Chapter Three- Valdemar, My Keeper

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Rhia found herself returning to the street corner, where the minstrel stood, every day for the next week. Her mother insisted that Rhia be present during the Guild meetings to "learn how to work things to one's advantage", but all Rhia really understood was that the women spent their time simpering at each other while the men (as well as her father, Andrel) showed off their muscles and money.

In other words, she wasn't impressed.

However, her mother wasn't as horrid as the others- for one, she let Rhia out for breaths of fresh air rather frequently, telling the other women that her daughter enjoyed sunshine. And she didn't mind that Rhia disappeared for one or two hours at a time, as long as the young woman came back to spend just as much time inside the Guild hall.

In other words, she spent half the day outside, and half the day inside.

She did not spend the entire time watching or listening to the minstrel; she explored the 'better' streets of Haven, where there was very little garbage to step over or children to avoid. At one point, she ran across the Compass Rose, the inn her mother had mentioned, but refrained from doing more than peeking inside. There, she had been so baffled by the sounds of men and women of various ages in shouting matches over something to do with either steam or magic.

Seeing as she had no idea what one could do under normal circumstances with such things, let alone how to advance technology with either one, she decided not to venture within until she did.

It was mid-afternoon now, with the sun beginning its slow descent to the horizon and beyond. A few of the early bird merchants were already closing shop, with weary but (for the most part) cheerful faces as they trudged home.

Rhia was back, listening to the minstrel.

No, he wasn't amazingly good. And no, he didn't have the Bard's Talent, to have one feel what the Bard felt about the music. Even his skill with his instruments were only slightly above average, for all of his claims that he learned in the Bard Collegium. If Rhia had been searching for entertainment, she would not have remained long. She didn't really want any entertainment at this point- she wanted information instead.

In between songs and playing his instruments, the minstrel, named Tanier, told Rhia about the Bardic Collegium, as well as information about the other parts of the Palace, old and new alike.

"They don' let many folk in th' New Palace," he had told her once. "Trainees only go there t' talk t' teachers or t' meet at Court. I wasn't no Trainee, milady, so obviously I don' know much about that part."

The young woman found herself more and more fascinated with life at the Palace, especially the Bardic Collegium. Her mother had begun to brag about Rhia's singing ability; about her voice, how low or high she could go, or how long she could draw out a breath.

Mother's even begun to tell everyone I can sing with two or three voices. Peh. She's hearing things. It's like that myth that chirras can sing.

Rhia had been carefully guiding each conversation with the minstrel as to how one got noticed by the people at Bardic. For example, she'd asked him once how he had got in.

But to her disappointment, his response was that a cousin of his was a true-to-the-gods Bard. And no, she couldn't meet him; the Bard in question was busy visiting Rethwellan at the moment.

It didn't seem as though there was going to be any way to get to the Palace, short of marching up and demanding an audience with a Bard.

Which would obviously not go very well, either with the Bards nor her family.

"…milady?"

Hmm? Rhia blinked and let her eyes refocus, as she realized that Tanier was speaking to her. She frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, what?"

He smiled at her slightly. "Would milady help me sing something?"

"Uh… I don't…" She fumbled for words, but they escaped her. Finally, she said, "What?"

"A young'un just asked me t' sing Sun an' Shadow, an' I ain't got two voices. Could ye sing Shadowdancer's part, milady?"

It was then that Rhia discovered they had an audience; three young children were looking up at them hopefully, while two others that were about the same age as Rhia stood behind them, also looking interested.

"I don't know," she began dubiously.

The minstrel glanced about, then leaned forward, whispering, "Mayhap someone who knows Bardic Gift'll hear ye, milady."

Rhia's eyebrows rose. "What are the chances of that?"

"Pretty good, since this is a public place. 'Sides, might be fun." He smiled. "Would be nice t' sing with a young lady such a yourself."

Rhia considered the possibilities. On the one hand, if she had any Talent and someone heard her, she could be swept off to Bardic's. But that was the best case scenario. Her mother could hear her and come out, dragging her away from someone of 'such low class'. She might forget a line, though she knew even the prologue of Sun and Shadow by heart.

Okay, since we're going to be pessimistic, why don't we come up with the worst possible scenario? Let's see… my voice could actually be horrible, mother might make a scene, I might not have the Bardic Gift… A horrid thought, that; it was the only thing she could see herself being! What else… oh, the sky could fall, and Ancar might come back to life to rule the world, destroying Valdemar. And I may break a nail. Get over yourself, Rhia. If anything else, then at least this will give you the idea of what it's like to sing in public in the first place.

True enough.

So should I do it?

Before she could hesitate, she nodded. "All right. I'll join you, then."

Now he was grinning. "Wonderful!" He turned to the young ones. "Ye hear that? We're gonna sing for you lot!"

The children smiled and fidgeted eagerly, awaiting the first note.

The minstrel pulled his old harp out, gently playing the introduction. "The prologue," he told Rhia in a soft voice. "Both of us- come in on the second stanza, all right?"

She only had time to nod again before he began to sing.

"She dances in the shadows; like a shadow is her hair.
Her eyes hold midnight captive, like a phantom, fell and fair.
While the woodlarks sing the measures that her flying feet retrace
She dances in the shadows like a dream of darkling grace."

Now Rhia joined in, meeting the minstrel on exactly the right beat. Tanier gave her a small nod of approval as they sang.

"He sings in summer sunlight to the cloudless summer skies;
His head is crowned with sunlight and the heavens match his eyes.
All the wildwood seems to listen to the singer's gladsome voice
He sings in summer sunlight and all those who hear rejoice…"

An odd thing began to happen, halfway through the prologue to Sun and Shadow.

Rhia noticed that she wasn't able to see everyone around her quite as clearly as before. Thinking that it was just the sunlight, she blinked a few times. However, her awareness of her surroundings continued to diminish.

She thought, I should be afraid. But her voice continued on, growing louder and more confident as her ability to sense anything but herself and the music disappeared. Sight vanished, scent vanished, everything but the music was gone.

After a moment of struggling against this sensation, something within her- a gut instinct, perhaps- told her that it would feel better if she succumbed to the feeling. Reluctantly, she obeyed..

~*~

Tanier had never heard such a sound in all of his life.

He had, at first, assumed that one of the people who were watching had begun to sing along- another young woman, though she was an alto compared to Lady Rhia's soprano. At first, the voice had been the softest of hums, harmonizing with Lady Rhia with a simple melody. Then, slowly, the voice gained strength, soon growing and allowing the harmony to become more and more complex.

As for Lady Rhia…

He gaped at her, forgetting his parts in the song completely.

Her head was thrown back, either in great pain or ecstasy- he couldn't tell which. Her eyes were closed, and her tone became filled with a sense of wonder. Her mouth seemed to stay constantly open, as Lady Rhia rarely paused to catch her breath.

And the sound…

His eyes widened in shock.

The harmony was coming from Lady Rhia, too.

She was singing two completely separate melodies at the same time.

Dear gods, if this isn't a Gift… then I don' know what is! I have to report this to my cousin or someone in th' Bardic Collegium, and quickly!

The listeners were also realizing the source of the second voice, and was now gazing at Lady Rhia with open awe. Children peered closer, trying to see better, but didn't quite dare to touch her. Older women and men started to mutter amongst themselves, though only in the gentlest of whispers, fearing the wrath of… something… should they stop the lady from singing.

~*~

Rhia slowly came back to herself when she realized she'd sung the last of the song. The first thing she noticed was that her throat was raw, and aching. She wondered why- Sun and Shadow wasn't that hard, unless you tried to sing both parts. And she'd only been singing the part of Shadowdancer, while Tanier…

She blinked as her eyes refocused on the real world. Why was Tanier staring at her like that?

And to add to the staring… She looked around, seeing face after face with eyes widened in shock and… awe? Wonder?

What's going- oh…

A sudden pressure seemed to catch up Rhia's head and slam it against an invisible wall, much like one would feel if they had fallen for a long period of time to land upon strong, unyielding earth. Muscles seemed to cramp, and the sunlight, though it was now faint, made her eyes brim with tears.

She could only take a moment of this pain before she fainted.

~*~

Firedance bowed politely before the queen of Valdemar, as he had been instructed by Firesong to do. He could feel the eyes of every person in the Court on him, and him alone, and he had to fight the urge not to fidget.

The queen, whose name was Selenay, nodded in acknowledgement of his presence, and politely welcomed him to the court. He wondered, idly, if she really meant anything she was saying, or if she was just going through formalities as quickly as possible to get to bed.

Gods know I would, in her position.

He nodded and bowed again when she dismissed him by glancing at another person nearby. Then he drifted off to the side, to immediately be surrounded by a number of people in drab clothing.

At least, the clothing was drab to the eyes of a Tayledras.

I'm sure that each person here thinks he or she is a frilly peacock, just like a 'Hawkbrother'. He smirked ever so slightly at the thought, but quickly dismissed the smile when he realized it may be taken as agreement or acceptance to whatever it was the group was babbling at him.

As it was, the spell that his teachers had cast upon him only an hour ago had only picked up a handful of phrases for him to use. While he caught the terms, "pleasure", "good", "Valdemar", and "Hawkbrother" many times, he wasn't sure what exactly the people meant. So he merely did his best to look polite (and not bored) while they chattered away at him.

These people are a mix of contradictions, he noted absently. They wear drab clothing, and their music goes at a slow beat. They are shy about any conversation having to do with bed-pleasures, especially with a desirable partner, though the women seem to enjoy embarrassing themselves over it. They spout nonsense about honor and honesty while they plot against each other in the background to gain favor in the court.

A pause. Then, Well, whatever helps them sleep at night, I suppose.

His eyes were suddenly drawn to two Bards who stood in the corner of the room, whispering something urgently to each other. Firedance raised an eyebrow as one, who was panting slightly (most likely a messenger of sorts) whispered her report. The other, an older Bard in his middle ages, frowned, and whispered something back. The first shook her head. He frowned more, then seemed to command something. The first Bard nodded, then hurried out of the large room.

Huh. I wonder what that was all about. Certainly something more interesting than the court music. He almost snorted at the slow beat the musicians were playing now. They need some tervardi here, that's their main problem.

Firedance considered that for the rest of the night, trying to ward off the nobles of the court while also attempting to figure out how to convince Valdemar to have Tayledras music brought in to liven up their lives.

They certainly needed it, from what he saw.

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A/N: Thanks for your support so far, everyone. Hope you liked this chapter!