Logs:Everything Political
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| RL Date: 11 March, 2015 |
| Who: Lilah, Cora |
| Involves: Fort Weyr, Benden Weyr, Lemos Hold |
| Type: Log |
| What: Lilah brings reparations for Vhaeryth. It doesn't go nearly as well as she expected. |
| Where: Benden Weyr |
| When: Day 26, Month 3, Turn 37 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: N'rov/Mentions, Kyouri/Mentions, Margaut/Mentions, B'doran/Mentions, Codora/Mentions, Hattie/Mentions, N'muir/Mentions |
| Storyteller: Rose/ST |
| It is Eliyaveith that reaches out to Elleth, the bright warmth of her mind deferential to the older queen as she seeks permission to join her at her Weyr, in Benden territory. « Mine wishes to see yours. About Vhaeryth, » she explains simply. It isn't until permission is granted that the large, bronzey gold appears above Benden's Bowl, quick enough that it is obvious that she was already strapped and ready. Where winter still marks Benden Weyr, Lilah has worn her riding leathers, dark brown unadorned by any form of a knot. She slides from atop her dragon as soon as Eliyaveith has landed in the bowl, rather than encroaching on the senior's ledge despite their purpose, her fingers combing through wind-mussed hair to bring some semblance of order before she starts in the direction of the Weyrwoman's ledge. It's one of those winter days where you can just smell spring in the air. Elleth is a visible presence on her ledge, her large persimmon gold head on alert and watchful of Eliyaveith's descent. « Welcome to Benden Weyr, » says the elder queen, her voice clouded with sobriety. She's a solemn dragon, a serious spirit that usually is balanced out by a less-so rider. Usually. Cora awaits on the ledge too, her thin shoulders covered by a fur stole. In silence, she watches Lilah's trek just far enough to tell she's headed the right direction, and then ducks behind the leather curtain into her weyr. « We are honored to be here, » Eliyaveith answers to the welcome, her own warmth and softness taking on something of a more demure edge where she adjusts to the other dragon. Lilah has been here before, at least, and seems to know where she is going. She isn't the type to stop and acknowledge Cora's Elleth, leaving that to her own queen. Instead, she only pauses to scratch fingernails against leather in a warning, waiting a polite moment for a response before she steps inside. Once inside, she is eager enough to greet, "Fort's duties, Weyrwoman. I hope I did not catch you at a bad time." Inside, Cora has spent those few minutes before Lilah's arrival in preparing. There's two mugs of klah on the coffee table and she's standing to the side of her couch. Her hand curls about the back of it, gripping the ornate carving tightly. "No time is a bad time when another Weyr's weyrwoman comes to visit." She gestures. "Please, sit. Elleth's told me the reason for your visit and we might as well sit comfortably." The woman's toffee skin is smooth, her expression politically smoother, and her voice is low-pitched and inherently warm. The faintest hint of a Keroonian accent is discernible for those of the area. Lilah's own accent is indistinguishable, but she does note with a quick smile, "You are from Keroon, Weyrwoman? I have heard that Weyrwoman Azaylia is as well." She does move to sit, that smile lingering even as she helps herself to one of the mugs with a murmured, "Thank you. I suppose even if she hadn't, my visiting in the wake of the flight would make anyone assume--." "Is she?" Cora either feigns not knowing, or actually didn't know, quite well. "I'm afraid I only see Azaylia every so often at Weyr Council meetings." Which have been rare enough in the last few turns, surely. "People will always assume the worst. It's the uncanny trait of humankind and it's the rare individual who always sees the best in others." The older woman takes a seat on the same couch, in the opposite corner, and shifts to look to Lilah. Her own klah is untouched. "You should know we don't blame Vhaeryth for winning. Wrong place, right time? He saw an opportunity and to ignore the mating call of a queen would be hard for most dragons." "I suppose it would be rude of me to ask if you are that type of individual," replies Lilah with light humor, a warmth in dark eyes and that still rarely seen smile quirking at the corners of her lips before she takes a small sip. "No, we do not either. And despite everything, a new generation of dragons is always something to look forward to, especially when it allows our bloodlines to mix." That is said easily enough, before the younger goldrider adds, "And, Eliyaveith is already trying to figure out what the children of her nephew are to her." There's a flare of weary in Cora's eyes, one she can't entirely mask. Outside, Elleth's shuffle is audible and the Benden goldrider automatically shushes under her breath -- that automatic reaction of a mother trying to quiet a child. "No, honestly, no. I wasn't. It's harder the older you get, not to realize most people are their worst if they were allowed to be." Lilah's chin tips, a soft incline of agreement, yet when she speaks next she only addresses, "I have brought marks for Vhaeryth's part in damages. I do not know the exact worth of Lemos' breeding stock, but I made my best guess. Whether or not you blame him, I do not wish to start Torith and Vhaeryth's pairing on the wrong foot." She takes a slow sip of her coffee, dark eyes studying Cora subtly over the rim of her mug. "Marks?" Cora's brown eyes study Lilah. "What would we do with marks, Lilah?" The willowy woman puts her arm up to rest on the back of her couch and rests her forehead in the curve of her hand and rubs idly. "Pass them on to Lemos, or use them for your Weyr. I cannot offer you herdbeasts, because we do not have them, but if there were anything else I could give--," Lilah starts, apology written subtly and softly in her words as she watches the older woman's reacion. "I am only trying to help." Benden's Weyrwoman regards Lilah for a long moment in silence. Suddenly, she stands, getting up in one fluid motion, moving towards the back of her weyr and peering behind a tapestry. A finger lifts to stay Lilah, an apology somehow in that gesture, and then she's returning. "My littlest one is napping. I never get to see her anymore and-," as if realizing she's speaking too much, sharing too much, Cora stops abruptly and smiles for the first time. It's a beautiful smile, apologetic behind the sadness of it. "What would Fort have desired if they were in our shoes?" Lilah tips a nod, offering a smile for a smile as she answers quietly, pitched in accommodation of that new news of Cora's sleeping child. "I would say that I understand, but--." She shrugs up a shoulder, before focusing on the Weyrwoman's question. She answers, carefully, "I imagine, we would have desired understanding. That mistakes are made and that we all do the best that we can with them." "I told B'doran that our second was our last. Losing them to the nannies is-," Cora shares something more, bidden to do so in a way all parents seem to, "Heartbreaking. But for this one perfect moment, after you give birth and you're holding this perfect being in your arms, it seems worth it. Then the moment is lost and you have toddlers who call someone else mommy." The Weyrwoman remains standing next to that couch, her fingers drumming something agitated against the back. Her mind makes up, and she moves away to the bar she keeps and pours herself a drink. "What would you say if a Weyr you had not elected to bring into this fiasco came with reparations you did not seek?" This is said after she takes a slug of whatever fiery liquor she's chosen for herself, and before she tops the glass off and returns to the couch. "I did not realize you and B'doran were weyrmates," admits Lilah with a hint of interest, her smile softening those words. "It seems so rare between Weyrwoman and Weyrleader. Hattie and N'muir, you and B'doran, of course, but--. It must be hard, to raise children between you." But, as the other woman seeks liquor, she only shifts to watch, finally setting aside her klah to focus on Cora. "What would I say, or what would I hope you would say?" she asks. When she continues on, it isn't really an answer to that question as she adds, "It does not have to go beyond us, Cora. Take the marks and do with them as you will. Think of them as a gesture of good will." Cora's full lips are just above the rim of the glass she holds, her eyes sparking with interest at what Lilah says. "So this isn't sanctioned by your leadership." Said like a statement, with the question mark punctuation added by a cock of her head. "No," replies Lilah to that question, only the barest hint of hesitation before answering the older woman's question. "But I am doing this for them, for our Weyr. For the relationship between our two Weys." "You're hedging your bets, Lilah," is Cora's opinion. "Your leadership would be indebted to you, though they would not know it, for your troubles, and Benden would look favorably on you for bridging a gap we had not sought to fix." The glass tips forward, the fullness of it just barely not spilling. "Smart." Lilah's response to that opinion is to simply reach into the pocket of her riding jacket, drawing out a bag of wooden marks that make little noise even as she sets them on the table next to her abandoned klah. "I am quite serious about the relationship between our Weyrs, Cora," she answers slowly, after. "Between all of our Weyrs. If we're to survive the Interval, we need to be able to depend on each other." "I'll note, so you know I didn't miss it, you didn't address my comments. Political of you. I'd always heard you weren't so politically astute." Is she baiting Lilah? "Perhaps my sources need to be updated. Currying favors with Weyrleaders in private is not something I'd advise. If you pay Vhaeryth's debts, it will be public to my Weyr and then, in turn, become public at yours. B'doran will not be Weyrleader the next time Elleth flies. My time as Weyrwoman could be abbreviated as well. The leadership of Weyrs is too fickle to place your bets on people. How would you feel if your gift was known and acknowledged publicly?" Lilah's lips tighten into a line at that, her mind obviously racing ahead of Cora's response in an attempt to delve into the possible ramifications of her answer. "It is the right thing to do, by both our Weyrs. If my reparations are made publicly known, then I am ensured that at least your successor will know that they can depend on Fort Weyr," is what she finally answers even as she pushes to her feet. "I've made no secret that politics mean nothing to me. This isn't about politics, whether you'd believe it or not." "Everything is politics. The day you Impressed your shiny beacon of doom, your life became political. I'm sorry." The apology is genuine, as if Cora isn't a fan of the political either. "If I hadn't Impressed Elleth, I'd be in Keroon with three children that wouldn't be half-B'doran's with different burdens. Let me think on it and confer with my Weyrleader and weyrwomen. I'd be interested to see what my sixteen year old ball of ambition thinks." The Weyrwoman toasts the air with her glass and takes another drink. "We'll let you know." "Perhaps everything is," Lilah agrees, a hint of a smile flirting briefly at her lips. "But I will not let the politics stop me from doing what's right; taking action when it is required." A pause, before she adds, "And it is likely why my own Weyrwoman probably refers to me as her own twenty-six turn old ball of ambition. Hopefully yours thinks the same." She salutes in return of the toast, a practiced gesture from weyrlinghood that doesn't get used as much anymore, before she turns to retreat with the marks left on the table. "Lilah." Cora calls out just as Lilah might reach the leather curtain between the weyr and the ledge. "Don't lose your optimism. It's hard to reclaim once it's gone." That certainly pauses the younger goldrider with a hint of surprise, perhaps, for the label. Lilah only offers a murmured, "Yes, ma'am," however, before she disappears from the Weyrwoman's weyr to leave her to the peace of her little one and that glass. Eliyaveith offers her own warmth to Elleth before the pair is gone from the Weyr proper, blinking between. |
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