Eden and Alasyth

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

"Snow?" She was slightly surprised to see the white stuff covering the Weyrbowl when she looked out her window. It must have snowed a lot last night. She stood shivering for a minute before quickly dressing and heading to the kitchens. She was halfway through pulling her hair up into a bun when the drudge who'd been just lighting the fire saw her. He was surprised and actually dropped the tongs he'd been holding.

Eden smiled. He obviously hadn't been working here long. Most of the drudges who were up and about in the early morning knew her and her habits. Eden couldn't stand being calm or still or any other word that meant not moving. Long ago she'd devoted her life to the simple adage 'Busy hands are happy hands.' The fact that it was still several hours until breakfast was irrelevant. With a cup of klah she could still get a few hours work in before stopping for her first meal of the day. As she entered the main part of the kitchens she was happy to note that a pot of klah was already warming on the stove.

She grabbed her own cup and poured some of the precious liquid into it. Holding the cup close to her she took a seat at one of the benches. If I have one weakness…

The drudge was still giving her a funny look. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll be out of your way in a minute."

"Forgive me for asking, but are you away somewhere?" The drudge figured that must be the only reason anyone would leave the warmth of their bed on a morning such as this at such an ungodly hour.

Eden laughed. "I'm always away somewhere." She quickly finished the klah and, despite the drudge's protests, washed the cup herself. She stood for a moment wondering what would be her best course of action for the few hours of quiet she had to herself. With this weather, a comforter would be nice…

She headed in the direction of the weaver's room, having met the kind crafter soon after she arrived here and knowing full well that he was alright with her using his facilities. The truth be told, Eden liked being busy. It made her feel like she was in control of what was happening to her, and Eden definitely liked being in control. She may complain about the amount of the self-imposed work, but she'd never give it up.

Three layers should be good for this type of weather. Now what colours? She stared at the basket contained many different colours of thread and wool. Finally she grabbed some dark blue. After all, Ronarian loves dark blue.

* * *

"The sun is not up yet." It was a simple fact, yet somehow he made it sound insulting.

"So? There are more hours in the day than hours with sun." Her fingers continued to quickly moved across the loom. Eden did everything quickly. "Besides, we probably won’t see the sun today anyways."

Ronarian yawned. "I don’t think it’s natural to be up before the sun."

"Than why are you?" Eden smiled at him for a moment. She turned to look at the man and almost dropped a thread. She wondered if he noticed.

Ronarian smiled and rubbed his blue flit's head. "Ren figured that if you’re up, I should be feeding him. He got his breakfast and I decided to see who was crazy enough to be working in the weaver’s room at this time of the morning." He walked over, stood behind her and put his arms around her. "I should have known it was you."

Eden felt that familiar fuzzy feeling growing in her stomach. The fuzzy feeling that made her feel warm, and managed to give her chills at the same time. The fuzzy feeling that could make her stop working and lean back against Ronarian. "How do you do this?"

"What?" He murmured, still obviously tired.

"Make me sleepy." Being warm and protected had that effect on her. The fuzzy feeling made her want to put her head on his shoulder and sleep, even though six hours of sleep was normally more than enough for her.

"What?" He was confused as he pulled her off the bench and onto the floor beside him. He found a half finished rug and it became their blanket.

"Whenever I’m with you, I remember how tired I am, and I end up leaning on you." Eden rested her head on his chest.

Ronarian smiled. "Maybe it’s the only way your heart can get the rest of your body to stay with me."

Eden smiled. "Think highly of yourself, don’t you?"

"Only because it’s true." Ronarian smiled as he saw Eden was already asleep.

* * *

"Candidates!!!" The drudge was obviously excited and relieved to have found them. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you! The eggs are rocking!"

Eden was standing and straightening out her dress before the man was finished talking. Outwardly she seemed calm and in control, like always. But she was really cursing herself for having fallen asleep. "What time is it?"

"About two hours after breakfast. Why?" The man obviously didn’t see what that had to do with anything.

Eden glared at Ronarian. "I’ve wasted three hours. Nice move." With that she quickly walked to her quarters to get her candidate robes, leaving her one-time fiancé behind her, laughing.

Eden was glad that Ronarian understood her. A lot of guys would have been insulted if she'd told them something like that, but not him. He seemed to get it. She quickly pulled a sweater on, it was freezing outside, and then her long white candidate robe. She glanced briefly at her reflection in the mirror, realizing for a second that the white robe looked rather like the white wedding dress she'd arrived here in. She took a moment to appreciate the irony as she went to join the other candidates in the Lower Feeding Caverns. Another person might have called it destiny that brought Eden here, but not this Holder's Daughter. She knew why she was here, and how she got here and fate or destiny had nothing to do with it. It had to do with her mother and her own self-confidence. After all, a person made their own destiny.

"Now, tell me if you aren’t here." The Weyrwoman joked as she stood on a chair in the centre of the assembly. Eden smiled briefly, but not at the joke. Ronarian had put his hands on her waist. They listened to the story of the eggs and what had happened to them. Falora told them that they need not wear the candidate robes if they didn’t want to. Eden looked at Ronarian, and he looked back at her. They were Holder’s children. They’d been raised on tradition. It was in their blood, it was one thing they had that they could always fall back on . It was like a security blanket...and then they’d run away from it all. Seeing in his eyes that he followed her train of thought, they both shed the robes and walked onto the sands. Not touching, but right beside each other.

* * *

Let it be one of Naomith's That was Eden's only wish for her lifemate. She wanted her partner to be from the Sr. Queen. It was not the fact that she was Sr. Queen, or the fact that she had bred many other successful dragon, or the fact that she was the biggest queen there. Eden knew that when Nora had brought her here she wasn't a candidate until the queens accepted her. Eden also knew that it had been Naomith who'd been that queen. Over the time she spent here she'd watched the Sr. Queen and felt that somehow she should make it up to the dragon. Think of a way to say 'thank you for letting me stay' and it was then that she knew she wanted her dragon to be one of Naomith's children.

Somewhere between the Lower Feeding Caverns and the Sands all the 'if' was taken right out of impression. She'd worked long and hard for this and at that very moment, she knew she had what it took to be a dragonrider. The only question now was if her lifemate was out there.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a gold, one of Naomith's metallic daughters, making her way towards her. At first she told herself that she shouldn't get her hopes up, the dragoness could be walking towards another person, but with every step the gold took Eden knew that she was hers. The way it should be…

Of course the way it should be! The golden dragon nuzzled her. I'm Alasyth and I may be only a hatchling, but I know that people make their own destiny, just as you have made yours.

Eden smiled broadly, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Ronarian was giving her a thumbs up. She laughed and knelt to hug her new lifemate. "Do you know what Alasyth?" She looked to the stands and found the familiar face of her brother, and, to her surprise, her family as well. Her father was smiling. Finally she looked directly into the whirling blue eyes of the dragon she was going to spend the rest of her life with. "I think you're wrong. Some things are just destined to be."

* * *
Read Eden’s candidate story.
Eden impressed Alasyth at Talor Cliff Weyr.
Eden’s pictures are from Dolls of Flavour and Angel Dollz.
Background from Myrror Images.