The Real Issue
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: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 31st October 2005
Characters: Almonteo, Carmora
Description: Almonteo tells his wife of the news from Emerald Falls
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 8, day 9 of Turn 3
Almonteo walked into their room and closed the door with a frustrated sigh. As if taking over this Hall hadn't been complicated enough, his Hallsecond had to go and damage the already tender relations they had with their formal Hold. He gave his wife a weary smile when she looked up at him from her book. "Good evening, Carmora."
Carmora placed a finger in her book to hold her place, frowning at how tired her husband looked. "Shards, Almonteo! What's happened?"
"My Hallsecond seems to be finding ways to infuriate the Lord Holder of Emerald Falls even from the boats," the replied as he flopped back onto the couch. It really was a comfortable couch, he noticed.
With a sigh, Carmora set the book aside and moved to tug on her husband's left boot. "What has he done now?"
"It turns out there may be a stow-away on the boat, a young girl from a family at Emerald Falls. They are understandably upset." He helped ease the boot off with his right toe.
She dropped his left boot next to the couch and started in on the right one. "Do you know if she's actually there?" "I have no direct evidence, but it appears that she is." He rubbed at his tired neck muscles with his hand. "Apparently, Lord Enrizial charged one of his holders to search the boat for her. Ryndel refused and made up a boldfaced lie about how, according to the Charter, the boat they are on serves as the Harper Hall for the extent of their journey, which meant the Lord had no authority there. He refused to allow the man aboard. The holder claims he also saw a young girl with Ryndel that fit her description."
Carmora lifted an eyebrow. "He _claims_ he saw a young girl that fit her _description_? I'd want something a little more substantial than that." "My love, I don't care of the girl was the Lord Holder's own daughter or if she was the daughter of the captain. The point is, my Hallsecond, a Master Harper who is supposed to teach and interpret the Charter, used his knowledge and _lied_ to this holder. He looked the man in the eye and told him a blatant lie. We are supposed to be safe-keepers of the Charter and should be trusted not to twist it to suit our own purposes."
She'd heard enough gossip about Lord Enrizial to make her less than sympathetic--but it wasn't the Lord Holder she was concerned with, or the misuse of the Charter. It was the girl's parents. If someone had taken her child away at such a young age, she would have followed them to the ends of Pern. Sitting down next to him, she took his hand. "So... what will you do?" "There's nothing I can do until the boats arrive," he replied as his other hand began drawing lazy circles on the back of hers. "But then I have to hear the girl's story, probably send her back to her family, and then I have to figure out how to punish my Hallsecond in a way that will appease the Lord Holder, send a message to other harpers who might think they can get away with lying about the charter, and do the right thing for the Hall."
Carmora frowned slightly. "She _is_ coming from Emerald Falls, you know.
I've heard enough from our daughter about that man who runs it to wonder if maybe she had a reason to run away." Carmora had never been quiet about her prejudices, and once she took a dislike to someone, it was hard to change her mind. "I'm not worried about the girl, though I feel for her parents. If it is her on the boats she will be well cared for. And when she gets here we can decide what to do. No," he sighed as he leaned his head back into the cushions, "she's not what concerns me. What do to about _Ryndel_
concerns me."
"Well, maybe you _should_ be concerned about the girl," Carmora insisted. "What she did was a sign of desperation, Almonteo." Her voice lowered with distaste. "I've _heard_ things. About Lord Enrizial, and how young girls are treated in his Holding. Maybe your Hallsecond knew what he was saving her from better than you do." "Dear," he said as he rubbed his head which was now aching _more_ than before, "I never said that the girl had no reason to do it. I'm saying that is a simple issue - if the girl has true concerns they will be addressed. If the girl had no reason for her actions other than a little adventure she will be sent home. That part is easy. Thinking that I may have to sacrifice the Hallsecond of the Hall I _just_ took over to appease the Lord Holder and my own conscious, not to mention save the reputation of the Hall and harpers everywhere, is a bit more pressing at the moment. The girl will be taken care of, but what do I do with _Ryndel_ is not so easy!"
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't do _anything_ with Ryndel," Carmora protested. "But surely it's not the same if he was trying to save the girl from..." She shook her head and lowered her voice. "Didn't you _hear_
about the girl, Almonteo? The one who was only fourteen? Imagine Almora at fourteen, being married to someone over fifty! What would you have done to stop that? What _wouldn't_ you have done?" "Of course, my love, I will take the girls circumstances into account. If there is some illegal or trechurous dealings I will over look the infractions. But if she was just a girl looking to hide herself among the harpers... the punishment must be severe." He squeezed her hand. "What kind of crazy worry would have filled us if one of our daughters had just up and disappeared? What wouldn't we have done to have her back safely? And how furious would we have been to hear that a man who should be trusted to uphold the law bent it to keep her away from us."
"I know, I know..." Carmora sighed. "I'd always heard that Emerald Falls was a very traditional holding, but the things you hear from the weyrfolk about it makes me... it makes me wonder, love. What sort of place it really is. You already know for a fact that one of the Lord Holder's own guard took it upon himself to burn the very Hall down! Maybe I don't have much sympathy for them." "I have sympathy for fathers, my love," he said as he pulled her close to him, "no matter what Hold they are from."
She let her head rest on his chest, but she couldn't help remember the story she'd overheard from one of the fostermothers a few days before about the scandelous trial at Emerald Falls when Enrizial had sentenced one of his holders to work in the mines for selling his underaged daughter off in marriage. The part that everyone had been most angry about was the fact that Enrizial himself had been involved in marrying the girl off in the first place. "Just promise me that you'll make sure she'll be safe before you send her back--even if it means being safe from her own parents. Not all fathers are like you." "I promise, my Carmora," he whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair, grateful that his children had been raised with a mother like her.
Last updated on the November 1st 2005