“Sky rider,” X’lerin said. He said it not for the title but to honor her—Xhinna. It was the title that many of the riders, particularly those whom Xhinna had brought back in time herself, had started calling themselves.
Xhinna grinned at him, acknowledging the compliment.
“So we’ll have to show them reasons to love life again, just as we learn the difficult lessons that they’ve learned in staying alive through all these Falls,” she said. “When we come back, we’ll come back with enough dragons to save Pern, enough weyrlings to replace them, and enough experience to handle the worst Falls ever.”
“And how will we do that?” X’lerin asked. “Get that experience, I mean.”
Xhinna smiled at him and tapped her forehead. “That, you’ll learn when the right time comes.” She paused, her smile fading. “For now, what do you suggest we do with J’keran and the others?”
“Keep them busy, but not too much,” X’lerin said after a moment’s thought. “Put them on duties that mix them with more of us ‘youngsters,’ let them work with the weyrlings, get to know the new queen riders and bronze riders.”
“And figure out a way to brew something with kick—more than what J’keran’s made so far,” Xhinna said. X’lerin gave her a surprised look. “They’re going to need to get very, very, very drunk a number of times in the next three Turns. They’ll need a chance to drink some of their nightmares into oblivion.” She frowned sadly, knowing it wasn’t the best solution, but she’d seen it work often enough that she wasn’t willing to give up on it just because it would mean having to clean up after drunken men, having to sort out blows, having to assert authority over them.
“But if they get drunk, what if they don’t listen to us?” X’lerin asked.
“There are six queen weyrlings here,” Xhinna reminded him. “How badly do you think they’re really going to behave?”
“Point.”
“And you, Weyrleader, will have all this time to impress those queen riders with your skills.”
“And which of all these young queen riders did you pick out for me?” X’lerin asked.
“It’s not my job to suggest that you use your eyes, man,” Xhinna told him brusquely. X’lerin braced at her tone. She relented, adding, “But to my tastes, I find Meeya’s shyness a bit too much; Jepara needs a strong hand and a man smart enough to see past where she is now to where she will be when she’s older.”
“She’ll be Weyrwoman,” X’lerin said without any doubt.
“Not with that attitude of hers,” Xhinna said. “The bronzes have as much choice as the queens in who rules the Weyr. If she doesn’t mend her ways, she’ll be queen-second for all her days.”
“She’s strong-willed.”
“She’s spoiled and she toys with people,” Xhinna said. “She hasn’t yet begun to see them as real, as subject to pain, as worthy of love.”
“But she’s Halla and Pellar’s daughter!”
“And that’s the mistake everyone makes with her,” Xhinna said. “They think of her famous parents and they don’t see the child.” She recounted R’ney’s tale of his two sisters.
“Oh, so she needs someone to cut her hair!” X’lerin said when she’d finished.
“No, she needs someone to paddle her bottom until she can’t sit,” Xhinna said. “But for a reason so good that she can’t argue the punishment.”
“I wouldn’t care to—” X’lerin began, shaking his head.
“And that is why she’s so spoiled,” Xhinna cut him off. “Because no one cares to.”
“In all honesty,” X’lerin told her in a quiet, sincere voice, “I’d really prefer if you rode a queen.”
“Why, thank you!” Xhinna said, truly flattered. She changed her tone and smiled devilishly as she said, “And if I did, I’m sure that my queen would be happy to outfly you.”
“Probably,” X’lerin agreed. “There certainly is one thing you’ve taught me already.”
“One thing?”
“Don’t judge a rider by his—or her—dragon’s color.”
“Even gold,” Xhinna agreed.
SIX
A Knot on the Shoulder
“No good deed goes unpunished” was an old saying—an Ancient-Timer saying according to some—and Xhinna realized, ruefully, that it was still valid when X’lerin gave her his latest surprise two days later.
“Wingleader?” Xhinna echoed, eyes wide. “You want me to be a wingleader?”
“And that’s an order,” X’lerin said to Xhinna, with a smug look. K’dan stood nearby, a huge grin spreading across his face as he, clearly forewarned, took delight in Xhinna’s amazement.
“We’re only just making it official,” the harper told her. “After all, it’s either that or Weyrleader—”
“But I ride a blue!”
“And we’ve already told you that it’s not the dragon, it’s the rider,” K’dan reminded her.
“So I’m to be wingleader and my wing is …,” Xhinna asked, hopeful that she’d found the glaring flaw in their—for K’dan was clearly as responsible for this as X’lerin—distracting plan.
“Well, mostly you, Taria, and the queen weyrlings,” X’lerin said diffidently. “I’ll assign some others from time to time.”
“And my duties?”
“Not different from what you’ve already been doing,” X’lerin said. He eyed her shoulder. “But I want your rank knot on by nightfall.” In a smaller voice, he added, “And we want you to lead the queens.”
“You’re serious?” Xhinna said. “You want me to lead the queens?”
“Deadly,” X’lerin told her.
“What about K’dan? He’s the Weyrlingmaster!”
“I’ll have my hands full with the others,” K’dan said. “Not that I won’t be drilling the queens when the time comes, but we felt—”
“We felt that they needed someone like you,” X’lerin interjected.
“What?” Xhinna asked, brows high. “A girl?”
“No, a leader,” X’lerin retorted. “I’ve got my hands full with my wing and the queens are too much on their own for any bronze rider.” He cut his eyes slyly toward K’dan as he added, “Even a harper.”
“We’re merely recognizing your authority in a way that can’t be argued,” K’dan added. Xhinna turned to look at him—so they expected her to be challenged. Her thoughts turned immediately to Jepara. Apparently X’lerin had come up with a solution to her intransigence that kept him away from it. It was, she realized, not such a bad solution, especially given that X’lerin’s dragon was the only mature bronze in the small Weyr, which sometimes required him, as the authority of last resort, to delegate difficult tasks and distance himself from painful decisions.
“Wingleader?” Xhinna repeated. “So I’ll be leading the queens and—what?”
“You’re going to be scouting a lot and you’ll need help. This will make it easier all around.”
“Some won’t like it,” Xhinna pointed out.
“Do you mean J’keran?” X’lerin asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll manage him.”
Actually, she’d been thinking of Jepara and the other young queen riders, but Xhinna could think of nothing else to say, glancing from young bronze rider to older harper until K’dan burst out in laughter.
“You should see your face!”
Xhinna glared at him.
“Check with Javissa, I’m sure she can find you something from our stores to make a suitable rank knot,” X’lerin told her, his eyes twinkling with delight.
She started to move off but stopped and turned back. “If I’m to be a wingleader, shouldn’t I have a wingsecond?”