Old Fires

Writers: Estelle
Date Posted: 15th April 2018

Characters: Tasni, Calenta
Description: Calenta asks Tasni to carry a message to her husband, Gilbek
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 4, day 3 of Turn 11
Notes: Follows SWE: Songs From The South

Tasni stared at her friend. There was so many questions, she didn't
quite know where to begin.

"I didn't know you were married!"

"I'm sorry. Maybe I should have told you and the others. I suppose that
when I came here, I wanted to forget those days."

"I see." She wasn't sure she did. Who was this man? Had he treated
Calenta so badly that she couldn't bear to speak about him? "Um...does
Beniran know?"

"Yes, of course. I told him as soon as he made it clear that he had
feelings for me." She blushed. "He was very understanding about it, but
still, it took a while before I came to terms with the idea that my
marriage to Gilbek is in the past. This is my home now, and I shouldn't
think I'll ever see him again. The Hallmaster knows, too, and he says he
can grant me a divorce, which should be respected in the North at least.
However, he said he ought to write to Emerald Falls, out of courtesy."

"You think that would be a problem?"

"Not exactly. I just..." She hesitated, trying to find the words. "I
don't want Gilbek to find out like that. If he's even still at the Hold."

"Is there any reason why he wouldn't be?" Tasni asked. "You lived there,
didn't you, before you apprenticed?"

"I don't know for sure. He was there when I left, but I think it's
unlikely that he still is. He was loyal to the previous Lord Holder, and
was high in his favour. Then I started taking singing lessons at the
Hall. They hadn't allowed women in the Craft before then, and a lot of
people were angry about it. It was hard for Gilbek to have a wife who
was defying the Lord Holder and breaking all the traditions of Emerald
Falls. He didn't want me to accept the place at the Hall, but I couldn't
give up my music and go back to being a drudge."

"You separated?"

"He escorted me to the Hall. I thought we'd talk it over, work something
out, but then..."

"The fire," Tasni said softly.

"I remember the heat of it. The smoke - it was choking. I can still
taste the ashes in the air..." She fell silent for a moment, her
expression distant, as if she was there again on that night so many
Turns ago. "They told me he was there. Someone stopped him, suspecting
that he'd had something to do with it, and took him back to the Hold
under guard. I don't know what happened to him after that."

"But you don't think," Tasni said cautiously after a few moments had
passed, "that he did it?"

"No. He wasn't happy about me being there, but he'd never have risked my
life, I know it. Gilbek wasn't the sort of man who'd do something so
destructive."

"Are you certain? He was a guard. He must have had some capacity for..."
For violence, she thought, but wasn't sure how to say so without
offending her friend.

Calenta shook her head. "Gilbek was a gentle person, but neither of us
were educated, and being a guard was the only thing he knew how to do
besides drudge work. At Emerald Falls in those days, he had to do things
he wasn't proud of. Some days he'd come back from his shift and he
wouldn't say anything about what he'd seen, but I could feel it somehow
- in his voice, his body. To start a fire, to harm innocents, would have
been completely against his nature."

Tasni was not so sure. She'd met a few people in her travels who'd
seemed outwardly pleasant and reasonable until someone had the
misfortune to get in the way of what they wanted. Those were the ones
that frightened her the most, far more than the obvious bullies and
thugs. Still, she hadn't been married to the man, and Calenta was no fool.

"So, if I find Gilbek, what would you like me to tell him?"

"I wrote him a letter. Well, I asked the Headwoman if she knew someone
discreet who I could dictate it to, and she wrote it down for me
herself. It wasn't something I felt I could ask Beniran to do." Calenta
reached for the small cabinet beside her bed, pulled open a drawer and
took out a folded paper. "If you find him...please give it to him, and
bring back his reply. If there is any."

Tasni took the letter from her. It was a single sheet of paper, folded
over and sealed. She was relieved to see that there wasn't anything
about it that would identify it as being from the Harper Hall. If she
had to leave the Hold to find the man, which given her friend's story
she thought she might well have to, it would be safer not to carry
anything that would give away her craft or her mission.

"You can rely on me. If he can be found, he'll get this, and I'll write
back to you as soon as I know."

"Be careful, Tasni." The journeywoman sounded suddenly uncertain. "Not
everyone may be happy about you asking questions. The fire was a
terrible disaster for Hall and Hold, and some people may just want to
put it behind them. Others...well, it's as you said. Even after so many
Turns, there will still be those who haven't accepted that a woman can
be a crafter."

"I'll bear that in mind, and be tactful. Don't worry! Problems like this
are my speciality." She grinned. "The Harper craft has many skills. You
have your voice, and I have my ways of finding things out."

"So I hear." Calenta smiled, and Tasni wondered just how much Beniran -
or perhaps one of the Masters - had told her about the mission to Bitra.
She had underestimated her friend, that was for sure.

"At least I have something useful I can do, since I'm not sure anyone
would count music as one of my skills."

"You're better than you think - yes, you are!" Calenta laughed, hearing
Tasni making a derisive sound. "Practice with me? I'll teach you some
songs from the South, so you'll feel at home when you get to Emerald Falls."

"Oh, all right." Learning new music with Calenta would be more fun than
repeating Teaching Ballads, at any rate. "I'll fetch my gitar. Back in a
moment."

Calenta stood as she left, and listened to the young journeywoman's
footsteps fading down the corridor. Then she turned to the window,
feeling the warmth of the Northern sun on her face and the breeze
stirring her hair. The Harper Hall was peaceful, and she was safe - had
been for many Turns. Yet under the everyday sounds of scales and
exercises, of sawing from the instrument maker's workshop and laughter
from the kitchens, deep in her memory, was the crackling of old fires
and the distant scent of smoke.

Last updated on the April 7th 2024

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