We're All Going to be Happy Here

Writers: Bree, Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 27th October 2005

Characters: Almonteo, Carmora, Traelyn
Description: The new Hallmaster and his wife entertain the new Weyrwoman
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr, Harper Hall
Date: month 8, day 10 of Turn 3

Almonteo

Carmora had everything in place by the time Traelyn arrived for dinner, and was busily stirring mulled wine in a small pot on their tiny hearth.
She might miss doing her own baking from time to time, but she had to admire how easy it had been to request a meal for her husband and the Weyrwoman. A drudge had brought plates of wonderful smelling food, and all she'd had to do was set the table.

Traelyn poked her head around the door. "Are you Carmora?"

"Yes! Come in, please!" Giving the wine a last stir, Carmora stood and smoothed her skirts down before moving across the room. "Be welcome, Weyrwoman."

"Please, call me Traelyn," she smiled as she came in. Once she reached Carmora, she offered her a friendly hand.

Carmora took her hand with an equally friendly smile. "Please come in and have a seat. Almonteo is just in the other room... he should be out any moment. Can I get you some wine?"

"I hear Trae's voice," Almonteo called as he walked out from their sleeping chamber, adjusting his tunic as he walked towards the waiting pair. "Carmora, there seems to be a button missing on my blue tunic. Does this one pass inspection?"

"Hello, Almonteo," Traelyn smiled once he reached their sides.

Carmora shook her head and smoothed the tunic down. "I just sewed that button back on, Almonteo. How did you manage to lose it again?"

"Hello, Trae. This woman hasn't scared you away yet, has she?" he asked with a teasing wink as he looked at the Weyrwoman over his wife's head.
"Yes, my dear, I'm sorry that I lost that button. I think it is somewhere in the vicinity of the _bathing chamber_." He gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek and sat himself down beside the goldrider. "And how is our Weyrwoman this evening? Have you settle in yet?"

"I'm getting there," she smiled. "Thanks to you, my unpacking and organizing time was cut down, Almonteo."

The Hallmaster smiled. "I live to serve. Just ask my wife," he added with a conspiritorial nudge.

Carmora rolled her eyes as she went to the hearth to fetch three mugs of wine. "What sorts of stories have you been telling this poor girl, Almonteo?"

"Only good ones, my love," he called back over his shoulder. "I'll tell you the bad ones when she's not around."

Traelyn snorted lightly, then grinned at Almonteo. "Surely you wouldn't embarrass her like that!"

Carmora set a mug of spiced wine on the table for Traelyn and another in front of her husband. "If you truly knew him, you'd know better, my dear.
Don't let him fool you... he's still as mischevious as a little boy."

He shook his head gravely. "Don't listen to her Trae. I am a harper Hallmaster. I am at all times proper, dignified, and well behaved."

"And an excellent bluffer," Carmora added before turning back to the fireplace to retrieve the last mug.

"Now don't be giving away all my secrets to the Weyrwoman there, my dear."
Almonteo reached for his mug and stood up. "Now come on my dear and lets drink a toast together."

Traelyn stood, smiling at the banter between the two, and followed him.

The Hallmaster slipped an arm around his wife's shoulder as they lifted their glasses. "To new homes and new friends."

"New homes and friends," Carmora echoed, her own arm slipping around his waist.

"Hear, hear," Trae added softly before all three took a drink.

Carmora pushed her husband back into his seat and gave Traelyn a firm look. "Now enough jumping up and down. Both of you have probably been running about all day... it's time for a nice peaceful dinner."

"And it smells lovely," the Hallmaster said as he guided the Weyrwoman back to the table. "Tell me, Traelyn, how are you finding Dolphin Cove now that you have had a chance to settle in a bit?"

Her smile was genuine as she looked at him. "Well...I do love the weather here. I definitely won't mind getting used to this Turn-round summertime."

Carmora settled down into her chair once she was satisfied that everyone had been served, picking up the conversation. "You were at Dragonsfall before this, weren't you? It's a good bit colder there, I hear."

"Very cold. And we'd have blizzards whipping us about partically every other day."

"Sounds terrible! The only thing snow is good for is making it nicer to snuggle in front of the fireplace with a blanket." Carmora winked at her husband. "Or a nice man."

"That's all I ever was. A personal heater, sadly to say. Does it _never_
snow in this place?" Almonteo asked with a sad sigh.

"I for one will be just fine without snow," Carmora replied firmly.
"Imagine, being able to go to the beach and enjoy the sun whenever we want!"

"It will be _very_ nice," Trae smiled. The weather reminded her of Far Island in the early summer months.

Carmora smiled at the Weyrwoman, deciding that she liked the woman--and not just because Traelyn reminded her so much of her own daughter. The urge to mother her was great, but Carmora managed to resist the temptation to slip a second serving of wherry onto the girl's plate. There would be plenty of time to make sure she was eating properly later, when Almonteo wouldn't catch her at it. "I think that we're all going to be happy here. And my husband can tell you that I'm always right."

Last updated on the October 27th 2005

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We're All Going to be Happy Here