reminiscences of earlier days spent at the Harper Hall and duets sung with the MasterSinger Merelan. Robinton held his breath, but the MasterHarper did not embarrass him in front of the other two journeymen with tales of Merelan's little boy.
'I understand you're very patient with the slow, and I've several here I'd like to see you bring up to the level the others are at. With one it may not be possible. But if you can do anything, his parents and I would be grateful.'
Robinton murmured something polite.
'To offset that chore, I'd like you to take the singers of the Hold for choral practice. I've had to do so much mediation lately, that I've had to give up a steady progression for them. You'll stand the necessary Drum Tower watches.' At that, Minnarden grimaced, for the long hours of listening and little action were a penance for most harpers, who tended to be gregarious by nature. 'If you can find a couple of lads in the Hold to train up to drumming, I'd be grateful. Shorten our hours. I've not had the time, and neither Mumolon nor Ifor has the top rating you got from the Hall DrumMaster.'
Again Robinton nodded. He had had the advantage of being raised in the Harper Hall and learning to decipher messages long before he took the actual course.
'The usual evening divertissements, but we trade off.' Then Master Minnarden looked quizzically at him. 'Bring any new songs with you?' When Robinton smiled in assent, Minnarden sighed with relief. 'Both Mumolon and Ifor are good harpers, excellent teachers, but couldn't compose if you gave them words and music to put together. That's your special skill, I understand ... and don't turn modest on me.'
Robinton chuckled.
'You're quartered well?'
Robinton bowed his head gratefully, for he had an outside room, small but private, with a window facing east and a bath next door.
'Need anything?'
Robinton shook his head.
'Good. Tillek is not as much a warren as many big Holds. But that's because the cliff doesn't have that many caves, so they've used the local stone to build sturdy, Threadproof housing.'
Robinton looked at him sharply. This was the first time anyone had mentioned Thread.
'Hmmm, yes, young harper, I believe we'll see Thread again,' Minnarden said solemnly. 'I've read too much in the Archives to think Pern will escape its return ... in due time. Are you of my mind? Which, I must add, is not shared by many, including Melongel, though he's a well-read man.'
'The dragons told me. And I've friends in the Weyr...' Robinton admitted hesitantly. But if Minnarden believed Thread would return, he wouldn't object to Robinton's friendship with a dragonrider.
'Keep them. Cherish them,' Minnarden said. Then he cocked his head to one side. 'Is that why young Lord Raid let you go?' He held up his hand when Robinton moved uneasily in the chair 'I know, I know. If you believe in anything – anything – keep that faith. Now,' he went on, rising, 'if you've any questions after you've settled in, I prefer my harpers talking to me rather than complaining to each other. One last item, though, since this Hold's main source of income is from fishing, I'd like it if you could see your way clear to learn as much of this different lifestyle as you could. Never hurts. Even the hull of a ship has two sides.'
Robinton groaned: he was getting mighty tired of that reference! But he had to grin at Minnarden, who was clearly delighted with his new journeyman's adventure.
Minnarden then retrieved from the shelf behind him a squared-off, leather-bound record book and slid it across the table to Robinton.
'If you haven't memorized the Charter, you'd better, and study the examples of some of the more common infractions.' Minnarden grinned. 'That aspect of our job can be quite interesting at times ...' He paused to sigh. 'And at others, about as infuriating as dealing with the dumbest, most insubordinate, mentally deficient adolescent male.' Melongel's middle children – he had nine – were part of the chores group that Robinton was to rehearse. Bright, intelligent and curious, the two boys and one girl were musical enough so that any of the three could have apprenticed in the Harper Hall. His oldest, just a turn younger than Robinton, was Oterel – a rangy, awkward lad needing to grow into his bones. Oterel was delighted to have Groghe share both his room and his duties, for he already had stewardship responsibilities, which went more swiftly with help.
And then there was Kasia, Lady Juvana's youngest sister, who was living at Tillek Hold.
Robinton felt a decided attraction at his first meeting with the attractive young woman. In the previous Turn, she had tragically lost her lover to a storm at sea off Nerat coast, half a month before their espousal. Her parents had sent her to Juvana to ease her grief.
It was the aura of sadness which caught his eye, the sorrow that lurked in her lovely sea-green eyes. And the tremulous smile which, only occasionally, briefly lifted it. But she was cheerful, helpful and kind, with a real understanding of the trials of her younger nieces and nephews. She was obviously their confidante, as well as her sister's. She had comprehensive recollection and was able to come out with astonishing bits and pieces of information which she had tunnelled away in her retentive memory.
'I just remember things,' she said with a little shrug when Robinton asked her if she knew all the words to an old Teaching Song, one he was revitalizing. Which she did – word perfect. 'I can't say why I know that particular ballad, but you'll find it on the second shelf from the top on the right-hand side of the library.'
And sure enough, there it was, with Kasia grinning with delight at her accuracy: an occasion when the sadness disappeared. He became determined to lift the shadow completely. He was chagrined to discover that he was not the only young man in the Hold who had the same ambition, including his fellow harpers.
Robinton was only twenty, a fact he kept hidden since he didn't look so young and could cite five turns of active harpering.
Neither Mumolon nor Ifor knew that he had been fifteen when he walked the tables to collect his journeyman's knot. Minnarden knew, and probably Melongel, but his youth was not a factor in assigning him difficult tasks – especially after the wall incident. If Ifor and Mumolon suspected, it didn't matter to them as he performed his duties too well to encourage criticism.
Kasia was several turns older – and looked younger: except for the harboured grief. However, that age difference and her continued mourning for her lost lover were the reasons why Robinton was hesitant in discovering if the sudden, keen attraction was mutual. Their ordinary tasks often brought them together. In that he was luckier than the others who sighed over her.
He contented himself with enjoying her company, her bright humour, her lovingness, and sparring with her in duels of memory and, often, song. She had had excellent training: she sang with a sweet light soprano and played fiddle and pipe. She was envious of his harp, which she played middling well, not having an instrument of her own. So he concocted the notion of making one for her in his spare time. Tillek's port shipped quantities of timber, as well as storing it for the building of hulls. He made himself agreeable to the local MasterCarver, an accomplished carpenter named Marlifin who was only too happy, when requested, to find him well-seasoned and unusual woods. Tillek Hold had a well-equipped workshop, as most large establishments did, so Robinton had only to start his project. He did ask Marlifin to do the carving of the forepillar in patterns of the flowers which Kasia had said she loved. Robinton couldn't carve fancywork without mining a lot of good wood, and this harp had to be special. It was going to take long enough as it was. After several faulty starts and not a few cuts on his hands, he did manage to carve the harmonic curve and the neck, which would hold the pegs to tune the strings of the harp ... when he got that far.
He also took Minnarden's advice to learn more about a fishing hold and found great favour with Melongel, and incidentally with Kasia, when he volunteered to go out on a fishing run with Captain Gostol, whom he had met at the Harper Hall. Kasia shipped out on the same voyage as galley cook and companion to Gostol's daughter, Vesna, who was going for her second's ticket. There were two other women in the crew of fourteen, for the Northern Maid was the length of a queen dragon. The female sailors surprised Robinton. Being harper-trained, he was accustomed to women having equal status as performers and composers, but it had never occurred to him that other Crafts also promoted women to positions of trust and responsibility. He was astonished to find them fishing, since that was a hard life: he discovered just how hard on that trip. Fortunately his immunity to sea-sickness was a great mark in his favour. He straggled to help lower and haul in the trawling nets, slipped on fish guts, laughed when he got up covered with gore and slime – and was teased for the stench of him until the job was done and he could change. If he wasn't considered able to stand a watch, he was available to heat soup or klah in the galley for those who did.
