I’d like you to concentrate on your instruments…as far and as fast as that hand of yours permits. How is it healing, by the way?” And he reached for her left hand. “Hmmm, you’ve done too much by the look of those splits. Does it hurt? I won’t have you crippling yourself in your zeal, Menolly, understand that!” Menolly, sensing his kind concern, swallowed against the lump in her throat and managed a tentative smile.
“It is never easy, sweet child, to have a real gift: something else is withheld to compensate.”
Menolly was startled at the sadness, that melancholy in his eyes and face, and he went on, almost to himself, “If you won’t surrender the mark, you’ll never be more than half alive. Speaking of marks…” and his expression altered completely. He leaned forward, across the sandtable, rummaging in the compartments of the central bridge built above the actual sand level. “Ah, here,” and he pressed something into her hand. “There’s a gather today, and you deserve some relaxation. I suspect diversions were few and infrequent in your Sea Hold. Find something pretty to wear at the stalls…a belt perhaps…and buy some of the bubbly pies. Piemur will lead you to them, the scamp.
“But tomorrow,” and Master waggled a finger at her, “back to work for you. Sebell says you make a good copyist. Did you have a chance to polish the Brekke song yesterday evening? I think you’ll agree the melodic line falters in the fourth phrase…” and he hummed it. “Then I want you to rewrite the ballad observing all the traditional musical forms. Think of it as an exercise in musical theory. Mind you, I’m of the opinion that the strength of your work will lie in a looser, less formalized style. There are, however, purists in the Craft who must be mollified while you’re an apprentice.”
Zair, his belly so swollen that the individual lumps of meat could be discerned against his skin, gave a sudden burp and collapsed into sleep in the crook of the Harper’s arm.
“I say, Menolly, how long will he do nothing but eat and sleep?” The Harper sounded disappointed.
“The first sevenday, and maybe a few days longer,” Menolly answered, still trying to assimilate his astonishing instructions and philosophy. “He’ll develop a personality in a very short time.”
“That’s a relief.” The Harper heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I’d been worrying that perhaps his brains had got addled, going between so much in the egg. Not that I’d care for him any the less,” and he smiled tenderly down at the sprawled form. “How did you ever manage to fill nine rapacious bellies?” Now his smile was all for her. “And what a relief to have you here to help us. In this I am your apprentice.” His eyes held hers a moment longer, still twinkling with amusement although his face settled into a serious expression. “In all other matters, you are to consider yourself my apprentice, you know.”
“Now, you may take the tray back to the kitchen, and you are dismissed to the gather. Unless, of course,” he added with that winning smile, “something untoward happens to this fellow.”
She brought the tray and empty dishes to the kitchen, where Abuna, with more than her usual courtesy, suggested that Menolly had better get some breakfast before it was all gone. They’d be clearing the tables soon, and if the lazybones hadn’t eaten, too bad. Not but what they couldn’t stuff themselves at the gather’s stalls.
That reminded Menolly of the mark that the Harper had put in her hand. At first she thought it was the dim light of the passage, but when she got into the entrance hall, she could plainly see that the two was underscored: it wasn’t a halfmark, which would have been scored above. She clenched the precious piece in her fist, amazed. The Master Harper had given her a whole two-mark piece to spend on herself. Two whole marks! Why, she could buy anything!
No, he’d said that she was to buy something pretty to wear. A belt. The Harper’s keen eye had noted the absence of hers. And it was a worn belt, anyhow. But a new one, instead of one handed down…a belt she could choose for herself! How very kind of Master Robinton. And he’d said she was to buy bubbly pies. She looked about the scattering of boys at the apprentice tables for Piemur’s curly head of hair. He was, as usual, deep in conversation with several boys, and probably planning mischief to judge by the closeness of all the heads. There were no masters at the circular table and just a few journeymen at the oval ones, clustered about Sebell, admiring Kimi, asleep on his arm.
“She couldn’t give ’em away if she wanted to,” Piemur was saying in a strident tone as Menolly approached his group. Someone must have jabbed him in the ribs because he glanced over his shoulder and, while he looked in no way abashed, it was obvious from the expression of the others that Menolly had been the “she” he’d meant. “Can you?” he asked bluntly.
“Can I what?”
“Give anyone else one of your fire lizards?”
“No.”
“I told you!” Piemur pointed an accusing finger at Ranly. “So Sebell couldn’t have given Robinton the queen. Could he, Menolly?”
“But the Masterharper should have had the queen,” said Ranly, rebellious and unconvinced.
“Sebell did offer the queen to Master Robinton when she hatched,” Menolly said quickly, “but it was too late. Impression had occurred, and that can’t be altered.”
“Well, just how did Sebell get his hands on the queen egg?” Now Ranly’s eyes hotly accused her of complicity.
“Completely by accident,” she said, mastering her irritation at such an outrageous suggestion. “First, there really isn’t any positive way of knowing which is the queen egg in a fire lizard clutch. Second, it isn’t anyone’s business but Master Robinton’s and Sebell’s.” She’d just lay this divisive rumor into an early grave and repay a little of her great debt to both men. ‘“Third, I picked the two biggest eggs in the clutch for Master Robinton,” and the boys nodded with approval, “but they could both have been bronzes.” Then she laughed. “It all happened so fast when the eggs started to hatch, no one bothered to see which pot was whose. Master Robinton and Sebell just grabbed because both pots were rocking fit to fall. The little bronze hatched first, right into Master Robinton’s hands, and that was that, right then. He caught it just before it could fall from the hearthstone.” The boys snatched in breath for that near catastrophe. “And. then there was Sebell with a queen in his hands. Then, he tried to give her to the Harper, but Zair had Impressed so had little Kimi. There’s no way to change that. And I don’t want to hear another word from any of you as to who got what and who shouldn’t have. There’s enough gossip flying about this Hall.” She wished she could forget her worries about what those girls had told the Lord Holder.
“I kept trying to tell them,” said Piemur, throwing his hands out, his eyes bright with injured innocence because Menolly was now glaring at him. Then he clutched dramatically at his throat because his voice had squeaked on the last word. “I’ve gone hoarse talking…”
“Can’t have the golden throat hoarse, can we?” said Ranly sarcastically.
Piemur was testing klah pots on the table to see if there were any that was still warm. Finding one he poured two mugs, offering one to Menolly. He gurgled as he downed half a mug, rubbed his hand across his mouth and then told her that she’d better eat quickly because they’d be clearing any minute.
“Now, let’s get back to the mark problem. This will be only the second gather of the Turn, so I figure that they’ll be sending an older journeyman from the Smithcraft Hall, to keep an eye on the younger fellows and supervise the bargaining. And that journeyman is just likely to be my father’s friend, Pergamol; and if it’s Pergamol, then I can guarantee that you’ll get top marks for your work. And…” he held up a silencing hand as Ranly opened his mouth to comment, “if it isn’t Pergamol, it’ll be someone who knows him.”