Fort Weyr - Weyrwoman's Office
Aged by time, this office has lived through the ages of Fort just as its counterparts have. But unlike the Weyrsecond and Junior Weyrwomen offices, this cavern is spacious and formed in a rough semicircle of three conjoined caves that were carved and modified Turns ago. The middle portion acts as a waiting room of sorts, holding only a few modest chairs and a simple tapestry to otherwise brighten up the plain stone walls. There are no windows here and the only light comes from well placed glow baskets.
To the right, the smaller of the two adjoining caverns has been set aside for the Weyrwoman, a large desk situated in the middle and a bookshelf pressed against the wall. A small hearth allows for some warmth in the colder months and another cabinet rests across the room to hold various supplies, as well as several books, reports and records. More tapestries have been hung there, lending some color to room.
It's mid-morning still and cold out. One of those uncommon, bitterly cold winter days that keep many indoors so as not to risk freezing or frostbite while being outdoors. Velokraeth is huddled in the warmth of his wallow but that won't keep him from reaching out to Kayeth, his mind tinged with apology. « Good morning to you, m'lady. Your rider's presence is needed, unless she is preoccupied? Would she be found in the office? »
Kayeth's warm thoughts reach back to Velokraeth, curious with his apologetic tone in a 'what now?' sort of way. Not resigned, simply curious. Is something interesting afoot? « She is, » the queen confirms from her spot on the Star Stones. Bitterly cold or not, she must survey her weyr.
Velokraeth will brave the cold and waddle out of his warm weyr to take the short flight up to the Star Stones to keep Kayeth company. Easier too for him to share the same thing his rider is about to share with hers. As for Nyalle, she'll get a knock on her office door and then Th'ero steps inside regardless if she welcomes him in or not. "We need to discuss something. Urgent." he states and she'll notice right off that there is a closed, cold sort of darkness about him. Weyrleader is in a BAD mood! Troubled.
Kayeth welcomes Velokraeth with warmth, while Nyalle's greeting to Th'ero is a bit more reserved. "What is it?" she asks, setting down stylus and paperwork and reaching for her cup of tea. It's a comforting thing, helping her brace for bad news.
Velokraeth will politely settle himself beside Kayeth and promptly begin to spoil her with gentle but affectionate attention. A few nuzzles, some preening. Anything to curry favour with the gold! Back inside the office, Th'ero cuts straight to the chase. "I've put Ha'ze into temporary exile to Drake's Lake." Good morning, Weyrwoman! Have a serious punishment thrown at you! "I'll need you and Kayeth to help to be sure Kainaesyth, and Ha'ze, stay there. While Iaverulth may be able to hold him for awhile, she's no Senior gold…"
Nyalle blinks, staring at Th'ero. Then, slowly, she leans back in her chair, cradling her cup of tea between slender fingers. "And…why must we do this?"
"He needs to learn to curb his recklessness." There's answer is swift and almost tinged with relief. He may have assumed Nyalle would be far more upset about his harsh choice in punishment. "He used the Candidates for his own gain. Willingly put them at risk to find information during their excursion to Fort Sea Hold. He holds no guilt for what he's done and fails to see the error in what he did." He spreads his hands out in a sweeping gesture, some of his frustrations and disappointment bubbling through his control. "He even said he doesn't agree with our bullshit pacifist policy we follow. How we don't meddle… I can't have a bronzerider being so out of control, Nyalle. Demoting him wouldn't have worked."
Nyalle might still be upset, she just wants to know his reasoning first. Her eyes tighten as he explains though, and…no, she will not protest this punishment. Not that she would even if she did disagree. Riders are the Weyrleader's territory after all. "We /can't/ meddle," she says firmly. "No, demoting would not have worked. I wish…" She sighs. "It is a shame that such a solid bronze has such a wayward rider."
Riders are the Weyrleader's territory, but Th'ero still values Nyalle's opinion and likely sought to have her approval (or disapproval) in the matter. He's learned a long time ago that keeping his Weyrwoman and staff in the dark is a bad idea. "He has the potential, he's just too bull headed to see it," Th'ero growls but a lot of the tension eases out of his posture and shoulders. He won't sit though, choosing to pace the room instead. "Perhaps losing all he cherishes, aside from Kainaesyth, will wake him up. I've barred him entirely from returning, Nyalle. Even from his children, with the exception of Jaze. I need you to speak with Jajen, if you can. Ha'ze will be answering to her — in a sense." Faranth help them all.
Nyalle looks a little surprised at that. "Is that not a bit extreme?" she murmurs. For a woman who has quietly been trying to get pregnant for a while now, the idea of someone being banned from seeing their children doesn't sit well with her. She shifts slightly in her chair. "I will speak with Jajen. How much authority will she have over him?"
"What else will get Ha'ze to listen? I don't like it either but a limit has to be drawn somewhere, Nyalle. His exile is temporary — and I will not stop Abigail from going to see him." Th'ero quietly explains, his brows furrowed deeply and his expression grim. He shakes his head, "Over Ha'ze? Very little. Kainaesyth on the other hand… Iaverulth is not like her rider."
Nyalle sips at her tea, contemplating things for a long, quiet moment. "So what do you want me to tell Jajen? Just that he's coming? Or has he already left?"
Th'ero's quiet for sometime too though his pacing hasn't slowed. "Ha'ze leaves tomorrow. I gave him the rest of today to… do whatever it is he needs to do. Settle affairs. It'll give us time to prepare for the change." He scrubs at his jaw with his hand. "Tell Jajen that Ha'ze is to help her with her usual duties or whatever work comes around. He can find his own too, but he MUST report to her and then she report to us. And that she's not to abuse this…" He's no fool. He knows of the bad blood between the goldrider and Ha'ze.
Nyalle nods thoughtfully. "So it's a test for her as well…"
Th'ero grimaces, "In a way it's a test for both of them, though only Ha'ze stands the chance of returning to Fort." Harsh, but so very true. "And when he does return… I don't know yet what I will do. I doubt exile on its own, even if for a span of months, will fix him. And… I don't think that's my aim." He pauses in his restless pacing to give Nyalle a sidelong look, as if hoping the Weyrwoman understands his crypticness.
Nyalle lifts her brows a little bit. "What, then, is your aim?"
Th'ero is silent again a long time and eventually just sighs. "I don't know. You can't force someone to change — not entirely. Ha'ze could be a good rider. He just needs to THINK before he acts! We've meddled before… back when Laris was a problem. I'd train him, put him into play — but I can't trust him."
Nyalle nods slightly. "Perhaps if he cared more. Had an idea of the big picture. Or.. do you know what he wants from his life? What are /his/ goals? Not just your goals for him."
"I've no idea, Nyalle. I know there was once he had the goal to track down and put an end to Ustrr but since then… I'm not so sure. He is attached to those children of his…" Th'ero's mouth turns grim again. The Weyrleader knows full well it was low of him to cut Ha'ze off like that. "… Not that it matters now. He'll do his time down in Drake's Lake and we'll bring him back and I'll see if he's learned anything at all." In other words, as some might mutter, he aims to leash Ha'ze like a dog though Th'ero would have said it'd be more like shackling a wild wolf — if Pern even had such things.
Nyalle is quiet a moment. "Perhaps," she suggests slowly, knowing she's stepping over the line, "you could ask him what his goal are."
Th'ero frowns and while he doesn't mind Nyalle treading over the line (in fact, he sometime wishes she'd do it more often!), he doesn't have an agreeable answer for her. "You don't think I've tried? He tends to throw back most of what I ask back at my face. Another reason why demoting him would do nothing. Shards, exiling him may be nothing but a vacation for him for all I know! I can't even guarantee he will obey."
Nyalle sighs. "I wish there was a way to get through to him. He…I don't understand him at all." And he confuses her. "He just seems so…angry. Almost like he enjoys disobeying. Enjoys doing things wrong."
"He was a part of those camps since being a child. Faranth only knows what it's done to him. He can't be entirely broken though… No dragon would want that, least of all a bronze like Kainaesyth." Th'ero mutters. "And I am not about to control Ha'ze through fear, like Laris or Ustrr would've done. I don't understand him either… but I'm not going to give up on him."
Nyalle shakes her head. "No, I would never suggest giving up on someone." Even Jajen is still part of Fort. "Or using fear. Sometimes I wonder if he's testing us to see just how much we care."
Th'ero snorts and then almost scoffs in laughter for that suggestion she puts out there. "He doesn't seem to care about anyone but himself and often times I've wondered if he cares for Kainaesyth too. He certainly showed a lack of any compassion to those Candidates…" He shakes his head again. "And I don't need him to kneel at my feet or tell me he cares. He's as frustrated as the rest of us about these rumours drifting about the Holds… but he lacks control. He thinks too much here," Th'ero taps his chest, just by his heart. "And not enough here." Fingers move to his forehead and there's a sad sort of understanding in Th'ero's eyes. Maybe that's why the Weyrleader persists after Ha'ze — it's like looking into a mirror of his former self and he'll be damned if he allows the bronzerider to fail.
Nyalle nods slowly, sipping her tea silently. "He reminds you of you, doesn't he?" She's no fool, she sees that expression and she's also heard tales - rumors - of Th'ero's past.
Th'ero's silence is damning and he knows it. His jaw works and for a moment he looks stubborn in answering Nyalle's blunt question. "Yes," he admits in a near hushed voice. "He does. I'm not looking to make him a friend — that bridge I believe has been burned if ever built in the first place. But I'm not going to let him destroy himself."
Nyalle tilts her head as she regards him quietly. "How did you turn it around?"
Th'ero frowns in clear puzzlement. "I'm not sure if I understand? How did I turn what around…?" At least he's stopped pacing for good now and stands more or less in front of Nyalle's desk.
Nyalle says "Yourself. Your attitude. What worked for you?"
Th'ero exhales heavily and can only spread his hands out in a helpless gesture. "I—am not sure? Velokraeth no doubt played a key role in that but beyond that… It was the people around me, I guess? Being Weyrleader." Though he was far from the best at it in the beginning. "The few friends I have… they helped. Kimmila helped — still does. When I learned to trust and when I had a taste of what I could lose."
Nyalle nods slightly. "I wonder if Kainaesyth has any desire for him to change." She's guessing not.
"Faranth if I know, Nyalle. Even if Kainaesyth does desire him to change, it's still up to Ha'ze to grow the spine to do it," Th'ero mutters under his breath. He runs a hand through his hair and glances towards the door. "I'm sorry to have put so much on you this morning… but something had to be done."
Nyalle shakes her head. "He is your rider, it is your right to punish him. Thank you for informing me."
Th'ero grimaces, "I know that. Still… I value your insight and opinion on this." Aww, look! He said it out loud! He does care about her… as a Weyrwoman. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"
Nyalle considers, and then shakes her head once more. "I don't believe so. I'll make sure Kayeth understands."
Th'ero dips his head politely, "Then I'll take my leave. I should speak with Abigail…" For very obvious reasons. "Thank you, Nyalle. Have Kayeth bespeak Velokraeth if you need me." With that, the Weyrleader turns and walks out the door with hardly a backwards glance.