Part 3
Elena blinked slowly and stared up at the ceiling. She could feel the pleasant warmth of heavy comforters around her and heard a fire crackling in the hearth. She muzzily tried to remember what had happened, all she remembered was fainting and someone carrying her.
"Glad to see you're awake," A'gon said from the far side of the room. He stood and hobbled over to her with a cane, his right leg swathed in fresh bandages. "Your headwoman, Silvina, she said that you lost a lot of blood. That's why you fainted."
Elena struggled to sit up. "Ardeck, how is he?" she asked as A'gon eased her back onto the bed.
"He'll be fine after he gets some rest. Master Oldive said he'd check in on you later." A'gon turned to leave the young Harper alone. He stopped by the door when she called out to him.
"Elena," she said, "that's my name. You called me girl."
A'gon smiled and nodded. "Elena. A pretty name for a pretty girl. Get well soon, Elena," he said, softly closing the door behind him.
Elena felt heat flood her face and realized that she was blushing. She settled deeper into the covers and sighed softly. As she drifted off again she remembered the feel of his hand on her hair and his arms tight around her waist. When Master Oldive checked in on her, he found her sleeping easily with a contented smile on her face.
She woke the next morning to the sounds of an argument just outside the door.
"-need to speak with her!" She recognized the voice as Master Robinton's. She hoped that he wasn't angry with her.
"Not until she wakes up, she needs all the sleep she can get!" This voice was Silvina's.
"Silvina, my love, you can be the most irritating-"
"Quiet! You'll wake her!"
"Someone tried to kill a Harper! This is a matter of the utmost emergency."
"Another hour won't matter. I know your curiosity is killing you, but you can wait until the poor girl wakes up."
"I am the Master Harper, woman."
"And I am the Headwoman, man."
Elena heard Master Robinton sigh.
"Very well," he said. "I'll let her sleep, but, so this won't be a complete waste of time-"
Elena heard a soft sigh and a giggle. There was a long silence and then a small thump on the door.
"Master Robinton? Silvina?" Elena called out. She heard a gasp and the sound of some hurried activity. The door was swung open by Robinton, his traditional garb slightly skewed. Behind him, Elena could see Silvina tucking her hair back in place behind her ears.
"Elena, I'm glad to see you're awake. You must be famished," he said, pulling up a chair next to the bed. "Silvina, could you-?" Already the Headwoman had left for the kitchens to fetch some food.
"Master Robinton? How is journeyman Ardeck?" Elena asked quietly.
"He'll be fine, he'll be fine," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "Could you tell me exactly what happened at Weoth Hold? Harpers have been attacked before, but never with such murderous intent."
Elena started to tell the events that had happened at Weoth Hold. She had gotten to when Ardeck had ridden out of the Hold when Silvina arrived with a tray full of food. Elena continued to tell her story, almost laughing when Master Robinton tried to filch a hotcake and had his hand slapped by Silvina.
"-and that's when I fainted," she finished.
"Interesting. Ardeck didn't say anything of what he saw in the Hold?"
"No."
"You saw something moving beneath the skin of those guards, the ones who were acting strangely?"
"Yes, sir. But, I might have imagined it."
"No, I don't think you did. Inside their heads," he mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't want to monopolize your time, I believe you have several other visitors. I'll be back later. Stay well." Master Robinton smiled at her and walked out of the room, followed closely by Silvina. Elena could hear the Headwoman telling someone else to mind their manners as she walked away.
Elena smiled broadly at the sight of two filthy apprentices standing in the doorway. "Alden, Taia," she said, motioning them in.
"We heard you got hit with an arrow," Alden said as he sat. He scratched his head and a cloud of dust flew up. The apprentice's face was covered with dirt and dust. A pair of bright green eyes could be seen peering from the mask of dirt he wore. His hair, usually brown, was darkened by the accumulation of dust gathered from the depths of the Harper's archives.
"We missed you," Taia said, pulling up another chair. The younger girl was covered with dust and dirt from the ancient records stored at Harper Hall. Her long blonde hair was pinned into the usual bun behind her head. If she ever washed it and combed it out, it would be the envy of the other girls. This wasn't likely to happen, Taia shared Alden's fascination with the creation of a new type of ballad and the recreation of ancient musical instruments to perform it.
"What have you two been up to?" Elena asked.
Alden answered, "We've been searching through the old records. I'm sure that I can build that instrument now, especially if I can get the wood I need."
"The, what was it called?"
"Piano," Taia answered. "It'll be great!" she exclaimed, "We've nearly finished the score for the play! Once we get Master Robinton's permission we can start assigning parts!"
"I wonder if Menolly will be willing to play herself," Alden wondered, staring off into space. "Hmmm, that may be a problem."
"If we ask her to play herself, we'll have to ask every Harper to play themselves in the play," continued Taia.
"And that'll put the most appreciative members of the audience on the stage," Alden finished. "We'll just have to get someone else to play her, then." Alden rested his chin on his hand as he pondered the decision. "Oh! Elena, we came by to drop off the parts for you to look over."
"Me?" she said, "But I can't compose very well."
"Not to compose, silly," Taia said, "to read. We'll need good singers to play Lessa, Kylara, and Brekke."
"I think you'd be perfect to play Kylara," Alden said, pulling a sheaf of papers from his vest. He thumbed through them until he pulled an inkstained page from the pile and handed it to Elena. "You've got a sexy voice and I'm sure you could sound like a seductress." He prattled on, oblivious to Elena's rising embarrassment. She stared furiously at the score and lyrics for Kylara's part as Alden said something about learning to dance.
"Dance?" she asked. "Why?"
"For when Kylara tries to seduce F'lar and F'nor," Taia said. "We're not really sure exactly what the dance will be like. We're thinking of calling in Mistress Devala. She should have some good suggestions."
"Mistress Devala?" Elena asked, wondering if she was still delirious from her wound.
"Oh, yes," Alden said, "she's the head of the Courtesans. I heard from Sebell that they all know how to dance very well."
"Courtesans?"
"We're not sure if we want to bother her yet," Taia said, "at least not until we have some basic steps worked out." She jumped to her feet and pulled Alden up. "Something like this, maybe." She took Alden's extended hand and stepped closer to him, leaning over and then leaning far back before spinning into his arms. She stood facing away from him, her hands running down the sides of her body as she slinked backward towards him. Alden took her shoulders as she pressed herself back against him. Taia squirmed against Alden's body for a few moments longer, her hips rotating lewdly, before stopping and stepping away. "Well? What do you think?"
Elena had her eyes squeezed shut and was blushing furiously. "That was the most wicked thing I've ever seen!" she finally said, after making sure that they had stopped.
"Really? I suppose we did alright then, didn't we?" Alden said, scratching his head.
Elena looked up at the two other apprentices. She would be surprised to see a married couple acting in such a wanton and lascivious way, much less two apprentices who, despite their age, had never shown any interest in anything other than the archives. Alden and Taia didn't seem to be affected by their dancing at all. They both had curious looks on their faces, as if they were wondering why she was in such a state. Elena bit her lip, she could still see Taia rubbing herself against Alden.
"Elena? Are you all right?" Alden asked. "Should we get Master Oldive, you're breathing hard."
"I'm fine," she said weakly.
"Oh, well, we'll let you rest. Look over the score though, will you?"
Elena nodded weakly and watched as they left, already deep in discussion of how much wood it would take to build their piano. She let out a shaky breath and began to look over Kylara's score. As she read the notes she could hear the music being played as Kylara sung. A low moan from horns and violins introduced her with a single wild violin serving as her characterization. Elena's eyes widened as she read the lyrics. If these were sung, there'd be a riot! Not to mention the fact that she was sure that Alden and Taia had made up some of these things. She had to reread one verse until she finally figured out what it was referring to and then she blushed deeply. She hadn't even known that a people would do that, where had Alden and Taia come up with these lyrics? Women lying with women, indeed. How ridiculous.
Elena looked over at the door, still slightly ajar. She slid out of bed, wearing only a tunic and padded over to close and lock the door. She slid back into bed and slid almost all the way under the covers before hiking her tunic up over her breasts. Her breath quickened as she realized what she was going to do. She rolled over onto her stomach and tucked her pillow under her as she set the lyrics against the head of the bed where she could easily read them.
She began to lightly rub herself as she read the lyrics again, imagining it was the handsome dragonrider who was doing these things to her that Kylara sung about.
"Hands and knees," she moaned, her fingers flying faster over herself. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she neared the end of the song. "Oh, shards!" she panted, feeling herself climax. She buried her face in the covers and bit down to stifle her gasping cries. Her body limp, she hoped that no one would walk in on her like this as she fell asleep.
A'gon lazily scratched Tranth's eye ridges with a long stick as they lay by the lake. It had been a beautiful sevenday while they waited for their wounds to heal enough for them to go between and return to Benden Weyr. A'gon yawned and scratched his chest, still damp from his swim. He'd be sad to go, the food here was excellent as well as the company. That pretty Harper girl, Elena, he thought. He wondered if she had anyone, probably did, given how she looked. His thoughts were interrupted by the beat of small wings and excited chirping. Ducking, he smiled at the sight of a fair of fire lizards diving in the cool waters of the lake.
"Care to head back?" he asked Tranth.
It is getting late, the dragon answered.
"Right, let's get going then." He pulled on his shirt and boots before standing up and looking down the slope of the hill towards Harper Hall. He thought he could see the smoke from the cooking fires for dinner. If they hurried, they'd be back in time get their food hot. As they were setting out, A'gon stopped for a moment to gather a bunch of wildflowers.
"A gift for Elena," he explained to Tranth.
A'gon arrived at the Great Hall just as the Masters were making their entrance. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, clothes still damp and dusty, looking for a place to sit. He was relieved to see Elena waving him over to a seat by the hearth.
"Thanks for saving me a seat," he said as he slid onto the bench across from her.
"Oh, yes, you're welcome," she said, distracted by the plates of sliced herdbeast being passed down the table.
"Could you pass the tubers?" A'gon asked a black-haired girl sitting next to Elena. She giggled and blushed as she passed his the plate. "So, how's Ardeck doing?" he asked Elena.
The Harper's face fell. "He's still unconscious with a fever. Master Oldive says that the arrow was made out of something other than wood. Whatever it is, it's causing an infection. Master Oldive says that it'll take another week before he's fully out of it."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Elena nodded. A'gon watched amusedly as the black-haired girl nudged her and whispered something in her ear. Elena blushed and shook her head violently, the motion making a lock of her hair come untucked from behind her ear. "Oh," he said, picking up the bunch of flowers from the bench. "Here," he said as he handed them across the table to Elena. "I thought you'd like them."
The black-haired girl sighed deeply as she looked at the flowers and then leaned over to whisper in Elena's ear again. Her eyes widened and she shot the girl a surprised look.
"Thank you, A'gon," Elena said, smelling the flowers before gently setting them out of the way on the table.
A'gon shrugged. "You're welcome. I'd get some for any pretty girl." He turned his head to the black-haired girl. "I'll be sure to get you some the next time," he said with a wink. The girl nearly swooned and spent the rest of the meal furtively looking at him while eating. "Elena, I was wondering if-" He was interrupted by the sound of Master Robinton calling for silence.
"A'gon," the Master Harper said, "could you please come with me to my chambers? I need to discuss a matter of utmost importance with you." He turned to leave. "Ah, and Elena, please stop by after dinner."
"Duty calls," A'gon said as he stood. As he turned to leave he plucked up a single flower from the bunch and leaned over to tuck it behind Elena's ear. "Beauty compliments beauty," he said with a smile before trotting after Robinton.
"Elena, you're sooo lucky," he heard the black-haired girl say. "Why don't dragonriders bring me flowers?"
Elena bit her lip nervously as she stood outside the door to Master Robinton's quarters. He had asked her to come up after dinner, she hoped she hadn't done something wrong. Her hand was unsteady as she knocked lightly at the door.
"Yes? Come in," she heard Master Robinton say.
She was surprised to see the dragonrider who had brought her to Harper Hall sitting by Master Robinton. The dragonrider's hair was still damp from his daily swims. She had been swimming in the lake on a restday when he had first gone up there with Tranth. Elena looked away when the dragonrider felt her gaze and turned toward her, feeling her heart beat faster.
"Elena, I've got something I need you to do," Master Robinton's voice snapped her from her thoughts.
"Yes, sir," she said, wondering what he needed.
"I hate to send someone as young as you out on a mission like this, but-" Robinton trailed off, remembering Piemur, who had been far younger than Elena when he had stolen a fire lizard egg from Lord Meron and ended up on the Southern Continent. "But it is of vital importance. I need you to go back to Weoth Hold and gather more information about what is going on there."
Elena paled at the thought of going back to that place where guards acted like animals. "I, yes, yes, sir," she finally said. "How will I get there? It's a long journey by riding beast."
"I took the liberty of contacting F'lar of Benden Weyr, he's agreed to lend us the services of A'gon here."
The dragonrider seemed more surprised to hear this than Elena was. His mouth worked soundlessly while Robinton continued. "I've also spoken to Mistress Devala, Craftmaster of the Courtesans, apparently Lord Trasden of Weoth Hold has requested the company of a good number of these ladies."
"But what does that have to do with finding out what's going on at Weoth?"
"I want you to go along with the Courtesans and pretend to be one of them. They'll be given access to the Hold proper, hopefully you'll be able to find what Ardeck saw. He still hasn't been awake long enough to tell us what he saw."
Elena's eyes widened. "The, Courtesans? Sir, I-"
"I know it will be dangerous, and I'm damning myself for sending you in there, but you're the only female Harper who could pose as a Courtesan. Menolly's too well known and everyone else is too young." He stood and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, the Courtesans are almost as good as us in gathering information, they know how to avoid being caught. Mistress Devala promised to send her best women, they'll look out for you." He sighed. "If you don't want to do this, I understand. I can't force you to go and you won't be punished for not going. It has to be your decision."
Elena looked down at the floor and thought hard. She glanced up at the dragonrider, he seemed to be fuming in anger. She looked back to Master Robinton. "I'll do it, sir. They tried to kill Ardeck and they tried to kill me. The Egg only knows what they'll try to do next if we don't stop them."
Robinton smiled broadly and clapped her on the back. "I knew you'd be up to it, Ardeck told me a lot about you." He glimpsed Elena's worried face and laughed. "Don't worry, it was all good!" The Master Harper turned back to his desk and picked up a piece of paper with a map carefully drawn on it. He handed it to A'gon with a smile. "Here's where the Courtesans will meet you, they'll be there tonight so you'll have to be ready soon." He shook his head, still smiling. "Lad, any dragonrider can fight Thread, only a few get to say they've helped the Harpers!" This didn't seem to comfort A'gon much.
Elena met A'gon on the meadow outside Harper Hall. She had brought along a spare set of clothes as well as her pipes, gitar, and the scores that Alden and Taia had dropped off for her to read earlier that day. She wasn't quite sure exactly what Courtesans did, she had a vague idea that they entertained men with dance and song. If that was the case she wanted her pipes and gitar with her so she could play them something. She wasn't sure about the dancing though.
"Ready?" A'gon asked from his place on Tranth. The dragonrider had been sulking for the past few hours, upset that he had missed another chance to fight Thread. Tranth had had to empty a riding beast trough on his head before he had snapped out of it. He sighed and offered his hand to the Harper girl, pulling her up before him on Tranth's neck.
There were worse things to be doing, he thought as she settled into place. Elena was pleasant company and perhaps he would have the chance to pay back the guards for shooting at him with their bows. He smiled when he noticed that Elena had neatly tied her hair in a bun to keep it from flying in his face. As Tranth leapt into the air, some strange impulse made him lean forward and smell her hair, fresh and smelling of sweetsand. He held his arms around her a little closer than necessary as they went between, changing the their destination at the last moment to give him a little more time in the air with her.
Continued in Part 4
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