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Post by Slim on Aug 4, 2008 16:24:40 GMT -8
The riders who came to S'lyn's weyr of an evening were accustomed to the Wingleader not being there, since he always spent three or four nights a week with Masha. But tonight he was not with Masha.
He was not far, however, having come to the lower caverns as usual. It was his familiarity with these hallways that made it so easy for him to find Ramla's place: he had seldom troubled the Headwoman in her quarters before, leaving any contact with her (if it needed to be done) up to Aderes if at all possible. Yet here he was tonight, and once he felt certain that this door was the correct one, he knocked on it.
He did not bother to announce his identity through the door, relying on Ramla's sharp wits to remember that this was the evening he had said he would stop by.
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Post by Invisible on Aug 4, 2008 16:36:55 GMT -8
Although her room was always tidy Ramla had made sure to give it a good scrubbing that day. She knew of S’lyn’s opinions having been his headwoman for many turns even if she usually dealt with Aderes. He would find no cause to think coming to her a mistake. Her room was cozy enough with its thick rugs and wall hangings that she never bothered with the little stove that sat tucked in the corner. If she wanted klah or tea she summoned it as if it were her due. Which she felt it was.
Tonight she had no klah or tea, but rather a bottle of wine from her private reserve. It sat on the table with the cork out so it might air before being poured. Cheese and fruit, the best only, laid on a table as well. All was ready for the former weyrleader’s arrival. Her own appearance had as much attention to detail as her room. Her usual fine dress was accompanied tonight with a smattering of silver jewelry. Tasteful and meant to only subtly announce her own wealth it did the job well.
When the knock came she looked around once more. There was no last minute straightening as that would imply the entire room had not been straight to begin with. Soft slippers carried her across the rug to open the door. The wingleader was gifted with a warm smile. “S’lyn, do please come in.” Do not tarry and give gossipmongers time to wander by. The door was held open so he might step in and she could close it behind him.
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Post by Slim on Aug 4, 2008 17:23:40 GMT -8
With a gracious incline of his head, S'lyn accepted the invitation and stepped inside. He was no more interested in encouraging gossip than she was, which was why he'd decided not to say his name at the door.
Once inside, he glanced around Ramla's quarters. He had not dressed up any more than he ever dressed up around the Weyr, but he was not boorish: he could appreciate the touches of refinement evident from her decorations. He accepted them, evidently approving, but he did not compliment or even nod. He simply turned to address his hostess, letting the comfort evident in his manner speak for itself about the room's suitability.
"Good evening, Ramla." His usual method was to go straight to the point, but he'd noticed wine on the table, and in light of that social gesture on Ramla's part, decided it would be rude of him to skip the pleasantries. "I appreciate your willingness to meet in your own quarters. Chadath tells me that mine have already been overrun with poker players." He smiled slightly, lest he seem to be resentful of said poker players' presence. He'd invited them to play there, as part of the status quo for his wing, and would hardly complain about it now.
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Post by Invisible on Aug 4, 2008 17:39:34 GMT -8
There was no expectation of approval for her room. Ramla knew her room was above standard because she would settle for nothing less. She had her pride and it was always evident. Once the door was closed she gestured towards the chairs on either side of the small receiving table. “Please, be seated, S’lyn,” because he was not weyrleader and she was still headwoman and therefore she would use his name. Not that any of that showed in voice or bearing. She was all politeness of the kind she had learned many, many turns ago when trying to maintain her place at Crom.
Crossing the floor she poured two glasses before setting one by the seat meant for the wingleader. “It is my pleasure to host you this evening.” Those words she couldn’t help but instill with a little something sly. She expected nothing to come of it, but she was a woman who enjoyed the verbal interplay with men so she would inject a little of that into any private conversation. “Help yourself if you will. We needn’t stand on ceremony. Not us who watch youngsters run about like they know the world.”
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Post by Slim on Aug 4, 2008 18:20:58 GMT -8
If S'lyn's lips grew a little thin when she called him by name, it was only because he had - out of habit - expected to hear his old title, not because of any displeasure with Ramla. Her manner was completely correct under the current circumstances, and if anything, such rectitude was a mark in her favor.
He took his seat, picking up the wine she had poured for him with a nod to convey his gratitude. "Then we'll get to the point," he offered, deciding that her comment had opened the path to his subject. Still, he kept his tone and his demeanor social, for she was a woman after all, and required a softer touch.
"We obviously agree that the Caminar can't stay here any longer. The recent brawl is just the latest of much proof that they're causing disruptions in the Weyr, but I don't think our Leaders are any more inclined to act now than they have been previously." Ramla had reminded him of his reduced rank, earlier, and he remained conscious of it, referring to the Leaders with all the deference of a wingleader and none of the resentment of a man displaced.
S'lyn calmly raised a brow. "How will we convince them?" Not can, not might, but will. Stripped his rank might be, but he was still quite sure of himself.
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Post by Invisible on Aug 4, 2008 18:37:44 GMT -8
It did not bother Ramla he got down to business. S’lyn had never been a man to trifle with and she knew that getting involved with his plot would mean letting him run the show. At least for all appearances. Besides, best he be running the show if things went sour. Ramla knew there was a chance that would happen and needed to be sure she had a way out. When one appeared it would have to be cultivated. For now she took up her wine glass and inclined her head before smiling over the rim.
“It is sad they feel the need to allow them to remain,” Ramla agreed before tasting her wine only slightly and then setting it back down. The wine glass was a social prop and therefore not needed for business. “I wonder if it is our weyrleader who is the stronger voice in allowing them to remain? Does Aderes hold some fondness for the travelers?” The headwoman did not expect him to know, truth be told. The relationship between the former weyrleader and his weyrwoman was not too close. Her reasons then for asking the question were her own.
“As for what we will do? Why, for starters we must work on insuring no one goes near them.” Ramla rubbed at her temple as she gave this some thought. “Perhaps an illness. If word got out the Caminar were sick the Weyr would be forced to put them outside.” Like an unruly hound in the kitchen to be put outside. And if a Caminar or two needed to be put into a proper sickness, well…so much the better. “I might write Lord Crom about the situation. Last we spoke he was terribly upset over the whole ordeal. Children from his own holds had been taken after all.”
Ramla looked at S’lyn head on with her next words. He would not like them, dragonrider that he was. Future weyrleader that he might be. “If they are not removed Lord Crom might withhold the tithes from his holdings. They are to be given to dragonmen after all. Not to the shiftless thieves that inhabit the bowl now.” Her words in here were bold. They might come back to haunt her later but she knew S’lyn’s straightforwardness. She returned it in kind tonight.
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Post by Slim on Aug 4, 2008 19:48:37 GMT -8
"Lord Crom's position is a reasonable one," S'lyn acknowledged gravely. He paused to sample his wine, something he had not done yet. No surprise: the Headwoman had picked an excellent vintage. "Franky, I'm surprised that the tithes we have now have been stretched thin enough to cover the tradefolk." He nodded to Ramla. "I'm sure that's thanks to your work, Headwoman. But even under the most competent management, the shortage will be felt before long. Our supplies have always been enough to suit our needs, with little luxury, which is how dragonmen should live." Though for the Headwoman, some luxury was certainly allowed. S'lyn sipped his wine again.
But she'd also asked a question. He frowned, mulling over his wine. "I think I'd prefer if it were the Weyrleader's doing, but I doubt it was. He's not yet settled enough to hold his ground against a Weyrwoman with as much experience as Aderes, if she disagreed with him, and she's never been meek about using the status she holds. After all, she comes from Blood - I understand you do as well." He only touched on her background for a moment, but he paid close attention to Ramla's reaction, as interested in probing his newfound ally's sensibilities as she was in probing his.
He continued. "Aderes is of course an excellent Weyrwoman, but she's used to working within the Weyr. Whether she chooses to keep the Caminar here as an experiment in Weyrleader politics, which - J'fel being as green as he is - she cannot help but get involved in, or they're a soft-spot for her, I don't know. I do believe that, having staked their early reputations on this issue, both of them will want a graceful out if they're going to expel the Caminar. So it's important nothing we do will disgrace them, and best if we resolve the matter before Crom has to get involved."
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Post by Invisible on Aug 5, 2008 10:00:41 GMT -8
Lord Crom’s position was certainly reasonable and whether or not that was actually it was for Ramla to know. Unless S’lyn paid Crom a visit he would have to trust her for now. And it would be entirely too impolitic of him to visit Crom right now. Secure in this advantage at least she worried not for the moment about what Crom might or might not do. She would get word of it before it happened either way. Her half-brother did not think ill of her and was actually quite pleased to have someone so high placed in the Weyr to assist him would it be needed. “Only the right kind of luxuries. Only a child would seek to have them all.” A subtle jibe at the not present J’fel and his constant requests for fresh flowers with every new woman he brought to his weyr.
S’lyn’s comment on her ties to the Blood drew only a slight smile and a modest, “Lord Rankirk was known for his proclivities.” As if being of the direct line of a major hold was no deal at all for simple Ramla. Since it was not the reason they gathered she let it drop there. “An illness would be best. If we could find a healer to cooperate. There would be no shame in putting the Caminar out if it were to secure the safety of the Weyr’s residents from sickness.” She paused and there was no reason to hide the smirk that turned her face from pleasant to less than so for a brief second. “Weyrleader J’fel especially might worry about an illness taking its toll on his collection of women.” Not that she objected. It was the weyrleader’s right and he was a handsome lad. Still, a little discretion she thought was called for.
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Post by Slim on Aug 5, 2008 10:27:11 GMT -8
S'lyn raised a brow at her jibe about J'fel's sport - and so close to her admission about her own father's proclivities - and considered Ramla for a moment. "Not if he keeps a Caminar woman in his harem," he answered lightly, allowing the joke a little bit of air to breathe but careful not to seem like he took much enjoyment out of it himself. Like a New Englander had been displaced to Pern.
"But the illness would be a first step, I agree. So long as the healer you find," because he left it up to the Headwoman to know people around the Weyr better, "does not raise a panic with his diagnosis. Neither of us wants to deal with riots." Indeed, the thought made his lips purse with distaste. The breakdown of order was always unpleasant. "As I said, however, only a first step. Putting them outside the Weyr is not the same as sending them on the road, particularly if their plight attracts any sympathy."
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Post by Invisible on Aug 5, 2008 10:33:46 GMT -8
“There are ways,” Ramla said with a less than angelic smile. “It depends upon finding the right person of course. Should I be able to do that then we will discuss the plan further. If I cannot then we must consider other options.” Having only one plan would never do. Every time the Caminar did something it was just brushed aside. “I would have thought the Weyr’s leaders would have acted after that disgraceful brawl, but we heard not a word from them.”
The tips of the headwoman’s fingers ran together before she said, “There is a rumor and it is rumor only that the weyrleader has seen a Caminar woman alone. But that was before the hatching if it happened at all. Since then the woman has not been seen around the Weyr.” She did not know if it was true, but someone said they had seen Aleda (not knowing her name) exit J’fel’s company. True or not it was something. “Speaking of women—“
It was a distasteful business what she would suggest, but perhaps a necessary one. Time would tell. “If the Caminar men attacked a woman of the Weyr… I would think the Weyr would no longer stand the outsiders if they thought their daughters not safe from such attacks.” Such a polite way of saying let’s get a lower cavern’s girl raped who will then claim it was a Caminar man. Still the dragonriders liked to think the women belonged to them. It would rile them up.
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Post by Slim on Aug 5, 2008 10:46:59 GMT -8
"No." Jokes at J'fel's expense he could handle, and he would get his hands dirty faking illness among the Caminar if he had to, but inciting rape was too much for the staid S'lyn. He set his wine down, putting aside the social tone of the meeting for a moment to address this issue. "I'm not willing to harm any resident of the Weyr, and the Caminar I will harm only so far as to say they're sick. My reputation, and yours, are surely worth more than that." Had he shaken the faith with his new ally? Perhaps, but he could not have said any less. He did not flinch from looking Ramla in the eye as he rebuked her suggestion.
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Post by Invisible on Aug 5, 2008 10:56:21 GMT -8
There was no flinching from the Headwoman when her suggestion was denied. Ramla merely met the wingleader’s gaze and nodded her head a fraction. “Of course. Merely offering suggestions to see where your lines are drawn, S’lyn.” She was just testing him which he could believe or not. Because she didn’t think that’s all she was doing. If she did she might not have tacked his name onto the end. The ever subtle reminder of his rank did not even make her smile.
“However, might I remind you that drastic measures may be called for? Up until now they have been allowed to get away with everything but murder under the benevolent gaze of our weyrleaders.” Ramla had no problems with Aderes, whom she’d worked for longer than many had been alive, or J’fel whom she found an amusing treat to deal with. No problems but for them allowing those traders to remain past their welcome. Which had come hours after their arrival in her book.
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Post by Slim on Aug 5, 2008 11:24:30 GMT -8
"Up until now, the only opposition to their presence has been manifest in petty brawls. Much as I disagree with J'fel's policy on the Caminar, I can't fault him not looking for direction from short-tempered, violent men." S'lyn lifted his brows, but his attention had already transferred back to his wine. Short confrontation over, he was ready to reclaim it, and did so.
"No. Drastic measures have not swayed him so far, and if he's any kind of man, they won't sway him in the future. Putting about that the Caminar are sick, and getting them placed outside the Weyr, is not meant to frighten him but to separate the Caminar themselves from those who are sympathetic towards them. Instead of bonding with the charming rogues, the Weyr will notice how many supplies are being sent out to them, while their food grows worse and worse."
"Meanwhile, I do not think he realizes how many of his good, respectable riders want the Caminar gone. And with good reason. I've sounded out a few so far, and intend to make a more level-headed push to make him aware of the consequences of letting the Caminar stay here. The divisions within the Weyr are not healthy for it and can't continue." It was Aderes he had said was responsible for keeping the Caminar, yet it was J'fel he aimed his plans at. S'lyn pondered this for a moment when he was done speaking. However green J'fel may be, however much S'lyn didn't like it, he was Telgar's Weyrleader, and it was his responsibility to step up and take care of her.
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Post by Invisible on Aug 5, 2008 11:54:36 GMT -8
“Oh, drastic measures will work on any sort of man,” Ramla says with a little laugh. Haha isn’t she joking it’s so funny. “One simply has to know how the man measures himself.” The headwoman thought she had a good idea of what S’lyn thought of himself. He was so sure he would be back in charge as soon as Pelegaoth rose again. If he did or not they would not know until it happened. It served her well to remain on his good side just in case. Before he might interrupt with insistencies she held up a hand. “I do not mean we must do something terrible, do not mistake me. I am just saying we need to know why J’fel has not done anything yet. What he would do something over.”
It made no sense to rely on the boy weyrleader to act if they did not know why he did not yet act. A tiny smile formed on her full lips as she said, “I shall pay him a visit and see if I can determine anything that might be of use.” The thought of visiting the weyrleader was not displeasing. Ramla had always enjoyed the company of attractive men. “I suppose I shall have to speak to the weyrwoman soon as well. Our supplies do dwindle either because the Caminar get them or the Holds refuse to send us our due.” Her due as well because she was in charge of what came once it was tallied.
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Post by Slim on Aug 5, 2008 17:04:51 GMT -8
S'lyn nodded, quickly back at ease with Ramla after those small assurances. "Fair enough. I've had few opportunities to get the measure of him, myself, so your observations would be invaluable. Though that's something I should remedy..." S'lyn murmured to himself, allowing his voice to drop off with the thought. It was, now that he thought on it, somewhat shameful that such a green new Weyrleader had not received much direction from his predecessor.
Finished with the thought, S'lyn returned his attention to Ramla and raised his brows. "So now you know where my lines are drawn. Where are yours?"
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