Dragon's Kin

by Anne McCaffrey

  Nuella turned toward it. “You must be Renilan,” she said, letting go of M’tal’s arm and raising her right hand in greeting.

  She heard the old man’s sharp gasp and figured that he was still a meter distant. Then she heard him walk slowly toward her and felt his gnarled hand grasp hers firmly.

  “My wife lost the use of her eyes three Turns before she passed on,” he told her softly. He sighed. “She had the most beautiful eyes. Like yours, lass.”

  Nuella smiled. “Thank you.”

  “You’ve a pretty smile, too,” he added.

  “And I’m stubborn,” she told him.

  “I think you must be,” Renilan agreed. “And I can tell by the way you said it that you’ve been told that I’m stubborn, too.” He gripped her hand tighter. “My Lord Holder asked me to meet you. He said you could teach me what Lord J’lantir couldn’t. How to talk to my Resk, here.”

  Nuella shook your head. “I can’t teach you that,” she said. “All I can do is help you learn it. If you’re willing to do that, then the next time there’s an emergency at your cothold, you’ll be able to get Resk to call for help. From dragons.”

  She heard the surprised gasps of the two youngsters on the other side of her and knew that they were drinking in every word.

  “Ah, that’d be a good trick indeed, lass,” Renilan said. “If it could be done. But I’ve tried already with Lord J’lantir—tried for nearly a month, and the only thing I’ve got to show for it is a bare larder and hungry wee ones to feed.”

  Nuella nodded in understanding. “Could you introduce me to your watch-wher, please?”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, lass,” Ranilan said with a trace of nervousness in his voice. “Resk and I are well bonded and he’s not one for strangers. I’d hate it if he bit you or anything.”

  Nuella stepped around the older man and toward the sound of the watch-wher, her right hand held out, palm up.

  “Lolanth, would you ask Resk if I could greet him?” she said out loud. She heard a surprised snort from the watch-wher and then a quieter chirp.

  “Resk, my name is Nuella,” she said in soft, soothing tones, still walking slowly toward the sound of the watch-wher. “You just heard Lolanth, J’lantir’s dragon. He’s a nice dragon, I just rode in on him. He’s a relative of yours from back in ancient times. He’s a very friendly dragon. He wants to help. He helps like you do. I know you can hear him. Can he hear you? I can teach you how to talk to him. I can teach you and Renilan how to call to the dragons. Would you like that?”

  Warm, moist air blew softly across her outstretched palm. Nuella moved her hand up, slowly, to touch the hard hide of the old watch-wher. Resk started and moved back, but Nuella waited patiently. Slowly, she heard him return. Presently she felt his hot breath on her palm again.

  Concentrating on calm thoughts, she stood still, trying to get a feel for the old watch-wher.

  After a moment, she turned back to Renilan. “May I touch him?”

  “I don’t see why you’re asking me, lass,” the old man said with a snort. “You’re practically touching him now.”

  “Manners,” Nuella replied tartly.

  Renilan let out a bellow. “Ha! Put me right in my place, you did!” he said, still laughing. “Very well, on your head be it. At least you seem to know what you’re doing.”

  “Thank you,” Nuella said. “But could you please tell Resk that it’s okay?”

  Renilan sobered up. “Ah, I see what you mean. Good one, lass.” To his watch-wher he said, “Resk, let the lass touch you, there’s a good lad.”

  “I just want to get a feel of you, Resk,” Nuella said calmly. “You can feel me, too, if you wish.” Slowly she raised her hand to follow the line of his jaw and up toward his neck. She felt the watch-wher’s shock and alarm, and his growing calm as she moved her hands down his neck. She stopped.

  “Are you itchy? Can I rub your eyeridges? The dragons love that, you know.” She stretched her senses until she felt that the watch-wher had acquiesced. “Okay, let me do that now.”

  Slowly she reached up and scratched the watch-wher’s left eyeridge. After a moment the watch-wher lowered his head so that she could reach more easily. Nuella kept scratching.

  “That’s a good lad,” she crooned.

  Resk turned his snout toward her and butted her with it. Nuella laughed. Resk gave a sweet chirp and butted her again. Then Nuella felt the watch-wher’s slivery tongue slide along the line of her jaw and he gave another happy chirp.

  “I don’t believe it!” Renilan exclaimed.

  “It’s just the salt on my skin,” Nuella said, turning her head to the old man.

  “Ha!” Renilan snorted. “If that were so, I’ve much saltier skin than yours—he’d be slobbering all over me.”

  She giggled. “Then you might try washing more.”

  The two holder children gasped at her cheekiness, but Renilan just guffawed. “Washing!” he said between laughs. “Oh, I’ll try that for sure.”

  Nuella heard him walk over to her and felt him clap her on the shoulder. “You’re a good one, lass,” he said approvingly. “You’re a good one.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she said, reaching up to pat Resk again. “I hope you’ll still say that when I’m done.”

  “Weelll . . . let’s say that I’m willing to listen,” he admitted.

  Nuella shook her head. “Listening is not enough,” she said firmly. “Learning is.”

  She heard poorly stifled groans from the children behind her. She turned to them and smiled. “Lord Darel, Lady Erla, M’tal tells me that you work with the Hold’s watch-wher, Lemosk. Is that right?”

  “Yes,” Erla admitted after a moment’s hesitation and some whispered consultation with her older brother.

  “Well, I don’t think that you can learn all that much without Lemosk here,” she said. “And it seems to be awfully late. Would you prefer me to teach you another day?”

  “I’m not tired,” Lord Darel insisted over his yawn.

  “Very well,” Nuella said tactfully. “However, I think I should work with Renilan and Resk first, so that they can get back to their people, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” the two youngsters said in chorus.

  Nuella smiled. “Great. You can watch if you like,” she told them. “But there won’t be all that much to see. In fact, the first thing we’ll do is close our eyes. I’d like you and Renilan to close your eyes and turn toward the fire in the hearth. Can you do that?”

  She heard Renilan’s stubborn hiss and turned to him with a smile and an inquiring look. The old man sighed reluctantly. “There. Now what?”

  “What do you see?” Nuella asked. “No, don’t open your eyes. With your eyes closed, what do you see?”

  “I don’t see anything,” Erla said crossly.

  “Really? Don’t scrunch your eyes, my Lady, just close them, like you’re asleep.”

  “It’s lighter toward the fire,” Darel reported.

  “What color is it?” Nuella asked. “Is it gray or some color?”

  “Sort of orangey-red,” Erla said. “And I can feel the heat on my face.”

  “Very good,” Nuella said encouragingly. “Renilan, how about you?”

  “Well,” the old man said slowly, “I’m farther away, but I can see a lighter spot where the fire is and feel the heat, of course.”

  “Good. Now keep that image in your mind. My friends tell me that it’s blurrier than looking at a fire with your eyes open. Do you agree?”

  “Well, it’s not the same at all, really,” Renilan said thoughtfully. “It’s like it’s hottest in the middle and cooler on the edges.”

  “That’s how your watch-wher sees it,” Nuella said. “Try keeping that image in your mind and asking Resk if that’s what he sees. Keep your eyes closed, please.”

  “Can we ask Lemosk?” Erla asked.

  “She’s not here, silly,” Darel said. “She’s outside by the gates.”

  “Is
there a fire or a torch near her?” Nuella asked. “If so, you could ask her to think about that.”

  Renilan gasped and Resk made a startled noise at the same time. “By the First Shell, you’re right! That’s what Resk sees.”

  “Watch-whers see heat, you see,” Nuella explained. “That’s the way their big eyes work.”

  “So that’s why they can see tunnel snakes when there’re no glows!” Lord Darel exclaimed excitedly.

  “Exactly,” Nuella agreed. She turned to Renilan and said for his ears alone, “You felt him, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” Renilan said in a hushed voice. “I could feel him. I’ve always sort of known how to talk to him but now . . .”

  “Now the hard part’s over,” she said. “Now that you can imagine how Resk sees, you’ll be better able to understand the images he sends you. Now you and Resk can build up a vocabulary, come up with agreed sounds and images that mean something. And then we can teach Resk to use your ‘words’ to talk to the dragons.”

  “They can see heat,” Renilan repeated, more to himself than anyone. He raised his voice for Nuella’s ears, “Can they see people buried in snow?”

  “Or coal, or mud, and even a bit in water,” Nuella told him.

  “That’s why my Lord M’tal wants to train us,” Renilan said in an awed voice. “We lost three cotholds with all their families in an avalanche last winter.”

  “My friend lost his older brothers and his father in a cave-in at our mines two Turns ago,” Nuella said by way of agreement.

  “They should have had a watch-wher,” Renilan said firmly. “I hear they’re good in mines.”

  Nuella turned a bittersweet smile into a full smile. “If they’re trained properly.”

  “Very well, Lady Nuella, let’s start training,” Renilan said with a voice full of commitment.

  “It’s just Nuella,” she replied, shaking her head at the honorific.

  “Not to my way of thinking,” Renilan said fervently.

  Nuella laughed. “Let’s see if you still say that when the cock crows in the morning!”

  “My Lord M’tal, I cannot thank you enough!” Renilan said the next morning, pumping the dragonrider’s hand greatfully. “This will save so many lives.”

  “I’ll be sure to have my sweep riders stop by and get acquainted with Resk,” M’tal told the old wherhandler. When Renilan’s eyes widened, the dragonrider added, “Well, it wouldn’t do any good to have your Resk know how to summon just one dragon.”

  “I suppose it wouldn’t at that,” Renilan admitted in awed tones. “And you can be sure we won’t abuse the privilege; we’ll only call in direst emergency—”

  “Not even a Gather?” M’tal asked plaintively.

  Renilan accepted the teasing with a nod. “And Gathers.”

  M’tal clapped him on the shoulder. “We dragonriders are here to protect Pern and its people, Renilan. I’m just glad that you and your watch-wher can help us do our job better.”

  “Much better,” Renilan agreed, “now that Lady Nuella has taught us how.”

  “Do you think you could teach others yourself, now that you know?” J’lantir asked, stifling a yawn. He had been quite surprised to wake in a soft bed that morning. The last he remembered he had still been in the Great Hall. The mystery had been cleared up when he learned that Nuella had asked to have him moved there after he’d fallen asleep at one of the Great Hall’s tables.

  Renilan pursed his lips thoughtfully. He gave Nuella a sideways look, then replied, “I think I could. I might not be quite as good as my Lady here, but I would do my best.”

  “Resk can talk to the other watch-whers, you know,” Nuella said. “That’s half the battle already.”

  “Half the battle?” Renilan asked.

  Nuella nodded vigorously. “Sure. Resk can tell the other watch-whers how to talk with the Benden dragons he’s met. And they can tell him about the ones they’ve met.”

  “They can?” M’tal and J’lantir said in chorus.

  “Dragons can, can’t they?” Nuella said. “If a dragon can, why can’t a watch-wher?”

  “I’d never thought of that,” M’tal admitted in a tone of admiration. He cocked his head thoughtfully. “Renilan, has your Resk ever met Breth, the Weyrwoman’s dragon?”

  “Why, no, my Lord,” Renilan said.

  “Would you then, kindly,” M’tal continued, “ask your Resk to ask Lemosk how to talk to Breth?”

  “If you wish, my Lord,” Renilan agreed. “He’s a bit sleepy, I’m afraid. It’s just dawn. He might not be too good at it.”

  “Just try,” M’tal said. “We can try tonight or another night if this doesn’t work.”

  Renilan nodded. He closed his eyes in concentration. Resk was sharing Lemosk’s lair for the day and so too far away to hear his handler speak out loud. After a moment Renilan looked up again. “I’ve done it, my Lord. I think Resk knows now.”

  “Could you ask Resk to send a message to Breth?” M’tal asked.

  Renilan looked dubious. “I can try, but I’m still learning, as you know.” He took a quick look at Nuella and straightened up, determined. “Let me correct myself—we’ll do it, my Lord. Maybe not this time but we’ll try until we do. What is the message?”

  “Could you ask her to contact Gaminth?” M’tal said.

  “Oh, no, make it Lolanth,” J’lantir suggested gleefully. “That would be a much better test as they’re not in the same Weyr.”

  “Very well, could you ask her to contact Lolanth, then?”

  “I’ll tr— I’ll do it now,” Renilan answered, closing his eyes again. “There. Although Resk is awfully tired—”

  “By the Shell of Faranth!” J’lantir shouted, jumping with excitement. “It worked! It worked! It worked!” He bounced around the others in glee.

  Throughout the waking Hold, heads turned and Lolanth and Gaminth bugled from their cliffside perches.

  “That’s fine, J’lantir, but you’d better tell my Weyrwoman what we are up to,” M’tal replied drolly. He turned to Nuella and bowed deeply. “My Lady, on behalf of Benden Weyr, I thank you.”

  Nuella blushed scarlet from her head to her toes.

  CHAPTER XII

  Harper, harper, sing me a song.

  Give me a tune that lasts all day long.

  When Nuella returned home, it felt like she had been gone a lifetime, even though it was only a fortnight. She had smelled the sea. She had tasted exotic fruits. She had drunk the best Benden wine—watered down, just the way it was served to the young Lord and Lady; she wasn’t sure she liked it but she had kept that to herself. She had been introduced to fire-lizards and found them charming but too flighty. Watch-whers were much more her sort of person. And dragons, of course. Beneath her, Lolanth rumbled in amused agreement.

  She simply had not gotten used to being called “my Lady.” And the people who had said it to her! It was bad enough that M’tal, Weyrleader of Benden Weyr, had said it, but the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman of Ista Weyr had also called her that. C’rion had even presented her with a gold necklace especially made just for her!

  It was formed of links in the shapes of dragons, fire-lizards, watch-whers, and dolphins. Seeing the latter, Nuella had fearfully entertained the notion that the Istan Weyrleader might want her to teach watch-whers to talk to dolphins, too. Fortunately, as she hadn’t the slightest idea how to go about it, that wasn’t the case—C’rion had merely wanted to give her something as a mark of the Weyr’s gratitude.

  The training had been easy after Renilan. And Nuella had loved every exhausting second of it. The warmth of amazement from both watch-wher and wherhandler as they learned to communicate with each other and with the dragons of Pern was something she would cherish in her heart forever. And she admitted to herself that it was an accomplishment no one could take away from her—and no one else could have done. She had to be blind to see the way the watch-whers did.

  Nuella realized how much she had learned herself. As she
worked with new watch-whers, it had become easier, much easier, to create a rapport with them, to get a feel for what they were feeling and “see” their images.

  She had also learned an incredible amount of watch-wher lore. She couldn’t wait to tell Kindan that Kisk’s name had been predetermined—that watch-whers picked a name that matched their human’s, and that their names always ended in “sk”. Or that the watch-whers of the major Holds always named themselves after their Holds and always bonded with someone of the Hold’s bloodline. Or that watch-whers sometimes outlived their humans and could re-bond with another human—or maybe she wouldn’t tell him that, she thought with a frown. It might upset Kindan too much to realize that if he had only known better he might have saved Dask. Well, she decided, perhaps not. From all she’d heard, Dask had been too injured to re-bond and was too determined to carry out Danil’s wishes to obey anyone else.

  She wondered if Zenor would be there to greet her. They were arriving late, but not too late for him to be up for a special occasion. She wanted to show him her necklace. She wanted to show her father, too. And her mother. Her mother, whose faith in her had never flagged, who had never allowed Nuella to feel held back in the least by her blindness, who had always shown her ways to make it into an asset, to use it to her advantage. And little Larissa. Maybe—Nuella crinkled her nose—she could get out of having to change the baby’s diapers for a bit, perhaps two or three days.

  She felt the impact as Lolanth landed softly on the meadow outside the first mine shaft. She’d asked J’lantir to land there so that her arrival wouldn’t be noticed. She hoped her father would appreciate her thoughtfulness.

  She felt J’lantir hop down. “Come on down, my Lady,” he called from below.

  “It’s lucky it’s night and there’s no one about or we would have had to use the watch-heights to avoid the coal carts.”

  Nuella threw her leg across Lolanth’s neck and slid down off his side into J’lantir’s waiting arms. She had gotten quite fond of that drop, falling free, knowing that someone would be there to catch her. J’lantir twirled her around once and then lightly set her on her feet.