“You managed.”

“That’s my point,” Fiona said. “We did manage and we were noticeable. Another group, nearly three times as large, would be even more noticeable. The only decent place to hide them would be a Weyr.”

“Tullea hid at High Reaches,” H’nez pointed out.

“Which means they couldn’t be there,” Fiona said. “Nor could they be at Benden, nor Fort, nor Igen, nor Telgar.”

“That leaves Ista?”

“I think that we can safely discount Ista, too,” M’tal said. “The island can only support so much, and Ista Weyr’s never been all that shorthanded. The difference would be observed, particularly by the traders.”

“Traders can keep secrets,” H’nez pointed out, with a nod toward Shaneese and another for Fiona.

“We could just ask them,” Lorana said. “If they’d done so, now’s the right time to tell us.”

“Good point,” M’tal agreed, his face taking on the abstracted look of a rider communing with his dragon. “C’rion’s Nidanth tells me no.”

He shrugged and said to H’nez, “Well, never mind, it was a good thought.”

H’nez frowned. “Even with those extra four hundred fighting dragons, we’d still have only about half the dragons we’d need.”

“And that’s ignoring casualties,” Norik added glumly. He looked at Kindan. “I don’t suppose you’ve determined the sort of casualties we can expect?”

“I’ve an idea,” Kindan replied, “but most of our experience has been with the added danger of the illness.” He turned to M’tal. “I’d like to get with Verilan and see what the Records say.”

“We have Records here,” Fiona reminded him. “And, in fact, I suspect our Records are more complete with regards to Weyr details—”

“You’d be surprised, Fiona,” Kindan interrupted her with a grin. It was a moment before he noticed the reproachful looks of both M’tal and H’nez, and even then, it took him longer to realize their cause.

“I mean, Weyrwoman,” he corrected himself, flushing in surprise. To Fiona, he apologized, “I’m sorry, but I still remember you as someone whose diapers I changed.”

Fiona’s eyes flashed angrily even as the warmth seemed to vanish from the room.

“Thank you, harper,” she told him coldly. “I still remember you as the one who couldn’t save my sister’s life.”

But she was instantly contrite, even before M’tal’s exclamation: “By the First Egg, Kindan, it still surprises me that you can be such a dull-glow at times!”

Fiona made a face and placed a hand on Kindan’s arm. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for,” she said even as she flinched at the anguish in his eyes. “I will never forget that I owe you my life.”

“You’ve grown up,” Kindan said after a long, thoughtful silence. “I guess I haven’t adjusted to it, Weyrwoman.”