Xanadu Weyr - Council Chambers
Effort has obviously been spent on this room and the result is simple luxury. The elongated room, situated between the Weyrleaders and Weyrsecond’s office faces the clearing. Two large windows, flanked by heavy antique bronze jacquard drapes are shielded by ivory-colored sheers that allow a diffused light inside. Walls and the recessed ceiling are of polished granite that gleams a pale creamy-gold in the soft overhead lighting. Hanging in the space above the head and foot of the table are heavy frames with fine paintings in each, signed by the artist with an M then a scrawl. A potted palm in one corner adds a finishing touch.
Much of the tapesty-carpeted floor is occupied by a long, heavy table of Lemos hardwood, the dark stain polished to a brilliant shine, each place set with an elegant blotter made of leather, a fine pen and a pad of paper. The cushioned chairs are fashioned from the same dark hardwood, the backs and seats upholstered in leather tanned in ecru. The room seats perhaps twenty or so but can be used for more informal meetings as well.
The door to the Weyrleaders office is closed and locked, but with dinner in full swing out in the Caverns, it's after office hours so that is perhaps not unusual. The door right next to it - the one leading to the council chambers is, however open. The room is empty save for the Weyrwoman, who is moving about the table with a sheaf of typed notes in one arm and a container of writing implements in the other. She's making her way around to each place, doling out one stapled set of pages in the center of each place and laying a pen on top. It looks like she's getting the place ready for an evening - or early morning meeting of some sort.
A'dmar hasn't attempted to go back to the Weyrleader offices since he was dismissed, regardless of his threats that he would, come the morning following the occurance. He simply has spent the remainder of his days in Xanadu in the shelter of his weyr or just outside of it, in the meadows. He takes dinner at odd hours, to avoid the main crowds, but he did show for the hatching, a face in many of the crowds there to see the eggs pop and the hatchlings impress. Now with the ordeal over and clearance given to him to travel, injury healed accordingly, the man was finishing up the last of his paperwork to complete the transition back to Ierne, as it seemed he was no longer welcomed in Xanadu, save by a few of her people. Thus, the time has come where he's ready to depart, as per the wishes of the woman he didn't expect to see now as he bobs his head into the meeting room. With the Weyrleader offices locked, it was much the same for the headwoman, who seemed absent for the moment, bad timing on his part - or precise timing, if he wanted to make a silent retreat back to familiar grounds. Instead of abandoning his paperwork on the office doorstep, he was poking in his face to see if one of the assistant headwomen were around, as oft they are, in the admin hall. The council door was open so he had a moment of hope, which, flickers and changes into a troubled look at seeing Thea. In that moment of hesitation to turn back, she might just see him as his footfalls brought some noise to the entry way.
The weyrwoman has kept up with the healers' reports on A'dmar's recovery and of course Ocelara's reports that the man is indeed eating, even if it is at odd hours. So she knows he hasn't expired in his weyr under the meadow ridge. With his daughter standing for her junior's clutch, she'd expected, perhaps even checked to see that he was in the crowds that attended the hatching. It so happens that Thea turns just at the moment that A'dmar's head bobs through the door and she catches the flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. She turns more fully to see who it is. "Oh. It's you A'dmar." Surprise colors her voice, "I thought perhaps you'd already gone back to Ierne with Zahleizjah, poor thing. Can I help you?"
Caught, it seems, too late to retreat without seemingly a kicked dog with his tail in between his legs. Instead, he flutters the paperwork in his hand forward, "I was looking for an assistant headwoman or perhaps the headwoman herself. These are the final documents for the weyr I was housed in, to state they are clean and absent of all personal belongings and once again free to occupy." It seems any request he made of Jethaniel was never followed up with the headwoman. As for his daughter, he mentions, "She will remain here for as long as she feels the need, as she is assigned with the starcraft and cannot make a swift transition, nor would I want her to, for the sake of following." He looks down at the documents then over at Thea, "I suppose you may address these if it does not cut into your time."
That's because it was followed up with the Weyrwoman. Thea frowns over the papers. "Ah yes, about that. Zahleizjah is, of course welcome to remain at Xanadu if she wishes and her behavior merits it. Though she is an apprentice and as such she's to be housed in the apprentice dorms, not your old weyr." She makes no apology for that, but holds out her hand for the papers, remaining where she is. "I can take them for you. I've the master key to the offices and can get them to the correct inbox."
"Yes, you know best Weyrwoman," he puts in, as he hands the papers over with a shrug. He doesn't seem concerned for his daughter's well being in an apprentice dorm versus being in his weyr. It wasn't his after all and he never submitted an actual request in, officially, with the headwoman, though unofficially through Jethaniel all the same, too late to halt that, as it were. As he takes a step back, papers now out of his hand, he regards the woman across from him, "May the sun shine on you," he bobs his head, a final farewell it seems, as there is not much more to say than that. He's done all he could while he was a Weyrleader, managing his transition period to the best of his abilities, which wasn't great, mind, certainly he stepped in it when it came to the Steward, but everything happens for a reason.
Thea eyes A'dmar at that meek comment but remains silent. Out of habit, her eyes scan the paperwork briefly, lift to his when he speaks again. Her remote, almost formal expression morphs into a touch of regret. "I… really don't know what to say, A'dmar Quoin. I'm not exactly sure what went so wrong. I'm sorry it didn't work out, but your shipping business will recover with you there at the helm. And maybe you will be happier doing that for you seemed very unhappy leading my Weyr."
Her words halt any movement he would've normally taken for the door at this point, nothing left to be said, the lines drawn where they were, what could mend her bitterness of him here, mullying the waters of her unsoiled Weyr? How oft had he sat in wonder about what he would say to her in a moment like this, given the reason to speak without fear of being cut off or taken wrongly? Hours perhaps, days, sevendays, many of those and all the same. He allows her to finish, before he gives what in his mind and heart he's toiled over, "It is as you say it is, your Weyr." He begins, without heat in his tone, no, he's being honest here, simple and logical, "You would not allow for a partnership to form, such was evident to me when you hired the Steward in front of me without taking a moment to hear me out, without his presence. I also at that point, knew, I had no authority to dismiss him, for instance, if it came to that, thus in doing so, you made him of higher authority and made it clear to him I was naught but a shell to hold onto the title while decisions were strictly, your own." He rolls a shoulder, "I'm not a man whose here simply to nod and speak yes or no when you wish of me. There is no room for opinion in your Weyr and so I distanced myself, as there was nothing to do for it. Yes, I admit, I handled my transition poorly, gravely indeed when it comes to Jethaniel, but I believed I was doing my best for the Weyr outside of that one error alone." He was honestly a hard worker, bent to succeed, which is why his business has done so. He especially worked hard to see the feline situation resolved before it began, for without his paranoia as some called it, there could've been a worse outcome. "I do not think all men know how to be great leaders, in such a way that a Weyr needs to be led, but one can grow from his mistakes, only if he is allowed the chance." He lets that sentiment alone, whatever he was going to say, stopped, instead, "I was not what you wanted or hoped for, let us just leave it at that."
Thea isn't bitter, more like puzzled by his soured attitude, uncommunicativeness and consequent actions. She frowns in perplexity at his charge, set her armful of papers down. "Hired-? A'dmar, really? That is what you went all sulky silent about? I moved over to your desk to include you in the meeting and you had only to speak up. You never said a word, so I thought you were on board with that." The rift is over his pride? And apparently her expectation that if he'd had an objection he would have said something. Ah misunderstandings! But it's too late to change the past. "You had complete authority with the wings. That's the Weyrleader's domain. Mine has always been to Weyr management. As such, I oversee the Headwoman and the outer weyr proper, which would reasonably include choosing a Steward." As to that error of his, she is grave. "Yes, subterfuge is an error. Adding bogus tasks and conflicting paperwork to assuage your thirst for revenge? I'd think it beneath you." She's mostly disappointed though there is a hint of real anger beneath it.
"If you recall, or perhaps you forget to, that I asked that we speak about the matter of the position after the crafter had left on his business," oh no, he clearly remembers that part of him speaking up and voicing his opinion to discuss later, which she tromped all over in what he saw as a sign of disrespect, "Instead, you gave it to him moments after I had requested we discuss it." Such things are water under the bridge, as it doesn't really matter now, she had fired him. But he wanted to make the records clear on that point at least. As for the duties and the management, well, that too is no longer his concern, "It is as you say," for the sake of forgoing an arguement. As for the matter of Jethaniel, "It is not subterfuge to deliver the reports that is in his domain to oversee." He didn't sort out the requests that came in, as that as she just said, wasn't part of his duty, so if he filed one that was triplicate of another, it was for the Steward or his assistants to manage, "But, I will admit I didn't take a close examination of what I had before sending it to him. If I was careless to avoid conflicting paperwork, I was at fault for misunderstanding my duties." Another misunderstanding, perhaps? Could be. "What was beneath me was to treat him ill, for yes, I was in ire of what he stood for, each time I saw him. It reminded me how little I mattered when I should've mattered at least some to you. For that, I did apologize to him, personally, and laid it upon him that I have no ill will of him and wish him well and hope to see the next man views him as the assest he is, to which I failed to see too late, clouded as I was." He spreads his hands, "Find a man free of fault, because I surely am not he."
Thea searches her memory, her confusion clears a touch. "I said no to having the halls meddle in Weyr business." She doesn't see her appointment of Steward as tromping over him at all, though she does allow, "I can see how you would feel that way. Be that as it may, the Weyr proper falls under my domain. I was doing my job. You were certainly free to bring the matter of Steward up later for discussion," she says at length. Her eyes narrow at his denial of trying to sabotage the Steward he'd so clearly resented. "I saw those papers, A'dmar, the ones in your handwriting. Some of them were deliberately conflicting." Misunderstanding about his duties? She's not buying it for this particular matter because he is a businessman. She doesn't press the point, however, for he's speaking and she's listening. She snorts at his final comment. Yes, it's all her fault because she's so demanding. Silent for a few moments when he is finished, she says at length calmly, "What I find so disturbing is that you would fall to mistreatment to take out your ire on one of my people, A'dmar. And withdraw to not speaking to me about what was bothering you. As a result, I find that I no longer trust you and that is the end result."
"I would not preceive it that way, when you assigned the knot so devoid of recognizing my intent to discuss it," he adds in with a shrug, "But yes, the Weyr is yours, as you keep saying it." He's not fighting that issue, rather resigned to the fact. There his eyebrows lift at the deliberately conflicting part, but he too, does not say any further on it. As for Jethaniel, he nods, "I regret that I was sharp with him," as for her people, he nods, "There again, your people, as if I was never allowed to view them as my own." He gives a bit of a soft chuckle, "Yes, that was clear enough when you removed me of office. I regret that we should part this way, as I did not intend to bring us to arguement or you to anger." He works his jaw a bit, "I had hoped to show a manner of who I was and that I cared, to oversee and issue measures of security against felines. A little late, as I see it now." He regards her, giving a sigh, "At any rate, I do not wish to take up your time longer. It appears you have a meeting scheduled and I shant preoccupy you from that."
Very dryly, "As I said, I can see how you would," Thea repeats and though she's only said her Weyr once, she rolls her eyes and mutters for patience. Nor does she reply to his petulant comment about not being allowed to view things his way. "I removed you from office because you were unfit in the autocratic way you treated the people of this Weyr," she says evenly. He's not getting anything she's trying to say, is he? She's never said anything disparaging about his actual work here, just interpersonal mannerisms. Though at the time, she hadn't known about the paperwork issue. He's prepared to take his leave and she, as he's said, has her meeting to prepare for. "Alright then," she says with an inclination of her head in acknowledgement. "Be well, A'dmar." She takes up her bundle of notes and returns to placing them around the table.
"Again, for that, a treatment of Jethaniel, I do regret," he allows his head to fall some, a furrowing of his brows, "And of course, of yourself. For my lack of communication perhaps, to express what I felt before it became the worst of me." He sighs, a roll of his shoulder, "If it is vindication you want, then you are right. I am not used to Weyr life as it is anymore and certainly, I'm a little… no, I am crusty around the edges and am a hard man. I toil for choices I have long since made and the failures of my life, of which the Weyr reminded me. As it is, I will ride out of the Weyr and see that you are no longer troubled of me." He makes his leave, "Clear skies, Weyrwoman." His back turns and he strides out of the door.
It is not about vindication, but Thea doesn't bother to try and set him straight. As he's determined to be a martyr, she'll let him think himself one. Though she's not troubled, she doesn't dispute that comment either. She merely nods and half-lifts a hand to wave goodbye, her mind moving on to other matters before the echo of A'dmar's departing footsteps down the hallway have died away.