The Journeyman's Wife
By
Dragondolphin1990

Chapter 2 - Hello, Sister

A/N – Anne McCaffrey never wrote from Sella's point of view, so we have no way of knowing what actually goes on in her head. I am sorry if she seems out of character. I feel that she could be portrayed as a little spoiled, instead of just a responsible young woman; she is the Holder's daughter after all.

"Women don't make Harpers," I repeated myself, unable to say anything else.

Elgion rose from his chair on the other side of the room to stand by me, "It seems that change has finally come to Harper Hall. Menolly here is apparently a very influential Harper now."

"A girl a Harper? Surely someone would have sent a message to Half-Circle to explain this… this outrage!"

"I asked Masterharper Robinton to not tell Father," Menolly said quietly.

"Well, why not?" I demanded.

"Father hates my tunings. I don't know what he would do if he found out I was composing real songs."

"You're still tuning? Don't you do anything worthwhile here?"

"They like my tunes here. They respect them," Menolly's voice was getting quieter, as if my presence made her revert back to childhood.

"You are being spoiled, little sister. Nobody could actually like the foolish little tunings of a foolish little girl."

"I'm a Journeyman now, Sella. You can't talk to me like that," she said bravely, but her eyes betrayed her fear, "Even Lord Holder Groghe likes my songs."

"Lord… Oh, now you've done it. Wait until I tell Father that you are wasting Lord Holder Groghe's time with your tunings!"

"I'm not a Sea-Holder anymore; I'm a Harper. Holder Yanus cannot tell me what to do."

I did not get a chance to respond to her outrageous claim because someone burst through the door, without knocking or even apologizing. These Harpers have no manners! He seemed a little older than me but still younger than Elgion, and he was, I must admit, blessed with good looks. Not as good as my Elgion, of course. I vaguely remembered him from dinner. He completely ignored Elgion and myself and went straight to Menolly.

"What is it, Sebell?"

"Rocky won't leave my Kimi alone. I don't know what to do!"

Menolly sighed and went to the door. She paused and turned back to me, "I'm sorry, Sella, but I have to go now."

She rushed out of the door, the other Harper, Sebell, following close behind her.

"What was that about?" I asked Elgion when we were alone.

"I'm not sure," he shrugged, "In Harper Hall, it could be, literally, anything."

"Well, why don't we unpack our stuff?"

"You don't want to leave anymore?" Elgion seemed relieved.

"Somebody has to keep an eye on Menolly."

As we unpacked, Elgion insisted that I not lift anything that could possibly be heavy. He said that he didn't want me to pass out again. I think he just wanted to be a gentleman. We were almost done when a bell chimed. Elgion quickly glanced at the sky through the window to get a bearing on the time, "I'm supposed to meet with Master Arnor now. He's the Archivist who I'm going to be working with. Would you like to meet him?"

"Alright," I smiled, not the least bit interested.

"Master Arnor isn't the easiest of people to get along with."

"Wonderful," I deadpanned.

… … … … … … …

Meanwhile, Sebell lead Menolly to the Fire Lizards. Beauty sat on a fence between Auntie One and Auntie Two, crooning softly. The two Greens chattered amongst themselves, their eyes spinning in glee. Uncle, Diver, and the Browns were nowhere to be seen, probably off sunning or begging Camo for some food.

In the sky, Kimi flittered about, lazily soaring higher and then diving down so she nearly hit the ground, with sharp hairpin turns and the occasional screech into the sky, the sun glinting brilliantly off her golden scales. A few feet behind her, Rocky flapped his wings madly, trying to keep up. After one last sudden dive, Kimi slowed down, allowing Rocky to catch up. Together they flew off to a tree about fifteen metres away and the leaves blocked Sebell and Menolly's view of the Fire Lizards.

Sebell was about to run after them, when Menolly softly placed her hand on his shoulder, "He isn't going to hurt her, is he?"

"No, of course not. I don't think Rocky would ever want to hurt your precious Kimi."

Menolly's sly smile made Sebell's mouth drop wide open, "You mean, they…?"

She giggled and nodded, "Now, let's give those two some privacy."

As the two walked back into the Hall together, Beauty flew over to land on Menolly's shoulder and Aunties One and Two flew off to the roof for a warm nap.