Renegades of Pern - Chapter Five
Jan. 18th, 2024 12:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, Thella was awesome. Evil, but awesome. Now though, she's learned of the presumed heroine's existence.
So we rejoin Thella as she and Giron reach the Igen caverns. Apparently their usual entrance is blocked up, which annoys Thella considerably. They kvetch about the shoddy workmanship of the barricade, as though it adds insult to injury, which amuses me.
We learn a bit more about why Thella likes this place, which I'll add because I like caves.
"The site had been excellent for her purposes. A tangle of young sky-broom saplings partially concealed an opening just high enough to permit runners to enter. Inside, the ceiling was sufficient for tall men to stand erect. A small chamber to the right of the entrance made an excellent beast shelter, with water oozing into a pool. There were four other tunnels leading from the entrance, two of them falling into dangerous shafts; the widest led deep into the bowels of the cave system; the fourth and narrowest seemed to end within a dragon-length but, in fact, turned abruptly right and came out at one of the intersecting main passages of the inhabited portions of the cave system.
We get our first glimpse of Aramina:
Aramina was a slender brown girl, her pants rolled to her knees, and traces of mud on her legs and arms. Her clothing was muddy, as well, and as she passed by Thella’s vantage point, the odor of the mudflats lingered about her, along with the stench of the net full of shellfish she carried. A small, muddier boy tagged along, calling, ‘Aramina, wait for me!’ — and Thella had the positive identification she needed.
She saw Giron’s cold eyes following the pair, and the ominous expression on his face made her uncomfortable.
‘I’ll want some proof of her abilities,’ she said. ‘She’s of an age to be difficult. Too old to be malleable, and too young to be reasoned with. Find out what you can about her. I’ll see where she squats.’ She caught his arm as he turned away. ‘And be sure you eat before you come back. It looks like some scavenger smelled out the supplies we left here.’
Not sure what to think about Giron right now. I hope he won't be some kind of pervert.
Anyway, Thella decides to go looking for information. There's a shit ton of people in the caves that aren't normally there. They're apparently waiting for "Lady Holder Doris" who comes with healers to tend to folks and distribute a ration of flour and vegetables. Thella recalls Aramina's net and realizes that they're supplementing their supplies.
Igen's rulers actually seem like decent folk.
Thella of course, disapproves:
Those holdless drifters were living better than she, of Telgar’s Bloodline, had in her first Turn of the Pass. Well, if the Igen Lord Holder and his Lady had food to give to beggars, then she would not mind lifting more of their goods in the future, Thella decided, skirting the crowd deftly. No-one seemed to take note of her as she ducked down the passageway to Brare’s squat.
I mean, you were basically a holdless drifter yourself. But then villains don't have to be consistent.
Thella's informant, Brare, informs her of recent news. Basically the Lord's been sending men to search at odd times. They're looking for the folks that stole the grain. Thella is both pleased by her implied greater reputation but also frustrated that it's extended this far. She rethinks raiding Igen.
Brare though clearly wants something. He uses her name, which he's not supposed to know. But Thella decides that she does trust the guy to be reliable (Readis had confirmed his trustworthiness) and gives him the asked for bribe.
This turns out to be good, because he definitely has the information that she's looking for. He also knows that Giron is dragonless. He knows a lot. He confirms that Aramina (who is indeed the daughter of Dowell and Barla from the prologue - and thus distantly related to Lessa) can hear dragons. At least according to the hunters, who take her with them if there are some fears of Thread.
Actually, apparently Brare is the one who informed Readis that Giron was here to begin with. He directs her to Aramina's cave. He also shows off his crutch, which Dowell had carved. Thella notes that both father and daughter would be useful.
Thella also wonders why no one ever bothered to "[take] Igen's cave complex to Hold", meaning, I think, to permanently settle there. It's kind of weirdly worded, as she notes that the main chamber would be prone to flooding, and there's an implicit "but" there that isn't really followed up on.
Anyway, she gets to the family caves, noting that she'll have to figure out "what pressures" she could put on Aramina's parents so the girl would come of her own accord.
I mean, you could just ASK. They're holdless right now, maybe they could be convinced that your hold is better than nothing?
Giron returns and confirms that she hears the dragons.
His tone made her examine him more closely, and she got a sense of a bitter poignant envy, an unsettling rancorous anger seething in the dragonless man. They had done him no favors restoring his health. So why had he come with her, knowing her quest?
It's hard to blame the guy for being bitter. Between the loss and psychic damage, losing a dragon would be terrible. Even if everyone in the Weyrs did try to help (and depending on the Weyr, that's not a guarantee), it would be hard to be in their presence.
Of course, we never hear if Brekke has any issue with it. But of course, she's F'nor's prize, so how could she be anything but happy to be with him?
So the next day, Thella puts on holder clothing in "Keronian colors" and wearing a beasthold journeyman's shoulder knot. She comes into Dowell's alcove, saying she has a commission.
Dowell and his family seem friendly enough. (Thella, meeting Barla, thinks that the woman "might well have been coveted by Fax", which is a weird fucking thing to think. But I guess it's relevant that she's still a handsome woman.) She chooses to commission two armchairs in a fellis leaf pattern as a bride present.
Dowell is weirdly hesitant. It's not clear why, yet. Maybe he just finds her off-putting. She doesn't really help matters when she mentions seeing Aramina the day before.
Aramina seems a bit touchy, which is promising:
‘Do you dig every day to fill the family pot?’ What did one talk about to timid girls who heard dragons?
‘We share what we dig,’ Aramina said, lifting her chin proudly.
‘Laudable, most laudable,’ Thella said, though she thought it rather odd that a girl who had lived holdless would be so touchy. ‘I’ll see you this evening, Master Dowell.’
Poor people still have pride, Thella.
But this really does make me happy. First, I like that Thella's classist biases are consistent. They're an organic flaw that makes sense and will hopefully play a part in her inevitable downfall.
I also like that Aramina gets to be touchy. That's promising. Hopefully she will have actual traits. She's not positioned as a rival for Thella, so she doesn't have to be the anti-Thella in a way that poor Brekke was stuck being the anti-Kylara.
She can hear Barla being excited about the promised price, and has to think quickly about where to find seasoned wood that a prosperous holder woman would use as a gift. Heh.
Thella disappoints me a bit here:
She was back that evening and expressed lavish praise for the five designs he showed her. He was a good draftsman and showed a fine range of chair types. She was tempted to do more than just string him along with promise of work in an attempt to gain the daughter’s confidence. Such armchairs would be far more comfortable than the canvas affairs and the stiff benches which were all she currently had. The harp-back design could be easily transported in sections to her hold and then glued together. One design, with a high, straight back, wide, gracefully curved arms, and carved legs and cross-pieces, was particularly splendid.
Why string the guy along? Wouldn't it make more sense to be his patron, if you're trying to win over his daughter.
Giron however interrupts the discussion: searchers are there.
She comes back a bit later, discussing wood and haggling. She gives more than she thinks she ought, but she figures that she'll never have to give over the rest. Which again, seems pretty short-sighted. Aramina is out with the hunters.
Thella asks Brare if anyone knows about Aramina's abilities. Brare immediately clocks that she's worried about the Weyr: they'll snap the girl up immediately if they know what she can do.
Brare reassures her, no one's going to tell. The only folk who know are the hunters, and she's the reason why they can venture farther to find wherries to hunt.
We do find out where Thella gets the wood, sort of. We're told she and Giron "find" it, and replace what they stole with inferior planks.
She starts the campaign to lure them to her Hold. Barla's resistant though: they're planning to go home to Ruatha. It makes sense as Fax is long gone. But I wonder why it's taken them so long. This is set 12 years after the first fall after all. And THAT was four years after Lessa was recruited/Fax was killed.
Lytol's been in charge of Ruatha then, for sixteen years. We're four years or so away from Jaxom getting his head out of his ass.
One option is that Aramina's abilities are allowing them to plan their way back to Ruatha, but still...it's a bit odd.
Apparently, the searches aren't just about the raids. They're basically looking for able-bodied workers for the Smithcrafthall and Telgar's mines. To be fair, it does sound like they're collecting volunteers rather than conscripting people.
The population of the cavern had noticeably decreased the first night. Sufficient folk, those with families particularly, had volunteered for the Smithcrafthall’s various projects: not just the making of more agenothree flamethrowers and the maintenance of existing apparatus, but some scheme — and Giron was skeptical — of the Master-smith’s to provide better communications between all Holds, Halls, and Weyrs. Thella did not like the idea of mountain mines being reopened. The unused shafts made ideal refuges. Still, she could always give her scouts miner’s knots to wear on their shoulders. They would then have an explanation for their presence in the shafts.
She does have some concern about Larad's stewards recognizing her, so she stays out of sight.
I just realized agenothree is probably Silver Nitrate (AgNO3). I figured it was a chemical, but only now just sounded it out. Embarrassing.
Anyway, she realizes that she doesn't really have time to persuade the parents. And really, she just wants Aramina. So she basically plans to kidnap the girl and use threats to keep her in line.
However, the family leaves before she can. This also enrages Brare, since it means Aramina won't be available for a hunt today. Um, dude. You don't own her. He goes to get more information.
Giron seems kind of resentful/restless here:
‘He should have known they were going,’ Giron replied in a savage tone. ‘It’ll be a warm day between before I believe that footless man again.’ He started to leave. ‘They can’t have gone far, not with three children and a cart pulled by burden beasts.’
‘Burden beasts?’ Thella followed him, not at first realizing that she was. She stopped. ‘Why didn’t you tell me they had burden beasts?’
Giron halted and swung around to her, disgusted. ‘You’re not usually slow-witted. You couldn’t have missed seeing the yoke they had chained to an upper.’ He grabbed her by the hand. ‘They’d beasts for the yoke — kept ‘em at grass, south of the cavern.’
Giron's interesting. I don't know which way I think he'll lead. I'm basically assuming that Readis will end up siding with the heroes. But Giron...
Anyway, Thella's annoyed to realize that at some point, she followed GIRON's orders when it came to the search. But I think she's over sensitive. This is more his area of expertise, that's all.
Anyway, there was a caravan train that left and Giron figures that Dowell would join them. Since they'd probably rather not be on their own.
I like this bit though:
‘Watch that, Giron!’ She meant both noise and rough-handling. She did not hold with needless mistreatment of animals. She would have expected better management from a dragonless man — or maybe he was revenging his loss on other animals.
One thing that I really like about Thella as a villain is that she's not carelessly wasteful. She can be ruthless, as we saw with the informant last chapter, but that's generally for a reason. She's not really casually cruel.
They leave - but not before putting enough rocks and debris back to make sure the entrance still looks blocked. In case they need to return.
So then we shift to the caravan. Jayge is there. I remember him from the first Threadfall chapter. It's now twelve years later, which means he's probably a grown man.
We get an update into how things are for him, as he thinks resentfully about the recruitment efforts from the smiths and minors:
The fourth day out of Igen, Jayge had lost all his bad temper. All he had really needed was to get back on the road again, away from holders, away from the shifting and shiftless masses in the low caverns and the constant appeals from the Smithcrafthallers and the Telgarans to ‘take a hold of himself,’ ‘be useful,’ ‘learn a good craft,’ and ‘make enough credits to bank with a Bitran.’
He liked being a trader; he had always liked the open road, setting his own pace, commanding his own time, and being accountable to himself alone for what he ate and wore and where he sheltered. Jayge certainly would not have traded the hazards of life on track and trail, despite the horrors of Threadfall, for a secure life straining his guts and his back to carve rooms in someone else’s hold. The three wretched miserable Turns at Kimmage Hold had been sample enough of holding. He could not imagine how his Uncle Borel and the others could possibly have chosen to remain at Kimmage as little more than drudges. The children for whom they were sacrificing themselves would not appreciate it when they got older. Not Lilcamps with the restlessness bred into the Blood.
So Jayge is a bit selfish, but not in a bad way. He's walking point for the train, and we hear a bit about the wagons...namely, they have metal roofs. Jayge doesn't intend that they get caught in Thread, of course, but thus far they've actually been able to avoid it.
There's some nice environmental description here:
The great trees, unique to this one long stretch of the valley, had root systems that radiated in a great circle around the trunk to support the soaring limbs and tufted heights. In the misty early morning light the sky-brooms had the appearance of skeletal giants with bushy heads of hair, and abnormally long arms that either reached for the sky or hung to knobby legs.
Only as Jayge passed them could he see the twined trunks; the more there were, the older the sky-broom. The short tufts of spiny leaves flattened out, often hiding wild wherry nests situated too high above the ground for snakes to reach and easily guarded from nest-robbing wherries. Often the crowns of coarse, short leaves would be eaten away by Threadfall. Some of the giants had fallen, leaving jagged stumps jutting high above the extensive plain. Sky-broom was a much-treasured wood, though very difficult to work, or so Jayge had heard from a Lemosan woodsman. Whole branches could be used as support beams in free-standing holds, strong enough to support the weight of a slate roof.
I like landscapes.
Anyway, Jayge catches sight of some dragons which makes him a bit anxious. Can't blame him. Jayge's younger half-sister seems to be a big dragon fan. Their brother, Tino, is old enough to remember the Threadfall and are more impassive. Yeah, that Oldtimer really didn't make the best first impression.
Jayge's dad, Crenden, is still in charge of the caravan, by the way. That's good to see. Readis is, of course, gone. Jayge misses him.
They end up encountering a man and a woman. The woman identifies herself as Bestra of Keroon Beasthold. She explains that they're looking for a thief: a holdless man who took money and wood from her. This is, of course, Thella in disguise.
Jayge says that they've passed no one, and when she asks about other trails that a single yoked animal could travel, he just says that he wouldn't try with one of his. Unfortunately, another trainmate, a guy named Arnald, is more innocently helpful, noting that it rained recently which should help "Bestra" find the tracks.
Apparently Lilcamps don't get involved with local disputes as it is, but Jayge decides that he's more sympathetic to the people running from Thella. Fair enough. Later he reminds Arnald to let him do the talking.
But actually Arnald knows more than they think. He recognized Thella, that's why he'd told her what she wanted to know. (Jayge's aunt, Temma, actually recognizes Giron as a dragonless man from Telgar.)
Jayge has never heard of Thella. Arnald admired her, thinking she was a fine looking lady. Temma, who is "not a plain woman herself" (why is that relevant?) is "a good judge of her own sex." She'd rather make sure Thella's out of range. They make Arnald point, and decide to go check. (Temma apparently is having a bit of a romance with a fellow named Nazer. Jayge is glad for it, as she'd been alone a long time.)
We switch again to Giron and Thella. They've finally found the right tracks, but they've lost some days in pursuit. Thella notes that she'll make the "snotty young trader pay for his impudence."
Dowell had apparently covered his tracks well, and Thella wonders what went wrong. She thinks she was tactful and careful. She wonders if Brare tipped them off, but thinks that's unlikely since Aramina's so valuable to the hunters. She wonders if Giron unsettled them, or if someone had let slip her identity.
I don't know, maybe they can smell bitch?
I feel like trying to force Aramina into service is a bad idea. Her powers are useful, sure. But it seems like it'd be really easy for her to screw Thella over if she was so inclined.
The sight of dragons above makes Thella panic. Not so much because of Thread itself (Giron points out that they're in Asgenar's forest, and the riders will be very thorough about preventing the Thread from penetrating), but because she doesn't want to be detected by the riders.
She is also pretty anxious about losing Aramina to Thread. Which, fair, I guess. But Aramina can talk to dragons, and avoiding Thread is what she did back at the caves.
They end up finding the family's wagon - abandoned for cover, likely. Thella chooses to stay at the wagon, while Giron is ordered to take the animals to the caves. In the morning though the dragonriders are still around.
There's a lot of worrying and ranting, but eventually they do spot Aramina foraging nuts, while a guard assists. They wait until she drifts far enough away from the guard and grab her.
‘It falls out well, after all, Giron,’ Thella said, snatching a handful of hair and pulling the girl’s head back, giving her a little pain back for all the trouble she had caused. Thella thoroughly enjoyed the fright and terror in Aramina’s eyes. ‘We have snared the wild wherry after all.’
Aramina's not completely helpless though, as she seems to call for a dragon. Giron ends up heaving Aramina way from him. They end up fleeing the dragon and the chapter ends.
So we rejoin Thella as she and Giron reach the Igen caverns. Apparently their usual entrance is blocked up, which annoys Thella considerably. They kvetch about the shoddy workmanship of the barricade, as though it adds insult to injury, which amuses me.
We learn a bit more about why Thella likes this place, which I'll add because I like caves.
"The site had been excellent for her purposes. A tangle of young sky-broom saplings partially concealed an opening just high enough to permit runners to enter. Inside, the ceiling was sufficient for tall men to stand erect. A small chamber to the right of the entrance made an excellent beast shelter, with water oozing into a pool. There were four other tunnels leading from the entrance, two of them falling into dangerous shafts; the widest led deep into the bowels of the cave system; the fourth and narrowest seemed to end within a dragon-length but, in fact, turned abruptly right and came out at one of the intersecting main passages of the inhabited portions of the cave system.
We get our first glimpse of Aramina:
Aramina was a slender brown girl, her pants rolled to her knees, and traces of mud on her legs and arms. Her clothing was muddy, as well, and as she passed by Thella’s vantage point, the odor of the mudflats lingered about her, along with the stench of the net full of shellfish she carried. A small, muddier boy tagged along, calling, ‘Aramina, wait for me!’ — and Thella had the positive identification she needed.
She saw Giron’s cold eyes following the pair, and the ominous expression on his face made her uncomfortable.
‘I’ll want some proof of her abilities,’ she said. ‘She’s of an age to be difficult. Too old to be malleable, and too young to be reasoned with. Find out what you can about her. I’ll see where she squats.’ She caught his arm as he turned away. ‘And be sure you eat before you come back. It looks like some scavenger smelled out the supplies we left here.’
Not sure what to think about Giron right now. I hope he won't be some kind of pervert.
Anyway, Thella decides to go looking for information. There's a shit ton of people in the caves that aren't normally there. They're apparently waiting for "Lady Holder Doris" who comes with healers to tend to folks and distribute a ration of flour and vegetables. Thella recalls Aramina's net and realizes that they're supplementing their supplies.
Igen's rulers actually seem like decent folk.
Thella of course, disapproves:
Those holdless drifters were living better than she, of Telgar’s Bloodline, had in her first Turn of the Pass. Well, if the Igen Lord Holder and his Lady had food to give to beggars, then she would not mind lifting more of their goods in the future, Thella decided, skirting the crowd deftly. No-one seemed to take note of her as she ducked down the passageway to Brare’s squat.
I mean, you were basically a holdless drifter yourself. But then villains don't have to be consistent.
Thella's informant, Brare, informs her of recent news. Basically the Lord's been sending men to search at odd times. They're looking for the folks that stole the grain. Thella is both pleased by her implied greater reputation but also frustrated that it's extended this far. She rethinks raiding Igen.
Brare though clearly wants something. He uses her name, which he's not supposed to know. But Thella decides that she does trust the guy to be reliable (Readis had confirmed his trustworthiness) and gives him the asked for bribe.
This turns out to be good, because he definitely has the information that she's looking for. He also knows that Giron is dragonless. He knows a lot. He confirms that Aramina (who is indeed the daughter of Dowell and Barla from the prologue - and thus distantly related to Lessa) can hear dragons. At least according to the hunters, who take her with them if there are some fears of Thread.
Actually, apparently Brare is the one who informed Readis that Giron was here to begin with. He directs her to Aramina's cave. He also shows off his crutch, which Dowell had carved. Thella notes that both father and daughter would be useful.
Thella also wonders why no one ever bothered to "[take] Igen's cave complex to Hold", meaning, I think, to permanently settle there. It's kind of weirdly worded, as she notes that the main chamber would be prone to flooding, and there's an implicit "but" there that isn't really followed up on.
Anyway, she gets to the family caves, noting that she'll have to figure out "what pressures" she could put on Aramina's parents so the girl would come of her own accord.
I mean, you could just ASK. They're holdless right now, maybe they could be convinced that your hold is better than nothing?
Giron returns and confirms that she hears the dragons.
His tone made her examine him more closely, and she got a sense of a bitter poignant envy, an unsettling rancorous anger seething in the dragonless man. They had done him no favors restoring his health. So why had he come with her, knowing her quest?
It's hard to blame the guy for being bitter. Between the loss and psychic damage, losing a dragon would be terrible. Even if everyone in the Weyrs did try to help (and depending on the Weyr, that's not a guarantee), it would be hard to be in their presence.
Of course, we never hear if Brekke has any issue with it. But of course, she's F'nor's prize, so how could she be anything but happy to be with him?
So the next day, Thella puts on holder clothing in "Keronian colors" and wearing a beasthold journeyman's shoulder knot. She comes into Dowell's alcove, saying she has a commission.
Dowell and his family seem friendly enough. (Thella, meeting Barla, thinks that the woman "might well have been coveted by Fax", which is a weird fucking thing to think. But I guess it's relevant that she's still a handsome woman.) She chooses to commission two armchairs in a fellis leaf pattern as a bride present.
Dowell is weirdly hesitant. It's not clear why, yet. Maybe he just finds her off-putting. She doesn't really help matters when she mentions seeing Aramina the day before.
Aramina seems a bit touchy, which is promising:
‘Do you dig every day to fill the family pot?’ What did one talk about to timid girls who heard dragons?
‘We share what we dig,’ Aramina said, lifting her chin proudly.
‘Laudable, most laudable,’ Thella said, though she thought it rather odd that a girl who had lived holdless would be so touchy. ‘I’ll see you this evening, Master Dowell.’
Poor people still have pride, Thella.
But this really does make me happy. First, I like that Thella's classist biases are consistent. They're an organic flaw that makes sense and will hopefully play a part in her inevitable downfall.
I also like that Aramina gets to be touchy. That's promising. Hopefully she will have actual traits. She's not positioned as a rival for Thella, so she doesn't have to be the anti-Thella in a way that poor Brekke was stuck being the anti-Kylara.
She can hear Barla being excited about the promised price, and has to think quickly about where to find seasoned wood that a prosperous holder woman would use as a gift. Heh.
Thella disappoints me a bit here:
She was back that evening and expressed lavish praise for the five designs he showed her. He was a good draftsman and showed a fine range of chair types. She was tempted to do more than just string him along with promise of work in an attempt to gain the daughter’s confidence. Such armchairs would be far more comfortable than the canvas affairs and the stiff benches which were all she currently had. The harp-back design could be easily transported in sections to her hold and then glued together. One design, with a high, straight back, wide, gracefully curved arms, and carved legs and cross-pieces, was particularly splendid.
Why string the guy along? Wouldn't it make more sense to be his patron, if you're trying to win over his daughter.
Giron however interrupts the discussion: searchers are there.
She comes back a bit later, discussing wood and haggling. She gives more than she thinks she ought, but she figures that she'll never have to give over the rest. Which again, seems pretty short-sighted. Aramina is out with the hunters.
Thella asks Brare if anyone knows about Aramina's abilities. Brare immediately clocks that she's worried about the Weyr: they'll snap the girl up immediately if they know what she can do.
Brare reassures her, no one's going to tell. The only folk who know are the hunters, and she's the reason why they can venture farther to find wherries to hunt.
We do find out where Thella gets the wood, sort of. We're told she and Giron "find" it, and replace what they stole with inferior planks.
She starts the campaign to lure them to her Hold. Barla's resistant though: they're planning to go home to Ruatha. It makes sense as Fax is long gone. But I wonder why it's taken them so long. This is set 12 years after the first fall after all. And THAT was four years after Lessa was recruited/Fax was killed.
Lytol's been in charge of Ruatha then, for sixteen years. We're four years or so away from Jaxom getting his head out of his ass.
One option is that Aramina's abilities are allowing them to plan their way back to Ruatha, but still...it's a bit odd.
Apparently, the searches aren't just about the raids. They're basically looking for able-bodied workers for the Smithcrafthall and Telgar's mines. To be fair, it does sound like they're collecting volunteers rather than conscripting people.
The population of the cavern had noticeably decreased the first night. Sufficient folk, those with families particularly, had volunteered for the Smithcrafthall’s various projects: not just the making of more agenothree flamethrowers and the maintenance of existing apparatus, but some scheme — and Giron was skeptical — of the Master-smith’s to provide better communications between all Holds, Halls, and Weyrs. Thella did not like the idea of mountain mines being reopened. The unused shafts made ideal refuges. Still, she could always give her scouts miner’s knots to wear on their shoulders. They would then have an explanation for their presence in the shafts.
She does have some concern about Larad's stewards recognizing her, so she stays out of sight.
I just realized agenothree is probably Silver Nitrate (AgNO3). I figured it was a chemical, but only now just sounded it out. Embarrassing.
Anyway, she realizes that she doesn't really have time to persuade the parents. And really, she just wants Aramina. So she basically plans to kidnap the girl and use threats to keep her in line.
However, the family leaves before she can. This also enrages Brare, since it means Aramina won't be available for a hunt today. Um, dude. You don't own her. He goes to get more information.
Giron seems kind of resentful/restless here:
‘He should have known they were going,’ Giron replied in a savage tone. ‘It’ll be a warm day between before I believe that footless man again.’ He started to leave. ‘They can’t have gone far, not with three children and a cart pulled by burden beasts.’
‘Burden beasts?’ Thella followed him, not at first realizing that she was. She stopped. ‘Why didn’t you tell me they had burden beasts?’
Giron halted and swung around to her, disgusted. ‘You’re not usually slow-witted. You couldn’t have missed seeing the yoke they had chained to an upper.’ He grabbed her by the hand. ‘They’d beasts for the yoke — kept ‘em at grass, south of the cavern.’
Giron's interesting. I don't know which way I think he'll lead. I'm basically assuming that Readis will end up siding with the heroes. But Giron...
Anyway, Thella's annoyed to realize that at some point, she followed GIRON's orders when it came to the search. But I think she's over sensitive. This is more his area of expertise, that's all.
Anyway, there was a caravan train that left and Giron figures that Dowell would join them. Since they'd probably rather not be on their own.
I like this bit though:
‘Watch that, Giron!’ She meant both noise and rough-handling. She did not hold with needless mistreatment of animals. She would have expected better management from a dragonless man — or maybe he was revenging his loss on other animals.
One thing that I really like about Thella as a villain is that she's not carelessly wasteful. She can be ruthless, as we saw with the informant last chapter, but that's generally for a reason. She's not really casually cruel.
They leave - but not before putting enough rocks and debris back to make sure the entrance still looks blocked. In case they need to return.
So then we shift to the caravan. Jayge is there. I remember him from the first Threadfall chapter. It's now twelve years later, which means he's probably a grown man.
We get an update into how things are for him, as he thinks resentfully about the recruitment efforts from the smiths and minors:
The fourth day out of Igen, Jayge had lost all his bad temper. All he had really needed was to get back on the road again, away from holders, away from the shifting and shiftless masses in the low caverns and the constant appeals from the Smithcrafthallers and the Telgarans to ‘take a hold of himself,’ ‘be useful,’ ‘learn a good craft,’ and ‘make enough credits to bank with a Bitran.’
He liked being a trader; he had always liked the open road, setting his own pace, commanding his own time, and being accountable to himself alone for what he ate and wore and where he sheltered. Jayge certainly would not have traded the hazards of life on track and trail, despite the horrors of Threadfall, for a secure life straining his guts and his back to carve rooms in someone else’s hold. The three wretched miserable Turns at Kimmage Hold had been sample enough of holding. He could not imagine how his Uncle Borel and the others could possibly have chosen to remain at Kimmage as little more than drudges. The children for whom they were sacrificing themselves would not appreciate it when they got older. Not Lilcamps with the restlessness bred into the Blood.
So Jayge is a bit selfish, but not in a bad way. He's walking point for the train, and we hear a bit about the wagons...namely, they have metal roofs. Jayge doesn't intend that they get caught in Thread, of course, but thus far they've actually been able to avoid it.
There's some nice environmental description here:
The great trees, unique to this one long stretch of the valley, had root systems that radiated in a great circle around the trunk to support the soaring limbs and tufted heights. In the misty early morning light the sky-brooms had the appearance of skeletal giants with bushy heads of hair, and abnormally long arms that either reached for the sky or hung to knobby legs.
Only as Jayge passed them could he see the twined trunks; the more there were, the older the sky-broom. The short tufts of spiny leaves flattened out, often hiding wild wherry nests situated too high above the ground for snakes to reach and easily guarded from nest-robbing wherries. Often the crowns of coarse, short leaves would be eaten away by Threadfall. Some of the giants had fallen, leaving jagged stumps jutting high above the extensive plain. Sky-broom was a much-treasured wood, though very difficult to work, or so Jayge had heard from a Lemosan woodsman. Whole branches could be used as support beams in free-standing holds, strong enough to support the weight of a slate roof.
I like landscapes.
Anyway, Jayge catches sight of some dragons which makes him a bit anxious. Can't blame him. Jayge's younger half-sister seems to be a big dragon fan. Their brother, Tino, is old enough to remember the Threadfall and are more impassive. Yeah, that Oldtimer really didn't make the best first impression.
Jayge's dad, Crenden, is still in charge of the caravan, by the way. That's good to see. Readis is, of course, gone. Jayge misses him.
They end up encountering a man and a woman. The woman identifies herself as Bestra of Keroon Beasthold. She explains that they're looking for a thief: a holdless man who took money and wood from her. This is, of course, Thella in disguise.
Jayge says that they've passed no one, and when she asks about other trails that a single yoked animal could travel, he just says that he wouldn't try with one of his. Unfortunately, another trainmate, a guy named Arnald, is more innocently helpful, noting that it rained recently which should help "Bestra" find the tracks.
Apparently Lilcamps don't get involved with local disputes as it is, but Jayge decides that he's more sympathetic to the people running from Thella. Fair enough. Later he reminds Arnald to let him do the talking.
But actually Arnald knows more than they think. He recognized Thella, that's why he'd told her what she wanted to know. (Jayge's aunt, Temma, actually recognizes Giron as a dragonless man from Telgar.)
Jayge has never heard of Thella. Arnald admired her, thinking she was a fine looking lady. Temma, who is "not a plain woman herself" (why is that relevant?) is "a good judge of her own sex." She'd rather make sure Thella's out of range. They make Arnald point, and decide to go check. (Temma apparently is having a bit of a romance with a fellow named Nazer. Jayge is glad for it, as she'd been alone a long time.)
We switch again to Giron and Thella. They've finally found the right tracks, but they've lost some days in pursuit. Thella notes that she'll make the "snotty young trader pay for his impudence."
Dowell had apparently covered his tracks well, and Thella wonders what went wrong. She thinks she was tactful and careful. She wonders if Brare tipped them off, but thinks that's unlikely since Aramina's so valuable to the hunters. She wonders if Giron unsettled them, or if someone had let slip her identity.
I don't know, maybe they can smell bitch?
I feel like trying to force Aramina into service is a bad idea. Her powers are useful, sure. But it seems like it'd be really easy for her to screw Thella over if she was so inclined.
The sight of dragons above makes Thella panic. Not so much because of Thread itself (Giron points out that they're in Asgenar's forest, and the riders will be very thorough about preventing the Thread from penetrating), but because she doesn't want to be detected by the riders.
She is also pretty anxious about losing Aramina to Thread. Which, fair, I guess. But Aramina can talk to dragons, and avoiding Thread is what she did back at the caves.
They end up finding the family's wagon - abandoned for cover, likely. Thella chooses to stay at the wagon, while Giron is ordered to take the animals to the caves. In the morning though the dragonriders are still around.
There's a lot of worrying and ranting, but eventually they do spot Aramina foraging nuts, while a guard assists. They wait until she drifts far enough away from the guard and grab her.
‘It falls out well, after all, Giron,’ Thella said, snatching a handful of hair and pulling the girl’s head back, giving her a little pain back for all the trouble she had caused. Thella thoroughly enjoyed the fright and terror in Aramina’s eyes. ‘We have snared the wild wherry after all.’
Aramina's not completely helpless though, as she seems to call for a dragon. Giron ends up heaving Aramina way from him. They end up fleeing the dragon and the chapter ends.
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Date: 2024-01-18 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-18 05:47 pm (UTC)