It seemed grossly unfair that after everything he'd done--negotiating with Lord Tuan for Sedona Weyr, finding the riders from Darkling Dawn to help populate it--Vorvesoth did not, in fact, catch Yuneth when the new Senior Queen rose. Instead, the Weyrleadership of Sedona Weyr went to a stranger. The fact that Noa knew of M'rix and his skills at least as well as she did his own (and that not much at all), was lost on S'rey. Still, he'd proved himself a suitable Wingleader, and if his Wing did no better than the others, it had say something about his leadership ability that he had just over two-thirds of the riders he should have had and only one wingsecond.
Yuneth will rise again soon. It is still the beginning of the Pass, Vorvesoth pointed out in his calm and logical manner. If you want, he added with a touch of hopefulness, I could practice with some of the junior queens in the meantime.
S'rey smiled wryly. He wouldn't deny his dragon if he wanted to chase, but he knew Siena had been favoring R'shan lately and Jhajerth would not rise for a long time yet.
"No, I think if what we want is practice, we'll have to go somewhere else for it," S'rey said, though he was really just thinking aloud, as nobody was around but Vorvesoth.
There was a long silence from his bond, and S'rey sensed that he was speaking with another dragon.
Tonumyth tells me of a Weyrhold called Dark Moon. There are two golds there who will be rising soon. One of them is ridden by a male-- S'rey grimaced. 'The dragon decides, the rider complies' was the old saying, but all the same, he'd rather not end up in bed with a male, though he saw why Tonumyth's rider would be interested. --the other gold is Jalaneth, Vorvesoth was saying, She is Senior Queen. If I catch her, you will get your Weyrleadership.
Hmm, an interesting, and tempting, proposal. S'rey shook his head. "I couldn't leave Sedona and my Wing leaderless for that length of time." He didn't care for the Weyrleader too much, but he knew his duty. Vorvesoth, however, was ready with an answer.
Dark Moon is in the end of the Pass, the bronze dragon explained. Timing it is difficult, but I could do it. We could stay as long as we needed to. His mental voice was smug, and S'rey grinned.
That did provide a neat solution. This could even serve as practice of a different sort. If he already had experience as a Weyrleader the next time Yuneth rose, that would only improve their chances of impressing Noa and her queen. "Let's go as soon as possible, Vorvesoth. I want to get there early and show the Weyrwoman what I can do. No doubt there'll be all other sorts of bronzeriders showing up for the flight."
The bronze dragon rumbled deep in his throat and chuckled. No need to hurry, S'rey. We have all the time in the world.