A Complicated Situation

Writers: Estelle, Devin
Date Posted: 30th September 2025

Characters: Tr'vel, Gilbek, Velaria
Description: Tr'vel's daughter comes over for dinner and she's less than happy about her dad's choices.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 20 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: R'ayl

Tr'vel

Tr'vel adjusted the platter of herdbeast, as if turning it a fraction to
the right made any kind of difference. Velaria was due to arrive any
minute and he wanted this dinner to go well.

As he did, Gil came up behind him, wrapping his arms around the
dragonrider and resting his chin on his shoulder. He was anxious himself
- more so even than when they'd gone to visit Calenta and her husband.
At least he'd known his former wife wished him well. He was all too well
aware that Tr'vel's daughter had Impressed at the Hatching with the
poisoned meat, and though he'd known nothing about it he couldn't deny
he'd worked for the men responsible. He wouldn't blame her for wanting
nothing to do with him.

"The food looks wonderful," he said, hoping his voice didn't reveal his
worries. "Someone in the kitchens must owe you a lot of favors."

"I don't ask for a special dinner to be brought to my weyr very often."

Eboroth alerted him just before the sound of a dragon landing came from the ledge. Tr'vel tried to shove his nervousness down. "Velaria!" he said as she entered the weyr.

"Hi, dad." She smiled at him as the bluerider pulled her into a hug.

Tr'vel brushed a strand of her hair aside and kissed her temple. "I'm glad you're here. I'd like to introduce you to Gilbek."

Her expression cooled as she offered her hand. "Clear skies to you."

"Thank you, Greenrider, and my duty to you and your dragon." Gil shook her hand with all the formal respect due to her rank, but he felt his throat tighten. **It's all right. It's probably just because you're a stranger,** he thought, trying to reassure himself. What mattered here was how happy Tr'vel was to see her. "I'm glad to meet you at last."

Velaria made a noncommittal noise. "I've heard a lot about you."

Tr'vel glanced between them and cleared his throat. "Why don't we sit down and eat?" His daughter didn't seem to be happy to be here, but at least she _was_ here. It had taken some convincing to get her agree to dinner.

"Yes, let's." Gil took the seat across the table so as not to come between the father and daughter, though it did leave him facing them both and under Velaria's scrutiny. After months of raucous meals with Lightning Wing or other weyrfolk, the brittle politeness of the occasion reminded him uncomfortably of formal dinners at Emerald Falls and White Hollow. At least there he'd been standing guard, unnoticed by the diners.

**It'll get better,** he told himself as he helped to hand round the dishes and racked his brains for something to say, once they'd exhausted the topics of the food and the weather. "Did you enjoy the Hatching? Tr'vel and I watched with his Wing..."

"I always love Hatchings." She sliced a piece of meat. "Especially ones where your friends aren't trying to kill the weyrlings."

Tr'vel sucked in a breath. "Velaria!"

"No - it's all right." The moment the words were out of his mouth, Gil wished he'd never mentioned the Hatching, but surely she was only saying what most weyrfolk must be thinking. Perhaps his closeness to Lightning Wing had fooled him into thinking otherwise. He set down his knife, his appetite vanished. "They weren't my friends. Holders aren't friends with their guards. But I did work for them, even if I didn't know."

"And you helped them try to kill my Arajeth. Poor Delorth had to have someone shove their hand down his little throat to save him." She speared her meat with more force than necessary.

"I was furious with him, too," Tr'vel said. "But he didn't know what they were planning. He regrets being involved."

"And now you're screwing him."

Gil's cheeks flushed. "It's not like that. Tr'vel is... We're courting." The holder term sounded out of place, and his color deepened.

"He's a _good man_," Tr'vel said firmly. He nearly scolded her for her language, but she was an adult and a dragonrider. "I know it's . . . a complicated situation."

"You were supposed to _watch_ him not . . ." She barely held back an even ruder comment.

"He never made any improper advances while he was guarding me," Gil said hastily. He couldn't let Tr'vel's daughter think he'd neglected his duty. "It was only after... After the Weyrleader decided I didn't need to be watched any more, when we became friends."

"After Gil saved R'ayl," Tr'vel said. "I didn't go into this lightly. If I believed that he'd deliberately tried to hurt Arajeth, to hurt any dragon or rider . . . " He sighed. "I know you aren't happy about this. But I'd hoped that if you met him, got to know him, you might give him a chance."

Velaria pushed food around on her plate for a moment before looking up at Gil. "I'm not going to forget what you did. Saving R'ayl doesn't erase the fact that you _did_ help those people. But for _some_ reason, Dad likes you." She sighed. "And I want him to be happy."

"Well, that makes two of us." He managed a tentative smile, which warmed as he reached across the table for Tr'vel's hand. "The Weyr gave me a second chance, and I'm trying to use it to make amends for what I did."

Tr'vel squeezed his hand, echoing Gil's smile.

Velaria looked between them, her nose wrinkling. Tr'vel usually didn't make bad decisions, which was why she was even considering giving Gil a chance. "You can start by apologizing to me."

"Of course." Gil only hesitated long enough to tear his gaze from Tr'vel and focus on her. He sat quietly for a minute, thinking over his words before he spoke.

"The day you Impressed should have been a joyful one for you and your dragon. I've seen enough Hatchings now to know that. I'm sorry that I played any part in making those memories ones of pain and fear. I might not have known what they were planning but I knew who they were, and I should have walked away sooner."

Velaria blinked against the unexpected sting of tears. "Thank you. I didn't know how much I needed to hear that." Shuvan had been left out for Thread. The woman who'd actually poisoned the weyrlings had been sent away somewhere, and others had been punished for their part in the conspiracy. But none of them had told her they were sorry for what they'd done.

Tr'vel squeezed Gil's hand again and put his other arm around Velaria.

"No thanks necessary." Gil put his free hand to his chest, over his heart. He felt as though he breathed a little more freely now. "If there's anything I can do, to put right what I did..."

She briefly considered asking for something ridiculous, just to make him do it. Personally serve her in the dining cavern or something. Velaria shook her head. "Just keep making dad happy for now." Then she pointed her fork at him. "But if you break his heart, I _will_ kill you."

"Hey, that's supposed to be my line," Tr'vel said, even as he smiled in relief.

Gil held up his hand in surrender. "Yes, ma'am." He glanced at Tr'vel with a flicker of amusement in his eyes. "I promise to behave honorably and respectfully towards him, at all times."

Tr'vel gave him a look and held back a joke. He wasn't going to tease Gil about those kinds of things in front of his daughter. "Courting like a proper holder."

Velaria looked between them. "Ew." But a little smile tugged at her lips as she turned back to her plate.

"Some holder ways are harder to shake than others." Gil picked up his fork again, appetite regained. He sensed that the teasing was being saved for later, and had to put the guilty thrill that gave him firmly out of his mind. Quickly, he changed the subject. "So...what did you think of the Hatching? It was a wild ride, wasn't it? All those hatchlings changing their minds at the last minute, and then that bronze choosing someone who wasn't a candidate at all..."

Last updated on the November 9th 2025

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Complicated Situation