Light in a World of Grey

Writers: Estelle, Halyonix
Date Posted: 11th February 2025

Characters: Jayala, B'nell, Paldra
Description: Paldra arrives at Harper Hall
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 3, day 26 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned Chorvis

Jayala

Paldra was afraid.

After Turns of begging and arguing, with the calm presentation of her
reasons sprinkled in between, she was finally going to Harper Hall.

It did not feel as much as a triumph as she thought it might. Instead,
it felt like the destruction of one world -- a familiar cage with
familiar restraints -- with only the promise of another waiting on
dragon wings for her. Even the thrill of taking a dragon to her new home
could not dull the impending sense of a colossal mistake being made. And
yet...

She was not turning back now.

Her shoulders were straight, her head held high as she waited in the
courtyard of the Hold, listening to the sounds of people moving around
her, with only the gentle grip of her father's hand on her elbow
anchoring her in place. Her father and the Harper were talking, one
failing to hide his worries in his tone, even though his words were
hopeful. Paldra had started to count her heartbeats as a way to measure
the time being spent there as they waited for...

Ah, there was a rush of wind as something large landed nearby. Was that
the dragon? Paldra cocked her head to the side, her ears straining for
every little sound she could glean. A rumble, a shuffle, the soft thud
of paws-feet-claws shifting nearby. A swish -- was that its tail? In the
grey hues of her world, she could see a darker, larger gray form but, as
usual, details were shadows on shadows.

"About time you got here!" the Harper greeted the dragonrider with an
impertinence that surprised Paldra. Was that joviality in his tone? She
thought so.

"I had sweep today!" a new voice -- male, tenor range -- said as a
lighter grey form detached itself from the darker one. "Is...um..."

"B'nell, meet Paldra." She felt the gentle pressure of her father
ushering her forward. Paldra offered one of her hands towards the grey,
felt calloused fingers grip hers. She ran her thumb over those fingers
boldly, as though she could gauge a person's life and soul just from
that touch. She couldn't but it helped her get just another few bites of
information about this B'nell.

"Hello Paldra," he said. "I'm B'nell, Vorath's rider. We're here to take
you to Harper Hall today." Was he speaking so evenly because that was
his normal cadence or because he was uncomfortable? Even as a spike of
defensive anger shot through her -- she was blind, not a dimglow! -- she
hoped he was just being cautiously polite.

"Hello, B'nell. Thank you for conveying me today. My duty to Vorath, if
I may?" she answered. She made what she always assumed was a graceful
curtsey and held out her free hand towards the darker form. She waited,
then was rewarded as she felt something sniff her fingers, which she
took as permission to touch the velvet muzzle, inch her fingers towards
the first of the ridges on the large head. "Hello to you, Vorath. Thank
you." There was a soft, pleasant rumble from the dark grey dragon.

"He says hello and you're welcome," B'nell said. "Here, I'll lead you to
his side and help you mount." Taking her hand, he walked her a few steps
forward and explained to her how to mount before helping her. The straps
smelled of musk and oil. Her fingers found the edges of the leather
where it sat snug against dragonhide and compared the two textures.
"Have you ever been /between/?" B'nell asked as Paldra felt him sit
behind her and fiddle with some of the straps attached to her.

She shook her head.

B'nell, because he was so used to explaining /between/ in such terms,
said, "It'll be dark. The darkest you've ever experienced. And cold. But
Vorath and I are with you and there's nothing to worry about."

Paldra laughed bitterly. "The darkness doesn't scare me, B'nell. But I
thank you for explaining."

She heard him smack his forehead and mutter something self-deprecating
to himself. Then, he said, "Hold on. We're taking off." There was a
jolt, like a runner bucking, and then rushing wind dispersed by dragon
wings, and then an oblivion not unlike night except that it _was_
incredibly cold.

As Paldra began to wonder how long she could survive in such a frigid
place, it was gone, replaced by her usual world of greys. No, a
different world of greys. A tilting world of them as Vorath came in for
a landing. Another jolt, a thudding sound, and the wind stilled.
"Welcome home!" B'nell said brightly. As he slipped away from behind
her, she could hear voices approaching -- young voices, children? --
until she heard B'nell clearly say, "Master Jayala! I have your new
apprentice here."

"Thank you, Wingsecond - and Journeyman, of course. My duty to you,
Vorath." The voice was an older woman's, confident in her authority. She
tilted her head back to look up at the dragon's passenger. "And you must
be Apprentice Paldra. Welcome to the Harper Hall. The wingsecond will
help you down, and then we can go in to my office for some tea or klah -
and you can find Journeyman Chorvis," she added, addressing B'nell, "if
you'd like to catch up. He should be finishing his morning class shortly."

Paldra waited until she felt the dragonrider's hands start to guide her
down, paying close attention to his instructions because she absolutely
did not want to fall _off_ of a dragon, especially on her first day in
her environment. When they stopped inexplicably, Paldra said to the grey
in front of her, "It is good to meet you, Master Jayala," as she swept
into a rough but genuine curtsey. She offered her hands to the other
woman in greeting.

The hands that met hers were strong, long-fingered with a gitar-player's
calluses on the fingers. "Thank you. I've heard promising reports from
Harper Alberial. Would you like to take my arm, and I'll show you the way?"

Paldra nodded. "That will work." She had her cane but she would use that
to explore the Hall at her own leisure later. Before they left, Paldra
turned in what she hoped was mostly the direction of the dragonrider and
graciously said, "My thanks for conveying me, rider B'nell." Well, she
hoped she sounded gracious. She was honestly trying to remember her
manners while feeling so overwhelmed.

"Anytime!" came the tenor reply, far happier than it had been before.
Was he happy to be rid of her? Impossible to tell. Paldra instead hooked
her fingers into Jayala's elbow and nodded for the Hallmaster to lead on.

Jayala inclined her head in thanks to the dragonrider and began to walk
towards the main entrance. "I don't know if Alberial has told you
anything about our Hall, but we're heading for the central building,
where you'll find most of the communal areas and the masters' quarters.
We have two wings, the east - on your right - for classrooms and
practice rooms, and the west for apprentice and journeyman quarters.
You'll be staying in the girls' dormitory, and I've assigned a senior
apprentice to help you out in the first few sevendays. She'll make sure
you know where to find everything you need, and get to your classes on
time."

Paldra initially thought to decline the offer of a guide out of
stubbornness. She knew she could navigate without help -- she did it all
of the time back home -- but the Hall was new and it would be less
bruises and getting lost for her if she accepted. "Alberial did not tell
me the layout of the Hall so I appreciate you explaining. And thank you
for the help. I'll try not to be a burden. I'm...eager to get started on
my classes." Honestly, she was still terrified but she wanted to project
an aura of resilience, competency, and maturity. She wanted the Hall to
like her so that she could stay.

"That's good to hear. And there's no question of being a burden, it's
common practice to assign a buddy to a new apprentice," Jayala reassured
her. "We can't have you showing up late to class because you got lost;
most Masters value punctuality. Two steps up here." They passed through
the main door and out of the sun, into the entrance hall, then up
another flight of stairs to the masters' quarters.

Jayala stopped at one of the doors. "This is my office and practice
room. I do some teaching here, but most apprentice classes are in the
east wing. Please, come on in. There's a chair just here."

The fact that the Master took those extra moments to explain the
environment -- the steps, the chair -- while talking to her about the
Hall was starting to put Paldra a bit more at ease. Her fingers sought
cautiously for the chair, found its worn leathery texture, and she
maneuvered into sitting. The world of grays was darker here now that
they left the outdoors but Paldra could pick out the window and the
glowbasket in the room. Her ears tracked Jayala's movements. Scents of
wood, oil, and ink drifted past. "What will my schedule as an
apprentice?" Paldra asked.

"There are three class sessions each day, each of two candlemarks.
You'll hear the bells," Jayala explained. "The junior apprentices
generally follow the same schedule; it's not until you reach senior
status that you begin to specialise in the aspects of the Craft that
most suit your talents, although there are exceptions. Between classes,
there's time for practice, study and for chores, since we expect all our
apprentices to contribute to the running of the Hall. In the evening,
the choir rehearses, and all apprentices are expected to attend."

There was a soft creak as she opened a desk drawer and took out a sheet
of paper. "We give our apprentices a copy of their schedule. You'll need
to memorise it, I suppose, but until then your buddy or one of the
others will be able to read it out to you - and for the most part you'll
be able to follow the rest of your classmates." She glanced over the
paper. "It looks as though most of your training so far has been as a
singer? You have some lessons assigned with our Master Vocalist."

"And drums," Paldra said quickly, though she hadn't had _as much_
instruction in that as she had singing. She didn't want them to think
that she was _just_ a singer. Singers were limited. Yes, they were the
vocal stars of the show but singers could be found in any Hold, with or
without training. Paldra did not want to be minimized into just singing.
"I would love to learn the gitar though," she added. "Will that be a
part of my lessons?"

"Yes, all new apprentices have lessons in the gitar, harp, pipes and
drum. There's a group for beginners, as not everyone who comes here has
had the opportunity to learn at home. You'll learn how to make them, too
- the drum and pipes, at least, and the others at senior level. Then
there's music theory, and composition. You'll be excused scribing and
copying, but I expect our Master Archivist will find something else for
you to do."

"I'll take extra lessons somewhere else," Paldra said quickly. Eagerly.
She was not going to let her blindness keep her from learning!

"As long as you don't neglect your practice or your usual studies."
Jayala's stern response was tempered with a hint of amusement. "We do
keep our apprentices busy. There is time for fun, however. As long as
they have a good record of behaviour, apprentices are allowed to go
outside the Hall for walks or to visit the Hold on restdays, in small
groups. You can request permission from one of the Masters. There are
often traders or small craft stalls there, and of course every now and
then there are Gathers."

Being out in an unknown space with a crowd of people was not Paldra's
favorite thing but she still answered with, "That sounds wonderful. I
look forward to my new chapter here." A pause as she tried to figure out
what else she needed to know. "Is there anything else I should know
before we begin my studies?"

The Hallsecond considered the question. She'd already covered the basics
of the schedule and the classes, so she thought of what advice she could
offer. She'd never been an apprentice at the Hall, having studied with
her grandmother and then at a hold. "We have high expectations here,"
she said, "but if you work hard and practice, you'll do well. And never
let anyone question your right to be here." Some of the apprentices, the
boys in particular, came to the Hall with certain opinions about female
crafters. They usually changed their minds, but not always quickly
enough. "You deserve your place in the Craft, as much as anyone."

She got to her feet. "Now, I'll show you to the dormitory and you can
get settled in. The apprentices should be out of class shortly, so your
buddy will find you there."

Hearing the Hallsecond state that she deserved to be here brought a
proud straightening of Paldra's spine. She let those words chase away
her doubts for a moment before she heard Jayala stand and did the same.
"Thank you," she replied sincerely. She would be overwhelmed for the
next sevendays for sure but...she had hope.

And hope was more than what she had just an hour ago.

Last updated on the February 21st 2025

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Light in a World of Grey