Detained

Writers: Miriah, Emma, Aaron
Date Posted: 21st September 2021
Series: Bad Meat!

Characters: K'sedel, K'don, Enali
Description: Enali is discovered and detained
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 17 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: R'ayl, N'vanik
Occurs immediately after/during "Poisoned"

K'sedel

K'don

Enali grit her teeth as she scurried from the Hatching Grounds,
silently cursing her ill luck. That shafted flit! Couldn't it have
left the meat alone long enough to let it do its job? Panic and
anxiety began to roil in her belly as she tried to move through the
crowd who were all beginning to gather at the uproar. She had to get
to the Lower Caverns and quickly.

K'don raised an eyebrow the fleeing girl caught his eye. It seemed a
bit suspicious for someone to run away like that... He was not sure
yet. But he had a feeling he ought to follow her and see what she was
up to.

((Shall I tell Nikornath what you are doing?)) Maciath offered.

}:Not yet,:{ K'don answered. }:I don't want to call K'sedel's
attention away from the Sands and the Hatchlings unless we're sure
there's something to this.:{

((Truly well,)) Maciath conceded. ((I will watch.))

K'don went after the girl as nonchalantly as he could manage while
still keeping up with her.

Would the cart be there to get her? The message she'd received had
said that someone would be there to pull her out, just in case things
went poorly. As Enali shoved past someone else, she glanced around,
but didn't see anyone following her; they were too focused on the
shaffing Hatchlings. They were going to be so upset that she hadn't
been able to get even _one_ of the things. She should have been
quicker about shooing that flit away.

She looked around again, then over her shoulder saw someone with
rider's knots going in the same direction she was. She paled and panic
swarmed over any rational thought. She bolted for the Lower Caverns,
running as fast as she could while holding a rounded belly.

As K'don came closer, he narrowed his eyes to try to get a better look
at his quarry. Not quite a girl, he revised his opinion. A young
woman. And was she with child? Could she truly be –

But then she saw him. And ran. There could be no question she was up
to something. Why would she run?

((Shall I tell Nikornath now?)) Maciath asked, worry in his tone.

}:I can handle this for now. We don't even know anything for sure,:{
said K'don. He kicked his sandals off and took off after her at a run,
his calloused feet serving him as well as his physical training with
the dragonriders. She had a head start on him, but if he was lucky, he
would stop her before she could lose him.

She could not move as quickly as she expected she would be able to and
she felt off balance as she made her way out of the crowd. When she
glanced back, she saw the young man racing towards her, then began to
pant from exertion, her bladder suddenly screaming for release. She
reached the lower caverns, but could not hide; the corridors were too
well lit. Her eyes darted around and for a moment, she forgot how to
reach the tithe caravan entrance. The moment cost her valuable time as
she got her bearings and tried to scurry in that direction.

K'don took every opportunity to gain ground on the fleeing woman, and
when he reached her, he took hold of her arm to stop her.

"Stop!" he commanded in his best imitation of a manly tone, but his
voice betrayed him and broke, leaving him sounding like a gangly teen
instead of an intimidating dragonman. He cleared his throat and tried
again.

"Who are you?" he asked, sounding much closer to what he originally
intended. "What did you do?"

The moment she was grabbed, Enali instinctively struck out with a
blow that barely clipped the rider's shoulder. It was enough to make
her knuckles sting as she whirled to face her accuser. "Let me go! I
haven't done anything!"

"Ow! Hey!" K'don protested, though he blushed at the outburst. "Then
why did you run? I saw you trying to get away when that firelizard
keeled over!"

Struggling against his grip, Enali felt another surge of panic and
burst out with the first thought that came to her mind. "I have to
pee! Let me go!" It was then that she noticed he looked to be a boy,
not a man, despite the knots on his shoulder. Fueled by desperation,
she shoved at him, hard.

K'don's eyes went wide as he thought for a moment that perhaps he had made a
terrible mistake. He instinctively released his hold on Enali just as she
went to shove him, and then drastically fumbled to catch her rather than let
her fall to the ground.

Maciath was not convinced. With or without K'don's approval, he was going to
tell Nikornath what was happening.

}*Nikornath, I know you must be busy, but there is a woman, whom K'don has
grabbed. She was there when the firelizard died, and I think she ran when
she heeded that K'don had seen her. She is with child and has given him a
leading to say why she ran. He is trusting and may let her go, but I believe
she knows something heavy about what happened.*{

The brown sent images to Nikornath to show exactly which way they went and
where they were then.

"I'm sorry," K'don answered. "Here, let me help you. I can get you to the
necessary."

She tried yanking her arm out of his grip as she stumbled forward, then
caught herself. "I can do it myself!" **Have to hurry, they won't wait for
me!** "Let go of me, you shaffing halfwit!" She dug her nails into the boy's
hand, yanked hard out of his grip, panting and moved towards the privies,
hoping it would be enough to satisfy him.

The message was enough to pique K'sedel's interest. Heading down to where
Maciath's message had indicated that his grandson was, it looked like he was
just in time to see the slight struggle near the necessaries.

"K'don! Care to tell me what's going on?" he called out.

"O-oh. I'm. I'm sorry, sir, I..." Well, now he was in trouble for sure.
"This woman ran away from the feeding for the new hatchlings when a
firelizard keeled over dead after it ate some of the... did you see that
part? Anyway, I... I thought she was running because... er... Well, I don't
know, I guess I just thought..."

K'don blushed deeply, and rubbed his hand where the woman had scratched it.
Despite K'sedel having caught him, he still followed. After he had
practically knocked her down, he owed it to her to make sure she got there
on time. And perhaps to go fetch her a change of clothes if she did not.

"She has to use the necessary pretty bad," he explained.

"I see," K'sedel said. The rounded belly the girl displayed indicated the
reason why there was an urgent need. "Well, we'll let her relieve herself,
we'll wait outside, and then I'm going to talk to you, and her." He looked
to the girl. "Your name is?"

"I don't have to talk to you." Enali snapped back quickly as she
reached the necessary. "I report to the Headwoman." She opened the
door and slammed it after her, then gritted her teeth. She had to come
up with something. Anything! Just enough to get away. She quickly
finished her business and struggled to think of a way out of this. She
could flutter her eyelashes a few times; they were dragonriders after
all. It didn't take much for a woman to get her way with them. She
had duties to attend to for the feast. She didn't have time to talk.
And as soon as they were satisfied, she could make her way down to the
Lower Caverns exit. Hopefully, the cart would still be there.

K'don was absolutely devastated. He had been so sure that something was
wrong... But now he had gone and harassed an innocent pregnant woman for no
reason.

}:I am not overwon,:{ Maciath insisted. }:Firelizards do not die for no
sake. And she ran when you saw her.:{

**She didn't even know I was following her at first, Mash. She didn't run
because of me.**

Despite his deep-seated guilt and worry, K'don's face was blank. But he did
glance up to see whether K'sedel was scowling at him.

The thing was, thought K'sedel, the girl was right. She didn't have to talk
to him, but there was nothing that said he couldn't offer to escort her back
to her duties. K'don's blank face told him enough about what the boy was
thinking, and her was right - firelizards shouldn't just eat a stolen scrap
of meat and drop like that. Something was going on, but what it was, he
didn't know.

"Okay," he said after a moment. "Here's what we're going to do. I want you
to go and find the Headwoman, and tell her that I said there is someone she
needs to speak to urgently, and I'm going to escort this young lady to her
office as soon as she has finished her ablutions."

K'don nodded thoughtfully. He was still almost certain he was wrong, but
when had Maciath ever misjudged someone before? Better to be sure, and he
could make it up to the woman later if he was wrong. Somehow.

"I'll find her as quickly as I can," he said and dashed off to do so.

In the privies, Enali paced, then took a deep breath after washing her
hands. Choosing guile, she looked at them through her lashes. "Excuse
me, but I have to return to my duties. Please excuse my behavior" Her
voice was shaky, both from nerves and her hurry to get away. "There is
a feast to prepare and I'm expected to help."

"I know," K'sedel said. "May I escort you to those duties? We can pass by
the Headwoman's office and I can explain your delay." The bronzerider
offered his arm.

"No thank you." Enali was quick to reply . "I can find her myself."
She moved to walk by him, her footsteps quick.

K'sedel kept pace with her, perhaps wise not to attempt small talk as he
steered her in the direction of the Headwoman's office.

**Nikornath, please tell Maciath's to hurry, and if he can arrange for
Loseth's rider to be close by that would be good,** K'sedel asked of his
bronze, who he knew would faithfully pass the message on. **And can you let
Loseth's know we might need him.**

**What can I do? Faranth! What do I say? Why won't he leave me
alone?** Enali kept giving the older rider side long glances. Her plan
wasn't working. He was still right _there_. Shaft that boy! Panic
began to surge again as they grew close to the corridor that led down
to the tithe train area. "I need to go gather some things. I'll be
right back, there's no need for an escort." She took a deep breath.
"Excuse me, bronzerider, but I really can't be delayed any further.
I'll get in trouble." **go away, go away, go away.**

"Let's just go to the Headwoman," insisted K'sedel. "I'll explain to her why
you were delayed, and that will make sure you won't get into trouble."

The girl's attitude was beginning to puzzle him. Most would only be too
glad to have a bronzerider on their arm. And her reaction suggested she knew
something wasn't right. Which had to mean that whatever K'don had worried
about was more serious than he'd initially thought. "Believe me, the
Headwoman won't punish you for a delay caused by the needs of your
condition."

As they reached the corridor, Enali spoke quickly, her words rushed and
higher in pitch. "Of course. I'll meet you there. It won't take me but just
a moment to gather what I need. " She turned down the corridor, away from
K'sedel, but her nerves, acutely fracturing, finally broke. Enali burst
into a frantic run, feet pounding against the stone corridor.

And that was enough for K'sedel to follow her. Whilst not as young as he had
been, he was still fit as a rider in his position needed to be. Catching up
to her quickly, he reached out, intending to grab her shoulder. "Running
like this will get you into trouble," he stressed. "If you've nothing to
fear, come with me now, before I ask my dragon to send for help to escort
you to the Weyrleader, not the Headwoman."

The moment his hand landed on her shoulder, Enali fought back with a
shriek, whirling and slapping at the hand that caught her. Enali
wasn't a fighter and this man was much bigger and stronger than the
much smaller K'don. No longer thinking rationally, her only thought
was to get away from him, to get away from the Weyr entirely.

The attack shocked him out of his deep understanding that a man should never
strike a woman, let alone one who was carrying a child. But this seemed
hysterical, and he'd seen before that sometimes a sharp slap was needed to
bring the person round and force them to focus. So he reached out with the
other hand, making a grab for her and delivered a slap.

**Nikornath, tell Loseth's I need him and several others now, tell them
where we are.**

}:Done,:{ replied the bronze. }:They will come.:{

"Listen to me," K'sedel said, as he hung onto the girl. "You can calm down
and come back into the Weyr proper with me, and we'll keep this discreet, or
you can wait for the help that is on the way. Your choice."

Stunned into stillness by the blow on her cheek, Enali fell silent and
allowed K'sedel to lead her where he would. She'd never been struck before
and had never felt the weight of her actions as strongly. What would happen
to her now?

Last updated on the October 1st 2021

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