Kaith's Secret

[Spirithawk]

Christae had risen early and was sitting alone in the dining cavern while she ate breakfast. The young Weyrwoman had rarely seen her weyrmate after they had moved in. Either Christae was gone or Sh'iron was. Both Weyrleaders were busy. Kaith had grown heavier and heavier with egg so the young woman had been forced to send other dragonriders to the holds. Rhia and her bronzerider weyrmate had been invaluable as well as the new weyrleader in keeping the holds up to date on Threadfall.

Christae absently touched the mind of her gold. The Queen had vanished shortly after Christae had woken up. The queenrider felt an air of secrecy about her dragon. She probed further and then leapt to her feet, calling for someone to find Sh'iron. Christae raced into the Hatching Grounds. She stopped short when she saw her dragon crouched on the sands. Her gold had a smug, self-satisfied expression on her face. A gleaming cream and green egg already lay on the sands and her gold was straining to produce another one.

Her bronzen mate stood nearby, crooning encouragement to his golden queen. Christae sighed with exasperation. "You couldn't tell me that you were clutching love?" She shook her head. Both Kaith and Myranenth had kept the event from their bonded. Christae sent for the Candidates. It would do them good to watch. They would just have to stay in the stands though. She felt that Kaith would not like the presence of people too close to her eggs.

[Kandarra]

Tayrin was of the first to arrive, eyes a lighter shade of blue today, excited. An egg was already on the sands, and the queen, Kaith, was obviously hard at work to produce another. Her bronze weyrmate was there with her as support, as was her rider, the Weyrwoman Christae. He settled what he guessed to be a safe distance from the queen, having heard stories of gold dragons' possessiveness of their precious clutch.

[Dragon]

Kadan was napping in the candidate barracks when Christae sent for him. He rose and ran quickly to the hatching sands. He stood in the stands and watched the gold as she clutched. He looked over the eggs that were already there. "I wonder which egg the dragon I impress will come out of", he thought to himself. Sure there was the possibility that he might not impress the first time but he couldn't help but hope.

[Spirithawk]

Kaith growled when the other people came in. Another egg slipped to the sands and she fussed over it, positioning it to her satisfaction.

"Hush love, they are here to admire them."

As long as they do not touch my eggs. Christae reassured her Queen and then turned to welcome the candidates.

[Kandarra]

Tayrin hid a grin as he watched the queen fuss with the new egg. Just like a woman, to worry about decor, he thought.

Seeing the Weyrwoman turn, he began to wave, then thought better of it and gave a short bow, one arm behind his back. He did not approach as he had heard Kaith's territorial growl. No, he would wait for invitation if he was to approach the clutching queen. He sat, just then noticing that Kadan had entered the Hatching grounds, as well.

[Dragon]

Kadan bowed, "Good day weyrwoman". He looked over and noticed Tayrin. "Aren't those eggs wonderful. To think one of those eggs might have our dragon in it", he said admiring the eggs.

[nike]

Sh'iron ran onto the sands. He was busy ording Wings and planning Wing formations. "You hid this from me?" He glared at his bronze who was perched on a ledge near Kaith.

The Weyrleader shook his head and walked foward to be beside Christae.
He grinned at the two eggs that were by the queen.
"They're beautiful, Kaith." He told the gold as he stood by Christae.
"I hate it when your dragon keeps this secret from you." He said to her.

[Miki]

Kia ran in after hearing word of something important happening. She stooped and looked wide-eyed at the beautiful eggs sitting on the warm sands. She took a step closer to Kaith but then saw the other candidates in the stands. She realized this was the spot for her to be so Kia went up and sat there. "Good day, Christae," she said loudly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daran had heard that Kaith was clutching because a drudge sent to gather the candidates had mistaken him for one. He stood a bit aways and got a slightly covered view of the two eggs that lay on the sands.

[Spirithawk]

Christae smiled at the Weyrleader. "Both of them were being very secretive. If it were not for the fact that I was warned that this might happen, I would be hurt." There was amusement in her voice.

"Good girl love." She told Kaith as the gold produced a rather large, yellow spotted egg. "That one looks like it might be a bronze." She said to her weyrmate.

Christae nodded as the Candidates bowed to her and the Queen. She walked over. "I wish you could come closer to watch but Kaith is being broody and she will only let me, Weyrleader Sh'iron and her mate near them. You will all be allowed to touch them later when they have hardened. The stands are the best place for you now."

The Weyrwoman waved a greeting to the Weyrfolk filing into the stands to watch the spectacle. She returned to stand next to her weyrmate, noting with satisfaction that another egg was on the sands. This one was small, splotched with blue.

[Miki]

Kia admired the diffrent colored eggs. She had been writing a letter before, for he rparent. She didn't plan for it to get to them but it was nce to just write. She got a piece of parchment, a closed bottle of ink, and a quill from her pockets and struggled to write what she saw. She wrote how each looked and if Christae commented on what color she thought it would be Kia wrote that too. She admired the new, blue one.

[nike]

Sh'iron grinned. "Yeah at Benden, all the queens and their mates were like that. Same with Myranenth and his other three mates." The Weyrleader was ashamed that his bronze had flown three other queens, but they were normal queens, not a Weyrwoman queen. "Yeah I think that will be a bronze. Or a queen egg if it gets its sheen. But I doubt that."

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Nike smiled as she entered the sands. Memories of her own time on the sands. The Healer made her way to stand beside
Daran. "Lovely aren't they?" She asked the Harper. Her eyes reseted on the small, and blue one. She liked that one.
But she would never re-Impress. That would be too hard for her.

[meggums]

Breckin had been in the Lower Caverns searching for something sweet to eat when he heard a couple of the weyrfolk mention that Kaith was clutching. The boy grabbed a sweet roll and ran off to the sands to see and joined the other candidates that were seated in stands. “I wonder how many eggs she’ll clutch.” Breckin said to no one in particular.

[Miki]

Daran looked at Nike, a bit suprised to see that he wasn't alone. He had been so wrapped up in the spectacle he had forgotten that he was in a quickly crowding area. He nodded and also looked at the newest one.

[nike]

"This reminds me of my Impression." The Healer said with much trouble. Tears were on the verge of pouring out,
and her throat was tight. It was hard to bare, but she had to do it. To show them that she was fine. She had to stay strong.

[Tenma]

Miya slowly walked onto the sands. her eyes were fixed on the eggs but her face remained emotionless. She quietly joined the others in the stands, making sure she had a clear view of all of the eggs. ~I wonder which one I will get?~ She asked herself. Selfeshly sure that she WOULD get an egg.

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Kaith is clutching. Siarath bugled with excitement. She and her rider just flew from between after running some errands for Christae.
~We are just in time~ Nira said happily as the two veered down towards the hatching sands.
But mine, we are late. We have missed some, see the already lain eggs? Siarath pointed out.
~Siarath we are always late. Just be glad we didn't miss the whole thing.~ Nira replied.
Siarath flew down, keeping her distance from the irritated queen. The two watched from a distance since they didn't have the right of bieng a candidate. It isn't fair I will never get to clutch. All because I had to chew firestone. Siarath said unhappily.
~You are such a jealous green.~ Nira smiled.

[Dragon]

Kadan gave a hello to everyone that arrived there. He watched as more eggs appeared. He couldn't wait until he stood to impress. He was sure he would, though there was a bit of doubt that he might not impress.

..............................

Kaith is laying her eggs. Gerenanth's voice came into G'han's head. "I am on errands for Christae right now, we can't go. I will be there as soon as possible though. I am sure Kadan and the other candidates are already there though", he said.

[Kandarra]

Tayrin noted all the new arrivals to the stands and was delighted to see Miya among them, with her enigmatic, emotionally clear mask. Replying to Kadan with his eyes on the female candidate, he said, "I wonder. In any case, they're the coolest-looking things I've ever seen." He admired the eggs' swirls and spots, almost grudgingly removing his gaze from Miya's frame.

[Spirithawk]

Rhia heard the message and turned to her weyrmate. They had stopped at one of the holds under Dark Moon's protection to give them threadfall charts.

"That's the last one G'han. Let's go back quickly so we can see the eggs." She gave Mneith a picture of the Weyr and gave the signal to go between. Rhia did not even bother to shuck her riding gear. She hurriedly stripped off Mneith's straps and carried them with her when she ran into the Hatching Grounds. She bowed to Kaith and then went to sit with the Candidates to watch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christae was not bothered by the bronzerider's past. She was glad that he knew something about running a weyr.

"I doubt that will be a gold. It is already drying and it's color is just pale cream and yellow." Kaith produced another egg. The crowd let out a collective cheer. The egg was larger than the previous ones, even the one that looked like a bronze. The egg was solid gold in color. Kaith moved it to the side, on top of a large mound of sand. She hovered jealously over it for a few moments before she laid yet another egg. Her stomach was still lumpy with eggs.

Christae refrained from jumping for joy. Her gold's first clutch included a Queen egg. This meant well for the Weyr. She was sure of it. "A queen egg! Sh'iron, I can't believe it. She laid a Queen egg." Kaith laid a tiny egg, pale grey in color. She pushed it aside, almost as if the egg didn't matter as she laid a dark brown egg. The brown egg had a pale ring at its top but otherwise it was solidly colored.

[Miki]

Kia looked suspiciouslly at Tayrin. He was always acting oddly around Miya. She blushed, trying to hold back a laugh. Whenever Kia tried not to laugh she would blush. When she hear Christae happily talking about the queen Kia quickly wrote that there was a queen. She wondered which egg was hers. She blushed again, trying not to laugh at the thought of Miya with a Gold. It seemed Miya wanted apowerful dragon, it just seemed to fit her character. Kia almost bursted out laughing but imstead flustered more, her pinks turning bright pink.

[Dragon]

G'han finished up and went with Rhia to the hatching sands. As he watched the gold lay her eggs memories of his impression came back to him. He looked over to Kadan, this was their turn to impress. How would the young candidate impress, what color. He seemed to be a bit younger than the others and shorter, perhaps the shortest candidate there. He stood next to Rhia but greeted the candidate as he watched the eggs.

....................................

Kadan looked over to Tayrin. He seemed fixated on something.........or someone. He noticed it was Miya his eyes were fixed on. He looked to the eggs and said, "So Tayrin, anyone here in particular you are fond of?"

He looked over and noticed G'han as the bronzerider was greeting him. He waved a hello to his friend and continued watching the gold and waiting to hear Tayrin's answer. He was curious indeed but he hid it well. He passed off his question as idle talk.