Queen of an Empty Weyr

Writers: Rochelle
Date Posted: 28th May 2006

Characters: Eleada
Description: Eleada is greeted by her sons and an old friend on arrival at DCW.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 8 of Turn 3

Gliorith rumbled with pleasure beneath Eleada as they burst out of /between/ to circle above Dolphin Cove Weyr. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the warmth soak through her for what seemed like the first time in turns, easing the aches in her frozen bones. She was tired. She'd had a long day packing and saying farewell in High Reaches, and Dolphin Cove had not even started their day yet. Rustling under her left elbow told her Arieoss was trying to get out of the bag carefully slung across her again. The feline had a mind of her own, and there was no sense in telling her what to do. At least the bag was tied securely shut, so if she killed herself it wouldn't be from lack of preparation on Eleada's part.

The soft light of dawn was bathing the weyr and turning everything to a gentle shade of pinkish orange. It was breathtaking, eerily familiar -yet disturbingly wrong. It had been almost seven long turns since she left for High Reaches, and Dolphin Cove was no longer home. Home was a little weyr in High Reaches with a dramatic view of the peaks, and haunted by memories of a dead weaver.

**Not anymore.** She reminded herself sharply. Dolphin Cove was home now, and it was about time she accepted it and stopped hovering over the weyr with a dragon full of belongings. Reluctantly, she scanned the walls of the collapsed caldera, trying to remember which ledge was theirs now. }:It is warm here. I like it.:{ Gliorith said contentedly as she drifted on the breeze. }Good sunning too. Oh.:{ Gliorith angled downward towards a familiar green bugling a welcome from a ledge. A small popping noise caused Eleada to glance down and see Arieoss's head sticking out of the bag, enjoying the view. Shaking her head, she looked back at the approaching weyr and saw four figures emerge. It wasn't until Gliorith neatly backwinged onto the ledge that she recognized her friend Nesily, Adaric's dark hair, and the matching blond curls of her twins.

"Nesily! Boys! Shards, but it's good to see you!" Quickly, Eleada unfastened the riding straps and slid down Gliorith, into three pairs of waiting arms. The boys all started talking at once, and she couldn't make out a word of it until a loud yowl from her left hip silenced them. Both dragons lowered their heads to watch curiously as Eleada hastily disentangled the irritated feline from the scraps of fur she'd lined her bag with. Once freed, Arieoss leaped clear of the bag, looking thoroughly disgusted.
"Boys, this is Arieoss. If your grandmother lets you, I'd like you to help me take care of her when I'm working." Eleada explained. The boys stared at her, then at Arieoss. The feline boldly matched their gaze, then deliberately turned, sat, and started licking her rear.

Nesily laughed as Eleada rolled her eyes. "That's the queen of the weyr, all right." Nesily commented. "Come on. Let's get this stuff off Gliorith before I have to go."

"You're leaving already?" Eleada exclaimed, her heart falling. Nesily nodded.
"I've got to bring the boys to classes, and then C'radan and I have drills.
They'd be there already, except Dyrada said they could meet you when you came in. C'radan and I were planning on coming by afterwards to help out, and Dyrada should be here soon with some klah."

Arieoss had stopped cleaning herself, and was now studying the three boys intently. Adaric looked nervously at his mother, and Eleada smothered a giggle as the feline stalked deliberately toward him, delicately sniffing his pants.
Apparently dissatisfied, she turned up her nose and repeated the process with Eleadan. When she reached Eleaxol, she stopped, looked calculatingly up at him, and purred loudly.

"Traitor!" Eleada exclaimed as Nesily started laughing again. Eleaxol looked at her, confused, and Eleada waved dismissively at Arieoss. "Go ahead and pick her up 'Xol. Adaric, Eleadan, give us a hand here, please." The boys came forward, their eyes torn between the feline and their mother.
Eleada watched them covertly as they worked, smiling sadly. She wasn't the motherly type, but she had tried to stay in their lives. She winced, suddenly painfully aware how long it had been since she'd seen them last. Half a turn.
She'd fostered them for this very reason, but still.

"They've grown so much." Eleada commented wistfully to Nesily as she unfastened a bag of clothing. "Have they been all right?"

"They've been fine. They missed you a lot. C'radan and I have been taking them with us on outings, though, and so have your brothers when they visit."
**Oh.** Eleada bit her lip. She'd have to thank her brothers. They'd stopped by while she was in the infirmary too. All of five of them, although her sister had stayed lost. Jorada had apparently never forgiven Eleada for being born a girl and stealing Dyrada's previously undivided attention. Linrary had never.

No. She wouldn't think of her now, not while Nesily was here. All too soon, her belongings were in a pile to the side of the ledge, and the boys had snuck away, trying to get an indifferent Arieoss to play with a bit of string, and stealing covert glances at the new scars marring Gliorith's left hindquarter as she sunned herself.

"Thanks, Nes." Eleada said. "And tell C'radan for me too. I really appreciate it." Nesily shrugged, then sighed, looking out over the bowl. "I'm sorry, but we need to go. My wing is starting to assemble. Time to go, kids!" Reluctantly the boys looked up. "The feline is not going anywhere, and neither is your mother.
I promise." Nesily said firmly as Eleadan opened his mouth. "Say goodbye, boys."

Obediently, the three boys chorused a farewell, and Eleaxol dove at his mother for a hug before Nesily boosted him up her green. Nesily swung up between the twins, then turned. "I'm glad you're better, Eleada. It's good to have you back." She added sincerely. Then Nesily glanced over the bowl again, and slapped her green urgently. "Oops, gotta go. Hold on, boys!" Eleada smiled despite herself, and watched as Nesily took her sons to the floor of the bowl, then joined her wing a few moments later. Arieoss reappeared from behind her, and walked carefully to the edge of the ledge, looking down at the weyr below her. "Do you approve?" She asked the feline. Arieoss ignored her. }:There is good sun here.:{ Gliorith commented encouragingly, folding her wings slightly. }:And lots of sea to bathe in. I like it, and so will you. It is warm here. Warm!:{
**That it is** She admitted, realizing for the first time that she was _too_
warm now. She was still wearing her riding clothes, and beneath that were the multiple layers of clothing essential for High Reaches in winter. Absently, she started peeling off her riding clothes as she walked over to Gliorith and leaned against her, feeling the soothing warmth of the soft hide and trying not to think what Linrary would have said about the view.

It had been harder than she'd thought to say goodbye to everyone, even knowing that they were only a short trip /between/. Harder had been moving through the weyr she'd once shared with her friend, fighting the cold-induced aching in her healed bones and the gaping hole in her heart. She was worn out from the memories lurking in every corner, every shadow, every stray piece of thread that had escaped Linrary's loom.

And yet, now that she was here, she wasn't sure she had made the right decision. Dolphin Cove was an escape from the memories, a warm environment where she would never be cold unless she went /between/. She had family here, true, but it wouldn't make her weyr any less empty. She didn't like empty weyrs. Before she had become a dragonrider, there had never been fewer than four people and a dragon or flit no matter where she lived.

**It doesn't matter now.** She reminded herself with a sigh.

Gliorith nudged her shoulder, her eyes whirling as she suffused Eleada with love and made her smile. Arieoss yowled, butting against her ankles, and she glared halfheartedly down at the imperious feline, who immediately walked away.
Arieoss looked over her shoulder, daring her to follow. Rolling her eyes at the feline's arrogance, Eleada squared her shoulders and resignedly marched after Arieoss into their new weyr, Gliorith following curiously.

Last updated on the May 28th 2006

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Queen of an Empty Weyr