Difference between revisions of "Logs:Wrong Place, Wrong Time"

Normal weyrgirls went to see hatchings; they went to cheer on their friends and sigh dreamily at some of the older candidates. It hadn't taken Seani much time to work this much out, and thus, she was pleased when Akadri told her that they generally took the children to see, because, "It wouldn't be fair for them /or/ us, otherwise. We'll take them down when the humming starts."

The whole weyr was abuzz that morning, and Seani couldn't help but let her spirits soar: a great day! A beautiful day! A day to remember! Even the smallest children seemed unable to control their enthusiasm, sensing, even if they couldn't completely understand, the excitement and anticipation in those around him. It was hard work, that morning, keeping tempers under control, and tears to a minimum.

Mid-morning, the humming began. They were slow to get moving, despite anticipating the event: someone was missing their shoes, someone else needed to use the necessary, another girl wasn't sure if she really wanted to go. The eggs hadn't actually started cracking when they started across the bowl, but it was a close-run thing.

Young Nikalas, the Weyrleader's son, tugged at her hand halfway there, tipping his head up to regard her with big, blue-green eyes. "Want Sufi," he said. Sufi was his stuffed blue firelizard - a toy that accompanied the toddler everywhere.

"Where's Sufi, Nikky? Did you leave him back in the nursery?"

He shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. "At home. Need Sufi. /Sufi/."

They weren't so far from the Weyrleader's complex - surely she could duck in and they could collect the toy, and wouldn't be /too/ late? No one would notice. She hoisted Nik up onto her hip, telling Akadri, "We'll be right back. We just need to grab something."

Akadri hesitated, and then, shook her head, extending her arms. "I'll take him. Meet us there. Hurry, though; we need all the hands we can get, and we're already late."

Seani hurried. Still, she found herself hesitating on the stone steps that led up to K'del's weyr; it was a foreign world, someone else's space, and it intimidated her. "Hello?" she called, softly. And then again: "Hello? Weyrleader? Milani?"

There was no one there. Why would there be? K'del would be on the sands with Cadejoth, and Milani would probably be watching from the galleries: the place was empty.

The weyr was-- impressive. It was as fine as the gowns the ladies wore at the gather; it was luxurious and enormous, and she felt a seed of jealousy deep inside her. She found herself running her fingers along the back of the couch, and lifting a trinket from the mantlepiece to feel its weight in her hand. She tried - and failed - to imagine living in a place like this, surrounded always by such things.

Reluctantly, she had to force her thoughts back to reality, conscious that every second she tarried was another that left Akadri and the others overwhelmed. Anyway: the hatching! Sufi wasn't on the table, and he wasn't on the couch; she crawled on the floor, trying to see if he'd dropped below, but she couldn't see him there either.

Finally, she ventured into the bedroom, marvelling again at the size of the bed, and what was obviously a private bathing chamber - with /hot/ water! - just next door. The firelizard was caught up in the covers: just as she picked it up, she heard movement outside. The sound of a drawer? For a moment, she froze: but no, she was here for a reason! They'd understand.

She stepped back out into the main weyr, surprised to see that it wasn't K'del or Milani or anyone else, but Raum In her shock, she blurted the words out: "What--what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Seani," he said, spreading his hands disarmingly as he stepped closer. "The Headwoman was needing a copy of one of the tithe reports for the feast, so I volunteered to track it down while everyone else was busy."

She didn't believe him, but that didn't mean she had time to react: she'd barely opened her mouth to scream before he had her in his grasp, yanking her hair back roughly so that he could sweep the blade across her throat.

Sufi rolled away as she fell, but not soon enough to avoid being splattered in her blood; not far enough that it could avoid the growing puddle that spread around her. It hurt-- oh /shells/, it hurt, and she tried to scream again, but she couldn't, and it hurt, and-- her last conscious thought was that she'd probably ruined the little stuffed firelizard forever, and that Nikalas would be heartbroken.

Later, Akadri's testimony was pretty damning: "She was involved in something, I'm sure of it. No one is really that nice. And she was going to try and take Nikalas! It's a good thing I stopped her; if I hadn't, she might have done terrible things to him. Blackmail! Murder! You just can't trust those exiles, that's for sure."

It took him time to figure out just where that idiot Weyrleader had hidden everything. The postal records marked it received, but that was as far as they went.

It wasn't in records.

It wasn't in stores.

It wasn't in the council room.

It could be in the Weyrwoman's weyr, but between her, her fop of a weyrmate, two bratty kids, a bronze dragon, and the cousin-nanny, Raum could never seem to find a time when somebody wasn't there.

It could be in the Weyrleader's weyr, which wasn't much better.

Until the hatching.

Raum had only been to one before, back at Igen when he was one of the Lord's personal guardsmen--before he made captain and could opt out of these things in favor of whoring around in the Bloods' vacant quarters. Now, though, the Weyrleaders' quarters stood as empty as his Lord's had, and while the thought of whoring there had a certain appeal, he had higher aims this particular day.

He started in the Weyrwoman's. It was huge, and filled with fancy things that Raum ignored. He was quick but thorough, and made sure everything ended up like it was before he touched it. He found nothing.

The Weyrleader's weyr, though--

Raum sauntered up the stairs, whistling as he went; no one was around to hear. The outer chamber wasn't likely to hold what he was looking for, that he could tell at a glance, but he still made a point of investigating it, particularly the desk. He was just shutting the drawer again when he heard movement behind him.

He turned, hand reaching to the knife in his belt automatically.

"What--what are you doing here?" It was Seani, a stuffed animal in hand as she came out of the bedroom.

"Oh, Seani." Raum relaxed, just a bit, and spread his hands disarmingly as he stepped toward her. "The Headwoman was needing a copy of one of the tithe reports for the feast, so I volunteered to track it down while everyone else was busy."

She bit her lip and didn't believe him, he could see it in her eyes. But it didn't matter, because by the time she opened her mouth to scream--who would hear, anyway?--he was on her. One hand grabbed her blonde hair to pull her head back; the other pulled his knife and swept its blade across her throat in one practiced motion. When he let her go, she slid bonelessly to the floor, the firelizard rolling away. Raum stepped neatly over the gurgling girl to methodically sweep the bedroom too. He was whistling again.

It was easy to find, in the end: everything was still in its envelope, in the bottom of one of the nightstands. Raum tucked the little package inside his shirt and, stepping back over Seani's body, headed back out into the caverns of the Weyr to wait for Devaki. He knew it wouldn't be long now.