The New Arrival

[Vesadi]

Thundering hooves echoed as riders approached Baron Hold. A quick exchange between her guard and the guardsman at the gate and they were trotting through the gate and into the square with little announcement. Not that she expected some huge uproar, the parchment expressed that the Lord Holder wouldn't be at Baron Hold when she arrived. 

Reigning her black stud to a halt, she sat looking about the square as her guards filtered in around her. A page ran out of the stables and took the bride of her runner, nearly getting himself bitten in the process. He was instantly shooed away from her runner by her guard. Flipping her clock over her shoulder and over her runner's rump, she threw her leg after it and dismounted, her head barely coming up to her runner's mid-belly. Patting her runner, she watched as one of her guards got her runner settled in the stable. What little she knew about Baron Hold told her that they were known for their prized spotted runners and she could just see it now, a stable full of spotted runners and then her big, black beast. The thought caused her to smile as she turned to the Hold.

"Lady Vesadi."

Glancing up the short steps to the Hold, she found a steward was waiting for her. Glancing at her guard, a trusted friend that had not only trained her but had stood by her side since she was toddling around her home Hold, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be fine. Go see to the men and the runners. Rest and we can see how long you and the men will be welcomed before you need to return home," she mentioned to the guard, earning herself a wary look. The smile that graced her supple lips didn't reach her eyes as she turned back to the steward, lifted the hem of her riding dress and clock, and began up the steps. 

It wasn't long before she was being shuffled into what would be her private chambers. No meeting the other wives, or the staff, or anything like that, she was basically pushed into the room, told her stuff would be up in a bit, and then left there. It was almost like the staff was to busy to deal with her and that was fine by her. Her items arrived and she began unpacking them, her mind absently wondering to her new life while also trying to figure out what would be expected of her. 

[B'til]

Just when he thought the blasted Search was over with.

B'til hadn't quite been yanked from his bed (and the companion in it) and sent adragon to do his duty, but it certainly felt like it, and his dragon was just as rankled by their curt orders, for she had intended to eat no less than two entire beasts and sleep for no less than half a day.

Instead they flew to Baron.

At least Baron was far enough, and the Search urgent enough, that they were permitted to go between (though in all likelihood they would have done so anyway, S'ris be damned) and cut the journey short. However, it was never the sharding journey that was the troublesome part. The troublesome part was pulling the boy from his crying mother, or avoiding a blow from a daughter's father or husband only by virtue of having a dragon at his back. B'til never liked to stray far from Tbouridath on Search for that reason. She wouldn't so much as blow hot air at someone, but her size, and the size and visibility of her talons, made it easier to coerce Holdfolk to do as they were bid.

Holdfolk, he thought again, disdainfully, as they burst out into the open air above Baron. That B'til was Holdbred did nothing to temper his disdain. If anything, it made him more repulsed to be any place that resembled 'home' or reminded him of his childhood. The smell of runnerbeasts. The cockerel crowing him awake at dawn. How did people live in such bland places and live lives of satisfaction? Despite how the girls screamed, and cried, he thought frankly that it was better to die on the Sands than serve as brood mare to a Lord.

Tbouridath, unable to separate his agitation from her own, banked dramatically over the Hold. Rider and dragon were equally gratified by the few short screams it earned them.

All right, let's get this over with, said B'til, and Tbouridath almost reluctantly dropped to perch on one of the many enormous walls of Baron Hold. Large for a Green, her head loomed over the few holdfolk who knew their duty to greet a rider at his coming. She crawled halfway down the wall, wings extended partially for balance, and dragged her foreclaws across the stone footing as she lowered her head and neck for B'til to depart.

He slid off with a casual pat to Tbouridath's neck. The woman standing in front of him was perhaps the headwoman--too ugly and simply dressed to be a wife to the Lord, too old and too upright to have not dealt with dragonmen before. She regarded him with a disdain much more restrained than his own was.

"Tazum has already come to Baron on Search," said the woman. She did not look at the great head resting beside him, though the drudges cowering near her certainly did, and looked paralyzed between their fear of the dragon and fear for what punishment awaited if they fled. She looked at B'til with steely eyes, as if she could deter a dragonman with sheer will. It was too bad so few of the girls taken to the Weyr had such a will. Wherries, most of them. They would die prettily on the sands.

B'til crossed his arms and looked her over. "Ah, but Sellen has a new lady, has he not?" he asked, dropping the 'Lord' from Sellen's name as a casual insult. "Surely you've heard we've a Queen egg on the sands. The Weyrleader wants all women of age inspected. Do bring out the woman, as quickly as you can. I don't relish waiting in a Hold any more than you relish my presence."

His bluntness made her eyes flash, but there was little she could say or do, particularly in the absence of her Lord.

"Go summon the Lady Vesadi," said the woman shortly to the drudges. They fled gratefully to do so. "Sellen will not be pleased if you seize his new bride," she said bluntly. "He's yet to even see her."

"Then he will have little to miss," said B'til, with an insolent smile.

[Vesadi]

She had gotten what few belongings she had brought with her stored away just about the time two drudges all but crashed into the door of the room. "Lady Vesadi!" the two drudges all but shouted at her. "There is a Rider here and he has summoned you!" one of the drudges all but shouted at her. Having barely been there a few candlemarks Vesadi had yet to even change from her riding gear, save for removing the clock that was currently laying over her trunk. 

Gathering her clock and throwing it over her shoulders, she fastened it at her throat as she walked. Not sure why a Rider would be summoning her, she hurried knowing that Holders weren't always welcoming to Riders she wanted to make sure this issue was dwelt with quickly and taken care of personally. She hadn't even removed her two boot knives from their hidden spot and the traveling sword that was fastened at her waist under the clock she had fastened. "Lead," she stated as she left her room and the drudges lead her away.

---

Coming to a small group of drudges that were gathered and looking around, she found a few of her guards among the gathered drudges. "You seem rested," she commented to her guards, seeing them having a few ladies hanging off their arms. Both guards straightened up at the sound of their Lady's voice. "Make a hole for me," she ordered, her guards jumping to her order and making a path for her to walk through the drudges with little problem. As she was about to pass the last line of drudge she felt someone grab her wrist. Glancing back, she found her friend and guard holding onto her. 

"Be careful, my Lady . . . I don't trust the Riders and with no Lord here and his other Ladies g-"

"Release me, Woriban. I will be fine," she stated, watching as her guard released her and took up his position at her side. 

Stepping through the line of gathered drudges, she found herself looking at the Headwoman standing with her back to her and across from a blonde haired man who had a massive looking dragon head all but taking up any exits behind him. Putting a hand up, she halted her guard's forward motion and stepped up beside the Headwoman. "Are you alright?" she asked the Headwoman that she had never met before, though her fierce gaze was already moving toward the Rider and the dragon behind him. 

In the past, she had learned barely anything about dragons, save they were large, could fly, breathe fire, and were slowly dying out now. She had seen a Search Rider once before at her home Hold but they were so small that they rarely came out. Seeing as she had just arrived, she couldn't think of a reason the Rider would be out but then again she couldn't figure why she had been summoned but the other two Ladies hadn't been summoned. "What can I do for you, Rider?" she asked, shoulders squared back, chin slightly lifted. She wasn't intimidating with her short stature but she knew she could intimidate when need be with her gaze.

[B'til]

It didn't take long for the woman to emerge from the Hold, and behind her trailed Holdfolk--attendants and guards, he supposed, basically upon the weapons dangling at their sides. The Lady marched at the head of them, which was promising. That she came willingly and did not so much hesitate at the sight of Tbouridath was promising.

Apparently you're not as intimidating as you used to be, drawled B'til, and felt her rankle, orange at the corners of her eyes.

The Lady paused to ask after the headwoman he had been provoking. She did so with the air of someone who had lived at the Hold months, not mere days, or however long it had been. Apparently this was a sociable one.

When she approached him, he looked her frankly up and down. She was old for a wide candidacy but not for a Queen, not in their time of need. She was pretty. A good weight. Looked healthy. And she was giving B'til the blackest look her pretty face could possibly manage.

Tbouridath, sensing the woman's ire, made a low murmuring sound that was her version of a chuckle.

You like this one? asked B'til.

She is not afraid, thought Tbouridath decisively.

"I"m sure you know we've been abroad on Search," he said. "Examining all potential candidates. In your travels, you had been overlooked, but fortunately we received word of a new lady at Baron before the window had closed." His voice suggested that the 'fortune' was her own, though he expected she knew the stories of gore on the Sands.

"How old are you?" he asked, adding an only slightly sardonic, "My Lady?"

[Vesadi]

Gaze flickered to the dragon behind the Rider when she noticed the eyes swirling a new color? Dragon eyes could change color . . . Was it linked to emotion, temperature, or something to do with it's Rider? Her curiosity overrode the fear that was prickling the back of her neck. The once over the Rider gave her caused her to have to stop herself from growling at the male. But as he looked her over, she looked him over, finding herself thinking he was a handsome giant but she simply ignored looks and focused on his reasoning for being here.

Hearing him finally speak, Vesadi couldn't help but sigh. Of course. Her home Hold hadn't been missed on the Rider's Search but she had always managed to stay away from the Riders when they were about. Why wouldn't her move to a more noticeable Hold bring attention to herself. That was something she hadn't thought about when accepting her father's order. "And so you just happened to wing here as quickly as possible to see if I could be of use to you and your dragons," she all but curling her lip as she spoke.

An eyebrow raised at the tone the Rider asked his question. She felt movement beside her and found Woriban moving forward, sword drawn. "Stand down, Woriban," she ordered, her tone cutting but her voice soft but firm. The guard stayed his blade but it was clear he wasn't happy about this and he proved his by taking up the position just behind and to the side of his Lady, almost like a towering shadow. 

Trying not to show her annoyance at Woriban's display, Vesadi opened her clasped hands and showed her palms, a gesture of showing herself. "I am in my twenty second name day," she stated, a light smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Sir Rider," she added, the tone not exactly happy but not rude as best as possible. "What little stories I know about your Hatchings, I believe I'm a little to old for the majority of your dragons."

[B'til]

The Lady regarded him as bluntly as he had her and their expressions were equally cool. Tbouridath said as much, glibly suggesting that by their expressions, age, and hair color, they could have been siblings. B'til didn't want to show discontent between dragon and rider in front of Holdfolk but his eyes did flick sideways at her and half-squint. You're having too much fun. If I have to suffer through this, so do you.

You need to learn to make it fun, Tbouridath suggested as an alternative, contrary as always. She rested her chin on the ground right next to him, looking the prospective candidate directly in the eye, curious to see if she could scare the woman. B'til was prepared to mentally scold her until the man stepped forward, one hand on his swordhilt. The Lady Vesadi stopped his useless motion but not before Tbouridath reared her head and neck up overhead, casting a shadow over all of them and giving the swordsman a red-eyed stare. She drew back her lips and displayed a broad array of teeth. B'til let her do it. He leaned against her shoulder, several feet of dragon between him and the overly reactive guard. B'til eyed the man with indifference before returning his attention to the woman.

"I see you're more aware of the ways of the Weyr than most," he said. "Many of the women I speak to insist that the Weyr has no claim upon them. Their fathers and husbands often claim the same fallacy." Letting the silent claim fall upon her. "But apparently, not too aware. There is a Queen egg upon the Sands." As if to a child, unable to stop his own condescension, he explained."When a Queen egg is laid, we are in need of more women, particularly women from outside the Weyr. They prefer Holdbred for some reason. Whatever reason that is, I've no idea." A dismissive gesture at her and her kind. "But we must ensure that the newborn Queen has the widest selection we can provide."

He patted Tbouridath's neck absently. She still loomed overhead, her teeth still displaying themselves. Of course she would never harm man or woman, that was ingrained in all of dragonkind after Impression. But she certainly liked to pretend.

While Tbouridath made her empty threats, B'til made a silent check.

Good enough for you?

Good enough, confirmed Tbouridath.

"So, my Lady," said B'til, as Tbouridath sheathed her fangs and lowered her neck, bringing the saddle and its straps into view. "If you don't mind. I've had a long day, and I'd much rather you come of your own free will. I've already been bitten by one boy on his way to the Weyr and I have no desire to repeat the experience."

[Vesadi]

The dragon's reaction cause her guard and all of those gathering to shake and shrink back. Some ran in terror, no doubt about to spread the word that the Hold was under attack by a massive dragon. Vesadi, her reaction was natural of someone who had never seen a dragon before, she took a step back but didn't run. This creature was reacting as any would defending their Master or loved one. It was a frightening sight but she understood it and even accepted it. Woriban had done something stupid.

"Leave us, Woriban," she ordered quickly, seeing the dragon was now watching the guard with red orbs. Emotion. The eyes had be linked to emotion.

Woriban made to argue but Vesadi turned on the guard with a fierce gaze. "I will not be the reason you get eaten by some dragon. Now leave," she ordered, watching as her guard bowed and turned quickly, making his exit.

That left her, the dragon, and it's Rider.

Turning back to the man, she listened to his words, watchful eye on the dragon who still seemed a little upset but understandably. She doubted Woriban went far enough to not come when called. Before she spoke, she gathered herself. Her heart was pounding but she took several deep breaths, calming until it's pace returned to normal. It took a little more time when the Rider seemed to be speaking to her like a child.

Having her life turned upside down, riding across the land to arrive at a Hold she didn't know to marry a man she had never met, being summoned not long after arriving when the Hold Lord wasn't even thete to greet her, and then finding such a man was a Rider and his Dragon and he were on Search and their intent was to simply whisk her away to the Weyr for this . . . Queen egg had her fuming a little but she refused to show it.

"I promise you . . . A bite is the least of your worries with me, Sir Rider," she stated, tone cold and calculating as she watched this man and his dragon. Her choice was simple: stay and risk Woriban's and her trusted guard's lives and potentially the lives of the Holdfolk that were no doubt hiding or put up a fight against man and beast risking injury to herself or go willingly and be used for someone else's gain.

"I'm really getting tired quickly of being used for others gain . . . Especially when I am not even suppose to be standing here," she sighed more to herself than the Rider. Seeing no way around injury to herself or her people, Vesadi chanced a look over her shoulder before turning back to the Rider and stepping forward. "I see no other option that doesn't end in bloodshed and human verses dragon is unfair. My men would die for me, as I them, so we will make this easy for them and you, Sir Rider," she ordered, approaching the Rider while moving her hands under her cloak and bringing out her travelling sword but keeping it in it's sheath so as not to repeat the before incident with the dragon. "You'll not get the rest of them," she stated, holding the sheath and blade out to to the Rider.

[B'til]

The woman ordered her reactive guard away, and his prompt obedience complimented her in Tbouridath's eyes. She corrects him nicely. She watched the swordsman go his way with a draconic sneer.

Meanwhile B'til was focused on the Lady, and the unmapped terrain of emotion on her face. None of it was weak. He had seen many candidates, and he knew how to recognize the color of weakness. He saw apprehension bordering on fear, but that wasn't unusual, he'd never met a candidate that didn't close to shit themselves when faced with a dragon for the first time. She tempered it well with anger.

She is angry with you, confirmed Tbouridath.

But not wholly angry at him--or so it could be sleuthed out of what little she had to say. To have been sent away from home to marry (and not to be a first wife, but a third. B'til knew Sellen's Hold) apparently had not set well with this one. Not that it meant she appreciated B'til's alternative whatsoever. She made that clear with her cutting eyes.

Well, she can thank me later, he thought carelessly. It wasn't his business to be appreciated. It was his business to gain compliance. And the Lady did comply, after issuing some bravada for the sake of her attendants, or for her ego. Finally she handed over her weapon, as if she had been defeated honorably in battle. Tbouridath, who had definitely begun to favor the woman, was pleased and amused by the gesture. It was all B'til could do not to roll his eyes.

Still, he took the weapon. "We'll be on our way then." Tbouridath dropped obligingly from the wall to put them in good position alongside the saddle. B'til helped the Lady mount with his first genuine courtesy, ensuring that she was secure, knowing that first flights were often terrifying for candidates. Then he mounted up ahead of her with a casual, "You can hold on to me if you need to," (suspecting she would not) and fixed all of his own straps secure. Okay. He patted Tbouridath's neck. Ready to go? Her eyes now spinning greener, matching her own color, she grumbled assent and looked skywards.

"Oh," said B'til, in a casual afterthought. "You won't be needing this." He took up the Lady's sword and scabbard. The craftsmanship was superb, he noted almost wistfully, before he lobbed it away from them. It clattered into the dirt between them and her much-rattled attendants.

And with that, Tbouridath threw herself into the air. They left the ground in one incredible leap, leaving deep gouges in the earth. Her wings snapped open and down, creating a powerful gust across the courtyard and thrusting them higher into the air, and in two more wingbeats they were high above the towers of the Hold, and then, B'til took them between.