When Nobody Knew (Part Six)
Title: When Nobody Knew
Fandom: RPS/Pern Fusion
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Summary: Jared was in the lower caverns when it happened. He’d been down there in what little free time he had, going through the old archives when the roar of dragons filled the air. He’d never herd such commotion and he was nearly bowled over by the anguish and distress Aloqueth pushed out to him.
“Can you explain to me how your dragon being a light skirt is in any way my fault?”
Jared dropped down into a chair next to Dani and ignored the laughter in the room. It was a weyrleaders meeting for Ista and Jared was the last to arrive but only because he’d been fuming about the latest gossip that Aloqueth had just passed on.
J’frey and Samantha were smiling and Dannielle just laughed at him. “What happened this time?” she asked.
T’moh had entered behind Jared after he’d actually gone on search for him since he’d been so late to the meeting. “You didn’t hear the latest news?”
When Dani shook her head T’moh sighed. “Apparently, Donath only caught Fantith because his rider searched Jared and you wouldn’t let any other bronze catch her.”
“What?”
“So it goes to follow…”
J’frey continued the gossip, “that Halth only caught her because you favor T’moh since he has been working with Jared as a weyrling.”
“That makes no sense. If that were true I’d have let Terth fly her,” Danielle said in exasperation.
“Watch out, Jared, or next time Fantith is about to rise, you’ll have a whole new set of friends trying to get her attention,” Samantha teased.
“I’m so glad you can take humor from my reputation,” Jared groused.
“I’m pretty sure it’s my reputation that’s being sullied,” Dani whispered.
He rolled his eyes. “Is this ever going to end?”
J’frey sighed as he seemed to realize that Jared was actually upset about the whole thing. “Jared, you’re a harper by training and you know how gossip is. People need something to talk about that isn’t thread and fear of a tight pass. I am sorry that your unusual impression gives continued grounds for it, but it will fade in time. Someone will do something and you will be out of the light and no one will want to remember you until they need something from you, just like the rest of us.”
Danielle wrapped her arm around Jared’s shoulder and smiled. “At least this one is more about me and my poor handling of my dragon than it is about you.”
Jared scowled and T’moh took a seat next to Jared. “Dani, that might be what has him more upset.”
She looked at him and he could see the moment she realized just how true that was. Jared had been taking the hits about gossip since he was at the Harper Hall and he had run Jensen into the ground to make sure the new boy knew his way around the hall. Gossip and rumor had followed the two everywhere, especially since they tended to get into trouble wherever they went. Jared had never taken it well when someone spoke poorly of his friends though.
Dani smiled then and he could see the affection in it. “Just for that I’m starting my own rumors that Fantith has decided Aloqueth gets to fly her next.”
“Danielle!” J’frey looked aghast but Samantha threw her head back and laughed.
“I can imagine the talk now!”
Jared couldn’t help but laugh at that one and as he looked around the table at the faces smiling back at him, he realized he couldn’t find a better place to be, or more supportive people to be with.
***
Jared, you are needed.
Jared sat up in his bed in their weyrling weyr and looked at Aloqueth. Her eyes were calm and she didn’t appear agitated or upset.
Fantith’s rider is asking for you to join her in the hatching grounds.
“Oh, shard it all, where are my clothes?”
He didn’t feel like he’d slept more than three hours but a goldrider’s work was never done. He tripped into his clothes and was hopping through the cavern to get his shoes on. Aloqueth flew him down from their weyrling weyr to the cavern.
“Jared?” WeyrlingMaster J’mes was always alerted when one of the weyrlings was up and Jared wasn’t surprised to see him outside of the barracks. Or he wouldn’t have been if he wasn’t half sleep deprived.
“Dani called me to the grounds,” he said in answer.
“On your way then. We’ve all been anxious to hear the news.”
Fantith had gone into the hatching grounds three days ago and no one except Dani had been allowed in. When he got to the doorway he saw Samantha up towards the top of the cavern where Dani stood proudly.
He made his way up to the two of them and looked down at the Queen in the sands with her eggs.
“Twenty six,” Dani said before Jared could ask.
“That’s amazing,” Jared said as he hugged her. Samantha was beaming as well. There was always hope for a Gold egg but there had been little belief that Fantith would lay a second one this hatching.
Send Fantith our love and respect, Aloqueth. It is a remarkable clutch, he sent to his Queen.
“Where is T’moh?” Jared asked. He’d expected to find the brown rider there.
“Fantith isn’t letting anyone else in. I convinced her that you two could be trusted but she’s been very nervous. In the morning, she said he’s allowed in.”
“Guess we get the good seats then,” Jared teased.
You are very excited about this, rider.
I was a nervous wreck when I met you. It will be fun to see another group of candidates and watch their hatching. Especially since I get good seats this time.
“When will the Search begin?” Jared asked.
Samantha smiled. “We’ll be sending riders out in the next sevenday in our territory. I planned to speak to J’mes about letting some of our weyrlings go in attendance. It would do them well to see a search before they’re asked to perform one themselves.”
Jared smiled. “And the sight of young dragonriders returning to their holds to bring back more candidates gives the impression that the weyr is someplace everyone should want to go.”
“It does help sooth ruffled feathers sometimes.”
Jared smiled as he leaned forward and braced his arms against a rail to look over at the eggs. Twenty six and all as beautiful as the next. It was going to be a great hatching and Jared couldn’t be happier to be a dragonrider.
***
Jared was in the lower caverns when it happened. He’d been down there in what little free time he had, going through the old archives when the roar of dragons filled the air. He’d never herd such commotion and he was nearly bowled over by the anguish and distress Aloqueth pushed out to him.
Aloqueth? What’s wrong? Jared demanded as he ran from the archive rooms to the weyr bowl. The queen was in the hatching cavern but he didn’t know why.
Fantith! Her eggs!
What?
She went to feed and Halth and Doneth were set to guard the eggs. Unknown dragons came and they warned us as they flew off to send them away, but someone else came! Someone came into the caverns!
Aloqueth, what happened?
They took her eggs, rider! They were interrupted but they took 7 of her eggs. Santeth is calming Fantith but it is taking us both. You need to come!
Jared had already been running with the first alarm but he broke into his fastest pace and let his long legs carry him as quick as possible.
The entrance to the hatching cavern was guarded and he could see that there was a healer there with two riders injured.
“What happened?” he asked.
Master Healer Ty was there and he nodded to Jared in respect. “Queenrider, these men went in to try to protect the grounds but Fantith attacked them when they entered.”
“Take care of them as best you can,” Jared said as he looked past to the rest of the riders who were beginning to gather. He saw M’rk in the group and he grabbed the older rider by the arm. “Set up a guard here. Don’t let anyone else approach the cavern until one of us says otherwise.”
“Jared, what happened?”
“I don’t know yet, but Fantith is upset enough to attack riders. We need to keep everyone else out until we can get her calmed.”
“And the men who were injured?”
Jared knew they were both thinking the same thing. Innocent bystanders who happened to come to help? Or people who had caused trouble and been caught? “Find someone else who we can trust to keep an eye on them as well. Use the pretense that your Queenrider wants to be updated if there is any change in their conditions.”
“As you wish, Queenrider,” M’rk said as his eyes took a far off look that Jared knew meant he was speaking with his bronze, Proth.
He moved in towards the hatching grounds and he wasn’t afraid of Fantith, though he knew he had to keep the others out. He was a Goldrider and he had to hope she knew he could never be part of anything like this. As he entered the room, Fantith roared but he held his hands up and he heard Aloqueth.
No! He is mine!
The other queen seemed to recognize him then and he moved carefully away from the dragon. She had pulled the remaining 19 eggs towards her and had them hidden behind her body and tail. No one could get to them and she watched him with seething red eyes.
He moved swiftly up the stands and further away to reinforce the idea that he wasn’t there as a part of any plan to steal the eggs. He made it up to the ledge where the Weyrwoman was already with Danielle.
“Dani,” he said her name softly and the Jr. pulled away from Samantha and threw her arms around Jared’s neck. She sobbed quietly and he looked at Samantha, unsure of what to do.
“Fantith warned Santeth that there were strange dragons around the sands. Doneth and Halth gave chase but before we could get to the caverns someone disappeared with 7 eggs.”
“How could this happen? What about the watch whers? The night patrols?”
Samantha frowned. “We’re checking with the watch whers now. The patrols reported nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Someone has been keeping track of our movements. Or knew them well enough to be able to anticipate when it would be safe to come into our weyr unnoticed.”
“That’s what we’re afraid of.”
“But why?”
“Something we need to figure out.”
Jared nodded. “The two men who were hurting trying to get into the cavern were taken to the infirmary. They might be what they seem, but they might have been part of it. I’ve asked Proth’s rider to have a guard set on them until we can question them about what happened. Just to make sure it’s just what it seems.”
“If they had something to do with this,” Danielle said as she looked up from his shoulder. Her eyes were red rimmed but there was something almost feral as she looked at him. “I will tear them to shreds. I will find out what they did with my eggs and I will make them regret they’d ever set foot on Ista sands!”
She crumpled down onto the floor then, her strength gone as fast as he anger had come. Samantha looked up when J’frey arrived a moment later. The hissing of the Queen let them know of his arrival but a junior queen would obey the orders of the Weyrleader’s bronze.
“J’frey?” Samantha asked.
He shook his head and there was a dark glower that Jared had never seen there before. “Someone killed the watch whers. All of them that were on the heights are dead and the two men who were supposed to be with them have disappeared.”
“They could have been with them, or they could have been killed and tossed off the edge of the weyr,” Jared said quietly.
J’frey nodded. “I’ve got the wings out, except M’rk’s wing who have taken to protecting the eggs and the men injured trying to come into the cavern, on your orders Jared?”
“Yes.”
“Good thinking, Queenrider.”
“Donath and Halth lost their chase when the dragons went between. We don’t know if anyone saw the people who entered the hatching grounds or the dragons that must have landed at least long enough to have the eggs loaded.”
“Who would do this?” Samantha asked.
J’frey sighed. “No one I would want to have 7 eggs.”
“What do we need to do?” Jared asked. Never in all the histories that he knew, not from the archives or his time in the Harper Hall, had Jared ever heard of eggs being stolen from the sands. He had no idea how to handle this. He looked at J’frey and he realized the Weyrleader didn’t either. None of them had ever faced anything like this.
J’frey took a deep breath and looked at them. “Samantha, I need you and Santeth to stay with Dani and Fantith. We need to keep them as level headed as possible. If she can get Fantith calmed down enough to make sense, see if she can get a clear story from Fantith.
Jared, the Harpers are well known for being able to pick apart rumor and gossip and find the truth behind it. I want you to work with me. We need to interview the two men in the infirmary. We need to interview the water wher handlers as well. Even if they had no part of this, they might have seen someone around.”
Jared sighed. “With the eggs on the sands and the new candidates arriving, it’s going to be hard to notice if someone was hanging around more than usual.”
“I know, but we have to work with it. For now, we need to put off further searches until we can clear the people we have in the weyr.”
“Of course. Do you need Aloqueth to do anything?”
“Have her listen in. She’s the youngest queen and the most likely for someone to slip around. They underestimate you because of your unorthodox impression. Let’s see if that works to our advantage somehow.”
“Do you think that has anything to do with it?” Jared asked.
J’frey let out a deep sigh. “I wish I could say no Jared, but I think the fact that we accepted you as a Queenrider has given some people the idea that we do things peculiarly at Ista. A lot of people have trouble with that. I would never have thought it would be enough to cause something like this, but I can’t rule it out at this point either. Having said that, no matter what, it isn’t your fault.”
Jared nodded, but couldn’t help the doubt that filled his thoughts. He didn’t want to be what caused Dani and Fantith such pain.
“Come on, Jared,” J’frey said with a hand to his shoulder. “Let’s get this started. I’ll speak with M’rk and his men. Do me a favor and speak to Master Richard. See what he can find out around the weyr. See who saw something and didn’t know it or who he’s been keeping an eye on.”
They walked out of the hatching cavern but before they got to M’rk, Jared stopped him. “I don’t know if it means anything, but there is a rider whose been coming to the weyr to keep an eye on us. I don’t want to throw out accusations, but he’s never accepted Aloqueth and I. Enough that you felt he needed to leave the weyr.”
“Jared, that isn’t what happened.”
“Maybe it isn’t, but J’frey, you can’t say he doesn’t know our routines and patterns. He knows the people and he could easily get in and out without anyone thinking too much about it. And he’s been visiting off and on since he left.”
J’frey sighed. “Jared, it isn’t what you think. J’sen would never betray us like that, but I will keep your concern in mind. Those are all valid points and we should question around the weyr to see if anyone else has noticed others that have been popping in and out regularly.”
“That sounds like a good job for Richard.”
“That it does. See him, then join me in the healer’s chambers. We’ll interview the men there.”
“And then?”
“Hopefully by then we’ll have something more to go on.”
***
The men interviewed didn’t have anything to add to the investigation. They hadn’t seen anyone near the cavern. They’d just been the unlucky firsts to try to enter the cavern after the eggs had been stolen. The patrol came back negative. M’tch’s wing didn’t see anything out of the ordinary but J’frey pressed him hard about his wing and about their formations.
Jared didn’t forget that M’tch had been one of the first to stir the pot over his impression. It seemed neither did J’frey.
The Bronze rider answered their questions without pause but as he walked out, J’frey looked at Jared. “Do you know what was missing in all that?”
“His usual disdain for me?”
“Exactly. Like he wants us to forget how much trouble he’s given you since you became a Queenrider.”
“He hasn’t been especially problematic. He just doesn’t like me. He’s not required to, just so long as he does what I say.”
J’frey smiled at him. “Now that sounds like the future leader of a weyr.”
“That sounds like someone exhausted and in need of klah,” Jared said with a smirk. “I’m going to get the kitchens to send something up for us, and something up to the Weyrwomen as well.”
As he went to call down to the kitchen, he saw M’sha and T’moh enter the meeting cavern. Neither looked like they had good news, which probably meant no news at all.
He called down the request and knew that food and drink would be sent to them as soon as possible. He’d also sent a message through Aloqueth to Samantha that food was arriving.
“Where do we go now?” T’moh was asking as Jared slipped back in.
“You spoke to Richard?” J’frey asked Jared, though he already knew the answer. Jared knew it was for the benefit of the two men with them.
“Yes. He’s seen a few people at the weyr off and on but he doesn’t have names or anything like that. He thinks he can probably get them though with a little work. And while he’s doing that, he’ll also gather up any rumors that he hears in the next few days and let us know if anything stands out.”
“How is Fantith?” J’frey asked.
“Santeth holds her calm for now. She ranges from anger to despair and it’s taking a toll on both her and Dani. I would have ordered Fellis in her wine if I wasn’t afraid of what Fantith would do if her rider was drugged.”
They all nodded.
“We’re doing what we can. In the morning, I want riders to scour the weyr around the heights. I want to know if the handlers were killed with the watch weyrs and hidden or if they ran off as part of this.”
“I’ll see to it myself,” M’sha answered.
“Who do we see as the biggest possible offenders?” T’moh asked.
Jared was impressed with how level headed he was, but then, as the WeyrlingMaster 2nd T’moh had to be. He’d helped Jared out of more than one stressful situation since he’d impressed over a turn ago. No one would have known that his own dragon had sired the eggs that had been stolen. Only those that knew him well would be able to see the slight slouch in his shoulders or the way his brow furrowed unnaturally.
“High Reaches has been hostile to Jared since he impressed,” M’sha pointed out.
“As has Telgar,” T’moh commented.
“Do you really think that’s what this is about?”
J’frey took a seat at the table and Jared followed him. M’sha came back a second later to reveal a tray with bread, cheese, and fruit as well as a pitcher of klah. He poured a mug for each of them and took a seat as well.
“I hate to believe it, but I can’t imagine why we would be targeted otherwise,” J’frey answered. “Samantha and I have never been worried about keeping the old ways. Traditions have their part in our world, but sometimes being old doesn’t make it right. Not everyone agrees. But again, the weyrs that have fought the hardest with us about that are Telgar and High Reaches.”
“And Igen,” Jared supplied.
J’frey frowned at that but he nodded. “S’ven has been slowly becoming more progressive. The man will fight you tooth and nail about something, but once you prove a point he accepts it.”
“Are we going to inform the other weyrs?” T’moh asked.
“Jared, please have Aloqueth pass along word to the other weyr Queens. Santeth is still caught up in calming Fantith and we shouldn’t wait any longer. We aren’t the only weyr with eggs on the sands. We can assume that we were targeted specifically but we don’t know anything for certain at this point.” J’frey said.
Jared nodded, though he hated the idea of it. He got along well with Genevieve of Fort and Lindsey of Benden. Amanda of High Reached scoffed at any comment he added to a conversation though and Ruth of Telgar swung between treating him like a monster to an imbecilic child. Brianna of Igen was a complete mystery. Whatever he said she seemed to smile at him like she knew something he didn’t. It made all his conversations with her unsettling. Especially since her weyrmate S’ven stared at him and Jared could never tell if he was angry or just always looked that way.
He excused himself from the conversation for a moment and spoke with Aloqueth. The gold did as he asked and contacted each of the dragons. It was what he expected it to be. They all seemed shocked at the events, all claimed that they’re weyrs would help them find whoever was responsible, and they’d be there in the morning to offer whatever assistance was needed.
He relayed their messages dutifully and took a long drink of Klan to settle his nerves.
“Jared?”
“Why? I keep coming back to that. Why would someone want to steal the eggs? It isn’t like you could hide them once they hatch. What did someone expect to get from this?”
T’moh looked at Jared and his eyes tightened. “You would need a large area to train a dragon if you intended to do it outside of a weyr. We haven’t had any trouble with holders, have we?” he asked J’frey.
“No, we haven’t. But that doesn’t mean the others weyrs haven’t. We’ll ask in the morning. We could be the target, or it could just be that we’re only one of two weyrs with eggs on the sands right now and Fantith’s eggs have hardened first.”
Riders are coming, Aloqueth warned Jared. He passed the message along and it was only a few moments more before J’frey stood up.
“We have visitors from Igen.”
He barely had the words out before S’ven of Igen walked into the meeting room like he owned the place. Jared would have bristled at the impertinence but the man stopped him with a single word.
“Southern.”
“What?” M’sha asked.
S’ven was looking at Jared though. “At our last meeting you mentioned the Southern Continent. I’ve had riders looking over it ever since and we noticed something. There are people moving around over there. Not a lot, but someone is putting people on Southern. There are no boats going back and forth or we’d have seen them.”
“Which means dragons,” M’sha said.
“Southern. No one would be looking there if your idea hadn’t caught my fancy,” he said to Jared. “It’s the perfect place to hide eggs. Or full grown dragons. No one who wasn’t a weyrleader was in that meeting.”
“Which would mean it was one of us,” J’frey said. “One of our own.”
S’ven nodded. “It does look like.”
Jared wanted to bury his head in his hands but he refused. “What can you tell us of Southern then?”
on to Chapter Seven
Fandom: RPS/Pern Fusion
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Summary: Jared was in the lower caverns when it happened. He’d been down there in what little free time he had, going through the old archives when the roar of dragons filled the air. He’d never herd such commotion and he was nearly bowled over by the anguish and distress Aloqueth pushed out to him.
“Can you explain to me how your dragon being a light skirt is in any way my fault?”
Jared dropped down into a chair next to Dani and ignored the laughter in the room. It was a weyrleaders meeting for Ista and Jared was the last to arrive but only because he’d been fuming about the latest gossip that Aloqueth had just passed on.
J’frey and Samantha were smiling and Dannielle just laughed at him. “What happened this time?” she asked.
T’moh had entered behind Jared after he’d actually gone on search for him since he’d been so late to the meeting. “You didn’t hear the latest news?”
When Dani shook her head T’moh sighed. “Apparently, Donath only caught Fantith because his rider searched Jared and you wouldn’t let any other bronze catch her.”
“What?”
“So it goes to follow…”
J’frey continued the gossip, “that Halth only caught her because you favor T’moh since he has been working with Jared as a weyrling.”
“That makes no sense. If that were true I’d have let Terth fly her,” Danielle said in exasperation.
“Watch out, Jared, or next time Fantith is about to rise, you’ll have a whole new set of friends trying to get her attention,” Samantha teased.
“I’m so glad you can take humor from my reputation,” Jared groused.
“I’m pretty sure it’s my reputation that’s being sullied,” Dani whispered.
He rolled his eyes. “Is this ever going to end?”
J’frey sighed as he seemed to realize that Jared was actually upset about the whole thing. “Jared, you’re a harper by training and you know how gossip is. People need something to talk about that isn’t thread and fear of a tight pass. I am sorry that your unusual impression gives continued grounds for it, but it will fade in time. Someone will do something and you will be out of the light and no one will want to remember you until they need something from you, just like the rest of us.”
Danielle wrapped her arm around Jared’s shoulder and smiled. “At least this one is more about me and my poor handling of my dragon than it is about you.”
Jared scowled and T’moh took a seat next to Jared. “Dani, that might be what has him more upset.”
She looked at him and he could see the moment she realized just how true that was. Jared had been taking the hits about gossip since he was at the Harper Hall and he had run Jensen into the ground to make sure the new boy knew his way around the hall. Gossip and rumor had followed the two everywhere, especially since they tended to get into trouble wherever they went. Jared had never taken it well when someone spoke poorly of his friends though.
Dani smiled then and he could see the affection in it. “Just for that I’m starting my own rumors that Fantith has decided Aloqueth gets to fly her next.”
“Danielle!” J’frey looked aghast but Samantha threw her head back and laughed.
“I can imagine the talk now!”
Jared couldn’t help but laugh at that one and as he looked around the table at the faces smiling back at him, he realized he couldn’t find a better place to be, or more supportive people to be with.
***
Jared, you are needed.
Jared sat up in his bed in their weyrling weyr and looked at Aloqueth. Her eyes were calm and she didn’t appear agitated or upset.
Fantith’s rider is asking for you to join her in the hatching grounds.
“Oh, shard it all, where are my clothes?”
He didn’t feel like he’d slept more than three hours but a goldrider’s work was never done. He tripped into his clothes and was hopping through the cavern to get his shoes on. Aloqueth flew him down from their weyrling weyr to the cavern.
“Jared?” WeyrlingMaster J’mes was always alerted when one of the weyrlings was up and Jared wasn’t surprised to see him outside of the barracks. Or he wouldn’t have been if he wasn’t half sleep deprived.
“Dani called me to the grounds,” he said in answer.
“On your way then. We’ve all been anxious to hear the news.”
Fantith had gone into the hatching grounds three days ago and no one except Dani had been allowed in. When he got to the doorway he saw Samantha up towards the top of the cavern where Dani stood proudly.
He made his way up to the two of them and looked down at the Queen in the sands with her eggs.
“Twenty six,” Dani said before Jared could ask.
“That’s amazing,” Jared said as he hugged her. Samantha was beaming as well. There was always hope for a Gold egg but there had been little belief that Fantith would lay a second one this hatching.
Send Fantith our love and respect, Aloqueth. It is a remarkable clutch, he sent to his Queen.
“Where is T’moh?” Jared asked. He’d expected to find the brown rider there.
“Fantith isn’t letting anyone else in. I convinced her that you two could be trusted but she’s been very nervous. In the morning, she said he’s allowed in.”
“Guess we get the good seats then,” Jared teased.
You are very excited about this, rider.
I was a nervous wreck when I met you. It will be fun to see another group of candidates and watch their hatching. Especially since I get good seats this time.
“When will the Search begin?” Jared asked.
Samantha smiled. “We’ll be sending riders out in the next sevenday in our territory. I planned to speak to J’mes about letting some of our weyrlings go in attendance. It would do them well to see a search before they’re asked to perform one themselves.”
Jared smiled. “And the sight of young dragonriders returning to their holds to bring back more candidates gives the impression that the weyr is someplace everyone should want to go.”
“It does help sooth ruffled feathers sometimes.”
Jared smiled as he leaned forward and braced his arms against a rail to look over at the eggs. Twenty six and all as beautiful as the next. It was going to be a great hatching and Jared couldn’t be happier to be a dragonrider.
***
Jared was in the lower caverns when it happened. He’d been down there in what little free time he had, going through the old archives when the roar of dragons filled the air. He’d never herd such commotion and he was nearly bowled over by the anguish and distress Aloqueth pushed out to him.
Aloqueth? What’s wrong? Jared demanded as he ran from the archive rooms to the weyr bowl. The queen was in the hatching cavern but he didn’t know why.
Fantith! Her eggs!
What?
She went to feed and Halth and Doneth were set to guard the eggs. Unknown dragons came and they warned us as they flew off to send them away, but someone else came! Someone came into the caverns!
Aloqueth, what happened?
They took her eggs, rider! They were interrupted but they took 7 of her eggs. Santeth is calming Fantith but it is taking us both. You need to come!
Jared had already been running with the first alarm but he broke into his fastest pace and let his long legs carry him as quick as possible.
The entrance to the hatching cavern was guarded and he could see that there was a healer there with two riders injured.
“What happened?” he asked.
Master Healer Ty was there and he nodded to Jared in respect. “Queenrider, these men went in to try to protect the grounds but Fantith attacked them when they entered.”
“Take care of them as best you can,” Jared said as he looked past to the rest of the riders who were beginning to gather. He saw M’rk in the group and he grabbed the older rider by the arm. “Set up a guard here. Don’t let anyone else approach the cavern until one of us says otherwise.”
“Jared, what happened?”
“I don’t know yet, but Fantith is upset enough to attack riders. We need to keep everyone else out until we can get her calmed.”
“And the men who were injured?”
Jared knew they were both thinking the same thing. Innocent bystanders who happened to come to help? Or people who had caused trouble and been caught? “Find someone else who we can trust to keep an eye on them as well. Use the pretense that your Queenrider wants to be updated if there is any change in their conditions.”
“As you wish, Queenrider,” M’rk said as his eyes took a far off look that Jared knew meant he was speaking with his bronze, Proth.
He moved in towards the hatching grounds and he wasn’t afraid of Fantith, though he knew he had to keep the others out. He was a Goldrider and he had to hope she knew he could never be part of anything like this. As he entered the room, Fantith roared but he held his hands up and he heard Aloqueth.
No! He is mine!
The other queen seemed to recognize him then and he moved carefully away from the dragon. She had pulled the remaining 19 eggs towards her and had them hidden behind her body and tail. No one could get to them and she watched him with seething red eyes.
He moved swiftly up the stands and further away to reinforce the idea that he wasn’t there as a part of any plan to steal the eggs. He made it up to the ledge where the Weyrwoman was already with Danielle.
“Dani,” he said her name softly and the Jr. pulled away from Samantha and threw her arms around Jared’s neck. She sobbed quietly and he looked at Samantha, unsure of what to do.
“Fantith warned Santeth that there were strange dragons around the sands. Doneth and Halth gave chase but before we could get to the caverns someone disappeared with 7 eggs.”
“How could this happen? What about the watch whers? The night patrols?”
Samantha frowned. “We’re checking with the watch whers now. The patrols reported nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Someone has been keeping track of our movements. Or knew them well enough to be able to anticipate when it would be safe to come into our weyr unnoticed.”
“That’s what we’re afraid of.”
“But why?”
“Something we need to figure out.”
Jared nodded. “The two men who were hurting trying to get into the cavern were taken to the infirmary. They might be what they seem, but they might have been part of it. I’ve asked Proth’s rider to have a guard set on them until we can question them about what happened. Just to make sure it’s just what it seems.”
“If they had something to do with this,” Danielle said as she looked up from his shoulder. Her eyes were red rimmed but there was something almost feral as she looked at him. “I will tear them to shreds. I will find out what they did with my eggs and I will make them regret they’d ever set foot on Ista sands!”
She crumpled down onto the floor then, her strength gone as fast as he anger had come. Samantha looked up when J’frey arrived a moment later. The hissing of the Queen let them know of his arrival but a junior queen would obey the orders of the Weyrleader’s bronze.
“J’frey?” Samantha asked.
He shook his head and there was a dark glower that Jared had never seen there before. “Someone killed the watch whers. All of them that were on the heights are dead and the two men who were supposed to be with them have disappeared.”
“They could have been with them, or they could have been killed and tossed off the edge of the weyr,” Jared said quietly.
J’frey nodded. “I’ve got the wings out, except M’rk’s wing who have taken to protecting the eggs and the men injured trying to come into the cavern, on your orders Jared?”
“Yes.”
“Good thinking, Queenrider.”
“Donath and Halth lost their chase when the dragons went between. We don’t know if anyone saw the people who entered the hatching grounds or the dragons that must have landed at least long enough to have the eggs loaded.”
“Who would do this?” Samantha asked.
J’frey sighed. “No one I would want to have 7 eggs.”
“What do we need to do?” Jared asked. Never in all the histories that he knew, not from the archives or his time in the Harper Hall, had Jared ever heard of eggs being stolen from the sands. He had no idea how to handle this. He looked at J’frey and he realized the Weyrleader didn’t either. None of them had ever faced anything like this.
J’frey took a deep breath and looked at them. “Samantha, I need you and Santeth to stay with Dani and Fantith. We need to keep them as level headed as possible. If she can get Fantith calmed down enough to make sense, see if she can get a clear story from Fantith.
Jared, the Harpers are well known for being able to pick apart rumor and gossip and find the truth behind it. I want you to work with me. We need to interview the two men in the infirmary. We need to interview the water wher handlers as well. Even if they had no part of this, they might have seen someone around.”
Jared sighed. “With the eggs on the sands and the new candidates arriving, it’s going to be hard to notice if someone was hanging around more than usual.”
“I know, but we have to work with it. For now, we need to put off further searches until we can clear the people we have in the weyr.”
“Of course. Do you need Aloqueth to do anything?”
“Have her listen in. She’s the youngest queen and the most likely for someone to slip around. They underestimate you because of your unorthodox impression. Let’s see if that works to our advantage somehow.”
“Do you think that has anything to do with it?” Jared asked.
J’frey let out a deep sigh. “I wish I could say no Jared, but I think the fact that we accepted you as a Queenrider has given some people the idea that we do things peculiarly at Ista. A lot of people have trouble with that. I would never have thought it would be enough to cause something like this, but I can’t rule it out at this point either. Having said that, no matter what, it isn’t your fault.”
Jared nodded, but couldn’t help the doubt that filled his thoughts. He didn’t want to be what caused Dani and Fantith such pain.
“Come on, Jared,” J’frey said with a hand to his shoulder. “Let’s get this started. I’ll speak with M’rk and his men. Do me a favor and speak to Master Richard. See what he can find out around the weyr. See who saw something and didn’t know it or who he’s been keeping an eye on.”
They walked out of the hatching cavern but before they got to M’rk, Jared stopped him. “I don’t know if it means anything, but there is a rider whose been coming to the weyr to keep an eye on us. I don’t want to throw out accusations, but he’s never accepted Aloqueth and I. Enough that you felt he needed to leave the weyr.”
“Jared, that isn’t what happened.”
“Maybe it isn’t, but J’frey, you can’t say he doesn’t know our routines and patterns. He knows the people and he could easily get in and out without anyone thinking too much about it. And he’s been visiting off and on since he left.”
J’frey sighed. “Jared, it isn’t what you think. J’sen would never betray us like that, but I will keep your concern in mind. Those are all valid points and we should question around the weyr to see if anyone else has noticed others that have been popping in and out regularly.”
“That sounds like a good job for Richard.”
“That it does. See him, then join me in the healer’s chambers. We’ll interview the men there.”
“And then?”
“Hopefully by then we’ll have something more to go on.”
***
The men interviewed didn’t have anything to add to the investigation. They hadn’t seen anyone near the cavern. They’d just been the unlucky firsts to try to enter the cavern after the eggs had been stolen. The patrol came back negative. M’tch’s wing didn’t see anything out of the ordinary but J’frey pressed him hard about his wing and about their formations.
Jared didn’t forget that M’tch had been one of the first to stir the pot over his impression. It seemed neither did J’frey.
The Bronze rider answered their questions without pause but as he walked out, J’frey looked at Jared. “Do you know what was missing in all that?”
“His usual disdain for me?”
“Exactly. Like he wants us to forget how much trouble he’s given you since you became a Queenrider.”
“He hasn’t been especially problematic. He just doesn’t like me. He’s not required to, just so long as he does what I say.”
J’frey smiled at him. “Now that sounds like the future leader of a weyr.”
“That sounds like someone exhausted and in need of klah,” Jared said with a smirk. “I’m going to get the kitchens to send something up for us, and something up to the Weyrwomen as well.”
As he went to call down to the kitchen, he saw M’sha and T’moh enter the meeting cavern. Neither looked like they had good news, which probably meant no news at all.
He called down the request and knew that food and drink would be sent to them as soon as possible. He’d also sent a message through Aloqueth to Samantha that food was arriving.
“Where do we go now?” T’moh was asking as Jared slipped back in.
“You spoke to Richard?” J’frey asked Jared, though he already knew the answer. Jared knew it was for the benefit of the two men with them.
“Yes. He’s seen a few people at the weyr off and on but he doesn’t have names or anything like that. He thinks he can probably get them though with a little work. And while he’s doing that, he’ll also gather up any rumors that he hears in the next few days and let us know if anything stands out.”
“How is Fantith?” J’frey asked.
“Santeth holds her calm for now. She ranges from anger to despair and it’s taking a toll on both her and Dani. I would have ordered Fellis in her wine if I wasn’t afraid of what Fantith would do if her rider was drugged.”
They all nodded.
“We’re doing what we can. In the morning, I want riders to scour the weyr around the heights. I want to know if the handlers were killed with the watch weyrs and hidden or if they ran off as part of this.”
“I’ll see to it myself,” M’sha answered.
“Who do we see as the biggest possible offenders?” T’moh asked.
Jared was impressed with how level headed he was, but then, as the WeyrlingMaster 2nd T’moh had to be. He’d helped Jared out of more than one stressful situation since he’d impressed over a turn ago. No one would have known that his own dragon had sired the eggs that had been stolen. Only those that knew him well would be able to see the slight slouch in his shoulders or the way his brow furrowed unnaturally.
“High Reaches has been hostile to Jared since he impressed,” M’sha pointed out.
“As has Telgar,” T’moh commented.
“Do you really think that’s what this is about?”
J’frey took a seat at the table and Jared followed him. M’sha came back a second later to reveal a tray with bread, cheese, and fruit as well as a pitcher of klah. He poured a mug for each of them and took a seat as well.
“I hate to believe it, but I can’t imagine why we would be targeted otherwise,” J’frey answered. “Samantha and I have never been worried about keeping the old ways. Traditions have their part in our world, but sometimes being old doesn’t make it right. Not everyone agrees. But again, the weyrs that have fought the hardest with us about that are Telgar and High Reaches.”
“And Igen,” Jared supplied.
J’frey frowned at that but he nodded. “S’ven has been slowly becoming more progressive. The man will fight you tooth and nail about something, but once you prove a point he accepts it.”
“Are we going to inform the other weyrs?” T’moh asked.
“Jared, please have Aloqueth pass along word to the other weyr Queens. Santeth is still caught up in calming Fantith and we shouldn’t wait any longer. We aren’t the only weyr with eggs on the sands. We can assume that we were targeted specifically but we don’t know anything for certain at this point.” J’frey said.
Jared nodded, though he hated the idea of it. He got along well with Genevieve of Fort and Lindsey of Benden. Amanda of High Reached scoffed at any comment he added to a conversation though and Ruth of Telgar swung between treating him like a monster to an imbecilic child. Brianna of Igen was a complete mystery. Whatever he said she seemed to smile at him like she knew something he didn’t. It made all his conversations with her unsettling. Especially since her weyrmate S’ven stared at him and Jared could never tell if he was angry or just always looked that way.
He excused himself from the conversation for a moment and spoke with Aloqueth. The gold did as he asked and contacted each of the dragons. It was what he expected it to be. They all seemed shocked at the events, all claimed that they’re weyrs would help them find whoever was responsible, and they’d be there in the morning to offer whatever assistance was needed.
He relayed their messages dutifully and took a long drink of Klan to settle his nerves.
“Jared?”
“Why? I keep coming back to that. Why would someone want to steal the eggs? It isn’t like you could hide them once they hatch. What did someone expect to get from this?”
T’moh looked at Jared and his eyes tightened. “You would need a large area to train a dragon if you intended to do it outside of a weyr. We haven’t had any trouble with holders, have we?” he asked J’frey.
“No, we haven’t. But that doesn’t mean the others weyrs haven’t. We’ll ask in the morning. We could be the target, or it could just be that we’re only one of two weyrs with eggs on the sands right now and Fantith’s eggs have hardened first.”
Riders are coming, Aloqueth warned Jared. He passed the message along and it was only a few moments more before J’frey stood up.
“We have visitors from Igen.”
He barely had the words out before S’ven of Igen walked into the meeting room like he owned the place. Jared would have bristled at the impertinence but the man stopped him with a single word.
“Southern.”
“What?” M’sha asked.
S’ven was looking at Jared though. “At our last meeting you mentioned the Southern Continent. I’ve had riders looking over it ever since and we noticed something. There are people moving around over there. Not a lot, but someone is putting people on Southern. There are no boats going back and forth or we’d have seen them.”
“Which means dragons,” M’sha said.
“Southern. No one would be looking there if your idea hadn’t caught my fancy,” he said to Jared. “It’s the perfect place to hide eggs. Or full grown dragons. No one who wasn’t a weyrleader was in that meeting.”
“Which would mean it was one of us,” J’frey said. “One of our own.”
S’ven nodded. “It does look like.”
Jared wanted to bury his head in his hands but he refused. “What can you tell us of Southern then?”
on to Chapter Seven