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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 30, 2008 1:24:44 GMT -5
There had, really, been no doubt that the other Weyrs of Pern would accept Weyrwoman Yselka's generous offer.
There was, of course, a downside. A gold egg meant a particular kind of candidate was sought. Queen candidates had to be strong willed and very much 'woman'...mannish girls were inclined to Impress green.
That might, in part, explain the scene that would have greeted those entering the dining hall for noonmeal.
An exquisite, gorgeous blonde was on her feet, one hand on the table, looking down at a brunette who had fallen (or maybe been pushed or tripped). A third young woman, raven-haired, regarded them from the other side.
"Oh, deary me, did you trip?" the blonde, Ivria of High Reaches, inquired of the sandy brunette. "The queen will never choose a clumsy girl."
The brunette, Wiska of Igen Hold, picked herself up with utter dignity. "I doubt very much she would prefer a malicious one."
From the table, the raven girl, Lorisette of Benden, purred, "She will not choose an airhead or a weakling. Anyone can tell *I* am the only suitable candidate for this egg."
"You," Ivria said, an eyebrow arched and putting every bit of contempt into that one word.
Wiska hair-tossed. "Queens require a very specific set of attributes in their candidates."
"And yours are too small," Lorisette teased, to raucous laughter from a couple of boys nearby as they regarded Wiska's flat chest. "And yours, High Reaches, too large."
"Queens do not care what a girl *looks* like..."
An entire bunch of felines could not have made more noise or caused more tension.
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Post by tariala on Nov 30, 2008 3:45:23 GMT -5
Oh, for a butcher’s knife when you needed it. And by now, Nebrona wasn’t sure whether the best use would be for plucking some of the wherries who’d shown up to circle ‘round the gold egg, or for herself, to get some peace before she did snap. And it was probably too much to hope that the newcomers would claw each other to pieces (or to a stint in the infirmary that oh-so-coincidentally lasted past hatching day).
“Careful, dears,” Nebrona broke in, with gentle condescension to Ivria and Lorisette. “If you keep clucking like that, she might take you for wherries- and hatchlings are *very* hungry, you know.”
Even as she said it, she knew she shouldn’t get into it. You just couldn’t teach some people, and, if Faranth had any notion of justice at all, neither Ivria nor Lorisette would be walking away with the gold. Surely Lyeth’s daughter would have more sense. And it was probably a bad thing to *wish* for maulings. Probably.
But petty little incidents like this just ticked off the guard in Nebrona, and if she could do anything at all to discourage them, she had to try.
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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 30, 2008 13:24:26 GMT -5
The look Wiska shot Nebrona was almost, but not quite grateful.
Lorisette took in Nebrona, and her knot. "Well, well, well. I suppose you think the gold might pick *you*?"
And Ivria almost seemed to come in on her side. "Not pretty enough. Definitely not pretty enough. Besides, she looks awfully...Istan...to me. And everyone knows golds prefer women from outside their own Weyr."
Wiska shook her head. "Golds prefer holdbred women, and I would bet a full mark I am the only one of *those* here."
Discouraged? Not hardly. The three women were glaring at each other and Nebrona with equal vehemence.
Maybe the gold would pick some shy girl out of the *Stands* to avoid this crowd...
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Post by phlysolo on Nov 30, 2008 15:51:23 GMT -5
By the First Egg, couldn't she eat in peace? Couldn't she enjoy just one meal in the silence of her own company? Couldn't she have just three candlemarks to herself without having to listen to the foolish blabberings of trumped up, narsasistic, idiotic, snobby, gold-rider-wannabe whores? While she herself was insufferable, having to listen to the three newest transfers go on and on about how amazing they were, how beautiful, how perfect, how absolutely foolish anyone was to think that they would be anything less than goldriders was starting to make Lenia absolutely sick.
Holdbred, Weyrbred, it didn't matter. They were the same, no matter where they hailed from. Did they honestly think that any of them had the will to control those stuffed wherries, those arrogant golden ninnies? If they believed it then they were even more stupid than Lenia gave them credit for. From where she sat, she could hear all three of them going on about how better they were than the other, how much more pretty, how much more worthy to ride the gold. Lenia was going to do no less than ignore them until she heard Nebrona's voice ring above theirs, a stark challenge. Fool. Well, not so much. Her head, at least, contained a brain.
Unable to stand it much more, and feeling a rare streak of pity for the outnumbered Ista female, Lenia turned from the meager meal she'd laid out for herself and stood up to face the three transfers.
"Holdbred? Yes, you certainly stink of bovines and grass. I don't think a gold could stand that particular stench," She hissed, a smirk carved onto her face. "As for golds choosing those outside their own Weyrs, don't count on it. Ista golds know better than to belittle themselves to Fly elsewhere."
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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 30, 2008 18:20:05 GMT -5
"I suppose," Lorisette drawled, "That you think *you* are the best candidate?" She looked Lenia up and down. "Definitely not pretty enough."
Wyska pointed out, "Gold dragons don't always choose *pretty*. I don't think they care what we look like."
"That's just," said Ivria, very softly, "You justifying your own lack of anything that would interest a man. You wouldn't even catch the attention of a green-riding dyke."
Lorisette head-tossed. "At least I can promise the queen I'm not one of *those*," she said, with infinite contempt for those lesser females who would dare consider another woman in their bed.
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Post by tariala on Nov 30, 2008 20:13:39 GMT -5
Nebrona had to take a moment to process Lenia’s dubious help. Should she remind the other girl that the current Weyrwoman was holdbred? Probably not. She was about to say something when the girls hissed their reply, and she barked a laugh. “I don’t think she’s exactly heartbroken about that.” Really, to say such thing, even if you felt them, in a Weyr?
“Ladies,” Again, mostly to Lorisette and Ivria. “Unless one of you possesses the unheard-of skill to ask the queen what she’s looking for in a rider while in the egg, and the guts to approach Lyeth to ask her, I suggest you all settle down, and put something in those mouths besides hot air. And no, miss-not-a-woman-lover, not one of *those*. No proof of sexuality at the dinner table until after dessert.” She quirked her lips in a smile, glancing at Lenia. “That is in the Weyr etiquette somewhere, right?”
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Post by phlysolo on Nov 30, 2008 20:56:56 GMT -5
Was that...it? The absolute best quip the those three dimglows could have possibly come up with was a measly little jab about whom she chose to take to bed? In all her Turns, and in all the Turns she expected the three queen Candidates to have, she would have thought that they would have more knowledge of how to insult people than that. Really, a child half their age could have come up with something, anything, much more rude and obnoxious than that-and certainly more cutting.
"Well, when I Impress a fighting dragon that'll save your useless behinds, I'll certainly not be so loose that I'll flap more than my dragon's wings," She said simply, doubting that these three simpletons would put two and two together and realize just what body part she was speaking of.
"The queen, I wouldn't doubt, would rather have someone who beds the same sex than someone who beds so frequently that she's no more than the common bitch," Lenia addressed Lorisette.
She had been about to say more when Nebrona cut across her, laughing in amusement. Ah, well at least she did have a sense of humor, although not perhaps as dark as Lenia's own. Her diplomacy did startle the elder Candidate and she couldn't prevent her eyebrows from flicking upwards only slightly. Out of the five of them, she got the distinct impression that if anyone was suited for the queen in this particular company, it would be Nebrona.
"I don't believe they're serving dessert tonight, so perhaps we can just skip to that part?" A coy smile danced about Lenia's lips, folding her arms over her chest.
OoC: Please not that the word "bitch" in this post is referring to the female canine.
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Post by ShadowReine on Nov 30, 2008 22:49:51 GMT -5
Ivria snorted. "I don't bed frequently. I save my charms for *men* who truly deserve them."
Lorisette glared at her. "That means she won't so much as look at a guy who doesn't have a bronze knot."
"Which is why you were admiring the Weyrleader's butt?" That was Ivria.
"I was admiring his dragon."
Wiska shook his head. "Personally, I have no interest in the guys here. I'm not staying unless I Impress green." She made 'green' an insult. "I have *plans* for that queen dragon."
"Yeah, right, you're going to start your own Weyr?" Lorisette's lips curled. "And you think you're going to get any bronzeriders to follow you to that Faranth-forsaken desert."
Wiska shook her head. "And," she turned to Lenia. "I don't flap either set of lips, thank you very much, I think about what I say and who I bed."
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