Eden

Did I just miss the last exit to Eden? Did I just miss my only way out of here? - Amanda Marshall
* * *

Eden felt stupid standing in front of the Weyrwoman in her wedding dress while the queens on the Sands looked her over. Falora smiled as Eden blushed. "Feeling a little out of place."

"Trust me when I say that I don't normally dress like this." Eden sighed, wishing she'd had time to change.

"I don't know." Nora smiled. "She was dressed up pretty fancy when I first searched her as well."

Eden sighed, hoping to change the topic. "So what's up with the secret clutch and the multiple queens."

Falora raised a brow. Most people showed a little more respect. "We're not sure exactly why what happened, happened, but we're pretty sure it has something to do with the disappearence/moving of many weyrs. It's a special event related to special circumstances. That's why it's a secret."

Nora smiled. "So was Mitanth right again? Do the queens approve?"

Falora nodded. "They do. Head for the Candidate Barracks and you might want to get changed before you meet the other candidates."

Eden nodded and picked up her bag. A drudge appeared to take the bag from her, but she pulled it back. The boy bowed and started to back away, scared that he had offended her in some way. Eden sighed and smiled. "It's okay. I didn't mean to scare you, but I was taught, that if I brought it, I carry it. You probably have other things to do, but thank you for offering."

Searchrider J'gen and Beka approached to see who Nora had brought back. Upon seeing Eden, J'gen laughed. "Grabbed her right off the altar did you?"

Beka smiled. "We were told to take everyone."

Nora laughed. "Eden proved a little reluctant. I took her when I could."

Eden smiled smugly and lifted her bags. "I can't help it. I have a flare for dramatic entries." She began walking towards her new bunk, leaving the chuckling Searchriders behind her.

"She's the girl you searched a while ago, right? The one who wouldn't come." Beka remember Nora mentioning the name Eden before.

The Head Searchrider nodded. "I know it's a little late, the eggs are due to hatch any time now, but I'm glad I got her."

Falora nodded. "Naomith agrees."

* * *

Eden fell into the routine around Talor Cliff fairly quickly. The work was much lighter than she was used to and the new tasks, such as lugging firestone around, were not that different from chores she was supposed to complete around her Hold. Their teacher soon had her braiding leathers after class, just to keep her ever active-seld busy. She surprised everyone with her amount of knowledge at how a Weyr worked.

"You've never been to a Weyr before Talor Cliff?" The teacher asked for the hundredth time.

Eden just smiled. "It's not that different from a Hold when you get down to it, and I know all about how my Hold works."

Although she had to admit, in some aspects her Hold was nothing like a Weyr. The other students laughed to see her expertise with inanimate objects and people that she's manipulated all her life, dissappear around the beautiful dragons that they'd grown up around. She was even amazed by the firelizards, the tiny creatures were a rarity around her Hold. The only three she'd ever seen had belonged to her horrible brothers, and she didn't even see those very often.

She was therefore thouroughly surprised when a flitter flew into her room and landed on her desk. She was half-way through composing a letter of apology to Ronarian for running out on him. She sighed. She was alway half through a letter of apology. She couldn't think of a good way to end it. How do you say, 'I left you looking like an idiot standing at the altar so I could come to Talor Cliff Weyr and hopefully impress. Sucker.' politely?

The flitter chirped again, demanding attention. Eden smiled and stroked it's head. "Sorry little guy. I got distracted. You got a note for me?"

The firelizard dipped his head and Eden removed the piece of rolled parchment. It was a note from....Ronarian? She recognized the seal of her almost husband. She quickly unrolled it and began reading.

Lady Eden,
I found your brother, Gars, and managed to weasel the truth out of him. I'm sending my firelizard, Ren, with this note hoping he finds you. If you're reading this, he obviously has.

Eden smiled. "He's really not such a bad guy Ren." Eden continued to pet the firelizard. "It's kind of him to write."

I'd better keep this short, or Ren won't be able to carry it. I just wanted to say 'Good luck with the Hatching.' and 'No hard feelings. I would have done the same thing in your position. In fact, I have.'

The writing ended there. Eden turned the paper over, looking for more, very confused about what he meant.

A quiet voice interrupted her puzzlement. "It's nice to hear that I'm not such a bad guy. It's comforting to know that if you hadn't been searched you wouldn't have ran away anyways."

Eden turned around quickly, standing up. "Ronarian? How did you get here?"

The Holder's son smiled. "It's a long story. I'll tell you sometime." He moved closer to her.

Eden smiled. "I'm glad you're not mad at me. Running off on you was a pretty rotten thing to do."

He smiled again, Eden had never noticed how handsome he was before now. "Like the note said. No hard feelings. I ran off on my wedding day too."

Eden smiled. "Guess you could say we eloped."

Ronarian laughed. "It's nice to get to talk like this without our parents looking over our shoulders."

"You said it." There was a moment of silence as the two candidates stared at each other.

"You want to see if we could pay a visit to the sands. The Weyrling Master told me that they should be hatching soon anyways." Ronarian took a chance and moved closer to her.

She smiled and blushed slightly. "Okay." She grabbed his hand in her own.

They watched the sun set together from the Sands. The over-protective queens making sure they didn't get too close to the eggs. Eden smiled. I guess everone gets what they want now. She laid her head on Ronarian's shoulder.

* * *
Eden is a candidate at Talor Cliff Weyr.
Eden's picutre is from The Woman Says.
Background from Myrror Images.