Perfectly Handsome (Clutching+Open)

[fadingmemorie]

Gaelle sat back and sighed with relief. Aliath was on her twelfth egg and still doing well. The golden dragon had grown almost four feet longer and had bulked well in maturity and pregnancy. Her rider wondered at the sudden growth spurt, making her the largest dragon in the Weyr. And the clutch growing inside of her seemed to follow its mother's example, seeming larger and larger every day. As the queen's stomach and body grew, so did the Weyr's hope for the future.

The Weyrwoman's chair was comfortably warm over the sands, and saved Gaelle's skin from the hotness. She gazed at the gold, working so tirelessly to lay her clutch, and smiled. They had worked so hard for the last few fortnights to raise the morale of their weyrpeople. It had been hard, but Gaelle noticed a change in the behavior of the people. And Aliath had mentioned on a few different occasions that the dragons seemed to feel better. And then, when Aliath's belly swelled to almost twice the size of her predecessor's, a definite joy came over the Weyr. People seemed to smile more, even jesting together.

Even now, they gathered at the mouth of the cavern, flocking to see the queen and her eggs. Gaelle heard bets given over clutch size and the possibility of another gold. It wasn't strange to be the center of so much attention for the clutching mother dragon, and so she ignored the fuss outside her door. The crowd's reaction was to encourage her, lavishing loving affection on the gold. Every so often, she crooned, and licked the already-laid eggs. Fourteen lay on the heated sands, and Aliath prepared to lay more, emptying her belly of her burden.

[LyricalBlue]

A tremendous whoosh of air and a thump outside the entrance of the cave signaled the arrival of Ponaa's Weyrleader and bronze. Without bothering to let E'dian dismount, Xialanth rushed forward to assist his mate. E'dian got the copper-bronze to finally stop once he was within a dragonlenth of Aliath and he did a flying dismount, not waiting for Xi to lift the customary leg for assistance.

Pulling off his riding helmet and leaving it to thump dully on the hot sand as it fell, E'dian moved to Gaelle's side, eyes flicking to the golden queen with worry and then back to her. He placed a hand on Gaelle's shoulder and let out a long sigh of relief. It looked like Aliath was doing just fine indeed.

Xialanth crooned to the gold as she continued to lay, extending his neck out so the tip of his wedge shaped nose could just touch her neck. Reassuring himself that all was well, the bronze settled down along Aliath's side, keeping up a low, very quiet hum.

They had come as soon as Aliath had informed them of her need to go to the cavern, but E'dian had taken Alpha wing out for maneuvers just then. So, he had only let himself return after they were completed. Being the man he was, duty came before worries. But they were here now and it looked like Aliath and Gaelle hadn't really needed them at all. Typical that, for E'dian to worry far more than his Weyrwoman. She had a remarkable talent for taking things in stride.

[hrsegrl]

Phaedon had brought one only one person with him to see Aliath as she was clutching and that was his daughter. He held her hand tightly as he tried pushing through the masses of people who had come to look in on their Queen. She was their hope and their leader and he knew that they were excited. Still it would be nice if people could move out of the way of the Master Dragon Healer. He was coming to make sure the Clutching was going smoothly and to look over the eggs.

He wanted to be sure that they were all healthy looking but most importantly he wanted to make sure Aliath was not overexerting herself. This was her first clutch. "EVERYBODY MOVE!" He shouted finally with an authoritative voice. Almost everyone turned around and moved to the side. He had had enough.

He walked the sands as comfortable as was possible with his special shoes. Phaedon needed them because he visited the Sands frequently when they were hot. he had made his daughter a pair as well so that she would not be hopping around like a common drudge.

"I beg your pardon Weyrwoman Gaelle." He bowed and turned to see the Weyrleader. "Weyrleader E'dian." He greeted them both with a smile. "I am going to ask a few questions about Aliath and then I'm going to inspect the eggs, if she is willing."

[fadingmemorie]

The Weyrleader arrived, looking worried. Gaelle half laughed, but she was also vaguely irritated. You'd think if he was so worried, he would have canceled his wing drill. Still, she was determined to make this the best clutching day possible, so she embraced him. "Welcome back, E'dian," she said warmly, not showing any of her aggravation. "It's a happy day, Weyrleader." Together, they overlooked the queen dragon and her clutching. Fifteen eggs graced the sands.

"Everybody, MOVE!" A shout came from the entrance to the cave. Glancing over, Gaelle saw the Master Dragon Healer entering, his daughter at his side. Neither seemed bothered by the sands, which was a blessing. The Master could stay on the sands as long as he would need to, ensuring the success of the clutch.

After he had greeted the Weyrleaders, Gaelle nodded and smiled. "Of course, Master Phaedon. Whatever you need to know. How can I help?"

[hrsegrl]

Phaedon was pleased that Gaelle seemed so calm. He was not used to that. Arizith's rider had always been much too stressed at clutching time. "I'll try to keep it to one question at a time. She seems to be doing very well. Has she been straining at all?" To him Aliath seemed quite at ease for a clutching Gold. Each dragon was different of course.

"Can you ask her if se is discomforted at all? I want to be sure she feels well. She is in excellent color and condition considering. You should pride yourself on the great care you have given her Weyrwoman." Phaedon was very pleased with the dragon just to look at her. She had ut on a good amount of weight and grown to a nice size the last couple months.

"Have any of the eggs seemed different to her? She can probably sense things about them that we cannot. If any of them concern her even in the slightest I'll need to examine the shell. I also would like her permission to go near them. I will be as quick as possible. I don't want to disrupt her."

[LyricalBlue]

I told you we should have come back sooner.
Wincing visibly, E'dian looked to his bronze over Gaelle's shoulder, then hugged her tight. Maybe they should have come back sooner. But the wing was doing so well with the rope drills, if there had been anything wrong he would have been back faster than one could say between.
Dear would you please clear these people out.

As the bronze relayed the silent message out to the crowd, E'dian leaned back, still holding onto Gaelle. A small smile crept across his lips but before he could really say anything else, Phaedon showed up. The Weyrleader released Gaelle and ran a hand through his hair, no peace was coming right now. At least not until everyone had a good look at the clutch and assured themselves of the Weyr's future.

The Weyr's future... that was his Gaelle all right and Aliath. They wouldn't have a reason to be were it not for them. They were the secret that the Weyr had so solicitously hidden, now... if only Aliath could manage a gold egg. E'dian nodded absently to Phaedon, the sooner the man checked the clutch the better. No doubt the whole Weyr knew by now.

[fadingmemorie]

Her arm around E'dian's waist, she smiled broadly at the Master Dragon Healer. "She strained a bit on eggs nine and ten," she said, pointing to the two mottled eggs. They were the two largest in the clutch, so far. "But she rested for an eighth-candlelength, and then began laying again." During that time, the golden dragon had been fairly worn out from producing the large eggs. Her diet had boosted the growth of the eggs--and Gaelle knew the dragons they produced would be large as well. She was excited at the prospect. And after thirty minutes sleep, the Queen had felt more than ready to resume her task.

How are you feeling, my beautiful love?

Tired. But well. This is hard...but good. The gold sounded confused by her own words, as if the concept was just beyond her reach. But Gaelle understood perfectly well. And she could see that her dragon was physically well; the dragon's hide was still shining beautifully, even halfway through the 17th egg. Now she had lain more eggs than most of the previous queen's clutches. And number 17 was another large one, almost as large as nine and ten. Gaelle couldn't have been prouder.

I'm so happy, my darling. Just one more question. Do all of the eggs feel right to you? Healthy and whole?

I'll know after I finish laying them all. Gaelle couldn't argue with the dragon's logic. After all, Aliath hadn't really had time to look over the eggs, between laying and sleeping. Whoop! The gold hummed, and number 17 was laid on the hot sands to incubate. Soon, a beautiful dragonet would burst from the shell and be Impressed by a young man or woman. It was a grand system, ensuring that only the ones with certain qualities entered the ranks of the dragonriders. And despite a few bad seeds, most had grown into strong, hardy riders who could protect the Weyr.

"She says she'll know more after she finishes." Gaelle observed the gold's less swollen belly. "I don't think it'll be much longer," she murmured, feeling through her dragon. Sweet, would you mind at all if the Master Dragon Healer came and looked over your precious eggs? I promise he won't hurt them. The Weyrwoman mentally caressed the Queen.

The gold turned a large, whirling eye to the Phaedon. She murmured softly. No, I don't mind. He can look and touch to make sure they look right, but nothing else. Her eyes started whirling red. He will not turn my eggs.

Gaelle reached out again with soothing emotions. No, Sweet, I will make sure he does not. I shall tell him. The dragon nodded and her eyes returned to the pinkish-blue whirl they had been throughout the clutching. "Aliath says she will allow you to look over the eggs and touch them from the angle they are in. You are, under no circumstances, allowed to turn the eggs at all. To do so may incur her anger." Gaelle half-smiled. "And you won't like her when she's angry."

[hrsegrl]

"Hmm yes. I was concerned about that. I do hope she doesn't have a Gold." Which may have sounded like the wrong thing to say to a Queen rider. He had better amend his words. "What I mean to say is, as a dragonhealer I would feel better if she did not have to clutch such a large egg her first clutching." Records said Queens who were very young could die clutching Golds. They were simply too big for a first time. Even Bronze eggs could be difficult. "I'm glad she rested. Is she thirsty at all? We can have water brought in for her if she is." He could send some of those people crowding the entrance to the Caverns to do something useful.

"I'm going to be writing a lot down. This is a very good clutch for it. I'm trying to see what a normal clutching Queen would feel and do so that in the future we can look for anomalies or problems in other clutchings with other Queens." He wrote almost everythign down in his journal and then copied it into larger tomes for future generations. He had contributed quite a lot to the Dragon Healing library.

Phaedon took out his journal, writing down the answers the Queen gave Gaelle. "She is quite right of course. Aliath has been a very busy Queen." He smiled. Phaedon was in a great mood. His favorite partof Dragon healing was clutching and hatching times. He understood that the Queen wanted them as undisturbed as possible and he would only be touching each one for a few seconds. "Will you tell Aliath, I am honored and I will not turn them." He could see the eggs getting damaged in that sort of situation. The Gold must have innately known that which was interesting. He wrote that down too.

Taking his daughter by the hand he made sure she watched only. "Do not touch any of the eggs. If she feels that you are endangering them she will not hesitate to hurt you." That was a warning, as he walked toward the nearest egg. Some Queens in the records were too possessive of the eggs to let anyone but their rider on the sands during clutching. Phaedon had clung to the idea that Aliath was young and amiable for the most part and would allow him to make sure the eggs were healthy. For him though Aliath was his main concern.

Mostly he used his eyes to scan each egg and make certain there was nothing odd about the shell. Then he gently touched the shell to make sure of the consistency. He made notes in his journal all the while and whispered things to his daughter. This was a learning experience for her.

[LyricalBlue]

With Gaelle's arm looped about his waist, E'dian finaly decided that everything was going to be fine. The Headwoman used to tell him to stop worrying or she'd have to put E'dian in her position. The Weyrleader watched the goings on with a curious tilt in his eyes. He did not exactly love the idea of people around Aliath's eggs, but Gaelle and the Queen seemed fine with it and it was Phaedon.

That man had his hands on more dragons in days then most people did in their entire lives and he knew his craft. The number of dragons that had actually lived through that ill fated first thread fall attested to that. Watching the relay between Queen, rider and Healer was interesting to watch. Healers must like the dragons for one could get a lot more information out of them than they could humans many times.

Xialanth too, was as curious as his rider. He hung his large head over Aliath's side to inspect Phaedon. This man he knew well of course and the bronze blew out a large gust of air with a satisfactory sigh. If Aliath was not worried, he would not be worried. She knew what was best, being Queen.

As time ticked by a small grin spread across E'dian's face. There it was, egg number seventeen and she was still going. He studied the size of the thing and squeezed Gaelle's shoulder lightly. That one was a bronze, he just knew it. As he looked about the eggs that had already been laid, E'dian spotted three big enough to hold bronzes.
It is a good clutch.

Looking up at Xialanth's admonishment, E'dian nodded. Well of course it was, the flight had been better than the Weyr had seen in many years. And both Aliath and Xi were in good condition, despite E'dian worrying about all the late growth Aliath had put on while she was egg heavy. That was still turning over in the Weyrleader's mind and he made a note to talk to Phaedon about it.