You've No Right!

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 4th December 2020
Series: The Hallmaster's Ladies

Characters: Thayde, Jalodwyn
Description: Thayde goes to see Jalodwyn about her resignation
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 7, day 27 of Turn 10
Notes: Takes place at Jade Harbor Hold

Thayde

Jalodwyn placed another one of her tunics into a crate then closed it
with a firm click of the lid. She wished Yasha was there to help, but
her friend had left for her round of fleet duty that very morning;
she'd promised that even though Jalodwyn was moving to the Hold, that
she'd still help with Jalotha and they'd see each other every day. It
was enough, she supposed. Working as a drudge wasn't something she was
looking forward to, but it was better than doing nothing. She'd have a
small room for herself and Jalotha and she'd been assured that there
was room in the creche. She began putting Jalotha's tiny clothes into
another crate along with a few spare soft dolls that H'riv had
brought. She tucked them away quickly before turning to her gear,
still laid out on her bed. Looking at it was painful; she would have
to turn in everything, her tanks, her fins, her swim
gear...everything. She would never use it again. Jalodwyn resisted the
sudden urge to rip everything apart and send it to Mertin in pieces.
Swallowing, she began to pick it up, setting it aside for another
crate.

The knock on the door startled her. Who would be calling on her now?
She had no other friends and she knew the ship had already pulled out
to sea. **Probably Mertin or his wife, making sure that I'm packing.**
She looked over at Jalotha, who stared up at the little mobile over
her crib. It was a fancy little thing, dangling glistening packtail
cutouts, dolphins, and redfish that spun when a crank was pulled. She
would have to pack that too. Would she have room to keep it? The knock
sounded again and she grimaced before walking to the door and opening
it. She blinked and then her eyes narrowed as she slammed the door
right in Thayde's face.

Before she could lock the door, Thayde pushed it open. "Jalodwyn, we
need to talk."

His presumption infuriated her and she tried to close the door again,
but was unable. He was already blocking it. Keeping her voice quiet,
she tried to block him from completely coming in, her voice a soft
hiss of anger. "Get out, Thayde. I have nothing to say to you. I'm
done. I quit and you have no control over what I do anymore."

"I will not accept your resignation. You are a talented dolphineer and
the craft needs you. Come back to Dolphin Cove where you can work. You
can have whatever duties you want." Thayde said in an authoritative
tone.

"Go get shafted," she snapped back. "Mertin already accepted it and he
was happy to. I'm not going anywhere."

"And Mertin's a fecking idiot," Thayde shot back. "Do you really want
to go work at the Hold scrubbing floors and cleaning chamberpots? You
_will_ come back to Dolphin Cove and you will resume your duties as a
dolphineer. You _will_ teach classes and help with salvaging. You
_will_ decide what you want your master project to be and you will
start working on that. You _will_ raise our daughter in a place where
she won't be known as the 'bastard baby'. Am I making myself clear?"

Jalodwyn's hand flew before she could even think about stopping it,
slapping Thayde's cheek as hard as she could. Her eyes watered with a
sudden surge of emotion. Tears leaked unnoticed as she spoke through
gritted teeth. "You've no right! None! You may have sired her but
Jalotha is _my_ daughter! Mine alone! You didn't want her! Do you
actually think she'll be treated any different at Dolphin Cove? And
now you're trying to take me and her from the only person that really
cares about us! Who's been there for the both the whole time! I'd
rather be a drudge and scrub floors and privies than lose someone
else!"

Thayde's eyes blazed. "Yasha? That's what this is about? Bring the
woman with you, I don't care, but you _are_ coming to the Dolphin
Hall. In case you missed it, no one here likes you, trusts you, or
wants to be around you. If I wanted to take my daughter to Dolphin
Cove no one would stop me." He hated to dangle their daughter over her
head as a threat, but he would do it if it meant Jalodwyn would come
to the Hall where he could keep an eye on them both. "It would be a
lot easier on you, and me, if you just came to Dolphin Cove
willingly."

"Mertin refused to transfer her. I asked! She would have gone with me
and I would have gone and not given up my entire life! You and him
wanted to make me miserable and I put up with it because I deserved
it. " His words were nothing new. She knew how people felt about her
here and how they felt at Dolphin Cove. But the threat and the long
held fear that he'd try to take her away terrified her. "But I don't
deserve _this_. You'll never have Jalotha! Ever! You stay away from
her, Thayde! You don't get near her, you don't touch her! I swear,
if you try to take her from me, I'll leave with her and you'll never
find us."

"Oh, please," Thayde waved his hand. "Where could you go with no
connections and no marks, hm? Mertin didn't agree to let Yasha go
probably because he was trying to spite you. He told me himself he
thought you were someone that needed to be kicked out of the craft.
Listen, believe me or don't, but I never told him to hold you back
from doing your job. All I asked of him, early on, was to let me know
when Jalotha was born and if it might be possible that she was mine."
Thayde took a step back from her, inhaling deeply and trying to calm
himself. Somehow conversations with Jalodwyn always seemed to bring
out the worst in his temper. "Look," he said in a softer tone, "I
truly, honestly, do not want your life to be miserable. I am trying,
in the only way I know how, to give you the opportunity to work in
your craft, to raise your daughter, and to do so with as little
ridicule as possible."

"I _don't_ believe you. " Jalodwyn hugged herself tightly, body
trembling. She would have gone north to her sister if she'd had to.
Yasha would have at least gotten her that far, if she'd asked. "If
you can get him to transfer Yasha, then I'll take back my resignation.
But you leave us and Jalotha alone. I'll do my duties, but you never
threaten to take her away again. You gave up your rights. Stay away
from her. "

"I'll have Yasha transferred, you put your knots back on," he pulled
them from his pocket and extended them to her, "and then I'll send a
dragon for you to come to Dolphin Cove. I'll stay away from Jalotha if
that's what you want."

She snatched the knots from his hand. "When the transfer goes through,
I'll put them back on. And that's exactly what I want. I don't want
her knowing you at all. "

"Consider the transfer done. I'm going to Mertin right now. A dragon
will be here for you the day after tomorrow." He really hoped Yasha
wanted to come to Dolphin Cove because she had no choice in the matter
either.

"She's on Fleet Duty right now. She left this morning." Their argument
had apparently distressed Jalotha who began to whimper in her cradle.
Jalodwyn hurried to the cradle and carefully lifted her daughter into
her arms to soothe her. "Shhh.... It's okay. He's leaving."

"I'll send a dragon for her once she comes back. The dragon for you
comes the day after tomorrow," he repeated. Thayde didn't like the
thought of Jalodwyn and Jalotha spending one more night at Jade
Harbor, not after he had truly learned how Mertin felt about the
situation. His eyes settled on Jalotha, marking how much she had
grown and changed since the one and only time he had seen her. He knew
that H'riv had held her before and he wondered how that had felt.

Jalodwyn felt his eyes on both she and her daughter, then quickly
turned to block his view with a quick protective glare at him. "And I
hate you. "

"You can hate me at Dolphin Cove," Thayde replied. "I'll see you in
two days." The Dolphin Cove Hallmaster turned and left, heading next
to Mertin's office.

Last updated on the December 14th 2020

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