This Foolishness

Writers: Estelle
Date Posted: 30th July 2005

Characters: Gilbek, Calenta
Description: Gilbek finds out that Calenta is to apprentice at the Harper Hall
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 7, day 5 of Turn 3

Calenta never got letters like this one. She brushed a fingertip gently over the fine smooth surface of the roll of paper and the textured wax of the seal, memorising each detail. The message inside, though she could never read it, was already known to her. This formal offer was traditional, though, and as much for her husband's benefit as hers.

"Calenta?" She heard the door creak and then smelt clean outdoors air, a hint of sweat and runnerbeast and the well-worn leather of a guardsman's protective gear. Her husband's voice was slightly muffled as he struggled out of the hot and heavy outer tunic he'd been wearing for drills. "They told me in the kitchens you'd been sent a letter. Is it from home?"

"I don't..." She almost said she didn't know, but that would have been dishonest. "I don't think so. Do you want to read?"

"Very well." Gilbek sat down beside her and took the letter from her. She was right - their friends back at the hold where Calenta had been born would never have been able to afford such high quality paper.

He was a slow reader, though improving due to the reports he'd had to write for the Captain of the guard. Since he'd saved the life of the Lord Holder, he'd become one of the most valued of the guards and the betting was that he'd be the next Captain after Sota retired, despite his young age. On a Captain's pay, it would be only a few short Turns before he'd be able to afford a little cot for Calenta and himself, just as they'd always dreamed. But first, his reading had to improve.

The crest at the top of the letter was easy enough to recognise, though. "This is from the Harper Hall, Calenta. I wonder what they can want?" If it was a formal thanks for her singing at Master Gridis' funeral, it had been an awful long time in coming.

Calenta waited in silence while her husband puzzled out the words, until he made a noise of disbelief in his throat.

"Apprentice?" He laughed, nervously. "The Hallmaster must have gone mad. Everyone knows that women can't apprentice in Emerald Falls."

"He offered me the apprenticeship himself," Calenta reached out, feeling for the letter. "He said he'd find a proper singing Master to teach me."

"But...that was just a hobby!" Gilbek protested, incredulously. "It's one thing to allow you to satisfy a whim of that old Master Vocalist by visiting him and singing a little, but quite another for you to join the Craft. Women can't apprentice!"

"Why not?"

"What do you mean, why not? Lord Enrizial won't allow it." He took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm. Calenta and he had quarrelled before, but this was somehow different, exposing a rift between them that he'd no idea how to bridge. "Calenta, you've a beautiful voice and no-one will stop you singing while I am here to protect you. But you can't become an apprentice. I stand high in the Lord Holder's favour now, and have a good chance of becoming Captain when Sota retires. Then I'll have the marks to pay for singing lessons, if you still want them..."

"You don't understand me. Having lessons in snatched moments, keeping it secret from the Lord Holder and all his supporters...it's not _good_ enough. An apprentice lives at the Hall and learns all day long. He lives surrounded by music. If I'm ever to become a Singer, this is what I must do - not spend most of my waking hours sitting in a corner in the kitchen and washing vegetables!"

"You really mean to do this, don't you?" Gilbek said softly. He'd not quite believed it until now - not believed that Calenta, who he loved, would be the one to make a wreck of everything they'd dreamed of together. "What of the little cothold we planned to ask for when I'd served enough time as a guard? What of _my_ future? Do you really think I will be promoted to Captain if my wife breaks the laws and traditions of Emerald Falls?"

"You can't have the cothold and the Captain's rank," Calenta pointed out. "Maybe we both wanted that quiet little holding together, once. But the truth is that our ambitions have changed. I've found something I can do without the need for sight, and you - you've set your sights on being the Captain and chief chaser of helpless women and holdless folk."

"You're wrong!" Gilbek retorted, stung. "That's not what it's like. We protect the Lord Holder and his family, and the Hold itself from crime. Were it not for us, we'd all be prey for bandits - and we bring those women back to Emerald Falls to _protect_ them! How long do you think they'd survive out in the open, in a Pass?"

"Oh, I see." Her voice was bitter. "I thought I was supposed to be the blind one."

"Calenta..."

"I'm going to accept." She folded the paper carefully, running her fingers along the sharp creases. "Will you escort me to the Harper Hall, or will you keep me here unwillingly?"

"Calenta, I don't want you to leave," Gilbek said helplessly. "Can you not stay at the Hold, at least? We're husband and wife..."

"But that wasn't the first thing you thought of, was it?" she replied briskly, like a mother berating a child. "That honour went to your Captain's rank."

"I'm not going to keep you here," he said heavily. What would he do - lock her up? Some men would, but the thought was repulsive to him. "I'll escort you to the Harper Hall, but I will visit and I hope you'll allow me to see you. And sooner or later, I hope I'll convince you to forget this foolishness and return."

***

Estelle (estelle@triadweyrs.org)
Gilbek, guardsman, EFH

Last updated on the August 15th 2005

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This Foolishness