The Truth about Holders

Writers: Heather, Suzee
Date Posted: 29th July 2019

Characters: Sasima, W'ser
Description: W'ser tells Sasima about Nazli
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 28 of Turn 9
Notes: Takes place immediately after "Tea and Dragons"
Heeehhh, backdated. Blame LOAs.

Sasima

W'ser

Sasima heard Brath land and W'ser's voice as he did his normal gear things.

"I've got your dinner still hot," she called. "How was your day?"

W'ser's brow was still furrowed, and he took a moment longer with
Branth's gear than usual, trying to figure out if he even wanted to
tell Sasima about it or not. "It was.. unusual," he said as he entered
the weyr and dropped a kiss to the top of his weyrmate's head.

Sasima hugged his waist then uncovered the dishes to reveal the tubers
and steak she knew he liked. "They were serving a tangy sauce with the
steaks tonight so I got you some to try." She pushed the little bowl
with a spoon toward him. "What was unusual," she asked as she took
her own seat at the table.

He stopped by the wash basin to wash his hands and forearms before
taking his usual place at the table. He took a bite of his steak and
dipped it in the sauce. Popping it into his mouth, his eyebrows raised
a bit as he nodded approvingly. "Well, I had to take a crafter back to
Amber Hills. While I was there a group of women insisted that I was
some girl's father."

"Really? How old is she?" Sasima wasn't interested in raising any
children as a rule.

"I'm not sure exactly. She appeared to be in her late twenties." Which
would have put him in his late teens when he fathered her, and
considering how he had behaved back then, with a new dragon that
earned him easy attention from girls, it was altogether possible that
he had.

Relief flooded Sasima and she smiled. "Did she look anything like you
do you think?"

W'ser lifted his shoulders marginally. "Not that I could tell, mostly
because she was an exact image of her mother, I thought."

"Pretty then," she smiled. Sasima wasn't the least bit jealous. She
was quite happy with her life with W'ser and what he'd been or done
previously had nothing to do with her. "She must have made an
impression on you if you remember her."

"Yes it was young love, or infatuation. I went down to the Hold pretty
often to pick her up on Branth." W'ser remembered, although the
details of when he had stopped seeing her, and why, were a little more
fuzzy.

"So what was she? A drudge trying for a ride to the Weyr?" Sasima smiled.

"No," W'ser shook his head, eyes going distant as he recalled the
memories that he hadn't thought about in Turns. "She wasn't a drudge
but her family wasn't of major importance either. We met at a Gather,
as cliche as that sounds. At twenty-one, I wasn't interested in
anything too serious, but I still went down to the Hold often to sneak
her away so we could spend time together."

"But what you're saying then is, it's possible the girl _is_ your
daughter." Sasima tilted her head. She had never wanted any children
of her own but it had never really come up between them. "Do you think
you might want to get to know her a little?"

"It is possible," W'ser conceded with a spread of his hands, "but how
can I know for sure? I don't know what became of her mother after I
stopped seeing her."

"So then maybe you should get to know her a little. Lots of riders
never know their offspring. You have a chance at least. I mean, it
_is_ possible. You remember her mother and you slept with her around
the time this one was conceived. Right?"

"Yes, but I have no way of knowing she wasn't with other men, or that
she didn't marry soon after." W'ser knew the only way to find the
answers to his questions, however, was to go back to Amber Hills and
talk more with the woman that might be his daughter. "I'll have to
proceed carefully, it seemed as though my possible daughter might be a
part of Lord Zathris' family now, she was with the Lady Holder."

Sasima snorted. "In the Hold? You never lived in a hold so trust me, I
doubt she'd ever be married if they even suspected she was with you.
No self respecting holder man would have her no matter how beautiful."
Sasima shook her head. "I was ignored and made into a drudge from a
child just because they didn't know who my people were and I can tell
you. In the Hold it's all about who you are or who you're related to.
It's very likely this girl had a very hard life if they thought her
father was a dragon rider and her mother a slut." She spat the last
word because she'd been treated as one by all the holders around her
until she came to the Weyr. "If she was with the Lady Holder, that
says something about her character. She's had to tow a very hard line
to get where she is now."

W'ser stood and drew Sasima into the circle of his arms. "I never
realized," he had heard rumors of how harsh the holders could be about
such things, but he hadn't realized that Sasima had been on the
receiving end of it. It was a part of her past that they had never
discussed in depth. "They can all take a flying leap /between/. I have
never met a finer woman than the one I'm holding." The information
also troubled him, to think that he could have sired a child and left
her to be treated like something disgusting to be tossed out in the
trash. The least he could do was seek her out now, he thought, and see
if there was anything he could provide now.

She clung to him for a long moment. "You're a good man W'ser," she
said softly. "If she's yours, you deserve to know each other."

"You are right," he agreed. He would ask Saibra to inquire about the
girl from Lady Benani before treading any further on Hold ground.
"Right now though, I would like to give my weyrmate a massage."

"Good thought," Sasima smiled and pushed her own emotions about her
past into the background where they remained like obedient little pets
most of the time. The with a brusque wave at his plate added, "But
you'd better finish that steak before it gets cold."

Last updated on the September 3rd 2019

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