I Read What?!

So last time Moreta got to do some dragon doctoring, which was pretty cool. She also rode someone else's dragon to do it, which is pretty interesting, as it's not something we see often in the Ninth Pass stories.



So this chapter starts with Alessan. Alessan, as we've seen so far, is a pretty hands on ruler. And he's definitely doing something that involves some heavy physical labor.

Apparently the runner beast population was decimated by lung infections that had swept the camp during the beginning of the plague. The only ones that survived were the light, wiry runners that had been Alessan's pet project. They'd been bred and trained for racing. Now, Alessan has to train them for farm work instead.

Which means that Alessan himself has taken up farm work, at least for the short term, and if I wasn't still so annoyed by McCaffrey's lack of subtlety or nuance, I'd appreciate the nice contrast between Alessan and rulers like Tolocamp and Sh'gall, who can't relinquish their own privilege. I'd have appreciated the comparison more if McCaffrey hadn't decided to make both men cardboard cut outs that are very easy to hate anyway.

At least the harpers are useful. Alessan is joined by Tuero. Apparently only Harpers are brave enough to venture into Ruatha. Alessan's been trying to get assistance from his northern holds, some actual plowbeasts, but there aren't any to spare.

Or rather, no one will risk themselves or any animals by traveling to Ruatha until the vaccine has been spread to everyone.

I mean, I'm pretty sure that I'm supposed to judge these people poorly (and Alessan certainly does), but it's a really transmissible deadly plague? So I get it. Tolocamp hoarding medication was gross, but I don't blame unvaccinated people for not wanting to step into plague central. (Make the dragonriders go. They're first in line for vaccines!)

I do think it's perfectly understandable that Alessan is angry and frustrated though, and I'll give him credit. He does understand where his people are coming from.

Alessan had cursed futilely. “If they won’t come, I’ll have to go! I’ll bring teams in myself! They can’t deny their Lord Holder to his face!” While Alessan railed at his people, he understood their viewpoint—especially since he himself had not yet had the courage to send for Dag, Fergal, and the bloodstock. Follen had given him the most strict assurance that the plague was passed by coughing or sneezing—personal contact—and could not be in the soil of the race flats or the pickets where so many beasts had died, but Alessan would not risk the few priceless breeders that Dag had whisked away the morning after the accursed Gather.

They end up deciding that Alessan can't actually go, because there's no one else who can enforce his orders. Which, fair enough, that's how Tolocamp was able to abandon his wife and daughters to begin with: Alessan had been sick, and his brother couldn't keep him under control. Tuero had gone instead. (Tuero is a character we're supposed to like, so there is emphasis on the man having just recovered himself.)

Now Alessan's feeling pretty happy. He's almost done plowing the field, and Tuero's back. Yay!

So Tuero has news. The folks in the north aren't Tolocamp. They're not hoarding anything. They're pretty strapped themselves. Quite a few of them had the plague too: from the Gatherers who had left before they'd begun the Quarantine. And they're not willing to send good stock to die in Ruatha. They almost didn't let Tuero bring his own mount inside.

Tuero had realized something though. His mount is one of Alessan's stock, which survived the plague. (I suppose the "lung ailments" mentioned before were actually meant to be the plague itself.) Couldn't they use ITS blood to vaccinate runners?

...does it work like that? I realize that I have no idea.

So this is a happy realization and they go off to find a healer. If they can vaccinate the runners, then there will be less risk to the "smallholders" who rely on them. Then they can contribute more.

...okay, McCaffrey, I bitch often enough about your lack of nuance, I'll give you credit for this conflict. You've actually given the lesser lords legitimate reasons to not give the main characters what they want, without making them horrible people in the process. They're not stingy. They're just poor and desperate too. I like that.

There's a bit of angst for Alessan as he enters the Hall. And we get maybe a little more nuance here too. One of the reasons that Alessan has been so passionately taking up farming (an act of humility that seems to be winning him a lot of fans, per Tuero), is because he tries to avoid the Hall as much as possible: as the sounds of sick people are "a constant reminder of the sad hospitality he had offered".

Aw.

Anyway, the healer, Follen, seems pretty intrigued by the idea, though he's not an animal expert. He suggests they get someone at Keroon Beasthold to give a "considered opinion". Hm. That...could be a problem.

It's also too late at night to drum "across" to them. This has inspired me to go look at Pern's map again...

Huh, per the map, Keroon is like half a continent away from Ruatha. How the fuck does drumming work between them? I feel like there must be relay points in between, which interim holds drum the same message.

We have an entire book called "dragondrums" and I still don't know how the drumming system actually works.

But anyway, Alessan realizes there's someone much closer who can help. He also asks if there's enough to vaccinate two more people. There is! Woo.

So Alessan reaches out to Moreta, explaining he's been vaccinated himself, and asking for her help. She's got no reason to say no (Orlith's fine, happy to have her clutch admired), and she's pretty curious.

She's also a bit nervous about what to say to Alessan after all of his recent losses. And indeed, he's definitely changed:

Suddenly Alessan, dressed in rough leathers but a clean shirt showing at the neck, stood to one side of the entrance to the Hatching Ground. Beside him was a lanky man in a faded, patched tunic of harper blue. M’barak was grinning at their hesitation and waved them toward the portion of the tiers that Moreta had converted to a temporary living space. Orlith was awake and watched them enter, but displayed no agitation.

Moreta rose, one hand raised in unconscious protest against the change in Alessan. Too vividly she recalled the assured, handsome, buoyant young man who had greeted her at Ruatha’s Gather eight days before. He had lost weight and his tunic was belted tightly to take up the slack. His hair no longer looked trimmed or brushed. She wondered why that detail should matter so much to her. The stains on his hands, witness of his efforts to plow and plant, were honorable ones, as was the redwort on hers. She grieved, too, for the lines of worry and tension in his face, the cynical slant to his mouth, and the wary expression in his light green eyes.

Aw. Poor guy.

He's also very diffident when he speaks to her, which is offputting. Aw.

So anyway, he presents their idea for a vaccine for the runners:

“Tuero”—Alessan gave the harper a slight bow of acknowledgment—“wondered if a vaccine could be made from the blood of runnerbeasts to protect them from the plague.”

“Of course it can! You mean it hasn’t been done?” Moreta was consumed by such a surge of fury and frustration that Orlith rose to all four legs from her semirecumbent position, her eyes whirling pinkly, and a worried question rumbled from her throat.

“No.” In the one word, Alessan mirrored her own intense reaction.

“No one thought of doing it, or there hasn’t been the time?” she demanded, sick at the thought of more loss, animal or human. The grim set of Alessan’s mouth and the harper’s sigh gave the answer. “I would have thought that—” She broke off the angry sentence, closing her eyes and clenching her fists. She recalled the heavy losses at Keroon Beasthold—the emptiness of her family’s runnerhold.

Ouch. Alessan just says there were other priorities. She understands and explains how it would work. She's also happy to give them spare "needlethorns" as well. Apparently there's a supply train coming from Fort, but until they can reassure the wagoners that folks are plague free, they won't come near the Hold.

...okay, THAT's pretty fucking stupid. I get the fear of illness, but maybe you should get your fucking supply train vaccinated? Because, here's the funny thing about medication - people need it when they're sick!

Anyway, Moreta orders M'barak (...hate mail, McCaffrey) to take them to the storeroom, thy can have anything they need from the supplies. Alessan has Tuero and M'barak go ahead. He's got something for Moreta: her dress!

She managed to take it from him but her hands trembled. She thought of the racing, the dancing, her joy in a Gather as one should be, her delight in the perfection of that Gather evening as she and Oklina had made their way to the dancing square for an evening she would never forget. The pent-up frustrations, angers, suppressed griefs, the mandatory absences from Orlith that she thought of as betrayals of Impression, the whole accumulation burst the barrier of self-control and she buried her face in the dress, weeping uncontrollably.

As Orlith crooned supportively, Moreta was taken into Alessan’s embrace. The touch of his arms, fierce in their hold, the mixed odors of human and animal sweat, of damp earth, combined to free her tears. Abruptly she felt the heave and swell of his body as his grief found expression at last. Together they comforted and were comforted by each other’s release.

...um. I mean, that was a bit abrupt!

I can appreciate Moreta's sudden emotion at the dress. She's gone through a lot too, and the reminder of happier romcom times was probably intense. And I can appreciate how all this stress and fear and anguish means people take comfort as they will.

BUT THAT WAS REALLY FUCKING ABRUPT.

...I suppose I should give some props for this being the first on page fully consensual sex scene that this series has had. (It's rather appalling that it took until book SEVEN to get there.)

Because McCaffrey can not be creepy, Orlith pokes her telepathic head in to say how Moreta and Alessan needed this. And indeed:

It was Moreta who recovered from the catharsis first. She continued to hold Alessan tightly, to ease his shuddering body, as she murmured reassurances and encouragements, repeating all the praise for his indomitable spirit and fortitude that had come to her through K’lon: trying to make her voice and hands convey her own respect, admiration, and empathy. She felt the shuddering subside and then, with one final deep sigh, Alessan was purged of the aggregation of sorrow, remorse, and frustration. She relaxed her grip and his arms became less fierce and clinging. Slowly they leaned apart so that they could look into each other’s eyes. The lines of pain and worry had not diminished but the strain had eased about his mouth and brow.

Alessan raised his hand and with gentle fingers smoothed the tears from her cheeks. His hands tightened and he pulled her toward him again, bending his head to one side so that she could evade him if she chose. Moreta tilted her head and accepted his kiss, thinking to put the seal of comfort to their shared sorrow with that age-old benison. Neither expected their emotions to flare to passion—Moreta because she had stopped thinking of relationships outside the Weyr, Alessan because he had thought himself spent from his losses at Ruatha.

I am glad that they're getting some comfort. But seriously. You couldn't at least let them find a fucking bed?

Moreta is having her own emotional reaction, reflecting that not even her girlhood love for Talpan had "waked such an uninhibited response". After a bit, Alessan starts being aware of Orlith creepily crooning.

Because apparently they had sex in front of the dragon???

Anyway, Alessan's happy and amazed that Orlith didn't object to the banging. Because...I don't fucking know. I guess dragons get to weigh in on their rider's sex lives? I mean, Ruth did, so why the fuck not?

And, yeah, apparently they did just fuck in the Hatching Ground.

((Edited to add. It's been pointed out that they don't necessarily HAVE to have been fucking here. It might just have been cathartic crying. This is true. I didn't include one of the big reasons I think they banged. Which is this bit:

Slowly, reluctantly, Alessan raised his mouth from hers, looking down at her with incredulous intensity. Then he, too, became aware of the dragon’s crooning and looked, startled, in the queen’s direction.

“She doesn’t object!” That amazed him further, and he was sensible of the risk he had taken.

“If she did, you’d know about it.” Moreta laughed. His expression of dismay swiftly altering to delight was marvelous. Joy welled up from a long-untapped source in her body.

Orlith’s croon changed to as near a trill as the dragon larynx could manage. With great reluctance, Moreta stepped back from Alessan, her smile expressing that regret.

“They’ll hear it?” he asked, smiling back at her ruefully, his hands clinging as he released her.

“It may be chalked up to the joys of clutching.”

To ME, it sounds like they banged, and the dragon is weirdly happy about it. But I suppose that's up to interpretation! :-D))


“Your gown!” He grasped at the excuse of retrieving the crumpled folds where the dress had fallen unremarked to the stone at their feet. He was passing it to her when M’barak and Tuero entered the Hatching Ground, Tuero with a keen sparkle in his expressive eyes.

“With so much on your mind, Alessan,” Moreta said, amazed at her self-possession, “it is very good of you to have remembered.”

“If the simple courtesy of returning what had been misplaced is always rewarded with such generosity, leave more with me!” Alessan’s eyes burned with amusement at his turn of phrase but it was Tuero’s full pack that he indicated.

Moreta could not but laugh. M’barak was looking from her to Orlith, Tuero was aware that something had occurred but he couldn’t identify it.

Okay, I admit it, this is pretty funny. But STILL.

Anyway, Tuero notes that they didn't take everything they needed, because it would have stripped Fort Weyr bare. Moreta notes that she'd be able to get replacements more easily, which is probably true.

There's a bit I like, when the topic moves back to animal vaccination, where Moreta suggests trying the serum on a "worthless beast", only to be told quickly that there are no worthless beasts at Ruatha right now. It's a good reminder that the suffering isn't actually equal at the moment.

She asks if they've spoken to Capiam. Not yet. Alessan had wanted to know if it was feasible first. Moreta thinks it is, so now they should go. Moreta does take a moment to ask after Oklina, Dag and the beast Squealer.

They're all okay, by the way. The chapter ends with them leaving, and Moreta wondering if there was any chance that Holth and Leri had "missed that tumultuous interview".

...I still can't believe they fucked on the Hatching Sands. In a single paragraph!

1. OW.

2. A single fucking paragraph! HMPH!

And with this indignation, I bid you goodnight!