Calm After Storms (1/2)

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 10th September 2025

Characters: Gilbek, Tr'vel, Beniran, Calenta
Description: Gilbek and Tr'vel travel to the Northern Harper Hall to visit Gil's ex-wife
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 10, day 7 of Turn 12

Tr'vel

Gil stood on the weyr ledge beside Eboroth, gazing out over the bowl. Most of the weyrfolk were settling in as the evening drew on, and light could be seen spilling out from the entrance to the Lower Caverns with the faint sounds of laughter and song, but they were waiting for Tr'vel to fetch the riding straps, to fly out for a visit. At the Northern Harper Hall, where Calenta now lived, it would still be mid-morning.

The last time he'd seen his former wife, he'd been a prisoner, under guard in an isolated cliff weyr. When they'd parted, he'd not held out much hope that he would leave that weyr alive, much less see her again. Now, nearly a Turn later - it was hard to believe so much time had passed - they had exchanged letters, and he'd told her about the new life he'd found with the bluerider. She'd sounded genuinely happy for him in her reply, but now they were going to meet in person, and her husband would be there too.

"Don't tell Tr'vel," he said softly to Eboroth, not quite knowing whether the dragon heard him or not, "but I'm nervous. I hope it'll go well."

Eboroth turned his single whirling eye on Gil. Tr'vel was fond of this human so the blue was inclined to like him. He leaned down and huffed a soft breath at Gil in reassurance.

He looked up and the corner of his mouth lifted. Even if he couldn't hear him, he understood the dragon's meaning. "Thank you." Then he turned to see Tr'vel coming out onto the ledge, and did his best to banish all traces of nerves from his expression. "Ready to go?"

"Are _you_ ready?" Tr'vel asked gently, even as he stepped up to Eboroth to start fastening the riding straps. He was eager to meet Calenta, though a bit nervous, too. He hoped this meeting went well.

Gil came around Eboroth's head to stand near him, comforted by his presence. "As I'll ever be." It did seem a little absurd to be worried about this, after all that had happened, but he couldn't help it.

After finishing the last buckle, Tr'vel climbed up and then turned to offer his hand to Gil. "Come on."

Gil accepted the hand up, squeezing it a little more than usual, and soon they were in the air. A jump /between/, and he was blinking in bright morning sunlight, the Dolphin Cove coastline replaced with an unfamiliar landscape. Below them was a Hold, larger than any he'd seen but for Emerald Falls, but they were descending towards another building a short distance off that must be Calenta's Hall. As they got closer, he could make out figures - apprentices hurrying to their classes, a smaller group of adults carrying cases of different sizes that must be musical instruments - and one pair standing still in the centre of the courtyard, faces turned up to the sky.

Eboroth landed in the courtyard and bent low. Tr'vel waved at the couple before turning to help Gil down. "It'll be fine," he said quietly.

"Thank you," Gil replied, his voice just as soft, before raising his voice to an ordinary pitch to thank Eboroth.

By the time they'd both dismounted, the harpers had approached, the woman leaning on the man's arm while he bent to murmur something in her ear. He was eyeing them with curiosity and a hint of protectiveness, but her face broke into a radiant smile when she heard what he'd said.

"Calenta?"

"Gilbek." She held out her arms, following the direction of his voice, and Gil glanced briefly at her husband, waiting for his nod before stepping into her embrace. "Oh, it's good that you're here! And you've put on weight," she added, pleased.

"All that good Weyr food, and Tr'vel making me exercise," he said, laughing. "I'm glad to see you, too."

The other harper stepped forward and offered a hand. "You must be Tr'vel and Eboroth. I'm Beniran, Calenta's husband."

"A pleasure to meet you." Tr'vel shook his hand. "I've been looking forward to getting to know both of you." He didn't sense any hostility from the man, which was a relief. Hall and holdfolk could have strange ideas about relationships between men.

"As have we," Calenta said, turning towards Tr'vel with mischief in her voice. "Ever since we got Gilbek's letter we've been speculating about what you would be like. The dragonrider who used to be his guard...it's like one of Beniran's ballads." She held out her hands to him.

Tr'vel chuckled as he took her hands. "It has been a strange road, though I'm glad of where it led us." He cast a warm look at Gil before returning his attention to the Harper. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Calenta."

"We thought perhaps we could go for a walk," Beniran suggested. He'd shaken Gil's hand, too, and though they'd both been a little wary the tension had eased. "Take a picnic, while the weather's so good. Though you're both very welcome in the Hall, of course..."

"...but you might end up being the subject of the latest gossip," Calenta finished his thought with a laugh. "It's one of the hazards of our craft, I'm afraid. You can't say anything without an apprentice overhearing..."

"...and a dragonrider's presence makes it all the more interesting," he sighed. "But if you'd like to rest after your flight, we can wait."

Gil glanced at Tr'vel. "I'm ready if you are?"

"A picnic sounds wonderful," Tr'vel said as he reached for Gil's hand.

"Perfect. I'll go and fetch the basket and catch you up, if you start down the road that way." Beniran gestured towards a path leading around past the main Hall, away from the Hold. "In about a quarter-candlemark you come to the river, and there's some good shady spots. We often go there - well, whenever we can both find the free time."

"Which isn't very often," Calenta said as Gil offered her his free arm. "We're starting to rehearse for the Turn's End celebrations, and Beniran's got a new concert piece being performed before the Hall and Hold so he's running about, auditioning soloists and making revisions. He's more used to writing ballads for voice and gitar and maybe a drum or a pipe, really, so this is a big challenge."

"How did you two meet?" Tr'vel asked.

A mischievous look crossed her face. "In his introductory composition class. I'd just arrived from the Weyr and all my training had been as a singer, so I was taking all the other apprentice classes I needed to progress. I was already the oldest in a class of twelve-Turn-olds, and..." She raised her voice so the departing harper could hear. "He was _very rude_ about my first assignment..."

"Hey!"

"Not all of us have been making music since we were in the cradle. 'Ponderous and dull', you called it."

"You got better!" Beniran called back.

"We didn't get off to a good start, needless to say," she went on as he disappeared into the hall. "So I thought: I'll show him. I heard he was auditioning singers for his latest work, so I got hold of a copy and practiced it all sevenday. And I think I gave him a shock, because after I finished singing, there was this _long_ silence, and I was thinking he couldn't possibly have gone to sleep, and then..." She lowered her voice, slyly imitating her husband's voice. "Yes, all right, I suppose that'll do, but you'll have to pay more attention to my dynamics in the third verse..."

"He sounds charming," Gil said dryly, giving Tr'vel a look. "Let me know if you ever want me to teach him a lesson."

"I've got it under control," Calenta replied, laughing. "Anyway, his next ballad, there wasn't an audition. He wrote it for me! But what about you, Tr'vel?" she asked. "Gil said that you were his guard?!"

Tr'vel chuckled. "Yeah. The Weyrleader assigned me to watch him, when we weren't sure if he was telling the truth. My daughter Impressed at the hatching where the meat was poisoned, and she could have . . . well, I'm sure that's one reason N'vanik made me his guard. I kept waiting for him to slip up, to do or say something to reveal that he'd been lying. But Gil kept, well, being such a decent man." He met the other man's eyes briefly, a fond smile curving his lips.

"He is that," Calenta agreed, smiling.

"Tr'vel was also my guide to the customs of the Weyr." Gil changed the subject, in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh, I remember those." She laughed. "I was there for a short time, when the Harper Hall moved to the Weyr, until I moved to the North. Of course I barely noticed, but I heard tales of a shocking lack of modesty."

"Gil almost refused to go into the bathing caverns. 'Oh no, naked ladies!'," T'vel said in an exaggerated voice.

"I didn't want to offend them," Gil protested.

Last updated on the September 18th 2025

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Calm After Storms (1/2)