Broken Trust

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 11th April 2025

Characters: D'hol, Jeyme
Description: D'hol checks on Jeyme once Zaverin is identified as Kapera's killer.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 2, day 8 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Kapera, J'nus

D'hol

Jeyme

The hours after finding out that Zaverin had tried to kill Kapera, that he was

responsible for Riyanth's death, had passed by in a slow sort of agony. She'd already burned through one basket of glows and now had another, partially shuttered and casting shadows against the walls of her weyr. In her hands was a tunic that Zaverin had left lying over the back of her couch. When had he left it there? Just yesterday morning before...

Her heart clenched against more tears. She'd have thought she had cried herself dry by this point, but still more came. She could not reconcile the gentle lover she had known and the man who had tried to kill Kapera as the same person. How had she not seen it? Had there been clues? Had she missed it? Had she been so caught up in her own loneliness that she had neglected the red flags?

}:The Weyrleader comes.:{ Quinneth relayed solemnly.

Jeyme's teeth clenched. D'hol. Shells, he would think her the biggest fool. There he was over there with his _weyrmate_ and _babies_, happy in life. And here she was, still Pern's biggest fool when it came to choosing men. Perhaps it was impossible for a man to love her enough to never hurt her.

She only knew D'hol was in her weyr by the sounds of his boots. She didn't look up from where she was perched in a chair at her dining table.

D'hol paused as he entered Jeyme's weyr and gazed at her; for the Turns he had known her, she had never appeared this defeated. The anger and rage that he still felt tempered at the sight of her profile, the agony and despair that was so very visible on her face. He glanced around quickly, not seeing their son, nor her daughter; that at least gave him some comfort. He would not want either of the children seeing their mother in this state. He had meant to be angry at her but now...seeing her, he was even more angry for her. He walked quietly up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Jeyme."

"Go ahead. Say it, " she whispered, lips chapped from crying. "Tell me how stupid I am."

"Yes, you're stupid, Jeyme. You're stupid to think I would say that to you right now and for that reason only." D'hol spoke softly, then sighed deeply, shaking his head. He reached to touch her chin, trying to lift her face up to look at him. Looking full at her face, he felt a surge of rage swell in him. It wasn't directed towards Jeyme, but instead to the man that had done this to her. The rage flashed in his eyes, just for a moment, before he cupped her cheeks in his hands. "I have to ask you, Jeyme. Did he tell you anything about what he planned?" **Did you know,** he inwardly pleaded, afraid to speak the questions he had aloud. **Was it your anger at Kapera that did this? Please, Faranth, tell me you didn't know about this.**

Jeyme blinked up at him for a long moment. **That hurt more than I had anticipated.** She jerked her face away from his touch. "I'm not stupid? Just petty enough to be an accessory to a woman's death _turns_ after you used her to break up our relationship?" Her jaw clenched, some of the brokenness being replaced with anger. **Does _no one_ know who I am?** The cruel irony was that Zaverin had _seen_ her. He had seen her when no one else had. "Of course I didn't know anything about it." Her gaze returned to the table. In the hours she'd sat there she had memorized the different patterns in the wood grain.

"I had to ask, Jeyme. You're going to be asked that by more than just me." D'hol continued to speak softly, accepting her anger for the hurt that it revealed underneath. Even as she pulled away from him, he dropped his hands and pulled up a chair to sit beside her. "I've never thought you were stupid. I still don't. I think you try to see the good in people, even when they don't deserve it."

"He..." her breath hitched around a sob, one that she tried to force back down. "Understood, what it was like, to have lost something. We were... the same, in a lot of ways." The thoughts she'd been dwelling on for the last few hours were spilling out. She was unable to stop them. "We were so close, I _thought_ we were so close, how did I not see?"

D'hol's face became grim. "Because he didn't want you to see, Jeyme." He reached and gently took her hand to try to offer some measure of comfort that she would allow.

She had felt so sure that there _was_ a good part of Zaverin. A part that was gentle. A part that loved. A part that wanted to help others. Could a person be both good and bad?

"I would like to be able to talk to him one last time. Before... Well, before you all do whatever it is you decide with him."

D'hol stiffened. "No, Jeyme. I'm not risking anyone else, especially you." He squeezed her hand, trying to soften the blow of his words. "You don't need that memory."

Jeyme's jaw tightened. She was not D'hol's to protect anymore. **Another way to tell me my judgement can't be trusted.** She nodded, although she was determined to find a way. She needed the closure. The words "especially you" pricked her heart, though. D'hol had been her first love, after all.

"Have you seen Kapera yet?"

Sighing, D'hol nodded. "Yes. It doesn't look good." He exhaled slowly through his nose. "Honestly, I think it might be better if she didn't wake. I wouldn't want to."

Jeyme wasn't sure if she would want to wake without Quinneth, but her children's faces came to mind and she thought that _for them_ she might want to live, even if it was hard.

"How is J'nus taking it?"

"As you would expect. Not well. But he has hope for her still." D'hol sighed. "I'm going to handle this Jeyme."

Jeyme looked into D’hol’s eyes. “I know you will.” She took a breath. “Thank you for coming to check on me.”

Last updated on the April 25th 2025

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Broken Trust