Name:Kenthera
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Height: 5'9"
Build: Thin
Skin Tone: Fair
Eyes: Dark Brown
Hair Color: Black
Hair Length: To low back
Occupation: Harper
Siblings: 1 twin brother
Parents: Widowed Father, mother died in childbirth
Origin: Medium-sized hold
Pets: none
Kenthera took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door with her hand raised to knock. She didn't want to do this, but she had no choice at this point. This was an emergency. Otherwise, she never ever would have bothered to come here, but since she was already here, she might as well get it over with. She closed her eyes and rapped her knuckles smartly on the wooden door.
"Come in," a voice she knew all too well called from inside, and she opened the door. "Oh, it's just you, Kenthera," the man said as he turned away from the door.
"What do you mean 'it's just you'? Am I just anybody to you, Kenthyun," Kenthera asked, forgetting that she had promised herself that she would do her best to keep her temper in check this time.
Kenthyun looked up from the piece of music he was currently studying. "No, you're my twin sister, which is worse," he said with a sigh, "because it means that you're most likely here to ask for my help, and I'm most likely going to feel obligated by our relationship to give it to you despite the fact that it's most likely a waste of effort on both our parts."
"Most likely, most likely, most likely," Kenthera repeated with a shake of her head. "You know, you're the only person on Pern that speaks like that. What's with that anyway?"
"Am I," he asked with a half grin. "Well, I suppose that I can just add the wonderful way in which I speak to my other list of charming qualities. Now, I had better ask you what you need before you lose your temper and storm out of here without it."
Kenthera screwed a smile onto her face and took a deep breath before replying. "You're so kind, brother. I'm so lucky to have you," she said in as sickeningly sweet a voice as she could manage.
"I know, right? I'm wonderfully kind to use my precious time to help my dear struggling sister. I even surprise myself with how thoughtful I am," he replied with a grin for her.
Kenthera took several more deep breaths as she pictured her hands going around Kenthyun's throat and his face turning a lovely shade of harper blue. She needed his help right now, and she was going to get it. "Okay, here's the deal. I have a test in singing coming up, and I need you to help me practice."
Kenthyun shrugged. "Okay, I'll help you, but you remember what happened last time," he said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
Kenthera held up her empty hand. "I promise I won't hit you or throw things. I swear on Faranth's first egg I'll be good and try my best. Please, won't you help me," she asked giving him her best puppy dog face.
"Yes, I'll help you as long as you stop making that face at me. You look like a sick wherry. Now let me see what you're working on," he stated holding out his hand for the exercises that Kenthera had clutched in her other hand.
Kenthera quickly handed it over, and the two began to go through each exercise. Kenthyun would sing the exercise first and then have Kenthera repeat it over and over again until she had it right. After half a candlemark of practicing together, however, both siblings' patience was running low.
"I can't understand you at all," Kenthyun stated with a roll of his eyes as he set the music down. "You can compose music and play any instrument you want, but you can't sing a simple seventh? It doesn't make sense. It defies all logic! I mean you can sing an octave, right," he asked before demonstrating. "A seventh is just short of an octave," he continued before demostrating again. "Now you try."
Kenthera closed her eyes and did her best to sing the octave. It was one of the easiest musical intervals to sing, so why was it so difficult? And, why did Kenthyun have to act like such a brat?
"See, that was a seventh. You've got it," Kenthyun declared with a sigh of relief and a smile. "Now we're finally getting somewhere."
"No, that was the octave," Kenthera corrected him. "At least that's what I was trying to sing. You mean I messed it up again?"
"That was definitely not an octave but a seventh," Kenthyun said with a roll of his eyes. "I guess we didn't get anywhere after all. Then again, maybe that's the trick for you. You sing so flat all the time that if you aim for the note above the one in the exercise, you might just hit it."
Kenthera had had enough. She punched her brother in the arm. "You know, Kenthyun, just because you made journeyman already doesn't mean that you know everything!"
"I certainly know more than you do, or I wouldn't have made journeyman first," Kenthyun replied with a scoff as he rubbed his arm. "Besides you promised you wouldn't hit me."
"If I didn't have such a shardingly annoying brother who thinks he's so great just because he has perfect pitch, I wouldn't have to," Kenthera retorted angrily.
"Shardingly? Is that even a word, Kenthera? Sheesh! It's no wonder you haven't made journeyman yet when you're making up your own language," Kenthyun commented with a shake of his head. Kenthera replied with a string of curses that would have made even a hardened fisherman blush. "Language, dear sister!"
"How in the world could I have ever been born as your twin when you're so obnoxious? At least I can comfort myself with the fact that we aren't identical," she said huffily as she gathered her things to go.
"Indeed. You would look rather odd with a man's face. Though with my good looks, it might still be an improvement," Kenthyun commented as he picked up his own music once more and began to study.
"Ha! My skin is much better and clearer than yours! What improvement? You'd be the lucky one if you looked like me," Kenthera retorted as she stomped toward the door.
Kenthyun shrugged. "No one cares what my face looks like once I begin to sing," he said with a grin. "Besides, I'm still taller than you."
"Well, I'm thinner," Kenthera responded before sticking her tongue out at him. "So there!"
"As you should be since you are a girl," Kenthyun answered with a smirk. "I would be a bit frightened if you were more muscular than me since you are already much more violent."
"Well, I'm still older, so you should show me the respect I deserve as the older sibling," Kenthera stated with finality as if she had finally won. That would put her brother in his place.
Kenthyun rolled his eyes. "Yes, you were born several moments before I was, but if I know you, which I do, you probably shoved me out of the way just so you could be born first. Plus, it just means that my youth will last that much longer than yours."
Kenthera struggled to find something to say. Why could she never win against him? It was so annoying! Finally she left the room, slamming the door behind her. She stood there a few minutes calming herself before cracking the door open once more. "Kenthyun," she called tentatively. "You know I love you, right?"
"Yes, yes," Kenthyun answered waving her away. "I'll still help you practice later even though you'll just hit me again," he answered her unasked question. "Now go, so I can look over my own music."
Kenthera quietly shut the door behind her this time. With as much as she and Kenthyun argued they were still twins, and she wanted to make sure that she always left things on good terms with him. Plus, as long as he was willing to help her, she knew she would make journeyman one day. It was just so annoying to always be second at everything. So, her temper flared easily at him, especially when he was always so indifferent about everything. She shook these thoughts away as she headed back to her room to work on other projects.
A sevenday later, Kenthera was able to breathe a sigh of relief as she sat down to lunch with several of her friends. She put her head on the table next to her food. "I'm so glad that's over with. I can't believe that I passed. I mean I just barely passed, but still, it's over."
"What do you mean it's over. There'll be other tests, you know," one of her friends commented with a laugh at Kenthera's obvious relief. "And, you just barely passed this one, Ther. How do you expect to pass the next one? Aren't you worried?"
"I'll worry about the next test when it comes," Kenthera replied cheerfully with a big grin as she began to devour her lunch. "For now, I'm free, and that's all that matters."
Her friend rolled her eyes. "It's only because you have a genius brother that you were able to pass in the first place," she reminded her.
Kenthera nodded her agreement. "I know. I need to thank him," she said as she looked around for her brother but didn't spot him. "Where is he?"
"Oh, he eats lunch much later once everyone else is gone," another one of Kenthera's friends piped up.
Kenthera turned to look at the blonde girl. Trust Trissa to know Kenthyun's schedule. It was no secret that she had a massive crush on her friend's brother, but still how did she know more than Kenthera did? "Why doesn't he just eat with everyone else," she asked in mild confusion. Was something going on that she didn't know about.
"I think he just wants to avoid everyone. You know all of his old friends hate him now since he became a journeyman so quickly. So, I guess he just doesn't want to be bothered by them. He lets me sit with him sometimes though," she added with a blush. "Though I doubt he'll be coming today."
"Why not," Kenthera pressed. Something was definitely up, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.
"You didn't hear," Trissa asked with wide eyes. When Kenthera shook her head, she hesitated for a moment. "Kenthyun got into a nasty argument earlier today with one of the masters over a piece of music, something about one of the notes being wrong or something like that. Anyway, he was called to the Masterharper's office a few moments ago."
Kenthera choked on her sweet roll. "Called to the Masterharper's office," she repeated as her eyes went wide. That could only mean one thing. She shot from her seat and took off running toward the office. "I'll see you guys later," she called back over her shoulder.
Kenthera made her way to the Masterharper's office as quickly as she could, and she only paused a moment to catch her breath slightly before bursting into the room. "Master Pelen! Master Pelen! Please, don't send Kenthyun home," she cried as she stepped in front of her brother. "Our father is old, and he's all alone at home. It'll be the death of him if his only son gets kicked out of the Harper Hall, and it'll be the end of my career as a harper, too! I won't be able to pass my tests without Kenthyun here to help me! So, please, please let him stay," she finished with a deep bow.
Master Pelen cleared his throat as Kenthyun doubled over in laughter behind his sister. "Kenthera, I was just about to send for you, but I see you preempted me. Please, do not worry. Kenthyun is not being sent home, so there is no need to worry."
"There's not," Kenthera asked very confused at what was going on as Kenthyun did his best to stop laughing.
"No, there is no need to worry. Kenthyun and I have already discussed his behavior earlier today as well as its consequences," Master Pelen told her as he gave Kenthyun a stern glance, which helped to silence the younger man's laughter. "I actually wanted to talk to both of you about going to Sedona Weyr with me."
Kenthera blinked a couple of times. Sedona Weyr? Why would the Masterharper want them to go to a weyr with him? She wanted to ask, but given the fact that she'd already made an idiot of herself, she thought it was best to remain silent for now.
"Sedona is due to have another Hatching soon, and I promised their weyrwoman that I would bring a few of my most promising students with me to the Hatching to provide music for the celebration afterwards. Since I and the other masters have been impressed with both of you, I thought that you were most suited to the assignment. I also know that they are in need of candidates, so who knows? Maybe you'll both wind up on the sands instead," he finished with a smile. "So, what do you say?"
Kenthera and Kenthyun exchanged glances. "We'll go," they said in unison causing Master Pelen to chuckle.
"Well then, I guess you'd better go pack. We'll be leaving in two days," he informed them before dismissing them from the room.
Kenthera stepped out of the office, still in mild shock. She and her brother had been specially chosen to perform at a Hatching! Plus, there was the chance that they might even Impress! She couldn't believe it! She grinned at Kenthyun as they made their way back toward their rooms. "Let's go," she said suddenly as she grabbed his arm and took off at a run.
Kenthera paced the length of the weyr repeatedly. The eggs weren't supposed to hatch for another sevenday, or at least that's what she'd been told by the weyrwoman. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. She shivered in the cold air as she continued to pace.
"Kenthera, you're going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep that up," K'tai commented from where he sat watching her. "Just calm down. Everything's going to be just fine."
"So everyone keeps telling me," Kenthera snapped back before catching herself. "I'm sorry, K'tai. I just can't shake the feeling that something is going to happen, and it's so cold. What if something happens to the eggs? Curse this weather!"
"Do not worry, rider. I will protect my children and keep them warm," Hesperonth's voice came into her mind.
"I know, Hesperonth. I just can't help worrying," Kenthera sent back as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.
"Hesperonth's not alone, love. She has Adasauth and the older dragons to help her. No one here is going to let anything happen to those eggs if they can help it," K'tai stated firmly before bending down to kiss Kenthera's cheek. "Now, let's go get you something to eat because if I know you, which I do, you haven't eaten at all today."
Kenthera laughed. "You're right. I haven't," she admitted as she realized she was absolutely starving. She smiled at her weyrmate as they headed out of their weyr and towards the Lower Caverns. K'tai just had a way of making her feel better no matter what the situation was. She couldn't imagine what would have happened if any dragon but Adasauth had caught Hesperonth, and she didn't want to. The two were just about to sit down at a table when the humming began, and they both received simultaneous messages from their dragons about the clutch. Kenthera bolted for the door with K'tai right behind her.
"Kenthera, wait," the brown rider called after her. "You're going to freeze to death out there," he declared as he finally caught up with her and grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me," Kenthera demanded as she did her best to pull her arm away. "The clutch is hatching! It's not supposed to hatch yet! Something must be wrong!"
"Just calm down for a second," K'tai said as he did his best to get Kenthera into a coat. "If you go out there like that, you're going to get sick and be of no use to anyone."
Kenthera nodded and took a couple of deep breaths as K'tai helped her on with her coat. He was right. If she became ill, then she wouldn't be able to help Hesperonth at all. Once her coat was on, she grabbed his hand and led the way quickly to the hatching sands.
The two made their way to places in the stands that would afford a view of all of the eggs. "Hesperonth, is everything okay? The eggs weren't supposed to hatch yet," Kenthera sent to the gold as soon as she was in sight.
"I do not know, rider, but the others assure me that sometimes eggs simply hatch early," Hesperonth told her rider though she herself was also a bit concerned.
Kenthera shook her head as K'tai put a comforting hand on her shoulder. There was nothing they could do now except wait. Luckily they didn't have to wait very long. Shortly after the last of the candidates stumbled onto the sands, the first egg cracked open to reveal a green hatchling.
"Isn't she lovely," K'tai commented with a grin. "I told you everything would be okay," he continued as he gave Kenthera's shoulder a squeeze.
"Yes, he is quite lovely," Heserponth told her rider with a little chuckle as she felt Kenthera's shock.
"He," Kenthera repeated out loud with wide eyes as she turned to K'tai. "It's a boy," she said a bit dazed as she pointed to the green hatchling.
"A boy," K'yun said with a smirk as he shook his head. "Way to go, Kenthera! Only your dragon would clutch a male green. Oh, look! Now there's a red to join him," he declared with a laugh.
"When did you get here," Kenthera asked as she turned to her twin brother. She hadn't noticed him come in, and she didn't wait for an answer as she turned back to the eggs. Sure enough there was a red little hatchling on the sands now.
"Tiani and I came in shortly after you did. You never were the observant type," K'yun commented with a snort as he looked towards the sands. "Ah, now there's a brown hatchling! Is this one a girl?"
Kenthera had to mentally check with Hesperonth before replying. "No, he's perfectly normal," Kenthera snapped at her twin as the new pair walked off the sands.
"You had to check though, didn't you," K'yun asked knowingly as Tiani elbowed him.
"Don't worry, Kenthera. It doesn't matter what color or gender the dragons are. I'm sure they'll all be fine additions to the wings," she assured the other woman as K'yun rubbed his side.
"She's right," K'tai agreed as he came out of his own thoughts. "They're all healthy and strong, and that's all that matters."
Kenthera nodded firmly before turning to stick her tongue out at her brother. That would show him. She turned her attention back to the sands, but it seemed like none of the other eggs were going to hatch. "Is that it? Are none of the other eggs going to hatch," she asked concerned.
"Look," K'tai pointed as two of the eggs began rocking. "It's not over yet. We just need to be patient."
"Ah, it's another green, and yes, K'yun, this one is a girl," Kenthera stated with a roll of her eyes for her twin before he could ask. "But, the other one looks empty!"
"Look more closely, my rider," Hesperonth told her rider as she happily continued to watch her eggs rock.
As Kenthera stared hard at the dragon, Tiani finally figured it out. "It's a black dragon," she declared with a bit of awe as she shook her head in disbelief.
Tiani's statement was echoed around the stands as the little black hatchling made his way to the candidates. Soon, however, the shock of the black hatching was lost in the normal blue and green hatchlings that followed. Another roar went up, however, as a purple hatchling was spotted.
"Purple," Kenthera squeaked with large eyes. What else could this clutch possibly produce? How in Pern had a purple dragon hatched?
"Well, Adasauth and Hesperonth are brother and sister, you know," K'yun reminded her. "So, maybe it really shouldn't be that big of a surprise."
"Oh my, you're completely right," Kenthera commented a bit horrified. "I'm so sorry, Hesperonth," she said out loud. "I'd forgotten you were brother and sister!"
"There is no reason to be upset, rider mine. Adasauth is a good mate. It makes no difference to me that we are from the same clutch. Aren't our children lovely? Perhaps I may let him catch me again next time," Hesperonth mused to her rider.
"Next time," Kenthera almost groaned. She wasn't sure she could handle this a second time. She shook her head and watched as a brown and a female blue hatchling Impressed. They were followed by two very normal greens.
"Well, it looks like all the fun is over," K'yun said as he rubbed his hands together. "Too bad there wasn't a rainbow colored one," he commented sarcastically before patting Kenthera on the head. "Don't worry, Gallimith and Tsintaoth are bound to have multi-colored, spotted, striped little hatchlings. We won't be outdone for long."
"Excuse me," Tiani questioned with a hand on her hip as K'yun link his arm in hers. "Who said anything about Tsintaoth having a clutch, and what makes you think that she'd ever allow Gallimith to catch her," she asked as K'yun led her towards the feast that awaited.
"Well, now that it's over, why don't we finally get you some food," K'tai asked with a soft smile for his weyrmate.
Kenthera nodded before heading down to the sands. "First, I have to visit the new mother," she declared as she headed for the gold. She patted Hesperonth's leg. "All of your children are wonderful even if they aren't very traditional," she assured the queen who was obviously tired. Once she was sure Hesperonth was okay, Kenthera joined K'tai and headed for the Lower Caverns as her stomach gave a loud growl.
