galeran

Now normally Galeran wasn't the type of boy to shirk his duties, but today was different, different indeed. Today there was a clutch of fire-lizards hardening on the Lord Holder's hearth, and rumour had it they were about to hatch. Any boy with gall was finding a way to get out of his responsibilities, and sneak into the Lord's chambers, and maybe get an egg? The Lord Holder was generous, and rewarded anybody who was in the right place at the right time. Galeran knew this, and thus plotted his escape from tending the herdbeasts that afternoon.

Sneaking through the lessdf used halls of the Hold proved to be trickier than he planned, but he wasn't the only one there.
"Hey Lanill, whadda doing back here? Aren't you supposed to be on kitchen duty today?" Galeran asked his friend suspiciously, although he knew as well as anyone why Lanill wasn't in the kitchen.
"And ain't you supposed to be out with the animals? Jays, you know perfectly well that I'm just as good as you as sneaking out of chores." Galeran shrugged at his friend, and continued in a mockingly haughty voice,
"Do as you like, but the Lord Holder knows me, and is more likely to give me an egg." Lanill rolled his eyes and chuckled amiably.
"Yeah Galy, you're going to get an egg from the Lord Holder. Who're we kidding? There's no way either of us will get an egg." Lanill seemed depressed all of a sudden, as if the mission just lost all hope, but Galeran laughed outright.
"Of course not, but any excuse to get out of chores will do fine by me! Besides, it'd be fun to watch 'em hatch and Impress. Whose getting the eggs, do ya' know?" Lanill smiled at his friend and shook his head,
"No, but com'on, I know a shortcut and we can find out!" The boys raced off through the small back hallway, pushing at each other and boasting about themselves as boys do.

Three sevendays later......
Galeran stroked Blun's blue head absently while he sat, staring over the vast group of herdbeasts. Punishment for Impressing, a lifetime of herd watching. The Lord Holder hadn't minded, not at all, but his foster mother on the other hand......Alinia could be a real pain when she wanted to be, and all because she was the Lord Holder's cousin, and didn't have to really do anything. She was jealous of Galeran for getting a fire-lizard, when she hadn't been allowed one, and punished him for it.
Not that Galeran had meant to really Impress anyway. He and Lanill had managed to sneak into the Holder's chambers uncaught, unlike another boy found wandering around outside the chamber doors. He had really gotten into trouble, because he was just a drudge's boy, but Galeran and Lanill didn't have to worry about that, because they didn't get caught. They had found a good spot to hide, and wait for the eggs to crack.
But the boys got restless, and began to wrestle with one another in the absence of the Lord Holder. They had failed to notice that the three eggs on the hearth were beginning to wobble and crack, and before you know it the boys had crashed into and broken a table, the first of the eggs split and a tiny bronze fell out, and the Lord Holder was standing right there, staring at the two boys before he realized what was happening on the hearth. In a moment of desiciveness, he pulled some meat rolls out of his pocket and managed to Impress the little bronze, but the other two eggs were still wobbling.
"I was going to take these and surprise my daughters.." He'd said, indicating the two remaining eggs, "but since they're hatching now, you boys can have them. It makes sense you know, you two can use them to tend to the herd." Galeran had been so elated upon the Lord Holder's words, that he scrambled out of the broken table and actually shoved aside the Lord Holder to get to an egg. He had reached for, and almost grasped, his choice of the eggs before he realized what he'd done. He'd apologized of course, incessantly, but the Lord Holder was laughing, staring fondly down at the little bronze in his arms. Galeran knew it was alright.
But just then a little blue burst from it's eggshell, creeling with hunger. Galeran held the fire-lizard in his arms, while he searched for something to feed it. In despair, he was about ready to race to the kitchen with his little fire-lizard, before he saw Lanill taking meatrolls out of his pouch. Lanill, always prepared, Galeran thought fondly, and took some so he could Impress little Brun. Lanill's egg hatched a bronze, and for a moment Galeran was jealous, but then quickly decided it didn't really matter. He had a fire-lizard! Who cared what colour it was. Galeran held the little sleeping hatchling in his arms in the Lord Holder's room, and thought that no matter what happened, it was worth that very moment.
Galeran stared out over the herdbeasts, with fond memories of that day. Everyone had been so miffed that he, the bastard son of a Weaver, and an anonymous dragonrider, had been given an egg, while the far more worthy, and higher ranking, were left without. But Galeran didn't mind, there was nothing they could do about it now. So he accepted his coming punishment with good grace. He knew his foster mother would be very vindictive, instead of proud, so he was prepared for it. With little Brun, he was prepared for anything.
Galeran could not believe how much he reveled in the joy of another mind joined with his, even Lanill didn't find it as remarkable as Galeran did, and the Lord Holder had forgotten the joy, and was interested only in the usefulness, of it already. Galeran didn't understand them at all.
But now that he spent his entire day in the fields (with the exception of days bringing Thread), he had enough time to think about things he'd never thought about before.
He'd always felt abadoned when his mother gave him up to be fostered. She felt disgraced for letting herself be seduced by a dragonrider, and couldn't bear to keep Galeran? Galeran felt that he would have been a very loving son if his mother had kept him, and would have eased her pain and made her proud. But he never gave a second thought to his "father". Dragonriders were a race apart from people, or so he was told. They didn't think right, they weren't normal, but Galeran didn't really believe that. He'd met a dragonrider once, and V'ran had seemed perfectly normal to him.
Also Galeran couldn't figure out why he wasn't being allowed to find a Craft. Alinia didn't believe that her children (fostered or no), should have to work, because they were, afterall, relatives of the Lord Holder. Galeran hated her for that, she was throwing his future away, and she didn't even care.
Brun chirped scoldingly, almost as if he was trying to distract Galeran from that line of thought. Galeran smiled and stroked Brun's head reassuringly.
"It's alright Brun, I'm not doing anything wrong. It's okay to think about the people who make you angry, if ya don't, then you won't be thinking too clearly when you're around 'em. And that's not good, 'cause then you make mistakes that could be avoided. Do'ya understand that little one?" Galeran liked talking to Brun, because aside from Lanill, who he wouldn't admit his true feelings too, Brun was the only one who cared one way or the other about Galeran.
Brun chirped scoldingly again, and rustled out of Galeran's grip and glided down to the ground, where he'd spotted a tunnel snake, and was going after it like nobody's business. Galeran chuckled, and returned his gaze to the grazing herdanimals.
Galeran sat in a daze, thinking about things and staring out over the field. He wasn't really watching the herdbeasts, and was slowly nodding off to sleep before Brun's frightened cry startled him to see the creatures stampeding into a group and trying to press up against one another in panic. . Galeran looked about alarmed and fearful, it wasn't Thread was it? He looked to the sky.
But instead of the deadly silver Threads he'd expected to see, he saw the huge bronze wings of a dragon, settling over the grass. A bronzerider, here? Galeran was beside himself was excitement, for all his sixteen Turns, he still got excited seeing a dragon in the air. He watched as the huge beast landed, and the rider swung gracefully down from the impossible height of the dragon's shoulders. Galeran thought he looked strangely familiar....
"V'ran!" Galeran cried in surprise. The bronzerider smiled.
"Is that you Galeran? Why I'll be, it is you! You've grown at least a head taller since I saw you last....you're sixteen Turns now, correct?" Galeran nodded and looked at the bronzerider expectantly.
"Why are you here? Have you come to visit the Lord Holder again?" V'ran shook his head, and then shrugged.
"Maybe, I may need to speak with him later," seeing Galeran's confused face, the bronzerider elaborated, "Actually I've come on a Search. Coecleth tells me there are several personalities here that he feels would make excellent dragonriders." V'ran now looked expectantly at Galeran, but Galeran just frowned.
"I can't think of anyone a dragon would choose from here, except for maybe one of the Holder's daughters. They've tons of personality, they seem good enough to Impress. Wait a minute, Lanill! Lanill is who you're after isn't it? It's gotta be, I know him, and I know he's who you want." Galeran finished triumphantly. He would be so proud for his friend to be taken by the Weyr, and then he could visit him. Galeran then felt a litttle embarressed, in his anticipation of the bronzerider's choices, he had slipped into the mind of a six-Turns-old child, and acted immature and babyish. Galeran shook his head to rid himself of the feeling, and looked at V'ran to see him smiling broadly.
"Actually Galeran, I think we will take Lanill, Coacleth's met him before, and found him acceptable." Without warning Galeran suddenly lost the feeling of pride he expected for his friend, and instead felt jealousy. But V'ran was still smiling in that way he had, and Galeran wanted to wipe the smile off his face with a rock. "Coacleth also finds you acceptable Galeran. So if you choose too, you can come with us to the Tiynarea Weyr."
At first Galeran didn't think he heard right, and then he thought he did, but it was just a dream. But looking at the huge bronze Coacleth, rumbling happily, he knew it was real, and Brun was right there to rub his cheeks affectionately and creel enthusiastically. Galeran began to grin, and then to laugh, and finally to stand and look down on the bronzerider. Galeran hadn't realized he'd gotten so tall, but he still smiled.
"I'd be glad to go with you bronzerider, glad to go to Tiynarea Weyr." Galeran shook hands with V'ran as Brun did aerial loops to express his glee.