Nerilka's Story (12 page)
Authors: Anne McCaffrey
Chapter XII
3.11.1553 Interval
A
S
I
CONCLUDE
this narrative, there has been no Thread to blot our skies for five marvelous Turns. Few signs remain of what Ruatha endured, for the burial mounds have been leveled and their sites are all but invisible in the luxurious grass.
And change, the change from unrelenting Thread, has benefited all. Kamiana is Weyrwoman at Fort, and G’drel, a genial, heavyset man originally of Telgar, is Weyrleader. His Dorianth flew Pelianth on her next mating flight. No one hears much of Wingleader Sh’gall these days, but G’drel and Kamiana are often visitors here, and G’drel constantly teases Alessan about his runner, Squealer. He’s about the only one, save Fergal, who dares, even though Alessan is generally easier to approach on most matters.
B’lerion’s Nabeth outmaneuvered every bronze on Pern to fly Oklina’s Hannath, not that anyone doubted the outcome of that flight. Her two sons now play with ours, for I have fulfilled the first half of my original bargain with Alessan five times: four strong sons and a daughter whom we have named Moreta. Alessan will not have me overbear, though I keep telling him that I am happiest pregnant and never suffer as others have from being in that condition.
He is even permitting himself to show affection to his children. At first he pretended total indifference, as if any tenderness would mark them as victims for disaster. To my delight, they have been incredibly healthy, less prone to catch the usual childhood maladies than any other children of the Hold, sturdily immune to cuts, bruises, and breaks that often occur in childhood. Our daughter, Moreta—and Desdra has told me quite sincerely that she is the most beautiful child she ever saw, so it is not only this doting mother who so describes her—has provided the sun to thaw the coldness in her father. He could not help but adore her, for she seems to blossom with joy whenever she sees turn, and her delight is contagious. Alessan will never be as carefree, blithe, or gay as Suriana described him, but his smile is readier now, and he will laugh at Tuero’s outrageous humor and smile at his sons’ antics and boasts. He will cheer when Squealer wins yet another race and be a genial host when visitors are in the Hall.
We plan our first Gather, a very modest affair, when the spring has dressed the land with blossom and new growth. If occasionally when we make our plans, a shadow crosses Alessan’s face, it is to be expected, and I ignore it.
If he does not love me as he did Suriana or Moreta, still he loves me in ways he would not have known with his first wild and tempestuous wife and different from his deep devotion to Moreta. We understand each other well, often starting the same sentence simultaneously. Certainly we are of similar mind in every matter concerning Ruatha Hold and our children. He is public in his appreciation of my efforts, though he cannot know that his ready acknowledgment of my efforts is the greatest of compliments he could pay me, the girl who was never praised or thanked by her own Blood.
And gradually, as his fear of losing yet again that which is precious to him abates, his regard has extended to all areas of our life together. At night it is not the shadow of Suriana or the dream of Moreta that he holds in his arms and loves—it is Nerilka, his wife, the mother of his children, and the Lady of his Hold.
It is time to end a story that began in sorrow and ordeal and has ended in a deep and lasting happiness. May it be so for others.
Appendix
The illustrations in this appendix were based on maps drawn by Karen Wynn Fonstad for
The Atlas of Pern
(Del Rey/Ballantine Books, 1984).
Anne McCaffrey
was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures. Before her success as a writer, she was involved in theater. She directed the American premiere of Carl Orff’s
Ludus de Nato Infante Mirificus
, in which she also played a witch. Her first novel,
Restoree
, was written as a protest against the absurd and unrealistic portrayals of women in science fiction novels in the 50s and early 60s. Ms. McCaffrey is best known, however, for her handling of broader themes and the worlds of her imagination, particularly in her tales of the Talents and the fourteen novels about the Dragonriders of Pern.
McCaffrey lives in a house of her own design, Dragonhold-Underhill, in County Wicklow, Ireland. Visit the author online at
www.annemccaffrey.org.
Books by Anne McCaffrey
Decision at Doona
Dinosaur Planet
Dinosaur Planet Survivors
Get Off the Unicorn
The Lady
Pegasus in Flight
Restorree
The Ship Who Sang
To Ride Pegasus
Nimisha’s Ship
Pegasus in Space
THE CRYSTAL SINGER BOOKS
Crystal Singer
Killashandra
Crystal Line
THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN
®
BOOKS
Dragonflight
Dragonquest
The White Dragon
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern
Nerilka’s Story
Dragonsdawn
The Renegades of Pern
All the Weyrs of Pern
The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall
The Dolphins of Pern
Dragonseye
The Masterharper of Pern
The Skies of Pern
By Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough:
Powers that Be
Power Lines
Power Play
With Jody Lynn Nye:
The Dragonlover’s Guide to Pern
Edited by Anne McCaffrey:
Alchemy and Academe
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THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN is a trademark of Anne McCaffrey. Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
A Del Rey
®
Book
Published by Ballantine Books
Copyright © 1986 by Anne McCaffrey
Illustrations Copyright © 1986 by Edwin Herder
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 85-26864
eISBN: 978-0-345-45402-7
v3.0
