Dragonheart

“Foodstuffs?” Fiona ventured. She shook her head, negating her own suggestion, then brightened as a new thought came to her. “Spices!”

“Recipes,” Terin declared.

“Ice,” T’mar offered.

The two women shook their heads at him and he gave Fiona a challenging look that she answered with, “They’re in the north.” “Iced cream, then,” T’mar said in a stubborn tone.

“Recipes,” Terin repeated.

“We would like to establish direct trade with the Fire Hold,” Azeez allowed.

“It won’t last beyond our leaving,” Fiona observed, shaking her head.

“Profit when possible,” Azeez said, quoting a trader maxim.

“I don’t want us to get involved in trader politics,” T’mar declared, glancing frankly toward Azeez. “Especially to the detriment of traders beholden to Fort.”

“You have conflicting loyalties,” Azeez observed.

“We’ve already established loyalty with you,” Fiona said, adding, “Do you think it won’t last when we return to our own time?”

“In your time, Fiona, you are not the senior Weyrwoman,” Azeez reminded her. “You may not control your loyalties.”

Fiona flinched — the remark struck all too true.

“Then let us help you while we can,” Terin said, glancing toward Fiona for approval.

“Recipes won’t work,” Azeez said, changing the subject back to the original issue, “but recipes with spices would.”

“Because you could only sell a recipe once?” Terin guessed.

“Correct,” Azeez agreed approvingly. “Have you any recipes that require unusual spices?”

“Curry with pistachio,” Fiona suggested immediately, citing her favorite culinary find.

“Pistachios aren’t limited to Igen,” Mother Karina replied with a thoughtful frown, “but they are not common to the cold north, either.”

“Ginger and some of the hotter chilis,” T’mar suggested.

“I’m sure we can come up with a list for trade,” Azeez agreed. “When and how will we start?”

T’mar pursed his lips in a sour look. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “I’d hate to think of depriving the Weyrs of their needed — ”

“The Weyrs have need of us, too,” Fiona cut across him, gesturing to the weyrlings around them. “If we don’t get them trained and ready to fight, there will be no point in our coming back to this time.”

“I wonder, though, is there any other source of proper firestone?” Azeez asked, glancing toward Fiona. “If the Igen charts marked gold, wouldn’t they also mark firestone?”

T’mar and Fiona exchanged astonished looks and rose from the table, eager to put thought into action.

“The map has lasted this long,” Mother Karina said in a tone that halted their motion, “I’m sure it will keep until after you’ve eaten.”

“And the food’s hot now,” Terin added, grinning at the older trader.

T’mar gave Fiona a sheepish look and the two returned to their seats, but they were unable to keep themselves from eating more quickly than usual. Terin, Azeez, and Mother Karina noticed and laughed at them.

T’mar flushed, but Fiona ignored them, concentrating on finishing her meal.

“Another excellent and tasty meal, Terin,” she said as she rose from her place, searching the cavern for a nearby glowbasket she might purloin. T’mar was at her side before she reached the entrance to the Weyr Bowl.

“Would you like us to wait for you?” Azeez called after them, his amusement unrestrained.

“Whatever,” Fiona called back, waving a hand airily over her shoulder.

Talenth greeted them solemnly as they entered her weyr. Fiona paused long enough to call out a greeting and an apology as she and T’mar moved through the Weyrwoman’s quarters and into the Records Room beyond.

“We should have brought more glows,” T’mar observed as he laid the map out on the long table and tried to make out the markings in the light of the glow Fiona had brought. Fiona leaned close to the map, frustrated herself, and nodded in agreement, only to gasp in surprise as the level of light in the room doubled.

“I thought you might need more,” Terin said brightly as she entered, cradling a large basket in her arms. She placed it heavily on the table and leaned over the map, joining the other two in their examination.

“What’s this?” Fiona asked, tapping a mark on the mountains not far north of the spot that marked the location of Igen Weyr. T’mar leaned closer and then peered down at the legend at the bottom of the map.

“Silver, I think,” he said, returning to the spot on the map to fix it in his mind.

Terin examined the legend carefully. She pointed at one mark. “This is the mark for firestone.”

“So we just need to find that on the map . . .” Fiona murmured, scanning the map from the bottom to the top, right to left. She paused at a spot near Nerat Tip. “Here’s one.”

“I doubt M’tal would be happy with us poaching in Benden territory,” T’mar remarked.

“Not if he never knew about it,” Terin said suggestively. Fiona and T’mar gave her a remonstrating look and the young girl sighed. “I suppose that wouldn’t be too friendly, would it?”

“Here’s one,” T’mar said, pointing to a spot south of the Weyr. He frowned as he measured the distance with his eye. “It’s less than an hour’s straight flight from here.”

“That’s odd,” Fiona said, peering closer to the spot. “Why would dragonriders have forgotten the old firestone if Igen had a mine so near by?”

“I suspect we won’t know until we look,” T’mar replied.

“Tomorrow?” Fiona asked, cocking an eyebrow upward.

T’mar nodded.

“Do we tell Azeez?” Terin wondered.

“Let’s see what we find, first,” Fiona suggested.

Fiona invited Terin to ride with them, but the young girl demurred, asking quite rightly, “And who will keep an eye on everything if we’re all  gone?”

They left at first light, wearing the light clothes favored by the traders under their warm wherhide jackets and riding gear, and carrying extra water. T’mar had decided to bring half the young weyrlings; the rest were working and drilling under F’jian’s and J’keran’s watch.

T’mar had set J’nos directly in charge of the traveling group of weyrlings, who had been ecstatic at the thought of a playful excursion until T’mar had reminded J’nos that they needed to bring shovels, picks, and other digging tools.

Talenth was first into the air and took up a position high above the Star Stones as she waited, radiating impatience, for the others to catch up. T’mar joined on Zirenth shortly, the bronze rider smiling and waving at them.

He says that we were right to take the high position as we’re the most powerful,  Talenth told Fiona smugly. Fiona laughed and patted her beautiful young queen enthusiastically.

Taking their cue from the Star Stones, Fiona oriented Talenth in the direction she thought they should fly. A few moments later, Zirenth aligned to the same direction and T’mar gave Fiona the signal that she should lead.

With a laugh of pure delight, Fiona urged Talenth onward. The queen responded eagerly, her wings swiftly boosting them to a breathtaking speed. A sudden worry nudged Fiona and she craned her neck around to see that the smaller blues and greens were struggling to maintain their speed.

Slow down; we’ll let the others catch up,  Fiona said to Talenth, her pride in her gold’s great strength seeping through her admonishment.

I suppose, as leader, we shouldn’t lose them,  Talenth agreed reluctantly.

We need to go higher, too,  Fiona said as she eyed their distance to the ground. Let’s start a slow climb.

The idea of a climb pleased Talenth, who broadened her downstroke to lift them slowly higher. Fiona compared her view of the ground below with her memory of heights and elevations — and the chill of the air — and