Dragonflight

F’lar and F’nor’s dragons determine that the old watch-wher—Lessa’s friend from Section 1—is hiding something. They conclude a person of old Blood and power must be residing in Ruatha. F’lar is bored by his assigned female counterpart, the vapid Lady Tela, who relays some of Fax’s cruelties towards Gemma (Fax’s heavily pregnant Ruathan wife). Gemma quietly reveals herself as an ally to the dragonmen and to F’lar, who pities her.

At the welcome feast, Fax is enraged at the inedible food (which Lessa had arranged). He shouts, “The day one of my Holds cannot support itself or the visit of its rightful overlord, I shall renounce it” (37). A surge of psychic exultation from an unknown feminine source puts all the dragonmen on alert. 

As Gemma tries to hide that she is going into labor at the dinner table, F’lar hears himself daring Fax to renounce the Hold as he promised. He realizes someone is leveraging their psychic power to draw him and Fax into combat. Gemma breaks the tension by purposefully crying out, making it clear she is in labor. An outraged Fax says that if Gemma’s baby is a male and lives, he will renounce the Hold. As Gemma is rushed off, she begs F’lar to look out for himself: Fax will try to kill him if he can.

Lessa seethes at the failure of her plan. Watching Lessa guide the birthing-woman to Gemma’s chamber, F’lar notices that her shapely hand does not match her homely disguise. When Lessa quietly makes her hatred clear to Gemma, Gemma tells her that the dragonmen must be protected at all costs, as the Red Star draws ever nearer. She dies in childbirth. Lessa deeply regrets her cruelty, as Gemma “had deserved her respect and support rather than her condemnation” (47), but she puts her guilt aside in favor of a new plan.

Lessa prematurely declares to the hall that Gemma’s child is male and lives. Fax punches her and refuses to abdicate. F’lar kills Fax in the ensuing sword fight, but he is more concerned with Lessa, who accidentally revealed herself in her psychic joy during the announcement. F’lar is convinced that Lessa is the object of their Search—a suspicion confirmed when her disguise falls away to reveal her youth and good breeding.

Lessa triumphantly reveals herself as the heir of Ruatha and confirms that she lied about Gemma’s child to get what she wanted: revenge against Fax. However, an angry F’lar soon discovers that her lie was inadvertent truth—the child was male and did live, foiling Lessa’s succession plan. Fax and Gemma’s child, Jaxom, takes priority over her. Tamping down his anger, F’lar is impressed with Lessa’s grit. He asks if she would not prefer to be “Weyrwoman” rather than ruler of a weakened Ruatha anyways. A stunned but defiant Lessa finally agrees to accompany the dragonmen back to Benden Weyr. The dragonless Lytol will rule Ruatha as a Weyr-friendly regent for the infant Jaxom.

As Lessa and the dragonmen prepare to leave, the old watch-wher thinks they are taking Lessa by force and tries to attack F’lar. When Lessa cries for it to stop, it redirects its fall, breaking its own back. The dragons mourn its death as if it were one of their own. The grief-stricken Lessa is surprised, but F’lar tells her that “The dragons confer honor where they will” (61), and the wher showed itself to be a loyal friend.

The dragons take their riders back to the Weyr by travelling the cold and eerie “between”—dragons have the power to traverse vast spaces almost instantly. F’lar sets Lessa up in one of the Weyr’s cavernous rooms to prepare for the mysterious Impression. Other dragonmen have returned from the Search with their own candidates. F’lar tells his half-brother F’nor that he is confident Lessa’s strong will can prevail over the beauty of her rivals. He recalls his own first memorable meeting with his dragon, the bronze Mnementh, at an Impression 20 years before. Dragons are unerringly loyal companions for the people with whom they bond.

As she bathes away years of grime, Lessa wonders what a “Weyrwoman” is exactly, and what is in store for her. Her cleanliness and new clothes make her smile “in sheer feminine delight” (68-9); she sees herself in a mirror and her own beauty shocks her. She is surprised too at seeing the brusque F’lar interacting lovingly with his dragon in private.

Over a meal, F’lar tells Lessa that the Hatching will begin soon. Lessa has heard macabre rumors about this process but hides her fear. She roughly dresses F’lar’s wounds on his request, begrudgingly noting his attractive masculine features. As they eat, F’lar gives Lessa two cryptic, traditional pointers for the Hatching: do not show fear, and do not allow the dragon to overeat.

A keening sound indicates the Hatching has begun. F’lar rushes Lessa into preparation; Lessa realizes she can hear the unspoken communication between F’lar and his dragon Mnementh, and that Mnementh approves of her. While every dragon and its chosen partner can communicate telepathically with each other, Lessa alone can communicate with all dragons in the Weyr. She keeps this power a secret.

The Hatching chamber’s sandy floor features many dragon eggs, including one that is large and golden. The other girls are screaming and wailing; Lessa is afraid too, but contemptuous of their inability to mask their fear. After hatching, the baby dragons sometimes unintentionally maul the candidates as they search for their perfect weyrmate. The golden egg hatches an equally beautiful golden dragon that accidentally kills two girls, and all but Lessa panic; Lessa, however, bonds instantly with the new dragon queen. The dragon tells Lessa her name is Ramoth.