Difference between revisions of "Logs:Safe Harbor"

"They want us to send you back." There was no point beating about the bush. Edeline had to respect the man that he went right to the point. He sat at the end of the table, the same table of their first meeting, with a small fortress of hides between him and her, with his cool gray eyes regarding her in unflinching frankness. She looked back at him with a quirked brow, approaching the chairs that ringed the table with her hands outstretched to lay along the back of one. "They say we shouldn't interfere with Hold matters."

Edeline raised her chin, spared him the luxury of a wry smile for the turn of phrase. "Hold matters. It's my Hold, N'thei, it ought to be me having these meetings." They had discussed more than once that, legally, she was in a weak position. She had fled Tillek, perhaps foolishly, and left it in the care of Ysave and Nederan. She had disappeared for over a week, giving them time to firm their claim. She had taken refuge at the Weyr, allowing them to point to her as the one who abandoned her position. Between the two of them, they could find no firm answer one way or the other for her position. She was not technically her father's heir, but she was still his oldest child. For a moment, thinking of the cause of all this chaos, her heart fell a little. She had loved her father, had believed-- as he believed-- that there would be ample time yet to settle the legal issues surrounding the succession of Tillek. But there would be time for grief later, when she had Tillek back, when this was resolved. Her fingers tightened on the back of the chair; she saw him notice and forcibly relaxed her grip. "What will you do?"

N'thei shrugged. It was not the answer she'd been hoping for, but she had, over the weeks of dealing-with-him, learned to wait in silence, learned that it only made things longer if she tried to pry things from him. "Ride it out. They can't make you go back, but it doesn't improve your position, staying holed up here."

Before the words were even fully out of his mouth, Edeline held up an imperious hand. "If I go back there now, they'll marry me off to your good friend Lord Crom."

"We won't let that happen."

She gave him a droll look. "Your grasp on the Cromese is tenuous at best, N'thei. Forgive me if I lack confidence in your ability to deal with him." He was a hard one to manipulate, a hard one to be sure would follow the breadcrumb trail, but she was learning that he reacted fastest and most firmly out of anger, so she prodded at that old wound and watched the steel-trap sharpness come into his eyes.

He stood quickly, and she felt herself biting back a satisfied smile; "Watch yourself, girl, or you will see how fast we can dump you back in Ysave's lap."

"Wouldn't that make Aughan so happy, to come and pluck me from Tillek because the Reaches couldn't stand up to yet another of their Holders." She knew that he knew that she was baiting him intentionally, but it didn't matter. She just needed time, time enough to present a case to the Conclave, to return to Tillek with enough support behind her to take back her home. There were those loyal to her father's blood still at the Hold; all she needed was the Weyr to keep her from falling into Ysave's hands until she felt secure enough that she could demand her home back with the legal support of the Lords and Ladies. In the back of her mind, she cursed herself for not having married at her age, for not having a husband that could make this transition so much more plausible. It was a sad fact but a daughter, even a blooded one, was only as strong as the men that surrounded her.

Her reverie ended while she watched N'thei's approach, when she felt his fingers fold around her upper arm, felt him leading her sternly from the room. His voice was fast and rough; "The Weyrwoman has not agreed to hand you over to Tillek. Count yourself lucky. Now get out." And he deposited her outside the council room with just a little shove at her bicep. Despite the unceremonious departure, Edeline smiled to herself. The Weyrwoman wasn't shipping her off. The Weyrleader hated her proposed husband.

If it was only a matter of time, at least she had bought herself that.