Six turn old Rezia gazed up at the night brown rider ascending the stairs of the hold proper. In her arms she carried firelizard eggs, padded against the cold of between.

     "Mommy." Rezia whimpered, tugging fearfully at her mother's skirts. "Why does the dragonlady have only five eggs?"

     Rezia's mother, Lady Elanya, bent down to look her young daughter in the eye.

     "She's a dragonrider love, not a dragonlady, and how do you know there are only five eggs?"

     "I counted them," Rezia replied quietly.

     "Now Rezia, you know better than to lie."

     "I'm not."

     "You're not?" Lady Elanya feigned surprise.

     "No."

     "Well, how could you have counted them when they just came out of between?"

     "Rezia did not have an answer, so she crosses her arms and huffed. Lady Elanya stood up laughing and tussled her daughter's hair before returning to her husband's side. Marak sent his little sister a sympathetic glance from beside their father, but Zola and Manna, Rezia's older sisters, sent her twin looks of disapproval.

     "My Lord Sangar, Lady Elanya, I bring gifts from Abri Weyr!"

     "Rezia gasped. The dragonrider's hair was spotted and her eyes where the green eyes of a cat!

     "Thank you . . ." Lord Sangar began.

     "Ttrae'an," the rider supplied as Rezia inched closer to her for a better look at the unusual markings.

     "My Lady Ttrae'an, our hold welcomes you with open arms. You are invited to stay for dinner, of course," Lady Elanya finished for her husband with a knowing smile.

     "Thank you my Lady, but I must decline. We, at the Weyr, have already eaten," Ttrae'an smiled at the children and then back at the Lord holders. "Before I leave you I am to instruct you to keep these eggs warm in sands by your hearth. They should hatch in three days, so keep watch over them. When they hatch one person is to feed each flit until they can eat no more. Then . . .," she paused for emphasis. "They are impressed to whomever fed them and that can not be changed."

     "Thank you Lady Ttrae'an," Lord Sangar bowed respectfully, taking hold of the egg sack. "And please, thank Werywoman Angeoria."

      "I will."

     "With that, the night brown rider bowed to the holding family, turned on her heels, and walked back to her dragon, where she mounted with cat like grace. As dragon and rider took to the sky and blink into between, Lady Elanya took the eggs from her husband. When she had herded her family into the hold Lady Elanya took the opportunity to count the eggs. There where five.

     Zola and Manna, spoiled as they were; immediatly took the two largest eggs in the clutch and called them their own. Marak and Rezia decided that it didn't matter if they got a gold or a green.

     As the days passed Lady Elanya had her children take turns caring for the eggs. Marak watched them through the night because he was the eldest. Zola and Manna watched them during their sewing and cooking lessons. Rezia, youngest and in need of supervision, watched the eggs before, during, and after each meal.

     During dinner of the second day, Rezia was eating quietly by the hearth, listening to the clamor in the main hall, when she heard a light tapping and scraping. Turning to find the source of the noise, Rezia noticed one of the five mounds of sand moving ever so slightly.

     Rezia's eyes widened. That was Zola's egg! Rezia gently brushed the sand away and lifted the egg into her hands. As she turned to take the egg to Zola, the eggs split and a golden flit tumbled into Rezia's waiting hands. The little gold wrapped her tail around Rezia's wrists, opened her mouth, and screamed. Rezia looked around in panic. What do I give her? Then her eyes fell on her plate.

     "Shhhhh, hold on, I've got some right here . . . there you go."

     Rezia tore hunks of meat from her werry leg. The little queen devoured the werry so fast that Rezia feared she would choke. When the leg was nealy gone, the little queen chirped once and collapsed into Rezia's cradled arms.

     Rezia let out a huge sigh of relief and sat down before the hearth. She cocked her head and gazed loving down at the sleeping firelizard cradled before her.

     "Rezia," Marak called out. "Dinner's over, it's my turn!"

     "Marak?" Rezia asked in a whisper no one could hear. She looked down at the sands, remembering the other four eggs, but nothing had changed. No more had hatched.

     "Rezia . . .," Marak froze as his eyes fell upon the golden bundle in Rezia's arms. "They hatched and you didn't come get up?" His voice was quiet and full of hurt. "Where are the rest of them?"

     "They didn't hatch."

      "But if they didn't . . .," Marak asked as he stepped up to the hearth. He bent to brush the sands back from each egg. He carefully felt each egg before covering them back up. Finally he stepped back and wiped his hands on his pants leg.

     "I thought that one was harder. It must have been from a different clutch."

     Rezia bit her bottom lip, but tears began to swell in eyes.

     "Hey, what's the matter?" Marak knelt beside his little sister and wrapped his arms around his little sister.

     "She, she, she's not mine." Rezia buried her head in Marak's shoulder.

      "What do you mean? You think she's not? Of course she's yours. You impressed her. Zola will just have to deal with it." Marak unconsciously hugged his sister tighter.

     Rezia shook her head, "But there aren't enough eggs."

     "Enough for what?" Marak pulled her forward to look her in the face. "For everyone to have one?" Marak embraced her again. "Don't you worry about that. Your big brother's got everything covered."

     Marak was as good his word. He told the family first and, even thought Rezia had to tell her side of the story, he did most of the talking. Zola was, needless to say, furious, but Lady Elanya sent her out of the kitchens before she could protest.

     Rezia's new bond took that moment to make a sleepy protest to the noise. Lady Elanya realized the children must be exhausted and sent them all to bed. As Marak bedded down near the hearth, Manna declared she would not sleep at all, but stay up all night and guard the eggs.

     "Don't be silly. The sooner you go to bed the closer their hatching will be." Lady Elanya declared as she shooed her children to bed.

     The eggs held true to Lady Elanya's prediction. When Rezia came downstairs to breakfast the next morning, her firelizard's creels were greeted by four others.

     Lord Sangar was feeding a sturdy brown that was firmly attached to his arm. Marak had three bodies dangling from any available space. A bronze clung to the front of his shirt and two greens dangled, one from each arm.

     Lady Elanya lovingly complained and complimented her family on the five new aquisitions, but she glared whenever her eyes fell upon her two eldest daughters. Rezia found out later that they had disapeared from their beds in the early hours of the morning and Lady Elanya, while searching for them, missed Marak's call to impress.

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