Fidello himself rode out to escort them on the last part of the road. He was mounted on a sturdy work beast whose summer coat gleamed with health through the rough and patchy winter fur. His hold, to which he welcomed them in an earnest but restrained manner, was small and well kept. His dependents, including those of the last holder, had assembled to serve the visitors.
“He’s got a good cook,” Tordil said in an aside to Jaxom as the three younger men made conspicuous inroads on the food laid out on the long Hall table. “And a deuced pretty sister,” he added as the girl approached them bearing a steaming pitcher of klah.
She was pretty, Jaxom agreed, looking at her closely for the first time. Trust Tordril to spot the prettiest girl. Brand would have to keep his eye on this one when he ventured out of the Hold to the workers’ cots below the bridge. This pretty girl, however, had a timid smile for Jaxom, not Tordril, and even though the prospective Lord of Ista tried to engage her in conversation, she gave him short answers, keeping her smiles for Jaxom. She left his side only when her brother joined them to say that perhaps they’d better seed the fields or it would be a long, dark ride back to the Hold.
“I wonder would you have got her so quick if I’d been Lord of Ruatha?” Tordril asked Jaxom as they checked their saddle girths before mounting.
“Got her?” Jaxom stared blankly at Tordril. “We only chatted.”
“Well, you could have her next time you … ah, have a chance to chat. Or does Lytol mind a few halfbloods around? Father says it keeps the full ones on their toes! Ought to be easy for you with Lytol weyrbred, and not as stuffy about such things.”
Lytol and Fidello joined them at that point but Tordril’s envious comment set Jaxom’s thoughts on a very fruitful tack. What was her name? Corana? Well, Corana could be very useful. There was only the one firelizard about the Plateau Hold-and, if Ruth could just dissuade that creature from following them …
When they returned to the Hold late that night, Jaxom quietly climbed to the fire-heights and took a good sackful of firestone from the brown’s supply while the old watchdragon and his rider were having a brief evening flight to stretch wings.
The next morning he casually asked Lytol if he thought they had brought enough seed for Fidello. Theirs did seem to be a very large field. Lytol regarded his ward from under half-closed lids for a moment and then agreed that perhaps another half-sack might be to the wise. Tordril’s expression mirrored surprise, envy and, Jaxom felt, some respect for plausibility. Lytol duly ordered a half-sack of Andemon’s seed from Brand’s locked stores, and Jaxom sauntered off with it to don his riding gear.
Ruth, full of himself after a good feed, wanted to know if there was a nice lake near the hold. Jaxom thought that the river was wide enough for a respectable dragon’s bath, but they weren’t going there for water sports. They managed to take off without anyone seeing the second sack slung on Ruth-or the fighting straps. Although the firelizards engaged in their usual dizzy pattern around them while Ruth was becoming airborne, none emerged with them at the Plateau Hold.
Fidello himself took receipt of the additional seed with such profuse thanks that Jaxom was a bit abashed at his duplicity.
“Didn’t like to mention it in front of the Lord Warder, Lord Jaxom, but that’s a fair big field I’ve ready for this seed and I’d want to see a good return to justify Lord Lytol’s opinion of me. Would you care for refreshment? My wife …”
Only his wife? “It would be welcome. The morning’s nippy.” He patted Ruth affectionately and dismounted, following Fidello into the hold. He was pleased to notice that the main Hall was as tidy as it had been for their expected visit. Corana was not in evidence, but Fidello’s very pregnant wife was in no way misled by his casual return.
“Everyone else has gone to the river, to the place where it forms an island, to gather withies. Lord Jaxom,” she said, glancing at him coquettishly, as she served him hot klah. “On your beautiful dragon, that’s no more than a moment’s trip for you, my Lord.”