Early Days

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 28th March 2009

Characters: Leisenn, Ylisahn, Rilisa, Wirril
Description: Leisenn visits Ylisahn and Wirril in their new home and meets their daughter Rilisa.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 2, day 14 of Turn 5

Leisenn knocked on the small door set within the massive one, glad for the slate and stone porch that sheltered her from the worst of the rain though she supposed it was a later addition to the building to protect the wide wooden doors from Thread.

She wondered if the occupants could hear her. At least she knew there were occupants since there were lights showing through the shuttered windows. Strong lights, because the shed had been close enough for the electric wires that powered the huge banks of lighting that illuminated the docks and wharves to be re-routed to also supply the shed when it had been readied for occupation.

"Hello!" She knocked again. If this was going to be a problem she would find a bell or some sort for the new Headwoman. "Ylisahn!"

A couple of moments after Leisenn's second knock, the door opened to reveal not Ylisahn, but a younger woman with dark hair and a bright smile. "Hello!" She stepped to the side and motioned for the Dolphin Hallmaster to enter. "Come come, you must be soaked. I'll go get you a towel." The Hallmaster didn't look as if she had quite been prepared for the downpour that had started only moments before. "Don't want you to catch a chill!"

"In this climate? I'm more likely to get mouldy than chilled," Leisenn said, running her hand over her face in an effort to clear the rain off it. She looked down at her feet where there was a puddle growing on the flagstone floor. "I'm making a mess."

"But it won't do any harm," Ylisahn said, crossing the wide, open room to greet her the Hallmaster. "Such are the joys of living in the tropics. No floor coverings to worry about." She smiled at Rilisa as the younger woman returned with the promised towel. "Hallmaster Leisenn, this is our daughter, Rilisa."

"A pleasure, Hallmaster." Rilisa offered her hand in greeting, evidently not too concerned about the drenched state of the older woman. "You should dry off - one can catch _something_ even if it is warm."

"Thank you, dear. You're probably right - at my age." Leisenn wiped her face and scrubbed her white hair as dry as one towel could make it. "I just popped over to see how you were settling in," she said as she dabbed ineffectually at her clothes and looked around the room. To her it still looked much like the storage shed it had been before it had been damaged by the storm and then repaired enough to provide a home for the Headwoman and her weyrmate.

At one end was a bed - one bed, a reminder of something Leisenn kept forgetting when she thought of the two women - and at the other, around the only window the shed boasted, were a collection of chairs and tables that suggested a living room.

"Are you _sure_ this is adequate?" the Hallmaster asked, but before the Headwoman could reply she addressed her question to Rilisa. "Is this good enough for your mother. Mothers? It seems terribly inadequate to me but I'm sure Ylisahn will assure me otherwise. What do you think?"

"I think they're just glad to get out of the Weyr." Rilisa admitted with a small smile. "Especially Mama."

Ylisahn nodded. "And I love this," she assured the Hallmaster, making a sweeping gesture with her hand to indicate the very open room with it's lofty roof not even diminished with a ceiling. "It's like living in the open but with a roof to keep off the rain."

Wirril had joined the group at the door and nodded, seconding her weyrmate's approval. "It's a lovely building, Hallmaster. And we're grateful to have it. But come and sit down. We have juice and water and a few cookies left over from last night's supper at the Hall if you'd care for something to eat."

"If you don't mind my dampness," the Hallmaster said.

"Of course not." Rilisa assured her without any hesitation." She moved over to pull out a chair for Leisenn. "Sit down, rest, get warm and eat something. Dampness isn't something we mind at all."

"Thank you," the dolphineer said, moving with the others across to the furniture beside the window. "Has your brother been to visit?" she asked the young woman, thinking that the question made it sound very ordinary, very much like any other family.

"Once, but he'll probably come more often once things are a little more settled." Rilisa shrugged. Ravere was concerned with other things and while he had come to help, it had been a help and run type situation.

"Would you like juice or water, Hallmaster?" Wirril asked from the small sideboard beside the window. It was a new piece of furniture for their room, made of wood and woven reeds screening the cupboards and Wirril was very taken with it.

"Juice thank you, Wirril. And please, call me Leisenn."

Ylisahn looked up from setting out the cookies on the serving plate at the other end of the sideboard and smiled. The Hallmaster seemed very accepting of their relationship, which was one that could not help but be considered 'different' beyond the Weyr. That was reassuring, as were the two wonderful night's sleep she had had since the move. it made the world of difference to her, and Wirril was pleased, too.

It was early days, yet, but the Dolphin Hall's new Headwoman was starting to feel a little optimistic about the move. A new place. A new start. And - Ylisahn glanced at Rilisa as the girl chatted to the Hallmaster - not so far from the Weyr that they had to lose contact with their children.

Last updated on the March 28th 2009

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Early Days