Its Eyes Were Jewels

Chapter 52

My life imploded not long after I posted the last chapter, back in 2013. There was death, and pain, and illness, and everything was awful. But things are better now, and I've been thinking of this story for a very long time. I wanted to finish it. Some of this was already written before everything went to utter shit and some of it I've only written now, four years later. My voice is probably different now. There are probably a ton of loose ends that I have no idea about. If this isn't what you expected, I'm sorry. But I assure you, this ending was essentially planned back in 2011 when I first started writing it.

******I've rewritten chapter 51, so please go back and reread that monstrosity before moving on to the finale******

Dinner was a quiet affair, had in Z'den's chambers with Arlith lounging quietly on the outer ledge, reverently taking in the last of the day's sun. Neither spoke while the stew sent up from the kitchens warmed their bellies and sat like rocks in their guts. Barely glancing up from their bowls to look at each other. There was guilt, slithering under Elrenia's skin like a tunnel snake. Not for their fight. Not even for the fact that she'd put the man in so much danger just earlier that day. But for the fact that she'd left.

It felt like the only possible decision at the time. But then she'd barely spent any time thinking about it when she packed her things and move to Fort, just took her meager belongings and ran. It had been selfish, foolish, and she wished she could take it back. Wished her things were still in the junior queen weyr, or moved to another chamber in Benden when the ledge was needed for its current Gold. Wished that this was the place where she spent her days and nights. But it wasn't, and in fact, it was time to return to her brother. Time to say goodbye and go back to the life of a Holder. The life of a sister. The life of an aunt. Quiet, and subservient, and so frustrating she couldn't breathe half the time.

Less than a turn ago it was a life she wished she could go back to. A life she may not have enjoyed, not in so many words, but one she was good at. It was predictable, and comforting in its predictability. Stable even when the crops failed and she hardly had any marks to spend at the market when she needed supplies. It was friendless, and lonesome, and the only thing she had ever known up until the Weyr, and the thought of going back to it unsettled her.

This restlessness carried her through the outer chambers, Z'den staring curiously at her back, and out into the cold. The sky was quickly darkening, save the glittering of dragon eyes from their ledges, a reflecting light in a kaleidoscope of color even from so far away. At her side, Arlith breathed a gust of warm air against her, leaning forward to nudge her leg with his snout. Dear one, you're troubled.

Leaning her weight against the brown's neck was easy as she closed her eyes against the growing darkness, taking a deep calming breath while the beast huffed warmly against her legs. It should have slowed her racing heart, but all she could think of was the way she'd run away. From them. From this. From everything. She felt like a fool, and leaned further toward the dragon when a warm hand settled on her shoulder. Z'den.

"I'm sorry," Elrenia breathed the words, begging for forgiveness with her shaking hands and deep, careful breaths while she opened her eyes and stared out across the bowl. At glowing gems. Up into the twinkling night sky as she explained, "We were expecting to return to a death knell, Z'den. The mourning song of the dragons." The fear was still tight in her gut, even after holding, and kissing, and eating with the man. Hours later, her skin still felt clammy and tight. "I didn't know what to do when I saw you. I thought you were off dying somewhere, but… but you were okay. You were just fine, and smiling, and I got so mad at you for scaring me like that."

A second hand pressed onto her shoulder, warm, and rough, and settling. Like an anchor holding a ship to shore. Tree roots, keeping her firmly on land. Arlith moved his head away, allowing Z'den to turn the woman with firm hands while he said, "You have nothing to apologize for."

It wasn't true. "I have so, so much to apologize for."

Shaking his head, the brownrider didn't say anything further, just pulled Elrenia forward into his arms to hold her. To breathe her in as she did the same. Taking in the scent of leather, oil, and dragon musk. Everything that she associated with safety. With friends. With family, and she felt so dumb for having left him here. She'd cried for months over the loss of her family, over the fact that she may or may not have had a brother out there. It hadn't occurred to her then that after so many turns she would know next to nothing about him, a realization that was keenly felt after spending well over a month under his roof.

It didn't sit well in her stomach, preferring a weyr full of people who were near strangers just less than a turn past over her own flesh and blood, but it was a fact she could hardly deny. A truth that forced the air from her lungs whenever she settled on it for too long. But they'd cared for her, selflessly when she was unable and unwilling to let them know why she was so broken. They'd allowed her into their lives. They'd asked for nothing in return for their help, but happily accepted when she offered. They taught her so many things. Allowed her to grow. Allowed her to flourish, and Z'den did not flinch when she pressed her cold nose into the crook of his neck, where he smelt most strongly of sweat under his thin tunic.

"Ask me to stay, Z'den." The words were loud in the silence of the darkening night, pale blue eyes swirling magnificently beside the two of them. Watching. Observing. "Ask me to stay here with you."

"Stay with me."

Stay with us.

Elrenia nodded, held Z'den closer. Wrapped herself around him so tightly she may as well have melted into him, staying close as he led her back into his weyr and pulled extra sleep clothes from his personal chest for her to change into. Though he was in the other room, stripping nude to change didn't feel odd or wrong. Braiding her hair tightly while sitting on his bed, back turned toward him was comfortable. Settling down under his furs, curled against his side with his arms wrapped firmly around her was perfect.

Sleep had rarely been so restful, Elrenia realized when she woke the next morning, head pillowed on his chest. Outside, a dragon flapped loudly in the howling wind, and Elrenia could only smile. Things hadn't changed, of course. Z'den had almost died, and they'd no word yet on Alana's condition. Earral would be expecting her home soon, may have already been worrying about her. People were going to ask questions about the previous days blatant assault when they went down for breakfast. They'd want to know why she attacked the man. Why she, and H'val, and Koth had been near hysterical when they'd arrived from the brownrider's birth Hold. The kids were going to want her attention, considering she'd been whisked away before she got to visit them the day before. There was so much to do.

Elrenia fell back to sleep.

It was Arlith's voice that roused her next, pressing into her mind with a quiet, Dear one, wake up. Like a mother smoothing the hair of her child in the small hours. The Masterharper is here. You must wake.

"No."

Were he in the room beside her, Arlith would have warmed the woman with an amused huff of air. As it were, he pressed more firmly into her mind, Wake, dear one. The Masterharper wishes to see you.

The words penetrated the haze a little further, enough for her to breathe the man's name, "Robinton?" before curling further into the brownrider's arms as she struggled to understand.

Z'den awoke beneath her then with a snort and an uncontrolled flail of all four limbs, forcing her off of him and to the side with an undignified squawk while Arlith made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh from his ledge. "I'm awake, I'm awake," the brownrider murmured, blinking his eyes sleepily as he took in his surroundings. Settled his gaze on the girl lying beside him and smiled. "Good morning, my lady."

The heat in Elrenia's face had nothing to do with embarrassment as she stared back at the man and said, "Good morning, brownrider."

Arlith bugled from his perch, and Z'den laughed. "Go bathe," he offered. "I'll set out clothing for you to change into, I believe Mirah kept what little you left in your weyr when you decided to travel, for when you next visited us here."

Elrenia didn't respond beyond leaning up to press her lips to the man's cheek, walking off to do as she was ordered. She was halfway through washing her hair with sweetsand that smelled vaguely like Z'den when the man's voice called into the room, "Elrenia, where would you like your clothing?"

It gave the woman pause, not the option of where to put her belongings but the fact that her instinct was to tell the man to bring them to her, where she floated in the nude, neck deep in warm water. Earral would be horrified to hear of this development, but after a prolonged moment of silence the girl called, "Come in," while focusing intently on working the suds further into her unruly hair.

Z'den did not need to be told twice, but he moved slowly as he entered the sanctuary of the bathing room, eyes never quite falling on Elrenia's body in the murky water while he placed the bundle of clothes on one of the low benches. His tan skin was flushed pink along the apples of his cheeks, the cut of his beard stubble, and she found herself smiling at the sight. His presence didn't tie her stomach in fearful knots, which was an important realization, but she made no effort to keep him in the room. Just watched him all but flee just before dunking her head.

Once she was dressed, the brownrider greeted her with a steaming cup of klah and a grin that she couldn't help but return, following him as he led her to where Robinton was settling down for breakfast in Lessa's chamber with the weyrwoman and weyrleader close at hand.

"I heard the two of you had quite the day yesterday," Robinton's eyes twinkled while he spoke, looking up from his plate to smile at the pair as they entered, motioning them toward seats and food of their own. "I'm glad that both of you are alive and well, Z'den."

The two helped themselves to the modest spread of cut fruit and porridge, listening politely while the man spoke, and the weyrwoman interjected, "We all are."

Robinton nodded his head, "It's unfortunate that you were wounded so severely, Z'den, but I am glad that Elrenia was not hurt as well. Don't you agree, F'lar?"

"Of course," the man nodded his head. "Z'den and Arlith will be up in the air again soon, so there was no permanent harm done."

"All is well."

"I…" It didn't sit well with Elrenia that she'd hurt her brownrider and his dragon, but she supposed Robinton was correct. They'd survived. They'd healed. If they hadn't saved her, she would have died, and Z'den never would have forgiven himself for sending her to the Hold. If she could barely stomach the guilt at his injury, she was loath to imagine how he would have felt had she died. "Thank you." Leaning forward to kiss the brownrider's cheek again, she repeated, "Thank you."

Robinton smiled at the show of affection, looking significantly in Lessa and Flar's direction before saying, "I believe Lord Holder Raid is starting to come around." The words coupled with the smile were so disarming that she almost missed the stern look in his eyes.

The Masterharper, however, looked as far from happy as a person could get with his lips curled into a smile, and Elrenia had to take a deep breath before saying, "There's a 'but' in there somewhere." At her side, Z'den gripped her wrist comfortingly. "Raid is starting to come around but..."

"He wants to speak to Earral."

This wasn't a surprise, but it wasn't what Elrenia wanted to hear, either. "Of course he does." It was a simple request. One that shouldn't have been an issue, except as regretful as Earral was that these horrible things had happened to his little sister, she doubted he would be willing to take time away from his happy life to travel and speak to a Lord Holder that was not his own. She'd mentioned it, during many a dinner, that Lord Raid would take his word over hers but he hadn't believed her. Had told her that he couldn't simply travel cross country on a whim. He had a daughter, and animals, and fields to care for. A wife that would be returning to his arms soon. A million responsibilities that were actually his own. "I will try to convince him," she offered, but could already feel her stomach churning at the thought. "I will try."

"If there is anything that I may do to be of assistance, Elrenia," the white haired man offered kindly, "simply say the words."

"A large rock with which to knock my brother out while we transport him to Raid would not go amiss." Robinton smiled at the quip, but no one laughed. It was not a laughing matter when the end was in sight, and still might be held off by a man who couldn't be asked to have a conversation.

It was more than that, Elrenia knew that it was. She'd spoken with Earral about Raid many times while she was staying in his Hold. The man had never said he would not help her, only that he could not leave his family and his home for a firelizard hunt. There were no guarantees that his presence would help, and too many variables for him to simply leave. He could travel with his daughter easily enough, but what of the crops? The animals? Who would search the ground for thread missed by the dragons? Who would make sure his livelihood stayed lively?

All of his concerns were valid, and yet it still stung. Looking over at Z'den she knew instantly that he could not come to help her convince the man. The blonde's expression was tight, lips pulled into a thin frown and eyebrows pressed close together in consternation. Reaching over, she pressed her thumb between the two bushy brows and smiled gently, shaking her head when he opened his mouth to apologize for some imagined slight.

"You are a dragonrider," she said as way of explanation. She would not be mad at him for having duties that superseded her want of his company.

"I am your friend."

"You are all my friends," Elrenia glanced around the table, flushed at making such a high handed assumption, but no one moved to correct her. "And you all have your own priorities. Your own duties. This is mine."

"I want to help you, Flitterby," Z'den explained quietly. "However F'nor has offered to take me to Alana, and I must see how she is. How they are. We've not yet heard from the Masterhealer, and I don't know if the babe lives. If…" The thought of his cousin dying seemed to choke Z'den, and Elrenia reached to cup his cheek, eyes warm when F'lar reached over to briefly squeeze the man's arm as well.

"Go home." Somehow it was actually that simple. Somehow Elrenia was not hurt that the man could or would choose someone else over her. There was no jealousy, only concern for the new mother and her child. "You need to be with them, I can see how unsettled you are." His eyes wouldn't stop shifting even as he tried to look at her, his feet bouncing against the ground in an uneven pattern. "H'val will take me back to Earral. You will go with F'nor to your family and send word just as soon as you can as to Alana's condition. And please, apologize for me. I didn't excuse myself before my hasty departure. At the very least, Zafer must be panicked. He was very upset when I left."

Everything was happening too quickly. Just two days before Elrenia was with her brother at his Hold near Fort, and now she was leaving Benden yet again. Standing in the bowl, stroking Koth's neck while she waited for H'val to return from the inner caverns, Elrenia watched the weyrfolk bustling about their day to day lives. It was fundamentally the same as what she saw at Fort, but somehow vastly different.

Maybe it was because Benden had Lessa, the woman who flew through time, who reinstated the Queen Wing, who fought every second of her life from the moment Fax took over Ruatha and never once thought of stopping. Maybe it was F'lar with his sense of justice, and increasingly stubborn nature. Or any single one of the riders who smiled at her no matter the mood they were in. Red and Palmer who both demanded her help with their quickly growing dragonets, best of friends it seemed, just like the boys who would someday ride them. Everywhere she looked, every corner she turned there was a story that she was a part of here. A person she helped. A person who helped her. A memory, a desire, a plan. In less than a turn she'd carved her name into the walls of the caverns, made herself a home in the weyrs. Fort would never be Benden, and climbing up Koth's leg upon H'val's arrival hurt. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't see her home blink away.

Koth was at Fort, she reminded herself every day. Koth, her beautiful blue, was close at hand. Home in the weyr that belonged to him before the accident that sent him and Z'den both to Benden. Close and ready to fight for her, comfort her, be there for his.

Arlith says the babe and his mother live, Koth rumbled in her mind, H'val's face breaking into a smile as she slid down the dragon's outstretched leg in a practiced dismount. We love you, the blue assured her, eyes swirling comforting blue and worried yellow as Elrenia stepped forward and pressed her forehead to his snout. Back at the Hold her brother was quickly emerging, a storm of emotion already present on his face.

"I love you, Koth," she murmured softly, pulling back to raise her hand to the rider, "and you, H'val. Thank you."

"Let me know if you need anything. We'll come."

"I know."

Koth hadn't yet blinked between when Earral reached her side, eyes narrow with worry and anger both while he said, "Where have you been, Elrenia?" as though her departure were a personal insult. "You leave without saying goodbye. No word as to when you'll be back. I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry, brother." The woman did not sound sorry, but he didn't mention it as she scooped her niece up from the ground, planting a kiss on the child's forehead. "I needed to return to Benden."

"Why?"

Because it was destiny. Because she needed to be there, to go to the weaverhold, to almost get caught in Threadfall, to have Z'den get hurt, to close the circle. It made no sense, and Elrenia only smiled at the man before entering his home, holding the door open behind her so he could slip inside as well.

"Nothing?" he asked, mouth curled into a frown. "No explanation?"

"I have nothing to explain. I needed to go to Benden."

"She needed to see her brownrider," Eira explained, sounding every bit the exasperated adult, "I told you that already."

Neither of them could help smiling at the little girl.

It was after Eira was asleep, curled under her sleeping furs and snoring softly from the other room, while Elrenia sat sipping a cup of cheap red that Earral sat across from her and said, "I'm surprised you're back," with much less of the ire from earlier. He suffered no illusions that this was a social visit, or a return home, not after the stories she'd been telling about her brownrider all night. "Why are you here?"

Elrenia had neither the want nor the stomach to lie to him about it. "Lord Holder Raid wishes to speak with you about the fire," she explained, placing her cup carefully on the table at her side to ring her hands together and calm her nerves. "About Ronomer and the… the attack."

Earral nodded her head, but asked again, "Why would he want to speak with me?"

"I am a woman," the resentment Elrenia's voice had Earral sitting back in surprise, dark eyebrows sitting high and scrunched on his forehead at the tone of his soft spoken sister. The quiet, obedient girl of his youth. She'd had a wild streak in her, all of the children had, but she was so mild mannered most of the time. Happy to sit, and work, and sew, and simply be. So different from the woman he'd gotten to know in the past few weeks. He'd never heard her speak with so much anger. "And he would like to speak to a man."

"And your Dragonriders couldn't be of assistance?" he spoke with such disdain that the girl bristled in her chair, hackles rising at the assumed insult.

"The Dragonriders are not my family, Earral," the woman's voice reflected exactly how she felt about that sentiment. It tasted like a lie, but no one outside of the weyr understood. "They aren't my family, you are. My family. My only family. The head of this family, now. And Lord Holder Raid wants to speak with you."

"Someone will need to watch Eira and the homestead."

"I can handle it."

"I mean you no disrespect sister," Earral spoke carefully, reaching out to touch Elrenia's hand when her face shifted into a glower. "But Ronomer is still out there, and I would prefer someone more… substantial to watch over my daughter and home. Someone who he would not dare try to hurt should he find you here."

"I understand, brother." Rising from her seat, Elrenia motioned her brother down when he moved to stop her from leaving, a brief flash of panic lighting his eyes. "I'm not leaving again," she assure him, motioning toward the gold washed field just outside the hold's front window. "I just need to step out for a moment, I'll be right back."

Earral nodded his head, sunk down into his seat, but nevertheless asked, "What do you need to do?"

The question made Elrenia smile, a gentle curve of her mouth as she made her way toward the door. "I need to speak to my blue dragon." The door shut gently behind her.

Koth? Elrenia searched for the blue, closing her eyes and concentrating as she sat in the waning sunlight. There was no skill behind speaking to dragons, not that the young woman could discern. But she could feel the moment the blue connected with her mind, a sort of warmth seeping into her bones while his presence rumbled within her. Filled every broken crevice in her, and gave the impression of curiosity without lending voice to any words. Koth, is it possible for you and H'val to get leave from Fort to stay at Earral's Hold with me for a short time? It was a lot to ask. Selfish. Arrogant to think she was so important that a dragonrider could, that a dragonrider would take time away from the weyr to watch over her. But it was H'val and Koth, who she knew would take the time and would not be upset or insulted by the request. He will see Lord Raid, but only if someone can protect his daughter and me.

Silence, though the warmth never left Elrenia's mind. It was tempting to nag the sweet creature, but Elrenia kept her peace, watching the tall grasses sway in the breeze as the brightest of the stars became visible even while the sky was still blue.

It was well after nightfall, wrapped in her own bed furs and settling for sleep, when the big blue pushed back into her mind. We will come, small one, he assured her, but you must be patient. We will be there to watch you at daybreak in a fortnight.

In the grand scheme of things, a fortnight wasn't very long, but it felt like an eternity while she waited. Every day, watching Eira live her innocent little life, was agony. Earral included her only superficially in his day to day activities, as he was wont to do. Giving her tasks to complete that would have insulted her long before he married and left Levic for his own life. She spoke to the dragon when she could, but Koth was surprisingly quiet for such an affectionate creature, speaking only in abstracts and only to comfort her when she was agitated. Promising again and again, Soon, small one.

Watching the sky each morning, in hopes that blue and his rider would show up unexpectedly, Elrenia did all she could to bide her time. Listening to Earral's concerns that they had no way of knowing where the slimy little Holder boy who'd started all of this was.

"He's still in his Hold," Elrenia said, the same way she'd told Lessa, and F'lar, and Robinton all those months ago. "That man has never traveled far from home for any length of time if it could be helped."

"But would he stay in place if people have been investigating, as you've said?" Earral asked, tone carefully gentle, as though he expected her to simultaneously crumble and explode at the question. "If the Harper's have been asking questions, if the Lord Holder has sent people to view the carnage, would he not have fled?"

No, Elrenia did not think he would. Ronomer was a coward. A coward, and a murderer, and a fool. That day on the Tall Hill, with smoke in the air and fire burning across the fields of her childhood, Ronomer had underestimated her. Thought her cowed. Thought her obedient. Thought her controlled when he'd left her there, bleeding and dying inside after he raped her. He did not think her capable of running, and he would not think her capable of telling her story. Of seeking justice. He'd thought her weak, but Elrenia was anything but weak.

Despite her fear. Despite her anger. Despite her wounds, healed but not yet overcome, Elrenia was not weak. She woke every morning determined to continue on, knowing that soon her blue would come to keep her safe while her brother worked to avenge their family. And when sunrise came, a fortnight after Koth has assured her they would come, she stood in Earral's field silently, wrapped in her wherhide jacket and waited.

Surprise showed clearly on her face when the blue dragon did not simply blink into the air above her, but flew low over the trees in the distance, a large brown beast of a dragon at his side. "Koth," the name left her on a gasp, eyes wide and searching as she stared, answered with an approving rumble in her mind. It was the first time since the accident that she'd seen Arlith fly, and her breath caught in her throat at the sight. At the realization that the dragon hadn't been ruined trying to save her. Wouldn't be grounded forever. The elation was overwhelming, so much so that she did not hear her brother approach, squeezing her shoulder softly as he came to her side.

"That is your brown dragon?" he asked, but the question sounded more like a statement, and the thought of her brother meeting Z'den was almost paralyzing. It was a mix of concern for whether or not the two men would even get along, and outright terror that Earral would be shamed by her choices that trapped her breathed, just for a moment. To her, Z'den was a beautiful man. If one could be bothered to look long enough, it was easy to see the sparkle of love within his eyes. Little jewels within his skull, shining the way the dragons did atop the Weyr. He was rough, from his voice to the texture of his skin, but Z'den was so much more than that. For all the children complained about his gruffness, they obviously loved him. And what's more, for anyone who cared to look, he loved them as well. However not everyone saw him that way, Elrenia knew that she didn't when they first met. Even after trust and friendship had been forged, Z'den intimidated Elrenia. Men, Earral especially if he was at all like he used to be, did not react well to feeling intimidated.

But the fear only lasted the moment, the length of time spent between, and more than every fear she had, Elrenia desperately wanted Z'den and Earral to meet. Her older brother and a man that she cared for. Her brown rider and his dragon. The two may or may not get along, but for her sake she was sure they'd at least be civil toward each other. And that was enough. For now.

When Koth touched down far off in the fields, Z'den on his back along with his usual rider, Elrenia held her breath at her brother's side, watching Arlith's less than delicate landing just a few yards away. She tried not to dwell on the fact that he was still unable to fly with the extra weight of his rider. Did not think about how long it must have taken to fly straight from Benden on a wounded wing. At least a fortnight, it seemed, and she smiled fondly at the blue when he trumpeted a greeting.

There were a thousand different ways that this meeting could go horribly wrong, all flying through her mind at once, but she was grounded by Arlith's voice in her mind, a gentle rumble, like water over gravel as he said, This is the little man you left me for, insult in his voice undermined by the soft blue of his eyes, twinkling with amusement as he settled in place. Crossing big taloned feet in front of him to rest his chin.

He is my brother, she returned, smiling and rolling her eyes at once.

This man is not worthy of you.

Worthy? Elrenia barked a laugh, looking apologetically over at her brother when he tilted his head in question. He's my brother.

All the same.

Then, a moment later from Koth, Can we approach, small one?

Of course.

There was no way Elrenia could stop herself from glowing as she watched her brownrider dismount the blue, just as agile as always, if a little pale and shaky from the long ride. H'val was right behind him, smiling widely and raising a hand in greeting at the trio standing by the Hold. But when she moved to actually greet the men, Earral reached out and grabbed her arm, shaking his head.

"Earral?" it took every ounce of willpower not to wrench herself from her brother's grip. "What's wrong?"

"Stay here."

Elrenia shook her head, "Earral, what are—"

"Stay."

So she stayed, though it was impossible to breathe the entire time Z'den approached, carefully surveying his surroundings as he did. And when finally he was within earshot, she couldn't help calling out prior to her brother reaching them, "Z'den! H'val! Thank you for coming!" Because whatever Earral was planning, whatever show of masculinity or superiority, Elrenia would be the first thing they heard.

H'val smiled in response, raising his hand again to wave at her, clearly forcing himself not to jog straight past the Holder with whom he was already acquainted to greet his friend. Z'den, however, did not remove his eyes from the man approaching him. Seeming instead to draw himself higher, taking a deep breath to strengthen his frame.

"So you're Z'den," and somehow her brother, who snored loudly at night and sang loudly and out of tune whenever he had too much red, made those words sound threatening. Elrenia had asked him to be the man of the family again, but this isn't quite what she meant. At all. She didn't want him looking at her brownrider like he was going to slaughter him. She didn't want him to have the final decision on their relationship. But most of all she didn't want Z'den rolling his shoulders back defensively at the man's very presence. His tone. His expression.

"I am," the blonde agreed easily enough, green eyes narrowing subtly while H'val shook his head in dismay and walked past the two of them to scoop the patiently waiting Eira into his arms. Z'den ignored the abandonment. "And you're Earral."

"Yes," a surprisingly stilted word, like Earral would spit at the man's feet if Elrenia wouldn't have actually beaten him for it. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Neither statement was even remotely sincere. Making eye contact with her bluerider, Elrenia rolled her eyes. Tried to silently communicate the word, Brothers, like the insult it was meant to be only to have Koth chuff a laugh from his spot in the field. The noise spurred the men into motion.

"Thank you for taking care of Elrenia while she was at the Weyr," Earral spoke loudly, moreso than was strictly necessary as he waved a hand over his shoulder to indicate his sister, as though the brownrider would have forgotten her in less than a month. It sounded like a dismissal, and H'val reached out to grip her wrist with one hand, stopping her from moving toward the two.

She needn't have worried. "That is also my pleasure," Z'den's voice, though loud, was completely calm. A world away from the fingers curled into fists at his side. "I will continue to care for her for many turns yet seen." The brown rider had no issue picking out the man's meaning.

We did not want for this man to take you away, her eyes were drawn to Arlith's large frame, one lavender eyes staring straight at her. She could see him turning his head, anxious to press his snout into her belly. She wanted to pet him, kiss him, drink in the scent of musk, and sun, and oil as the force of his breathing made her clothing flutter. But she needed patience, and stood at H'val's side calmly. Waited. Smiled softly when the brown said, I love you.

"I love you too." Somehow it felt much more real if she could feel the words forming in her mouth, feel them passing her lips.

"Elrenia?"

Looking up, the young woman made rather pointed eye contact with her brother, ignoring whatever question she'd missed in order to ask, "Will Z'den and I be welcomed here, or will we be traveling back to Benden now?"

The man paused at those words, shaking his head thoughtfully before nodding. "If you would both like, you're welcome to stay here. It is a long flight back to the Weyr."

"Thank you brother."

Sweeping forward, Elrenia leaned up to kiss the brownrider's cheek before burying her face in Arlith's neck, savoring the way his tail curled around her as she knelt at his side. Forcing herself away from him was difficult, so she gave herself a very long moment to simply be in the brown's presence before moving to tug at his threadscarred wing. Asking, "How does it feel?"

Tight, the dark voice rumbled, obediently allowing the huge appendage to unfold for Elrenia to examine. None of the scarring had torn, and there was no ichor seeping from the tender wounds, so she did not worry about the soreness he exhibited. Especially not when the boy said, It was nice to be in the air.

"We'll work on stretching it," she said, running careful fingers over the joints, pinching the thick skin of the sail between her forefinger and thumb to test its elasticity before frowning. "Someone has been slacking in his recovery."

I have been stretching it, Arlith claimed, whipping her gently with the tip of his tail when she rolled her eyes and huffed disagreement. I have been! I do not lie, little human. His throat released an unhappy grumble.

"I never said you lied," she soothed, pressing her lips to his eyeridge before standing to do the same to Koth's piteously outstretched head. Then, "Come, Z'den. Meet Eira."

It took less than an hour for Eira to ask the brownrider to marry her, giggling brightly when the man only gazed over at Elrenia and said, "I'll consider it, sweetling," while H'val laughed himself out of his seat and Earral tried desperately not to find anything heartwarming in the situation.

Elrenia, for her part, pretended to be jealous, gripping the front of her tunic desperately while she said, "You cannot have both H'val and Z'den, Eira. It's simply unfair. You need to leave some gentlemen for the rest of us."

The child was enamored with the brownrider, settling in his lap every time he sat down, and begging to be held on his hip every time he stood. She wanted to be involved in every conversation, smiling up at the new man every time her father scolded her for being rude and interrupting, as though her chubby cheeks and little dimples would sway favor in her direction. It worked. And when night fell, Eira cried until Z'den tucked her into bed, kneeling on the floor beside her while he told her stories of the weaverhold from whence he came.

Elrenia did not know that this was who Zariden was, the man before his dragon named him. So sweet to a girl he didn't know. The daughter of a man who was now trying desperately to maintain an unhealthy level of hatred for him and failing spectacularly, sitting across the room discussing the logistics of travel with H'val. "I can take you there," she listened with half an ear to the bluerider speaking to her brother, "but I cannot stay while you negotiate with Lord Raid."

"Who said anything about negotiation?" Earral asked, taking a deep drink of red while leaning closer to the boy, "I'm simply explaining the situation to Lord Raid."

"Lord Raid knows the situation well, Earral," H'val sounded tired, rubbing one eye and sighing into his steaming klah. "He's known for months. The problem is that he doesn't care enough to fix it. That's where you come in. He can, and will, try to paint Elrenia as a hysterical woman. He's already been working toward that, according to the Harpers. But he can't do that to you. You need to make him see that ignoring this is not a choice."

"You want me to threaten a Lord Holder?" Earral sounded almost impressed, glancing over to where Z'den was emerging from Eira's room, tiny snores following his footsteps. "What kind of clout do you think I have, bluerider? I trade with some other Holds, and I have several good crafter friends, but I don't have that kind of power."

"You don't," Z'den agreed, sitting at Elrenia's side and taking her hand. "We do."

"Then why don't you speak for Elrenia?"

"We have no connection to her, as far as that man is concerned." One hand squeezed Elrenia's firmly when Z'den spoke, bright eyes never leaving her brother. "But you do. You have a good relationship with Fort Hold, N'ton tells me. He's willing to back you on this, and so is Benden Weyr. You have the clout of the dragons behind you. We only need you to speak."

"For Elrenia."

"No," the girl spoke up then, staring straight at the man who wore her mother's eyes, "for your family."

There was a tension in the room that turned Elrenia's blood hot, something that tasted of anger and felt like despair. It would have been easy for the man to say no. To say he wouldn't risk his daughter, his home, his livelihood for what had thus far proven to be a lost cause. If Raid wouldn't listen to the one living eyewitness, the victim, if Raid wouldn't listen to the Harpers and all their wisdom, their judgement, why would he listen to a Cotholder who hadn't even lived under the Lord Holder's hand for several turns? The argument was decent enough, and Elrenia would be hurt but couldn't argue it.

His eyes shifted toward the front window, toward his darkened fields where the almost glowing eyes of the dragons stared back at him. "I will go," Earral spoke softly, reaching a hand up to muss his own dark hair before turning his gaze back on the people gathered. "But you must understand, brownrider, that it is your sole responsibility to protect my daughter and my sister while I am away. No harm will come to them, if I am to do this, do you understand?"

"On Arlith's egg," Z'den swore, squeezing Elrenia's hand much too tightly in his grip, "I will protect them with my life."

It took a moment for the man to nod his head, a faraway look on his face, and say, "I believe you."

The next morning, Earral showed Z'den and Elrenia both around the lands, explaining the chores that absolutely needed to be done while he was away, and the ones that could be put off if absolutely necessary in all the details he'd spared his sister thus far. If there was Threadfall, the fields needed to be checked for burrows. He had flamethrowers in the shed that were functional, even if they were quite old. The runnerbeasts needed to be cared for, walked, brushed, and fed as usual. There was a new foal who needed special attention, as he was nervous around newcomers. The wherries were to be fed and corralled every night, but allowed free reign during the day. "Your brown dragon," Earral spoke, grave warning in his tone, "may eat while he is here. But if he culls my flock you'd best be prepared to replace the whole lot of them. Do you hear me?"

Z'den laughed, nodding his head. "Arlith will not eat you out of wherries, I assure you."

It was perhaps the longest, most exhausting day Elrenia had experienced since her escape from the Tall Hill. Every inch of skin that could feel sore and chafed by nightfall did. There was a headache building directly behind her right eye. There were splinters in her palms from using tools she hadn't touched since long before the fire. The day itself was not tiring for the hard labor she assisted in, however, but for the nagging she needed to do to make sure Z'den didn't overexert himself.

"Flitterby, I'm fine," Z'den insisted again and again, drinking water when bid and sitting on stumps and in grass much to H'val's quiet delight the entire day. "I promise, I feel fine."

"You've only just recovered from your wounds," Elrenia argued quietly, checking his neck, and back, and chest to make sure none of the threadscars looked irritated. "I'll not have you passing out from overworking on your second trip away from the weyr since the accident."

"Elrenia."

Earral snorted a laugh, turning his attention over to the runners grazing the field when his sister glared up at him from her spot on the ground. By the time morning came, the man's only qualm about leaving was his daughter. A little girl he had never been away from for more than a few hours since the moment she was born. But the child gripped his cheeks and kissed him right on the mouth before saying, "Okay, papa, you can leave now."

It was Elrenia's turn to laugh. She laughed Earral right out of the house and all the way over to the blue dragon that was waiting to take him to Benden Hold. Laughed him right onto the blue's back, and between, sweeping the little girl up into her arms for a kiss. "Do you want to meet my brown dragon?"

"Yes!"

And so the days went. Z'den and Elrenia woke early for their chores. Caring for the animals and keeping Eira well fed and clean despite the child's best efforts to eat bubbly pies for every meal and lay in the dirt with Arlith. Koth gave them updates every so often, when H'val traveled to check in on Earral and Raid. He let her know when the Harpers showed up to back the cotholder, to defend Elrenia against false allegations made by known friends of her attacker. When someone dared to suggest that Elrenia burned down the Cothold herself, and Earral was barely held back from beating the man to death on the spot.

She was glad she wasn't there to witness it all. To hear people arguing about whether or not she was telling the truth. There was no way she would be able to keep calm under those circumstances. No way she could hold herself back from yelling, and screaming, and cursing the lot of them. So she spent time with her niece, and laughed when Z'den tripped over a fallen log and wound up half covered in mud and wherry droppings. She relaxed against Arlith's side in the afternoon after carefully stretching his wing, and she worked with the young, shy runner to acclimate him to bigger crowds of people and animals.

"Do not eat him," Elrenia hissed at the brown dragon while the young runner sniffed at his hide, laughing when Arlith huffed his annoyance at being woken by the tiny beast, but laid his head obediently on the ground when it walked over to sniff his snout next. A warm breath, like a small wind, sent the runnerbeast running while Arlith rumble. Pleased with himself. It was hard for Elrenia to glare at him while rolling her eyes before chasing the foal.

Z'den was inside with Eira, preparing lunch for the three of them while Elrenia checked the animals for pests and made sure they were all accounted for. She'd been searching for the foal for near an hour when she was finally summoned by the brown to Remove this tiny beast from my presence before I eat it.

Having seen it run away this time, the foal was much easier to find, at the top of a steep hill panting for breath but not looking like it was going to bolt again. She cooed at him, shushing and whispering until he moved forward to snuffle her hand, looking for something sweet to munch on and whinnying when she failed to produce. It was as she was petting the poor creature's head, whispering reassurances and still trying not to laugh at the smugness Arlith was radiating from a sunspot a ten minute run away, that the words, "I thought I might find you here, you wherry," rang out and Elrenia's heart died. It shriveled, and died in her chest as she stared down at the still panting runner for a moment. Tried to determine if she'd imagined it. "You're going to regret disobeying me." Turned slowly in place, unable to breathe as she looked at him, only just emerging over the crest of the hill. After all this time, all the healing she done, tried to do, failed to do…

Tongue swelling in her mouth with the force of her horror, Elrenia's eyes blurred immediately but she blinked the oncoming tears away. Somehow she'd thought, firmly, that she would not see him again. Ever. Especially when her brother had left with the backing of the weyrs to seek justice. He was never supposed to reenter her life. Not so soon. Not when it indicated that the man had been traveling here this entire time, and the thought that she knew where her brother lived was sickening. She'd done her job, telling everyone what had happened. She was supposed to be free of him, but there he was. Standing tall and proud like he had any right.

"Ronomer." The name was a living thing, wriggling on her tongue like thread in the body of an unlucky herdbeast. It tasted like ash. It made her gag, and before she could think of a next step-fight, flee, call for help-a hand was striking her to the ground.

The foal cried, bolting in the opposite direction while Ronomer snarled down at her, kicking her sharply in her side when she tried to rise. Ronomer looked little different than he had last turn. Still a little shorter than her, a little too round for his stature, a little too proud for his own good. However his hair, yellow as fresh wheat, was in complete disarray. Plastered to his forehead with sweat while his face burned red with anger or too much sun. He spat at her, thick lips pursing around the glob of saliva and curling into a dry frown when she flinched away. His leggings were thick in mud, several inches at least around his ankles. His tunic was stained with sweat along the neck and pits, the entire garment a less than clean shade of cream. He, Elrenia realized while his hand print burned on her face once more, had been on the road for a long time.

She could feel him on her, smell him, taste him as the agony of a turn past rushed back to her, Ronomer's presence triggering sense memory like she was trapped within a nightmare. She could see her nieces and nephews, her brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. She could see all of their faces as they were before he decided that he wanted what wasn't his to take. She could imagine their slow, burning deaths. She could taste the fire and ash. She could see the field behind her home burning. She could see the men running away. She could hear the screams in her mind.

"Stand up, you wherry!" His voice hurt her, driving daggers into her ears, into her mind. Two large hands reached down to grip her wrists, hoisting her to her feet and dragging her forward while her knees buckled and he snapped, "Stand up now. Do not make me repeat myself, again!"

Even after so much time, even after managing to get the Harpers to try to hunt him down, he seemed to think that he owned her. The worst part, however, was that she almost complied with his demand. It was only an overwhelming voice in her mind, You will not go to him, that stopped her. Arlith's voice was gruffer than usual, his words neither a question nor a request. A blatant statement of fact. You are not his. He cannot take you. You will not go to him.

"No."

Ronomer's face darkened a shade, his meaty hands curling tightly into fists when she wrenched herself away. "Excuse me?" as though he hadn't heard her.

So Elrenia stared straight at him, took a step back and narrowed her own eyes as she repeated, "I said, no."

He raised his hand again that instant, a meaty fist prepared to beat and she moved back, slipped on the slick grass and tumbled to her back. This was no way to defend herself. Her leggings were sopping wet and slick with the mud she sat in, the shoes on her feet unable to find any traction on the wet earth. She could not run away. She could not effectively fight back. And when he swung his raised arm, she cringed violently backward, preparing for the pain.

But the pain never came.

Small one, open your eyes, Arlith's voice was softer now, a nudging sensation to get attention, a feeling she couldn't ignore though she wanted to. Wanted to exist in this dark place where she could almost pretend this was a nightmare. Nothing was wrong. Opening her eyes was well worth the effort to see Z'den standing over a cowering Ronomer. Her rapist lay prone on the floor where the brown rider evidently threw him, barely supporting himself on his elbows.

His hooked nose oozed a thin trail of blood, and he looked terrified up until the moment he realized Elrenia was watching. They made eye contact, just for a second, and the man sneered before lurching to his feet, long knife already out of its sheath at his side. In Z'den's hand sat a small, carefully sharpened belt knife. Most days the man used it for cutting fruit, or spearing meat while eating outdoors. Today he used it to fight. He did so mercilessly.

Ronomer had always been a good fighter. Elrenia remembered watching him brawl when she was younger, remembered the way he would lift the other boys clear over his head to throw them. To prove his masculinity. To impress the girls. The way he would hit them, and hit them, and not stop until someone forced him to. Elrenia had never been affected by his behavior, until all at once she had been, and it was the end of the world.

But where Ronomer had learned to focus on brute strength and size in a fight, Z'den had been carefully trained to duel. To watch his opponent and determine what they planned to do before they were even entirely sure if their own plans. It was how he'd taught Elrenia to protect herself, and it gave him the upper hand. He watched Ronomer's feet, stepped out of the way of the thrusts of his sword, and sliced at the Holders arms even though his blade was significantly shorter. Step, dodge, slice, repeat. It was a dance. It was beautiful in a way that Elrenia didn't entirely understand, as she sat and stared, mesmerized by the battle.

It didn't take long for Ronomer to slow, slipping in the wet grass twice before Z'den's blade dug deeply into his bicep with a spray of blood. "Yield!" Ronomer cried from his spot on the floor, arm bleeding relentlessly while his face paled. His free hand came up to clutch the gouge, squeezing it with a queasy expression as he repeated, "I yield, I yield," when Z'den didn't immediately drop from his defensive crouch. "Have mercy."

Elrenia knew the second it happened. When the tension in the dragonrider's shoulders uncoiled and he turned his head just slightly to the left to tell her to, "Get something to bind him with," Ronomer didn't even rise to his feet. Just rolled forward onto his knees and slashed.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. Z'den was supposed to scare Ronomer into fleeing. Beat him into submission. Z'den's was supposed to win.

Instead the brownrider grunted, sinking quickly to the floor while his tunic ran red with blood. He crumpled, like old leaves to a fire, and Ronomer rose to his feet. Stabbed the brownrider quickly in the shoulder before turning his attention to Elrenia when she shrieked, "No!" Several yards away, Arlith was howling with anger. Pain. Eyes swirling red and yellow as he tried to stretch his wings too quickly and sent pain through his massive body.

"Get up, woman!" the man snapped, shifting several steps to the side to put the girl's body between his own and the massive dragon in the distance. "I said-"

"I said no."

Ronomer lunged, blade at the ready to strike but before he could get within arm's length of her Arlith blinked between to her side and surged forward, sinking his teeth deeply into Ronomer's bloodied arm. The man shrieked, and tried to wrench away, unable to free himself of the beasts clamped jaw until he grabbed the blade with his other hand and struck. Stabbing blindly toward the brown's eye, but Arlith swung his head and neck, flinging the man several feet toward the lower fields with a sound of pain while his scars pulled.

No, This would not happen. It could not happen. I will not go to him. Ronomer was rising slowly to his feet, blood rushing down his arms, anger clear on his face while the brown swiftly lowered his giant head to her.

Wrapping her arms around his eyeridges, Elrenia allowed herself to be lifted to her feet, pivoting on one foot to stare directly at her rapist while he stared in shock at her composure. It took him a moment to get a hold of himself, startled expression melting into boiling anger again when the woman said, "Enough." On the ground, Z'den let out a noise of pain and tried to roll over, tried to rise, stilling only when Elrenia ordered, "Arlith, go to him," and the brown lumbered to his side, crouching over him with a roar.

"Elrenia!" Ronomer tried to pretend he didn't jump at the beasts sound, taking the opportunity to stride forward again, reaching for the girl, "I have had enough of this nonsense. You have been running wild for far too long, and I am going to teach-"

"I said no."

The man's ruddy face flushed scarlet. His lips quirking in dismay before he shouted, "This is your last chance!"

"I am not yours, Ronomer." The words were freeing, an entire weyr lifted from her shoulders as she curled her hands into fists, drawing on the strength of her brown rider and dragon nearby, the knowledge of fighting and self-defense gained through months of study. "You cannot simply demand that I do something and expect me to obey you. You can…" The words caught on her tongue, and Arlith roared again several years away, eyes swirling red with fury as he let out a noise she had never heard before. A cross between a growl and a roar. "You cannot murder an entire family and expect me to accept your domination. I will not. I am not yours." Ronomer wasn't allowed to take away her old family and her new family. He wasn't allowed to cheat, and lie, and connive his way to victory this time. He wasn't allowed to walk away like nothing happened.

But he would try, she knew, when he'd attacked a dragonrider unprovoked and the only other choice now was to hand himself over to the weyr for justice, he would fight to win. And she wasn't surprised when he lunged toward her. When Arlith roared in anger, and horror, and fear. When the blade bit into the meat of her forearm as she protected her face, and crouched to slam her elbow into his ribs throwing him off balance with a grunt.

The two of them hit the ground hard, Elrenia rolling off and to her feet immediately. Waiting. She was one of the southern cats, waiting for her prey to move, reaching carefully over to where Z'den's belt knife lay abandoned in the grass, folding her fingers over the hilt while she held her breath and waited. Patient. People would be coming soon, with Arlith frantic and afraid. Dragons would be coming, and she would not make the first move. But when Ronomer lunged again she was ready, crouching under his sword arm and shooting back to her feet the moment the blade was past her.

Narrow blue eyes widened in shock at the move, staring at Elrenia, making eye contact before sinking slowly down to where blood oozed from around the silver metal stuck between his ribs. Just as slowly, his eyes rose to meet Elrenia's again, lips parting with a gasp.

"You killed them," she whispered, teeth clattering until she clenched her jaw. "They were babies, and you killed them." Elrenia could barely breathe with the force of her fury, her sadness, her abject agony. She hoped it hurt. She hoped it hurt more than any of her family hurt when he killed them so he could rape her. She hope it hurt more than anything had ever hurt before, and she hoped it followed him between.

Ronomer raised his hands to the blade, but before he could touch it Elrenia pulled it from his body. She did not watch Ronomer's body sink to the floor, one hand grasping at his breast as though he could stop the blood. Her back was to him in an instant, legs carrying her back to where Arlith stood over Z'den, eyes still bright red while he snarled at the dying man across the field.

The brown rider was trying to get up still, bleeding profusely from the slash across his stomach and held down by a tail across his hips. Grabbing his shoulders, Elrenia helped Arlith forced him back down, snapping, "Don't move!"

The brownrider grunted, said, "I'll kill him!"

But Elrenia shook her head. "He's dead, Z'den. He's dead."

Green eyes snapped up to Elrenia's face then, disbelief clouding his features while he looked at her. The blood running thickly from her own arm, the pallor of her face. Bloodied fingers rose to Elrenia's cheek, stroking softly before sliding back down to push against the ground again.

A failed attempt at rising, since Elrenia put more pressure on his shoulders and muttered, "If you move again I swear on the first Egg I'll knock the teeth out of your mouth. Do you understand me?"

Two dry lips parted in a smile while Z'den murmured, "You're turning into a wonderful woman."

"I'm glad you think so." The smile then was genuine, overpowering her worry for his wellbeing just for a moment. But then the man coughed, curling over himself and exacerbating his wound, and Elrenia was pulled back down to earth. "Stop moving, love, you'll only hurt yourself. I just have to…" The knife was in her tunic before she finished the thought, cutting the soft fabric at the bottom into strips. She needed to pack the wound, stop the bleeding. The cut probably needed stitches, it looked deep enough, but that took skill that she didn't have. Not yet. And not in a field in the middle of nowhere. "Arlith, tell one of the dragons to get Oldive before they come here. Tell them to time it if they have to. We need him."

The man smiled, eyes crinkling as he said, "Bossing my dragon around, are you?"

"This isn't a laughing matter, Z'den!" Wrapping her fingers around the hem of his tunic she warned, "This is going to hurt," before unwrapping his belt and pulling his tunic swiftly up and out of the way. She wasn't lying.

The fabric at the edges of the cut had settled into the parted flesh, clinging to tacky blood and muscle. Biting back a curse, Z'den threw his head back to the ground, reaching up to grip Elrenia's wrists when she pressed the fabric she'd cut to the wound hard, stopping the blood rushing from his body if only for a moment.

"Where are they?" she asked, looking up at the empty sky and then back at Arlith who was still growling, wrapping his long tail around both of them while staring at Ronomer's body in the distance. "Arlith, where are they?"

The others come.

But when? Elrenia knew it was difficult, sometimes, to bespeak over large distances, but surely it shouldn't be taking this long! Closing her eyes she tried, Koth? Can you hear me?

Small one?

I don't care what the two of you are doing right now, you and H'val have to come get me and Z'den.

Z'den?

I'm begging you. He's wounded. He could die.

A pause. Very brief before the blue was blinking into the sky above them, looking for a good place to land on the wet, rocky landscape as Elrenia continued to press down on Z'den's stomach with all her might. H'val was on the ground and sprinting toward them before Koth had even landed completely, shouting questions that Elrenia couldn't think to answer while Gold Sayath appeared in the air just above his head, several bronze dragons close behind her. Benden bronzes. Arlith had bespoke Sayath rather than a dragon from the much closer Fort Weyr.

As the dragons made to land, Arlith threw his massive head and bellowed a warning at them, gnashing his teeth and whipping his tail, but the queen was unafraid. Landing just a few feet away she bugled him into silence and Mirah was running full tilt in their direction, the other riders close behind her.

"Elrenia?!" H'val sounded so scared as he approached, crying out when he practically tripped over Ronomer's body. "By the egg…" His eyes widened, and he stared at her. "What… what in the world—"

"Z'den was trying to protect me."

"Who is this?!"

"Ronomer."

Silence, and for a moment everyone froze. Staring between the woman and her brown rider, both covered with blood. The body in the field, a smooth red puddle forming under it for the ground to drink.

"Good riddance," Mirah breathed, kneeling beside Z'den to take a look at the wound herself. "What happened to him, exactly?"

"Ronomer had a sword, so they fought. Ronomer doesn't… he has no honor. At all. Ronomer yielded and when Z'den lowered his weapon, the tunnel snake struck."

Trying to push himself up on his elbows, Z'den muttered, "Can the two of you not talk about me as though I'm not lying right—"

But one tan hand slid sharply across his face, silencing him and shocking everyone as Elrenia forced him back to the ground. "Last warning," she snapped. "Next time it's your teeth."

Laughing, Mirah told the others, "Sayath says Elrenia warned him."

But the brunette didn't care about the others, she was too busy staring the brown rider down. "Try to sit up again and you'll feel it in your feet."

"Shells woman!" Z'den gaped, raising a shaking, bloody hand to his own face. "No need to get violent."

"I find that some children need discipline in order to behave."

"Oh? Am I a child now?"

"Until you prove otherwise, yes!"

"Z'den," H'val spoke softly, interrupting the argument, kneeling beside the older man's head as he asked, "where is little Eira?"

Immediately Elrenia felt ill, having forgotten about her niece in all of this, but Z'den smiled fondly and gestured vaguely toward the Hold in the distance. "I had her hide in the cellar," he explained. "Between several casks of wine in case…" The man swallowed a grunt of pain when Mirah took over putting pressure on his wound so Elrenia could rise on trembling legs.

"H'val," she spoke, "Come with me. Mirah, smack him in the mouth if he lifts so much as a finger."

"Yes, my lady," the girl laughed, and Z'den glared at Elrenia, and Arlith glared at Z'den, and Elrenia ran as quickly as she could through the fields toward the Hold to retrieve the child hiding there.

Eira burst into tears at the sight of her aunt, confused and frightened of the blood and the sudden orders she'd received from Z'den. "He told me to be silent," she sobbed, little arms wrapped tightly around H'val's throat when he scooped her up, "He said that the bad man was here, and I needed to hide here and be quiet."

"You did so well, sweetling," the bluerider breathed, tucking her face into his throat as they ascended the stairs and stepped out into the daylight. Raising a hand, he shielded her from the carnage, from all the dragons, from the blood and the body, summoning Koth to his side. The blue rumbled at the sight of the crying child, leaning forward to press his snout into her small back while his rider explained, "I'm taking her to her father. I'll explain the situation to him and Lord Raid while I'm there."

Elrenia had never been so grateful for the boy. "Thank you."

It took a moment to get the girl wrapped in H'vals far too big jacket, strapped carefully to the blue while the child kept her eyes firmly closed as she was told. "It will be cold," Elrenia explained fiddling with the straps to make sure they wouldn't slip, "Like snow on a dark night in the middle of winter, but it will only last for a moment. Take a deep breath, when H'val says it's time, and count to three. Then you'll be there."

"I love you auntie," the girl's voice shuddered as she spoke, face wet with tears and snot as she tried to be brave.

"I love you too, sweet girl. H'val will keep you safe."

No sooner had Koth blinked from the sky with his delicate cargo than gold Ramoth burst into the air above the cluster of riders, followed by bronze Mnementh and Lioth, who carried Oldive on his broad back. The old man was led immediately to Z'den, glowering at his wounds like they were a personal insult and scolding the man about getting hurt. Again.

Lessa and F'lar walked straight to Elrenia.

"El-"

"I killed Ronomer," the words flew out of her like firelizards on a beach, curdling in her mouth like spoilt food while she shuddered. Curled her arms protectively over her bare stomach, fabric jagged where she'd cut away at it to pack Z'den's wounds. "He found me, and… and he… Z'den… I killed him." It hadn't hurt before, when the knife was in his chest and he was breathing his last few breathes. It hadn't hurt when Mirah arrived on Sayath and demanded to know what happened. But now, in front of the weyrwoman and weyrleader of Benden, who took her in and cared for her and gave her purpose, she felt the blood caked on her hands burn like acid. "Shards. I… he… I killed him."

It was F'lar who stepped forward then, leaving a shocked and staring Lessa at his back, and gripped Elrenia's shoulders tight, expression severe but eyes bright as he said, "You saved Z'den."

.

.

The sand was warm beneath her feet, the chamber buzzing with sound around her, but all Elrenia could see was him. In the stands, with her thick riding jacket clutched tightly in his fists like a link directly to her flesh, Z'den couldn't seem to rip his eyes from her. They were bright, even from so far away, shining with emotion. She'd been here before, on different sands with different candidates, but this was not new. Neither was the anxiety clutching at her heart.

Everyone said that she was meant for this. She was not Lessa, she did not have a link to dragons that allowed her into their thoughts, and yet the magnificent creatures deigned to speak to her. When the nights were bad, the memories overwhelming, Koth sung her to sleep. When the weyr was stifling, and the weyrfolk too much to handle, Arlith took her to wing. Gold Sayath told her stories of Benden whether she requested them or not. When she visited the Benden Weyrleaders, neither Ramoth nor Mnenemth split a lid when she approached because they knew her. They liked her. They respected her. This was her destiny, and yet her stomach tied in knots at the very thought of it.

"There's only you," she murmured, staring across at him, and knew that he could hear her. He may not have had her voice, but he had her words. Knew that she was talking to him, speaking from her heart. "There can only be you," she said, and felt her hands start to shake. "I don't want to Impress if I can't have you."

Who says you can't have me? Arlith's voice rumbled in her mind, but they weren't his words. She knew it. Could feel Z'den in them. Saw them in his eyes as he stared.

"A Brown has never flown a Gold, not with any success," she whispered, wanting the words to be untrue but knowing that they weren't. "Not in this pass. Not in any other. Not that we know."

We'll deal with that when we have to. All sound in the room ceased, just for a second, as the first shell cracked. We will deal with everything as it comes, and she knew that they would, as a bronze dragonet erupted from his shell and raced around the other eggs, crying piteously until he reached one of the young boys, tears already streaming down his face. Elrenia kept her eyes on her brownrider. Watched him. Wished that his words were enough.

"Z'den."

She comes. A crack exploded across the golden egg, the dragons bellowed from their perches, and it was hard to breathe. Elrenia, she comes.

.

.

I'm aware this final installment probably feels a rushed, especially compared to the slow(ish) pace of the rest of the story. Honestly, it probably is. But I wanted to finally give this an ending, and it was always meant to me or less be like this (in fact the last four paragraphs were written in 2013). All of the pieces were meant to fall like dominoes in the end. Everything was meant to happen all at once. Also, god, it's tempting to go back and rewrite this entire melodrama just a little less ridiculously. I enjoyed writing it and I hope you all enjoyed reading it, but with the benefit of four years and a different voice, I would have handled the construction of this differently. If y'all are interested in a rewrite, let me know. It'll probably happen over on AO3 if we decide it needs to happen.

In the meantime, I thank you all for your understanding and continued support on this journey, and I hope the conclusion of this story was worth the wait.