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eagerly around to point to the freshly painted enclosure. "Or so his spouse
said. We'll get clean much quicker showering than having to wash in a bucket,"
she added, dropping hers on the shadowed side of the well.
"Leave enough warm water for me," he said, waving her to go first. "I'll
return the tools." He gathered them up and started for the shed, calling after
her. "I plan to hunt Golanth this afternoon at Honshu. How's Zaranth's
appetite?" Well, he thought privately, "appetite" was one word for it.
Tai cast a look over her shoulder at her sleeping dragon. "She isn't the least
bit off-color."
F'lessan blinked and then, with an engaging grin that Mirrim would have
identified as "devious," added, "We could hunt felines.
Saw some a little closer than they should be to the Honshu herds. Get us some
good pelts."
Since the Flood, most green riders had been giving all their customary courier
services free of charge. But there'd be a Gather in
Telgar in two sevendays, when the Council met, and that was time enough to
cure hides for sale and give her book-money.
"Fine by me!" Tai called back. He caught just a glimpse of her back and long
tanned legs as she entered the shower enclosure.
He gathered their riding gear and packs and walked slowly up to the shower,
giving her time for a good wash and rinse.
"Hey, leave me some," he said, speaking above the sound of vigorous
splashings. He slipped off his muddy sandals. Well, cleaning them could wait
till he got back to Honshu, but he smacked them against the side of the wall
to remove as much mud as he could.
"You'll find it warm enough," she assured him. "Can you hand me my towel?"
He opened her pack and dragged it, and her fresh clothes, out.
"Where is it?" she asked.
He saw her bare arm extending from the shower wall and accurately lobbed the
towel to her searching fingers. There were shiny new hooks screwed to the wall
and he hung her fresh clothes on one, his own on another. Riders were not as
bothered by nudity as holders or crafthall folk so he stripped down, glad to
be out of the sweaty, dirty shorts. As she emerged, toweling her body dry, she
gave him a fleeting glimpse. He stepped courteously past her, into the shower,
and looked around for sweetsand.
When he had had a good scrub, especially his feet, he rinsed off well and,
vigorously drying himself, sauntered across the changing area to his clean
clothes. Dressed in her leathers, with her jacket still open, she leaned
against the wall, in what shade there was, looking out at the scene of their
morning's hard work, feeling pleased.
Summoning their dragons, they took off before heat brought fresh sweat.
As they came out of between above Honshu, F'lessan first noted that there were
no dragons lounging on the summit or the main terrace.
Will you hunt today, Golanth?
I will hunt well today, Golanth replied, watching Zaranth as she glided past
him to land on Honshu's main terrace.
Startled by the odd note in his dragon's tone, for a moment F'lessan worried
that he hadn't been as sensitive to Golanth's needs as he should be. When was
the last time he'd hunted Golanth?
I will hunt very well today!
The bronze was coming in slowly-almost stealthily-to land so that Zaranth was
directly in front of them, her rider stripping the safety harness, which was
never used when dragons went after a meal. F'lessan could not miss Zaranth's
condition. She was gleaming with more than health. Why hadn't Tai noticed that
the green was coming into heat? He tried to think which dragons had been at
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Honshu early this morning. Most had gone well before dawn, as they had, to
begin whatever work was slated for that day in the recon-
struction of Monaco's Weyr building. In a traditional Weyr, with dragons
basking on their ledges, her readiness would have been noticed long before the
green herself might be aware of her form. Honshu had been guesting dragons
since the Flood. True, both riders and dragons arrived tired: riders eating
quickly and seeking their beds, dragons finding a spot on sun-warmed terraces
and rousing only when their riders called them the next morning. He and Tai
had gone directly to Paradise River and from there to Benini
Hold, their dragons sprawling in full sun; several hours in the sun. Heat was
known to trigger a dragon's mating instinct. He swore, wondering if any of the
other dragons had been awake to the nearness of Zaranth's cycle? Riders were
known to remember when greens were likely to come into heat. Most of those
staying at Honshu were Monaco Weyr riders. Would they come storming in from
all over now Zaranth was active? Was this a delayed reaction in Zaranth?
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