Elgion grimaced. “I suppose it wouldn’t look well to lose two Harpers in a short time.” “Nonsense. Already Yanus prizes you above fish! Or so Alemi said.”

“Was he angry?”

“Who? Yanus?”

“No, Alemi.”

“Why? I’d say he was better pleased than Yanus to hear you were safe and scoreless at Benden. More important, did you see any signs of fire lizard clutches?”

“No.”

T’gellan sighed, stripping off his wide riding belt and opening the heavy wherhide jacket. “How we need the silly creatures.”

“Are they that useful?”

T’gellan gave him a long look. “Possibly not. Lessa thinks them a real nuisance; but they look, and act, like dragons. And they give those narrow-minded, hidebound, insensitive Lord Holders just that necessary glimpse of what it is to ride a dragon. That is going to make life…and progress…easier for us in the Weyrs!”

Elgion rather hoped that this had been made plain to Yanus; and he was going to tactfully suggest that he was ready to go back to the Sea Hold when the bronze rider was called away to check a dragon’s wing injury.

Elgion found the additional delay instructive. He decided he would put his observations to good use in getting back into Yanus’s favor—for he had an opportunity to see Weyr life as unsung in Saga and Ballad. An injured dragon cried as piteously as a child until his wounds were salved with numbweed. A dragon also cried distressingly if his rider was injured. Elgion watched the touching sight of a green dragon, crooning anxiously at her rider as he leaned against her forearm, while the weyrwomen dressed his Threadscored arm. Elgion saw the weyrlings bathing and oiling their young beasts, the Weyr’s several fire lizards assisting. He saw the youngsters of the Weyr refilling firestone sacks for the next Fall, and couldn’t fail to notice that they made less work of the onerous chore than Sea Hold lads would have done. He even ventured to peer into the Hatching Ground where golden Ramoth lay curled protectively around her eggs. He ducked out of sight, hoping she hadn’t seen him.

Time passed so quickly that Elgion was surprised to hear the kitchen women calling everyone in to eat. He hovered at the entrance, wondering what to do when T’gellan grabbed him by the arm and propelled him to an empty table.

“G’sel, come over here with that bronze nuisance of yours. I want the Half-Circle Harper to see him. G’sel has one of the original clutch F’nor discovered in Southern,” T’gellan said in an undertone as they watched the stocky young man weaving his way through the tables towards them, balancing a bronze fire lizard on his forearm.

“This is Rill, Harper,” G’sel said, extending his arm to Elgion. “Rill, be courteous, he’s a Harper!”

With great dignity the fire lizard extended his wings, executing what Elgion construed to be a bow, while the jeweled eyes regarded him intently. Not knowing how one saluted a fire lizard, Elgion tentatively extended his hand.

“Scratch his eye ridges,” G’sel suggested. “They all love that.”

To Elgion’s delight and amazement, the fire lizard accepted the caress, and as Elgion’s stroking eased an itch, Rill’s eyelids began to close in sensuous pleasure.

“He’s another convert,” said T’gellan, laughing and pulling out his chair. The noise roused the fire lizard from somnolence and his hissed softly at T’gellan. “They’re bold creatures, too, you’ll notice, Harper, with no respect for degree.”

This was evidently an old jibe, for G’sel, seating himself, paid it no heed, but coaxed Rill to step onto a padded shoulder rest so he could eat the dinner now being served.

“How much do they understand?” Elgion asked, taking the chair opposite G’sel so he could see Rill better.

“To hear Mirrim talk about her three, everything.”

T’gellan snorted with good-natured derision.

“I can ask Rill to carry a message to any place he’s already been. No, to a person he knows at another Hold or Weyr I’ve taken him to. He follows me no matter where I go. Even during Threadfall.” At T’gellan’s snort, G’sel added, “I told you to watch today, T’gellan. Rill was with us.”

“Yes, so tell Elgion how long it takes Rill to come back from delivering a message.”

“All right, all right,” said G’sel with a laugh as he stroked Rill affectionately. “And when you’ve one of your own, T’gellan…”

“Possibly, possibly,” the bronze rider said easily. “Unless Elgion here finds us another clutch, we’ll just have to stay jealous of you.”

T’gellan changed the subject then to ask about Half-Circle Hold, general questions that did not embarrass or compromise Elgion. T’gellan evidently knew Yanus’s reputation.

“If you feel too isolated there, Harper, don’t fail to fly the signal and we’ll pop you up for an evening here.”

“Hatching’s soon,” G’sel suggested, grinning and giving Elgion a wink.

“He’ll be here for that certainly,” T’gellan agreed.

Then Rill creeled for a bite to eat while the bronze rider chided G’sel for turning the lizard into an importunate beggar. Elgion noticed T’gellan, himself, finding a titbit for the little bronze, however, and he, too, offered Rill some meat, which the creature daintily accepted from the knife.

By the end of the meal Elgion was ready to brave Yanus’s worst displeasure and wrath to find a fire lizard clutch and Impress a fire lizard of his own. That prospect made his inevitable return easier.

“I’d better do you the honors, Elgion,” T’gellan said, rising at last from the table. “And I’d also better get you back early. No sense aggravating Yanus more than necessary.”

Elgion wasn’t certain how to take that remark or the wink that accompanied it, particularly as it was now full dark and for all he knew, the Hold doors were already barred for the night. Too late now to wish he’d gone back as soon as the dragonriders had returned from the Fall. But then he wouldn’t have met Rill.

They were aloft, Elgion reveling in the experience, craning his head to see as much as possible in the clear night air. He had only a glimpse of the Higher Benden Range hills before T’gellan asked Monarth to take them between.

Suddenly, it was no longer full dark: the sun was a handspan above the glowing sea as they burst into the air above Half-Circle Harbor.

“Told you I’d get you back early,” T’gellan said, turning to grin at the Harper’s startled exclamation. “We’re not supposed to time it, but all in a good cause.”

Monarth circled down lazily so that everyone in the Sea Hold was gathered on the holdway when they landed. Yanus strode a few paces ahead of the others while Elgion searched the faces for Alemi’s.

T’gellan leaped from the bronze’s shoulder and made a show of assisting Elgion as the entire Hold cheered loudly for their Harper’s safe return.

“I’m neither crippled or old,” Elgion muttered under his breath, aware of Yanus’s approach. “Don’t overdo it.”

T’gellan laid his arm across Elgion’s shoulders in a comradely fashion, beaming at the oncoming Sea Holder. “Not at all,” he said out of the corner of his mouth. “The Weyr approves!”

“Sea Holder, I am profoundly embarrassed at the inconvenience…”

“No, Harper Elgion,” T’gellan interrupted him, “any apologies are the Weyr’s. You were adamant in wishing to return to Half-Circle immediately. But Lessa needed to have his report, Yanus, so we had to wait.”

Whatever Yanus had been about to say to his erring Harper was neatly blocked by T’gellan’s obvious approval. The Sea Holder rocked a bit on his feet, blinking as he reorganized his thoughts.

“Any fire lizard sign you discover must be made known to the Weyr as soon as possible,” T’gellan continued blithely.

“Then that tale is true?” Yanus asked in a grumble of disbelief. “Those…those creatures do exist?”

“They do indeed, sir,” Elgion replied warmly. “I have seen, touched and fed a bronze fire lizard; his name is Rill. He’s about as big as my forearm…”