Boldness

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 1st October 2008

Characters: Leisenn, Westni
Description: Hallmaster Leisenn talks with apprentice Westni.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 12, day 7 of Turn 4

It was a terrible thing to do, to accost an apprentice on her rest day. But the girl was right there and Leisenn was very curious about the apprentice life in this Northern-aligned Hall she found herself in charge of.

"Apprentice ... Westni, isn't it?" She might be losing some faculties, but the ability to remember names wasn't one of them. She hoped.

"That's me." Westni grinned as the Hallmaster approached her. She gave the woman a polite nod. "How can I help you ma'am?"

"Are you going to have your breakfast?" the Hallmaster asked, fairly certain it was so. "I'll join you, if I may."

"Oh...sure." Westni couldn't hide the surprise from her face, though she nodded. "I was just headed that way."

"Good. It'll save the staff some leg work if I serve myself." Some Halls - not Dolphincraft Halls - everybody was able to sit down to breakfast together. With the irregular routines and effects of weather on them it wasn't easy to do for dolphineers and Leisenn had never been in one of her own craft halls that served meals that way. Except on special occasions.

Mmm. She must investigate to see what was coming up in that line.

"Oh, do you usually take your food in your office?" Westni had to admit it felt a little odd talking with the Hallmaster. The last one she had barely ever seen!

"Sometimes. Other times they come and serve me at the table over there." Leisenn pointed to the masters' table in the premier place in the hall. "But not this morning. I'll sit somewhere with you."

Westni glanced over at the Master's table. She hadn't ever seen the Hallmaster there, but she supposed that was because they just usually took meals at different times from one another. "I hope you'll forgive my boldness, Master, but why sit with me?"

Leisenn laughed. "Nothing wrong with boldness. I'm talking to everybody at the Hall - or that's my intention. It's just your turn."

"Oh, I see." Westni wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Well, probably good, at least from what little she'd seen of the Hallmaster. "You've got your work cut out for you."

"I'm not in any rush," Leisenn said mildly. "I'll speak to everybody eventually." She nodded to a table, one end of which was empty. "How about we sit there?"

"That's fine with me." Westni changed course and moved over to the table indicated by Leisenn. "So, Master...how do you like it here thus far?"

Leisenn laughed again at the question from one of the most junior crafters in the Hall. There was nothing wrong with boldness, in her opinion, but it had been a while since she had seen that attribute in a female apprentice. For that matter it had been over forty Turns since she had seen a female apprentice at all. "I'm enjoying it, Westni. It's a nice location, that's for sure, and even if I miss Topaz SeaHold a little that was a much longer-ago memory for me than for most of the refugees here."

"Well, I'm glad you like it." Westni grinned as she lowered herself into a seat. "I certainly hope no one here disappoints you."

Somehow Leisenn thought this bright young thing wouldn't. "People are pretty much the same the Continent over. Some will surely disappoint and some will live up to expectations." She waggled a finger at the apprentice. "Make sure you're one of the latter," she said lightly.

Westni's grin only grew broader at the playful admonishment. "I'll do my very best, ma'am!"

"Good to hear. Where are you from, Westni?" In the days before the Craft Ban apprentices came from the local area - or they went to some other Hall. With the Ban, though, women who wanted to craft (who were _allowed_ to) would need to travel to the Northern Continent to follow their calling. Except for those wishing to be dolphineers who could come to the one enclave of Northern dolphineering in the Southern Continent - the Hall at Dolphin Cove.

"Oh I'm from the Weyr, actually." Westni made a vague gesture with her hand. "Born and raised and fell in love with the dolphins so elected to apprentice."

"This Weyr?" Leisenn asked, waving her hand more accurately in the direction of the neighbouring Weyr.

"Oh, yes, that's what I meant. The Weyr." Westni grinned. "_This_ Weyr. The _best_ Weyr."

Did her Weyr upbringing account for her boldness? Her apparent unconcern at talking to the Hallmaster? "And you have family there?"

"Oh yes, my father's a brownrider, my mother one of the cooks." Westni glanced at the food with a particularly greedy eye - she was quite hungry!

The Hallmaster correctly interpreted the girl's expression. "Go ahead and eat. I seem to remember that apprentices are always hungry."

"Yes ma'am!" Well, Westni certainly wasn't going to argue about _that_!

Last updated on the October 3rd 2008

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Boldness