Who Tells the Truth

Writers: Shelly, Yvonne
Date Posted: 29th March 2006

Characters: Corvera, Firsa
Description: The Weyrwoman interviews Firsa about what she saw between K'far and Nineba.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 9 of Turn 3
Notes: Follows 'Gathering Facts'

Firsa paused at the end of the hallway that led to the Weyrwoman's
office. The last time she'd been this far into the Weyr was before
Jaela had died, and the familiar memories clashed with the gut
feeling that the woman who sat there now was an intruder. Her lips
thinned into a line at her own foolishness and she made herself walk
up and knock on the door. When the Weyrwoman called, you answered...
even if being summoned like an errant canine put her back up.

Corvera answered the door personally. "Thank you for coming so
promptly, Firsa. Please, come in." She could easily see that the
older woman wasn't pleased and she decided it would be best to get
this matter cleared up as quickly as possible. "I know you are a very
busy woman so if you'll just have a seat, we can begin."

The Stablemaster brushed past her, but waited until Corvera was
seated before claiming her own seat. Her expression was unnervingly
impassive as she crossed her legs and waited.

"It was brought to my attention that you may have seen a drudge named
Nineba about two sevendays ago making a bit of a scene. Apparently
she followed a dragonrider named K'far there. Do you remember the
woman at all?"

Firsa's mind went blank. Then - the woman, shrieking in the mud, with
lank brown hair and dirty boots. K'far turning his back and riding
away... She folded her hands in her lap. "Why?"

Firsa, obviously, was not used to being ordered around. "You may have
been one of the last people to see her after the altercation and such
things need... looking into." Corvera said simply. She could trust
Firsa not to gossip all over the Weyr - or so she hoped.

"I think I remember her... was she a laundress?"

The Weyrwoman nodded affirmatively. "K'far, the man she was with is
tall, an average weight, dark hair... Is any of this sounding
familiar?"

"I know K'far," the Stablemaster said.

"Of course you do," Corvera said very matter of factly, having
forgotten that not everyone was as new to the Weyr as she was. "But
you haven't answered the question."

Firsa raised an eyebrow. Of course she did? What did the Weyrwoman
mean by _that_? "That I remember the drudge? I did answer that. And
the only reason that I know K'far is that he's one of the few
dragonmen that still rides runners. I prefer to keep to myself."

The Weyrwoman did her best to resist the urge to throttle the woman
sitting across from her. "What do you remember about seeing her? Do
you remember her leaving after speaking with K'far? Were they
arguing? Anything?" She couldn't resist the temptation to add the
last question.

"Nineba was weepy and loud and upset my runners. She and K'far
exchanged words, and then K'far rode off at a good clip, and Nineba
followed him on foot. There is no way that she could have caught up
to him." Firsa frowned. "K'far handled himself remarkably well,
considering the circumstances. Why are you asking about him?"

"I'm just following up on some disturbances around the Weyr. I like
things to run smoothly." She said briefly. "Did you see Nineba
return? Or K'far?"

K'far had returned late, muddied, and scratched - a fall from his
runner, he'd said. Firsa's mind flashed onto something uglier,
something she'd suspected when Corvera had first called her in but
hadn't wanted to name. The thought made her squirm... it couldn't be
possible. K'far had always been gentle with Leaf; a soft hand on the
reins, a gentle touch to say hello to the runner. And what if he
really _had_ fallen? What if he hadn't? "I haven't seen the drudge
since then. She's disappeared?"

Corvera tilted her head ever so slightly and regarded the woman
keenly. "So you haven't seen her then?" She pushed on. "What about
K'far? He had to have returned the runner sometime."

The stablemaster snorted, sounding a little like one of her runners.
"Laundresses don't come down to the stables, and I don't hang around
the laundry - so no. That was the only time I saw her, and the only
reason I remember her is because she's a twit."

The Weyrwoman began to become a little suspicious about what Firsa
knew and what she wasn't telling her. "Well surely you would have
been aware of when K'far returned the runner. Was there anything off
about him? Was he upset or hurried or anything?"

"He was late," she said flatly. "It was dark."

"He came back late and you didn't go to check on what had kept him -
or the runner? Come now, Firsa, we both know that's not like you."
She said hardly.

"With all due respect, Weyrwoman, you don't know me at all," Firsa
replied. "I am _not_ likely to ride out willy-nilly after an errant
rider after dark without knowing his or her intended trail. He said
he'd lost track of time, and I believed him."

"Well then, I think that's enough for today." Corvera already had a
fair amount of information. Maybe she could call in a few journeymen
or apprentices to flesh out the details. She considered having
Mnaiath bespeak Torth, but that would be a last resort.

"In that case, Weyrwoman..." Firsa rose to her feet. "It's been a
pleasure."

Last updated on the April 9th 2006

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Who Tells the Truth