Strangers

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 14th April 2006

Characters: Firsa, K'far
Description: Firsa joins K'far in the dining hall, but isn't sure of hermotivations
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 5 of Turn 3

M10 d19 Turn 1
Maparlin gave me this book as our wedding present. It's lovely - he says my thoughts are precious and I need to write them down so I don't forget. He works so much, sometimes I don't see him from sun-up to sundown but I'm sure he'll change now. Our first night together as weyrmates was... will it always be like that? I hope so. I love him so much. I hate it when he leaves me.

m11 d23 Turn 1
Maparlin came home late again today. He says that there is so much do to in the Weyr now that there is Thread again, but I miss him so much. I think I'm pregnant and I told him so, and he was so happy! I think Nilin would be a good name for a boy. I hope we have a boy; he'll look just like Maparlin.

m1 d1 Turn 2
Turnover was so much fun! I wore my blue dress and Maparlin and I
danced all night. My feet hurt but I've never been so happy. Maparlin fed me iced cakes and candied flowers, and he put flowers in my hair and got so jealous when I danced with anyone but him. He gave me a ring to wear on my littlest finger - to keep for our baby until he or she is old enough to wear it themselves. It's silver and has a little blue stone in it, the colour of the sky. And he kissed me as the sun rose on the beach. It has been such a good turn, despite Thread coming back. I couldn't be happier, and things can only get better. I'm in love.

~*~

It was voyeuristic. It was wrong. It should probably be given to
Corvera, and yet Firsa couldn't stop reading Nineba's diary. The
laundress' writing was crabbed and small, and she wrote nonsense in the margins, like, 'Blue feels like kisses' and 'Ice, ices, icicles, why don't fish drown?'. There was a pie recipe that turned into a poem half way through, and a pressed flower that blotted out an entry right before Turnover.

She couldn't stop reading - and yet she couldn't flip to the end. The Nineba in the first few pages was utterly unlike the drab, shrieking woman in her stableyard, frantic as her love rode away and muddy up to her knees. She was in love. The world was bright, and she was happy. Her joy filled the empty spaces in Firsa's new weyr with colour and laughter - and an echo of Daramek.

The diary was obviously private, but the chatty way in which it was written made Firsa feel as though Nineba was talking directly to her. It made her wonder if anyone here knew Nineba at all - all the gossip she'd heard painted the drudge as a drab, mopey thing. Quiet. Well behaved. Unnoticed until she was gone.

Unnoticed by _almost_ everyone. The dining cavern was full that
evening, and laughter echoed off the stone walls merrily, but one
man ate by himself, resolutely looking at the table. Firsa bit her lip, then slid into the bench opposite. "I haven't seen you at the stables lately."

"Yeah, I guess I've been kind of keeping to myself lately," K'far said as he stared down into his mug of ale.

Firsa picked up her fork. "Too bad. Leaf needs the exercise."

"Well, so could I," K'far sighed. "But you know... well, I'm _sure_ you know about the rumors running around about me."

The Journeywoman raised an eyebrow. "I don't listen to gossip.
Neither does Leaf."

"Well, you're the only two living creatures at the Weyr who don't seem to," K'far as he lifted the mug to hit lips. He wiped slight coating of foam from his hairy upper lip. "If I went out riding alone, everyone would be talking about me going out looking for the body. If I fly too far on Torth, they'll say I'm changing her hiding place. There's nothing I can do but dills, eat, wash my dragon and sleep. And even _that_ seems to raise suspicion and eyebrows."

"If you can't please everybody, then you might as well please
yourself." She stabbed a tuber and cut it in two. What if he _had_ killed Nineba? He'd come back from his ride that day with a scratch on his cheek - had she fought back? Had he fallen off Leaf at all?

The brownrider snorted. "I suppose that's true. I'm condemned if I do, and condemned if I don't." He grabbed a breadroll and tore it in half. "You're not concerned what other people think of you then?"

She shrugged. "I'm not going to tie myself into knots over something I can't control."

"Well, I used to think I didn't care what people thought either." Knowing about a few people's dislike of him was a minor annoyance. Knowing _everyone_ disliked him was... unsettling. "I suppose you have it right. Animals are much easier creatures to get along with than humans."

"Sometimes." At least they didn't talk back, or gossip. If an animal disliked you, it was usually justified. Usually.

"So you think Leaf misses me?" he asked with a hint of a smile.

She almost said no, that Leaf missed being taken out and exercised by someone who would let him get away with more than either she or her apprentices would, but he looked so... lost. **Like Daremek...** Firsa banished the thought, but the pity lingered and she found herself saying, "Of course he does."

"Well, people would get suspicious if I rode away from the Weyr
alone." He looked at the journeyman out of the corner of his eye. "I don't suppose I could convince you be a chaperone for me."

Firsa paused. While Nineba's interest in K'far intrigued her, did
she really want to spend _that_ much time with him? She regretted her previous small kindness. "From what you say, people are suspicious if you sneezed. And I have a lot of work to do, now that we're into the foaling season."

"Yeah," K'far nodded knowingly before taking another long gulp of ale. "I wouldn't want to be seen with me either. Probably wouldn't get you your master's knots any faster."

Her lips twitched. "I'm not on the fast track to my Mastery anyway. Tell you what. Come by the stables, and if I'm free I'll take Rainy out. She needs the exercise too."

The brownrider looked at her out of the corner of his eye for a
moment, trying to decide if she would just 'happen' to be busy
whenever he came. Oh well. It was the best offer he'd be getting for a while. "All right then," he finally said. "I'll come by."

"Good." The Journeywoman attacked her meal and wondered if she'd done the right thing.

Last updated on the April 18th 2006

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