Logs:Up To Something
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| RL Date: 10 November, 2009 |
| Who: K'del, Shad |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: K'del calls Shad in, to get to the bottom of this information he's apparently bringing to the weyr. |
| Where: Council Chambers, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 6, Month 3, Turn 21 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: P'ax/Mentions |
| Council Chambers, High Reaches Weyr At the heart of this oblong cavern is its meeting table: a long hardwood oval with a mirror's dark shine, High Reaches' sigil picked out in lapis and onyx at its center. Twenty chairs surround it, each softened by an embroidered cushion that's just a little too stiff for complete comfort -- meetings need to be kept short, after all -- with the chair at the table's head, facing the ledge, being somewhat larger than the rest. Interspersed between glowsconces upon the smooth walls, ancient tapestries depict the territories High Reaches protects in a particularly pastoral fashion, all fluffy clouds and fluffier llamas, or else fishing crafts sailing merrily out to sea. Among them is also a natural alcove, its several wooden shelves primarily stocking fine wines and liquors as well as the glasses to serve them, though the lower shelves also hold whatever hidework requires particularly frequent attention. A narrow wooden door leads to the Records room, while the tunnel that extends to the weyrleaders' ledge is wide enough for three men to walk abreast, with just enough kink in it to block the wind. It's a fairly standard chore for the older weyrchildren, to be sent to find people, or deliver messages about the weyr. This morning, as a thick, blinding fog sits over the weyr, one of them was sent out to find Shad, with instructions to bring him back to the Council Chambers. It may well be an intimidating walk, that last little bit through the bowl, past the queens' ledges, and down the passage to the Council Chambers. Within, though the furniture is formal, there's a hearty blaze set up at the hearth, and K'del has pushed away some chairs in order to get better access to the charts he has spread out upon the table's surface. Alone, the Weyrleader looks intently focused. Shad is ... scared nearly to death. He's not stupid by any stretch of the imagination, so he knows what this is about (or thinks he does), and it has him in a swivet. Once the 'brat left, it took Shad a minute to find his voice ... and even then it squeaked alarmingly. "Y ... you wanted to ... see me?" K'del must, of course, have heard the pair of them enter, and then the weyrbrat leave, but it's not until Shad actually /speaks/ that he lifts his head from his work, tables a few steps back from the table, and then, finally, nods. "I did," he says, and though it's said casually, or with any hint of friendliness, nor does he seem angry, which is something, at least. "Take a seat?" He indicates one of the seats down the other end, as he snags one of the ones near him with a foot and swings himself down at his end. Well, at least he's not getting read the riot act the second he walks in. That's something. Shad nervously takes a seat, still looking exceedingly ill at ease, and like he'd rather be /anywhere/ else just then. It can't help anything at all, that these seats are so uncomfortable, can it? K'del, at least, seems used to it - or perhaps he's just too busy focusing on other things. Like Shad. "Been hearing, Apprentice," he begins, in an even enough tone. "That you've information I might want to hear. Is that so?" Beat. "Apprentice." Hard, hard swallow. "Y ... yessir, W-weyrleader sir." Damn his tendency to go monosyllabic when stressed. He wanted to bolt /so/ bad! Deep, shaky breath, trying to calm down. "I ... the Smithy at Crom's been ... busy. Didn't think much of it at first ... not with the Weyr wanting to go into farming." Another breath, and he's starting to sound a bit steadier. "But then the stuff we were making didn't head for the Weyr, or the main Hold, but it went /somewhere/ on Hold land. And I ... started wondering. Because it was a full set of farming equipment, and replacement parts ... and only a Lord Holder could afford all that at one time." Without emotion; "Go on." K'del's expression is unreadable, though his hands on the table have sought each other out, one clasped over the other. Shad says, "I ... started poking around. I ... " Damn, this was the hard part to explain, so Shad just went with. "It didn't /feel/ right. A-and then I found the w-work order, and I /knew/ something was going on. The stuff was going to a small holder named Browden. Whose hold is right next to the land the Weyr wanted to use. Which is land Browden's been trying to get his hands on for Turns. There's no /way/ he'd have the marks to pay for an entire set of new equipment, and even if he did, I /know/ his existing stuff is in good repair right now." Shad took a deep breath. "I don't know what they're up to, but they're up to /something/."" K'del's nod is so slight it could easily be missed entirely; less easy to overlook is the way he leans forward, his gaze intent upon Shad. "Do you have proof, Apprentice? A copy of that work order?" Beat. "You understand that, given past history with Crom, we need to be /sure/. Of you, of your information, of /everything/." Shad gives a shaky nod. "I ... I do, sir. I ... kind of figured no one would believe an Apprentice blabbering about some nonsense." He took a deep breath. "N-not my proudest moment, sir, but ... " He shrugged. "I didn't know what else to do. Not without a firelizard of my own. Borrowing one, or going to the runner's station would have been /noticed/. He got to his feet, and pulled something out of his pocket ... a much-folded and worn looking bit of paper. "T-they always make copies of work orders, just in case." He hesitated, then started towards K'del with it. "Good," says K'del, much the way one might to a small child who's done something well; it's a bit much, coming from a Weyrleader /this/ young. He holds out his hand, as Shad gets close, taking the worn paper carefully in one hand, then spreading it out upon the table. Again, his nod is slight - but not /as/ slight. "Do they know that you have this? Does anyone?" "No. No one saw me take it, and I didn't breathe a word to anyone until I got here. If they notice it's missing, they'll chalk it up to someone spilling something on it or something like that. The only person I told was P'ax." Because he'd been too shit scared to just walk up to the Weyrleader and go 'hey, guess what, man?' As Shad talks, K'del reads over the document once, and then a second time, before his gaze slides back up to the Apprentice. "Who told me," he says, then, with another nod. "You won't say anything to anyone else? Or even to P'ax, unless you're in private." Beat. "Why don't you like Crom? You've made that clear enough. Your home hold, though..." His brows are raised, questioning. Shad nods. "I won't, sir. I know I should have come straight to you, but ... " He shrugs helplessly. "I was scared." Then, with a deep sigh. "They're sneaky, low-down connivers, most of them. They don't care who they hurt with their little back-door deals and schemes. And a lot of them outright /hate/ dragonriders." He takes a breath. "I ... I may have been born there, sir, but it's never really been /home/. It was just a place I tolerated until I could get out of there once I was deemed worthy of advancement to Journeyman status. Then this hit and ... " He shakes his head. "I know where my loyalties lie, and it's not with them." K'del waves that away with his hand, though the way he nods at the same time implies that, well, he agrees it would've been better if Shad had. Still. "Have to take your word on that," he says, expression and tone not really giving away his true feelings on the subject. His gaze slides back down towards the paper, and slowly, he shakes his head. "Glad you came to us with this, Apprentice. Could be a perfectly good explanation for it... but I'm glad we know, regardless." Shad heaved a sigh of relief. Whatever K'del was really thinking, he was at least not ripping Shad to pieces, and that was, as far as Shad was concerned, a very good thing. "Thank you, sir." There's a trace of a smile on K'del's expression, if one can get past the obvious deep thinking he's also undertaking, as he says, "Thank /you/, Apprentice. Really do appreciate it." That finally gets a smile out of Shad. After all his fretting and outright fear ... he really had done the right thing, in the end. Which is really all he needs to know to make the whole nightmare worth it. "With your permission, sir, I'll get out of your way." That smile gets a more obvious one from K'del, one that supercedes the worry that he can't quite seem to get rid of entirely. "Of course, of course. Thanks again, Apprentice. Sorry to have interrupted your morning like this." |
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