of interests. Also, a dragon and its rider must live in a Weyr, but Jaxom as a future Lord Holder must live in his hold, and clearly he can not live in two places at the same time. This problem is sorted by the pragmatic Lytol who points out that any place a dragon lives is by definition a weyr, so if Ruth were to live in Ruatha's stables, the stables become a weyr. Ruth is not expected to mature to a size which would allow him to join a Thread-fighting wing of a weyr, which would take Jaxom away from his responsibilities in Ruatha, so the two are allowed to return to Ruatha. Growing up, Ruth becomes his main friend, but once allowed to fly, and then to go between, he finds friends among other students at the Harper Hall, Smithcraft and in the Weyr. He also learns how to go between time as well as place, and, despite thinking that it would bring down recriminations upon him, to flame Thread. Because Ruth is especially adept at 'Timing it', he and Jaxom play a major part in the end of Threadfall forever. Jaxom falls in love with Sharra, the sister of Southern Holder Toric and expert Healer, who nurses him back to health when Jaxom succumbs to a potentially fatal illness known as "Firehead". His feelings for her are reciprocated, and Sharra, through their relationship, becomes the only other person who can hear Ruth's thoughts. Even though Toric has plans for his sister that do not include "a table-sized Hold in the North", Jaxom and Ruth fly into the Southern area and rescue Sharra; their relationship is then grudgingly accepted by Toric, and they are later married at Ruatha Hold. Together they had two boys whose names were Jarrol and Shawan. Lessa Lessa: a small dark powerful woman. Lessa is Benden Weyrwoman during the Ninth Pass, and rider of the gold queen dragon Ramoth. Lessa's psychic ability to influence the thoughts and actions of others plays a role in various parts of the series. Lessa is the daughter of Kale and Adessa, Lord and Lady of Ruatha Hold. Kale was an amiable man and in ordinary times was considered the ideal Lord Holder. However, Kale underestimated the greed of his neighbor, Fax, Lord Holder of High Reaches, who had conquered five other holds since claiming his own. Kale's over-optimism