Never Knowing What's Lost

Writers: Chelle, Mirren
Date Posted: 29th February 2016

Characters: Fraga, Harla, Darez, Taresho
Description: Sometime ago, someone lost something.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 4, day 11 of Turn 8
Notes: Part 1 of a storyline

Sitting in her chair, she found her eyes closing. Her head went back and she stole some quiet moments for herself. They were rare-with a growing boy, after all. Still, Fraga managed to get enough. She was tired most of the time, but it was worth it. She was happy. He was a fine boy even if she hadn't been able to give him a father. she rocked back and forth, deliberately. And then her eyes closed.

~*~

It was a normal day at the hold's infirmary. Garie Hold wasn't a main Hold but it was large enough since it was a waystation on the right road to the main Hold. The healers worked quickly. There were a few sick patients, a few needed minor surgeries like bone settings, and then there were the usual cases like women in labor or people in chronic pain. Nurses roamed around busily. Healers stopped by to check on patients or to mark charts. Beds were rolled into surgery. It was during all of this that Harla left quietly, pulling her robes around her. She had performed almost a double shift that day and it was time to leave. She was slow and deliberate, her eyes downcast as she passed through the hold's passageways. She didn't go to her quarters though. She walked through the passages until she reached one of the side entrances. And she walked through it. She pulled her scarf down over her head, adjusting it with her left hand. And then she headed out into the darkness.

If one was listening over the loud noise of the wind, they might have heard the jingle of a harness or the creak of leather. But it was gone quickly.

Back in the infirmary a new mother had been resting. She'd just brought her second son into the world and Taresho was proud of herself but she was tired. She had waited to let them clean him up and wrap him. She had held him. But then they had taken him away after his first feeding. He needed to sleep and she needed to sleep. So she slept. When she woke up, she asked for her son to be brought to her. His father was coming and he wanted to see him. She waited. And waited. Sitting up in the bed, she looked and saw a Master Healer coming. The look on his face wasn't a pleasant one. Taresho's heart began to beat harder in her chest. She leaned back as far against the headboard as she could. He kept coming toward her. "No....no....no...." Her head started to shake from side to side. It had been just a half candlemark before. He'd been fine. **They said he was healthy. I gave him a name!**

"Taresho...he's gone. I'm so sorry." The master tried to comfort her. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

She assumed her child had died. He had died suddenly while lying in the small bed in the nursery. **Why?**

Seeing the assumption she made and not wanting to admit his own guilt, the Master became quiet as her husband arrived and she screamed at him. He backed up, letting the scene play out. **Poor Taresho. But why would anyone do this?**

~*~

"Ma?" Darez called out. He wiped sweat from his eyes as he stepped inside the hold. "Ma? I found some more redfruit." Shriveled ones to be sure, but still…

A small woman was standing at the counter, slicing up fruit. Her eyes were brown and her hair was a dark shade of brown as well. She was very nondescript and wouldn't stand out much in a crowd. Her hands were marked with calluses from hard work but there was a deliberateness to them that spoke of training long ago. Her head came up and she smiled. "Oh that's wonderful, my dear. Just set them here and wash up. You can feed the porcine after meal." Fraga worked quickly.

Darez, comparatively, was blonde, with blue eyes, although he wasn't much taller than her. "All right Ma. Long day?" He worried about her, she worked so hard to provide for them both. He'd tried to take on more, but he was young yet.

"Just fine. I had to wait for the bag of grain this morning so I was a little late on everything else. How was your time with the harper?" She smiled. Fraga would have reached out to tussle his hair but her hands had fruit juice and seeds on them. She took the new ones he offered and began to peel them.

"Harpering is a waste of time," he declared. "I can't earn marks by listening to music or practicing reading. I can already read." He grimaced.

"Those lessons are what will get you farther. If you're educated you have a chance. You won't be stuck behind a plow. You could be an understeward or something else grand maybe." He had to learn to be better. Not a drudge or some simple farmhand. She wanted better for her son. She had always wanted so much for him, grateful to have him in her life. Faranth had blessed her.

"I like plowing," he muttered. No one was going to hire him to be anything grand, unless he was Searched.

"Maybe you do now, but I doubt you will after you've been doing it for thirty turns. It runs your body down." Her own hands were now showing signs of wear. Almost done peeling the fruit, she managed the last bit before she began to chop the sections up.

"But Ma, I'm strong." He flexed muscles typically small for a boy of his age and grinned. "See?"

"Oh sure. Now you are. But you'll see when you're tired. When you get old, you always get tired." She chuckled once and then finished the fruit. Putting everything into a bowl, she cleaned up her counter and washed her hands. "Did you wash up, Darez?"

"Not yet Ma." He held out his hands and turned them around. They weren't too bad, but he doubted he'd get away with them. "I'll go do that now."

Last updated on the March 4th 2016

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Never Knowing What's Lost