Disclaimer: I do not own Pern, Anne McCaffrey does. I simply like to write stories about it! All the characters are my own.

No Haven

Ilona sat up with her father, fanning him with a leaf while sipping lukewarm water from her small wooden cup. The Southern Continent had always been her home and heat had never effectively bothered her, even so, there were days when the heat and humidity forced a time of rest. Her father obviously didn’t know about that rule. It was nearly four in the afternoon and they hadn’t taken a break since they had left home. Even when other Cotholders’ had called for them to stop and rest her father had declined and they had kept on going down the dusty road. To make matters worse, Pharen had an especially determined tooth coming in, and no matter what Phalona or Ilona did he wouldn’t stop wailing.

“Dad can’t we just stop for a while? Pharen won’t be quiet, it’s getting way too hot to be working the runners so…and I’m hungry.” Ilona whined, eyeing her father hopefully.

Bernen just grunted and jerked on the reigns to make the beasts slow down but not to stop. Ilona thought she heard her father mumble ‘cool off’. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she slowly moved across the wagon where the piles of bagged who-knows-what offered some shade.

At the beginning she had been excited to leave, to get away from what had taken Nella. Soon, though, she felt that there wasn’t anything dangerous about the dragonlengths of tropical forest on each side of the route. Coracon had quickly fallen asleep on top of some bags of clothing and had been asleep since. Ilona was actually irritated that Coracon could sleep through Pharen’s discomfort.

Phalona had tried to persuade him to eat or play, and then finally, to just be quiet. After all of that didn’t work she put him in his crib, where he continued to wail, but thankfully with less gusto than the candlemarks before. More time passed and the steady thumping of hooves made her mind wander, she sprawled lazily, head hanging over the edge of the wagon. ‘I wish this could all just stop’ she gazed at the ground running under the wagon, a bump jostled her to consciousness and she realized the crying had stopped.

“Finally I thought he’d never be quiet!” Grumbled Coracon as he stretched and yawned, his wild curly hair was plastered on his head in different directions. Wiping his face with his shirt to get rid of the sweat he glanced around seeing Ilona, and grinned foolishly. She was tired but since her brother had woken up the chance of her getting any sleep was small. Coracon loved attention and in his own selfish way could antagonize just about any person until they succumbed to his pressure. Whether he wanted to just talk or play a game, he was generally relentless. Moving across the wagon he came over and slumped down next to her.

Ilona sighed; she wasn’t interested in talking about anything. Nella…Nella one of her best friends was dead. No amount of persuasion from her family could change her mind, why would the thieves let a young girl live anyways? Ilona flinched away from that thought; she was no sheltered little girl, having grown up on a farm and knew what happened between boys and girls. Yes, if Nella wasn’t dead then it would be better if she was…

“Well! I can’t wait until we get to the coast! So what do you thinks going to happen to us” he yawned and grinned at his sister, “Any thoughts?” Coracon was no idiot, one of her best friends had just disappeared and was possibly dead, and he had seen the anguish on her face and knew what she was thinking about Nella Unbeknownst to Ilona, her brother was doing his best to appear happy and excited and to get her mind away from the loss of her best friend.

Ilona sighed and struggled to think of something interesting, with some luck “I bet we’ll get to Paradise Hold and then get a boat to the Northern Continent…?” Coracon grinned enthusiastically at his sister, (his plan had worked!) encouraging her on with a nod.

Ilona’s eyes grew round as she continued to speak, her mind neatly diverted from Nella. She had always wanted to go on an adventure, but being the only girl in the family meant a arranged marriage in the future. One she didn’t look forward to at all. Ilona didn’t think that such daydreams were possible, but to go to the north…

“We could go to Fort Hold and see the Harper Hall!! And then travel to Benden Hold…” Ilona sighed; she had always had make-up adventures with Nella, Leola and Dayana. The Northern Continent, it had always seemed a place of mystique, of ancient Hold feuds and of course the Dragonriders, their dragons and the now silent Weyrs. Ilona had never dreamed of exploring the North without her friends… ‘Guess I have no choice now’ she thought as a stray tear trailed down her cheek.

Another two boring days of baby crying, low rations and little sleep passed before the family finally arrived at Paradise River Hold. It was midday and the usable land surrounding the hold was packed with similar looking wagons and families. Bernen was forced to make camp near a fenced pasture, where several fine-looking runners and foals grazed contentedly near their wagon and raised their heads when Pharen would screech. Right after they had parked, a smaller wagon followed up behind them and was pulled by a single weary-looking old runnerbeast; inside the wagon were a young man and woman with a small amount of personal belongings.

The young man was sturdy and short with a brown mustache and brown hair. The woman was blocked by a large piece of furniture so all that was visible was her long black hair. The man got down and after removing the harness from the old runner and tying her to his wagon, proceeded to walk towards their wagon Bernen nodded to the young man as he wiped down Cormuck, one of their runners. They began to speak quietly and Phalona must have noticed Ilona and Coracon trying to listen in on their father’s conversation, because she set them hard at work on the opposite side of the wagon feeding and watering the fowl. Neither of them could catch a single word as the fowl cackled and honked wildly, each trying to get the food and water first.

The young man had left quickly and gone back to his wagon, his visit had seemed to only make Bernen more worried, and he snapped for no reason at Ilona and Coracon. At sunset a number of men, and a few women, began to congregate further up on the dirt road. Bernen, the young stranger and Phalona all excused themselves and went to join the group.

“You two have to stay here and watch the wagon.” Phalona had instructed. “Make sure no one steals anything! Cedrin mentioned that--”

“Who’s Cedrin?” Ilona had implored.

Coracon had guffawed at her. “The man who talked to Dad dimglow! Even I knew that.” He had scoffed.

“It doesn’t matter Ilona!” Phalona had sharply intervened as she handed Pharen to Ilona. “Both of you watch the wagon and do not leave.”

Ilona stood pouting on the wagon every now and then standing on her tippy-toes, trying to see where her parents were. She watched the growing crowd with fear and excitement. Ilona had never seen so many people in one place before, it gave her a flutter feeling in her stomach.

‘I wonder how many people are here’ she mused ‘Must be at least a hundred!’

Coracon was leaning on the wagon, facing the gathering. Just as annoyed he hadn’t been allowed to join the crowd with their parents.

Pharen slept in Ilona’s arms. She placed her feet carefully as she made her way towards the front of the wagon, and Pharen’s crib. He wiggled as she lowered him into his cradle, but didn’t wake. Ilona made sure Pharen was asleep in his crib before she settled in the driver’s seat which offered a better view for her short height than the back of the wagon.

She couldn’t make out anything else as the discussion became entangled and one conversation was quickly drowned by another.

“Hear anything?” Ilona asked her brother. Coracon just shook his head as he let out a long sigh of frustration.

Ilona’s curiosity was eating away at her fear and giving her a strong sense of bravery. She could go into that crowd, no problem. But will Coracon tattle on me? Ilona was mulling over the idea when a sound caught her attention, it made her pause and listen hard, trying to discern what it was. The sound was familiar but she couldn’t place it. Then it clicked.

It was they sound of runnerbeasts, many of them. Right then the runners could be seen with their riders coming from the Hold. There were nine of them in total and from what she could see they were wearing some type of matching uniform. They slowed and came in front of the throng. The sight of the men quickly silenced the crowd, all were visible wary of them. Ilona squinted but had trouble distinguishing any physical aspects of the men; they were just too far away. A man in the front kneed his runner a few steps closer and those close shrank away. He cleared his voice and unrolled a scroll he retrieved from his light weight jacket. Holding it up, he addressed the crowd.

“I bear message from Lord Holder Seaton.” he shouted clearly, “All holdless families seeking refuge will find no permanent refuge here. The heads of each family are to sign in at the temporary guidance stations for further information. These stations are located on all of the roads going into the main Hold area. Families are given a total of three free days before guards will begin to take a refuge tax, the amount of which will vary with the size area being used. At the end of the seventh day, after the three free days, families will be escorted off Lord Holder Seaton’s land. So decrees Paradise River Hold’s Lord, Holder Seaton.”

The speech clearly over the man put away the scroll and turned his runner away. The others followed and galloped behind, back towards the Hold, leaving the crowd behind them in shocked silence.