“He might not.” Moreta took out the lists. K’dren exclaimed in surprise at seeing them,
“So they will serve a purpose after all. Let me have a glance.” He flipped the sheets till he came to the angular backhanded scrawl of M’tani’s. “T’grel would be the man to contact at Telgar. Even if he weren’t a responsible rider, he’d do it in reprisal for some of M’tani’s tricks. And you must have riders from each Weyr, ones who know how to find the hole-in-the-hill cots that aren’t well marked. Well, you can be sure of Benden support. I wondered why our healer was bloodletting again!” He rubbed his arm with a rueful smile.
“And Capiam’s sure about this vaccination of his?” Levalla asked. Her fingers betrayed her anxiety by the speed with which she flipped her worry-wood.
“He likens it to Thread. If it can’t get a grip, it can’t last.”
“About your Hatching, now. We do have a very keen young man from a Lemos highlands minehold whom we found on Search two Turns ago,” Levalla said, reverting to Moreta’s ostensible errand. “I don’t know why he didn’t take, but we’ll have him back if he doesn’t find a mate on your Ground. Dannell’s his name, and he’s eager to keep up with his mining craft if he can.”
“Are you Searching more among the crafts than the holds these days?”
“With the end of Pass in sight, it’s best to have men who can occupy their spare time profitably for the Weyr.”
“We receive the tithe whether there’s Pass or not,” Moreta said with a frown.
280 Moreta: Dragonlady of Pem
K’dren looked up from his perusal of the names. “To be sure, but once a Pass is over, the Lords may not be quite so generous ” K’dren’s expression indicated that his Lords had better sustain the quality of their tithes. “I’ve underlined the riders who I ;suspect do time.” His grin was raffish. “It’s not something anyone admits to but T’grel must have to use it to cope with M’tani. Don’t bother with L’bol at Igen. He’s useless. Go directly to Dalova, Allaneth’s rider, She lost a lot of bloodkm at Igen Sea Hold. She’d know who among her riders time it. And Igen has all those little cotholds stashed in the desert and on the riverbanks. Surely you’ve got a few good friends left at Ista. You were there ten Turns. Have you heard that F’gal’s bad with kidney chill?”
“Yes, I’d planned to speak to Wimmia out of courtesy. Or D’say, Kritith’s rider.”
“You have a son by him, don’t you?” Levalla said with a tolerant smile. “Such ties seem to help at the most unexpected times, don’t they?”
“D’say is a steady man and the boy Impressed a brown from Torenth’s last clutch,” Moreta said with quiet pride. She rose. She would have liked to stay longer with the Benden Leaders but she had a long day ahead of her.
“We’ll give Dannell time to pack up and send him on to you at Fort tomorrow, with M’gent. You can use the opportunity to go over any details with him. Shall I have a discreet word with my Lords?”
“Master Tirone is supposed to be sweetening them but your en-dorsement would be a boon.”
As K’dren escorted Moreta to the stairs, Levalla waved an indo-lent farewell, still worrying the wood in her left hand.
The encouragement that Moreta received from the Benden Weyrleaders did much to sustain her during her next three visits. At Ista, F’gal and Wimmia were in her weyr, bronze Timenth on the ledge, the tacit signal for privacy. So Moreta directed M’barak to land Arith at D’say’s weyr, where Kritith greeted Moreta with shining blue spinning eyes, rearing to his hindquarters and extending his wings. He peered out to the ledge, patently disappointed that Moreta had arrived on a blue instead of with her queen. Then D’say emerged from his sleeping quarters. To her chagrin she had obviously awakened him from a much-needed sleep. He was one of the few who had -lot succumbed to the first wave of illness, and he had ridden Fall
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