We have fire lizards here, not dragons.
They are the same for our purposes, Kylara said sharply. Now heed me or youll lose the lot of them. She wondered why shed bothered to sweat and toil and bring him a gift, an opportunity which he was obviously unable to accept or appreciate. And yet, if she had a gold and he a bronze, when they mated it ought to be worth her troubles. Shut out any thought of fear or profit, she told the listening circle. The first puts a dragon off, the second he cant understand. As soon as one will approach you, feed it. Keep feeding it. Get it on your hand, if possible, and move to a quiet corner and keep feeding it. Think how much you love it, want it to stay with you, how happy its presence makes you. Think of nothing else or the fire lizard will go between. Theres just the short time between its hatching and its first big meal in which to make Impression. You succeed or you dont. Its up to you.
You heard what she said. Now do it. Do it right. The man who fails Merons voice trailed off threateningly.
Kylara laughed, breaking the ominous silence that followed. She laughed at the black look on Merons face, laughed until the Lord Holder angered beyond caution, shook her arm roughly, pointing to the eggs which were now indulging in wild maneuvers as their occupants tried to break out.
Stop that cackling, Weyrwoman. Itll prejudice the hatchlings.
Laughter is better than threats, Lord Meron. Even you cant order the preference of Dragonkind. And tell me, good Lord Meron, will you be subject to the same dire unspeakable punishment if you fail?
Meron grabbed her arm in a painful grip, his eyes riveted on the cracks now showing in one of his chosen eggs. He snapped his fingers for meat. Blood oozed from the raw handful as he knelt by the eggs, his body bowed tautly in his effort to effect an Impression.
Trying to show no concern, Kylara rose languidly from her chair. She strolled to the table and picked over the meaty gobbets until she had a satisfactory heap on the trencher. She signaled the tense guardsmen to supply themselves as she moved sedately back to the hearth.
She could not suppress her own excitement and heard Prideth warbling from the heights above the Hold. Ever since Kylara had seen the tiny fledglings Fnor and Brekke had Impressed, she had craved one of these dainty creatures. She would never understand that her imperious nature had subconsciously fought against the emotional symbiosis of her dragon queen. Instinctively Kylara had known that only as a Weyrwoman, a queens rider, could she achieve the unparalleled power, privilege and unchallenged freedom as a woman on Pern. Skilled at ignoring what she didnt wish to admit, Kylara never realized that Prideth was the only living creature who could dominate her and whose good opinion she had to have. In the fire lizard, Kylara saw a miniature dragon which she could control easily control and physically dominate in a way she could not dominate Prideth.
And in presenting these fire-lizard eggs to a Holder, particularly the most despised Holder of all, Meron of Nabol, Kylara struck back at all the ignominies and imagined slights she had endured at the hands of both dragonmen and Pernese. The most recent insult that the dishfaced fosterling of Brekkes had Impressed three, rejecting Kylara would be completely avenged.
Well, Kylara would not be rejected here. She knew the way of it and, whatever else, she would be a winner.
The golden egg rocked violently, and a massive crack split it lengthwise. A tiny golden beak appeared.
Feed her. Dont waste time, Meron whispered to her hoarsely.
Dont tell me how to hatch eggs, you fool. Tend to your own.
The head had emerged, the body struggled to right itself claws scrabbling against the wet shell. Kylara concentrated on thoughts of welcoming affection, of joy and admiration, ignoring the cries and exhortations around her.
The little queen, no bigger than her hand, staggered free of its casing and instantly looked around for something to eat. Kylara laid a glob of meat in its path and the beast swooped on it. Kylara placed a second a few inches from the first, leading the fire lizard toward her. Squawking ferociously, the fire lizard pounced, her steps less awkward, the wings spread and drying rapidly. Hunger, hunger, hunger was the pulse of the creatures thoughts and Kylara, reassured by receipt of this broadcast, intensified her thoughts of love and welcome.