Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
I woke to the sound of chisel against stone, tap, tap, tapping. The hall had been quiet for the last six months since I’d run out of my grant money. Stone workers were expensive, particularly stone guild members.
I sat up, forgetting to be careful, and there was Lanise, sitting in her chair. She nodded to the tray on my bedside table.
“Eat. Now.”
The scent of buttery garlic infused potatoes had me focusing on the food instead of her. I ate, like I hadn’t eaten in a year. I finally threw back the blankets and got up.
“Wear armor,” she said, pushing the elven light armor at me.
I pushed it back at her. “I can’t wear that.”
“Wear armor,” she repeated, pushing it at me so tenaciously.
I sighed heavily as I studied the ogre. “Look, Lanise, we need to work on your tone. If you’re going to learn music, you’ll have to learn enunciation and intonation, and you aren’t going to get that by repeating the same thing in the same way, particularly when there’s nothing musical about it. Try again.”
She frowned at me, confused, and I took that moment of distraction to duck around her and lunge for the door, getting through it while I held my last piece of toast. I munched it while Lanise followed me, the ogre steps heavy behind me as I floated down. I felt really, really good. My heart sang its happiness, the world so bright in the reflection of my sweet, beautiful love.
I jerked to a stop for a second. My heart was singing what? An image of Rook the Luthier holding me in his arms through the night hit me hard, and I almost slipped down the steps and to my death. Instead, I pulled my shoulder painfully, holding onto the rail before I shook my head and continued down the stairs.
I followed the sounds of the tap, tap, tapping, until I got to the hall that had been so festive and full of people the night before, but was now emptied out, with large scaffolding up one wall to the very top of the room. Ogres were working on the wall, from enormous ogres like the biggest battle ogres I’d seen to smallish, but still much bigger than Rook the Luthier. I stared at one of the biggest ones who worked, clinging to stone with his toes while he chipped out an old slab of stone that was in particularly bad shape. There was something so familiar about those raw, muscular shoulders. Could he possibly be the ogre who had covered me with his body to save me from the falling rocks?
I think he was. I watched him blatantly, trying to match the memory of the guy climbing the city hall with this ogre in my music hall, until he must have felt me staring at him, because he turned around slowly to meet my eyes. His eyes were definitely the same as before. How convenient to have the ogre I wanted to pay back, working in my hall.
His gaze traveled from my head, down my night shirt, to my bare knees and down to my toes. They curled at the attention, and I wished I’d taken Lanise’s advice and worn the light armor. How could anyone take me seriously in a nightshirt, particularly one with such a bad pun?
He slowly pivoted, handed his chisel to another ogre and then dropped, loose and easy, to the ground like it wasn’t a twenty-foot drop with his massive muscled frame. He didn’t even make a resounding crash when he hit, and then he walked towards me slowly, head cocked as he studied me and my nightshirt. And bare feet.
“Thank you,” I said hastily, once he was close enough to hear.
He frowned, hairless brows drawing together. “We have barely started. No need to thank. We are paid well.” His deep, low bass made my bones throb. What would it be like to hear him sing a duet with an elf?
I beamed at him. I had an entire hall filled with ogres. They were definitely going to sing for me. “I meant thank you for saving me from the stones falling on top of me. I’m trying to think how I can repay you for saving my life, but I don’t know what ogres want.”
He studied me, then his gaze fell to my shirt before he raised his head and frowned again. “Think outside the Bach? What is that?”
“It’s a pun, a play on words. Do ogres not have puns?”
“Play on words…No. Speaking one word for a different truth is not the ogre way. Lies do not come easily to us.”
“It’s not a lie, it’s a joke. I guess jokes don’t come easily, either.”
He smiled slightly. “Ogre humor would confuse you.”
“A lot of things about ogres confuses me,” I admitted before I summoned my most professional smile. “Such as your musical traditions. I’m organizing a Jubilee in one month’s time, and I wonder if you and your companions could be persuaded to demonstrate some of your own cultural heritage.”
He frowned, and ogre frowns were absolutely terrifying. I almost took a step back in rational fear, but he had saved me before, so he probably wouldn’t crack my head open on the stones of my own hall. “You are organizing a Jubilee? A party? Strange. How do you recognize me from the accident? Most of your kind have a difficult time distinguishing ogres from each other.”
I blinked at him and then past him at the other ogres who were working on the wall. They all looked similar, pointed ears, muscular, massive bodies, shaved or bald heads, but I’d faced a lot of ogres on the battlefield, and over time, you learned to identify the regulars.
“Your voice is very distinct.”
“You heard my voice while I was chiseling?”
I frowned, because I’d recognized him by his back. That really wasn’t normal, so I just shook my head and changed the subject. I’d always been able to distinguish ogres from each other, but no one else in my division had been able to. “Will you think about the singing?”
“You wish to thank me by asking me for another favor? That sounds like what an elf would do.”
I raised my chin. My mom had been half elf, half human. I’d spent a lot of time feeling bad about my mixed heritage amidst all the angels, but that was a long time ago. “Thank you. Elves are exquisite musicians. Perhaps we could do a whole chorale with ogres and elves.”
“It wasn’t a compliment. Elves as a race are not my favorite.”
My smile turned into baring my teeth. “Ogres are not mine, but here we are. Perhaps you feel inferior, since musicality doesn’t come naturally to your kind.”
His eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, infringing on my space. Only a lunatic wouldn’t retreat when a battle ogre advanced, but I held my ground, until my neck was craned, looking up at him. He really was very large, very strong, very well-spoken, and his tone was really something.
“Musically gifted does not make up for character flaws. Elves are filled with deceit.”
“And ogres aren’t? They are the most diabolically twisted on the battlefield, with complex attacks and counterattacks, mixed with the most unexpected mine-fields.”
He smiled, showing all his terrifying teeth and highlighting his very large tusks. He could bite off my face with one snap of his teeth. “You finally compliment me and my kind.”
I wrinkled my nose. “It wasn’t a compliment.”
“If I accept it as such, who are you to complain? If you would like to thank me, you will cook a meal of such delicacies as only an ogre can appreciate. If I were you, little music master, I would keep your thanks to yourself.” He patted my head before I could protest, then turned and strode off, back to the wall, where he climbed the scaffolding, then assisted another ogre with a large piece of stone that had to be carefully maneuvered into place.
He'd patted my head? What did he think I was, five years old? I glared at him while I watched, but at the same time, for a few minutes, I hadn’t been fixated on Rook the Luthier.
I walked back towards my room, because I needed pants. Lanise was waiting by the door, arms crossed, holding my light armor. I took it and went into the side hall and started dressing, out of sight of the ogres. “Lanise, how is it that all these stonework artisans have battle magic marks? Are they all soldiers?”
She grunted. “Stone art, Warriors. Same.”
I stared at her between tugging up the slender pants. Getting them on wasn’t easy. “Same? Soldiers and artisans are the same? My dad would probably agree with that. The art of war, and all that. Still, it seems like it would take distinctly different talents.” I pulled off my nightshirt and pulled on the top, then on with the robe over everything. I pulled my long hair out and then started for the nearest classroom with some basic harps.
“Lanise, do the artisan ogres know about payment?”
She shrugged her enormous shoulders and continued alongside me.
“For their work, I can’t pay them,” I said, being very clear, because the last thing I needed was a troop of orders demanding payment. They could knock down the music hall much easier than they could rebuild it.
She shook her head. “Arrook pay.”
“Why? What could he possibly get out of my stone hall being in perfect shape? Also, why would he go to so much effort to get his niece to stay at my hall when she’s not remotely interested in music? She’s a bodyguard, not a musician. Also, why would he pay for stone workers? And why armor? It makes no sense. Also the harp. He really fixed my harp, and if he actually creates a custom harp for me…” I put my hand on my chest while my heart skipped a beat.
She put a large hand on my shoulder. “I want music.”
I gave her a skeptical glance. “At my hall?”
“You music warrior. Other musics weak. You crazy, not weak.” She gave my shoulder one delicate squeeze before she dropped it and we were outside the right classroom.
I gave her a skeptical look. “And Arrook’s really putting all this effort into your musical education?”
“Some. Politics also.”
“Politics can only explain so much.”
“Not look gift in mouth.” She said it so seriously.
I patted her arm. “It’s don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. But there’s also, ‘beware Trojan horses.’”
“Trojan?” Her brows came down in an ominous scowl.
“Yes. Arrook clearly has things that he isn’t explaining to me. Still, that’s to be expected. So, Lanise, tell me, what delicacies would a nice ogre like the one I was talking to like to eat?”
“Nice?” She blinked at me while I opened the door and walked in.
She had to duck to get into the small room, and then she dwarfed it. I went to the harp, the largest basic harp we had in the place, and gestured her over in front of it. She came, still frowning at me.
She sat on the floor and then reached up, and her thick fingers went over the strings, almost like they knew what they were doing.
I immediately forgot all about ogre recipes, because this was potential right here, and the scent of musical potential was the headiest thing in the world. She really was interested in music, but probably not singing, because when I had her hum a line, she squeaked, like she was nervous about it.
“It’s okay, Lanise. You can sing,” I said, encouragingly.
She shook her head and focused back down on the harp. “Not sing. Play.”
“Yes, your playing isn’t bad, but your voice is your greatest tool when learning music magic. You must learn music magic, or you can’t tune the lamps. Come on. Let’s go tuning.”
I grabbed her hand and started out the door, almost running into Tiago who had apparently been lurking.
“Ah, the young ogre has been playing well,” he said, giving her a slight smile while his eyes twinkled. “Perhaps I could have a word with you, Music Master.”
I sighed heavily, because while I’d been listening to Lanise, and giving her some productive feedback, my mind had been going a hundred miles a minute in another direction. More like two directions. Three if you want to get technical. One, goblins. Two, the Jubilee. Three, Rook the Luthier who needed to explain things to me, like why he was willing to pay for ogres to do extremely expensive stonework on my music hall. “Sure. Lanise, go to the kitchen and get something to eat. Also, get me something to eat if you don’t mind. We’ll meet at the back doors.” Getting rid of her was an essential element in my life, but at the same time, she really did play well, and have some kind of trauma around singing that I’d help her break through. Rook had sent her to me for that, and with the price of stone work he was doing, I definitely wouldn’t fail. I would also find out why he was paying such a high price for such a small thing. I’d take someone who could actually play for free. No, I’d pay them. Mostly in catering day, but also in room and board. Mostly just room.
Lanise hesitated, studying me like she was suspicious of my motives before glancing back at the grand hall where you could hear the tap tap of chisels and hammers before she headed towards the kitchen, which should be fairly well stocked the day after catering day. It’s like she trusted the other ogres to keep me from getting murdered by goblins while she was away.
“Tiago, you had something to say?” I asked.
“Are you serious about getting involved in the Mayor’s hopelessly optimistic jubilee? I’m concerned about you and the hall after Cutter’s unfortunate demise. Should the music guild come here in force to shut it down, I’m not sure what you could do. All these stone workers, are they working for the fee that the music guild will receive when they sell the building? It’s prime real estate and will go for a pretty penny.”
I snarled at him. “No one is selling my music hall.”
He cocked his head, and I felt bad for snapping at him.
“Sorry, Tiago. I think that the Jubilee is an opportunity to establish the music hall so absolutely that no one can possibly think of doing away with it.”
“Ah. I see the mayor isn’t the only hopeless optimist in the city. Mirabel, you are extraordinarily talented. If you wished to tour, you could make it very well amidst the highest echelons of society.”
Of course I could, for five minutes before my dad heard about me and dragged me home. “But that wouldn’t be making a difference. Here, music is more than art, it’s streets that don’t collapse into Song. It’s woven into the very fibers of this city, and it echoes with every in-tune street lamp. The music and the city are worth saving.” These were also very noble reasons, and I’d practiced that speech several times for the time I had to face my dad and argue for the worthiness of my cause. My dad was really big about holy causes. Almost like he was the Commander of HOSTS or something.
“And if you’re thrown out of the music hall?”
“Then I’ll make my own!” I crossed my arms while he slowly smiled.
“The music guild could use some competition. Of course, they would probably prosecute and imprison you first. They have connections with all the major guilds.”
I ran a hand through my hair, tangling my fingers. If things got that far, if my dad stepped in, I wouldn’t be worried about imprisonment by anyone else. “Sure. We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it. For now, I need to do a big announcement in Song about the Jubilee.”
His brow furrowed. “So recently after Cutter’s…”
“Yes. I should have made the announcement at once, to show that we’re not afraid of them, and also use their guilt and personal fear of getting goblin bombed before they had the chance to languish back into comfortable apathy. Also, the Jubilee is coming soon and we need to get it organized.”
“We could put up posters. I noticed that you’re not moving very quickly, almost like you suffered an injury.”
I stared at him and he stared back.
“I probably pulled my back,” I said.
He nodded, rubbing his narrow chin. “Some might consider that you could have been responsible for hiring a goblin assassin to take out a guild member.”
“Where would I get the money? Do you know how much goblin assassinations cost?”
His eyes narrowed. “I do not. Peculiar that you do.”
I brushed him off and headed towards the back door. “I don’t know anything other than that it’s obscenely expensive. That’s all I need to know. Are you leading classes this morning, or do you have time to come with me?”
“To recruit Song musicians for the festival? I have classes. Pity. When will Rook the Luthier come by?”
I froze as a memory of waking in his arms hit me incredibly hard, filling me with this keening, anxious yearning. I had to see him again. Soon. To find out why he was willing to repair my hall for the cost of keeping Lanise in my hall, naturally, not because I personally wanted to see him.
“Ah… That is, I’ll have to schedule a time for him to come. He’s very busy.”
He nodded soberly. “Indeed. I wait in rapt expectation.” He peered at me skeptically through his monocle while I beamed at him and then hurried to the back hall.
I had time to rummage in the storage closets and find the travel platform I’d banged my shins on at least three times, trying to get chairs out. I was trying to haul it out with a large scraping sound that hopefully didn’t break it, when Lanise came, chewing on something, a plate for me in her hands.
“You’re here! Lanise, can you please carry this for me? It might be too…”
She picked the travel platform up with one hand, still holding the plate. I stared at her. Ogres were strong, naturally, but it was so shocking to see one of them lift something normal instead of a cannon ball to hurl across the battlefield.
“What this?”
I beamed at her. “So glad you asked. It’s a travel platform, to be used for performances on the go. Since you’re part of the music hall now, it’s time for your first concert.”
She stared at me, eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Not time.”
“If you’re too shy to publicly perform a solo, don’t worry. I’ll be right there beside you.”
“Pub lick?” She pronounced them as two distinct words.
“Oh, you got me some sausage rolls! Thank you so much.” I took the plate and led her towards the doors, opened both of them, while chewing on the roll while she frowned at me, not moving, just holding the travel platform. “Come on, Lanise! Daylight is wasting.” Not that we’d need it, because we’d be in Song, where it was always dark, except where the street lamps shone bright.
She slowly came after me when she saw that I was getting away from her. “Pub lick? Why?”
“Money and music, Lanise. Money and music. That’s the why of everything.”