Then I Saw Her Face
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Rali jogged through the hallways, knowing that she was
going to be late to her first lecture ever in Tereva'diel. And wouldn't that make a good impression! She thought as she turned
another corner. It occurred to her that it would have been faster to just open
one of the huge windows in the main hall and simply fly to work, but that might
have annoyed the locals. The hold elders had wanted to speak to her early this
morning, so she found herself trekking over there from the small Disiaron house
on the far side of the hold. She wanted to make a good impression in this hold;
if she was highly enough regarded here she might actually be asked to teach at
the university in Na'alha. For about the ten thousandth time, she cursed being
from the hold containing one of the tougher schools in La'iv.
The pale dalhari sighed in relief when she caught sight of
a sign indicating an exit. Just as she turned the corner, something warm and
solid slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. "What…"
Dawn idly wondered who put a wall where a hallway had
been. She was sure that just this morning there had been a hall right where she
was now sitting on the floor, holding her head. "Ugh. Wall…hallway…"
"Are you ok?" Rali asked as she picked herself
up.
"Maybe," Dawn muttered as she stood up.
"I'm sorry—I didn't see you standing there," She said, shaking her
head to clear it.
Rali looked up at the tall dalhari. "It was probably
my fault, I—" She stopped when the dalhari in front of her finally dropped
her hands from her face.
Dawn locked her jaw to keep it from dropping. Wow. She quickly looked down, hoping
that the dalhari in front of her hadn't noticed her staring like that. But,
well, wow. Why couldn't more people here look like *that*?
She's really tall, Rali thought absently, taking in
the appearance of the dalhari in front of her. If the markings on her cloak
weren't clearly Dyasa and Hailae,
she'd have placed her as Narmunan. The coloring, though…was beautiful—vivid,
glowing. Rali had a real weakness for warm-colored dalhari, and this one was a
knockout. After a moment, she realized that she was going to be embarrassingly
late to work. "I'm late—I have to go," She muttered, running out the
door.
Dawn turned and watched the other woman leave. She
couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down her back. The dalhari—a Saydhe Disiaron if her cloak was to be believed—had taken
her by surprise. She hadn't been physically attracted to someone like that in a
very long time. Shaking herself again, Dawn turned down the hallway and headed
for her quarters. She needed to get some rest; a night composing had left her
exhausted. Maybe some food would help as well.
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By the time she had finished her last lecture of the day,
Rali was frazzled beyond belief. She was halfway surprised her already wavy
hair hadn't kinked up into knots. It was just her luck that the elder masters
at the university would assign her to teach basic mathematics to a bunch of
prospective writers. They didn't care about numbers one whit, and it showed. The
only thing that had kept her from biting off several students' heads was the
recurring image of that sunset-colored dalhari she'd run into that morning. It
was too bad she didn't have any business in the Hailae
house, or she'd use it as an excuse to prowl around and find that dalhari.
Unless the hold elders, who used the dominant Hailae
house for their business, called her again, it was unlikely she'd need to step
food in that house for a long time.
When she got back to her own house, it was obvious that
the cooks were working overtime. Since the Disiaron presence was so limited in
Tereva'diel, all the clans of the house lived mixed together. Rali didn't mind,
since she'd grown up around both Saydhe and Mirh. The dining room, though, could be a lot of fun,
especially when someone decided that they wanted to rehash some old rivalry.
Today was, blessedly enough, quiet. Dinner consisted of
grilled vegetables and lots of sweetcakes, which were
good enough that Rali wrapped several in a cloth to take back to her quarters
with her. As she was leaving, she ran into the only elder currently in
residence, an ancient smithy that her mother vaguely knew.
"Rali!" The elder called out, waving her
over. "Are you settling in well?"
"Yes, Tereva'diel is very nice," She said,
careful not to insult the elder's native hold.
"It is," He agreed softly. "I was going to
remind you…there is a performance at the bardic hall
tomorrow evening—you should attend. The guild here is very large and quite
accomplished, and their performances shouldn't be missed."
Rali nodded. "I will be sure to go then," She
said. She'd overheard some students talking about it, but hadn't given it much
thought. If the elder recommended it, she should probably go—just to say that
she'd done it. It never hurt to make friends around the house.
When she got back to her quarters, Rali started a fire in
the hearth in her bedroom and curled up on the bed. She hadn't been here but a
few days and she already missed her parents. Laio would have had something
nasty and funny to say about those flake-brained writers, and Del would have
fixed her something to eat and helped Laio think up creative insults. They
would have laughed for hours and fallen asleep in front of the fire. Here,
though, Rali could do little but stew over those annoying students and wish her
parents were here.
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The next evening found Rali trying to squeeze into the bardic guild's main performance hall. Despite the fact that
they put on performances very regularly—every other day if what she'd heard was
true—it seemed as though every dalhari in the hold was crammed into this one
space. "You'd think it was the last performance they were ever going to
have," Rali muttered as she slid around one couple and made her way toward
the platform.
By the time she got up to where she preferred to
sit—slightly behind the platform where the music echoed back from the front of
the hall—the performance had already begun. A group of young apprentices were
cheerfully mangling some light-hearted dancing tunes. Their execution wasn't so
great, but it didn't matter—they were obviously putting a lot of effort into
it, so it sounded fine. Several people got up to dance, which was quite a feat in
the crowded room. Rali even found her feet tapping as they moved from one
number to another. As they relaxed, their playing improved dramatically; by the
time they finished they sounded almost good.
Next up was a group of masters, setting up to play an
extended suite of instrumental music. Rali leaned back to enjoy the
performance, which was superb. After hearing that, she no longer wondered why
the bardic guild at Tereva'diel was so highly
regarded.
When the next performer began to prepare, Rali sat up to
look around. From the murmur of others around her, she deduced that this next
one was going to be interesting. When the musician walked onto the platform,
Rali found herself grateful she was sitting down. It
was the dalhari she'd run into the day before, carrying a cyar'dil and an
akr-traedl. Surely she wasn't going to play them at the same time…
The musician sat down on the low chair provided on the
platform and positioned the akr-traedl. Instead of playing it, though, she
began with the cyar'dil. The song she played was haunting—a slow, hollow piece
that tugged at the heart. Just when the song should have climaxed, the musician
picked up her bow and dropped the cyar'dil into her lap and began to play the
akr-traedl…and sing.
It was obviously a continuation of the first song, but at
the same time it was completely different. The akr-traedl sounded angry and
restless, like raging beast. The song was a lamentation so angry it made Rali
cringe at times. It was beautiful, but very different from what she was used to
hearing—namely her father's preferred soft, slow pieces. This one was about
losing oneself in jealousy and obsession and giving in to fruitless desires. Rali
couldn't help but stare at the musician. Somehow her vibrant coloring made the
music she played even more striking; it was like
watching the sun itself rage against the sky.
When the song finally ended, Rali bore a hole in the
singer's back, she stared so hard. A small part of her mind noted that the hall
was very silent; a testament to how much the audience had liked the
performance. After several minutes, people started moving around, breaking the
spell. Just as Rali was about to get up to stretch her legs, the musician
turned around and looked right at her. Their eyes caught for a long moment.
Rali couldn't move—those glowing red eyes paralyzed her.
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"Hi."
Rali jumped at the whispered word. She spun around to find
the vivid musician smirking at her. "Hi yourself," She said, not sure
she liked that smirk.
"Did you enjoy the performance?" The musician
asked brightly.
"Of course. You're very accomplished. It was
excellent…and your selection was most unusual. Very beautiful as well,"
Rali replied evenly. To her surprise, that elicited a smile.
"Thank you. I get the first a lot, and the second
much less frequently," The dalhari responded. "Some find the piece a
bit too strong."
Rali shook her head. "No, it was very moving."
"I should welcome you to Tereva'diel. You've just
arrived, haven't you?" The musician said.
"Indeed. This is my fourth day in the hold,"
Rali replied politely.
"If I may ask, where did you travel from?"
"I come from Na'alha," Rali replied. "I
have taken a position at university here."
The dalhari's face lit up. "You teach? What
subject?"
"Mathematics." She waited for the other's face to
fall. To her surprise, it didn't.
"My! I do recall someone mentioning that there
weren't enough mathematics instructors at the university," The musician
murmured. "It is very good to have you then. Oh, I'm Iriya."
"Rali," Rali replied, nodding a greeting.
"I do apologize, again, for running into you in the hall yesterday. It was
most rude of me."
Dawn waved her off. "Don't worry about it. If I would
watch were I was going, it wouldn't have happened."
"The same could be said for me," Rali countered.
"Then we're both at fault, we owe each other equally,
so the issue is null," Dawn finished.
Rali laughed. "As you wish, Iriya."
Dawn looked up at the dying sunlight. "Have you dined
this evening?"
Rali shook her head. "I came here straight from the
university."
"Then you must come with me," Dawn insisted.
"You shouldn't skip a meal just to go to the bards' hall and listen to
silly songs."
Rali wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to get to know
this vivid dalhari a little better, so she agreed. "Of
course not. I should just stay away from bards. They're trouble,"
She said even as she followed Dawn toward the Hailae
house.
"Almost as much trouble as teachers," Dawn
replied jokingly.
To Rali's surprise, they didn't
go to the dining hall, but instead to the musician's quarters. "Verdrin and paz?"
She asked as they stepped inside. There was a pot of something simmering near
the fire.
"Yeah. It should be ready," Dawn
said, checking the pot. "Have a seat."
"As you wish," Rali murmured as she sank down
into a huge pile of cushions. She already loved Iriya's
quarters; the windows matched the dalhari's eyes and hair, and there were all
sorts of interesting things piled around—music, instruments, carvings and more
pillows and cushions than any one dalhari had a right to own. After a moment
her host presented her with a steaming bowl of paz grain spiced liberally with verdrin
and other flavorings.
"Water?" Dawn offered, holding out a mug.
"Thank you," Rali murmured, taking the proffered
cup. They sat quietly, eating their dinner, for several minutes. Rali wasn't
sure what to talk about; she was worried about what might come out of her mouth
if she opened it.
"So, what's Na'alha like?" Dawn asked once she'd
finished her meal. She'd never traveled outside Faion;
in fact other than a single trip to the freehold nearly seventy years ago she
hadn't left Tereva'diel since arriving with Zhaen and Duens.
"Oh, it's beautiful—a lot like here, actually,"
Rali replied. "It's a bit more mountainous than Tereva'diel. We've got
more blue stone than you do here, but less of the pure white that you've got
everywhere."
Dawn nodded. Chadei had told her that there was a lot of
regional variation in building stone. "Does it snow a lot there?"
"Of course it does! Snow piles up to the hold walls,
every year," Rali exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "It's not too bad
until you have to go somewhere."
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It was several hours before Rali and Dawn stopped talking.
They would have continued, but Rali realized that she needed a little sleep
before she tackled tomorrow's lessons. Dawn insisted on walking her back to her
house, since it was she that kept the teacher out so late.
"Thanks for sharing dinner with me," Rali said
as they exited the Hailae house. The wind kicked up a
little, swirling their coats around their ankles. Rali pulled her cloak tighter
around her, making a mental note to add its fur liner before she wore it again.
The winds were a bit stronger here and she didn't like freezing.
"Ah, it was nothing," Dawn said, waving her
hand. "What you ate would've gone bad—I made too much."
"Then I'm happy to have performed a needed service
for you," Rali responded politely.
Dawn was about to say something in return when she saw Bai walking down the street toward them. He scowled at
Dawn, then saw Rali. She fumed inside as she watched
his entire person change—a perfect smile broke over his face and his body
relaxed and opened. She just knew he was going to approach Rali and turn on the
same charm that had won over many a dalhari in the hold.
"Good evening," Bai
murmured, bowing low to Rali.
"And to you," Rali said cautiously. She could
tell that Dawn did not like her fellow musician. Then again, she was pretty
sure the dalhari didn't like Dawn either—she'd seen the way he looked at her
before noticing that Rali was there.
"I believe I saw you at the guild hall this evening.
Did you enjoy the performances?" Bai inquired.
Rali nodded. "Yes, particularly Iriya's."
"Yes, she is certainly…daring, isn't she?" Bai said disdainfully. "There were several excellent
presentations of traditional pieces as well, though—enough to satisfy the
audience." Dawn bristled. She knew he was referring to his own
performance. She hadn't watched it, but she was sure it was the same overly
staid stuff he'd been doing for the entire century she'd known him. A thought
occurred to her. If she hadn't seen it, then neither had
Rali.
"I see. Unfortunately, I didn’t stay for the
traditional presentation, or were you one of the
lovely apprentices that played those dancing tunes at the beginning. They were
charming. You showed a lot of promise," Rali said, smiling sweetly. Bai's jaw dropped before he could stop it.
"N-no, I performed a chronicle of the guild's
history—an original composition," Bai said,
trying to regain a bit of composure. Once he was sure he'd recovered, he went
back to leering at Rali, raking his eyes up and down her body. He was so intent
on checking her out that he didn't notice how her eyes narrowed and her back
stiffened.
"Oh, I missed that one, then. I must be going,
though—I have an early day tomorrow," Rali said as she grabbed Dawn's arm.
The flame haired dalhari followed passively as Rali practically raced through
the streets to get away from Bail. "He's very fond of himself, isn't
he?" Rali asked as they slowed down.
"Yes," Dawn replied. "And the piece he's
referring to is atrocious, if you don't mind me insulting my clan brother. It's
just horrible."
"I can well imagine. No insult to your guild, but I'd
rather pluck my hair out strand by strand than listen to a chronicle of its
history."
Dawn grinned. "The last time he performed it I passed
the time restringing my akr-traedl. Tuning it was more entertaining than the pap
he spewed."
Rali and Dawn walked up to the main entrance to the
Disiaron house, nodding to the guard. "Thank you for entertaining me this
evening," Rali said softly, leaning toward Dawn ever so slightly.
"My pleasure," Dawn said, smiling. She had forgotten
that Rali still held her hand until the ivory dalhari lifted it and pressed
Dawn's fingers to her mouth.
"Sleep well," Rali said as she disappeared into
the house. Dawn stared after her for a moment before turning and walking away
toward her own house.
Well.
Dawn fell asleep that night with images of a certain
ivory-skinned, fuchsia-haired dalhari running through her mind. There was one
thing that Dawn did not doubt: life for her in Tereva'diel was not going to be
boring in the near future.
Meanwhile Rali gathered some last minute notes for the
next day's lectures and thought about Iriya. Something
told her that she was going to have a lot of fun with the musician. Besides, it
was very nice to have someone in the hold to talk to outside of the university.