Current mood:	complacent
Entry tags:	esseira, felisa, raliah, refugees

Information!

Stable

Under a stone eave along the southern wall of the bowl, the stables are small and cramped. The smells of hay and animal sweat and dung hang heavily in the narrow space. Though there is room for a dozen, the Weyr only boasts four runners presently - one nag, one colt, and two mares. The tack-room, near the first of the stalls, is mostly empty save for a few tattered remains of old saddles or buckets. The only way in or out is through wide, double-doors that open on to the feeding grounds.

---

Outside, Ailuth is busy hunting, struck with a draconic late night hunger. In the stables, though, Esseira's wandering about the building--generally lacking in too many humans, though there's plenty of runnerbeasts about. She pauses near one of the two mares, idly brushing the length of the creature's head.

Felisa slips in and looks around, her eyes first lighting on one of the few other people, a cotholder boy of about her age. She heads over to him and says quietly "You know thw idea your father had?"

While Beryth hunts alongside Ailuth, Raliah catches up with an old friend. The boy, no more than her age, grins fiendishly, leaning on a stall, his pitchfork held casually. "Y'done got too high an' mighty to ride a runnah, 'liah?" The boy guffaws, as the young greenrider snorts. "I've got no /time/, Arren." The girl murmurs, spotting Felisa and waving happily to her young friend. Esse's being watched carefully -- her friend might not have as much experience with runners, y'see.

Esseira continues stroking the mare gently, smiling lightly before she looks up quickly, spotting Felisa. At the girl's words, she frowns a bit, stepping inside the stall and to the side of the mare a bit, stroking the female's side reassuringly as she listens to Felisa, though at Raliah's look, a brow raises. "Never seen a runner, Ra?"

Felisa looks up and notices the two others, then lowers her voice considerably and murmurs to the cotholder, who promptly runs off. For her part, the gardener heads over to Esseira and smiles brightly both to her and Raliah, saying "Good evenng."

Raliah winces as an older 'hand comes to growl at his young charge for slacking. "Bye!" She whispers, before glancing over at Esse. "Eh?" The girl blinks. "Of course, silly." She laughs, eyebrows furrowing in a vaguely confused expression, before she catches Felisa's greeting. Turning about, the girl quickly notices that the cotholder has fled. "Scare him off?" She offers with a little grin. "Hey."

Esseira raises an eyebrow at Felisa as she moves towards them, smirking a bit. "Evening to you as well, Felisa. Not up to trouble, are we?" She asks, chuckling a bit. A look towards Raliah as Esseira moves a little closer to the mare's head and, therefore, Raliah and Felisa, winking at the former. "Well, you're the one with the weird look."

Felisa says, "Me? Never!" She looks over at the very interesting mare, saying offhandedly "She's pretty. And we didn't scare him off; he just realized he had some information to convey."

Raliah snickers softly. "I've never heard of either of you getting into trouble." She murmurs cheerily. "Certainly not me." You know, she pulls off the angelic look scarily well -- must be the dimples. "Oh, just struck me as funny, the big bad Goldrider in a stable full of runners." The girl laughs, reaching over to scritch at that interesting mare's chin. "She is!" Nod-nod. "...information?" No, she's not prying. Really.

Esseira was interested in the mare, sure. But, uh, Felisa's sudden interest in the runner catches the goldrider's attention even more, and she fixes her with an amused gaze. "Really, now? So what not-trouble are you into, eh?" A broad grin for the gardener is dispersed before she looks towards Raliah, clearly dubious at that 'angelic' set of dimples. "Funny? Howso?" Her hand remains stroking the mare, though her eyes flicker back to Felisa, content more than ever to let Raliah do the prying.

Felisa says nonchalantly "Just making sure that people hear who they need to approach with various ideas. Nothing important."

Raliah is not oblivious. She is a smart, quick-thinking minion! "Just never pictured it." The girl shrugs towards Esse, offering Felisa a bright grin. "Ideas, hm? What kind of ideas are we talking about?" The girl presses, head canting to the side.

If pride could be stowed away, Esseira's doing her damndest to hide hers as Raliah shows just how much she's learned. She can't help, however, if she /does/ chuckle softly at Raliah's continued pressing, eyes on Felisa again--friendly and amused, but unwavering.

Felisa hmmmms. "Holder matters, really boring. Have you both heard about the idea of sending them to the Southern continent?"

Raliah eyes Esse warily, but is distracted. Her eyes go distant for a moment, and she snorts as she emerges from the half-trance, shaking her head. Felisa gets a little eyebrow-lift. "Mhmmm." She murmurs, grinning. "The South? Huh. I might have." The girl rubs at her face wearily. "My mind seems to be slipping."

Esseira raises an eyebrow, curiosity sparking in her eyes. "Not like we've not been involved in Holder matters before... What's afoot?" She leans against the side of the mare's stall, hands crossing before her now as she listens, shrugging a bit. "Aye. I heard from some of the Holders some thoughts about going South. Worry is about cover, though, which is entirely valid."

Felisa nods. "Especially if Lord Hrotti finds out we're covering them -- then he'd claim we could be covering his lands. But if we could get around that, then it's a great plan -- if I can bear to see what the south looks like right now, since thread has already been falling there for who knows, months?"

Raliah frowns. "It was a beautiful place," The girl agrees quietly. "It'd be hard to grow anything without being eaten by the felines or eating some fruit that makes you run from both ends for a sevenday." Delicate, Raliah. "Crack a dragon egg over Hrotti's head. What's he gonna do about it?" Yep, there's that delicacy again -- seems Raliah's been taking lessons from /somebody/. Wonder who.

Esseira winces faintly and nods, slowly. "Yeah, I suspect he'd be less than pleased. Though, after a few clutches, we might be able to get away with something like that. But it'd still be several turns away, unfortunately." There's a soft exhalation of breath, the ghost of a sigh, before her gaze flickers back to Raliah, widening her eyes a bit in a hybrid of surprise and amusement. "I think we shouldn't be wasting an egg on Hrotti, Ra. Really. Try a wherry egg?" She winks at the greenrider before shaking her head slowly. There's a pause--a moment of realization--before she turns back to Felisa. "So... Those Holder matters. You never /did/ say what you meant by that...."

Felisa says "Poor dragonet... what Esseira said. No wasting a dragon on that heap of tunnelsnake droppings." She looks around quickly to make sure that characterization of her beloved Lord Holder was not overheard. "The holder matters were just letting him know some of the drawbacks of the newest potential southern venture. Too bad Raliah hadn't mentioned the felines and the fruit or I would have told him that as well. Unfortunately for Felisa, as often as she recommends judicious withholding of information, she is not a good liar.

Raliah laughs softly. "Point," She admits. "I imagine his head could easily break a rock in two though. Think Ailuth would drop one on him? I'd love to see a real big one dropped." No, she's not bitter or irritable, not at all! The girl grumbles for a moment, before grinning. "You could have him sent a case of the fruit." She suggests cheerily, before grinning. "You're a really bad liar," The girl says amicably, but doesn't press further.

Esseira laughs softly--she can't help it! Low on dragon eggs or not, the idea of dropping one is attractive. Dropping a rock, however, seems even more attractive. "/That's/ an idea, Ra. Maybe Beryth can carry some smaller ones as well--just so that we don't miss him or anything? And, Felisa, you're welcome to come watch!" The goldrider if clearly joking. Another snicker and her attention returns to Felisa at Raliah's pressing. Good greenrider minion. Gooooood.

Felisa says wistfully "I couldn't carry one of the rocks? Even if I promise to practice firestone sack tossing first so my arm strength is adequate?"

Raliah's grin is positively evil. "Of course she can. And she can drop them on his old cronies, too." She says contentedly. "Oooh," The girl offers another of those grins that look so foreign and evil on her face, combatting the cute dimples. "Wellll," Eyelash-flutter. "Maybe if you spill what you're lying badly about." Never mind that she /definitely/ has more of a right to! Pssh. Logic. Who needs it?

Felisa is given a more somber look as the gardener doesn't both acknowledging her question, even. The goldrider's gaze flickers to Raliah, shaking her head a bit slowly, not bothering to hide her amusement. After a moment, though, her gaze returns to Felisa, attempting to catch her gaze--and hold it. "Alright, Felisa. C'mon. You know full well you can trust us. Now, what're you up to?"

Felisa sighs, then looks around to be sure nobody has happened over and lowers her voice even with the dearth of people left in the stables. "Well, part of the trouble is that I'm not so sure this is a good thing to try, but... some of the cotholders would like to petition the Conclave to rule Lord Hrotti unfit to Hold."

Raliah's gaze flicks to Esseira for a moment, and she doesn't hide a grin very well. She works very well with her mentor! Their logic is a horrible thing. They could probably take over Per -- er, let's not get off on that happy tangent. But hey, it worked! Felisa gets that nice sneaky look in her eyes, and automatically Raliah glances around then leans in, frowning. "Why would that be a bad idea?" Yes, she's young and unlearned in the arts of diplomacy! But it's cute, right?

Esseira laughs, waving a hand. "See? That wasn't so hard to just say it. It's definitely something to look at, though. Interesting idea... He /is/ unfit, but whether or not he actually would be successfully removed is something entirely different.." There's a pause as she looks towards Raliah, shaking her head a bit melodramatically--"Lots of possible ramifications. The first that comes to mind would be that of an idea of the Weyr having pushed out the Lord Holder. Which might not be grand. But. It wouldn't be anything bad if pulled off carefully." There's a pause where she seems to actually be contemplating this, before her gaze descends into spacing out entirely. A moment later and she's back, looking to the two apologetically. "Sorry--Ailuth's decided it's time to sleep--for both of us. Have a good night." The farewell is offered to the both of them before Esseira offers the mare one last pat as a goodbye before she slips out of the stall and out of the stables.

Felisa says, "Esseira touched on it a bit. Mostly, what if they refuse to hear the petition? They will never have a chance to settle at Benden Hold, and the other Lords Holder might not want them either, since they were willing to turn Lord Hrotti in. If it succeeds, what if Lord Hrotti's heir is just as bad? Again, they're out of a home still. On the other hand, Wingleader S'dric has said that if we start it in motion, he'll enlist Weyrwoman Breide and Weyrleader T'marsk's aid in getting the Weyr to support the petition."

Raliah waves her friend off with a grin. But quickly does her attention turn back to Felisa. "Oh," The girl winces, shaking her head. "Yeah. I guess that could be a bad thing." She sighs softly. "Hey, if they helped then it'd be much better, yeah." There's a little smile. "Maybe his heir actually has some sense, though. It'd be a nice change to be able to work with somebody who doesn't make your skin crawl," Pause. "And who's a complete and total wherryhead." There. That's better.

Felisa giggles. "You are a master of perception. They should make that into a craft."

Raliah wiggles her eyebrows playfully. "I've been told that." She says with a wink. There's a bit of companionable silence, before, "Your family getting cabin fever yet, being stuck here?"

Felisa shakes her head. "All but Karina are down in the valley now, and she's too happy working with the Weavers even to get into trouble.. or, more to the point, to get me into trouble."

Raliah's grin is understanding. "Siblings," She huffs. "I never really knew my real siblings too well. Guess I'm lucky." The girl winks. And then frowns. "Ah," Is murmured aloud. "Beryth says she's done, and is bloody. And apparently midnight is as good a time as any to go bathe." Sigh! "I guess I should go."

Felisa grins. "Enjoy the water."

Raliah grunts. "Right," She sticks out her tongue, and turns to trot out of the stables.