A Small Mercy
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Heather
Date Posted: 17th May 2025
Characters: Jeyme, Zaverin, D'kere
Description: Jeyme sees Zaverin for the first and final time since Riyanth's death.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 2, day 22 of Turn 12
Who: Jeyme, Zaverin, D'kere What: Jeyme sees Zaverin for the first and final time since Riyanth's death. When: m2 d22 t12 Where: BLW Mentioned: Kapera, D'hol, J'nus **Warnings: Conversations and actions concerning death and suicide**
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"Are you sure?" D'kere's voice was a faint whisper, so soft the wind nearly stole it from his lips.
"Yes," Jeyme replied without hesitation. This was something she had to do before anyone else stepped in.
The bronzerider's lightly curled, golden hair gleamed in the dim light cast about by the night lights in the infirmary. His face was solemn. His normally merry eyes were dull. She knew what she was asking of D'kere. She was asking him to set aside his convictions, his idea of justice. She was asking him to break the rules.
Indecision weighed heavily on the bronzerider's heart. D'kere had stood guard by Zaverin's door since the day of Kapera's attack. He'd stood toe-to-toe with J'nus when the older bronzerider had come by. D'kere had been willing to stand against the Weyrleader, even, should he try to harm Zaverin before a trial was carried out.
Well, the trial had been carried out.... Sort of. D'kere had been present for Q'vettan's questioning of the dragonless man. He'd heard Zaverin's confession of plotting Kapera's murder with his own two ears. There was no doubt of Zaverin's guilt. And no doubt of what his punishment would be.
Raising his head, D'kere met the greenrider's eyes. "I've been here all day. It's nearly midnight. I could really use a cup of klah. I think I'll go retrieve a cup." These words were followed by a pregnant pause. "Do you understand?"
Tears made Jeyme's eyes sparkle. "Thank you, D'kere."
The bronzerider nodded, put a hand on her shoulder, and then left.
Jeyme glanced over her shoulder at his retreating figure before slipping into the examination room that had been Zaverin's cell these past few days.
The room was pitch black as she entered. But she knew, she knew that he was in there. Her heart knew, too, because it began thudding rapidly. She heard the faint sound of his breathing in the darkness. The sound was familiar. Comfortable, even. How many times had she lain awake beside him at night? Soothed by his presence and the steady rhythm of his breathing?
"Jeyme?"
The sound of his voice was jarring in the dark. It was a raspy croak.
With trembling fingers, she unshuttered a glow basket, just enough to cast an anemic ray of light into the room. She didn't dare use the real lights for fear someone might see them under the door and come to investigate.
She kept her emotions sealed shut. The gate between her mind and Quinneth's latched tight.
Zaverin's bruised face made her skittering heart squeeze in pain. That he could still cause such a reaction within her after what he had done made her feel sick to her stomach.
"Jeyme." He said it more firmly this time.
Her feet moved of their own volition, bringing her to his bedside. Her mind seemed oddly quiet, oddly blank, and suddenly, oddly calm.
"Zaverin." She was grateful that her voice did not betray her.
"I didn't think I would get to see you again.... Not before they killed me, anyway." Zaverin's face was pinched with pain. She had heard J'nus had given him quite the beating. The rumors were true.
"Why did you do it?" she whispered.
Zaverin's jaw worked for a moment, but no sound came out. Finally, he said, "For Euvimeth."
The words lanced her excoriated heart.
"You think that's what he would have wanted?" she asked incredulously.
The man's eyes flashed in the darkness. "I guess we'll never know."
She looked away from him, blinking back scalding tears.
"Did you love me?"
Zaverin's lips flattened into a line, but a single word issued between his clenched teeth. "Yes."
Her eyes squeezed shut as hot tears blazed trails down her cheeks.
"I loved you, too." Her voice was strangled with an anguished sob.
"I am sorry," he admitted. "I told myself I wouldn't get involved with anyone, especially not someone like you."
"Like me?"
"I knew you were broken, too. It's why we fit together so perfectly, but I was selfish and couldn't let you go." He searched for the right words. "I should have kept my distance, but.... It's been so long since I last saw Euvimeth. Last heard his voice in my head. For a brief time, with you, I wasn't alone."
Silence enveloped them, broken only by the sounds of his breathing and her soft crying.
"I've got something for you," she finally said, her voice thick with tears.
Zaverin could not imagine what Jeyme was alluding to until he felt the familiar curve of a fellis bottle being pressed into his hand. How many riders had he helped slip off into the void by overdosing on fellis? More than he could remember, but only when they asked, and only for the ones who had lost their dragons. He had considered it a small mercy.
She was gifting him his death, he realized. Not a death at the hands of the Weyrleader, or whoever else decided to exact vengeance, but a death of his choosing.
"There's one more thing," he said to Jeyme.
She looked at him expectantly.
"My name is Z'vin of Bronze Euvimeth. It was the last pleasure of my life knowing you, Jeyme."
He lifted the bottle to his lips.
It was a small mercy.
Last updated on the May 23rd 2025