Mother Knows Best (1/2)

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 1st September 2019
Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife

Characters: Enamra, Thayde, H'riv, Thavior, Aydrisia, Aydramine, Thayrisa, Thavyor
Description: Despite their recent troubles, Enamra finally meets Thayde's family up North.
Location: Dolphin Hall, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 12, day 19 of Turn 9

Enamra

Thayde

*********

There was no way around this visit. It had been planned for over a
month and despite her growing lack of desire to do much of anything
besides her duties, Enamra forced herself to get ready, wear one of
the nicest dresses and carefully fix her hair. As she did, she
thought of the last sevenday. Sleeping had been difficult. She'd gone
back to wearing long gowns, and each morning had found herself nearly
on the edge of the bed, far away from Thayde. He'd not tried to hold
her at night and she certainly didn't attempt any more enticements.
Even their conversations had been lagging. She'd tried, she honestly
had, but she hasn't had much energy or will to do more than nod and
force smiles. She wondered of this visit would be just as awkward.

At the beginning of their marriage, Thayde had been nervous about
introducing his new bride to his family because of their obvious age
difference, but as the days had progressed he had become more
comfortable with it, especially after Aydramine and H'riv had visited.
After the past sevenday, however, the nerves had returned, partially
because of what had happened with Jalodwyn, and partially because of
how stinted things had begun to feel between him and Enamra.

Thayde worried that his mother would take one look at his face and
know exactly the wrong he had committed and blurt it out in front of
everyone. His mother had always had a way of reading him like a book.

For once, Thayde was wearing trousers, a change from his typical
shorts, and a long sleeved shirt, since they would be flying up North.
The coat he pulled from his wardrobe still had a new leather smell
since he never had reason to wear it at Dolphin Cove.

"All set?" he asked, knocking on the bedroom door and cracking it open.

Enamra rose from her chair, brushing her hands down the skirt of the
blue dress. She'd chosen it more for his parents than herself, the
cut reminiscent of wave shapes around the hem. Before she'd loved it,
now she felt like an imposter wearing it. It should have gone to the
other woman, she thought. Thayde probably would have preferred taking
_her_ in this dress to meet his family. She pushed that thought aside
and patted her braid to make sur that our was neat. "I'm ready. Is
H'riv already here?"

"Yes, he is waiting outside for us." Thayde said, taking in her choice
of garments with appreciative eyes. He had worried that she might wear
one of her old dresses to meet his parents, since she had oddly been
wearing them all sevenday. "That color is beautiful on you," he said
sincerely.

She gave a very brief upturn of her mouth, not quite a smile, and
replied softly, "Thank you." She picked up the jacket he'd insisted
upon and finally looked up at him. "You look very nice. "

"Thank you," he smiled and extended his arm to her to escort her from
their quarters.

H'riv was waiting outside beside of his brown dragon, who turned his
head to look at the approaching pair.

}:Hm, she seems familiar.:{ Uuketh told his rider.

**You have met her before.** H'riv commented, passing along the memory
of his brown's first encounter with Enamra.

}:Oh yes,:{ the brown said with delight. }:You know, she would make a
good can-:{

**Don't even say it.** H'riv cut his dragon off.

"There is my favorite sister-in-law," H'riv said with a winning grin
as he approached Thayde and Enamra with arms open for a hug.

"Shh, don't tell the others when you meet them," the brownrider
whispered in Enamra's ear as he engulfed her in his arms.

Enamra finally gave a bit more of a smile as they approached H'riv,
returning his hug with a light but awkward pat on the back. "Oh! I
won't. Thank you." The smile she turned on the brown dragon, however,
was fuller and more open. "Hello Uuketh. Is very good to see you
again. " She left Thayde's side to approach the dragon, eyes warm.
"May I scratch your ridges?"

Uuketh crooned and butted his nose gently against her.

"Okay, what have you done to her?" H'riv demanded in a low voice where
Enamra couldn't overhear.

Thayde glanced up at his brother in bewilderment. "What?"

"She's different. The first time I met her she was all twinkly-eyed
and blushing and smiley." The dragonrider watched his brown shutter a
pair of his eyelids in pleasure as his eyeridges were scratched. "Is
the honeymoon over already?"

"Shut up, H'riv," Thayde grumped. "Shouldn't we be going?"

His older brother merely cocked an eyebrow in response, but the
brownrider did approach his dragon. "Okay, Enamra, come over here and
I will help you get settled up on Uuketh's neckridge."

"Yes, H'riv." Enamra patted Uuketh lightly, turning to allow H'riv to
help her up. Her heart beat rapidly even add she attempted to get her
skirts to cover her legs as she was strapped in. She'd never flown
before and had certainly never been to that mysterious /between/ so a
mixture of fright and excitement whirled in her empty belly. For the
moment, she was able to forget her troubles and was grateful for the
warm weight of Thayde behind her as he was strapped in. She gripped
the straps, eyes wide as her breath quickened.

Thayde could feel Enamra's excitement and he smiled into her hair as
he tightened his arms around her waist. He loved giving her
experiences like these, ones that she might never have known had they
not married.

"Here we go everyone," H'riv told them as he finished the last checks
on the straps and then gave Uuketh the signal to rise.

The brown crouched low, bunching up the powerful muscles roped along
this hind legs, and then sprang aloft, making the ascent as smooth as
possible for their first time rider.

She couldn't help a startled gasp and tiny squeak as they rose into
the air. Unable to help herself she leaned back into Thayde for a
moment, then slowly, very slowly, leaned over to look over the
side. Her eyes widened as they rose, watching the ground grow smaller
with a sense of pure wonder. She didn't find herself frightened at
all, instead she was amazed how small the the Hall looked. Her mouth
parted and a real smile lit her face as she stared into the ocean,
seeing the dolphin pod far below playing in the waves.

That changed the moment everything went black and empty. She
screamed, covering her mouth but unable to feel it, see, or sense
anything. It seemed as though it took forever, and when it was
suddenly light again, and chill, she found her hands on Thayde's arm,
clutching at him until the knuckles whitened.

Even though Thayde had been /between/ a few times in his life, he
still found the black void unsettling. When he had asked H'riv about
it once before, the brownrider had commented that it wasn't so bad for
him because he had his link with Uuketh, anchoring him to something in
the frozen space. "Unsettling, isn't it?" he said in Enamra's ear
empathetically.

Having sensed her panic, Uuketh spoke to Enamra for the first time.
}:Don't worry, small one, I would never lose you.:{

H'riv's lips twitched with a surpressed grin as the brown began to
descend toward the northern seahold where his and Thayde's parents
lived. The brown rarely ever spoke to anyone other than H'riv.

When his breath tickled her ear and she felt the tingling in her
belly, Enamra abruptly released Thayde's arm and sat up straight.
"I'm alright," she breathed, swallowing hard. " I just didn't think
it would feel like _nothing_." Her eyes turned back to Uuketh with
surprise as she heard that strange voice in her head. Was that what
H'riv experienced every day? **It must be amazing to have that
connection.** "I know you wouldn't, Uuketh," she called out past the
wind. "I was just scared for a moment."

She patted the dragon's hide and looked down, relieved to be able to
feel again. The sight of the Hall and the cool of the air shifted her
sense of wonder. His family was down there. Where he was from. She
closed her eyes and swallowed. Maybe his parents wouldn't like her.
Faranth, maybe she should have just stayed home.

There was no one to greet them on the ground as they landed. "They are
all waiting inside," he told them as he helped Enamra and Thayde
dismount. "The only one that couldn't be here today was Ayvid. He is
out on a ship in the middle of the ocean, at the moment."

"He's the second eldest," Thayde told Enamra as they walked into the
seahold, following H'riv who walked ahead of them, nodding to people
as he passed.

They stopped before a door and H'riv smiled as he turned the doorknob.
"Ready or not, here you go." The brownrider pushed open the door and
bellowed, "Hey Ma! We're home!"

Thayde chuckled a little, remembering H'riv doing that exact same
thing when they had been teenagers.

"Honestly, H'riv, you do not have to bellow like that, we are all
right here." Aydrisia huffed as she stepped forward. The resemblance
between Thayde and his mother was quite noticeable. Their brown eyes
were nearly mirrors of one another, only Aydrisia's were lined with
light wrinkles from time spent outdoors. Unlike other hold women,
Aydrisia was not in a dress, but a smart pair of breeches and a long
tunic, where, affixed to her shoulder, were the knots of a Master
Dolphineer.

Thayde opened his mouth to start making introductions, but his mother
cut him off by hugging him around the neck. "You have been gone so
long," she said in his ear, in that slightly scolding tone that he
remembered.

"I'm sorry, Ma. I'm here now." He looked up into his father's eyes.
The seacrafter stood slightly behind his wife, looking gruff and
serious. The irony was that his father had always been the soft one,
with his mother being the the ultimate authority in the family. "Let
me introduce my wife," he said.

"Oh, goodness, yes," Aydrisia said, stepping back and wiping tears
from her cheeks.

"Enamra," Thayde said, taking his wife's hand and pulling her
foreward. "This is my mother, Aydrisia, and my father, Thavior," he
directed her attention next to his multiple siblings. "This is
Thavyor, he's the oldest," and he was nearly a duplicate of his
father. "You, of course, know H'riv and Aydramine," he said of his two
dragonrider siblings, "and that leaves the youngest of the family,
Thayrisa." Thayrisa looked very much like the female version of
Thayde, and bore apprentice knots on her shoulder. "You two are close
in age," he said.

Feeling overwhelmed by the boisterous family and the open affection,
Enamra tried to fall back behind both Thayde and H'riv. Her father had
never been affectionate and her mother had been more concerned with
the household and keeping the children fed and cared for. She'd been
loved, she thought, but it had been more restrained. Pale with
nerves, she allowed herself to be pulled forward and quickly dropped
into an curtsey. Keeping her eyes steadily down, she spoke softly.
"It's very nice to meet all of you. I hope I can remember all of your
names. Please forgive me if I don't get them right at first."

"Don't worry about it," Thavior said, the voice behind the gruff
appearance much softer than expected. "Aydrisia insisted on mashing
our names together to name all of our children and half the time I
can't get my tongue around their damn names and call them the wrong
thing."

"Thavior," Aydrisia sighed and elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "Language."

"Well, I'm a seacrafter not a harper," he grumped, rubbing his side.

"Look how pale you are," Aydrisia tsked, studying Enamra. "I told them
that you going /between/ wasn't a good idea. You could be carrying our
grandchild and /between/ is not a good idea."

She was starting to smile at Thavior, then as Thayde's mother spoke,
her face turned beet red and her mouth opened, then closed, then
opened again. Part of her wanted to go and hide; she couldn't exactly
tell his mother that it was certainly impossible, especially since
Thayde had no interest in her for _that_. It had been made clear. She
couldn't help but just shrink a little. "Oh no, ma'am. I'm not. I
uh..I know I'm not." The words came out in an embarrassed whisper.

Thayde's eyes had widened and he stared in disbelief at his mother.

"Good, then we can all enjoy this wine I brought," Aydramine butted
in, disrupting the awkward tension that had fallen over the group.

"I've got the glasses," H'riv said, holding them up, trying to keep
the conversation moving.

Aydrisia's shrewd eyes narrowed a bit at Enamra's whispered words, and
then they flicked up to Thayde. He could already tell he was going to
have some explaining to do.

As the family all sprang into action, setting the table, putting out
things for lunch and making conversation about safer topics, such as
the new Weyrhold going up in the South, Aydrisia stepped closer to
Enamra and spoke softly. "I apologize, dear, I did not mean to
embarrass you. Thavior says I have the tact of a green in heat."

Enamra wavered around the table, trying to step in and help in some
way like she'd always done before, but found herself with nothing
really to help with. They family moved together with practiced ease,
so she fell quiet, just listening to the conversation around her. She
was startled as Aydrisia came to her and looked up at the soft voice.
She flushed again at the comparison, lowering her eyes almost
immediately as she shook her head. "It's okay. I mean, it's what a
mother would think of, of course. " She glanced at the table. "Can I
help?"

"Just relax today and get to know everyone. We'll put you to work next
time," Aydrisia assured her with a warmer smile.

Lunch was less awkward than their arrival had been, with Aydramine and
H'riv having colorful stories from the Weyr to tell, and Thavyor
updating them on his wife's advanced pregnancy, which was the reason
she had not attended but was at home in their cot on the outer edges
of the seahold's territory.

As he had as a child, Thayde remained mostly quiet during the meal,
enjoying his siblings exchanges. He supposed that he got his quiet
nature from his father, who sat at the head of the table taking
everything in, offering only a one word comment here or there, and
occasionally a guffaw if the story merited it.

Enamra, like Thayde, was mostly quiet, listening to the exchanges
while moving food about on her plate. She did take a few bites, but
mostly out of politeness; her appetite hadn't been great for the past
sevenday and with Thayde next to her, she forced herself to eat more
than she really wanted to. Still, it was a small amount and she only
finished a small portion before putting her eating knife aside. She
was curious about the family, but asked nothing, uncertain how she
could have ever thought she'd fit in with his family. She briefly
considered asking H'riv if he minded if she went outside with Uuketh,
but discarded that idea; it would be rude to abandon her duties as a
guest. Had her own sisters and brother ever been this talkative? Had
she?

Throughout the meal, Thayde could feel his mother's piercing gaze on
him, so he was not surprised when the family made to retire to the
sitting room that she pulled him aside and asked for a private word
between them.

"I'll be there in a minute," he told Enamra.

Thayrisa grabbed Enamra's arm with a smile, "I'll take care of her."
The youngest of the brood by far, Thayrisa was excited that there was
finally someone in the family close to her in age.

Enamra could scarcely protest as she was pulled away and left with his
family. Pulled to the sitting room by Thayrisa, she stared at the
family as they settled, uncertain as to what she could possibly say to
any of them. Of all of them, she felt the most comfortable with H'riv,
but he seemed to be in conversation with one of Thayde's brothers, so
she looked at Thayrisa with clear uncertainty.

Last updated on the September 3rd 2019

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