Difference between revisions of "Logs:A Lesson Either Way"

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.

Wind, rain and sleet resulted in drills being called off this morning, no one really willing to brave that kind of weather, particularly given how much so many people are longing for spring. It's well known, however, that K'del spends much of his working day in the Council Chambers, and that the door is always open (unless it's closed); true to form, the Weyrleader has papers and hides spread out all over the table, and is bent close towards the paper he's currently skimming through, flicking his pen idly as he reads. It's warm, at least, the fire stoked to a hearty blaze.

With the weather as it is, even the short journey from wherever she's been hiding from bad conditions has left Ebeny looking a bit bedraggled, the greenrider making efforts to tie wet hair back and away as she lingers a bit not quite in the room. The movement might give her away and it's likely this realization that sends her striding forward, all evidence pointing to her being loath to interrupt. "Si - K'del?" she calls quietly, halted at one end of the table.

Although K'del doesn't react to the movement at the entranceway in any obvious way, the flicking of his pen comes to a halt at much the same time; possibly related? When Ebeny speaks, though, the young Weyrleader draws his gaze from the page in an instant, setting down the pen entirely so that he can cross his arms in front of him. Brows raised, but a smile in place, he says easily, "Ebeny. Hey. Something up?" Whatever he's working on, he seems willing enough to abandon it.

"Hey," Ebeny returns, a little automatically, though her smile is more natural. "Maybe. I don't really know. I could be wrong. Probably am wrong," she rambles, fingertips finding the edge of the table and pressing there. "I was going to say something sooner, but then nobody else seemed concerned about anything and I thought if it was just me, then I really must be wrong and-" She takes a breath, presses her lips together and shuts up. For all of five seconds. "I saw something on sweeps a while back." And yet she doesn't get round to saying just what.

K'del's brow furrows as he listen, apparently unconcerned by the rambling, but distinctly less sure about the rest. "Be amazed at how many people don't manage to notice things," he remarks, neutrally, his fingertips reaching to touch each other from their flat positions on the table. "What was it?" There's interest there; he leans forward, his voice managing to sound just that little bit eager, though still not that far off neutral. "Even if it's nothing... still better to know."

"Well... You know the land that's ours? That we're going to farm?" Ebeny begins, pausing unnecessarily after each not-quite question. "I think there's less of it. It looks like one of the boundaries has moved, but it's... I don't know. My mind could be playing tricks or I could be paranoid. We didn't land to look, because of the snow. We'd have left tracks and it'd seem rude to have looked closer if it's nothing." Having been looking directly at the Weyrleader whilst speaking, she suddenly fades out a bit and eyes the wall behind him instead, perhaps embarrassed to admit, "But we went back and looked from the air again another day. Twice."

There's a short, sharp nod after each of Ebeny's not quite-questions, unnecessary answers that at least drive home further exactly how intently he's listening - especially now. Her revelation makes that frown of his heavier still, his surprise and concern plainly visible in his expression. "/Moved/," he repeats, finally, emphasis on the word making it sharper than perhaps it was intended to be. "How long ago? Did you notice, I mean. And which-- hang on." There's a map, which he drags over towards him, indicating it with his hand. "Where?"

Though she should move forward to look at the map, instead Ebeny takes a half-step back and looks down at the floor when she murmurs, "Around ten days ago..." She repeats the words in a stronger voice when she manages to look up again, insisting, "But that doesn't mean it /has/ moved and-" Mouth closed, eyes to the map, one hand hovering over it. It takes a few moments and she seems to have decided on one boundary, then shakes her head and points out one running parallel to it a little way over. "There. If it has."

As Ebeny takes that half-step back, K'del's mouth opens, as though he's about to encourage her back; her murmur stops him from doing that, and instead, he nods encouragingly. "No, no, it may not have. But." His gaze is sharply upon the map, measuring it with his eyes. "Given who lives /there/," he indicates a holding just next to that particular boundary... "Going to have to check it out. It'd be hard, surely, to move a fence post in winter? But... Could be assuming we just wouldn't notice, wouldn't be aware enough of our own boundaries. Lazy." He's half muttering to himself, though after 'lazy', his head shoots up so that he can meet Ebeny's gaze again and he says, genuinely, "Thank you, for telling. /Could/ be really important. Shows how much attention people are paying to their sweeps if no one else has noticed, huh?"

"I guess if they thought we were just going to let the land sit there quietly and not look at it again until spring, they thought we wouldn't realize?" Ebeny says, thinking aloud. "Which means they either don't think very much of us or they think we're far too trusting." She shrugs and grimaces faintly; ends up shaking her head as if trying to dislodge those thoughts. "I'm sorry it took so long and that I didn't write it down, I just assumed that, well... someone else would beat me to it. But I suppose it could be something." The greenrider's fingers find their way to the edge of the table again. "I know it might not be something anyone wants to hear," she says with a sad smile. "But... better to look than not."

"Right," agrees K'del, giving the map another unhappy look. "And I'd bet on it being the former: already got some suggestion that this particular holder is not... thrilled with us being there." The map doesn't seem to be providing any more answers, because he glances back across at Ebeny as he continues. "No, don't be sorry. Reckon I'd've thought the same, and with the snow... so hard to know, sometimes, what you're looking at. /Much/ better to look and just see." He huffs out a low breath, and then adds, "Half the time I feel like this is all going great and it's going to be successful, the other half... well. Can't help but wonder, sometimes. Crom and all. Be better once it's spring, and we have something more tangible to work on. Thanks, Ebeny."

"He'll just have to get used to it then. He can't get his own way all the time," Ebeny declares, more certainty there than she's demonstrated in the past few minutes. She takes a couple of steps back again and stops, hands twisted into an odd shape before her. "Someone has to make changes. Someone has to be brave enough to do that. If it works, it works. If it doesn't... we learn a lesson either way," she says quietly. "But, as you say, it'll be better in the spring." Long strides carry her almost back out of the room and it's there that she pauses, turns and smiles again, brightly now. "Thank you for listening, K'del." Then it's back out to brave the weather.

Listening to Ebeny speak, K'del's frown fades fairly steadily into a smile. "You're right," he says, just before she goes. "A lesson, either way. That's a good way to put it." His head bobs towards her appreciatively, and, as she turns to go, his last is a simple repetition: "Thank /you/ for talking. See you in drills tomorrow... if the weather's any better, anyway."