. A weak smile came onto his lips and he looked at Rayna and Kefira.

'Sorry about that. I was kinda having a little joke with Ampthrith.' He hoped Rayna wouldn't think him strange, nor Kefira think him scary. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, that being one of his nervous habits. Whenever he became nervous, he ran his hand through his thick hair. The blush slowly left his face and he looked at Rayna instead of averting his gaze. Mithrim looked at him, head cocked curiously. Hers always seemed to break into laughing fits for no apparent reason. She always figured the silver dragon had something to do with it. She liked Ampthrith, but he was a bit of a troublemaker. Then she remembered when she was young, yelling at the Weyrling Master. What trouble she got M'rtagh into those few times. She just trilled and went back to watching Kefira from her perch on Rayna's shoulder. She would tell no one that she, the beautiful and intelligent opal Mithrim had once been a trouble maker. But perhaps there was one other queen she could confide in. A small draconic smile, which seemed rather odd, flickered at the corners of Mith's mouth and her eyes swirled soft blue. Yes, she felt Fayneth would understand.

The little girl whipped her head around as she heard ‘the boy’s’ voice. She had a few questions for him. But he seemed pretty nice. Did you loose you’we bed? I only thought giwls lost theiw beds, because I’ve only seen giwls sleeping in the wrong beds, but I supposed boys can be stupid too. She cocked her head to the side, watching him, but was soon distracted with the singing and crooning and soon after…racket. She yelped at Trouble’s singing, and jumped onto the bed, accidentally tackling M’rtagh to pull a pillow over her head. That hurt her ears. How could the one sing so pretty and Trouble sound like a dying wombat trying to sing?? A dying wombat being slowly chopped into little bits trying to sing.

As soon as the singing stopped she crawled over top of M’rtagh again to get to the little dragon. She stroked him softly and spoke. Silly Twouble. You’we a good boy. But not a good singing boy. You’we good at othew things. She consoled him, figuring he’d be sad that he had made such horrible noises. But soon she was distracted by the ideas presented by Ray-Ray. She looked solemnly at Ray-Ray for a moment before speaking, You pwoooomise you won’t fowget to meet me? You won’t fowget and stay hewe and do something mowe impowtant? Daddy had always had the best intentions and said he’d do things with his daughter, but he forgot sometimes and went to do something more important. It wasn’t fair when people did that.

She looked over to M’rtagh at his adding to the statement. You’we a boy. You’ll fowget. She spoke in a matter of fact way. She was certain of this. Boys always forget, or just decide not to come, especially when you’re just little. Little people get ignored and told to go away with empty promises that the little girl has come to distrust greatly. She might give people chances, but if they broke a promise, she got quite upset, and sometimes even cried. But chances were that if you broke a promise to her, you might just become the subject of all her little pranks.

Trouble seemed to puff up with pride when Mithrim called him a good dad. Of course he was! He wasn't about to let anyone harm his babies! He did a few swoops and twirls to further prove his greatness and then fluttered over to Rayna's shoulder and perched himself there. So what if they didn't know singing talent when they heard it? He was a good father!

Rayna smiled and scratched Trouble's eye ridges. Even though he could probably break glass with his singing, he was loyal little flit and she loved him dearly. He'd been her companion since she was a teenager and they'd been best friends ever since he had hatched. Even if he had gotten her in some trouble over the Turns, (She still remembered when he has stolen someone's belt knife because it was shiny and pretty) he made up for it with his companionship and loyalty.

The White-Gold gave an unamused snort when Ampthrith told her not to be so sour. What place did he have to tell her what to do? And to make matters worse he said she was loud! She shot him a haughty glare, even after he said he was joking. It didn't matter if he was joking or not! He should know better than to talk to a queen like that! Her glare softened though when he mentioned the part about her being a fine example of a queen. Suddenly, the comments of her being loud and sour disappeared from Fayneth's mind. Then the croon sealed the deal. There was no way she could be mad at him, for now at least. She affectionately nudged him; a thing rarely seen from the queen. {Why thank you, Ampthrith,} she said, eyes whirling a happy blue, {You're not that bad of a silver.}

As Mithrim landed on her shoulder, Rayna scratched the opal's eye ridges. A small smile tugged at her mouth as the flit rubbed her cheek against her and said that she liked her. No wonder Trouble thought so highly of this little queen! She was quite a sweet little thing! [I like you too Mithrim and I'm glad that I make Yours happy.] Rayna looked to M'rtagh and smiled at him. He was quite a handsome man, and he'd make a good Weyrleader. [Can you tell your M'rtagh that he makes me happy too? And that I think he'll make a fine Weyrleader?]

{Finally!} Rayna looked from M'rtagh to Fayneth. Her dragon was looking at her and seemed to be beaming with happiness. Rayna raised and eyebrow and looked at her dragon curiously. Finally what?

{You're flirting! Or complimenting at least...}

The Weyrwoman rolled her eyes. What was with Fayneth and trying to get her to see boys in any other way but as friends? It was like she was obsessed with trying to get her a weyrmate! She sighed and looked back at M'rtagh, grey eyes briefly looking him over. If she thought about it, he'd make a good weyrmate. He was handsome and Ampthrith was obviously in Fayneth's good graces. The only problem was that she hardly knew him. Other than their meeting at the beaches, she'd never seen him before!

{Oh who cares about that! He's perfect!}

[You sound a little eager to get me a weyrmate...]

{Hey, when you find a decent guy you can't let him go! If you don't flirt before ya know it he'll be fancying some beryl rider!}

[And how would you know all this?]

{Well, aside from the fact that I'm the almighty queen Fayneth, I've heard a bunch off the gossip at Fort and-}

[Oh Fayneth, you're horrible! You know you shouldn't listen to gossip! None of that stuff is true anyways!]

If Fayneth had been human and capable of rolling her eyes, she would’ve done just that. Oh, Hers could be so... so.. so unfeminine at times! She hardly wore dresses, she refused to gossip, didn’t take a second look at any boy (or so she said) or anything girly! She didn’t even know how to sew! (Unless you counted mending riding straps and wher hide riding gear sewing...) An irritated grumble arose from the Queen’s throat. How annoying Rayna could be at times! She ruffled her wings a bit and laid her head on her forearms, trying to keep from glaring at Hers.

A curious, but amused, look shined in Rayna’s deep grey eyes when Kefira asked if M’rtagh had lost his bed. A smiled tugged at her mouth and she bit her lower lip to keep from laughing. She looked from her sister to M’rtagh, wondering what his answer would be. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too embarrassed and she hoped he wouldn’t be mad at Keffy. She was just a little girl and she didn’t know what went on during Flights. She would’ve answered for M’rtagh, but she didn’t know what to say.

Trouble, who had patiently waiting to go to the dining hall, was now starving. His little stomach grumbled, begging to be fed. He leaped from Rayna’s shoulder and flew over to Kefira’s. He grabbed a small lock of hair and gently tugged it, asking in his own little way if they could go eat now. He added a pleading chirp before looking at His. |Tell Keffy you meet her at dining hall so we go!| Rayna nodded and looked back at Keffy, smiling as she listened to her. “I promise I won’t forget you, Kefira. You’re the most important thing on my list right now!” She said as she motioned towards the door, “You’d better scurry down there. I don’t know how much longer Trouble and Mithrim can wait!”

A chuckle grew in M’rtagh’s throat as the girl questioned him as to whether or not he had lost his bed. It erupted from his throat as a deep baritone laugh. He steamed it for a moment to speak. ’I don’t think this is the wrong bed. I may have taken a wrong turn. What do you think Rayna? Is this the wrong bed?’ He raised a brow as he asked Rayna the question. Before he could say another word, Kefira tackled him. He fell over and laid on his back fro a moment, taking a few deep breathes. The little girl had knocked the wind out of him! He was just about to sit up again when Keffy crawled over top of him. He chuckled and rolled his eyes before finally sitting up again. He looked at Rayna, that handsome grin enlightening his features.

Mithrim looked at Rayna as she spoke and asked her to bespeak M’rtagh. Mith thought for a moment and then snorted. /No, you tell M’rtagh self. I not messenger.\ Her eyes held a pale shade of agitated yellow, but she was not mad. She knew it was going to be her job and Fayneth’s to bring the two together. Boys just couldn’t seem to do it, so that cancelled Ampthrith out. She looked at Trouble and would have laughed. He was just like any other boy, swelling up with pride at being complimented.

If Ampthrith had been capable of blushing, he would have when Fayneth nudged him. He just wanted to raise his great head and bugle, but he knew it was still rather early and there were people talking in the other room. Instead his eyes rolled pale pink in a draconic form of a blush and his paused in his crooning. {Thank you Fayneth. I still stand on my judgement of you being a fine example of a queen.} He then thought for a moment. {I was thinking. When we go to the shores, perhaps I can show you a very lovely little spot to sun. It’s about big enough for maybe three dragons. I’m the only one who knows about it, and I’m sure you’d enjoy it. Warm rocks, the sun always hits the area and the water is very deep, even at the shore.} [Suck up!] {Shut up! And mind your own business!} M’rtagh pulled from his short talk with Ampthrith with a chuckle. It was fun to bother Ampthrith.

M’rtagh listened to Kefira and his eyes widened as she said he, M’rtagh, would forget! He had to try and set this girl straight. ’Kefira, not all boys are forgetful. Some are, but I’m not. Besides, I always keep my promises. So I’ll tell you this, I’ll come down to the dining hall AND I’ll come down to the shores. If I don’t, well, then I’m a liar and you can label me as one.’ M’rtagh would usually keep a promise, and this was one he would not break! Besides, he would be with Rayna. M’rtagh sensed Fayneth’s annoyance and knew it wasn’t because of Ampthrith, so he figured Fayneth was becoming agitated because of Rayna. He didn’t voice this, but kept it to himself. He let his eyes rove the weyr for a moment, and then rested on Kefira and Trouble, who was pulling on her hair.

Mithrim was slowly getting annoyed and bored. Finally she leapt from Rayna’s shoulder and joined Trouble, gently pulling at Keffy’s hair. This made M’rtagh laugh. ’If you’re going down to the Dining Hall, you’d better go soon, or Trouble and Mithrim are going to eat your hair.’ He laughed softly and hoped she’d realize he was only joking. He took a deep breath and thought for a moment. He had never really been happier, not since he Impressed Mithrim and Ampthrith on the same day. Yet he was nervous, he had a feeling that Fayneth and Mithrim had something going on, at least Mithrim anyway. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. ’And I promise Kefira, I’ll come to the dining hall and the shores. You just wait and see.’

You’we in the wong bed! I’m suwe of it. Because this is Way-Way’s bed. She was very sure of herself and she insisted upon this. Rayna’s bed was Rayna’s bed. Not M’rtagh’s! Was he trying to steal her bed? Awe you twying to steal Way-Way’s bed? She glared at him accusingly. Stealing someone’s bed! That was mean. Where would poor Ray-Ray sleep if M’rtagh stole her bed? That wouldn’t be very nice and she’d have to…beat ‘im up! That’s what she would do. She’d beat ‘im up if he decided to steal Ray-Ray’s bed, cause it was Ray-Ray’s bed. AND NOT HIS! Her little phase of glaring accusingly lasted for a short while, because she became distracted by Rayna’s promise.

She smiled brightly at Rayna. Ray-Ray said Keffy was important! Ray-Ray said she wouldn’t forget! This made the child’s day, and any bitter memory of her greeting and falling from the bed were wiped away. Ray-Ray said she was important! That was a big thing for her. She’d never been called important before. But she was more sceptical of M’rtagh’s comments. But his comments cheered her slightly. Maybe he wasn’t like daddy. Maybe he remembered. Alwight. But if you don’t come I’ll…I’ll….I dunno what I’ll do…but you wish you’d’ve come! She exclaimed passionately, jumping to her feet. This boy would learn…if he was lying…that Kefira was not to be lied to!

Her deep brown eyes widened at his idea that the fire lizards would eat her hair and with that she jumped and ran for the door, hoping the flits would either hold on tight or take off, so they wouldn’t fall. She turned around quickly at M’rtagh’s promise, watching him for a moment to decide that he would be labelled trustworthy until he proves himself different. Alwight, M’wtagh. I believe you. At that she yanked the door open and dashed out, humming one of the teaching ballads she’d taken a liking too.

Rayna wasn't exactly sure how to answer M'rtagh. Technically, he was in the wrong bed. He belonged in the Weyrleader's weyr now, but considering the events of the previous night, he was in the right bed in a sense. Fortunately, Kefira answered before she could. She sighed and ran her hand through her blonde hair, still not exactly sure what to say. She wasn't good in these situations. If her sister brought the subject up later, she'd probably have an explanation as to why he had been in her weyr by then.

A small smile crossed Rayna's features as Kefira reacted to her promise. Seeing her smile so brightly and happily like that brightened her mood. She kind of liked having someone that looked up to her and thought so highly of her. "I promise I won't forget Kef. Now go!" She said, motioning towards the door. She was eager to get her sister out of her weyr. She wanted to get dressed before the headwoman came to yell at her! She stopped rubbing the opal's eyeridges when she told her that she wasn't going to deliver her message to M'rtagh. Oh well, maybe if she managed to get up the nerve later she'd tell him that.

A draconic grin appeared on Fayneth's face as Ampthrith mentioned a good sunning spot. He was a charmer alright and a good one at that. She fluttered her wings a bit and stretched out her neck. {That sounds absolutely marvellous Ampthrith,} she said in her most feminine and melodious tone, {I'd love for you to show me. I could use a good sunning. Lately, Mine has been hanging out at the Hold and they just don't have any decent spots for sunning.} She made a displeased face as she remembered the horrid conditions at the Hold, well, at least they were horrid in her opinion. Hers said that the Hold would be a fine and well functioning hold once it was completed but Fayneth didn't care about that. She wanted a good spot to sun!

Trouble squawked in surprise as Kefira dashed out of the weyr. His claws instantly clutched onto her clothing, but he was careful not to scratch her shoulder. He didn't want to hurt the girl that was going to feed him! He chirped a goodbye to His and Fayneth before disappearing out the door with Kefira.

"Finally," Rayna mumbled as Kefira left the weyr, trying not to sound too relived. Even though she loved her little sister, she could get a little irritating some times, especially when she asked non-stop questions. She forced a smile on her features and looked to M'rtagh. "Congratulations on becoming Weyrleader. I think you're quite worthy." With that said, she walked over to the chest containing all her clothes and opened it. She frowned a bit when she looked down into the chest's contents. Her breeches still hadn't been returned. She selected a white top and a long black skirt, that both had matching silver trimming and quickly dressed. She then walked into the adjoined bathing room and quickly washed. She'd take a nice, long soak in the pool tonight. She picked up a silver comb and ran it through her hair, untangling it a smoothing it until it shone. Smiling with satisfaction, she exited the room and looked at M'rtagh. "I'm ready when ever you are."

Mithrim trilled and let go of Kefira’s hair to fly behind her, she didn’t want to tear the girl’s clothes. She trilled a goodbye to Hers and Ampthrith before zipping down to the dining hall with Kefira and Trouble. She was very hungry, but she had to get back to her nest soon too. She couldn’t wait to eat some warm meat rolls. M’rtagh watched as she left and said his goodbye silently with a slight wave of his hand. He then allowed himself to laugh a lightly. ’That Kefira certainly is full of energy.’ He watched for a moment as Rayna moved about to the chest and was rather taken aback by her compliment. ’Thank you Rayna.’ He then stood from the bed to his full 6’6”. He went to a pile of clothes on the floor, his own. He slipped into his trousers and pulled his pale cream shirt over his head. Then he shrugged into his tunic, leaving the strings undone for now. He wasn’t bare now, so it didn’t matter really.

Ampthrith grinned draconically and he to stretched his neck. He hadn’t realized how stiff he was until he did that. {I think a good hunt would be nice too. How about when Ours are at the Dining Hall, we go for a nice hunt.} [You’re going to show off aren’t you Amp?] {No, I’m just going to catch a meal or two.} [Right Amp, right.] {Can’t you just keep your nose in your world M’rtagh!? You worry about how you’re going to woo Rayna!} [Woo Rayna? What are you talking about?] Ampthrith sighed inwardly and shook his head. {At this rate, you’re going to be single when you’re 70.} Ampthrith severed the connection between himself and His. His now irritated His, M’rtagh could be a real fool sometimes.

M’rtagh came from his short conversation with Ampthrith being very confused. He sighed softly and shook his head. ’I’m ready. I could go anytime.’ He ran a hand through his hair; he seemed to be doing that a lot this morning. Oh well, this too shall pass…