Anne Mccaffrey_ Dragonriders of Pern 20 by Dragon Harper Page A

wakes.”
    Koriana nodded, then looked around. She glanced at the pillows and blankets spread about her, then at Kindan, her eyes intent and mouth open, but before she could say anything, her mother, father, and two older brothers strode into the room.
    “They’re hatching?” Semin asked, glancing toward the hearth.
    “Yes,” Kindan said.
    “Sit down close by and grab some scraps,” Issak said, gesturing toward the ground close to the rocking eggs.
    “Bannor, come on!” Semin called, gesturing for his younger brother to follow him. “We can’t let Koriana be the only one of us with a fire-lizard!”
    Bannor laughed as he strode into the room. “No, indeed we can’t, little sister.”
    Koriana waved groggily at him, then angrily as the motion disturbed her queen.
    “If you wake her—”
    “Perhaps you should go to another room?” Lady Sannora suggested, not quite glancing toward Kindan. It was clear that Lady Sannora was unhappy with the thought that Koriana had spent the night in his presence.
    Koriana noticed the glance and smiled back at her mother. “And have a chance to miss my sibs’ triumph? Oh, no, Mother, I must be here for every moment!”
    Was the girl deliberately trying to goad her mother, Kindan wondered.
    “Well,” Lady Sannora said consideringly, regrouping her thoughts, “perhaps the harpers would prefer to return to their hall.”
    “We are at your service, my lady,” Issak replied with a carefully choreographed bow that managed to keep his fire-lizard level throughout.
    “Keep the lucky one here,” Semin said, indicating Kindan. “The others can go.”
    “We could help,” Issak suggested. Vaxoram nodded mutely. Kindan couldn’t tell if the older boy was more interested in the spectacle of Impression or in fulfilling his duty to Kindan. Or perhaps he wanted to watch Kindan’s growing discomfiture in the presence of both Koriana and her mother.
    “I’m hungry,” Koriana said. “I’m sure the others are, too.”
    “Indeed,” Lady Sannora agreed drily. She started to say something more but caught herself and instead nodded to the harpers. “Pardon me, I’m forgetting my manners in all the excitement. I’ll have someone bring you
klah
and rolls.”
    “It is a hectic time for all of us,” Issak said, nodding politely. “No apologies are necessary, my lady.”
    Lady Sannora nodded graciously but cast a cold look toward her daughter. Koriana merely smiled back.
    Kindan thought that Koriana was playing a dangerous game, goading her mother so. He realized that the tensions between the two were long-standing but felt that somehow his presence had exacerbated them.
    But the two remaining eggs were now clearly hatching, so he put his thoughts on hold.
    “What should we do?” Bannor asked, looking to Issak, then Kindan, then Koriana in desperation.
    “Don’t panic,” Koriana told him sternly. “Just stuff its face full of scraps and talk soothingly.”
    “Tell him you love him,” Issak added, looking down fondly at the brown still sleeping serenely in the crook of his arm.
    “What if it’s a green?” Bannor asked worriedly.
    “Then tell
her,
” Semin answered with a disgusted look, adding snidely, “Though why you would want a green…”
    Kindan glanced at Bannor, wondering if the younger holder was hoping for a green. Gold and green fire-lizards were female, just like gold and green dragons…or watch-whers.
    “You can’t be certain from the size or color of the egg,” Kindan said suddenly. “Nor from past experience,” he added as he noticed both older lads looking at him expectantly. “I impressed a green watch-wher, and now I have a bronze fire-lizard.”
    “Forsk is green,” Bannor said, glancing toward the kitchen entrance. “Forsk is bound to Father.”
    Ah, so it wasn’t a question of preferences, Kindan thought to himself. Perhaps it was jealousy. Perhaps Bemin’s sons envied their father his bond with the watch-wher. Clearly from the number of