The Melody Of Swords
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.
Chapter 2
Ri awoke to see sunlight streaming through her window highlighting the floating dust particles in the air. She sat up on her bed and rubbed her eyes. The distant sounds of morning in the city reached her ears. She looked around her small room. Everything was as she had left it, the lute at the end of her bed; a jug of water with a cup by it on an old and cracked table by the wall and her new dress hanging on the door with her bag slung round it. She got up and rummaged around inside the bag, pulling out the gold coin Boromir had given her the day before. She tossed it up in the air and caught it, admiring the way the morning light reflected on its surface, no doubt newly minted. She put it in a wooden box under her bed before slipping into an old black dress. She tied her hair back with a black ribbon and taking her lute and bag, she left her room for the city. The streets were bustling with activity as Ri walked through them lute in hand.
"Ri!" a voice called from one of the street corners as she walked past. She stopped and went over to talk to the old man who was dressed in a brown cloak and looked slightly dazed.
"Morning Dorian! Didn't see you last night, off charming the young ladies of the court were you?" she asked.
"Last night…young ladies…I erm, well, that is to say-" he said slowly, swaying slightly.
"Dorian have you been drinking?" Ri asked.
"Oh you know me Ri!" exclaimed Dorian, swaying towards Ri and clapping her on the shoulder in an affectionate manner. "I never…go…go too far with ale, good though it maybe!" Ri raised a questioning eyebrow. "And, and anyway it's good ale you get from the ol' Black Pig Inn, wouldn't want to, to" he hiccuped "disappoint the landlord he's a very good ale, err friend, very good friend to me he is, good friend is he in such times of trouble and, and…" Dorian rambled.
"Dorian, I think you'd better sleep it off," Ri said firmly, helping the old man to a wooden bench nearby and sitting him down on it. "Now," she said sternly, "if I don't see you again soon I shall think that you've lost your famed good taste in fine music, ok?"
"Of course, Ri," Dorian mumbled drowsily "whatever you say darlin'," he said before beginning to snore loudly. Shaking her head and smiling Ri walked off.
"Dalin!" she called as she approached the apple stall. She ruffled his hair in greeting.
"Hello Ri," he said pushing her hand off his head with one hand while serving a customer with another.
"How's business?" she asked.
"Very good actually, thank you for asking, I do believe the people of Minas Tirith are at last recognising the superior quality of my produce," he said smiling.
"Superior quality indeed," laughed Ri "so, you'll be able to pay Callie back then?" she asked as she selected a place to sit.
"She complained to you did she?" he asked.
"Uhuh," said Ri, sitting her self down in a comfortable place near the stall. "She claims you owe her a fortune,"
"She only jests, she doesn't mean it, we are siblings! There can be no debt between us!" said Dalin whilst cheerfully presenting an old lady with her desired number of apples.
"Are you sure she sees it the same way as you?" asked Ri.
"Of course she does, she's my sister!" said Dalin.
"Whatever you say dear," said Ri as she began to tune her lute.
"I mean, she has quite enough money for herself and her family with that fancy clothes store of hers, doesn't she?"
"Mmhmm," responded Ri, now concentrating on her lute.
"And anyway, she loves me, she wouldn't want me to worry about debt!" continued Dalin.
"Mmm," mumbled Ri, beginning to pluck the strings.
"And of course I'll pay her back given time," said Dalin.
"Uhuh," said Ri.
"Are you listening?" asked Dalin.
"Uhuh," replied Ri in the same tone.
"I give up," sighed Dalin resignedly.
"Mmm," said Ri. The next few hours past peacefully for Ri. For a morning, the people of Minas Tirith were generous and she had soon collected a respectable sum in her dish. At around midday a deep voice addressed her.
"Could you play that one again?" it asked. Ri looked up to see Boromir standing above her. "The song that you were playing a moment ago," he said. Ri looked down at her dish. Three gold coins lay among the copper ones. Ri was surprised to say the least that he should come by again so soon.
"Well, for that price my lord you may request what you wish," she answered.
"Then I request that you play the song you just played," he said.
"Of course," Ri smiled and began to play again but found it hard to concentrate under the intense gaze of the Steward's son however she completed the song without fault.
"That was lovely, but not as lovely as the first time," he said when she had finished. "Do I make you uncomfortable?" he asked with an unmistakable mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I don't… do not usually have the good fortune of playing for such a distinguished… umm…err," she said as she search for the right word.
"Distinguished?" prompted Boromir.
"Audience." decided Ri.
"Assuming you are referring to me, how can an audience refer to a single person?" he asked.
"I think an audience can be whoever the performer wishes it to be my lord, even the bare stones can provide a surprisingly responsive audience," she said.
"An echo," he stated.
"Yes my lord," said Ri quietly. Boromir chuckled.
"Thank you for repeating the song for me Ri," said Boromir.
"You're very welcome my lord." said Ri. Boromir continued on his way down the street. Ri silently slipped the three gold coins into her bag, smiling inwardly.
"Never in all my years!" exclaimed Dalin.
"Yes and your years aren't that many, and don't forget it" said Ri.
"Still, it's quite unusual to receive… six gold coins!" said Dalin, doing the calculation in his head.
"Why, I do believe the people of Minas Tirith are at last recognising the superior quality of my music," said Ri smirking.
"Well Lord Boromir is at least," said Dalin.
"Well, maybe he has better taste than you thought Dalin."
That evening Ri was balanced rather precariously on a chair which in turn was balanced on her bed as she tried to reach a cobweb in a corner of her room when there was a knock at her door. She abruptly fell off the chair and landed on her back with a thud. A few sprinkles of dust fell from the ceiling. Rubbing her back crossly she went to answer her door.
Outside stood a man in his thirties dressed in a dark blue tunic with a faded tree of Gondor emblem on it.
"Yes?" said Ri, angry at whoever it was for making her fall off her chair.
"Are you Ri?" said the man looking rather puzzled.
"Yes, who are you?" she asked, still rubbing her back where she had hit the floor. The man ignored her question.
"Do you play a lute? I think I may have found the wrong person," said the man whilst peering suspiciously into her small room.
"Yes I am Ri, I play a lute and you will only know whether or not have the wrong person if you tell me what you want!" said Ri impatiently.
"I bring a letter from the palace for a certain Ri," he said, conjuring a piece of paper from no where and handing it to her. Ri examined it for a few moments.
"I can't read," she said handing it back to the messenger.
"I think you must be the wrong-"
"Just read the stupid thing to me and we'll find out wont we?" exclaimed Ri with as much control as she could muster, which wasn't very much. The messenger looked suspiciously at her again, shook his head then cleared his throat and began to read.
"It says, for the attention of Ri, a lutist on the lowest level of the city. Lord Boromir son of our Steward Lord Denethor has heard you play and is offering you a place as a court musician at the palace." the messenger looked up at her uncertainly again before continuing. "You will receive board and lodging in the servant's quarters at the palace and well as a reasonable salary to spend as you wish-"
"You can stop now," Ri interrupted.
"Ah, you are the wrong person," said the messenger knowingly and folded away the letter.
"No I don't think I am the wrong person, I would just like to decline, respectfully decline, the post,"
"But his Lordship wishes you to become a court musician," said the messenger, looking confused.
"Yes, evidently he does and believe me I'm honoured but I am never the less declining his lordship," she explained patiently, half of her mind still on the cobweb that was yet to be removed.
"But… why?" said the messenger looking completely baffled. "I assure you the accommodation will be a great improvement to…" he gestured into her room.
"Yes I'm sure it would be but you see I'm very attached my door," she said patting it lovingly "and unless you would like to personally remove it from its hinges and take it to my room in the palace, I will have to stay with it. Here." she said smiling sweetly at the messenger. The messenger looked quizzically at the door for a moment.
"You do realise," he said "that this is an offer from Lord Boromir, captain of Gondor and eldest son of Lord Denethor?" he asked. Ri sighed in despair.
"Yes mister…"
"Lorn,"
"Mister Lorn, you read me an offer, not a command and therefore I can decline said offer," she said firmly. When the messenger still didn't move she said "unless Lord Boromir himself would like to install my door in the entrance of my new room in the servants quarters, in which case I may be persuaded to reconsider, have nice evening." and having said that she shut the door.
She couldn't believe how stupid the messenger was probably genuinely thinks I'm devoted to my door she thought in amusement. She looked over at her door, it was cracked broken and slowly rotting I could do with a new one really…
That night she lay awake on her bed trying to reason why Lord Boromir would ever think she would fit in at the court. It was an honour to be offered a place to be sure, some might say it was a chance of a lifetime to someone of her social rank, it would be a chance to move up in the world, both metaphorically and physically. Nevertheless she realised that it wasn't worth it. She could never leave her life on the lowest level, she was even vaguely attached to her room. The constant careful counting of every penny and the arguments with her landlord were an essential part of her life. It was almost reassuring to stand outside his door and breathe in the choking smoke as she wondered whether or not this would be the week he turned out. In the end, he never had and leaving on the edge had a certain appeal, you never knew what might be round the corner.
For three whole days Ri heard nothing from Lord Boromir or the messenger and the matter drifted to the back of her mind. She spent one of her gold pieces on paying a workman to unblock the old fireplace in her room and clean out the chimney. She spent half of another on a thick brown rug that she put by the fire. Then, one evening after a pleasant day's work she collected some dead wood from an abandoned area of the city she knew and took them back to her room. She had acquired a whole bag of matches free from someone who wanted her to tune his old dusty lute earlier on that day and so, by the time the sun had set had she was sitting in front of her fireplace, trying to get the logs to light and realising that fire lighting wasn't a talent she had been born with.
After half an hour of failed attempts she heard a knock at the door. She went to see who it was, matches still in hand. Standing outside her door was Lord Boromir. Dressed casually and with his usual warm smile.
"What are- erm, I mean, what a pleasant surprise to see you Lord Boromir," said Ri, quickly correcting herself.
"Please, say what you were going to say before your good manners got the better of you," said Boromir, looked amused.
"Ok, what are you doing here?" she asked directly. Boromir smiled.
"I have come to take your door off its hinges and carry it to the palace," he replied smirking.
"Oh no, he told you that did he, I didn't… I mean, I'm not really that attached to my door, it is only a plank of wood," she said.
"One that could do with replacing," said Boromir looking up and down it.
"Mmm," said Ri, starting to wonder the real reason he had come.
"Were you going to burn your furniture?" he asked inquisitively, gesturing at the matches in Ri's hand "if so, please don't let me stop you," he said.
"No, no" said Ri laughing "I was merely attempting to light my fire, I've realised I'm not very good at it, its been blocked up ever since I moved in you see, I've only just got it unblocked…"
"Would you like me to help?" he asked. Ri looked surprised.
"Well if you could spare the time my lord…" said Ri, handing him the matches and letting him in. She cringed at the state of her room, her messy bed and her old table that looked about to collapse. Boromir however didn't seem to notice, he strode straight over to the fireplace and before Ri could see how he was doing it he had a roaring fire going. He handed her back the matches.
"You'll get better with practice," he said "just remember light the smallest twigs and bark first, then they'll set light to other logs," he said. Ri just nodded. There was silence for a few seconds.
"There's something you want to ask, just say it, forget about being polite to the Captain of Gondor for once," he said smiling.
"Why are you here?" asked Ri curiously.
"Good question, luckily I have and equally good answer, I want to persuade you come and be a musician at the palace,"
"No." said Ri quickly.
"Well at least you're saying what you think, now, why not?"
"Because I love my life here, I would hate life at court, it's not what I'm made for," said Ri.
"Have you ever lived at court?" questioned Boromir.
"No…" admitted Ri. "But-"
"Then how do you know you wouldn't like life there?" he asked.
"We have a saying here on this level," said Ri "Live in level seven and have seven chains, live in level one and have none. I'm free down here, I wouldn't be in the palace," said Ri. Boromir looked a Ri in silence for a whole minute before saying anything.
"Is there anything I could say that would convince you? You play beautifully," he said softly.
"No, I don't think there's anything you could say unless you had a Gokner piano hidden away up there I could play, there nothing that could convince me," said Ri smiling.
"I have old piano that says 'Glokner' on it…" said Boromir.
"You do?" asked Ri, stunned "I… I didn't know there were any left, I wasn't serious… I mean I was serious about wanting to play Glokner but I wasn't really serious because I didn't actually think you had one…. I'm sorry, I'm not making very much sense," she said.
"Well you're welcome to play it if you wish to, if that would convince you to come up to the palace," said Boromir.
"I think I'll…are you sure it's a Glokner piano?" asked Ri, still in disbelief, Glokner pianos were almost a myth in musical circles, reported to be the best pianos ever made. It was said that every Glokner piano (made by a Lord Glokner a few centuries ago) was crafted from a single tree, and not just any tree, a rare tree found high up on mountains which could resist extreme cold and their wood was what made Glokner pianos to sound so beautiful. However most people speculated (among Ri's friends anyway) that most had been destroyed in great fire at a Glokner workshop many years ago or sold off to far away lands and magical races.
"Well, it says 'Glokner' on it's wing that's all I know, I didn't realise it's value, it's been sitting in my rooms for as long I can remember, it's hardly ever been played,"
"Well that's… quite something…look after it, it's a very special instrument," said Ri, still not quite wanting to believe it. Maybe it was a fake?
"Whatever you say," said Boromir with a grin.
"Oh no, I don't mean to tell you what to do, it's more of a…recommendation, advice." said Ri quickly.
"Then I shall take your advice," said Boromir smiling at her. "but I'm afraid I must take my leave now, I have matters to attend to,"
"Of course," said Ri, opening the door for him.
"I hope you will reconsider declining my offer and I bid you good night," said Boromir before walking off into the night.
Closing her door Ri sat on her rug by the fire and gazed into the flickering flames. Going anywhere near the palace was the last thing Ri wanted to do, but on the other hand an original Glokner piano was a once in a lifetime find and the chance to tune it up and play was… irresistible.
And so Ri rose early the next morning and she set out, with her lute round her shoulder. Before walking in the direction of the palace she made a stop at Sol's house. It took five solid minutes of knocking before the puzzled (and sleepy) young man arrived at his door.
"Hello Ri, you know this is-" he began
"Very early, yes I know, sorry, but I was wondering if I could borrow those small spanners and things you've got for tuning pianos, I'll bring them back by the end of the day," she said.
"Piano tuning? Has Boromir bought you a piano now? I hear he's giving you quite a fine salary,"
"Umm, well not exactly" The salary comment annoyed her a bit but she decided to let it go just this once, she needed to keep him sweet "could I borrow the spanners? Please?" said Ri imploringly.
"You tell me what you want with 'em first, I'm curious," said Sol.
"Ok, I promise I will tell you when I return, which I promise will be at the end of the day," said Ri.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you anything about not making too many promises Ri?" asked Sol.
"Sol…" pleaded Ri.
"Very well, give me a moment," said Sol, going into his room and rummaging through a draw. After a minute he brought out a leather pouch and handed it to Ri. "Look after it now," said Sol.
"Thank you!" exclaimed Ri, hugging the man tightly and beaming. "I'll be back by sunset!"
Having found what want she needed she proceeded to walk toward the to level. Ri only visited the highest level of the city or twice a year at the most as it took along time to walk all the way to top and she only did it because the people there generally had more money on them and thus were more inclined to throw a few coins into her tin. As she walked up she glared in annoyance at the expensive horse-drawn carriages that transported the rich to from place to place within the city. Even though Ri had never had a particularly good relationship with horses (they had no musical appreciation) she found herself wishing she had one as her legs began to complain. After two or three hours of walking uphill an exhausted Ri arrived at the top level and was able to look in awe at the gleaming white palace.
Judging that it would be very unlikely that she would be let in by any of the main gates she followed a path round the side of the palace. After a while of following the path through a small garden she found it led to a stone door that seemed to be leading into the palace. She turned the cast iron door handle and pushed hard. Judging by the cobwebs this entrance had not been used for a while. Once inside she found herself in a long ornate corridor, decorated with statues and busts. There was a solid stone wall to her left and oak doors to her right, most of the doors were either open or slightly ajar, no doubt to get the breeze in for the hot summer days. A long worn red carpet stretched the entire length of the corridor and there was a light musky, but quite pleasant smell in the air. Ri suddenly realised that she hadn't planned her little excursion into the palace very well, what was she going to do, look in every room until she saw a piano?
She poked her head in the first door to her left, it was piled high with fabrics, linens and balls of wool and thread, no piano though would be terrible acoustics if someone had put the piano in here though, I've never seen so much cloth in my life Ri couldn't help thinking to herself. Backing out of that room Ri looked in the next, it housed a spiral staircase and a chair or two, which were upholstered with the flag of Gondor patriotic chairs, whatever next thought Ri, turning to leave.
She was just about to enter the corridor when she was grabbed violently from behind, her lute and bag roughly taken from her and a black bag was pulled over her head, completely obscuring her vision.
It took a long time for me to update, I'm so sorry, It shouldn't usually take that long but I've been doing exams recently (just finished!) so I needed to study for those. I hope to reply to my reviews in the future (thank you so much for the support by the way, you make me so happy!) but time was not on my side this time and I figured it's best to get the chapter out first :)
I'm kinda new to writing this type of story (but I'm loving it!) so any tips and advice and Do's and Dont's would be very helpful thank you!