Chap. 54 Seditious talk

Chap. 54  Seditious talk

K'ndar wasn't sure quite what to make of his feelings.

He, along with classmates, older dragonriders and just weyrfolk were holding a clandestine meeting on the far side of the dragonlake. To all appearances, it was merely a get together of like aged young people on a lovely rest day, but in reality, it was the safest place in which to meet without Jenmay being able to eavesdrop and punish them.

In just a few short days, Jenmay had instituted several draconian laws.

"I still can't believe she was able to send the junior gold riders away. They'd done nothing wrong, nothing," Sinala, a green rider, said.

"It scares me. She hates the idea of girls riding greens. Am I and the rest of us green girls  next?"

"What they DID was dispute her authority, before she was legal. Divide and conquer, right? With no junior golds, it means she's Weyrwoman as long as Jianath can still be mated."

"She certainly seems to wield a lot of power. I can't blame D'nis, or any of the leaders. They're unable to control her. She's WEYRWOMAN. We've been like this for thousands of years. You don't go against the Weyrleader or –Woman. But this is NOW.  We have 'rights', if I remember the charter."

"Weyrleader, my tail. N'orald is useless. He doesn't do a thing to stop her."

K'ndar spoke up. "There's no mean in him, but he's in his 80's, he's blind, his memory is gone. He does what she wants mostly because he has no idea what is going on."

"She comes down to the dining hall and picks up his meals for him," said one boy, "like he can't get there on his own. And it's not much. Like she's trying to starve him?"

"The problem with the charter,' said one of the crafters, 'is that there is no way to ENFORCE it. It depends on everyone being honorable. Some Holds have 'master at arms', but we don't have anything like that. She depends on that."

"Lord Dorn…and some other Holders, have those people, too. But the problem is, how far does it go? Remember, Fax was able to take over so many holds because he had people who were willing to hurt, even kill, on his orders. And no one stopped him because they had no way to defend themselves. Do we want that?"

"Don't forget that the Abominators will kill, too.  I think they caused Robinton's death. So there's people out there who are willing to do just about anything, and they get away with it."

"Jenmay's an Abominator,"

"Not that she admits it, but you are right."

"No doubt. From the day she got here, she's done nothing but complain about Aivas, and do everything she could to keep us from using things that make life easier."

"Except for her glasses. Maybe a wherry made them for her."

"She thinks everyone is too stupid to notice them," said one girl, "she doesn't wear them when people come around, but it's pretty obvious when she shoves them up on top of her head and then wanders around like this,"  she mocked a person looking for their glasses, "like she forgot they're in her hair."

They all laughed. She'd nailed the impersonation of Jenmay perfectly.

"If you have something 'modern', like a binocular, or a fan, hide it. I hear she goes snooping around in people's weyr's when we're out flying missions, or at work."

"That's no rumor, that's a fact. She came into the Master Healer's office while he was gone and took his mychros cope. We found it later, broke all to bits."

K'ndar thought of the telescope. He would have to hide it. It was kept atop the highest ridge of the weyr, but-she had a dragon to take her up to it. If she knew it existed.

Then he thought of his library book and notebook.

"Who's a harper here," he asked.

A girl raised her hand. "I'm a new apprentice here, but I'm living in the Harper hall."

"When you get back there, tell Rendel to hide the library books. Today. She's sure to try and destroy those."

"I will."

"What angers me is how she's messing with the little kid's minds. She came into the classroom the other day and started berating the little un's about Proper Pern Behaviour. Girls don't need to learn to read or write or do math. Girls make babies, that's IT. No learning math or science, or anything that isn't from the old days. Boys need to learn the old ways of doing things. Don't ever use words like 'year' or "month' or 'horse".  Aivas is bad, Aivas is dangerous. It scares the little ones half to death and worries them the other half. My baby brother came into my room last night, crying because he was afraid if he said the word year, he would be beaten."

K'ndar worried about Glyena. She was smart and a survivor of abuse, just like him, but she was still only seven and a half.

"Doesn't it make you wonder the timing of it all? Jenmay shows up two years ago, Danelle starts getting sick about a year and half ago. Her dragon is happy just being an old gold, didn't bother to rise, ever, now Danelle is dead from who knows what and Jianath MATED? With old Menkarth? The only bronze left in the weyr at the time?"

"I've thought about that, a lot. Something very sneaky went on. I have a feeling that somehow, Jenmay did something to Danelle. It was just too convenient, too, too,"

"Too perfectly planned."

"Yeah. Now let me throw this out to you all. What she said about girl's 'not doing math'…lucky for me, I DO. If you look at when Jenmay came forward, she was, what…20 years old? 19? With a five at the most gold dragon?"

"Yeah?"

"So, how often is it that a five year old gold dragon becomes the queen? Especially in the old weyrs, like Telgar, where there were plenty of mature golds? Anyone know who was Weyrwoman at Telgar when they came forward? I can't remember who took over, but I don't remember ever hearing of her before she got here. Jenmay claims she was "Weyrwoman", but WHEN? And WHERE?"

That shut everyone up. They'd taken for granted that Jenmay's insistence that she'd been Weyrwoman was the truth.

"Those who forget history are bound to repeat it," said the harper's apprentice, unhappily.

"So you think she's lying?"

"I'm CONVINCED of it. Anyone know someone from Telgar?"

K'ndar motioned yes. "N'orald's from Telgar, just like Jenmay. I've talked to him on a few occasions. I think I'm the only one who has. He's not reclusive, he's just lost in his own mind, so old he can't even remember things that happened yesterday. But…he does from his own past."

"Think you can find out from him if Jenmay really was a Weyrwoman? Ever, from Telgar?"

"I don't know if she was from Telgar. I think I heard her say she was from Nabol, THEN Telgar. Then here."

He nodded. "Jenmay keeps him pretty hemmed in. She doesn't want him to talk to anyone. Like us, but I think I know a way to have a talk with him. I'll ask him."

Siskin, who'd been sitting quietly on his shoulder, suddenly pinched his shoulder and grumbled.

He got a picture from the lizard of Jenmay heading their way.

"My fire lizard tells me she's coming this way," he said. The group panicked in place for a moment, then someone threw out a pack of playing cards. Everyone picked up a few and started playing anything that came to mind. K'ndar had never played cards but he did play along.

Sinala was the first one to sight Jenmay.

"Incoming," she hissed, sotto voce, then said, a bit too loudly, "K'ndar!! I can't BELIEVE  you played that card, what were you thinking?"

"What do I know, I'm an idiot at this game," he moaned, truthfully.

"No, you played the right one, it gave ME the points!" someone else crowed, and they all laughed.

"Yeah, but he's NOT your partner!!"

Jenmay stood over the group, hands on hips.

"What are you kids doing?"

They all looked up at her, dumbly, then one said, "Ummmm, playing cards?"

"That's ALL you'd better be doing. We don't need sedition in the ranks. Insubordination will be punished. Take your lesson from the junior golds," and she walked off.

They all watched her stalk off.

"My book," K'ndar thought, suddenly.

"Look, my friends, I have to run. I have to go hide a book. Right now," and he got

up.

"Better hurry, K'ndar, she seems to be headed that way."

"Thanks."

Raventh. Jenmay is coming. Do not let her into the weyr

Yes

And listen to see if she says anything to Menkarth or Jianath.

Yes. Send Siskin, he can help protect the book

"Siskin. Go to Raventh," he said. Siskin peeped and arrowed away.

The rest watched him leave. "We'd all better do the same. Hide stuff," said one.

"We are in such deep wherry dung," said another.

Raventh's bulk blocked the entrance to his beach weyr completely. He moved aside to allow K'ndar to pass, then blocked it again. Siskin found his way in, too.

Thank you

She'll be here very soon

He grasped the book and notebook from the shelf and stuffed them into his shirt. Search as she might, she wasn't going to manhandle HIM.

"Siskin, on the shelf," he said. That was easy, the blue fire lizard liked to stretch out on the shelf, like a cat.

"You, in the weyr, move your dragon," a voice said from the outside.

"Who's there?"

"You know very well who I am. Jenmay, Weyrwoman. Dragon, MOVE."

This person is very rude

"Why? It's his weyr, too," K'ndar said.

"Don't backtalk me. Move your dragon."

"Is there something wrong?"

"I said MOVE YOUR DRAGON. NOW."

Raventh moved just a little. Just enough to let the woman crawl over his forelegs, just beneath his jaws.

I should bite her

I wouldn't. She probably tastes terrible.

She got to her feet, disheveled. Hands on hips, she looked around his quarters.

"To what do I attribute this VISIT, Jenmay?" he said, growing angry.

Careful. She is itching for a fight

"I'm inspecting your quarters for…for…cleanliness," she said.

"I'm not a Weyrling and this is not the barracks," he said. Siskin hissed, very softly. His eyes whirled blood red.

She glared at him.

"You're a troublesome young kid, K'ndar. It's amazing how quickly you got here from your little card game. Don't think I believed that nonsense with the cards. I know you were talking about me."

"Maybe I knew you were coming to snoop in my quarters? Why? I've done nothing wrong."

"SNOOP? How dare you question my rights to inspect MY WEYR."

"It would have been nice had you asked, first. I don't remember your Protocol classes saying you could just walk in without invitation," he said, wondering where he was getting the courage. "I remember your classes. "Pern society depends on courtesy and respect for others." he said, mocking her voice.  "This doesn't feel respectful or courteous."

"YOU can shut your mouth before you get into…..where did you get THOSE?"

For a moment he panicked. She couldn't possibly see the books next to his skin.

"Those WHAT?"

Enraged, she pointed at the plants on the table next to his bunk.

"The plants?"

The look on her face was a blend of fury…and fear.

"Those PLANTS. Where did you get those?"

"Why, Jenmay," he said, thinking faster than he would have believed, "I was on watch duty yesterday. I saw you fly in from SOMEWHERE, and you dropped these just beneath the ledge of your weyr. As you know, we are expected to keep the weyr cleared of ALL vegetation at all times. I didn't know WHY you dropped it but I was just doing my duties."

Her attitude had changed. It was now that of a person seeking to hide something.

"Where did they come from, by the way? I've never seen anything like them in my life. I was going to take them to the Healer, to see if they might be useful," he asked, innocently.

She snatched them up.

"There's no need for that. They're just pretty flowers I picked at…at the Hold. Good job, your cleaning them up."

"I was surprised that you'd left them there, but…"

"Yes, yes, I had a lot on my mind, what with being Weyrwoman. Well done," she stuttered. She turned to leave, but Raventh was still in the way.

"So…are my quarters to your standards?" he said, sarcastically, feeling victorious.

He'd pushed his luck too far.

She spun around. Her face had returned to its malicious scowl.

"No. In fact, I want you to move back into the cliff weyrs. Dragonriders live in cliff weyrs, not in a shack on the beach, like some holdless bum," she said. "Get with Hariko for your quarters. All of these beach weyrs will be empty by..by tomorrow."

Raventh still hadn't moved. He was treated to the sight of Jenmay wriggling her way out between his forelegs.

Shards.