Working Out the Kinks

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 17th November 2017

Characters: Xeladrie, Ranni
Description: Xeladrie talks to Ranni about the baby
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 1, day 9 of Turn 9

Xeladrie

Ranni

According to the Healer, her baby was going to come within two
sevendays. That had triggered Xeladrie into a frenzy of thinking. She
didn't have a lot of time to figure out exactly how to fake the loss
of the child and get the baby to K'dee. She couldn't do it alone,
though. She'd have to trust someone. And right now, the only person
she felt she could trust was Ranni.

So when her maid came into the room to check on her, Xeladrie looked
up from her embroidery and said, "I need to talk to you."

Ranni was carrying a large basket of fresh linen, the tendons in her
forearms showing from where she'd walked all the way from the laundry
room up to Xeladrie's rooms. Hefting the basket down, Ranni wiped her
hands on her apron and went to her mistress, "Yes, milady?"

"Let's go into the bedroom," Xeladrie suggested. The sitting area of
the suite was still potentially too easy for eavesdroppers.

The bedroom that was off of it had only the one door, which she shut
when they were inside. She then sat on the bed and looked up at the
maid. She thought she could trust Ranni to side with her, but she
realized what a risk she was taking. Ranni could betray what she'd
done to her husband.

"Are you loyal to Lord Bryvin as your Lord Holder, or to me
personally? I have a task I want done, to benefit myself, but it would
be against the Lord's own interests," she stated.

Ranni searched her Lady's face. It would be very traitorous to say
that she wasn't honor-bound to her Lord, but Ranni knew in her heart
that she wasn't. She only wanted to serve Xeldarie, to take care of
her ladyship.

"You know I am your loyal servant, milady. I hold no love or duty to
Lord Bryvin." Ranni assured her.

If she was willing to say that, then she wouldn't be running to
immediately write her up in a note to Bryvin. Good.

"Remember the discussion we had when I told you about my sister?"
Xeladrie began. "I don't want to bring home a daughter to Sunstone. If
I have a girl, I want to spirit her away. And I would need help."

Ranni gave a sharp nod, eager to show Xeladrie that she could be
trusted, "What do you need me to do?"

"Help me figure out how to make this work," the Lady said. "I'm going
to write a letter to a bronzerider I know and have Glimmer deliver it.
He can take the baby to the Weyr to raise. But I don't know how to
cover up the baby disappearing. I don't know if a midwife or Healer
would be willing to risk Lord Bryvin and my father's ire..."

"I can do some investigating, if you'd like, see if there's a midwife
who's known to do such things. You aren't the first to hide away a
baby, mistress, I've seen drudges do it so the Lord wouldn't know
they'd had a bastard." There were some Lady Holders who didn't like
their husband's having illegitimate children, and when it was
discovered a bastard lived in the Hold, it was disposed of to make
sure another claim could never be made against the Lady's rightful
heirs.

"If you could find out, we could request that midwife. Though, do you
think we could misdirect her about what was happening? I don't
necessarily want people knowing she's going to the Weyr." Thoguh she
wasn't sure how to hide that part, how to get the baby out to K'dee if
he would take her.

"If the midwife would just declare the baby weak, so that other maids
hear it, then it'll seem like fate when she 'dies' a couple of days
later. Then the baby could be smuggled out." Ranni suggested.

"And then we could take him to K'dee?" She paused then. "Or...maybe
you should. Would I be able to get away?"

Ranni chewed on her lower lip thinking about the best way to get the
baby out of the Hold. "So soon after giving birth I think it would be
difficult for you, milady, and... It might be difficult for you to say
goodbye? People see me carrying baskets and trays and things for you
all the time, I could hide the babe in a basket and take it to your
dragonrider."

"You're right. And if I'm weepy, and they think the babe's dead, no
one will question why." There was that, at least.

"What will the dragonrider tell the Weyr when he shows up with a
baby?" Ranni wondered, she didn't know how the Weyrs worked, this was
the first time she'd ever been away from Sunstone in her life.

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe they'll think it's his." There was
always gossip about rider men knocking up holder women, wasn't there?

"I'm writing Glimmer a note to take him. If we can, we could meet him
and talk about that...if you think we can get away on a walk without
any of father's guards following us." She knew that her advanced state
was slowing her down.

"Won't a dragonrider showing up to visit you without your husband be suspicious? Or does he do watch duty here, too?" Ranni wasn't sure what the proper etiquette was, she'd never met a rider before.

"I haven't seen him doing watch duty here. But I haven't looked. Could you also find out who the watch dragon has been?" she asked.

"maybe I can ask Glimmer to ask him to take the shift, then run into him and ask him to take a note to my husband. Or maybe we could have him visit wearing other knots... or bringing me a delivery he says is from someone else."

She wasn't very sure how to make it work.

Ranni nodded, "I'll ask around about the watch dragon, let's just start there, and then maybe your dragonrider friend will have his own idea about how to get here without raising suspicion."

"Thank you for helping me with this, Ranni," Xeladrie said. "It's been a nightmare to think about it all on my own."

The drudge smiled at her mistress, "We'll take care of everything, milady, try not to stress over it." Ranni was still worried that her lady might take the same path as the sister who had thrown herself off the balcony, she would do anything to make sure that Xeladrie wasn't hurt.

Last updated on the December 10th 2017

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Working Out the Kinks