6.12-Well She's Safe(All Future Riders, Mac, L'ret

[kendrall]

M'riel listened as three of his Riders spoke up. Ekaterina was right - it was more plausible for their Riders to work together for now, to teach the others what they already knew. They could keep their current Wing assignments, but until the formal transfers were completed, to allow them to remain together long enough to display their skills, to show the value of disciplined teamwork. Zalleah gave her formal apology to everyone assembled in the room, and M'riel simply closed his eyes and sighed softly. He'd have to remind the Greenrider to never say she was sorry, but instead that it was easier to ask for forgiveness. There were a couple of other rules as well he'd have to go over with her. Granted, Zalleah, like the others, was very good at what they did. He wasn't one to waste good.

Il'ran piped up next. The young Bronzerider supported Ekaterina's suggestion, but likewise vouched for M'riel's argument. He also floated the idea of a fourth wing to M'cleod, put all thirteen future Riders into the new wing and appoint M'riel as Wingleader, then take some Riders from the other wings and transfer them to the new group. Il'ran also suggested to take two Riders of the current time and put them into the Wingsecond and Wingthird position.

M'riel gave one of his rare, genuine smiles. In his mind, Il'ran just firmly cemented a place in his "inner circle".

"That's probably the best solution I've heard all day," M'riel said, walking over and clasping the younger Bronzerider on his shoulder. He then turned to look at M'cleod. "I have a suggestion on either the Wingsecond or third, too. I understand that Lady Ardalae has a weyrmate who's a Bronzerider?"

[Mik]

Listening to everyone’s input, M’cleod held his tongue until all had spoken even though he thought to interrupt on occasion. One thing he had inherited for his mother was that of a great memory. His may not be photographic like hers, but his was still extremely good.

Looking at Ekaterina when she spoke of what her idea was on the Wings, the Weyrleader smiled and nodded. “That can be arranged, miss, an’ is a reasonable solution to ya’ll teachin’ us ‘bout Thread. I’ll take it up with my Wingleaders on exactly how to approach it, but it’s a great idea.”

Smiling at Zalleah, his eyes told that he was neither angry with her, nor upset with her. She had admitted her mistake and had to deal with the consequences. “Not only that, but from what Josiath found when she drilled yer dragons, there was only supposed to be twelve of ya’ in the first place. What’s done is done an’ can’t be reconciled any further.” His voice was not reprimanding, but it was understanding of the facts behind the golden egg and the extra Rider in the Future group’s arrival.

Acknowledging Il’ran when he asked for a turn at being heard, M’cleod sat back and listened closely like he had the others. Everyone was entitled to their own ideas. That was one thing he had run this Weyr with in all his turns of Leading them. While the bronzerider’s ideas were valid and easily understood, something was amiss. From what the brownrider had determined from Josiath’s input and various conversations with the Future Riders, this group was more of a volunteer group and not an official Wing which added to the fact that he should split them up regardless. There was a Test Flight scheduled for Month 13 to rearrange the Wings according to strengths and weaknesses of all the Riders and M’cleod was happy just waiting until then to put everyone where they needed to be. It was an annual thing and sometimes every six months if situations called for it, but it allowed their small batch of Riders to mix and mingle better with each Test. Nodding to the bronzerider to continue, he listened just as intently as he had to the others so far. While Il’ran’s idea was valid, it also centered around the fact that they wanted to remain in tact which he could not see happening. Already, he had gotten reports of certain Riders that were both good and bad. “Again, like miss…Ekaterina’s idea, I’ll discuss ‘at with the Leadership an’ the Wingleaders. We try to work as much as a team here as we can an’ it’s worked so far throughout all our trials.”

Surprised by M’riel’s short response after everyone had spoken their minds, M’cleod easily masked such an emotion as the Future bronzerider seemed to understand that what had been said was what was going to happen. It was that typical bronzerider arrogance that he had read of and T’jas and a few others displayed often. “Yes, Arda has a weyrmate in K’ryn. Also, Kolteya has N’nes as ‘er current mate through their dragons but the two’ve not connected any further than duties,” he answered the bronzerider, somewhat curious as to this change in attitude.

L'ret listened quietly, notating a few things that had been said even though he knew that Mac would remember them and write them down later. His main job, being so young, was to mainly observe, but he did have a good head on his shoulders when the situation called for it.

[sorra]

Ekaterina smiled a bit. She didn't know M'cleod really well, so she hadn't been sure if he would be willing to listen to her or not. She knew some from High Reaches that didn't think women had a right to be listened too. Thankfully that wasn't too many, but she was grateful that M'cleod wasn't one of those types of riders. She shot a quick glance at R'en and Aquila, giving them a silent smile. Maybe things here wouldn't be so bad. So far the ones she had met had been extremely nice.

Zalleah managed to relax a bit in her chair. At least it didn't seem like M'cleod was mad at her either. Well, maybe just maybe she could start settling in here and not feel like an outsider. She would have to talk to T'rain later and see how he felt about everything. See if he was mad at her for getting them into this kind of trouble. She stole a quick glance his way, wondering what he thought of everything going on.