Oh, beloved heart, Torene said, immediately chagrined that she'd been thinking so negatively, we do, we do. But I am tired. Like most of the riders. Everyone needs some time off, not just a visit home or to the east coast. Well, she added to herself, maybe Sean would announce that some of those recuperating at Big Island would be reporting back for duty, and that would take the burden off the short-manned wings.

The meal was good: one of Yashma's special casseroles, more of the beef, plus legumes and tubers, served with fresh hot bread and slabs of butter. Torene grinned as she slathered her bread with it before passing it on to the impatient rider next to her. Butter in this quantity obviously had come in from Ierne Island. Would they be able to have dairy products when Longwood settled on the east coast? She'd miss them. In the Hold, milk products had been reserved for babies and growing kids. What was being tired to the many advantages of being a rider… not the least of which was having Alaranth?

You like me better than butter?

Of course I do, but there's absolutely no doubt that you couldn't be spread on hot bread!

Bread is all right. Alaranth was unenthusiastic. From time to time, because Alaranth was curious, Torene had given her queen samples of what she ate.

But not for a carnivore like you, darling. You aren't hungry again, are you?

No, but you were!

Alaranth also found it hard to understand why her rider had to eat several times a day, when once or twice a week sufficed the much bigger dragon.

Before the casseroles were passed around the tables for the second time, the Weyrleaders and Wingleaders took their places. Torene thought they all looked relaxed as they conversed pleasantly with each other. That did not jibe with her notions of the Weyr getting a lecture on recklessness and inefficiency.

A spicy nut-filled bar provided a sweet, and then ale was served, along with refills for anyone wanting just klah.

"He must really be going to take slices from our hides," N'klas muttered in her ear.

"Then why is F'mar grinning from ear to ear?" Toren asked. The young Wingleader was looking excessively smug. Of course, she realized, mentally reviewing the day's injuries, his wing had come through unscathed, so he could afford to be at his ease. But she wondered why F'mar kept trying to catch her eye.

Torene listened for Tallith, but the bronze was asleep. Alaranth, did I miss something?

What?

I don't know, and F'mar's grinning like a fool at me.

He does that all the time.

Torene caught an almost impatient and irritable note to her queen's remark.

Don't you like F'mar? she asked. Or is it Tallith you don't fancy?

Torene often asked her queen which bronze she preferred. As she had no particular favorite among the riders, maybe her queen had one among the bronzes. Torene did have to think in terms of her queen's mating flight, an event that could happen soon now. Sorka had no difficulty in telling her queen riders exactly what to expect—and Torene hoped it would be as thrilling for her as reputed. Sorka never exaggerated.

Bronze dragons are much the same in a mating flight. But I will be hard to catch!

Torene burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" N'klas asked her.

"Alaranth," Torene said and shrugged, indicating a private joke.

She nodded at him to pour some ale into her glass after he'd filled his own. She was getting to like the stuff; certainly she preferred it to the jarring taste of quikal. And tonight, she had the feeling that she'd need the loosening beer provided.

Suddenly noise in the dining area subsided and Torene saw that Sean had risen.

"Uh-oh," N'klas said, scrunching himself small beside her.

"Oh, don't be an idiot," she said rather sharply. She was well acquainted with N'klas's tendency to dramatize.

This time he was right. Unexpectedly, Sean was holding his glass in one hand.

"You all know that the wings did not perform very well today, but I take the nature of today's Fall into consideration. We all know that clumps and tangles are the worst types to combat, and that the very nature of such a Fall can cause injuries to even the most alert rider and clever dragon. I don't excuse you, and I shall have words with some of you who were caught unawares, and those of you who managed to escape when you bloody well deserved to be scored." Sean's expression was harsh as he looked over the crowded tables. "Injuries could have been worse."

When he paused again and let his gaze sweep the riders, Torene had the feeling that something momentous was going to happen. She was positive she knew what that had to be and inhaled, sitting straighter. She felt N'klas shift beside her as if he, too, felt impending news.

"The holders all agree that new Weyrs—" He stopped as dramatically as N'klas might, to let the plurality be absorbed. "—must be formed."

He would have gone on, but wild cheering and stamping ensued and made him smile as he held up his arms for silence.

"Some of you"—and Torene caught him looking at her—"may think that the double-cratered site on the east coast is an ideal site for one. And you'd be right." More cheering punctuated that statement. Torene felt N'klas's elbow in her ribs, and she saw that F'mar was also watching her, a broad, happy, and very smug grin on his face.

Well, she thought, he had the makings of a good Weyr-leader, and his Wingseconds swore by his competence.

"We'll start that one first," Sean went on, "and there will be two more adapted as soon as possible. I project that we'll need two more at the rate our queens are laying, so we should prepare now for our needs while holder enthusiasm for our profession continues strong." He gave a wry smile, which brought a ripple of appreciative laughter. "Big Island is also a firm choice, to give us a warmer climate not only where our injured can convalesce but also where our disabled can still be of assistance. Telgar needs one to protect the miners—" There was a ripple of mild dissent, because Telgar was mountain-cold. "There is a crater in the sandy peninsula to the east and another in the far north-west. But we already have contingents at Big Island and Telgar, so those will be completed first."

He waited until the wave of whistles and cheering died and then, with a slight grin on his face, continued. "Ierne Islanders are coming north, and Longwood wants the secondary site on the east coast. They will also help us prepare that Weyr in appreciation of our willingness to protect them." Sean grinned more broadly now.

"So that's how he's done it," N'klas said, his eyes shining with respectful awe.

"Done what?" Torene asked in a low voice.

"Made them think we're doing them the favor when it's the other way round," N'klas replied. "Oh, he's clever, is Carenath's rider."

"Lockahatchee and Uppsala fancy Big Island, and they will help us enlarge the existing facility there," Sean went on. "Telgar's promised as many miners as he can spare for some of the excavation work on all sites, so I think we will be able to provide protection in four locations even as the Weyrs are being adapted to the needs of our dragons."

Four Weyrs, including the one she had yearned for! Torene couldn't believe it! One would have occasioned great joy. But four Weyrs? Well… She did a quick count: Sean could put twenty wings in the air for any given Fall even if all were not accommodated at Fort. Three new weyrs also meant three new Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen. Who had Sean and Sorka chosen to promote? Probably some of the senior riders, and she couldn't but be happy for Uloa's and Arna's sakes, or David Caterel and Peter Semling. They were logical choices… but who else?

"We have twenty mature queens," Sean was saying, "and well over a hundred bronzes and ten or twelve browns who would make admirable leaders. This being the case, I feel that we'll let chance play a part in what is too difficult a choice for us"—he indicated himself and Sorka—"to make. So you're going to draw which Weyr you'll go to. We're splitting up the queen dragons, with the exception of Faranth, who stays here, with me." Sean scowled fiercely, waiting for the widespread laugh that was expected at the notion of any other dragon but Carenath flying Faranth. When the laughter died down, he went on. "Nora will pass the bag among the gold riders. Tarrie has a bag for Wingleaders, as I think it's best if the wings go forward as a unit to whichever Weyr the Wingleader draws. Does that seem a fair way to distribute riders?"