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Chapters (33)
  1. Other Books by this Author
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. For Readers New to Pern
  6. Chronology of the Second Interval/Third Pass
  7. Fort Weyr, AL 508.2.2
  8. Fort Weyr, AL 508.2.5
  9. Fort Weyr, AL 508.2.6
  10. Fort Weyr, early morning, AL 508.2.7
  11. Fort Weyr, later, AL 508.2.8
  12. Telgar Weyr, later, AL 508.2.8
  13. Telgar Weyr, early morning, AL 508.2.9
  14. Telgar Weyr, late evening, AL 508.2.9
  15. Telgar Weyr, early morning, AL 508.2.10
  16. Telgar Weyr, later, AL 508.2.10
  17. Telgar Weyr, late evening, AL 508.2.10
  18. Telgar Weyr, Threadfall, AL 508.2.11
  19. Telgar Weyr, morning, AL 508.2.13
  20. Telgar Weyr, morning, AL 508.2.15
  21. Telgar Weyr, next morning, AL 508.2.16
  22. Telgar Weyr, morning, AL 508.4.15
  23. Ista Weyr, afternoon, AL 508.5.5
  24. Keroon Threadfall, morning, AL 508.5.21
  25. Telgar Weyr, evening, AL 508.5.26
  26. Telgar Weyr, early morning, AL 508.6.19
  27. Telgar Weyr, evening, AL 508.6.25
  28. Telgar Weyr, morning, AL 508.6.28
  29. Telgar Weyr, early evening, AL 508.7.17
  30. Fort Weyr, second hour, AL 507.11.18,
  31. Telgar Weyr, evening, AL 508.7.21
  32. About the Author
  33. Copyright

Fiona spent a moment examining his features. He seemed more careworn than she’d ever recalled him, his face pinched in a combination of pain and anger. She turned away, shucking off her clothes and slipping into her nightgown before looking back toward him once more, her own expression anxious. Was this the right thing to do? Should she leave Kindan and Lorana to themselves, instead of being a constant reminder—goad, if one were honest—of the things neither had? She, a queen; he, a bronze—and both a love uncomplicated by third parties?

Some hint of displeasure seeped into her from the distance, words unspoken but their intent clear: Stop that!

In the same unspoken, unvoiced manner, Fiona apologized and then buried her thinking deeper, beyond the ken of either Lorana or Talenth. And what if something were to happen to either? How would Fiona survive without her queen? How would she survive without Lorana? The bond between her and the older woman wasn’t quite as strong as that between rider and dragon, Fiona knew, but it was also different. Beyond love, beyond friendship, beyond—even—being. They weren’t two halves of the same whole; they were two women bound not just by their love for the same man—which, in itself, ought to be an endless well of jealousy and betrayal—but also by mutual respect, caring, and love for each other and the two dragons in their lives. Fiona sighed as she realized that Lorana was even more than that; she was the only person on Pern who felt all dragons, and their deaths, intimately. Fiona’s eyes snapped open for a brief worried moment as she pondered: How could anyone suffer such pain and survive? Until she realized, as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed once more, that the pain was balanced by an equal measure of joy.

She turned toward T’mar, seeking to bury her head against his shoulder and wrap herself around his warmth, and opened her eyes for a moment. Still asleep, he moved with her, his arms going around her and, even as she watched, the care and worry etched in his face smoothing away, vanishing. Fiona stretched her neck up and kissed him on the cheek before burrowing once more into his warmth and drifting into a restful, dreamless sleep.

Keroon Threadfall, morning, AL 508.5.21

EIGHTEEN

Chew stone,
Flame Thread.
Craft hone,
Else dead.

Keroon Threadfall, morning, AL 508.5.21

The sun had been up for several hours when the riders from Ista burst forth over the lush Keroon plains. They were light, three full wings and a reserve of scarcely twenty-four.

M’tal looked to his left and his right, to his wingseconds, wingmen, and the Wings on either flank. Their spirits were good, he knew, buoyed by the clutching two days before and the sight of a queen egg on the Hatching Grounds.