The Taming of the Holder
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: Chelle, Len
Date Posted: 30th December 2011
Characters: Jaylene, E'rae
Description: The two of them talk and then head to the dance floor.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 5, day 4 of Turn 6
He'd been watching her for some time and the bluerider's eyes rested
on the greenrider's shoulders. Once she was done eating with her
brother, he took his moment and swept up behind her. A hand came to
rest on her waist. "You didn't start the party without me, did you?"
he said into her ear.
"Hello E'rae." She placed her hand over his. "Where have you been?"
"Trying to get Werenn settled. Hatchings always get her excited even
though she doesn't have enough turns yet," he shrugged. "It's funny
watching her though."
"I bet. How soon until she Stands?"
"She has another two turns at least if she decides to give it a go then."
E'rae wanted her to do it when she felt comfortable, if that was what she
wanted. He wouldn't force her into his life.
"You think she'll want to? My brother doesn't." She handed him a
glass of wine.
He took it and drank. "I don't know if she will or won't. She talks about it sometimes, but little girls' minds change. Either way, I'll support her. If she wants to go back to the Hold, I'll find her a husband if I can." Though it wasn't the life for him any longer, he still could appreciate such a simple life.
"You think she might want to go to a Hold? After living here?" To
Jaylene, that spelled madness itself. She would have lasted about
half a candlemark, in a Hold. No, the Weyrs were always better for
women.
"She's been there on visits with my sister. In some ways life as a wife
could be better for her than life unimpressed here unless she wanted
to be a crafter." E'rae didn't want to see his daughter as a drudge or
even as a breeder for some rider. He wanted something better.
"Yeah, being a second class citizen is always better to doing what you
want." Jaylene snorted.
Even though E'rae was a rider, he hadn't been Weyrbred. His experience
as a holder had been a good one and if he hadn't impressed, he likely would have gone back to Garnet Valley. "A good wife is not a second class citizen. My mother would tell you that."
"So beyond a wife, what other options are there for women in the Hold?"
"Well you can be a fostermother, a midwife, assist the Lady Holder if you're chosen, or work. There are plenty of tasks to be done. Women make the clothes, clean, do the laundry, boil the numbweed, turn the glows, cook, pick crops, and whatever else they can do. Especially in the smaller cotholds, the women will work beside the men because if you don't, the cothold will fail and you will starve." The bluerider frowned. "Everyone in a hold is expected to work because you can't feed the lazy. If a woman goes unmarried, though, they have the option of living with male relatives who will protect them or they can find occupation within the Hold."
"But they can't Craft."
"No, not officially. You'll find some women who know more than some journeymen do in certain crafts however. In a remote hold, there may not be crafters. So there will usually be a woman assigned to those tasks that has the skill, passed down from her mother and her mother before her." Necessity bred many things.
Jay leaned forward. "So what happens if you have some girl in a Hold
and she sings like a bird. What happens to her talent?"
"The harper hall is taking female singers now. Not many, but they do have some." E'rae didn't know much about that since it was a new thing, so he shrugged.
"So are they allowed to go, where you're from?" She sighed, starting
to get bored with E'rae's seemingly indifference.
"There have been some that I know of. Maybe more once the hall finishes going back to Emerald Falls. Holders will be more comfortable with their
daughters living near a Hold than in a Weyr." Watching some of the other folks passing by, he put down his drink. "Enough of this jabbering, I meant to get you to dance."
"You did indeed." She smiled and put her own drink down and took his
hand. "I like his reel as well."
Last updated on the January 16th 2012