Chapter 9)
Ned came onstage silently and Fenneyman, ever alert to the actors presence looked up. "Is she coming down?" The financier asked eagerly. The actor shook his head silently, for once without words and Fenneyman blinked. "But the rehearsal…" He protested.
Ned shot him a hard glance and Henslowe blinked. "Oh he's not…" He rolled his eyes and began moving his lips in prayer.
"No Henslowe, he's not seducing her." Ned said in disgust. "Unless I miss my guess, he's doing his best to keep her from going completely to pieces because of our extremely ill-timed stupidity."
"She's still upset?" Daniel asked in a chastened voice. Ned shot him a speaking glance and Daniel groaned. "We'll be lucky if she doesn't walk off the play."
"Indeed." Ned took a deep breath and was about to tell Sam to start running lines with Nicholas when the company froze at the strange sound coming from upstairs. Laughter, Asrai's laughter, coming from Tredorian's loft.
Henslowe smiled in relief. "That's Tredorian. If she was angry, he's turned her up sweet." He didn't see Sam's petulant look at the stairs.
"Aye, perhaps he did at that." Ned agreed. "I suggest among us, that we make no reference to this incident beyond offering an apology."
"Why should we apologize?" Nicholas argued in annoyance. "After all you were the one who got your face slapped."
Ned raised his eyes to the heavens and gave a long suffering sigh. "Nicholas, as I live and breathe, Asrai is a lady, in behavior if not name. A lady would offer an apology to us all for losing her temper and myself in particular for slapping me. Not that I didn't deserve it."
Nicholas rolled his eyes as if listening to a lecturing parent and sat down. "Well I for one am tired of doing this dance over and over. The company doesn't revolve around her." He said.
"No." Fenneyman told him. "It revolves around the play."
"In case you hadn't noticed, Tredorian writes more when Asrai is around, and it's some of the best stuff he's written in a long time." Henslowe remarked. "And she's also brilliant. Easily the equal of anyone here." He smiled as the sound of her laughter spilled down over them again.
"Thank you Tredorian." Asrai laughed. "Thank you very much. I don't know when I've felt this good offstage."
"Well see what you think of this so far." Tredorian gave her the pages he'd written, showing her briefly where he'd inserted lines and reworked a speech. Sitting back he watched her read and was rewarded by her rapt look and rapid shuffling of the pages as she tried to find out what was happening as quickly as she could.
"Tredorian it's wonderful." She looked at him. "Do you really think I can do this?" She looked down. "O gentle Romeo, If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully. Or, if thou think'st I am too quickly won, I'll frown, and be perverse, and say thee nay, so thou wilt woo; but else, not for the world. In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond; And therefore thou mayst think my behavior light; but trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true than those that have more cunning to be strange." She looked up at him and at his motion continued the speech. "I should have been more strange, I must confess, but that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware, my true love's passion. Therefore pardon me, and not impute this yielding to light love, which the dark night hath so discovered."
"Asrai, I know you can do it." Tredorian said quietly. "You have the gift." He heard Ned's voice commanding the others below and grinned ruefully. "Thankfully you have not the arrogance to accompany it."
"Well there's only room for one prima donna in a troupe." Asrai grinned. "I am a bit curious about something though…You've stopped here. When she's about to leave."
"Oh, Romeo's line. 'O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?' you mean?" He asked. "Yes, my hand cramped terribly and I was obliged to halt for the moment. What of it?"
"Well exactly what does he think he's going to get?" Asrai asked. "He's already had more of her than any other man."
"A good question." Tredorian asked. "Shall she inquire?"
Asrai put on her Juliet face and tilted her head, in an innocently wary tone she queried. "What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?"
Tredorian grinned. "Perfect." He picked up his quill and began to write, wincing.
"Here, let me." Asrai took the quill and gestured for him to get up. Taking his seat she bent over the parchment and looked at him. "Anything else?"
"No, that question is enough to open another kettle of fish." Tredorian grinned and she wrote the line.
"Well?" She tilted her head, "My time's valuable sirrah, scribes don't come cheap you know." A grin split her face, "Get crackin'."
Tredorian grinned and began to dictate.
"Hello the house!" Asrai hurtled down the stairs. "Pages!" Her enthusiasm was her undoing as she tripped and fell headlong down the last few stairs, landing badly against the wall.
At the crash and ominous thump, the company rushed backstage to see Asrai lying motionless. "Is she dead?" Sam asked dreadfully.
"You wish." Asrai groaned sarcastically and tried to push herself up. A cry of pain escaped her and she heard Tredorian hurtling down the steps.
"Sweet Selena!" He exclaimed. "What happened?"
Asrai opened her eyes and shut them again. "If everyone will back up two paces I'll do my best to stand." When all but Ned and Tredorian obliged she looked up and sighed. "All right, here goes."
Rising shakily she glared at Ned when he tried to help her steady herself. "I…uhmm, normally would appreciate the help Ned, but right now if you touch that shoulder I think I might scream."
Tredorian looked at her shoulder and saw how oddly her arm was hanging. "Asrai…you need a healer." He said softly. "Master Fenneyman…"
"Somebody take the pages." Asrai gritted the words out and Henslowe carefully removed them from the clenched hand of her injured arm.
"Now to a healer." Fenneyman said anxiously.
Asrai shook her head and began walking towards the wall. "No, waiting on this will only make it worse." She clenched her teeth together, steeling herself for what she knew would be sickeningly painful.
"What's she doing?" Nicholas asked in confusion. In answer Asrai slammed her shoulder into the wall. There was a nauseating crack as her arm slipped back into the socket and Asrai slumped down with a groan of pain.
Fenneyman winced sympathetically as did Tredorian. "She popped the shoulder back into place." Tredorian explained. "But she'll still need a healer."
"Lambert can go get one." Fenneyman offered.
Asrai opened her eyes and stared up at him. "Send him to the temple of Nicodemus." She whispered. "They'll come, and they won't tell about the play, or me." Her eyes closed again and this time her breathing slowed dramatically.
"Nicodemus?" Fenneyman whispered. "Does she know what she's saying?"
Henslowe nodded slowly. "She has the right of it Master Fenneyman. If word gets out that we've a female actress…" He shuddered. "Or if Burbage hears we're rehearsing a new play, not just an old one, well we'd have more trouble than we could handle."
Asrai woke in unfamiliar surroundings. The throbbing ache in her shoulder was gone and a black robed priest of night was there. "Well princess, you've definitely begun following the family predilection for cagey doings."
"I'm not a princess here." She whispered. "They don't know who I am, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"As you will." The priest rose. "Will you pay me, or should I wait and collect my fee when you return home?"
"I can pay you now." Asrai reached into her purse as he named a sum and pulled out the coins. "Thank you."
"We delight in continuing your secret." The priest bowed and then took his leave.
Asrai looked up and sighed as she saw Ned and Tredorian both appear in the doorway. "I fainted?" She asked in disgust.
"I think I passed right out when I dislocated my shoulder for the first time." Ned said in a reflective tone. "It wasn't an easy job getting healed up either."
Tredorian winced. "I got thrown from my horse." He recalled. "I thought I would be sick with the pain of it when it was pushed back in." He frowned down at her. "How did you know what to do?"
Asrai stood up. "Look at me." When they did and shrugged she sat back down again. "I'm clumsy offstage, because I grew into my height all at once. I was short one week and it seemed like a month later I was taller than my mother. I can't get used to my legs, so I trip. Its not the first time I've dislocated my shoulder, but I sincerely hope it's the last."
"You probably wouldn't have done it if you hadn't been so determined to keep your grip on the pages." Tredorian told her dryly. "If they scatter they can be put back in order you know."
"I was afraid I'd lose one." Asrai shrugged. "Ned I want to apologize to you." She said after a moment. "I shouldn't have slapped you. It was wrong of me to lose my temper like that."
Ned shook his head. "The Admiral's Men and I wanted to tender you an apology as well, for our behavior earlier. It was unworthy of us." He looked at Tredorian. "And since our master Playwright has seen fit to provide us with pages today, we'll have something new to rehearse."
"Then lets go, I can apologize to the rest of them and we can get started." Asrai stood quickly and stumbled, Tredorian catching her arm before she could fall.
"Move slowly," He advised. "Pretend you're onstage all the time if you have to, but don't kill yourself with clumsiness before we are able to perform."
Asrai rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, I've never done myself any permanent damage." She told him dryly as she exited the room.
"Henslowe, you realize that the door to your theatre is unlocked?" Ned asked the owner as he came hurrying towards The Rose. "Isn't that a trifle careless?"
"I locked it last night." Henslowe told him. "Perhaps Tredorian is within?" He saw the writer coming towards them and shook his head. "The front doors are locked?" He asked worriedly.
"Yes." Ned nodded. "Only the stage door is unlocked."
Henslowe's worried frown deepened the grooves in his forehead as he entered the theatre. The answer to their puzzle was provided as they heard a female voice raised in song coming from the stage. Throaty with emotion and reaching pure high notes effortlessly the song was such a wonderful shock that the three of them stopped dead in their tracks and simply listened.
"Love is so moving as it turns around you
Your heart never figures out how love found you
Love's aftermath stage 'one of the lonely'
You're only a number left counting the days.
Turning circles, Turning circles
Never knowing what keeps you apart
Turning circles, Turning circles
Turning circles around your heart
The whisper of sunrise, the promise of morning,
Time passes so quickly, another day dawning
Go on with your life child, you'll find another
And wonder. Will the memory ever fade?
Turning circles, Turning circles
Never knowing what keeps you apart
Turning circles, Turning circles
Turning circles around your heart
Battles to fight, evils to conquer
Learning again how to see life with wonder
The terrors, the triumphs, treasures and beauty
And the memory. Like a rose in the thorns.
Turning circles, Turning circles
Never knowing what keeps you apart
Turning circles, Turning circles
Turning circles around your heart."
Ned turned to Tredorian and regarded him with an intent gaze. "Mind how you mean to go on with her." He said softly. "Go carefully."
Tredorian blinked at him and shook his head. "What are you talking about Ned?"
"Unless I miss my guess she's got a good strong case of like for you." Ned told him. "She cares about you. Don't break her heart by panicking and ignoring her."
Tredorian shook his head again, uncomfortably aware of Henslowe's alarmed gaze. "I have no intention of hurting her Ned. She's probably one of my best friends." He looked out at the stage. "I know you're attracted to her, I'd have to be dead to not notice how beautiful she is, but she's only thirteen. She can't be in love with me."
Ned arched an eyebrow incredulously. "You're writing an entire play about a fourteen year old girl and a fifteen year old boy who fall madly in love. You don't think its possible in reality?" He argued.
Tredorian shrugged. "I do, I just don't believe that's what she feels for me." He looked at Ned. "She's never given any sign of it."
Ned sighed. "Of course not Tredorian. You're in love with Julia. Our leading lady is intensely private about her emotions for all she displays Juliet's onstage brilliantly. Just don't become careless." He strode forward calling Asrai's name and in a teasing tone asking how long she planned to wash the stage floor.
Tredorian looked at Henslowe who simply sighed, "Don't we have enough problems?" The owner of the Rose inquired.
The writer shrugged helplessly and went to greet Asrai just as he always did.
Author's Note: The song is from the movie The Cutting Edge and can be found on that album. The song's first verse and chorus are by GRUSKA/O'KEEFE according to several lyrics websites. The additional verses are of my own creation.