The White Dragon - Chapter Nineteen
Dec. 6th, 2020 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalinara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
i_read_whatSo last time in...
HAHAHAHAHA
Let's be real here. The last time anything happened in this fucking book was Chapter Six. This isn't EVEN as satisfying as Dragonsinger, because there at least we got to see Menolly do awesomely at her music lessons. Jaxom hasn't BEEN in Ruatha for six chapters or so. We haven't gotten to see him rock at anything that isn't being a dick to women.
I seriously don't know why this book bothers me more than Dragonflight or Dragonquest. It's probably just that this is the first book in the series where I don't like ONE of the primary characters. It's not Jaxom's fault his book doesn't have an interesting plot, but he's also not as likable as Menolly, so it's even less forgivable.
So we rejoin everyone at the Cove in the morning. Piemur and Jaxom have "reluctantly struggled from their furs" and I'd judge, but fuck, if I were in paradise with no real responsibilities (or on a break from some grueling responsibilities in Piemur's case), I'd sleep in too.
ROBINTON, of course, had "risen at the first light of day, taken a bracing swim, made himself a breakfast and been long in his study, muttering over the charts and making copious notes."
I hate him so much.
Also, I'm 99% sure this is going to have more to do with McCaffrey just handing him Piemur's discovery, because he happened to look up at the right time. No, I'm not letting that go.
Hey, I have my irrational favorites too. But unlike Ms. McCaffrey, my favorites aren't fucking terrible. (...except F'lar.)
So anyway, Robinton wants to have a few words with the boys, "if they didn't mind". Right, because they're going to say no.
They go in, and we're told that Robinton gives them a sympathetic grin for their hangover. Because despite being a ha-ha-ha alcoholic, Robinton doesn't get hungover I guess. He starts asking them about their additions to the charts and asking them how they arrived at the conclusion.
Then, of fucking course, he brings up the Dawn Sisters.
Oh, this is what he says: “Have either of you happened to notice the trio of stars we have been calling-erroneously, I might add -the Dawn Sisters?”
Erroneously, I might add. You know what, fuck you, you pretentious git. Would it be THAT hard to have Robinton curious about the charts, then Piemur bring up his observations, then Robinton could volunteer that Idarolan has a far viewer.
This way, Robinton could have the credit of being the first person to take Piemur seriously. But that's not enough, of course. Here's more annoyance:
The Harper nodded. “Master Idarolan has one aboard his ship. I construe that question to mean that you’ve noticed that they also appear at dusk?”
“And whenever there’s enough moonlight ... ” Piemur added.
“And always in the same place!”
“I see you did profit by your classes,” the Harper said, beaming at both of them.
I see you getting undeserved credit here, Jaxom. You didn't believe Piemur!
Anyway, Robinton is asking Wansor to come down, and the boys grin because no one on Pern would possibly refuse to come here. I hate that they're probably right. Fuck Robinton.
Oh, Robinton's also a dick to Brekke:
“Master Robinton ... ” Brekke stood in the doorway, a curious expression on her face.
“Brekke,” the Harper held up a warning hand, “if you have come to tell me that I have to rest, or drink a potion of your making, I beg you, don’t! I have far too much to do.”
Oh god forbid she want to keep you alive, you ungrateful fuck.
Don't worry though, Brekke's just bringing a message from Sebell (you know, that guy you almost cuckolded with Menolly? Ugh. I hate that I reminded myself of that grossness.)
Anyway, per Sebell, a lot of younger Holder sons have just shown up on poor Toric's doorstep. He's sticking around to help them get situated.
Anyway, as soon as Jaxom is well enough to fly between, Robinton wants them going out on a team:
“Harper and Holder?” Jaxom asked, seizing the opportunity he’d been waiting for.
“Harper and holder? Oh, yes, of course. Piemur, you and Menolly have worked well together, I know. So Sharra can go with Jaxom. Now ... ” Oblivious to the sharp look Piemur gave Jaxom, the man went on.
I'd like to think Piemur, like me, thinks Sharra is much too good for Jaxom. Or maybe he just doesn't want to deal with Menolly. I'm not sure I can blame him, given some of her behavior lately.
So anyway, Piemur already knows what Robinton wants to find, but he explains what they're looking for to Jaxom:
“Traces of the original habitation of this continent. I can’t for the life of me imagine why our long-dead ancestors left this fruitful and beautiful continent for the colder, duller North, but I assume that they had good reasons. The oldest of our Records states: When man came to Pern, he established a good Hold in the South. We used to think,” the Harper smiled apologetically for that error, “that Fort Hold was meant, since it is south in the Northern Continent. But that particular document goes on to state ambiguously: but found it necessary to move north to shield. That never made any sense, but so many of the old Records have deteriorated past deciphering, much less coherence.
This part is actually interesting! I just hate that this is Robinton's plot. I guess it makes sense that the Harpers have the records. But it just kind of feeds into his "Robinton is always right" schtick, and I'm annoyed by that on general principle. Give me someone flawed and interesting instead any day.
Anyway, Toric discovered an iron mine that was already worked. N'ton and Robinton (ugh) sighted unnatural formations in a mountainside which turned out to be mine shafts. Would it have been that hard to let N'ton have that discovery on his own? He IS a dragonrider. I also wish we'd actually gotten to SEE some of this discovery. It's much more interesting than Jaxom's wangst.
Anyway, Robinton figures that if they've been around long enough to mine than there must be other traces of habitation.
Must there? It seems like, even with the grubs, the Southern Continent undergoes some pretty radical surface cataclysm events on a fairly regular basis. This is jungle, not mountainous rock, which means erosive properties are much more of a factor. And thread falls unchecked, which means anything above ground is likely scoured clean.
I mean, of course there will be. Robinton is always right. I just think it's quite improbable.
...I hate to say it, but Jaxom kind of says my point:
“In hot weather and rainy forest, nothing survives very long,” Jaxom said. “D’ram built a shelter here a scant twenty-five Turns back and not much remains of it. And what F’lessan and I stumbled on in Benden Weyr had been sealed up, protected from weather.”
I feel dirty agreeing with him.
Piemur says that nothing could have damaged the supports in the mind and compares it to carving solid rock like cheese.
Okay, but then you should be looking UNDERGROUND, right?
So anyway, the plan is to start progressing southward, with the mountain as their guide. Piemur will head out on Stupid. Menolly can go with him, or wait for Jaxom to take her and Sharra to the camp. The girls survey the immediate vicinity, and Jaxom flies ahead to set up another camp.
Robinton notes that Jaxom should have been drilled at Fort Weyr to be able to observe and distinguish ground formations, and he emphatically expresses that Piemur is more experienced with this kind of thing, and wants Jaxom to "bear this in mind when problems occur"
...yeah. I see that happening. Though I'm amused that even Robinton knows what a dillweed Jaxom is.
Meanwhile, Oldive arrives with N'ton and is "lavishly welcomed by the Harper, more sedately by Brekke and Sharra, and with some reservations by Jaxom."
Um. Why?
Oh, okay, the next exchange with Sharra and Jaxom clarifies. He's worried that Robinton's good front will fool Oldive to allow him to come along on the journey. Sharra emphasizes that "not one fingertip is he fooling the Healer."
Jaxom's own examination goes very well. He asks after Robinton. Oldive says he'll be okay, but he needs to learn to pace himself and conserve his energy and strength. The young people can assist. I feel like his ACTUAL job, which we've NEVER seen him do, might be more restful than this. But whatever.
Anyway, Oldive weighs in on this place:
“This beautiful place was a grand idea.” He favored Jaxom with a sly smile. “The heat makes the Harper drowsy midday and forces him to rest. The prospects on all sides delight the eyes, and the scent of the air pleases the nose. How I envy you this spot, Lord Jaxom.”
...why does Jaxom get credit? Robinton discovered the place. Admittedly, Jaxom is the one who found it again, but only because of Menolly's memory. And then he was stupid enough to get sick here. Also, he's not the owner of Cove Hold and he really ought to be GOING BACK TO HIS GODDAMN KINGDOM.
So Fanderal and Wansor come, bearing the new distance viewer that Wansor (whose title is awesomely "the Starsmith") had been working on. Wansor gets so caught up in explaining that he forgets to take his wherhide off and starts sweating. Hee, I do like him.
Anyway, Wansor has also heard about the behavior of the Dawn Sisters, and he wants to investigate. Stars aren't SUPPOSED to be fixed in the sky, after all. OOO. We're told that N'ton and Lord Larad have also verified this characteristic. HI LARAD. IT'S BEEN AGES.
So everyone gets the viewer set up, has a bit of an afternoon nap, and later they set up Idarolan's viewer as well. Wansor looks through the big viewer and is shocked.
The stars are too close together. They pass the viewers to Fandarel and N'ton. Fandarel sees that the stars are actually three round metallic objects. He has this amazing line: "Those are not stars, Wansor,” he said, looking at the distressed Starsmith, “those are things!”
Robinton "almost" shoves Fandarel aside and adds his own useful observation that they're round, and they shine as metal does. Thank you. Now please move over so Fandarel can give us better observations.
“One thing sure,” Piemur said irreverently in the awed silence, “you have now found traces of our ancestors in the South, Master Robinton.”
“Your observation is eminently correct,” the Harper said in such a curiously muffled tone Jaxom wasn’t certain if the man was suppressing laughter or anger, “but not at all what I had in mind and you know it!”
...honestly, McCaffrey, Piemur's line would have been more amusing without the response.
F'lar and Lessa, and for some reason F'nor are summoned with all urgency. Why F'nor? Why does F'nor get to come? He's not ACTUALLY a Weyr leader, you know. And his only experience with space was being a fucking idiot. Anyway, hilariously, "Lessa's irrtation at such a summons evaporated whe she saw the phenomenon."
I love Lessa so damn much. The asshole brothers then monopolize the viewers. I hope F'lar banished F'nor to the crappier one at least.
Wansor starts trying to write equations in the sand, before Jaxom and Piemur bring some tools. Basically he figures out that the objects are completely stationary, and may be following the planet.
“And we can’t get from here to there,” F’nor said in a regretful murmur.
“Don’t you dare, F’nor,” Brekke said with such fervor that F’lar and the Harper chuckled.
...ugh.
So Piemur thinks that the objects couldn't have been made "here". Probably meaning Pern itself. Then comes to an interesting conclusion:
“But the Records say that men came to Pern ... ” Piemur looked at the Harper for confirmation. “Perhaps they used those things to travel from some other place, some other world, to get here. To Pern!”
I'm not complaining, but why does Piemur think they're vehicles? If he's observed something about that, you should let us know, McCaffrey.
I also love this exchange:
“With all the worlds in the heavens to choose from,” Brekke began, breaking the thoughtful silence that followed Piemur’s conclusion, “had they no better place to come to than Pern?”
“If you’d seen as much of it as I have lately,” Piemur said, his spirit undaunted for any appreciable length of time, “you’d know that Pern’s not all that bad a world ... if you ignore the danger of Thread!”
“Some of us never can,” F’lar replied in a wry tone.
Menolly gave Piemur a sharp jab in the ribs, but F’lar only laughed when Piemur suddenly realized the tactlessness of his remark.
Yet again, Ms. McCaffrey, this would have been funnier if you cut it off at F'lar's comment. Also F'lar doesn't need you to defend his honor, Menolly. He's married to Lessa. Insults and insensitivity is how they flirt.
So anyway, everyone goes with the idea that these are vehicles. Oldive suggests this could be a topic for quiet reflections, which Robinton dismisses. Oldive says they can't go there...but Robinton thinks the fire lizards CAN
UM. Your lizards need to fucking breathe!
Robinton asks if Zair can go there. It just looks quizzical. Robinton tries a few more times, then, to test, mentions the Red Star, which causes Zair to freak out and vanish. Poor little thing.
So there's lots of debate and discussion, and we're told Wansor and Robinton would have kept it up all night, but Oldive drugged his wine. Hahah. The dragonriders return to their Weyrs, Oldive and Fandarel to their Halls. Wansor stays.
So. Um. If Jaxom can fly between, shouldn't he go home too?
They decide NOT to broadcast the info about the Dawn Sisters yet. F'lar agrees to send anyone that can be spared from the Weyr to help search. And Jaxom:
As Jaxom pushed his legs into his sleeping blanket, he tried not to be annoyed with the thought of another invasion in Cove Hold, just when he thought he and Sharra would be left alone for a while.
Fuck you, Jaxom.
He continues:
Had she been avoiding him? Or was it simply that circumstances had intervened? Such as Piemur’s premature arrival in Cove Hold? The worry over Master Robinton, the need to explore which left them too tired to do more than crawl into their furs, the arrival of half of Pern to complete the Hold for the Harper, then his arrival, and now this! No, Sharra had not been avoiding him. She seemed ... there. Her beautiful rich laugh, a tone below Menolly’s, her face often hidden by the strands of dark hair which kept escaping thong and clip ...
He wished, intensely, that Cove Hold would not be overrun again-a wish that did him little good since he had no control over what was going to happen here. He was Lord of Ruatha, not of the Cove. If the place belonged to anyone, it was Master Robinton’s and Menolly’s by virtue of their being storm-swept into it.
Go home, Jaxom.
Jaxom even thinks he SHOULD go home. Yes. You should. You're the fucking Lord of Ruatha.
He doesn't want to go, and NOT just because of Sharra, and oh my god:
It wasn’t as if he were needed in Ruatha. Lytol would manage the Hold as he’d always done. Ruth was not required to fight Thread either at Ruatha or at Fort Weyr. Benden had been lenient but F’lar had made it plain that the white dragon and the young Lord of Ruatha were not to be at risk.
Maybe LYTOL has things he'd rather do than run a hold! Have you ever thought of that? Maybe he actually wants to retire!
Jaxom realizes that no one has tried to stop him from exploring or suggested he goes home. Yeah, because you're fucking useless.
Jaxom took some comfort in that thought, if he took none at all in the knowledge that tomorrow F’lar would be sending in riders-riders whose dragons could fly considerably faster and farther than his Ruth, riders who’d be able to reach the mountain before him. Riders who might just discover those traces which Robinton hoped existed somewhere in the interior of the Southern Continent. Riders who might also see in Sharra the beauty and gentle warmth of spirit that attracted Jaxom.
God, he really doesn't care at all about the possibility of important discovery, does he? He just cares that his own opportunity for fun has been curtailed.
Oh and hey: He tried, turning on the rushes yet again, to find a comfortable position, to find sleep. Maybe Robinton’s plan for himself, Sharra, Menolly and Piemur would not undergo revision. As Piemur constantly reminded them all, dragons were great for flying over, but you still had to traverse the ground on foot to really know it. F’lar and Robinton might well want the dragonriders to spread out, cover as much territory as possible, and let the original explorers continue on to the mountain.
Funny how Piemur's reminders are actually useful now. Also dude, that just means that PIEMUR is useful. Not you.
So Jaxom falls asleep and dreams of the eruption again. In the morning, he goes and points Wansor's viewer at the mountain. Huh, I hope Wansor didn't need it in the other direction for calculation or something. He does, to be fair, refrain from altering the focus. Instead he decides to take Idarolan's viewer. Yeah, because a master fisher/sailor wouldn't need that or anything.
So...he wants to go to the Mountain. Now. And just to fucking piss me off more, we get: This venture was scarcely as dangerous as the return of the egg.
I don't care about the fucking egg.
But, okay, this is pretty good:
He pivoted on his heel and lurched backward in surprise. Piemur, Sharra and Menolly were standing in a row, watching him.
“Do tell. Lord Jaxom, what you saw in the Seaman’s viewer? A mountain, perhaps?” Piemur asked, showing all his teeth in that smug grin.
On Menolly’s shoulder. Beauty chirped.
I do love you, Piemur.
They mock him for wanting to go on his own. And Ruth volunteers that as none of them are fat, he can carry all four. So Jaxom really doesn't have a choice here. He's going to have to share the glory. Hah, serves you right, you fucking prick.
So they supply up. Ruth does strain a little to get off the beach, but it's easy going once airborne. Jaxom uses a distance viewer to catch sight of a distinctive ridge and they go between.
Ooo.
As Piemur had once said, distance was deceptive. The mountain rose on the shoulders of a high plateau already thousands of dragonlengths above the sea. Far below them a broad sparkling inlet cut high cliffs: grassy on the mountain’s side, densely forested on theirs. To the south, a towering range of mountains, snow-capped and misty in the distance, lay as a barrier east and west.
The mountain, still a good distance from them, dominated the scene.
Sharra notes that there are more volcanos seaward, some of which are smoking.
Piemur makes some expert observations on the sea volcanos, while Jaxom muses that the other side of the mountain must have been what blew. The others react sharply to that. All four had the dream. Jaxom has the nerve to be shocked, even though the shared dream was already established.
(I'm also reminded a bit of the book Damia, in which McCaffrey also uses the idea of convalescent heroes in the very last bit of the book discovering something vitally important in shared dreams. Though unlike White Dragon, things actually happen in that book.)
Anyway, they DO manage to get to the other side of the mountain, and it looks pretty fucking impressive. The mountain itself is missing its eastern lip. And the lava is still flowing.
Ruth is excited though, he recognizes this place as where the lizards said their men were. And then:
“Look, Jaxom! Look down!” Piemur yelled in his ear while tugging at his shoulder and pointing frantically to a spot below Ruth’s left foreleg. The early sun threw the outlines in bold relief. Regular outlines, mounds, and then straight lines dissecting, forming curious squares where no such regular formations should be.
“That’s what Master Robinton is looking for!” He grinned back over his shoulder at Piemur, who had turned to attract the girls’ attention to the ground.
Okay, that's fucking hilarious to me. After all that about Jaxom having learned how to spot ground formations, Piemur is the one who actually sees it.
Then they spot something more dangerous: Thread! They immediately zip back to Cove Hold.
Everyone scatters: Piemur to find Stupid, Menolly to return the viewer to Idarolan, and Sharra decides to brace the storm. She says she wouldn't have missed it, even if she gets scolded by Lessa.
I love that Lessa is scary.
Ruth of course defends them all. They were doing what Robinton said. Now they're back to fight Thread.
Interestingly, it actually seems like we're hearing half of Ruth's dialogue with Canth. I love that they actually talk to each other.
So they fly Thread. And aww. The fire lizards are all protecting Idarolan's ship. Including Southern lizards!
Once everything is over, F'nor comes to yell at Jaxom for running off without a word, and having forgotten that Thread was due. And that's very valid! So does Jaxom apologize?
Jaxom regarded F’nor. The brown rider’s face was suffused with anger and fatigue. The same cold rage that had erupted within Jaxom that day so long ago in his own Hold began to possess him. He straightened his shoulders and raised his head higher. His eyes were level with F’nor’s, a fact he had not previously noted. He could not, he would not, permit himself to lose control of his temper as he had that morning in Ruatha.
“We were ready for Thread when it fell, brown rider,” he responded calmly. “My duty as the rider of a dragon was to protect Cove Hold. I did. My pleasure and privilege was to fly with Benden.” He gave a slight bow and had the satisfaction of seeing the anger in F’nor’s face give way to surprise. “I’m sure the others have by now reported to Master Robinton what we discovered this morning. Into the water with you, Ruth. I’ll be glad to answer all your questions, F’nor, when I’ve cleaned Ruth up.” He gave F’nor, who was staring at him in honest amazement, a second bow and then stripped off hot and sweaty flying gear, leaving on only the shortened trousers that were more suitable to the heat.
You're such a little dick.
Ruth says that Canth says that F'nor is confused and asks what he said that confuses a brown rider. "What he didn't expect to hear from a white rider."
Wait. You know what? NO.
You can't suddenly come up with this idea that Jaxom is diffident and overlooked. We have NEVER seen that. The Weyrs are hierarchal, yes. But Ruth has never been part of that. There's no indication that brown riders look down on them. Ruth is unique, and Jaxom is a Lord, and he gets all the perks and privileges of both roles.
This wasn't some triumphant moment of Jaxom asserting himself. F'nor was probably confused because Jaxom didn't answer either of his salient points:
1) Why didn't he tell people where he was going?
2) Did he forget about the Thread?
Ruth points out that Jaxom is angry and thinks Jaxom will scrub him too hard. Poor Ruth.
Should we go to our lake? Ruth’s question was tentative and he turned his head toward his rider in an anxious manner.
“What do we need with a freezing lake when we’ve an entire warm ocean? I’m just annoyed with F’nor. It isn’t as if I were still sick, or a child that needed a guardian. I’ve fought Thread with you, and without you. If I’m old enough to do that, I don’t need to account for any of my movements to any one for any reason.”
I forgot that Thread would fall today!
Jaxom couldn’t help but laugh at Ruth’s humble admission.
“So did I. But don’t you ever let on to anyone.”
1) I hate that Jaxom has a fucking sanctuary lake. And I especially hate that Ruth is offering HIS comfort space.
2) F'nor wasn't treating you like a child. He was treating you like a DRAGONRIDER who has a fucking JOB TO DO. That's what you said you wanted.
And yes, if you're going to be a Dragonrider, you DO account for your movements.
3) And you don't get to be indignant when you're fucking lying.
And just to prove that Jaxom gets everything he wants, Sharra comes to help. Menolly's been useful, basically answering questions so quickly that no one could interrupt. She was still talking when Sharra slipped away.
Hee, now THAT is a useful talent.
“I’ll just bet you did the way Brekke was carrying on. I told her that you’d got pretty fit while she was away. She acted as if you’d risen from your deathbed to ride Fall!” Sharra made a scornful sound.
Poor Brekke's slipped from favored character status, I think. Hmph. You both could show her a little more respect.
Ugh. They flirt. And it's annoying. Jaxom notices the Dawn Sister (Idarolan's ship) leaving. It's off to fish, since the catch is always plentiful after Threadfall. Jaxom and Sharra will be helping to feed them.
Then Ruth dumps them in the water in excitemet. All the Weyrleaders have come! AND LYTOL. Yay!
Fuck. This is going to end up with Jaxom getting praised for being a fucking immature delinquent and we're going to pretend that this was heroic and he's ready to be Lord of Ruatha despite never once thinking of his goddamn kingdom until this chapter.
So they sneak back, grab some fruit and cereal, before Robinton and Lytol track them down. Lytol is of course wonderful.
“You look a great deal better than when I last saw you, lad. Good day to you, Sharra.” His greeting was absent-minded courtesy as he crossed the remaining distance to clasp Jaxom’s arm strongly in his. A smile pulled at his lips before he stepped back. “You’re tanned, you look fit. Now what is this trouble you created today?”
There's some banter, and then there's a big to do in the Hall with the Weyrleaders and Craftmasters. Lots of questions.
This bit annoys me:
“I know you’ve just flown Fall, Jaxom, but if you’d just give Mnementh the visualization ... ” F’lar began.
N’ton burst out laughing, pointing to Jaxom. “The look on your face, lad. F’lar, he’s got to lead us! Give him that!”
Do we have to? Jaxom literally neglected the ONLY job a dragonrider has. And it's not like the volcano couldn't wait. He just didn't want to be pre-empted.
So Jaxom takes them to see the mountain, which he's named Two-Face. Maybe you should let Menolly name these things. Everyone is suitably awed. Then Mnementh surges forward and says they should land.
F'lar is investigating one of the weird lines. And hey, T'bor's still around. Presumably banging the leftover Weyrwoman and High Reaches. And the Southern fire lizards are thrilled that men have "returned to them".
Hee. F'lar is still skeptical about all this nonsense:
“Of course men were here. They’re not telling us anything we didn’t know. But for them to say they remembered?” F’lar was scornful. “I could accept your finding D’ram in the Cove with their aid ... but that was only a matter of twenty-five Turns in the past. But ... ” For want of appropriate expression of his skepticism, F’lar merely gestured at the dead volcanoes and the long-covered traces of a settlement.
(Technically, the fire lizards DIDN'T do that. Menolly did. But okay.)
Menolly defends them, mentioning the Red Star, and almost blowing the secret of the egg (I DON'T CARE), but Jaxom mentions the dreams, which Ruth must have gotten from them.
F'lar is willing to grant this possibility. And of course, he's not mad at Jaxom for shirking duty. Because Jaxom can't possibly face consequence for anything he does. Poor Corana.
So now the plan is to dig these mounds and see what's there.
Some of them, including Jaxom, decide to go back, and F'lar vetoes Ruth carrying that much weight after the morning's exertions. F'lessan helps instead.
So Jaxom takes a nap, only to be awakened by Mirrim, and is, of course, a dick:
“Does it matter? Here, Jaxom, I’ve brought you some klah! Master Robinton wants to talk to you. You’ve slept all afternoon. We couldn’t figure out where you’d got to.”
Jaxom muttered under his breath, wishing with all his heart that Mirrim would go away. He resented her implication that he hadn’t any right to sleep in the afternoon.
Hey, asshole. You don't actually have the right to sleep away the afternoon. You're a Lord Holder and a dragonrider and you have a fucking job to do.
He shoos Mirrim away, and I wish I understood why McCaffrey has it in for the poor girl.
“You are my true friend, Sharra,” Jaxom said. “Mirrim irritates me so! Menolly told me that once Path had flown, she’d improve. I haven’t noticed any sign.”
Sharra of course doesn't defend Mirrim. Because Mirrim is...fuck if I know what the problem is. She's never been anything but nice to Menolly. And while abrupt with Jaxom, she's pretty much right.
So Sharra of course thinks Jaxom was smart to sneak off and rest. They go to find Robinton, who is doing all sorts of stuff with charts and diagrams. Menolly is looking at it too, while Mirrim is described as bored and irritated. Because McCaffrey can't do nuance.
Seriously, why the fuck is McCaffrey doing this? Mirrim was doing perfectly fine as the "not quite as good as Menolly" friend. Maybe she figured out that Mirrim's story, as the first female green rider in many years, is far more interesting and potentially satisfying on a feminist level than Menolly's story ended up.
So Robinton wants Jaxom and Ruth to help with the fire lizards. Oh and, just to annoy me further.
“There was scarcely more detail to go on in your first venture.”
“Sir?” Jaxom stared in stunned amazement because the Harper’s drawl had been so deceptively mild, with just a slight emphasis on “first,” yet the implication had been unmistakable; somehow the Harper knew Jaxom had rescued the egg. Jaxom shot an accusing glance at Menolly, whose expression was slightly perplexed as if the Harper’s subtle reference surprised her, too.
1) Of COURSE Robinton knows. He knows everything.
2) I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING EGG. It has been thirteen chapters since Jaxom saved the egg, and I don't think we had ONE of those where the egg wasn't mentioned.
We don't mention Lessa's flight that much and that actually MATTERED.
So anyway, Robinton thinks time's of the essence, as the plateau can't be a secret forever. And poor Mirrim:
“But it’s in the east. Master Robinton, which is to be dragonrider land,” Mirrim said, her tone almost belligerent.
“Of course it is, my dear child,” the Harper said soothingly. “Now if Ruth could charm the fire-lizards enough to focus their memories ... ”
She was perfectly polite! But of course her TONE must be bitchy. And where's Piemur? He and Mirrim could totally bond as the people who were Menolly's far less impressive friends who are then painted as irrational dicks when they're not useful anymore.
“There’s a lot we don’t know, and we might find some answers, perhaps even some equipment left behind, just as the enlarging viewer was left in those deserted rooms at Benden Weyr. Look how that instrument has improved our understanding of our world and the heavens above us. Maybe even some models of those fascinating machines the old Records mention.” He pulled the sketches over the map. “There are a lot of mounds, great and small, long and short. Some would have been for sleeping, storage, general living: some quite likely workhalls ... ”
“How do we even know that the ancients did things the way we do?” Mirrim demanded, “storage, and workhalls and such.”
“Because, my dear child, neither human nature nor human needs have changed since the earliest Records we have.”
That doesn’t mean they left anything in the mounds when they left the Plateau,” Mirrim said, frankly dubious.
“The dreams have been consistent in some details,” Robinton said with more patience for Mirrim’s obstructionism than Jaxom would have accorded him. “The fiery mountain, the molten rock and lava raining down. People running ... ” He paused, looking expectantly at the others.
Fuck off, Jaxom. Mirrim isn't being obstructionist. She has some damned good points here.
1) People DON'T do the same things. Even with the same human needs. My house looks nothing like Catal Huyuk, even granted that I eat and shit the same as a pre-Babylonian would have.
2) You people live in fucking caves now. They didn't back then. That's a pretty big difference all on its own.
3) It IS a trap when we make assumptions about our ancestors based on things that look moderately similar without any data. Mirrim's right about that too.
I mean, obviously, Robinton's going to be right here. But Mirrim's questions are far more intelligent than Jaxom's own contribution, in which RUTH is the one doing the work.
I'd like to think Mirrim and Piemur are going to go off and bitch about what a fucking git Jaxom is.
Anyway, Sharra points out that if they were in a panic, they wouldn't have taken everything. Menolly suggests they could have come back when the worst was over, like in Tillek. Robinton for some reason takes that as agreement, when I think it actually supports Mirrim's suggestion.
If they did come back, then they might have taken their things after all.
Anyway, Robinton admits that it's really more of a feeling, but he thinks the people were taken by surprise. If they had the skill to keep the Dawn Sisters in the sky, they should have been able to predict a volcano, so this must have been spontaneous.
Okay, I follow that logic. And notably, Mirrim doesn't protest.
But then:
When would you like us to try?” Jaxom asked. “Would tomorrow be too soon?” the Harper asked plaintively.
“All right by me. Piemur, Menolly, Sharra, I’ll need you and your fire-lizards!”
“I can arrange to come, too,” Mirrim said. Jaxom caught Sharra’s closed expression and realized that Mirrim’s presence would be as unwelcome to her as to himself.
Oh fuck you. And why the fuck should Sharra dislike Mirrim? If anything, Sharra's no nonsense bedside manner is very similar. She's also Toric's sister. Mirrim is NOT more disagreeable than he is.
Jaxom thinks Path will scare the lizards away, and since McCaffrey has said so long that Mirrim's obstinant, she doesn't get it, pointing out that her lizards are very well trained.
“I must agree with Jaxom,” the Harper said, smiling with sincere apology to the Benden dragongirl. “And, though I quite agree that yours are undoubtedly the best-trained fire-lizards in Pern, we don’t have time for the Southern ones to get used to Path.”
“Path needn’t be in evidence-“
“Mirrim, the decision has been made,” Robinton said firmly, with no trace of a smile now.
“Well, that’s plain enough. Since I’m not needed here ... ” She stalked out of the hall.
Robinton then asks if Path is proddy. Because hahaha, fuck you. You people literally went "everyone BUT Mirrim comes along" and expected her to be fine with that.
Jaxom ditches Thread duty because he absolutely HAS to be first to the mountain, and that's fine. But Mirrim wanting to come along here is unreasonable because...reasons.
And fuck, Menolly, you are a terrible friend. I'm glad Mirrim has a life on Benden far away from you. (And I'm SURE we're supposed to laugh at the idea that Mirrim has the best trained lizards when Menolly is in the room, but you know what? I don't recall hearing that Mirrim's lizards have EVER caused the havoc that Menolly's swarm did in Benden Weyr or in Dragonsinger. So...maybe it's true!)
And god, this chapter's still going. I'm happy that something's happening, but ugh.
So Menolly is fussing over Robinton, but Piemur points out that he's not really exerting himself, he was just bored and tired of being fussed over. Speaking of, F'nor and Brekke appear. Piemur cheerfully lies about Robinton resting.
And...oh you have to be kidding me.
“Where is Mirrim?” F’nor asked, glancing about.
“She’s outside somewhere,” replied Menolly in a voice so devoid of tone that Brekke glanced at her apprehensively.
“Has Mirrim been ... ” Brekke pressed her lips in a thin, disapproving line. “Drat that girl!” She looked up at Berd, and he immediately darted from the hall.
She's your fucking foundling.
I hate every single one of these characters. Except Piemur, who I notice hasn't said anything about Mirrim at all. I still like the thought that they're going to get together and talk about what dicks Menolly and Jaxom have turned out to be.
So they all head down to go swimming, and Jaxom, oh my god.
“Menolly, how did Master Robinton know?”
She’d been laughing as they raced down the path, but now her eyes darkened.
“I didn’t tell him, Jaxom. I didn’t have to. I don’t know when he figured it out. But the facts all point to you.”
I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE EGG.
Why don't we talk again about how Mirrim's the first female green rider in centuries? That would actually be interesting.
Menolly lists her logic. And I still don't care. She also says how proud she is of Jaxom, and oh this is rich:
“No one in the Southern Weyr returned Ramoth’s egg.” Menolly smiled up at Jaxom, and put her hand to his cheek, giving him an affectionate slap. “I was so proud of you, Jaxom, when I realized what you and Ruth had managed to do! Prouder even because you didn’t noise it about. And it was so critical just then for Benden to believe that a Southern rider had relented and restored Ramoth’s egg ... ”
Oh, he fucking noised it about, Menolly. He noised it about every fucking chapter.
I hate this so much. I hate that Jaxom is getting praised constantly for the bare minimum and escapes any hint of consequence for very real issues of disobedience, dereliction of duty, manipulation, fucking RAPE, and so on.
I'm supposed to dislike Mirrim, whose only real crime is being bitchy.
I want her and Piemur to go off and find Corana and just form a "we hate Jaxom" club.
...oh wait. Spoke too soon:
“And what do you bet Mirrim tries to stay there the night, too, to see if Path does keep away the Southern fire-lizards?” Piemur asked, a slightly malicious grin on his face.
“Mirrim does have well-trained fire-lizards,” Menolly said.
“And they sound just like her when they scold everyone else’s friends,” Piemur added.
“Now that’s not fair,” Menolly said. “Mirrim’s a good friend of mine ... ”
“And as her best friend you ought to explain to her that she can’t manage everyone on Pern!”
Sigh.
Okay, just Mirrim and Corana then. And fuck off, Menolly. Mirrim has been a good friend to you. You've been shit to her. (We're told that Menolly's about to take umbrage at Piemur's remark, but fuck off. Too little, too fucking late.)
More dragons appear yet again. All seven Weyrleaders are there, even though I thought they arrived earlier. The craftsmen are there. Lytol, of course. D'ram.
Interestingly, the Oldtimer Weyrleaders are less interested in the historic stuff than N'ton, F'lar, G'dened and T'bor. Of course. Because the latter are our heroes. McCaffrey's not deep. They'd rather just explore the continent. Which is fair enough, if it wasn't portrayed as some kind of clear divide.
I do like this bit though:
“That is past,” R’mart of Telgar said. “Past, dead, and very much buried. We have to live in the present, a trick, mind you, F’lar, that you taught us.” He grinned to remove any sting from what he said. “Besides, wasn’t it you, F'lar, who suggested that it’s useless to muddle our brains thinking how the ancients did things ... that it’s better to build for ourselves what is useful for our times and Turn?”
I'd love to see a book from an Oldtimer point of view. Maybe not T'ron or Mardra, sure. But maybe G'narish or R'mart. It'd be interesting.
So everyone discusses the settlement. R'mart, for all his disinterest, has a good question here too: why did they just have this one settlement when there was a whole world to occupy?
So there's more talking. At one point the subject of dragonriders mining comes up, to Masterminer Nicat's skepticism. F'lar points out that Thread will Pass, and there'll be another Interval soon enough. I do like F'lar.
I feel like F'lar and Mirrim would get along like mad. Mirrim and Lessa too. And NOTHING you say will convince me otherwise, McCaffrey.
Oh and as though to emphasize how Jaxom gets everything he wants:
They were well out of hearing range of the others when N’ton turned to Jaxom. “This is more to your fancy, isn’t it, Jaxom, than flying tamely in the queens’ wing?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose, N’ton,” Jaxom said with a laugh. “I just wanted to see the mountain before anyone else did.”
You also skipped out without telling anyone on a day of Thread. I hate that I'm siding with F'nor, but there should be fucking consequences for that.
Later, when Jaxom is bathing Ruth, N'ton and Mirrim talk, and Jaxom overhears of course. Mirrim notes that Wansor's fine, never noticed she came or ate the food she brought. She notes also that Path did NOT scare away the fire lizards.
“Why would she?”
“I’m not allowed to be on the Plateau when Jaxom and the others try to coax some sense out of the Southerners.”
“Sense? Oh, yes, seeing if Ruth can focus the firelizards’ images. Well, I shouldn’t worry about it, Mirrim. There are so many other things you can do.”
“At least my dragon is not an unsexed runt, good for nothing but consorting with fire-lizards!”
“Mirrim!”
Hey, I know we're supposed to dislike Mirrim for this, but I think she's been provoked. They deliberately excluded her. And she's actually just proven them wrong, not that Jaxom will ever care about that.
Ruth is of course good for more than one thing, and it's not his fault that the others are dicks. But I'm on her side here. And also, she actually gets called out, unlike ANY of our protagonists.
N'ton is angry of course. And Mirrim realizes Jaxom heard what she said, and runs away crying.
“Jaxom?” Mirrim cried. “Oh, no!” Then Jaxom heard her running away, saw the glow basket jolting, heard her weeping. Just like the girl, speak first, think later and weep for days. She’d be repentant and hanging on about him, driving him between with her need to be forgiven her thoughtlessness.
At least Mirrim fucking shows remorse. Did you ever apologize for laughing at her impending rape?
Yes, N’ton?” Jaxom dutifully continued to scratch Ruth’s backbone, wondering why Mirrim’s cruel remark did not rankle as it ought. Sexless runt! As he saw N’ton striding toward him, he was aware of a curious sense of relief, of relaxation deep inside him. The memory of those riders, waiting for the Fort green to mate, flashed through his mind. Yes, he’d been relieved then that Ruth had proved disinterested. He could somewhat regret that Ruth would be deprived of that experience; but he was relieved that he would never be called upon to endure it.
...hey, dude? Mirrim HAS to endure it. Remember how you laughed at her?
So N'ton is busy trying to apologize to Jaxom, and Jaxom's tolerance is presented as the sign of maturity that it really isn't. Fuck this bullshit.
This story is more tolerable now that things are happening, but only so much, seeing as how I still hate the leads.
And of course, Jaxom is rewarded again with Sharra.
“Did Mirrim ... ” He began, holding the oil pot out so she could dip her hand in.
“Yes, and no sympathy from any of us, let me assure you.” Her anger translated itself to an overly hard rub on Ruth’s back that made him complain. “Sorry, Ruth. They sent Mirrim back to Benden!”
Poor Mirrim. You deserve better than this book and these "friends". (I'm still inclined to think F'lar will be on her side. One driven asshole to another.)
And of course...Sharra's here because Ruth called her. She can hear Ruth. Now granted, this isn't a Brekke hear-all-dragon thing. Ruth is deliberately calling her, and has been since Jaxom was ill. And ugh.
“Ruth, why did you call Sharra?”
She is good for you. You need her. What Mirrim said, even what N’ton said but he was kinder, has made you close up. I do not like it when I cannot hear your mind. Sharra will open it for us.
“Will you do that for us, Sharra?”
This time Jaxom didn’t hesitate. He took Sharra’s hands, oily as they were, and drew her to him, inordinately pleased that she was so nearly his height and her mouth so close to his. All he had to do was tilt his head slightly.
“I would do anything for you, Jaxom, anything for you and Ruth!” Her lips moved delightfully against his until he made more speech impossible.
Oh. My. God.
This is, possibly the most offensive...
I called her a reward before, but Sharra is literally being offered up, BY RUTH, as a salve to Jaxom's pride! And she's okay with this! And this is how they end up having sex!
(Meanwhile, Jaxom doesn't spare a moment of thought to his poor rape victim.)
God, Mirrim, I wish I were back at Benden with you.
HAHAHAHAHA
Let's be real here. The last time anything happened in this fucking book was Chapter Six. This isn't EVEN as satisfying as Dragonsinger, because there at least we got to see Menolly do awesomely at her music lessons. Jaxom hasn't BEEN in Ruatha for six chapters or so. We haven't gotten to see him rock at anything that isn't being a dick to women.
I seriously don't know why this book bothers me more than Dragonflight or Dragonquest. It's probably just that this is the first book in the series where I don't like ONE of the primary characters. It's not Jaxom's fault his book doesn't have an interesting plot, but he's also not as likable as Menolly, so it's even less forgivable.
So we rejoin everyone at the Cove in the morning. Piemur and Jaxom have "reluctantly struggled from their furs" and I'd judge, but fuck, if I were in paradise with no real responsibilities (or on a break from some grueling responsibilities in Piemur's case), I'd sleep in too.
ROBINTON, of course, had "risen at the first light of day, taken a bracing swim, made himself a breakfast and been long in his study, muttering over the charts and making copious notes."
I hate him so much.
Also, I'm 99% sure this is going to have more to do with McCaffrey just handing him Piemur's discovery, because he happened to look up at the right time. No, I'm not letting that go.
Hey, I have my irrational favorites too. But unlike Ms. McCaffrey, my favorites aren't fucking terrible. (...except F'lar.)
So anyway, Robinton wants to have a few words with the boys, "if they didn't mind". Right, because they're going to say no.
They go in, and we're told that Robinton gives them a sympathetic grin for their hangover. Because despite being a ha-ha-ha alcoholic, Robinton doesn't get hungover I guess. He starts asking them about their additions to the charts and asking them how they arrived at the conclusion.
Then, of fucking course, he brings up the Dawn Sisters.
Oh, this is what he says: “Have either of you happened to notice the trio of stars we have been calling-erroneously, I might add -the Dawn Sisters?”
Erroneously, I might add. You know what, fuck you, you pretentious git. Would it be THAT hard to have Robinton curious about the charts, then Piemur bring up his observations, then Robinton could volunteer that Idarolan has a far viewer.
This way, Robinton could have the credit of being the first person to take Piemur seriously. But that's not enough, of course. Here's more annoyance:
The Harper nodded. “Master Idarolan has one aboard his ship. I construe that question to mean that you’ve noticed that they also appear at dusk?”
“And whenever there’s enough moonlight ... ” Piemur added.
“And always in the same place!”
“I see you did profit by your classes,” the Harper said, beaming at both of them.
I see you getting undeserved credit here, Jaxom. You didn't believe Piemur!
Anyway, Robinton is asking Wansor to come down, and the boys grin because no one on Pern would possibly refuse to come here. I hate that they're probably right. Fuck Robinton.
Oh, Robinton's also a dick to Brekke:
“Master Robinton ... ” Brekke stood in the doorway, a curious expression on her face.
“Brekke,” the Harper held up a warning hand, “if you have come to tell me that I have to rest, or drink a potion of your making, I beg you, don’t! I have far too much to do.”
Oh god forbid she want to keep you alive, you ungrateful fuck.
Don't worry though, Brekke's just bringing a message from Sebell (you know, that guy you almost cuckolded with Menolly? Ugh. I hate that I reminded myself of that grossness.)
Anyway, per Sebell, a lot of younger Holder sons have just shown up on poor Toric's doorstep. He's sticking around to help them get situated.
Anyway, as soon as Jaxom is well enough to fly between, Robinton wants them going out on a team:
“Harper and Holder?” Jaxom asked, seizing the opportunity he’d been waiting for.
“Harper and holder? Oh, yes, of course. Piemur, you and Menolly have worked well together, I know. So Sharra can go with Jaxom. Now ... ” Oblivious to the sharp look Piemur gave Jaxom, the man went on.
I'd like to think Piemur, like me, thinks Sharra is much too good for Jaxom. Or maybe he just doesn't want to deal with Menolly. I'm not sure I can blame him, given some of her behavior lately.
So anyway, Piemur already knows what Robinton wants to find, but he explains what they're looking for to Jaxom:
“Traces of the original habitation of this continent. I can’t for the life of me imagine why our long-dead ancestors left this fruitful and beautiful continent for the colder, duller North, but I assume that they had good reasons. The oldest of our Records states: When man came to Pern, he established a good Hold in the South. We used to think,” the Harper smiled apologetically for that error, “that Fort Hold was meant, since it is south in the Northern Continent. But that particular document goes on to state ambiguously: but found it necessary to move north to shield. That never made any sense, but so many of the old Records have deteriorated past deciphering, much less coherence.
This part is actually interesting! I just hate that this is Robinton's plot. I guess it makes sense that the Harpers have the records. But it just kind of feeds into his "Robinton is always right" schtick, and I'm annoyed by that on general principle. Give me someone flawed and interesting instead any day.
Anyway, Toric discovered an iron mine that was already worked. N'ton and Robinton (ugh) sighted unnatural formations in a mountainside which turned out to be mine shafts. Would it have been that hard to let N'ton have that discovery on his own? He IS a dragonrider. I also wish we'd actually gotten to SEE some of this discovery. It's much more interesting than Jaxom's wangst.
Anyway, Robinton figures that if they've been around long enough to mine than there must be other traces of habitation.
Must there? It seems like, even with the grubs, the Southern Continent undergoes some pretty radical surface cataclysm events on a fairly regular basis. This is jungle, not mountainous rock, which means erosive properties are much more of a factor. And thread falls unchecked, which means anything above ground is likely scoured clean.
I mean, of course there will be. Robinton is always right. I just think it's quite improbable.
...I hate to say it, but Jaxom kind of says my point:
“In hot weather and rainy forest, nothing survives very long,” Jaxom said. “D’ram built a shelter here a scant twenty-five Turns back and not much remains of it. And what F’lessan and I stumbled on in Benden Weyr had been sealed up, protected from weather.”
I feel dirty agreeing with him.
Piemur says that nothing could have damaged the supports in the mind and compares it to carving solid rock like cheese.
Okay, but then you should be looking UNDERGROUND, right?
So anyway, the plan is to start progressing southward, with the mountain as their guide. Piemur will head out on Stupid. Menolly can go with him, or wait for Jaxom to take her and Sharra to the camp. The girls survey the immediate vicinity, and Jaxom flies ahead to set up another camp.
Robinton notes that Jaxom should have been drilled at Fort Weyr to be able to observe and distinguish ground formations, and he emphatically expresses that Piemur is more experienced with this kind of thing, and wants Jaxom to "bear this in mind when problems occur"
...yeah. I see that happening. Though I'm amused that even Robinton knows what a dillweed Jaxom is.
Meanwhile, Oldive arrives with N'ton and is "lavishly welcomed by the Harper, more sedately by Brekke and Sharra, and with some reservations by Jaxom."
Um. Why?
Oh, okay, the next exchange with Sharra and Jaxom clarifies. He's worried that Robinton's good front will fool Oldive to allow him to come along on the journey. Sharra emphasizes that "not one fingertip is he fooling the Healer."
Jaxom's own examination goes very well. He asks after Robinton. Oldive says he'll be okay, but he needs to learn to pace himself and conserve his energy and strength. The young people can assist. I feel like his ACTUAL job, which we've NEVER seen him do, might be more restful than this. But whatever.
Anyway, Oldive weighs in on this place:
“This beautiful place was a grand idea.” He favored Jaxom with a sly smile. “The heat makes the Harper drowsy midday and forces him to rest. The prospects on all sides delight the eyes, and the scent of the air pleases the nose. How I envy you this spot, Lord Jaxom.”
...why does Jaxom get credit? Robinton discovered the place. Admittedly, Jaxom is the one who found it again, but only because of Menolly's memory. And then he was stupid enough to get sick here. Also, he's not the owner of Cove Hold and he really ought to be GOING BACK TO HIS GODDAMN KINGDOM.
So Fanderal and Wansor come, bearing the new distance viewer that Wansor (whose title is awesomely "the Starsmith") had been working on. Wansor gets so caught up in explaining that he forgets to take his wherhide off and starts sweating. Hee, I do like him.
Anyway, Wansor has also heard about the behavior of the Dawn Sisters, and he wants to investigate. Stars aren't SUPPOSED to be fixed in the sky, after all. OOO. We're told that N'ton and Lord Larad have also verified this characteristic. HI LARAD. IT'S BEEN AGES.
So everyone gets the viewer set up, has a bit of an afternoon nap, and later they set up Idarolan's viewer as well. Wansor looks through the big viewer and is shocked.
The stars are too close together. They pass the viewers to Fandarel and N'ton. Fandarel sees that the stars are actually three round metallic objects. He has this amazing line: "Those are not stars, Wansor,” he said, looking at the distressed Starsmith, “those are things!”
Robinton "almost" shoves Fandarel aside and adds his own useful observation that they're round, and they shine as metal does. Thank you. Now please move over so Fandarel can give us better observations.
“One thing sure,” Piemur said irreverently in the awed silence, “you have now found traces of our ancestors in the South, Master Robinton.”
“Your observation is eminently correct,” the Harper said in such a curiously muffled tone Jaxom wasn’t certain if the man was suppressing laughter or anger, “but not at all what I had in mind and you know it!”
...honestly, McCaffrey, Piemur's line would have been more amusing without the response.
F'lar and Lessa, and for some reason F'nor are summoned with all urgency. Why F'nor? Why does F'nor get to come? He's not ACTUALLY a Weyr leader, you know. And his only experience with space was being a fucking idiot. Anyway, hilariously, "Lessa's irrtation at such a summons evaporated whe she saw the phenomenon."
I love Lessa so damn much. The asshole brothers then monopolize the viewers. I hope F'lar banished F'nor to the crappier one at least.
Wansor starts trying to write equations in the sand, before Jaxom and Piemur bring some tools. Basically he figures out that the objects are completely stationary, and may be following the planet.
“And we can’t get from here to there,” F’nor said in a regretful murmur.
“Don’t you dare, F’nor,” Brekke said with such fervor that F’lar and the Harper chuckled.
...ugh.
So Piemur thinks that the objects couldn't have been made "here". Probably meaning Pern itself. Then comes to an interesting conclusion:
“But the Records say that men came to Pern ... ” Piemur looked at the Harper for confirmation. “Perhaps they used those things to travel from some other place, some other world, to get here. To Pern!”
I'm not complaining, but why does Piemur think they're vehicles? If he's observed something about that, you should let us know, McCaffrey.
I also love this exchange:
“With all the worlds in the heavens to choose from,” Brekke began, breaking the thoughtful silence that followed Piemur’s conclusion, “had they no better place to come to than Pern?”
“If you’d seen as much of it as I have lately,” Piemur said, his spirit undaunted for any appreciable length of time, “you’d know that Pern’s not all that bad a world ... if you ignore the danger of Thread!”
“Some of us never can,” F’lar replied in a wry tone.
Menolly gave Piemur a sharp jab in the ribs, but F’lar only laughed when Piemur suddenly realized the tactlessness of his remark.
Yet again, Ms. McCaffrey, this would have been funnier if you cut it off at F'lar's comment. Also F'lar doesn't need you to defend his honor, Menolly. He's married to Lessa. Insults and insensitivity is how they flirt.
So anyway, everyone goes with the idea that these are vehicles. Oldive suggests this could be a topic for quiet reflections, which Robinton dismisses. Oldive says they can't go there...but Robinton thinks the fire lizards CAN
UM. Your lizards need to fucking breathe!
Robinton asks if Zair can go there. It just looks quizzical. Robinton tries a few more times, then, to test, mentions the Red Star, which causes Zair to freak out and vanish. Poor little thing.
So there's lots of debate and discussion, and we're told Wansor and Robinton would have kept it up all night, but Oldive drugged his wine. Hahah. The dragonriders return to their Weyrs, Oldive and Fandarel to their Halls. Wansor stays.
So. Um. If Jaxom can fly between, shouldn't he go home too?
They decide NOT to broadcast the info about the Dawn Sisters yet. F'lar agrees to send anyone that can be spared from the Weyr to help search. And Jaxom:
As Jaxom pushed his legs into his sleeping blanket, he tried not to be annoyed with the thought of another invasion in Cove Hold, just when he thought he and Sharra would be left alone for a while.
Fuck you, Jaxom.
He continues:
Had she been avoiding him? Or was it simply that circumstances had intervened? Such as Piemur’s premature arrival in Cove Hold? The worry over Master Robinton, the need to explore which left them too tired to do more than crawl into their furs, the arrival of half of Pern to complete the Hold for the Harper, then his arrival, and now this! No, Sharra had not been avoiding him. She seemed ... there. Her beautiful rich laugh, a tone below Menolly’s, her face often hidden by the strands of dark hair which kept escaping thong and clip ...
He wished, intensely, that Cove Hold would not be overrun again-a wish that did him little good since he had no control over what was going to happen here. He was Lord of Ruatha, not of the Cove. If the place belonged to anyone, it was Master Robinton’s and Menolly’s by virtue of their being storm-swept into it.
Go home, Jaxom.
Jaxom even thinks he SHOULD go home. Yes. You should. You're the fucking Lord of Ruatha.
He doesn't want to go, and NOT just because of Sharra, and oh my god:
It wasn’t as if he were needed in Ruatha. Lytol would manage the Hold as he’d always done. Ruth was not required to fight Thread either at Ruatha or at Fort Weyr. Benden had been lenient but F’lar had made it plain that the white dragon and the young Lord of Ruatha were not to be at risk.
Maybe LYTOL has things he'd rather do than run a hold! Have you ever thought of that? Maybe he actually wants to retire!
Jaxom realizes that no one has tried to stop him from exploring or suggested he goes home. Yeah, because you're fucking useless.
Jaxom took some comfort in that thought, if he took none at all in the knowledge that tomorrow F’lar would be sending in riders-riders whose dragons could fly considerably faster and farther than his Ruth, riders who’d be able to reach the mountain before him. Riders who might just discover those traces which Robinton hoped existed somewhere in the interior of the Southern Continent. Riders who might also see in Sharra the beauty and gentle warmth of spirit that attracted Jaxom.
God, he really doesn't care at all about the possibility of important discovery, does he? He just cares that his own opportunity for fun has been curtailed.
Oh and hey: He tried, turning on the rushes yet again, to find a comfortable position, to find sleep. Maybe Robinton’s plan for himself, Sharra, Menolly and Piemur would not undergo revision. As Piemur constantly reminded them all, dragons were great for flying over, but you still had to traverse the ground on foot to really know it. F’lar and Robinton might well want the dragonriders to spread out, cover as much territory as possible, and let the original explorers continue on to the mountain.
Funny how Piemur's reminders are actually useful now. Also dude, that just means that PIEMUR is useful. Not you.
So Jaxom falls asleep and dreams of the eruption again. In the morning, he goes and points Wansor's viewer at the mountain. Huh, I hope Wansor didn't need it in the other direction for calculation or something. He does, to be fair, refrain from altering the focus. Instead he decides to take Idarolan's viewer. Yeah, because a master fisher/sailor wouldn't need that or anything.
So...he wants to go to the Mountain. Now. And just to fucking piss me off more, we get: This venture was scarcely as dangerous as the return of the egg.
I don't care about the fucking egg.
But, okay, this is pretty good:
He pivoted on his heel and lurched backward in surprise. Piemur, Sharra and Menolly were standing in a row, watching him.
“Do tell. Lord Jaxom, what you saw in the Seaman’s viewer? A mountain, perhaps?” Piemur asked, showing all his teeth in that smug grin.
On Menolly’s shoulder. Beauty chirped.
I do love you, Piemur.
They mock him for wanting to go on his own. And Ruth volunteers that as none of them are fat, he can carry all four. So Jaxom really doesn't have a choice here. He's going to have to share the glory. Hah, serves you right, you fucking prick.
So they supply up. Ruth does strain a little to get off the beach, but it's easy going once airborne. Jaxom uses a distance viewer to catch sight of a distinctive ridge and they go between.
Ooo.
As Piemur had once said, distance was deceptive. The mountain rose on the shoulders of a high plateau already thousands of dragonlengths above the sea. Far below them a broad sparkling inlet cut high cliffs: grassy on the mountain’s side, densely forested on theirs. To the south, a towering range of mountains, snow-capped and misty in the distance, lay as a barrier east and west.
The mountain, still a good distance from them, dominated the scene.
Sharra notes that there are more volcanos seaward, some of which are smoking.
Piemur makes some expert observations on the sea volcanos, while Jaxom muses that the other side of the mountain must have been what blew. The others react sharply to that. All four had the dream. Jaxom has the nerve to be shocked, even though the shared dream was already established.
(I'm also reminded a bit of the book Damia, in which McCaffrey also uses the idea of convalescent heroes in the very last bit of the book discovering something vitally important in shared dreams. Though unlike White Dragon, things actually happen in that book.)
Anyway, they DO manage to get to the other side of the mountain, and it looks pretty fucking impressive. The mountain itself is missing its eastern lip. And the lava is still flowing.
Ruth is excited though, he recognizes this place as where the lizards said their men were. And then:
“Look, Jaxom! Look down!” Piemur yelled in his ear while tugging at his shoulder and pointing frantically to a spot below Ruth’s left foreleg. The early sun threw the outlines in bold relief. Regular outlines, mounds, and then straight lines dissecting, forming curious squares where no such regular formations should be.
“That’s what Master Robinton is looking for!” He grinned back over his shoulder at Piemur, who had turned to attract the girls’ attention to the ground.
Okay, that's fucking hilarious to me. After all that about Jaxom having learned how to spot ground formations, Piemur is the one who actually sees it.
Then they spot something more dangerous: Thread! They immediately zip back to Cove Hold.
Everyone scatters: Piemur to find Stupid, Menolly to return the viewer to Idarolan, and Sharra decides to brace the storm. She says she wouldn't have missed it, even if she gets scolded by Lessa.
I love that Lessa is scary.
Ruth of course defends them all. They were doing what Robinton said. Now they're back to fight Thread.
Interestingly, it actually seems like we're hearing half of Ruth's dialogue with Canth. I love that they actually talk to each other.
So they fly Thread. And aww. The fire lizards are all protecting Idarolan's ship. Including Southern lizards!
Once everything is over, F'nor comes to yell at Jaxom for running off without a word, and having forgotten that Thread was due. And that's very valid! So does Jaxom apologize?
Jaxom regarded F’nor. The brown rider’s face was suffused with anger and fatigue. The same cold rage that had erupted within Jaxom that day so long ago in his own Hold began to possess him. He straightened his shoulders and raised his head higher. His eyes were level with F’nor’s, a fact he had not previously noted. He could not, he would not, permit himself to lose control of his temper as he had that morning in Ruatha.
“We were ready for Thread when it fell, brown rider,” he responded calmly. “My duty as the rider of a dragon was to protect Cove Hold. I did. My pleasure and privilege was to fly with Benden.” He gave a slight bow and had the satisfaction of seeing the anger in F’nor’s face give way to surprise. “I’m sure the others have by now reported to Master Robinton what we discovered this morning. Into the water with you, Ruth. I’ll be glad to answer all your questions, F’nor, when I’ve cleaned Ruth up.” He gave F’nor, who was staring at him in honest amazement, a second bow and then stripped off hot and sweaty flying gear, leaving on only the shortened trousers that were more suitable to the heat.
You're such a little dick.
Ruth says that Canth says that F'nor is confused and asks what he said that confuses a brown rider. "What he didn't expect to hear from a white rider."
Wait. You know what? NO.
You can't suddenly come up with this idea that Jaxom is diffident and overlooked. We have NEVER seen that. The Weyrs are hierarchal, yes. But Ruth has never been part of that. There's no indication that brown riders look down on them. Ruth is unique, and Jaxom is a Lord, and he gets all the perks and privileges of both roles.
This wasn't some triumphant moment of Jaxom asserting himself. F'nor was probably confused because Jaxom didn't answer either of his salient points:
1) Why didn't he tell people where he was going?
2) Did he forget about the Thread?
Ruth points out that Jaxom is angry and thinks Jaxom will scrub him too hard. Poor Ruth.
Should we go to our lake? Ruth’s question was tentative and he turned his head toward his rider in an anxious manner.
“What do we need with a freezing lake when we’ve an entire warm ocean? I’m just annoyed with F’nor. It isn’t as if I were still sick, or a child that needed a guardian. I’ve fought Thread with you, and without you. If I’m old enough to do that, I don’t need to account for any of my movements to any one for any reason.”
I forgot that Thread would fall today!
Jaxom couldn’t help but laugh at Ruth’s humble admission.
“So did I. But don’t you ever let on to anyone.”
1) I hate that Jaxom has a fucking sanctuary lake. And I especially hate that Ruth is offering HIS comfort space.
2) F'nor wasn't treating you like a child. He was treating you like a DRAGONRIDER who has a fucking JOB TO DO. That's what you said you wanted.
And yes, if you're going to be a Dragonrider, you DO account for your movements.
3) And you don't get to be indignant when you're fucking lying.
And just to prove that Jaxom gets everything he wants, Sharra comes to help. Menolly's been useful, basically answering questions so quickly that no one could interrupt. She was still talking when Sharra slipped away.
Hee, now THAT is a useful talent.
“I’ll just bet you did the way Brekke was carrying on. I told her that you’d got pretty fit while she was away. She acted as if you’d risen from your deathbed to ride Fall!” Sharra made a scornful sound.
Poor Brekke's slipped from favored character status, I think. Hmph. You both could show her a little more respect.
Ugh. They flirt. And it's annoying. Jaxom notices the Dawn Sister (Idarolan's ship) leaving. It's off to fish, since the catch is always plentiful after Threadfall. Jaxom and Sharra will be helping to feed them.
Then Ruth dumps them in the water in excitemet. All the Weyrleaders have come! AND LYTOL. Yay!
Fuck. This is going to end up with Jaxom getting praised for being a fucking immature delinquent and we're going to pretend that this was heroic and he's ready to be Lord of Ruatha despite never once thinking of his goddamn kingdom until this chapter.
So they sneak back, grab some fruit and cereal, before Robinton and Lytol track them down. Lytol is of course wonderful.
“You look a great deal better than when I last saw you, lad. Good day to you, Sharra.” His greeting was absent-minded courtesy as he crossed the remaining distance to clasp Jaxom’s arm strongly in his. A smile pulled at his lips before he stepped back. “You’re tanned, you look fit. Now what is this trouble you created today?”
There's some banter, and then there's a big to do in the Hall with the Weyrleaders and Craftmasters. Lots of questions.
This bit annoys me:
“I know you’ve just flown Fall, Jaxom, but if you’d just give Mnementh the visualization ... ” F’lar began.
N’ton burst out laughing, pointing to Jaxom. “The look on your face, lad. F’lar, he’s got to lead us! Give him that!”
Do we have to? Jaxom literally neglected the ONLY job a dragonrider has. And it's not like the volcano couldn't wait. He just didn't want to be pre-empted.
So Jaxom takes them to see the mountain, which he's named Two-Face. Maybe you should let Menolly name these things. Everyone is suitably awed. Then Mnementh surges forward and says they should land.
F'lar is investigating one of the weird lines. And hey, T'bor's still around. Presumably banging the leftover Weyrwoman and High Reaches. And the Southern fire lizards are thrilled that men have "returned to them".
Hee. F'lar is still skeptical about all this nonsense:
“Of course men were here. They’re not telling us anything we didn’t know. But for them to say they remembered?” F’lar was scornful. “I could accept your finding D’ram in the Cove with their aid ... but that was only a matter of twenty-five Turns in the past. But ... ” For want of appropriate expression of his skepticism, F’lar merely gestured at the dead volcanoes and the long-covered traces of a settlement.
(Technically, the fire lizards DIDN'T do that. Menolly did. But okay.)
Menolly defends them, mentioning the Red Star, and almost blowing the secret of the egg (I DON'T CARE), but Jaxom mentions the dreams, which Ruth must have gotten from them.
F'lar is willing to grant this possibility. And of course, he's not mad at Jaxom for shirking duty. Because Jaxom can't possibly face consequence for anything he does. Poor Corana.
So now the plan is to dig these mounds and see what's there.
Some of them, including Jaxom, decide to go back, and F'lar vetoes Ruth carrying that much weight after the morning's exertions. F'lessan helps instead.
So Jaxom takes a nap, only to be awakened by Mirrim, and is, of course, a dick:
“Does it matter? Here, Jaxom, I’ve brought you some klah! Master Robinton wants to talk to you. You’ve slept all afternoon. We couldn’t figure out where you’d got to.”
Jaxom muttered under his breath, wishing with all his heart that Mirrim would go away. He resented her implication that he hadn’t any right to sleep in the afternoon.
Hey, asshole. You don't actually have the right to sleep away the afternoon. You're a Lord Holder and a dragonrider and you have a fucking job to do.
He shoos Mirrim away, and I wish I understood why McCaffrey has it in for the poor girl.
“You are my true friend, Sharra,” Jaxom said. “Mirrim irritates me so! Menolly told me that once Path had flown, she’d improve. I haven’t noticed any sign.”
Sharra of course doesn't defend Mirrim. Because Mirrim is...fuck if I know what the problem is. She's never been anything but nice to Menolly. And while abrupt with Jaxom, she's pretty much right.
So Sharra of course thinks Jaxom was smart to sneak off and rest. They go to find Robinton, who is doing all sorts of stuff with charts and diagrams. Menolly is looking at it too, while Mirrim is described as bored and irritated. Because McCaffrey can't do nuance.
Seriously, why the fuck is McCaffrey doing this? Mirrim was doing perfectly fine as the "not quite as good as Menolly" friend. Maybe she figured out that Mirrim's story, as the first female green rider in many years, is far more interesting and potentially satisfying on a feminist level than Menolly's story ended up.
So Robinton wants Jaxom and Ruth to help with the fire lizards. Oh and, just to annoy me further.
“There was scarcely more detail to go on in your first venture.”
“Sir?” Jaxom stared in stunned amazement because the Harper’s drawl had been so deceptively mild, with just a slight emphasis on “first,” yet the implication had been unmistakable; somehow the Harper knew Jaxom had rescued the egg. Jaxom shot an accusing glance at Menolly, whose expression was slightly perplexed as if the Harper’s subtle reference surprised her, too.
1) Of COURSE Robinton knows. He knows everything.
2) I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING EGG. It has been thirteen chapters since Jaxom saved the egg, and I don't think we had ONE of those where the egg wasn't mentioned.
We don't mention Lessa's flight that much and that actually MATTERED.
So anyway, Robinton thinks time's of the essence, as the plateau can't be a secret forever. And poor Mirrim:
“But it’s in the east. Master Robinton, which is to be dragonrider land,” Mirrim said, her tone almost belligerent.
“Of course it is, my dear child,” the Harper said soothingly. “Now if Ruth could charm the fire-lizards enough to focus their memories ... ”
She was perfectly polite! But of course her TONE must be bitchy. And where's Piemur? He and Mirrim could totally bond as the people who were Menolly's far less impressive friends who are then painted as irrational dicks when they're not useful anymore.
“There’s a lot we don’t know, and we might find some answers, perhaps even some equipment left behind, just as the enlarging viewer was left in those deserted rooms at Benden Weyr. Look how that instrument has improved our understanding of our world and the heavens above us. Maybe even some models of those fascinating machines the old Records mention.” He pulled the sketches over the map. “There are a lot of mounds, great and small, long and short. Some would have been for sleeping, storage, general living: some quite likely workhalls ... ”
“How do we even know that the ancients did things the way we do?” Mirrim demanded, “storage, and workhalls and such.”
“Because, my dear child, neither human nature nor human needs have changed since the earliest Records we have.”
That doesn’t mean they left anything in the mounds when they left the Plateau,” Mirrim said, frankly dubious.
“The dreams have been consistent in some details,” Robinton said with more patience for Mirrim’s obstructionism than Jaxom would have accorded him. “The fiery mountain, the molten rock and lava raining down. People running ... ” He paused, looking expectantly at the others.
Fuck off, Jaxom. Mirrim isn't being obstructionist. She has some damned good points here.
1) People DON'T do the same things. Even with the same human needs. My house looks nothing like Catal Huyuk, even granted that I eat and shit the same as a pre-Babylonian would have.
2) You people live in fucking caves now. They didn't back then. That's a pretty big difference all on its own.
3) It IS a trap when we make assumptions about our ancestors based on things that look moderately similar without any data. Mirrim's right about that too.
I mean, obviously, Robinton's going to be right here. But Mirrim's questions are far more intelligent than Jaxom's own contribution, in which RUTH is the one doing the work.
I'd like to think Mirrim and Piemur are going to go off and bitch about what a fucking git Jaxom is.
Anyway, Sharra points out that if they were in a panic, they wouldn't have taken everything. Menolly suggests they could have come back when the worst was over, like in Tillek. Robinton for some reason takes that as agreement, when I think it actually supports Mirrim's suggestion.
If they did come back, then they might have taken their things after all.
Anyway, Robinton admits that it's really more of a feeling, but he thinks the people were taken by surprise. If they had the skill to keep the Dawn Sisters in the sky, they should have been able to predict a volcano, so this must have been spontaneous.
Okay, I follow that logic. And notably, Mirrim doesn't protest.
But then:
When would you like us to try?” Jaxom asked. “Would tomorrow be too soon?” the Harper asked plaintively.
“All right by me. Piemur, Menolly, Sharra, I’ll need you and your fire-lizards!”
“I can arrange to come, too,” Mirrim said. Jaxom caught Sharra’s closed expression and realized that Mirrim’s presence would be as unwelcome to her as to himself.
Oh fuck you. And why the fuck should Sharra dislike Mirrim? If anything, Sharra's no nonsense bedside manner is very similar. She's also Toric's sister. Mirrim is NOT more disagreeable than he is.
Jaxom thinks Path will scare the lizards away, and since McCaffrey has said so long that Mirrim's obstinant, she doesn't get it, pointing out that her lizards are very well trained.
“I must agree with Jaxom,” the Harper said, smiling with sincere apology to the Benden dragongirl. “And, though I quite agree that yours are undoubtedly the best-trained fire-lizards in Pern, we don’t have time for the Southern ones to get used to Path.”
“Path needn’t be in evidence-“
“Mirrim, the decision has been made,” Robinton said firmly, with no trace of a smile now.
“Well, that’s plain enough. Since I’m not needed here ... ” She stalked out of the hall.
Robinton then asks if Path is proddy. Because hahaha, fuck you. You people literally went "everyone BUT Mirrim comes along" and expected her to be fine with that.
Jaxom ditches Thread duty because he absolutely HAS to be first to the mountain, and that's fine. But Mirrim wanting to come along here is unreasonable because...reasons.
And fuck, Menolly, you are a terrible friend. I'm glad Mirrim has a life on Benden far away from you. (And I'm SURE we're supposed to laugh at the idea that Mirrim has the best trained lizards when Menolly is in the room, but you know what? I don't recall hearing that Mirrim's lizards have EVER caused the havoc that Menolly's swarm did in Benden Weyr or in Dragonsinger. So...maybe it's true!)
And god, this chapter's still going. I'm happy that something's happening, but ugh.
So Menolly is fussing over Robinton, but Piemur points out that he's not really exerting himself, he was just bored and tired of being fussed over. Speaking of, F'nor and Brekke appear. Piemur cheerfully lies about Robinton resting.
And...oh you have to be kidding me.
“Where is Mirrim?” F’nor asked, glancing about.
“She’s outside somewhere,” replied Menolly in a voice so devoid of tone that Brekke glanced at her apprehensively.
“Has Mirrim been ... ” Brekke pressed her lips in a thin, disapproving line. “Drat that girl!” She looked up at Berd, and he immediately darted from the hall.
She's your fucking foundling.
I hate every single one of these characters. Except Piemur, who I notice hasn't said anything about Mirrim at all. I still like the thought that they're going to get together and talk about what dicks Menolly and Jaxom have turned out to be.
So they all head down to go swimming, and Jaxom, oh my god.
“Menolly, how did Master Robinton know?”
She’d been laughing as they raced down the path, but now her eyes darkened.
“I didn’t tell him, Jaxom. I didn’t have to. I don’t know when he figured it out. But the facts all point to you.”
I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE EGG.
Why don't we talk again about how Mirrim's the first female green rider in centuries? That would actually be interesting.
Menolly lists her logic. And I still don't care. She also says how proud she is of Jaxom, and oh this is rich:
“No one in the Southern Weyr returned Ramoth’s egg.” Menolly smiled up at Jaxom, and put her hand to his cheek, giving him an affectionate slap. “I was so proud of you, Jaxom, when I realized what you and Ruth had managed to do! Prouder even because you didn’t noise it about. And it was so critical just then for Benden to believe that a Southern rider had relented and restored Ramoth’s egg ... ”
Oh, he fucking noised it about, Menolly. He noised it about every fucking chapter.
I hate this so much. I hate that Jaxom is getting praised constantly for the bare minimum and escapes any hint of consequence for very real issues of disobedience, dereliction of duty, manipulation, fucking RAPE, and so on.
I'm supposed to dislike Mirrim, whose only real crime is being bitchy.
I want her and Piemur to go off and find Corana and just form a "we hate Jaxom" club.
...oh wait. Spoke too soon:
“And what do you bet Mirrim tries to stay there the night, too, to see if Path does keep away the Southern fire-lizards?” Piemur asked, a slightly malicious grin on his face.
“Mirrim does have well-trained fire-lizards,” Menolly said.
“And they sound just like her when they scold everyone else’s friends,” Piemur added.
“Now that’s not fair,” Menolly said. “Mirrim’s a good friend of mine ... ”
“And as her best friend you ought to explain to her that she can’t manage everyone on Pern!”
Sigh.
Okay, just Mirrim and Corana then. And fuck off, Menolly. Mirrim has been a good friend to you. You've been shit to her. (We're told that Menolly's about to take umbrage at Piemur's remark, but fuck off. Too little, too fucking late.)
More dragons appear yet again. All seven Weyrleaders are there, even though I thought they arrived earlier. The craftsmen are there. Lytol, of course. D'ram.
Interestingly, the Oldtimer Weyrleaders are less interested in the historic stuff than N'ton, F'lar, G'dened and T'bor. Of course. Because the latter are our heroes. McCaffrey's not deep. They'd rather just explore the continent. Which is fair enough, if it wasn't portrayed as some kind of clear divide.
I do like this bit though:
“That is past,” R’mart of Telgar said. “Past, dead, and very much buried. We have to live in the present, a trick, mind you, F’lar, that you taught us.” He grinned to remove any sting from what he said. “Besides, wasn’t it you, F'lar, who suggested that it’s useless to muddle our brains thinking how the ancients did things ... that it’s better to build for ourselves what is useful for our times and Turn?”
I'd love to see a book from an Oldtimer point of view. Maybe not T'ron or Mardra, sure. But maybe G'narish or R'mart. It'd be interesting.
So everyone discusses the settlement. R'mart, for all his disinterest, has a good question here too: why did they just have this one settlement when there was a whole world to occupy?
So there's more talking. At one point the subject of dragonriders mining comes up, to Masterminer Nicat's skepticism. F'lar points out that Thread will Pass, and there'll be another Interval soon enough. I do like F'lar.
I feel like F'lar and Mirrim would get along like mad. Mirrim and Lessa too. And NOTHING you say will convince me otherwise, McCaffrey.
Oh and as though to emphasize how Jaxom gets everything he wants:
They were well out of hearing range of the others when N’ton turned to Jaxom. “This is more to your fancy, isn’t it, Jaxom, than flying tamely in the queens’ wing?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose, N’ton,” Jaxom said with a laugh. “I just wanted to see the mountain before anyone else did.”
You also skipped out without telling anyone on a day of Thread. I hate that I'm siding with F'nor, but there should be fucking consequences for that.
Later, when Jaxom is bathing Ruth, N'ton and Mirrim talk, and Jaxom overhears of course. Mirrim notes that Wansor's fine, never noticed she came or ate the food she brought. She notes also that Path did NOT scare away the fire lizards.
“Why would she?”
“I’m not allowed to be on the Plateau when Jaxom and the others try to coax some sense out of the Southerners.”
“Sense? Oh, yes, seeing if Ruth can focus the firelizards’ images. Well, I shouldn’t worry about it, Mirrim. There are so many other things you can do.”
“At least my dragon is not an unsexed runt, good for nothing but consorting with fire-lizards!”
“Mirrim!”
Hey, I know we're supposed to dislike Mirrim for this, but I think she's been provoked. They deliberately excluded her. And she's actually just proven them wrong, not that Jaxom will ever care about that.
Ruth is of course good for more than one thing, and it's not his fault that the others are dicks. But I'm on her side here. And also, she actually gets called out, unlike ANY of our protagonists.
N'ton is angry of course. And Mirrim realizes Jaxom heard what she said, and runs away crying.
“Jaxom?” Mirrim cried. “Oh, no!” Then Jaxom heard her running away, saw the glow basket jolting, heard her weeping. Just like the girl, speak first, think later and weep for days. She’d be repentant and hanging on about him, driving him between with her need to be forgiven her thoughtlessness.
At least Mirrim fucking shows remorse. Did you ever apologize for laughing at her impending rape?
Yes, N’ton?” Jaxom dutifully continued to scratch Ruth’s backbone, wondering why Mirrim’s cruel remark did not rankle as it ought. Sexless runt! As he saw N’ton striding toward him, he was aware of a curious sense of relief, of relaxation deep inside him. The memory of those riders, waiting for the Fort green to mate, flashed through his mind. Yes, he’d been relieved then that Ruth had proved disinterested. He could somewhat regret that Ruth would be deprived of that experience; but he was relieved that he would never be called upon to endure it.
...hey, dude? Mirrim HAS to endure it. Remember how you laughed at her?
So N'ton is busy trying to apologize to Jaxom, and Jaxom's tolerance is presented as the sign of maturity that it really isn't. Fuck this bullshit.
This story is more tolerable now that things are happening, but only so much, seeing as how I still hate the leads.
And of course, Jaxom is rewarded again with Sharra.
“Did Mirrim ... ” He began, holding the oil pot out so she could dip her hand in.
“Yes, and no sympathy from any of us, let me assure you.” Her anger translated itself to an overly hard rub on Ruth’s back that made him complain. “Sorry, Ruth. They sent Mirrim back to Benden!”
Poor Mirrim. You deserve better than this book and these "friends". (I'm still inclined to think F'lar will be on her side. One driven asshole to another.)
And of course...Sharra's here because Ruth called her. She can hear Ruth. Now granted, this isn't a Brekke hear-all-dragon thing. Ruth is deliberately calling her, and has been since Jaxom was ill. And ugh.
“Ruth, why did you call Sharra?”
She is good for you. You need her. What Mirrim said, even what N’ton said but he was kinder, has made you close up. I do not like it when I cannot hear your mind. Sharra will open it for us.
“Will you do that for us, Sharra?”
This time Jaxom didn’t hesitate. He took Sharra’s hands, oily as they were, and drew her to him, inordinately pleased that she was so nearly his height and her mouth so close to his. All he had to do was tilt his head slightly.
“I would do anything for you, Jaxom, anything for you and Ruth!” Her lips moved delightfully against his until he made more speech impossible.
Oh. My. God.
This is, possibly the most offensive...
I called her a reward before, but Sharra is literally being offered up, BY RUTH, as a salve to Jaxom's pride! And she's okay with this! And this is how they end up having sex!
(Meanwhile, Jaxom doesn't spare a moment of thought to his poor rape victim.)
God, Mirrim, I wish I were back at Benden with you.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-06 08:32 pm (UTC)I HATE EVERYTHING
I also want to be back at Benden with Mirrim and F'lar and Lessa.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-06 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-25 02:49 am (UTC)I feel like, if I were Brekke, I would tell Robinton, "Oh, don't worry. You don't need to take your medicine, and feel free to exert yourself as much as you want. None of that will increase the odds you have another heart attack."
Either sarcasm works where being nice didn't, or Robinton takes that at face value and proceeds to give himself another heart attack. It seems like a win-win.
Ruth volunteers that as none of them are fat, he can carry all four.
Wait a sec, Ruth, who is admittedly "a runt," can fly long distances while carrying FOUR riders? I'm sorry, but physics says no. Yes, I know Pern isn't exactly hard sci-fi, but the reasons that the dragons flying with human riders seems vaguely plausible is that they're described as so big. I can imagine those giant wings can create enough lift to take a big creature along with a human rider into the air. Ruth, though, I have a hard time imagining he can do much more than glide with Jaxom on his back. But four people? No way, especially not on a long trip.
Admittedly, I haven't read all the Pern books, and those I did read were long ago, but I can't remember any of the full-sized dragons carrying more than two riders, and those pretty much just long enough to take off, teleport, and land. How is the much smaller dragon able to take a much heavier load much further?
Poor Mirrim. You deserve better than this book and these "friends."
I don't remember much about this book, but I do remember how awful everyone was to Mirrim. She's got a lot in common with Leah from the Twilight books: the first female in living memory chosen to be part of an otherwise all-male elite fighting force. Everyone treats her like shit, and then calls her a bitch for the fact that she dares to resent everyone treating her like shit.
She's the one with a unique and interesting destiny, but the narrative insists on ignoring her in favor of a whiny, spoiled brat who is given every advantage imaginable and cries about not getting more.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 03:03 pm (UTC)I think the answer to Ruth carrying a much heavier load is because Ruth must be very very Special. Always. Like when McCaffrey decided to tell us that Ruth is the only dragon capable of remembering shit, when we see the others remember shit all the time.
Apparently, per the Pern wiki, Mirrim will end up serving in the Weyr that handles Cove Hold, where she basically acts as de facto Weyrwoman for T'gellan. (T'gellan's bronze does mate with an actual gold, but apparently the actual Weyrwoman is pretty happy to leave the management stuff to Mirrim. I like the thought that they're a happy poly triad, personally, but even if not, it's good to know Mirrim gets a good ending.)
no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 11:24 pm (UTC)I, too, am glad that Mirrim gets a happy ending.