Anne Mccaffrey_ Dragonriders of Pern 20 by Dragon Harper Page B

Kindan.
    “Later, maybe,” Kindan said. “We’ve got to get to our classes.”
    “And me?” Vaxoram asked.
    “You, too,” Kindan told him. “You’re to keep to your standard schedule.”
    Vaxoram nodded, but Kindan could see that he looked troubled.
    “You still want to be a harper, don’t you?” Kindan asked him.
    “But I’m not good enough,” Vaxoram protested.
    “You are if you say you are,” Kelsa snapped at him. “But at least you don’t have people saying you can’t be a harper because you’re a girl.”
    Vaxoram paled. “You could be a harper,” he told her. “I was wrong.”
    “You’re not the only one who thinks I shouldn’t be a harper,” Kelsa snapped back hotly. She gestured to Nonala. “Nor Nonala.”
    “But you can sing!” Vaxoram said to Nonala, then turned back to Kelsa. “And you can write songs I only dream of!”
    “Keep saying that,” Kindan told him. “Keep telling them and anyone you meet. Maybe the others will get it.”
    Vaxoram closed his mouth suddenly, his lips thin. Kindan got up from his place and walked over to Vaxoram. He leaned close by his ear, groping for the right words.
    “We can all help each other here,” Kindan said at last. Judging by the twitch of Vaxoram’s shoulders, he hadn’t made his point. He sighed to himself. Maybe the next time he would figure out a better way to express himself. “Let’s get to our classes.”
    That evening, Vaxoram joined them for dinner. He ate silently.
    As they prepared for bed that night, Vaxoram came over to Kindan with an expectant look on his face. Kindan pointed to an empty bunk.
    “You’re to sleep there,” he said. Vaxoram nodded tersely, and Kindan could tell that the older apprentice was still adjusting to his new position. “The four of us—me, Verilan, Kelsa, and Nonala—are from different years; there’s no shame in joining us.”
    “Another outcast,” Vaxoram muttered resignedly, going over to his old bunk and retrieving his chest.
    “You’re still the senior apprentice,” Kindan reminded him.
    Vaxoram shook his head. “How can I be? I take orders from you.”
    Kindan had nothing to say to that. As Vaxoram was arranging his bed, Kelsa came over to Kindan. “Does he really have to sleep with us?”
    “Yes,” Kindan said. “Unless you want me to move.”
    “No,” Kelsa replied hastily, shaking her head in emphasis. “It’s just that—”
    “He serves me; he needs to be near me,” Kindan told her, his face set. “If that’s a problem for you, we can move, or you can move.”
    “You’d better be right,” Kelsa snapped. She stomped off, casting angry glances in his direction until she finally climbed into her bunk.
    Kindan settled into his bed not much later, then crawled out to turn out the glows.
    “I can do that,” Vaxoram said from behind him. Kindan started to protest, then stopped himself and nodded. Turning out the glows was, after all, the duty of the senior apprentice.
    “Thanks,” Kindan said when he’d finished.
    “Glows over,” Vaxoram called loudly to the rest of the room. Scurrying noises showed that he was obeyed.
    Kindan settled into his bunk, reviewing all the amazing events of the day and realizing with a shiver that had things gone differently, he would have been dead.
    He drifted slowly off to sleep, considering all the ramifications of his actions and trying to imagine the future. He was startled awake suddenly by the one thing he hadn’t counted on: Vaxoram snored.

    The next issue occurred after their run next morning, as Kelsa and Nonala cast concerned glances between Kindan and the bath room, clearly asking him what he intended to do about the bathing situation. Vaxoram, however, had an answer, rousting out the remaining laggards and handing out large fluffy towels to the four of them. Kindan kept a smile to himself as he reflected that in most ways Vaxoram was still a bully—just
his
bully.
    “He’s not bathing with us, is he?” Nonala