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| Weyrling Al'jan & brown Fivrith |
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| There was more than one time when Al�jan regretted his cousin�s Impression of a gold. He missed her devoutly during Weyrling training, when she was off learning how to be a Weyrwoman, and he was stuck doing drills. It wasn�t that he disliked his clutchmates, it was the absence of a presence that had been near him all his life. And he worried, worried as he hadn�t since he�d been stuck in bed with a concussion and there was only Jhetarya to tend to the barren reaches of Folly Cothold. Fivrith was no help. <<Al�jan, why can�t we fly with Arosambyth? I am good at flying. I could help her.>> <<Al�jan, are you sure that those bronzes aren�t bothering her?>> <<Al�jan�>> Fivrith was as stubborn and open as Jhetarya, as guileless as a hatchling still. But Arosambyth held her own council, plotted, and got away with statements that would send her cohorts into fits had anyone but Arosambyth made them. Arosambyth was a skeptic; Fivrith was a pessimist. Arosambyth was silver-tongued; Fivrith was as subtle as a club. Al�jan appreciated Fivrith. Like his cousin, he could always rely on his lifemate�s council. But the situations that surged around Arosambyth could be dangerous for his plainspoken cousin, and Al�jan, to his frustration, never saw enough of her to help. <<When we graduate, we will be there to protect them,>> Fivrith muttered, the tang of hot copper and the taste of blood coming over on his restless tenor. <<I hope we graduate soon. The Old One, your grandfather, he worries my clutchsib�s rider too much. When we are free to do as we like, we must fix it.>> The Telgaran rider stroked his lifemate�s terra-cotta hide. �Grandfather doesn�t worry me as much as those bronzeriders. Jheta�s no beauty, and they might make her think they�re attracted to her just until Arosambyth flies.� <<I will hurt them if they do,>> Fivrith said moodily. <<They�d better not upset Jhetarya.>> Al�jan smiled, briefly. �Well, we�ll still be here. We�ll see that Jheta gets only the very best bronze and brownriders.� Fivrith shifted, threat in every line of him. <<And if they break her heart, you can break their noses,>> he suggested, with the slightest hint of dark humor. �That I will,� Al�jan said grimly. �That I will.� |
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