Can I ask why? Piemur delivered the question on the end of a long suffering sigh.
Menolly laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair.
You can, but Ive no answer. We werent told either. He just wants you to wander about the Gather and listen.
Has he got Oldtimers on his mind? Piemur asked as casually as he could.
Id say he probably does, Menolly answered after a thoughtful moment. Hes been worried. I may be his journeywoman, but I dont always know whats on his mind. Neither does Sebell!
They had reached the archway now and turned toward the Gather meadow. Im to ride a dragon? asked Piemur. He lurched to a stop, his eyes bulging out at the scene before him. Bronze Lioth was shaking his wings out in the sun, his great jeweled eyes gleaming blue-green as he turned his head to watch the antics of the fire lizards. Dwarfed by his bulk, the tall figures of Nton, Fort Weyrleader, and Sebell stood by his shoulder.
Cmon, Piemur. We mustnt keep them waiting. The Gather at Igen is already well started.
Piemur struggled into his wherhide jacket, making that an excuse for falling behind Menolly. Actually he was both terrified and overjoyed at the prospect of riding a dragon! All those cloddies up there in the drumheights! He hoped that they were watching, that theyd see him riding off on a dragon! Thatd teach them to smear his reputation. He pushed from his mind the corollary that the privilege of flying a dragonback would make his lot with his fellow apprentices that much harder. What mattered was the now! Piemur was going to ride a dragon.
Nton had always been Piemurs ideal of a dragonrider: tall, with a really broad set of shoulders, dark brown hair slightly curled from being confined under a riding helmet, an easy, confident air reflected by a direct gaze and a ready smile. The contrast between this present Fort Weyrleader and his disgruntled predecessor, Tron, was more vividly apparent as Nton smilingly greeted the harpers apprentice.
Sorry your voice changed, Piemur. Id been looking forward to Lord Groghes Gather and that new Saga Ive heard so much about from Menolly. Have you ridden dragonback before, Piemur? No? Well, up with you, Menolly. Show Piemur the knack.
As Piemur attentively watched Menolly grab the riding strap and half-walk up Lioths shoulder, swing her leg agilely over the last neck ridge, he still couldnt believe his good fortune. He could just imagine Tron permitting a journeyman, much less an apprentice lad, to ride his bronze.
See how it was done? Good. Up with you then, Piemur! Sebell gave him an initial boost, and Menolly leaned over with a helping hand and a guide rope. It seemed a long way up a dragons shoulder.
Piemur grabbed the rope and just as he planted his booted foot on Lioths shoulder, he wondered if hed hurt the dragons smooth hide.
Nton laughed. No, you wont hurt Lioth with your boots! But he thanks you for worrying.
Piemur was so startled that he almost lost his grip.
Reach up, Piemur, Menolly ordered.
I didnt know hed hear me, he said in a gasp as he settled astride Lioths neck.
Dragons hear what they choose to, she said, grinning. Sit back against me. Sebells got to fit in front of you!
The words were barely out of her mouth before Sebell had swung up with the ease of considerable practice and settled himself before Piemur. Nton followed, passing back the riding straps. Piemur thought that a needless caution. His legs were wedged so tightly between Menollys and Sebells, he couldnt have moved if he had to. Then Sebell peered over his shoulder at him.
Youll have heard a lot about between, I expect, but Ill warn you now: its scary even when you know what to expect.
Right, Piemur, Menolly added, circling his waist with her arms. Ive got you tight, and you hang on to Sebells belt.
You wont feel once were between, Sebell continued. Theres nothing between except cold. You wont be able to feel Lioth beneath your legs nor our legs against yours, nor your hands about my belt. But the sensation lasts only a few heartbeats. Theyll sound very loud to you. Just count em. Well be doing the same thing, I assure you! Sebells grin absolved Piemur from any expression of fear or doubt.
Piemur nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He didnt care what happened between. At least, he would have experienced it, which very few apprentice harpers could say.
Suddenly there was a great heave, and he cracked his chin against Sebells shoulderblade. Inadvertently looking down, he saw the ground moving away from him as Lioth sprang skyward. He could feel the great muscles along Lioths neck as the fragile-seeming wings took their first all-important downsweep. Then the Gather meadow and the Harper Hall seemed to rush away, and they were on a level with the Hold fire-heights.
Sebell gave Piemurs hands, clutching his belt, a warning squeeze. The next heartbeat and there was nothing but a cold so intense that it was painful. Except that Piemur couldnt feel pain with his body, only sense that his lack of tactile contact with reality included everything except the wild beating of his heart against his ribcage. Ruthlessly he clamped down on the instinct to scream. Then they were back in the world again, Lioth gliding effortlessly down to the right, a tremendous expanse of golden ground beneath his wings. Piemur shuddered again and kept his eyes fixed on Sebells shoulders. Hard as Piemur wished he wouldnt, Lioth continued to glide downward, dipping sideways at unnerving angles. Suddenly Piemur could hear fire lizards chittering, and despite his resolve not to look around, found himself watching them zip about the dragon. It is scary to look down, Menollys voice said in his ear. Its worse when theyahhhhh
Piemur felt his stomach drop and, to his horror, his seat seemed to leave the dragons neck. He gasped and clutched more tightly at Sebell, feeling the mans diaphragm muscles move as he chuckled.
Thats what I mean! said Menolly. Nton says its only air currents, pushing the dragons up or letting them down.
Oh, is that all? Piemur managed to get the words out in a rush, but his voice betrayed him. All came out in a two-octave crack.
Menolly didnt laugh, and he felt more kindly toward her than at any other time in their association. It always scares me, she said in a comforting shout by his left ear.
He was just getting accustomed to this additional hazard of flying dragonback when Lioth seemed to be diving straight for the Igen River bed. He was pressed back against Menolly and didnt know whether to clutch more fiercely at Sebells belt or relax into the pressure.
Dont forget to breathe! Menolly was shouting and, at that, he barely heard her words as the wind ripped sound away.
Then Lioth leveled and began to circle at a gentler rate of descent toward the now-visible rectangle of a Gather. To the left was the river, a broad, muddy stream between red sandstone banks. Small sailing craft skimmed the surface on a current that must be swifter than the turgid surface suggested. To the right was the broad, clean-swept rock shelf that led up to Igen Hold, a safe distance above the highest flood marks left by the river on the sandstone banks. Behind Igen Hold rose curious, wind-fashioned cliffs, some of which made additional holds for Igens people, for there were no rows of cotholds adjoining the main Hold here. Igen Hold also had no fire-heights, not needing any since there was nothing but sand and stone around the Hold proper, to which Thread could do no harm. The lands that supplied Igen Hold were around the next bend of the river, where the waters had been led inland by canals to supply watergrain fields.
Piemur wasnt sure that he would like living in such a barren-looking Hold, even if no Thread could ever attack it. And it was hot!
Red dust puffed up as Lioth landed, and suddenly Piemur was unbearably warm. He began to unbelt his wherhide jacket before he released the riding strap and noticed that Menolly was as quick to strip helmet, gloves and jacket.
I always forget how hot it is at Igen, she said, fluffing out her hair.
The dragons love it, said Nton, pointing beyond the Hold to where the rough shapes that Piemur had assumed were rock now became recognizable as dragons, stretched out to bake in the sun.
It was as he was sliding down Lioths shoulder that Piemur noticed the curious construction of the Gather rectangle. There didnt seem to be any walkway. The only open space was the customary central square for dancing. Though whod have the energy to dance in this heat he didnt know.
Then Piemur ducked while Lioth showered them all with sand as he vaulted into the air and winged to join the other sunbathing dragons. The fire lizardsNtons Tris, Sebells Kimi and Menollys nineswirled up and away and were met, midair, by other fire lizards, the augmented fair swirling higher and higher in the joy of meeting.
Thatll occupy them for a while, said Menolly, then she turned to Piemur. Give me your flying gear and Ill leave it at the Hold till you need it again.
We must pay our respects to Lord Laudey and the others, said Sebell, bringing out a handful of marks from his pocket. He presented Piemur with an eighth piece and two thirty-seconds. Im not being stingy, Piemur, but youd be questioned if you had too many marks about you. And I dont think Igen Hold runs to bubbly pies.
Too hot to eat em anyway. Piemur mopped his sweaty forehead with one hand as he gratefully slid the marks into his pouch.
But they do make a confection of fruits that you might like, said Sebell. Anyway, move around and listen. Dont get caught being nosy and come up to the Hold for the evening meal. Ask for Harper Bantur if you have any trouble. Or Deece. He remembers you.
They had reached the edge of the Gather tents, and now Piemur realized that walking space existed but was considerately covered with tenting to deflect the worst of the suns baking heat. It was simple now for Piemur to move away from the journeymen harpers and the Weyrleader in the steady flow of people sauntering past the Gather stalls. He saw Menolly turn about, trying to see where he had got to, then Sebell spoke to her, and she shrugged and moved on with him.
Almost immediately Piemur noticed one great difference between this and the Gathers he had attended in the west: people took their time. In order to separate himself from his craftmates, Piemur had deliberately lagged behind, but when he would have stepped out again at his customary pace, he hesitated. No one was moving briskly at all. Gestures and voices were languid, smiles slow, and even laughter had a lazy fall. A great many people carried long tubes from which they sipped. Stalls dispensing drinks, chilled water, as well as sliced fruits, were frequently placed and well-patronized. About every ten stalls or so, there were areas where people lounged, either on the sand or on benches placed about the edges. The tenting was raised in corners to catch breezes sweeping up from the river, cooling the lounge areas and the walkway.
Piemur did one complete walkabout of the Gather rectangle. He could appreciate that, despite breezeways and the expenditure of the minimum of physical effort, people did not do much talking as they strolled from stall to stall. The talking, either conversation or bartering, was done while both parties sat comfortably. So he used one thirty-second piece on a long tube of fruit juice and some succulent slices of a rind-melon, found himself an inconspicuous spot in one lounge area, and settled to listen as he sipped his drink and ate.
At first he didnt quite catch the softer drawl of these south-easterners. The low-pitched conversation between two men on his left turned out to be the innocuous boasting of one about the breeding lines of the splay-footed runners he was hoping to barter profitably while the other man kept extolling the virtues of the currently favored strain. Disgusted at such a waste of his time, Piemur focused his ears on the group of five men on his right. They were blaming the weather on Thread, the bad crops on the weather and everything else except their lack of industry, which Piemur thought would be the real problem. A group of women were also murmuring against the weather, their mates, their children and the nuisancy children of other holds, but all in a fairly comfortable, tolerantly amused fashion. Three men, with their heads so close together no sound passed their shoulders, finally parted, but not before Piemur saw a small sack pass from one to another and decided that they must only have been bargaining hard, The runnermen left and a new pair took their places, composed their loose robes about them, leaned back and promptly went to sleep. Piemur found himself growing more heavy-eyed and sipped the last of his juice to keep him awake, wondering if he would find another lounge area as dull.
A combination of excited voices and a chill breeze woke him. He stared about him, wondering if he had missed a drum message, and then oriented himself. Night had fallen and, with the set of the sun, the cooler winds of evening blew cheerfully through the raised flaps. There was no one else in the tent with him, but he could smell the aroma of roasting meats and scrambled to his feet. Hed be late at the Hold for his supper, and he was hungry.
Cool evening had enlivened everyone, for the walkway was now full of quickly stepping, chattering people, and Piemur had to duck and dart his way out of the Gather tents. The dragon lumps on the Hold cliff turned their brilliant lanterns of eyes on the doings below them, rivaling the blazing glow baskets set on high standards about the Gather grounds.
No one challenged Piemur at the Hold courtyard gates, and he found the main Hall by simply following the general drift of the well-dressed people.
Lord Laudey, according to Harper Hall gossip, was not a very outgoing man, but at a Gather, every Holder did make an effort. The principal men and craftmasters of his Hold were invited with their immediate families to dine in the Hold Hall, as well as such dragonriders and visiting Lord Holders, Craftmasters and Masters who might be attending the Gather.
By custom, the harpers ate at the first table below the main one. Piemur had never seen the resident Harper, Bantur, and hoped that Menolly and Sebell were already at the table. They were, and chatting in high spirits with Deece, whod been seconded to Bantur the night Menolly had walked the tables to become a journeywoman, and with Strud, whod been posted to a sea hold on Igen River that same night. Gray of hair but with bright and unusually blue eyes, Bantur welcomed Piemur with such friendliness for a mere apprentice that Piemur was made more uncomfortable by kindness than he would have been by taciturnity. Bantur insisted on getting him fresh meats and tubers from one of the drudges and heaped his plate so high with choice cuts that Piemurs eyes boggled.