Strategy for the Defense (3/3)

Writers: Estelle
Date Posted: 19th April 2019
Series: The Great Bandit Trial

Characters: R'fal, Tasni, Lirena
Description: Tasni responds to R'fal's offer to speak up for his father in court
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 7, day 15 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Corowal

***

The young man fell silent, thinking over all the troubling scraps of
information that he'd been concealing. The hunting of the wild wherries
in Galveden's wood. The rumours about the missing ovines. The mysterious
item that his father had buried under the needlethorn bush. He _knew_
his father was a good man, and there had to be a simple explanation, but...

Though he wasn't aware of it, the harper was giving him a long look.
Sometimes silence spoke louder than words. Tasni had only known R'fal a
short time, but she could already tell that unlike his father, he had a
basically honest nature. He might fib about eating the last bubbly pie
or tell his mother he'd been working when he'd actually been at the
tavern, but he would be no more capable of concealing the truth from the
Lord's court than of flying without his dragon.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, R'fal, but I recommend that
you keep your distance from this trial," she said, not without regret.
"You're a dragonrider, and anything you do reflects on the Weyr as a
whole; you have to be careful what you say. Trust in the evidence. Lord
Corowal is a just man; if your father is innocent, then he has nothing
to fear."

"Oh." The boy's shoulders slumped. "But I want to attend. For Da and for
Mother."

"If your Weyrlingmaster has no objection, then I don't have a problem
with that. But you'll need to stay quiet and calm, for your dragon's
sake if nothing else." A young dragon panicking in the Hold would do
nothing to help her case.

"What about me?" Lirena asked quietly. "I could speak."

"Perhaps." Tasni judged that the woman was both clever and desperate
enough to dissemble if needed. She might be useful. But she was also the
man's wife, and had an even stronger motive to protect the family and
retain their home and land. Draining the last of the klah, she gathered
up her papers. "Well, I'm due back at the Harper Hall in a quarter-hour,
so I'd better be on my way. I'll send word as soon as I hear more.
Perhaps we'll get a date for the trial."

They all stood. "Thank you again, Journeywoman," Lirena said.

"Don't mention it. You'll hear from me soon."

When she was gone, R'fal turned to his mother, his face stricken. "Ma,
I'm sorry."

"It's all right. If we're going to get through this trial, we all have
to be honest with each other," Lirena said firmly. "You'll help just by
being there."

"But it's not just that. It's..." He stared down at his boots, suddenly
finding he could hardly speak past the lump in his throat.

"R'fal? What is it?"

"I was selfish," he said in a low voice. "I wanted to go with the
Searchriders so badly, and I went, even though Da asked me not to. If
I'd stayed, I'd be here for you. Not stuck at the Weyr - "

"R'fal!" She grasped his shoulder with one hand, the other behind his
head to force him to look at her. "Listen to me. There isn't a day goes
by that I'm not grateful those Searchriders came to the cothold and
chose you to go with them. It isn't that I don't miss you. I do, from
the bottom of my heart. But at least now, I know that you're out of this."

"But if I'd stayed..."

"If you'd stayed," Lirena said flatly, "then you could be standing trial
alongside your father."

His jaw dropped. "What?"

"You're seventeen Turns old, R'fal. Do you think the guards would
believe a man's grown son didn't know what he was up to? Never helped
him out, some nights?"

"But Da wasn't..."

"He was doing something. You know it, I know it." She let him go,
lowering her voice. They were in the Hold, after all, and walls might
have ears. "Maybe he didn't know they were thieves. Maybe he didn't ask.
But he knew something wasn't right, and if he'd told you about it then
you would have too."

"Ma, I swear, I didn't know anything. I just saw him leave a message,
once, but I never..."

"It doesn't matter. You're a dragonrider now. People have done much
worse things, but once they belong to the Weyr, they're safe. We have to
be honest with each other - "

"I am being honest!"

"I know you are." She wrapped her arms around him and they stood there
for a moment in silence, while R'fal felt for Marlath's presence in his
mind. He'd felt the dragon rise to a crouch, alarmed by the strength of
his emotions, and let their bond flood with calming thoughts, as he'd
done so many times before.

}:You are afraid.:{

**I know. Sometimes we are,** R'fal replied, not knowing what else to
say. He couldn't hide anything from his dragon.

There was a pause. }:Fenolth says it will soon be time to return to the
Weyr.:{

R'fal wondered if it had really been so long, or if Marlath's reaction
had worried M'dael. "Ma, I have to go in a little while."

"I'll show you the way out." She tidied the klah mugs, put them on the
tray to be taken down to the kitchens. "I know you had nothing to do
with this, R'fal. And you had every right to go to the Weyr. Think of
Marlath. If you hadn't gone, what would have become of him?" She saw his
look and filled her voice with a confidence she didn't feel. "It'll be
all right. I promise."

"Here, let me take that." He picked up the tray and waited while she
opened the door for him. "I just...I wish you didn't have to do this on
your own. I'll be there at the trial. No matter what."

Lirena glanced back over her shoulder, her heart full. She and Terren
had made many mistakes, she thought, but he wasn't one of them. "I'm
glad. I'll need someone to hold on to."

Last updated on the May 3rd 2019

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Strategy for the Defense (3/3)